The extremely popular media hosting site ImageShack has just begun a free BitTorrent downloading service that allows you to download torrents straight from ImageShack servers, and later download them from ImageShack via a HTTP link.

The Torrent download service is at the moment in a public beta, but nonetheless it works as advertised. Just point ImageShack to the torrent file either via URL or by uploading the torrent file itself. The download will begin immediately and once it is completed you can easily download the files to your computer.

Services such as this aren’t new but until now we haven’t seen a compelling free solution such as the one offered by ImageShack. ImageShack does have some restriction, like you can download at the most only 15GB a month.

Here’s what Jack Levin, the founder of ImageShack told TorrentFreak: “We think its going to be a great service for users, especially in the light of ISPs ratelimiting torrent traffic.There is a lot of free and legal torrents out there, that people should have easy access to. We have the capacity to do it, and the world needs it.”

If you are worried about the anonymity of the service, here’s what Jack Levin said: “We will not look at what you download and simply provide you, an account, with bandwidth and space. What you do with it is up to you. The DMCA applies, so, if we get reports from copyright owners to take down content, we will comply.”

There are some neat features like Selective File Downloading which means you can select only the files that you want to download and leave out the rest. The Download speeds are pretty fast and I could download a couple of torrents of about 1GB each in under 2 hours.

The only thing is that as soon the download completes,, ImageShack disconnects. This means that you will be sharing less than you would do. On the torrents I downloaded the share ratio was just 13% and 15% respectively. I hope ImageShack improves the share ratio to atleast 100% because its good karma!

So far ImageShack’s Torrent download service looks very promising and is something that I plan to use regularly in the future. Go Check it out for yourself and let us know what you feel about it?

ImageShack Torrent Download Service | Via Torrentfreak

The last quarter of 2007 hasn’t been particularly good for the BitTorrent community. We have seen the shutdown of some popular BitTorrent Trackers like OiNK and Demonoid and a lot more countries worldwide have been blocking Torrent Search Engines. In the US Internet companies are prevent access to the BitTorrent protocol itself, thereby preventing users from sharing files.

Yes 2007 has been the year when Torrent Related sites where shutdown faster than they were born, but finally we have a good news from Mininova that has just reached a milestone i.e. it’s millionth torrent was uploaded yesterday by an anonymous user.

Torrent number 1,000,000 was uploaded yesterday by an anonymous user. Unfortunately, the memorable torrent has no seeds, which makes it likely that it wont be around much longer.

One million uploaded torrents is a great accomplishment, especially if you consider that Mininova only allows user uploads. Contrary to what most people assume, Mininova doesn’t scrape any torrents from other websites, all the torrents hosted on the website are uploaded by its users.

My hearty congratulations to Mininova on reaching this commendable milestone. However with growing pressure from Anti Piracy Organizations on ISP’s and Governments supporting the hosting of Torrent Files or Trackers, do you think Mininova will be able to survive in this world of BitTorrent where survival is becoming more and more difficult.

My best wishes are with Mininova..  I want it to remain around for many more years to come..

Via TorrentFreak

How it works

BusySync is a Mac OS X System Preference Pane that runs in the background keeping your iCal calendars in sync with others on your network. It uses Apple Sync Services and Bonjour to automatically synchronize calendar data over a local area network.

Key features

• Bonjour networking — BusySync automatically synchronizes calendars with others on your local area network. No dedicated servers or complicated network settings to configure. It just works.
• Multi-user editing — BusySync allows multiple users to share and edit calendars with full read/write access. Changes made by one user are instantly synchronized with all others on the network.

• Security — Calendars can be password protected to provide different groups of users with different access privileges including read/write, read-only, or no access.
• Offline access — Changes made to a shared calendar while disconnected from your home or office network are automatically synchronized when you return.

Here are some screenshots of BusySync in Action :

So go ahead and try out BusySync today ..

Tribler works on the Give to Get algorithm rather than the Tit for Tat algorithms Bittorrent has been using for many years now. It allows the users to benefit from faster download speeds without actually using a central servers or trackers as Bittorrent users would know.

You can access Tribler to download conventional Bittorrent files as well as files that use this new concept. Every Tribler Client keeps a track of how many MB’s you have uploaded or shared which inturn is used to determine the speeds at which you get to download.

If Tribler can achieve all these things it is going to make a headway into the future. There are some issues like Network Pollution and Spam that need to be addressed. But then there is definitely a ray of bright light shining in the File Sharing phenomenon.

An Added advantage is that Tribler might be free from Lawsuits as there would be no central server involved, so the MPAA or RIAA might have to sue millions of file sharers. I am just hoping that Tribler becomes a Success.

Via Torrent Freak

Thanks TechTitans

Here are some features of Windows Live Folders

Personal

• Use personal folders to back up important files that are only for you.
• Get to your files from any computer with Internet access by signing in with your Windows Live ID.



Shared

• Shared folders make it easy to collaborate with coworkers or classmates.
• You decide how much control each person has over each shared folder. Some can just read what’s there: others can add and delete files.
• Everyone who is sharing uses their own Windows Live ID.



Public

• With public folders, anyone on the Internet can view your files, but they can’t change them.
• Want to show your public files to others? Just send them a link! Each folder and file has its own web address.

Here is a small demo video of Windows Live Folders.

P.S. : Special Thanks to on10.net for the demo video

Seeing the demo Windows Live Folders looks impressive. Looks like a good competition to my personal favourite Box.net