file-sharing

I've been a big fan of the free screen-sharing software CrossLoop ever since I originally tried it back in November 2006. Basically, CrossLoop lets any two users share a desktop. One PC "hosts" the CrossLoop session and the other "joins." The computer joined to the host can see and control everything on the host PC's desktop. CrossLoop is still in beta release, but I think it's an excellent no-hassle solution for low-budget tech support.

I recently gained access to a new private beta of CrossLoop 1.1, the first major update to the software since its initial release. The past year has seen CrossLoop mostly expanding its localized language support, so it's refreshing to see some improvements to the program's feature set. There are only a few new features, but they are rather essential additions.… Read more

A video posted to YouTube in April offers a primer on how to use Google to pilfer music and video files in less time than it takes to download them from a peer-to-peer service.

"I'll be teaching you how to use Google as your own peer-to-peer network," said Jimmy Ruska at the beginning of the clip. Ruska is the 21-year-old who posted the video, according to a report in The Financial Times.

The how-to video focuses on what is known as an "index of" search and shows users how to direct Google's search engine … Read more

From XML torrent options to IP filters, firewall tests to UPnP plug-ins, Azureus leads the way in making the torrent experience as customizable as possible. It's got enough flexibility to appeal to advanced users, but does it make it too hard for beginners to get in on the torrent action?

Watch this First Look at Azureus video to find out, and let us know your favorite torrent client in the comments below.

There has always been plenty of bitterness between copyright holders and the file-sharing community, but some now contend hostilities have sunk to a new low.

Swedish authorities last week were preparing to shut down The Pirate Bay, according to Peter Sunde, one of the site's founders. Was the site facing closure for helping users find bootlegged music or video files, as the film and music industries have long alleged? No, The Pirate Bay was being accused of distributing child pornography, Sunde said.

The accusation was nothing more than a backdoor attempt to kill off The Pirate Bay since both … Read more

Kevin Rose, of Digg and Revision 3 fame, just launched an invite-only alpha of his latest project, Pownce. Pownce lets you share files, links, and other info with your friends. It's not an original concept. Yet Pownce makes an extremely good first impression. (Earlier, we had invites to give out--but we're sorry, they're all gone now.)

Pownce strongly reminds me of Tubes (review) and Izimi (review), and little less so of AllPeers (stories) and Pando (quick hit). It's also reminiscent of the file-transfer feature of various instant-messaging clients.

There's also a heavy dose of Twitter (stories) in Pownce. Every time you send a file or note, it's added to your running feed of activities that anyone can view; likewise, it's easy to see the public feeds of other users and the private items posted by your friends.

You can send items to individuals on your list, to everyone, or to groups you set up (for example, you can have a family group, a group for a project at work, and so on).

At the moment, Pownce lets you send plain text notes, URLs, files, and event invitations (and it tracks RSVPs). I would not be surprised to see audio or video recording functions built into the product, which would make Pownce an interesting alternative to Twittergram.

Pownce works through a Web page, and there's also a slick Adobe AIR (formerly Apollo) desktop app.

It's easy to discount Pownce as a me-too concept. In fact, it's several. But it's extremely well put-together--capable yet easy to get into and use. And useful. And fun. Try it if you can.

… Read more

If the pirate community is any judge of movies, Michael Moore's Sicko is sure to be a hit.

On the day that the documentary about the health care industry is scheduled to debut, unauthorized copies continue to flitter across the Web. Illegal downloading of the film began gathering steam last week when copies appeared at The PirateBay, YouTube and Google Video.

What started with just a few hundred people a week ago, has mushroomed into the tens of thousands. A review of torrent search engines Mininova, TorrentReactor.net, The PirateBay, Isohunt and Torrentz on Friday showed that thousands of … Read more

AllPeers, the social file-swapping and file-sharing Firefox extension is adding a built-in BitTorrent client early next month. Users will be able to download torrent files right in their browser without the need for a BitTorrent software client. Similar functionality was introduced to Opera's browser in mid-2005, however the team behind AllPeers is giving users an added bonus to download torrents through their extension. If two or more AllPeers friends are downloading the same torrent, they'll get the benefit of faster sharing. The AllPeers team claims it's double the speed they'd be able to get through regular … Read more

The beta copy of Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X handed to developers last week by Apple, is available on a file-sharing site for downloading.

Apple's legal department tends to frown on things like that. Or, at least they did when the same thing happened with a beta copy of Tiger, the current version of Mac OS X released in April of 2005. Crunchgear spotted the build, code-named "9A466" on a U.K. site called Oink, and it's currently on PirateBay.

Commenters on Crunchgear's site said the build had been pulled from Oink, … Read more

A company named Wyzo recently released the first public version of its flagship product, the Wyzo browser. Built off the open-source Mozilla Firefox base, Wyzo is notable for incorporating the ability to download torrent files directly from the browser interface without a separate BitTorrent application.

Wyzo offers the ability to download torrent files only because of an extension named FireTorrent that comes pre-installed with the browser. The FireTorrent add-on uses technology such as iP2P, STUNT and unP2P to translate a torrent file into the actual download that the torrent represents. Unfortunately, one big problem I had with Wyzo was that I wasn't able to kill/remove any torrent downloads that stalled because of a lack of peers.… Read more