transference

Make sure Word, OpenOffice.org Writer play well together

The first few times I worked on Word files in the OpenOffice.org Writer program, I was satisfied if the documents opened at all. That's a long way from being able to trust the open-source app with a Word file from your boss that you need to work on and return with all functions and formatting intact. These steps won't guarantee trouble-free file transfers between Word and OOo Writer, but they'll help you prevent some of the most common conversion glitches.

Keep it simple: Word files with complex graphics, nested tables, fancy fonts and formatting, and OLE … Read more

California to experiment with hydrogen buses

When you think of the words "hydrogen highway," your mind tends to conjure up images of silent cars whizzing down the road in an environmentally friendly manner.

You don't think about trying to squeeze into a seat between a 300-pound man and a woman with 18 grocery bags. But this scenario might be more realistic.

CalStart, an alternative-transportation advocacy group, has signed five contracts with bus companies to develop and study fuel cells, as well as other components for making hydrogen buses. The $24 million project is partly underwritten by federal grants.

The SunLine Transit Agency in … Read more

Back up and synchronize files between multiple PCs for free

Nearly all broadband Internet accounts come with storage on the ISP's servers, but I'll wager not one in 10 broadband users ever store anything there. That's a shame, especially if you find yourself schlepping a USB thumbdrive or rewritable CD full of your personal files from computer to computer. There are dozens of free utilities out there that make transferring files between your local PC and an FTP or Web server as easy as dragging and dropping. The two I've been using are the open-source FileZilla FTP client, and 2Brightsparks' SyncBack, which is also available in … Read more

Microsoft looking for the Limelight?

Microsoft has said it plans to continue its acquisition spree this year and it is off to a good start, having announced plans on Tuesday to buy Norway's Fast Search and Transfer.

There's no shortage of rumors of who is next on Steve Ballmer's shopping list. Earlier this week, there were separate rumors that Microsoft was interested in Yahoo as well as accessories maker Logitech.

Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider added another potential name to the list, saying Friday that he's heard that Microsoft might be interested in Limelight, a publicly traded company that runs … Read more

Sony Demos TransferJet Wireless Technology

Sony have announced their close proximity wireless transfer concept dubbed TransferJet. The system is designed to be embedded into digital cameras, media players and mobile phones and can send data at speeds of up to 560Mbps over a range of 3cm. Still very much in its development stage, Sony envision this technology being placed in billboards that deliver content to portable devices or the built into computers for easy transfer of files. Simplicity is the name of the game and so no pairing is required between devices with no privacy issues due to its low range. At their booth Sony … Read more

Microsoft offers $1.2 billion for Fast

Well, now we know what Microsoft had originally planned to announce on Monday.

Overnight, Microsoft announced it is offering $1.2 billion to buy Fast Search & Transfer, a leader in enterprise search. Microsoft had been working on the deal, which went by the code name "Ferrari" for a while now, but discussions had heated up in recent days.

The move shows the importance of business search as part of the overall search war with Google and other competitors.

Microsoft has previously made moves in business search, largely at the lower end of the market, using its SharePoint … Read more

Transferring big files with DropSend and TransferBigFiles

If you need to send files to someone and they are too large to email, there are untold numbers of web sites offering this service, both for free and commercially. However, if you need to transfer very big files, your choices are more limited. When I recently needed to transfer some files of 650MB to a client, I tried a handful of these services. Previously I wrote about free services from SendThisFile and EatLime. Here I relate my experiences with the free services from DropSend and TransferBigFiles.

All these services operate by letting you upload files to their servers, notifying the recipient that the files are ready to be downloaded and providing a link that points to the file(s). Some of the services have optional software, but installing software scares me, so I used nothing but a web browser (except in one instance).

DropSend

DropSend offers to send files up to 1 gigabyte for free (the same limit applies to their paid accounts). They allow only five file transfers per month, but also include 250MB of permanent online storage. The limit of five transfers does not apply to uploads to the permanent storage. … Read more

Sending big files with SendThisFile

Sending large files is frequently a nuisance. I recently ran across SendThisFile and it made a good first impression. Perhaps most important, it does not require the installation of any software, either by the sender or the recipient.

Its approach is like that of many other services: you upload a file to the SendThisFile servers and the recipient gets an e-mail message with a link to the file to download it. If you use one of the SendThisFile free accounts, files stay on its servers for three days; paid accounts allow keeping the file for 6 to 14 days.

In … Read more

Meebo gets (tiny) file sharing

The divide between Web IM apps and the software versions is getting smaller, albeit with the help of improved bandwidth and technology like Adobe's Flash. In the same vein, Meebo, the popular Web-based multiclient chat platform is getting a handy update tonight. Users are now able to trade files with each other right in the chat window. It's not just Meebo users, either, it's anyone on your friends list. If your buddy has a file-transfer-enabled client, you'll be able to pass files back and forth freely.

However, unlike software IM clients, the caps for file transfer … Read more