The services provided at drop.io are much more than just your standard free file hosting. The describe themselves as “enabling users to create simple and private exchange points called ‘drops’ to help share information”. Unique to this type of service, it has no signing up you have to do and no “accounts” to keep track of.
To create a new drop, you just…
- Navigate yourself to the web site, drop.io
- Name the drop, drop.io/yourname
- Password protect it, if you wish to keep it private
- Set how long you want to keep it active (1 month to 1 year)
- Setup permissions for other users to view only, view and add content or view, add & delete content
Then you are done! You can also add to each drop via the web, e-mail, a phone or via their special widget. This is a really unique service that you should keep in mind next time you want to send files to your business partners or friends. It takes the traditional free file hosting, stands it on its head and does something different.
I like drop.io.
Creating a 
It is not only my birthday, but it is your birthday too. The Web Hosting Show has been rocking the web hosting industry for three year now, and hopefully for many more years to come.
I hear you need a favor. You need a little something to listen to, to help pass the time at the data center you work at. Well, I’ll do you this little favor and provide episode 142 of the Web Hosting Show free of charge. I won’t even ask for a favor in return.
PHP 4 vs PHP 5
There has been lots of talk about web hosts offering and clients needing upgrades to PHP 5. For those of you who might be outside the loop, let me first explain what PHP is. PHP is a framework that works on your hosting server’s side of things. It is a programing language that allows web developers to create content that dynamically interacts with databases.
Now the main reason you would want to upgrade to PHP 5 is that development for PHP 4 ceased at the end of 2007. You will no longer get updates for it, unless they are security related. Critical security updates for PHP 4 will be provided till August 8, 2008. So this is another good reason why a move to PHP 5 might be a good idea.
Where are the advantages of PHP 5 over PHP 4? Well without getting too geeky on you there are a number of improvements that just make it more robust, faster, more secure and easier to work with. What was wrong with PHP 4? Well, nothing really – it is just getting a little long in the tooth. PHP 4 you have to remember was released back in 2000. Think of it as a pair of old shoes you really love. the laces might be lost and your holding the heel on with duct tape but you can still put them on your feet and use them. PHP 5 would be the pair of sneakers you always wanted.
There have also been several public movements to help lead the charge to PHP 5, one of the more popular ones was the GoPHP5.org project that shared information about PHP 5 and kind of helped push a lot of web hosts in the right direction when it came to supporting the most recent stable release of PHP 5.
The name of the game is evolution. As with any technology, we need to move forward as soon as there is a solid stable release because in doing so we can continue to make things bigger, faster, better and stronger.