For any web host out there, having video tutorials showing off your services is a nice thing to promote to your customers.  It is always better to show somebody how to do something, rather than just have them read text.  If you are looking for a low-cost way to create your own simple tutorial collection, look no further than ScreenToaster.

Once you sign up, you can use it from anywhere at any time.  It captures video on the screen with simply one click.  You can record screencasts, tutorials, demos, training and more.  Then you can turn around and embed them on blogs, web pages, or send them via e-mail.

Here is an example video to check out:

It really is a fantastic and free way to create your own video tutorials.  To give it a shot for yourself, or to learn more about how to use it, be sure to check out ScreenToaster.com.

Yes, it is really that simple!  Here is what I want you to do right now.

1. Visit the new “Submit a Question” page
2. Give me your name (first name is fine), web site address (if you have one), and question about web hosting, marketing, search engine optimization or anything else web site related
3. Hit the “Submit” button

That is it.  Simple right?  Oh, it gets even better!

Once you have done so, I will get your question, mention you on a future Web Hosting Show podcast, and answer the question along with giving you a plug for your web site on the web hosting industry’s number one web hosting podcast.  How can you beat a deal like that?

With podcasts #199 and #200 coming up pretty quickly (both will be delivered this month!) I hope to be able to answer a lot of questions, and help you get your web site “out there” by mentioning it on the show, and linking to it off the site here. Web hosts, web hosting clients or people who don’t even have a web site are welcome.  This new feature to show is something I want to open up to everybody out there.

Help me help you, and get your questions of any shape, size of form submitted today!

Searching for a place to find free web site designs you can use?  OpenWebDesign.org has plenty to choose from, and they are all free to use.

If writing CSS code isn’t your favorite thing to do – and you would much rather tweak up a design that has already been done for you – finding a great free online design is the way to go.  So to help you jumpstart your next web site design project, head over to the stockpile of web designs found over at OpenWebDesign.org.

There are over 3,000 designs to choose from (and most are XHTML/CSS-based), so should be enough variation and choice for any web site designer out there.

Here are ten free sources for web hosting out there today.

100webspace.com – Here you get 100 MB of web page, 3000 MB of bandwidth and a lot of extra features like MySQL databases, SSL, SpamAssassin, POP3 and web e-mail and much more.  It also allows for FTP or FrontPage access too.

Frihost.com – This free web host is offering you 250 MB of disk space and 10 GB of bandwidth per month.  It is hosted on a Unix OS, with access to MySQL, cron jobs, raw logs, backups and more.

HelioHost.org – Your monthly bandwidth will be limited to 2500 here, and 250 MB of disk space.  However, they do offer Ruby on Rails, Fantastico, and both MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

000webhost.com – Looking at this free hosting alternative, we see 250 MB of disk space, and 100 GB of bandwidth.  You also get tools like cPanel, and access to password protected files, custom error pages, and phpMyAdmin.

110MB.com – An old one, but a good one, 110MB offers you 5000 MB of disk space and 300 GB of monthly bandwidth.  Also here to love is the fact they have no forced ads, they allow you to use your own ads, support PHP and FTP.

WebHero.com – Supporting the scripting languages of PHP, Perl and Python, WebHero also gives you 100MB of disk space and 500 MB of bandwidth, which are pretty reasonable for a free web hosting provider.

1ASPHost.com – I have one ASP host on the list, and their name ironically is 1ASPHost. Bandwidth here is set at 1,000 MB per month and you get 100 MB of disk space.  Some of the features included are MS Access, WAP, no file size limit, and online zipping and unzipping of files.

FreeHostia.com – Bandwidth at Free Hostia is set to 5,000 MB and disk space is at 250 MB.  You get stats, instant activation, e-mail, and access to install counters, message boards, polls and more.

FreeServers.com – A new favorite of mine, Free Servers offers a reliable free web hosting plan.  You do have ads on your web site, however you get 50 MB of disk space and a nice upgrade path just in case you outgrow their free solution.

GoFreeServe.com – Offering 300 MB of free disk space and 10 GB of bandwidth, they also allow for PHP scripting, e-mail access, and cPanel.  Worth a shot.

There you have it, ten quality free web hosts to choose from if you are looking to learn a little more about web hosting and how it works.  If you have any reviews of these services or you have another favorite, be sure to leave them in the comments.  Would love to hear who you think the best free web host really is.

Now how is this going to work?  From their press release:

Attendees will have access to vendors, sponsors, exhibit booths, and other web hosting enthusiasts through live chat.  There is no software to install.  Attendees log in from their computer and listen to the sessions directly, pick-up a chat, read about exhibitor’s product and services information and network – all through the live chat.  Representatives will be available via live chat to answer questions and provide further information.

If you are interested in reserving your spot, you can do so free here.  Now I haven’t been contacted by anybody involved yet, so that is pretty much all the details I know, however I do have to say it is nice to see people trying to something new out there, and the more we can all share and learn from each other the better the web hosting industry will be.

Offering 5GB of space for free, this service sounds terrific.  4Shared also comes with a built in search engine, so you can browse around to see the other content people are uploading.

How long are the files hosted there?  Your free account and all your files will be removed from 4Shared only if you do not log in the account for 30 days.

Here are the most popular types of files that may be shared:

• document file (doc, txt, pdf, rtf, xls)
• music file (mp3, ogg, wav, mid)
• video file (avi, mpg, mpeg)
• image file (jpg, gif, bmp, png)
• zip file (zip, rar, arj)
• any other types

If you like the free service, then you can also upload to the paid versions too.  A one year membership will remove some of the limits.  So if you out-grow the free version, the paid version is always there to give you a few more perks.

I’ll be sure to cover that too on this week’s edition of the Web Hosting Show.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 177!
Running Time: 13 minutes | File Size: 5.94 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• How to Score 5GB of Free File Hosting!
• How can Obama Inspire the Web Hosts Out There?
• Three FAQs about SSL
• Making Money with Google AdSense

Here are this week’s web hosting news headlines:

• GoDaddy Attack Sends Thousands Offline
• Get Your Free 8GB USB Flash Memory Stick at Hosting-Nation.net

Please be sure to send any feedback, questions or comments about this week’s podcast to me directly at mitch@mitchkeeler.com or leave a comment! Would love to hear from you all!

After installing, all you have to do is grab your log files from your hosting account in question.  WebLog Expert Lite supports IIS and Apache logs, can automatically detect the log format and can read GZ and ZIP compressed logs.  It will then crunch away at the numbers and export an HTML page for you to view to see how your web page is doing stats-wise.  You get numbers, links, stats and graphs.  It is a beautiful thing.

The free version however should be sufficient for most personal web sites and provides a nice overview of general traffic activity.

If you want to see what you are missing out on, you can see a comparison list of the professional, standard and lite versions of the program here:

http://www.weblogexpert.com/comparison.htm

It might not have all the bells and whistles down, but WebLog Expert Lite has enough to keep me happy.

Web Hosting to Go – Episode 169 – October 20th

What would I like to have today? Lets see. I will have a large data center mashup map, a side of hosting tools (just remember to hold the tomatoes), a HP performance-optimized datacenter and a definition on what domaining is all about? For here or to go? I think I am about ready to go – because the Web hosting Show is now on the air.

The Magnificent Fantastico – Episode 168 – October 6th

From the first time I ever heard about Fantastico, I always thought about the traditional magician pulling rabbits from his hat. Who would have a clue that a few years later on down the road I would have a chance to speak with one of the magicians behind the magic at Netenberg to find out more about this favorite cPanel addition.

Bobcares About Support – Episode 166 – September 22nd

Any web host will tell you the hardest part about the web hosting business is finding a team of support people that care about your clients as much as you do. You want to make sure they are in good hands. One company that promotes themselves as those good hands to trust is Bobcares.

They specialize in support for small, medium and large hosting companies.

What is the AIHSP? – Episode 162 – August 18th

That is the question a lot of people are asking about coming out of this year’s most recent HostingCon. Paul Hirsch of the AIHSP stopped by to answer a few common questions we all have about this new association of internet and hosting service providers.

Personally, I am fully behind any organization that promotes the success of the hosting industry as a whole. The AIHSP looks to be on the right track.

Lower Your Hosting Costs – Episode 160 – August 4th

Want to save some of the green stuff? We have tons of great tips to help you lower your web hosting bills. That is not all though, but we have to leave some of it for the show. The Web Hosting Show is now on the air.

When Spam Attacks – Episode 157 – July 14th

Did you know the peaceful Swiss people have problems with spam? The king of all spam has also met his fate. Spams not the only thing we got on the line up today, there is a lot of hosting news, and information coming to you. So stand back, there is a Web Hosting Show coming through!

Hosting Hustle – Episode 155 – June 23rd

You can only do so many silly intros to a podcast before you run out of idea. Let me just say I got lots to talk about this week from domain marketing to somebody spitting in your web hosting fast food. Confused? Good I like to leave you wanting more and well, here it comes!

Inside Web Hosting Reviews – Episode 152 – May 12th

On today’s special edition of the Web Hosting Show we have in the studio Emory Rowland of Clickfire.com. Emory has been an insider in both the web hosting and web development worlds for a long time – so there are many topics I would like to pick his brain about. Today though we will be cover from head to toe the world of web hosting reviews.

Zangief Does Domains? – Episode 150 – April 22nd

Did you know that the Web Hosting Show was Yakov Smirnoff’s favorite way to spend a lazy afternoon? Ok, maybe that isn’t true but I will update you on the rise of the Soviet Union domain name extension as well as pull the curtain other myths and rumors about SEO. Now just as long as Yakov’s lawyers don’t shut me down, the Web Hosting Show is on the air.

Troubleshoot Your Hosting Woes – Episode 148 – April 14th

From coast to coast, and all around the hosting world we all have times where we contact support and they say that nothing is wrong. Today I’ll show you how to paint a better picture for support of your hosting problems as well as…

Well a lot more hosting podcast goodness right here on this week’s edition of the Web Hosting Show.

Searching the Free File Hosts – Episode 145 – March 17th

On this week’s show I am going to give you a run down on some of my favorite search tools to find files hosted for free on the services such as Rapidshare, Megaupload and more. Also tune in to hear about the basics of traceroutes for both Window and Macs as well as a lot more hosting goodness packed into one awesome podcast.

Hosting Podcast Turns 3 – Episode 143 – February 25th

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.

No surprises, no special guests no fluff will be here today though. I am just going to do my job and give you a grade A podcast you will soon not forget.

Checking in with Dr. Hosting – Episode 140 – February 4th

The hosting doctor is in and is ready to see you now. There are several sicknesses out there in the web hosting world that could bring you down.

I’ll inform you about those, and let you know of a few hyper-linked medications to check out too. The Web Hosting Show includes no side effects and an awesome orange-like flavor I’m sure you will enjoy.

Shiny Happy Hosting – Episode 138 – January 21st

You ever wonder why hosting people always seem so up to beat and happy? Maybe it is due to the fact we have to be due to dealing with customer relations all day.

Maybe it is because the angry part of our brain died a long time ago. Shiny happy hosting people rejoice, the Web Hosting Show is on the air.

With 2009 on the way, that means there will be even more web site web hosting podcasts, interviews, web site improvements and oh so much more. If you have any feedback you wish to share of the past year’s content please feel free to do so here.

Capture your Desktop with CamStudio

You can pick up an awesome desktop capturing program at CamStuido.org to capture the video from your computer’s screen.  After installing, all you need to do is highlight the area you wish to record – and then hit the record button.

Record Your Audio Track with Audacity

Audacity is the free audio editor I have used to produce my podcast since day one.  It is free and really easy to use.  You could use it to record any audio commentary you wanted, so that way you add a little more helpfulness to the tutorial you are making.

Edit your Video Tutorial Together

To edit your video, there are several programs out there you could use.  Personally, I just used the free Windows Movie Maker than came with my computer.  Then again, I am all about keeping things as ghetto as possible.  If not Windows Movie Maker, I am willing to bet you have some free program that came on your computer that would do the deed.  An online video editing alternative would be Jumpcut.com.  Another free desktop solution would be VideoSpin from VideoSpin.com.

Check out Wikipedia’s List of Commercial and Free Video Editing Software

Final Tweaks, Edits and Uploading the Final Product

Before you upload, you might also want to make sure you have your URL, brand or logo somewhere on the video.  It never hurts to do a little advertising – so people know where they can get more of your fine work.  After that has been done, you can upload your video to YouTube or a number of other video sharing sites.  Grab the embed code, and you have your own video tutorial ready to go.  To get you inspired, here is one I created on doing trace routes:

If you are a web host on a budget, there is no reason to spend more than you need to.  If you have the free time and creativity, then rolling your own video tutorials can also be a great way to gain exposure and do a little self advertising too.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 175!
Running Time: 10 minutes | File Size: 3.84 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• What Happens When Web Hosts Don’t Pay Rent?
• See How Fast Your Page is REALLY Loading!
• Roll Your Own Video Tutorials for Free!

Here are this week’s web hosting news headlines:

• Netcraft’s Releases List of Most Reliable Hosts for the Month
• Newtek Web Hosting Unveiled a New Web Site Design

As the resident Santa Claus of the web host industry, I am here to give you your happy ho ho hosting gift. A free podcast, for you to enjoy. Beats a lump of coal, doesn’t it?

SendSpace.com – Unlimited uploads and unlimited downloads.  The file size limit with SendSpace is up to 300MB too.

MediaFire.com – This service provides up to 100MB file size per upload, and unlimited storage.  A “pro” account will also get you a few more perks if you want to pay for it.

iFile.it – With one of the simplest interfaces, just browse, upload and cross your fingers.

MegaUpload.com – Another popular alternative is MegaUpload, unfortunately you might be looking for an alternative to it pretty soon.  Hate to give you an alternative to an alternative.

SaveFile.com – With a limit of 100MB per file in size, the most enticing thing about this hosting solution would be the fact that it isn’t used by many – so speeds should be pretty good.

TransferBigFiles.com – Oh, if only the rest of the internet was this obvious.

KeepMyFile.com – Bad web site design, with a limit of 60MB per file and 300MB max.  The advantage here is they say you can upload 30 files at once.

Badongo.com – With unlimited limits, and being free to use – have to say this alternative sounds like gold.

YourFileLink.com – Free video and file hosting is what they promise, and with the highest limit thus far on file size (5GB), you may want to go ahead and take advantage of this domain while it is still around.

UploadPedia.com – Oh, I get it – like Wikipedia, but you host stuff on it.  So it isn’t like Wikipedia at all…

Know of another free file host that deserves to be an alternative to Rapidshare?  Share your suggestions with us, and I might be able to come up with a list of at least ten more free file hosting alternatives to enjoy.

FileZilla!

Now I have used my fair share of crappy FTP programs, and all of them seem to be lacking in one area or the next.  FileZilla though, is almost perfect from head to toe.  Here are some of the best features it provides:

• Easy to use
• Available in many languages
• Supports resume and transfer of large files >4GB
• Powerful Site Manager and transfer queue
• Drag & drop support

So can I come up with anything negative to say about FileZilla?  Well, if there was one thing that bugs me it is the fact it is not a very pretty program.  Then again, just about every FTP client out there today is ugly as sin – so can’t fault it for too long there.

Want to try it yourself?  They have versions for Macs, Windows and Linux – so pick the version that is right for you on filezilla-project.com.  Know of an FTP client that is better than FileZilla?  Go ahead and leave a comment.

I would love to be proved wrong.

As a matter of fact, I am still using Paint Shop Pro 7 if you really want to get into how “old school” I am.  However, when I heard that Adobe released a free online version of Photoshop, I had to try it out.

The thing that I like about Photoshop.com is they have made the interface really simple to understand and use.  You may want to play around with a few images before you get too in depth with it, but you’ll be editing images like a pro in no time flat.  You can crop, correct, and edit your images in many different ways.  Professionals might find it a little light weight, but I liked the simplicity of it all.

The little extra mile with this tool is that they provide hosting for your images too.  You will be given a special URL to share with friends and family, such as yourname.photoshop.com. This a a very nice extra touch.

To try it out for yourself, visit photoshop.com and sign up.  It does not cost a thing, so you will at least have a fun alternative to save for a rainy day, if nothing else.

110MB.com

With 110MB Hosting you get 5GB of free no-ads hosting to setup shop.    So where is the catch?  They seem to get all of their income from upgrades and other related services.   You also get PHP 5, 300 GB of Bandwidth and MySQL 5.

AgilityHoster.com

Agility Hoster looks to use the free hosting account they provide as a gateway into other services too.  On the free plan, you get 2 addon domains, 5GB of bandwidth, and 200MB of disk space.

DotEasy.com

When looking for free web hosts out there, doteasy was the only one that stuck out as a name I had heard before.  The free plan they provide will give you 1GB of bandwidth, 100MB of storage and up to 10 e-mail accounts.

FreeHostia.com

I hate to say it, but Freehostia is probably one of the cheesier looking out of the bunch.  They do provide 250 MB of storage, 5 GB of monthly bandwidth and hosting for 2 domains.

HostWQ.net

HostWQ.net calls themselves the ultimate source for free and premium web site hosting.  Do they deliver?  Well for free you can get up to 300 MB of disk space and 10 GB of bandwidth a month.  Very promising, to say the least.

Are you a free web hosts or do you know of a free web host that can do any better?  Drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com or leave a comment and let me know.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 170!
Running Time: 14 minutes | File Size: 5.82 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Twitter for Web Hosting Support?
• Secret of Finding Unique Domains!
• Outsourced Hosting Support with CliffSupport.com
• 5 Ways to Get Free Hosting

Here are this week’s web hosting news headlines:

• 100 Registrars To Offer .tel
• iNet Interactive Purchases Australian Competitor

Kick back, relax and get caught up with some of the latest and greatest happenings inside of the web hosting world. We are going to have tons of fun this week, and the only way you can join in is to listen. What are you waiting for?

There is a company out there providing for free, performance monitoring, availability monitoring, and traffic monitoring?  Yes, there is.  Mon.itor.us might have a silly name, but it delivers awesome and free monitoring tools for your web site.

Here is how the web site describes the services they provide:

We provides a “24 x 7″ network and web site monitoring service to help its users quickly identify faults and deficiencies to ensure continuous operations of their IT infrastructure and maintain business operations that provide the ultimate web experience.

From within an Ajax-powered dashboard, you can check server performance and availability, generate uptime reports, track visitors, CPU, memory and other system resources you need to know about.

Mon.itor.us is currently monitoring over 134,000 web sites right now, and I am sure there will be many more to come in the future.

This program is a very light, simple yet robust utility which manages your uploads in the way of a spooler.  It also is so small you can load it up on a USB device too.  You don’t even have to worry about getting it installed.  All you do is double click the .exe file and it is ready.

To use, just create or select a server you wish to connect to then drag and drop the file you wish to upload into the white box.  You also have the option to zip each file you upload too.  Another neat feature is that you can create a “locked” version of DropUpLoad, which limits connections to a single server and hides and encrypts login information inside the generated executable.

If you feel like you don’t need a full FTP program like Filezilla and the like to get the job done DropUpLoad is undoubtedly the simplest alternative program you could have in your web hosting tool belt.

You receive 25GB for Photos/Music/Videos and 5GB for other files.  You can also play your music, watch your video and edit your documents from any location.  Signing up for the free version will also give you a 14 day trial of the desktop client they have which promises to make transferring data from one PC to the other a simple task.

Need to access your files on the go?  They have the ability to get to your files via your phone or PDA.  You can also e-mail your files without worrying about file size limits.  One more nice feature of the free service is you can publish your files on the Web from Humyo.  The only thing you have to live with would be the Humyo logo in the bottom corner.

Paid users of Humyo can also:

• File transfers to and from your space protected with 256-bit SSL encryption
• Allow colleagues to edit stored documents and upload files to shared folders.

Paid customers also get access to 100GB of disk space, and 100GB more can be added at any time for an additional $99.99 per year.  The regular price for paid users is $59.99 for the first year then $79.99 per year after that.

“Hi Mitch, love the podcast.  I have just started up a reseller account of my own but I am in need of some billing or shopping cart software that will make it easier to resell the hosting space I have purchased.  Any suggestions?”

Sure, phpCOIN is a great solution for this type of problem.  Some of the features it provides includes:

• Site Content - create and manage site information for easy display for potential and existing clients. The content is searchable with the “Search” module.
• Order Process – provide a configurable of forms for collecting client information during order process, and provide a single “paylink” at the end of the process to direct the client to third party billing. Search orders feature available.
• Invoices – provide a method of invoicing clients for orders / services in either a one-shot invoice, or as a recurring invoice. Search invoices / transactions feature available.
• Client Management – keep client information profile, order history, invoice / payment history, support help desk ticket history. Search clients feature available.
• Support – provide an integrated support help desk trouble ticket system. Search trouble tickets feature available.
• Contact – provide a means for clients to contact you (ticket system or contact forms) and for the admin to contact the clients

Point your browser to phpCOIN.com and visit the download page to pick up the full package, and then install on your own hosting space.  If you have any other alternatives for Tom when it comes to free billing software for web hosting resellers drop in a comment.

From coast to coast, and all around the web hosting world. I can’t promise you you’ll be a millionaire if you listen to this week’s show. I can’t even make you better looking. What I can do for you is to make everything from server farms to domain name registrations make a little more sense and I can do so with what some may say is a funny accent.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 156!
Running Time: 18 minutes | File Size: 7.85 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

• ICANN Wants to Give You .Anything?
• Where to go to Get 30GB of Disk Space Free?
• Free Billing Software for Web Hosting Resellers?
• Best Tool to Update Your Blogs?

Podcast Exclusive – Part 4 of Our “How to Purchase a Web Hosting Business” Series with Web Strategist Errett Cord. Download the podcast to check it out!

I’m back again, and sad to say ICANN is still turning down my application to be the official spokesperson for the organization. Maybe it is because I have no boobs? If I did, I know at least I’d get work from Bob Parsons. Time to start answering some questions, and to make some sense out of all this web hosting lingo.

Not every web host out there has a multi-million dollar budget to spend on software, so I have come up with a few free alternatives for you to pass around your office next time your searching for the right tool for the job.

Foxit Reader (for PDF viewing) – Out of all the PDF reader programs out there, Foxit gets the job done and is not half as annoying as Adobe is.  If you want a PDF viewer that will not ask that you download updates for 20 other programs you do not have, Foxit is the best.

OpenOffice.org (for word processing, spreadsheets and more) – Microsoft Office is a program I have never really used.  Why?  I have always been a fan of the free alternative, OpenOffice.org.  This bundle of a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing and more might even be better than the expensive Microsoft bundle.

AutoHotkey (for helping with those quick responses) – In my bag of tricks, AutoHotkey is most likely to be the most used one of them all.  Thanks to a little simple script writing I can now type in a few characters instead of a two paragraphed e-mail each time I answer a customer’s question.

Thunderbird (for e-mail management) – I have tried a number of different e-mail clients and Mozilla’s Thunderbird wins out head over heels each and every time.  Manage multiple e-mail accounts and with the add-ons, you can build onto the functionality of the product.

Google Calendar (for dates and appointments) – Can’t tell you what I did for a calendar before Google’s came around because Google was the one who turned me onto using it.  Before Google Calendar I was stuck with ripped off sheets of paper with notes scribbled down.  After Google Calendar, I can quickly click a date, add a note and I’m done.

Now sure, those big web hosts might have the thousands of dollars to spend on programs but the budget web hosts out there have to count their pennies.  If you have any other suggestions feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Free photo or image web hosts come a dime a dozen these days.  EchoPic.com is another provider that gives you another choice to your image sharing.

They provide image and photo sharing services that make life easy when you need to upload and share files on your web site, blog or social network profile.

You can either upload or enter the image URL and “grab it” to host on EchoPic’s services.  All in all EchoPic isn’t doing anything really different but they are providing a quality free image hosting solution and when it comes down to it – what more could you ask for from your free hosting solution?

Unlike other eBook deals, you get an extra perk with this setup.  You can download both the digital eBook version, or head over the the official page for it and pick up all five chapters as audio downloads too.  I wanted to give to you the best of both worlds.  The topics covered in the eBook cover all aspects of the web hosting world:

• Moving from Web Host to Web Host
• Getting going with your own Ecommerce Store Online
• How to Find a Job in the Web Hosting Industry
• Best Methods and Tips for Setting up a New Blog
• The Ever Popular Handy Guide to Domain Names

Download the PDF and let me know what you think.  Also as far as distribution goes, please feel free to share the link to download it to anybody and everybody you know.  This is a project of mine I have been working on getting together for some time now and I want everybody to know it is free of charge. 

File Dropper

What is the upload limit? Right now it is 5GB. According to the about us page, the goal of File Dropper as to create a fresh alternative to sites like MegaUpload and RapidShare. They do not wish to reel in users and make them wait for annoying countdown times. (Insert Yippee Here!) They do not hide their download links and they will not aggressively place ads all over the place.

As long as the file is still being downloaded, they will never take your files down. Now if a file is uploaded once, downloaded once and then not touched again for six months then you might see them taking it down to make more room for other material. That is totally understandable. Also, it goes without saying that copyrighted or illegal material is not allowed and will be removed.

How are they going to make money? That might be the next question you were curious about. Well, you can do the free file hosting as much as you want and that is open to anybody. If you sign up though you get a few more perks.

• 99 Cents Plan – 5GB File Size, Direct Linking for Images, Share Files with Others
• Silver Plan – 10GB File Size, Direct Linking for Images, Share Files with Others
• Gold Plan – 25GB File Size, Direct Linking for Images, Share Files with Others

There is also a Free Trial plan that will let you test out the back end to see if you really want to pay to get a little more bang for your buck. All in all File Dropper seems to be doing everything right. Go give FileDropper.com a visit and let them know that the Web Hosting Show sent you there.

1. FilesTube.com – This resource might be my favorite of all the file hosting search options out there. All you need to do is type in what you are looking for, select the file type from the drop down box, and you are taken to tons of results. The sort by size feature also helps a lot in sorting the bigger files from the smaller ones you may not be concerned with (or visa versa).

2. Rapidshare1.com – Not as pretty as FilesTube.com, but it does get the job done when it comes to searching for a file or document from Rapidshare.com. Just wish they had a bit more description per result. They do link you to both the page the link came from and the actual Rapidshare download link.

3. Shareminer.com – This site uses the long and customized Google search string to search though and try to find what you want. Not as successful as the other two options, because since this Google search string has been in the wild a while it looks as if people have found a way to spam it.

4. FilesBot.com – Promising to be a “file storage search engine” it does a good job at filtering out the bad stuff while still delivering pretty good results. Type what you are looking for in the search box, and then find the links. Simple user interface.

5. MegaDownload.net – The last one on our list today features a pretty interface, and does a better job than most at making the search for information readable.

Are there more? Yes, but many of them are using the Google search string trick – so not really worthy for the list. If you think you know of one better than the ones on the list though, be sure to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail to let me know.

BONUS! – 4 More Ways to Search Rapidshare, Megaupload and More!

Here are the features of the free hosting plan:

100MB storage
1000MB/month bandwidth
1 hosted domain (or a myy.name subdomain)
10 FTP accounts
5 MySQL databases
100 e-mail accounts

Nothing to sneeze at when the price tag reads “Free!”. They also promise no ads, no hidden fees and instant activation. So if you are in the hunt for a new free hosting solution you might want to give myy.name a visit.

With Xdrive Desktop Lite, you can easily upload files and folders right from your hard drive, desktop, USB device or removable storage drive directly into your Xdrive web storage space.

This new lightweight application is using Adobe’s new AIR technology to deliver a program that should work on either Windows or Apple machines.

In the future releases they are promising:

• Configuration and controls for the Xdrive AutoCopy feature
• Synchronize between local files and those stored in your Xdrive account: Made a change to a local file? Xdrive Desktop Lite will automatically upload the new version to your Xdrive account so you always have the latest version available from anywhere you have an internet connection.
• In addition to a wide range of enhancements to the Xdrive Desktop Lite client, the Adobe AIR platform will allow us to present virtually all of the desktop functionality in a robust web application.

If you pupued the idea before, give Xdrive.com another shot if for no other reason than to just test out this new Xdrive Desktop Lite product.

To create a new drop, you just…

1. Navigate yourself to the web site, drop.io
2. Name the drop, drop.io/yourname
3. Password protect it, if you wish to keep it private
4. Set how long you want to keep it active (1 month to 1 year)
5. 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.

To grab you free space, you must have a Hotmail or Live address, then login to the SkyDrive web site.

The file size limit per file you upload is 50MB so that still gives you a lot of room to work with. Internet Explorer users can install an upload tool to make working with the service a little easier. You will be able to upload right from the browser. For us Firefox users, we will just have to hope somebody develops an extension that will do the same.

For Microsoft, here is what I need to use this service on a day to day basis:

• Give me a upload/download tool that is not just for Internet Explorer
• Drop the plug for all the other “Live” services at the top

Go give SkyDrive a test drive for yourself at skydrive.live.com.