Interests: ICT - Synchronizing bookmarks & file-sharing

As I am now using two laptops - one Mac and one PC - I have been struggling with the problem of synchronizing them so that they can be used interchangeably with ease. One problem area was bookmarks, and thanks to a Firefox browser add-on I can now synchronize the bookmarks on both machines with one mouse click. To do this you need to install the Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer add-on in your Firefox browser. This is very easily done and I have been using this now for the past few weeks and it has been working perfectly! So, with my bookmarks synchronized across both machines and posted to del.icio.us as well (when I remember!) I can access my bookmarks from anywhere!

The next still bigger step will be to synchronize my folders and files, and do this I shall be trying Windows Live FolderShare, which apparently works with both Mac and PC and might offer a good solution.

These days there are a great many free file-sharing web-based applications. Until recently, I had been using MediaFire a lot to share files with colleagues and students. However, the service became a little unreliable (uploaded files disappearing, etc.) so I looked around for alternatives and came across the far superior Box.Net. This has an applet that allows you to upload folders and multiple files by simply dragging and dropping them into the applet box on your desktop. But even more impressive is the widget that can be embedded on your blog or wiki (or website) and which allows students, etc. to view and download the files in any of the online folders you have created and choose to share. Here's an example of material uploaded and displayed on a class wiki page:


This is really an invaluable tool as it allow students to view material for lessons that they may have perhaps missed, or to download it so that they can repeat activities at home. This is also a very convenient way of delivering homework or self-study material.

There are of course many other file-sharing applications available, for example File Dropper, which has a wonderfully simple user-friendly interface and offers a massive 5GB free storage space. Xdrive from AOL also offers 5GB free storage, but you need to create an AOL account to access this and the registration process is geared towards US residents, but I got round this easily enough. The interface is very sophisticated and you can also download a client that allows easy drag and drop uploading from your desktop to your online account. You can of course upgrade, for a fee to a 50GB account and this would be way of keeping a safe copy of all your files online (provided you trust the service), of sharing and folders and files with others, and of synchronizing folders, etc. across different computers that you may be using. Lastly, there is Yuuguu, which allows desktop sharing and file-sharing, as well as free web-conferencing, but I haven't tested this service as yet.

If you try or have already tried any of these applications, or you know of any other similar ones, I'd be really interested in hearing from you.