May 30, 2014

11 Online Sources To Find Legal Torrents

Recent events have seen well-known torrent directories like BTJunkie closing their doors or being threatened with closure, leaving many people wondering about the legalities of torrents and which directories are still open to find them in anyway. The good news is that the process of torrenting is legal – BitTorrent is just a peer-to-peer method for downloading which happens to have many legal uses.However, just knowing the process is legal doesn’t mean that all the torrents out there are. To find legal torrents, the best thing you can do is look for them in directories that specialise in legal material of some kind, like public domain or creative commons works. In order to help you find the best of these legal torrent directories, here’s a list of some of the best.

ClearBits

ClearBits, formerly known as LegalTorrents, specialises in Creative Commons digital media and artwork. It charges the content creators for hosting and distribution and then makes the process of sponsoring your favourite content creators easy for the users. There are also some perks for paying community members if you wish to participate further and support ClearBits.

Torrent Cat

Torrent Cat is actually a search engine based on Google search. It will only return results which are public domain, Creative Commons, open source or otherwise legal to obtain. They are also outspoken against any form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and filter out results containing DRM.

Vuze

Vuze is a BitTorrent client which helps its users to find legal content by publishing the details in their torrent directory. This directory is available from within the client or online, so you don’t need to use Vuze in order to browse their torrents. Although, it is a great client so it’s worth trying out anyway.

Miro

Miro is both a BitTorrent client and a directory of free, legal torrents. It really makes it easy to find great content, so it’s well worth a look. Previously, we’ve also covered how and why you might be able to get your own video feeds into the Miro directory.

ETree

ETree is a directory of live concert recordings provided by trade friendly artists. There’s a lot of really interesting material here, so it’s well worth taking a look.

Game Updates

Game Updates is a legal directory of torrents for game lovers, featuring patches, demos and mods for all sorts of games.

Legal Torrent

The Legal Torrent directory front page features legal movie trailers and free software. To access features like their top 10 torrents you will need to become a member.

Link: http://legaltorrents.com/

Jamendo

Jamendo is a music directory of works released under creative commons. There’s a lot of new material available by indie artists who just want to get heard and to make a name for themselves. To make it even easier to get the music, most of it is available to torrent.

YouTorrent

The YouTorrent directory contains all sorts of creative commons works and movie trailers. The interface is set up to make it easy and interesting to browse the torrents in the directory.

Public Domain Torrents

The Public Domain Torrents directory is a wealth of media and will only increase as more movies come into the public domain. They’ve also sorted these classics into top lists you can use to find the best films, including the top seeded torrents.

Legit Torrents

Legit Torrents is a directory of legal torrents covering all sorts of files: movies, music, freeware and more. It’s easy to search for things within specific categories, but not really designed for casual browsing.

More Free Media

For the fans of legal torrents and other free media, here’s some more articles to read:

Of course, don’t forget to check out our official MUO Torrent guide! Do you use BitTorrent to download your favourite legal media? Which sources do you like the best?

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/legal-torrents-find/

DVDFab domains seized: here are some alternatives

by Martin Brinkmann on March 11, 2014 in Software - Last Update: March 11, 2014 74

When you try to access DVD Fab related domains today, you will notice that most of them are not reachable anymore. This is the consequence of a US court order ruling in favor of the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) consortium that includes companies such as Disney, Intel, Sony, Microsoft or IBM.

Effective immediately, most domains belonging to the company were seized, including dvdfab.com. In addition, hosting companies and social networking providers were ordered to stop servicing the company, and bank and payment providers were asked to freeze company funds.

The company has created several free and commercial products such as DVDFab HD Decrypter, to rip DVD and Blu-Ray movies, bypassing protection in the process.

It is interesting to note that the company did not only produce software to back up movie DVDs and Blu-Rays, but also other programs such as a Media Player to play movies on computer systems.

Additional information can be obtained on the Torrent Freak website.

Some software portals seem to have pulled most DVD Fab software already from their repositories, while you can still download them from others such as Softpedia or Major Geeks.

If you have DVDFab software installed, you can continue to use it just like before. If you are looking for software that helps you create back ups of DVDs or Blu-Ray movies, or rip them to drive to watch them on it, then you may find the following alternatives useful for that.

Disclaimer: Please note that circumventing copy protection may be illegal in your region or country. In some countries at the very least, you are allowed to make personal backups from DVD and Blu-Ray movies that you have purchased. Why that is not a given in all countries is a mystery to me.

DVDFab Alternatives

AnyDVD and AnyDVD HD - Both programs are commercial, but can be used to remove restrictions and region codes from DVDs or Blu-Ray discs. Both programs can remove forced trailers, delays and other restrictions on top of that as well.
BitRipper - Can convert DVD movies to avi video files.
DVD43 - A free DVD decrypter that disables DVD copy protection so that you can use programs to rip or back up the DVD.
DVD Decrypter - Works just like DVD43, but with the difference that it can be used directly to make disk image backups of video DVDs.
DVD Ranger - A commercial application that can be used to copy DVD and Blu-Ray movies.
Easy Brake -
MakeMKV - A free program to rip DVD and Blu-Ray videos to the hard drive.
VidCoder - Another free DVD and Blu-Ray ripping software for Windows.
WinX Blu-Ray Decrypter - A commercial program that can decrypt and copy Blu-Ray movies.
WinX DVD Ripper Platinum - A commercial program that can rip videos from any DVD.

Did we miss an alternative? Let us know in the comment section below.

Please share this article

Source: http://www.ghacks.net/2014/03/11/dvdfab-domains-seized-alternatives/

May 25, 2014

How to Send Large Files - Free

How to Send Large Files

By Rick Broida, PCWorld

Jan 23, 2011 5:45 PM
print

Have you ever had trouble sending a particular file attachment through e-mail, and wondered why? The file is probably too large. Most mail servers (both incoming and outgoing) restrict attachment sizes to a maximum of 10MB, and sometimes even less than that. Gmail and Yahoo are among the exceptions, but even they limit things to 25MB and 20MB, respectively. If you're trying to send someone a video file, a large batch of photos, or anything else that exceeds the limit, the e-mail won't go through. (Think of it as trying to stuff an oversize package into a small mailbox.)

Fortunately, lots of free services let you work around these restrictions. For example, YouSendIt lets you send files as large as 100MB via a Web interface, a desktop utility, or even an Outlook plug-in. Another great option is SugarSync, which offers 5GB of free online storage and makes sharing big files easy. I also like WeTransfer, a dead-simple--and dare I say, sexy--browser-based tool for sharing files in sizes up to 2GB.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/217247/send_large_files.html

Send large files to clients with these 10 free tools

Using email to send large files to your clients can cause problems at both ends. Here are 10 great tools to make things go smoothly...

The age of the web may have connected continents and allowed the world to function around the clock, but to send large files by email can still be a painful experience.

But there's no need to spend vast amounts of money on providing a solution. These free tools will help you to send large files to design clients without the hassle of bounced emails and hours of frustration with FTP connections, and some even haveiPhone apps and free Android apps to make your life even easier.

01. Infinit

free tools to send large files — Infinite claims to be up to 23 times faster than the competition

The main thing that makes Infinit different is that it uses peer to peer technology rather than its cloud servers. That means, the French team of eight designers and developers behind it claims, that it's both more secure and "up to 23 times faster" than rivals.

It's also easy to use, and there are no limits to the number of files you can send, or their size. If your or your recipient's web connection goes down, the service just pauses until it comes back up - you don't gave to start again. And if you're really in a hurry when receiving media files, you can even start playing them before the full file has been sent.

02. WeTransfer

WeTransfer is a lovely looking site that allows you to send large files - up to 2GB per transfer - as often as you like! That way, there won't be any of those last minute e-mail woes when you run out of free transfers! You can send large files by email or grab a download link from the site; easy peasy.

03. itrnsfr

Transfer big files to anyone, anywhere with itrnsfer

With itrnsfr, you can send files up to 2GB to anyone, anywhere. Totally free, no registration is required to use this service. It also allows user to transfer multiple files at once to multiple recipients. As the website states: secure and simple.

04. Sendspace

Launching back in 2005, Sendspace have been delivering files millions of times a week. Each file is tracked so if it's lost into the abyss of the internet, Sendspace will do their best to find it for you. They've also just launched a brand-new drag and drop feature, as well as a Sendspace app - meaning you can send large files on the move.

05. Dropsend

With DropSend, you can send large files of up to 2GB, making it ideal for sending jpegs, pdfs and MP3s. Fast, simple and secure to use, you'll be sending those all-important large files in no time. There's no software to install and it's available with 256bit AES Security. If you're still unsure about what to do, DropSend have also created a handy video tutorial for all your transferring needs.

06. WikiSend

WikiSend is a free file-sharing service that doesn’t require you to create an account to use; you simply upload your file and are given a unique URL to access your file.

Files are then left accessible for seven days for your client to download as many times as they need, and you can share files up to 100MB in size. WIkiSend also provides password-protected file sharing if you register an account with them.

07. Dropbox

Dropbox is possibly the most well known file sharing tool and you'll probably find your client already has this tool installed and is familiar with using it - always a bonus.

You need to register an account to use Dropbox, though it’s free to do so. As well as a web-based application, there’s a desktop application you can install and access your files on your computer in a native.

Dropbox also benefits from having no expiration dates on upload files: you can store files as long as you need to. Plus there's an uncapped maximum file size, so you can send the largest cat video mashups to your clients without worrying about capacity.

08. MediaFire

MediaFire is a free-to-register file sharing website which allows sharing of files up to 100MB in size. There are options to upgrade for greater storage capacity (10GB is available with the free account) and advertisement-free file and folder sharing, and there are desktop apps available for Windows, Linux and Apple, as well as iPhone, iPad and Android applications for mobile.

09. Box

Send large files to your clients with Box

Box is our next recommendation for free tools to share large files with your clients. Personal accounts for sharing are free with up to 5GB of storage space and allow you to share files of any size.

Box also features useful integrations such as with Google Apps and Salesforce. Business accounts are also available with a free trial, with the added bonus of more storage capacity for your design files and greater control over permissions for different user roles.

What really helps Box stand out from the crowd afd the customers who use its business accounts: its client list includes everyone from Procter & Gamble to Stanford University and even Skype and LinkedIn.

10. Senduit

Senduit is intensely simple to use: simply upload your file through the website and you’re provided with a private URL to share your file.
The service has a limit of 100MB for files being shared, and allows you to set an expiry time for durations of 30 minutes to seven days.

Have we missed your favourite way to send large files? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Words: Sammy Maine

Sammy Maine is a reporter at Creative Bloq.
Source: http://www.creativebloq.com/design-tools/send-large-files-clients-free-tools-3132117

May 24, 2014

Best Earbuds Review - 3 Articles

Earbuds Review By Brian Lee at Top 10 Reviews:
Skullcandy INK'D rated tops

http://earbuds-review.toptenreviews.com/

---------------------------------
From Mashable:

1. Panasonic ErgoFit RP-HJE120-D

If you must go cheap, get the Panasonic ErgoFit RP-HJE120-D. For the bottom-of-the-barrel price you get decent sound and a comfortable fit.

I personally have several pair of these and they are a great all around performer. Highly recommended !

Cost: $9.99

2. MEEElectronics A151

While they don’t have extra features like an integrated microphone to wow you, the MEEElectronics A151 earphones offer detailed sound at a decent price.
Bonus: they come with a carrying case.

Cost: $39.99

3. Sennheiser CX 215

The Sennheiser CX 215 Earbud Headphones feature a noise isolating design that cancels out ambient sound, while 20Hz - 20kHz frequency response means the sounds you do hear are so faithfully reproduced, you’ll be shocked at the power. And with a rainbow array of colors to choose from, you’re sure to find a pair that matches your cell phone case.

Cost: $39.99

4. Jay A-Jays Four

Say bye-bye to tangled cords. The Jay A-Jays Four earphones have a beautiful, utilitarian design, a three button remote to control your iPhone and a flat cord. Do your worst, pockets.

Cost: $59.99

5. Klipsch Image S4i II

The Klipsch Image S4i II model adds some updates to the original design, like a flat cord that’s tangle resistant. But don’t worry, they still have the same impressive sound and comfortable fit. This model is most compatible with the iPhone, but Android users can try this option instead.

Cost: $69.99

6. Yamaha EPH-50BL

Yamaha’s EPH-50BL are comparable in quality to options in a far more expensive price range, and they’re so stylish, they’ll feel like part of your outfit.

Cost: $79.99

7. Sennheiser Mm70ip

For the heavy hitters, Sennheiser also has the Mm70ip model, which also features buttons to control the volume, play, skip, or pause tracks. Don’t feel like using your fingers? An integrated microphone allows you to activate Voice Control, or answer, end, or reject calls.

Cost: $99.99

Source: http://mashable.com/2013/08/27/best-earbuds/#_

Best earbuds (in-ear headphones)

Earbuds are commonly issued as freebie headphones with portable players, but higher-performance earbuds can offer sonic performance that rivals their full-size linemates. Their tiny earpieces rest on the outer ear or need to be inserted into the ear canal. Ultracompact and lightweight, earbuds are the most portable of all headphones, and they can provide excellent isolation from external noise when paired with a well-fitted tip.

Justin Yu

Klipsch Image S4A for Android (Black)

Klipsch's ultracomfortable, noise-isolating ear tips are just one of the reasons I love and recommend the S4-series headphones. If you're an Android user shopping for a new pair of earbuds, the Image S4A headphones are definitely worth the $99.

Price: $59.99 - $99.00 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Klipsch Image S4i (II)

The Klipsch Image S4i II in-ear headphones add a new, more durable tangle-resistant flat cord while retaining the S4 model's very respectable sound quality and superior comfort.

Price: $44.95 - $64.00 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Shure SE425

The Shure SE425 sound-isolating earphones are an excellent choice for eclectic listeners who demand stellar audio and a high-quality design.

Price: $299.00 - $299.99 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Etymotic hf5

The Etymotic hf5 earphones are an excellent option for those who want the highest level of sound isolation without sacrificing sound quality, portability, or style.

Price: $102.94 - $149.00 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Bose SEI2 & SEI2i

While they're no bargain, the Bose SEI2 and SEI2i have an appealing, sweat-resistant design, are very comfortable to wear, and offer decent sound.

Price: $129.99 - $149.95 Check prices

3.5 stars Very good

Bose QuietComfort 20

Despite some downsides, including a high price, the Bose QuietComfort 20 offers the best noise-canceling in an in-ear headphone and should tempt frequent travelers looking for a more compact alternative to a full-size NC headphone, such as the Bose QuietComfort 15.

Price: $279.00 - $299.95 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Westone 2 True-Fit

The Westone 2 True-Fit Earphones offer great sound and features for the money; those who find triple-driver earbuds too large for their ears should take heed.

Price: $329.99 - $329.99 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Etymotic ER-4PT MicroPro

While the Etymotic ER-4PTs have less low-end oomph than some competing earphones in this price class, they deliver excellent sound with very accurate tonal balance.

Price: $274.28 - $289.75 Check prices

4 stars Excellent

Ultimate Ears 700 (Dark Silver)

With a sleek design, a range of ear tips, and supreme sound reproduction, the Ultimate Ears 700 headphones are worthy of an audiophile's ear and earn our recommendation.

4 stars Excellent

Velodyne vPulse

While some folks may encounter come comfort issues, the Velodyne vPulse in-ear headphones offer excellent sound for the money and will particularly appeal to bass lovers.

Price: $64.99 - $99.00 Check prices

3.5 stars Very good

Phonak Audeo Perfect Bass 022 Earphones (with Microphone, Black)

The Audeo Perfect Fit Earphones PFE 022 + Mic are a solid choice for iPhone owners who desire balanced audio and a light, compact design.

Price: $179.99 - $211.12 Check prices

3.5 stars Very good

Bowers & Wilkins C5

While the Secure Loop design may not be a perfect fit for every ear, the Bowers & Wilkins C5s are among the best-sounding earphones in their sub-$200 price class.

Price: $179.00 - $199.99 Check prices

3.5 stars Very good

Source: http://www.cnet.com/topics/headphones/best-headphones/earbuds/