Hi campers, as some of you know I buy a lot of LPs and cassettes at thrift stores. If they haven't been re-released, or if they are long out of print, etc, I like to package them and share on my blogs. I also like to make compilations -- different versions of STAR TREK themes or Halloween songs -- and share them too.

I was with Megaupload and of course it is gone. My present host has started opening my files and restricting them after I've uploaded them. Some that I have password-protected, they have restricted, I think because they can't open them to see if they are naughty.

I'm not selling anything or trying to cheat anybody, I am just sharing music that is really unavailable in most other places, or repackaging music from 20 different places around a central theme.

I'd like some suggestions for a place I can pay a modest ($50 maybe) annual fee and that will host my cassette-LP rips or whatever, without restricting or locking them. I'm not selling stuff or giving away Billboard's Top Ten, just sharing neat stuff to a small bunch of similiarly-minded nerdy types.

Thanks for any suggestions, because I'm getting ready to suspend my blog until I can find a better parking place for the files ...

Yr humble servant and (sometime) smart-aleck,

Mark
Mark's Super Blog (http://markssuperblog.blogspot.com/)
Spock’s Record Round-Up (http://spocksrecordround-up.blogspot.com/)

Well I ve Sendspace, you can use it freely or pay an account for 1 month at 6 bucks.

If you're not sharing stuff that's particularly likely to attract DMCA complaints, pretty much any host should do what you want.

Don't discount Megaupload's successor, Mega... so far, I'm finding them very good.

Mega is a good site but you can only use Chrome to download for now.

Yes, I noted that it kept pushing Chrome onto me while I browsed their info pages. Do you mean that only Chrome users could download stuff from there? That would rule them out, though I liked the other things I saw there.

Check out my blog for what I share there ... I don't see me as a take-down magnet, but Mediafire evidently thinks I am, considering they have locked up some of my things like 1958 out-of-print records and dubs of cassettes that have not been reissued.

THANK YOU AGAIN for all suggestions and taking the time to reply,


Mark
Mark's Super Blog (http://markssuperblog.blogspot.com/)
Spock’s Record Round-Up (http://spocksrecordround-up.blogspot.com/)

Firefox users can now download with the installation of a small plugin.

The incompatibility thing is silly, but at the same time installing Chrome (which is an excellent browser) - which is free and tiny - is a small price to pay for access to a good host. :)

OK, next question -- will the free hosting sites like MEGA keep my files around for a while? I kind of assumed that paying for the service would make them keep your files around for awhile. Some files that had lapsed from Mediafire a year ago suddenly became active again when I paid for a year's service. That was before they started opening my files and locking them.

I may try MEGA, but I want a place to move hundreds of RAR files where folks can get them if I share them ... I can pay $50-60 per year to keep them live.

Mark
Mark's Super Blog (http://markssuperblog.blogspot.com/)
Spock’s Record Round-Up (http://spocksrecordround-up.blogspot.com/)

MEGA is forever (even on the free account) unless a) they get taken down following some complaint, b) MEGA goes down the toilet, or c) you fill up a premium account with stuff then let your membership lapse.

For a comparitively low-volume (as compared to, say, a big movie piracy site or what have you) blog dealing in music that, realistically, nobody is going to DMCA... it might be worth a go.

Who knows? In the current climate it's not exactly a good time to be looking for file hosts... ;)

Most of the other freebies will delete after a period of time - ranging from a week to 90 days - usually downloading them resets the counter. This is easy enough if you've got twenty files but perhaps less so if you have 500...

Mega makes me sick. No, sorry, Google does. Their Chrome still doesn't work with screenreaders, and no effense but can I decided myself which browser I'm going to use...? First they conquer YouTube, now mega... Way to go.

Hold on a minute... how have Google conquered Mega? Mega works best with Chrome due to it using features of HTML5 that are, at present, only properly implemented by Chrome.

Even though I don't use Chrome (though it's an excellent browser, I'm a Firefox man and in no great rush to migrate) I have absolutely no problem installing a secondary browser for a) backup purposes and b) if it gives me access to a free and stupidly fast hosting service such as Mega.

In any case, as previously discussed, Mega does now work with Firefox with the installation of a small browser extension... and as soon as the other browsers catch up and implement HTML5 properly, Mega will work with everything.

I know it's a nuisance... but it's not a conspiracy. It's a compatibility issue. Downloading and installing Chrome takes fifteen seconds. It takes longer to complain about having to get Chrome to use Mega than it actually does to do it...

Yes, of course, but it's a double nuisance for me because Google Chrome isn't supported by any screenreader for blind people like me. Also, why use html codes that no other browser than Google Chrome supports? I mean, wouldn't it be a bit more logical to go for a system every browser supports?

I would've thought getting Chrome working with assistive software would've been a priority for Google... :(

I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but the encryption feature of Mega requires features that aren't really supported in "current" browsers except Chrome. It's not really their fault. Other browser developers need a kick in the butt to properly implement HTML5.

And it's not like IE is a fantastic browser... the world would probably be a better place without it, all things considered... (Not that it's as bad as it used to be, but despite Microsoft's efforts it remains a poor choice in comparison to Chrome and Firefox...)

:)

Well, actually I still use IE8 (yes, I'm not joking) and it's the perfect browser for screenreaders. :D But I'm used to people mocking IE so I guess their reasoning is justified; For me, however, it's still the best choice: Firefox needed additional plugins to read Flash pages (pur-lease!), Opera didn't work for me at all and with Chrome I can sonly read links. So yeah, I still love IE. :D To each his own, though.

So, the answer to my "good hoster" question is now a hissy fit about browsers? O the infamy! ;)

Probably in the next day or so I will sigh and pick one. MEGA seems to be in the lead so far. Any other relevant ideas? Thanks again,

Mark
Mark's Super Blog (http://markssuperblog.blogspot.com/)
Spock’s Record Round-Up (http://spocksrecordround-up.blogspot.com/)

Well I always use sedspace because it doesn't require captchas and other idiotic things... Mediafire is known to have a look in your files, which is in my opinion over the top, but I have never had troubles with sendspace.

OK, I am going to try MEGA. If any of you would be so kind as to try these three links and let me know if you have any problems? According to the "Here is your link" page this is a link AND a key? I don't understand that part....

https://mega.co.nz/#!HUVhzBhS!ZBIM61-yA9WdT1_ghRxReTfLbOx-lBIo1fYkx_HieEY
https://mega.co.nz/#!rUMA2bAQ!Gkd0kimT43Qb2xbm7YZuamPAFVQev1KoDmgDX42 c3AA
https://mega.co.nz/#!jV0yVbYC!ZlCamGHlhi0kgKPtG7nr7GZ22UYlvbs6X4VLIF3 Kk3o


THANK YOU AGAIN for your suggestions and words!

Mark
Mark's Super Blog (http://markssuperblog.blogspot.com/)
Spock’s Record Round-Up (http://spocksrecordround-up.blogspot.com/)