One of the hottest topics in WebTV circles lately is transloading, especially the recent changes in the most popular of the transloading services, Star Boulevard.
A combination of factors including increased traffic and low revenue, has prompted the creator of Star Boulevard to split the service into two separate elements. Limited use [for files less than 30K] is still free. Larger files and features are now available only by a subscription to the pay section.
This has its good points and bad points. Traffic should be decreased in both sections and that is good news. The end of free and unlimited use is not good news, but it was not unexpected. The rates seem reasonable for such a reliable and versatile tool and that is good news. The really good news is that there are many more alternatives to the Star Boulevard service than there were the last time we covered this topic in Voice.
For the uninitiated, a
transloader makes it possible to use File Transfer Protocol [FTP] with a WebTV terminal. FTP is explained in this article from a previous issue. For an insight into why linking is bad and transloading is good,check here. More information and links about transloading,
linking and bandwidth can be found in the Net4TV Voice archives. On to the good stuff!
A page that started out as a newsgroup post came my way recently. It is the first attempt that I've seen to list the various transloading services and free homepage providers that offer FTP interfaces in one place.
This page is not merely a list of links. There are notes and brief instructions for each page listed. Further refinements are planned, according to its diligent author, Beth Candy. If transloading floats your boat, this one is a keeper.
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The FTP options for WebTV users are
turning up with greater frequency, it seems. Ran across another one last week on a funky provider that calls itself Internet Trash.
Internet Trash proclaims that it is
"The 'be yourself' Internet Community.
The only place for tasteless,
useless, trashy, politically incorrect, rude, silly, stupid, meaningless, obnoxious, waste of bandwidth homepages! Normal & ordinary homepages also welcome!"
What's not to like, here? Your choice of domain names like netjunk.com or internetdump.com is quaint. 10 MB of space is provided along with chat, forums and email.
The kicker is that they provide a dedicated FTP to their site. 100K graphics can be transferred via their Web Mover, a feature that is provided specifically for WebTV users. There is a separate utility that allows HTML pages to be transferred to a free homepage account. No banners or popups and a quick connection. So far.
What are you waiting for? Just transload it and start building your own homepage now at the free home page provider of your choice! It's easy, it's fun and it will consume every waking minute of your life from now on. [Just kidding on that last one...I think.]
