to?

Did you somehow miss our feature from earlier this month on how to share ridiculously large files? Does reading make you sleepy? My CNET colleague Tom Merritt has taken it upon himself to present some of the highlights from that how-to guide in video form, so you can absorb its knowledge through moving images instead.

And, hey--if you do like reading (which is probably why you've made it this far), the sites mentioned in the video are: Dropbox, Glide, SendThisFile, WeTransfer, and FileDropper.

There's something to be said for a simple, straightforward note-taking app that borrows from the familiar: sticky notes. BugMe! is one such app.

If the name rings a bell, you probably owned a PalmPilot at some point. That's where the app originated, and call me nostalgic, but I'm happy to see it reborn for the iPhone.

Admittedly, the App Store is already replete with sticky note-inspired task managers, so what sets BugMe! apart? In a word: simplicity.

Instead of packing the app with features, developer Electric Pocket kept the interface about as straightforward as they come. Tap &… Read more

There are plenty of YouTube videos you watch that you may want to save, and in this video CNET editor Brian Tong shows how to do that with Safari.

As much bad press as Microsoft gets for Internet Explorer, we can't fault the software giant for continuing to develop what remains to be (for better or for worse) the world's most-used browser. In response to criticism, Microsoft started showing what it terms an Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview. We're told that the forthcoming IE 9 will include modern browser tricks, such as video that can play in the browser without a separate plug-in, better graphics performance, and the HTML5 Web standard that will let the browser handle a more complex class of Web apps. Although IE … Read more

A few years ago it was a big deal to find a place that would let you share 1 gigabyte files.

Things change, though. Bandwidth keeps growing, and the cost of Web storage keeps shrinking. That's good news for people looking to share increasingly large files, be it an HD video recording or an archive of several files that tops out at over a gig.

There are now a handful of free and paid services that make it easy to host these gigantic files and send them to a friend, family member, or business associate.

The key thing to point out here is the individual file size limit. Many storage services will throw gigabytes at you without any real strings attached except for the fact that you cannot upload files larger than a gig. This really isn't a big deal, that is until that first time you need to do it. Below are a handful of sites, both free and paid, that are up to the task.

The free ones

There's no such thing as a free lunch, but the same cannot be said about storage. You can, with little effort, dump large files in a number of places. The usual caveat there is that there tends to be a lot of on-site advertising and your files may not be saved for very long in case you want to come back to re-download or share them later on.

ADrive (2GB): ADrive is more of a personal file storage service, but files can be shared via a direct link, or via e-mail. The service gives users 50GB of total storage and uploads at up to 2GB a pop. It has both a Web-based uploader and a desktop software version. There's also a paid version of the service that adds more space and FTP access.

File Xpressit (2GB): File Xpressit actually tops out at 300MB a file but will go up to 2GB if you register with the service. It is free, it just requires clicking an activation link in an e-mail. The uploader does not require Flash or Java, which is nice if you're trying to use it on a computer without it installed. The service can also give you an e-mail notification when the file has been downloaded by your recipient.

Worth noting is that to use FileXpressit, you'll need to have an e-mail address for the person you wish to send the file to. This won't actually send the gigantic file to their in-box, but it means you can't start the upload without typing it in first.

Humyo (10GB): Humyo has a free and a paid plan, but the free plan is very generous at 10GB of free storage. There are basically no set-in-stone file size limits, just a cautionary message that encourages files that are over 10GB to be split into smaller segments. We didn't actually test this with a 10GB file (and we doubt you will either), but it's nice to know you could if you wanted to.… Read more

Roger Ebert's search to recapture his lost voice uncovered a company with a unique technology.

When the famed film critic needed to find a way to communicate after losing his voice to cancer surgery, he turned to text-to-speech (TTS) software that speaks whatever he types. But the TTS software he initially tried sounded too robotic and computerized. He wanted a voice that sounded like him. That's when he discovered CereProc, a Scottish company that builds electronic voices. Using someone's audio recordings, CereProc's technology can stitch together an entire digital voice that sounds like the actual person.… Read more

Wouldn't it be great if you could set up a simple keyword to initiate a site-specific search that you need to perform regularly? It turns out you can, including for search engines such as Google and Bing.

In this How To we'll show you a simple hack for making search engines and site-specific searches alike do your bidding at a single keystroke.

Although he lost his voice to cancer surgery, Roger Ebert is sounding like his old self thanks to some innovative software.

The famous film critic, known for his spirited debates with the late Gene Siskel on their "At the Movies" show, has survived a difficult few years.

Diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002, Ebert underwent a series of operations that eventually robbed him of his voice and lower jaw, taking away his ability to speak, eat, and drink. To communicate with the outside world, he has relied on traditional text-to-speech (TTS) software that speaks whatever he types.

But … Read more

We recently wrote about Mac OS X's various security options. After we published those articles, a few readers asked if we could tell them what settings they should routinely use for OS X's firewall. While the firewall in OS X is supposed to be straightforward and simple to use, the idea of selecting preferred settings can be confusing.… Read more