Ever stumbled onto a torrent on-the-go and wished you could start the download on your home computer? Free service ReactorFeed allows you to create a custom RSS feed and add items from popular torrent sites that your home BitTorrent client can automatically start downloading. More »
Windows: You can do a lot more with the free cross-platform utility Dropbox than sync files. In fact, with the free command line tool Akira, you can administer, and grab non-Dropbox files from, any computer linked to your Dropbox account. More »
LogMeIn has released a new version of their popular VPN-solution Hamachi. Hamachi² has the great ease of use of the original Hamachi plus enhancements like a new GUI and web-based management. More »
Windows/Mac/Linux: If you’re interested in the idea of cloud computing and remote access to your files but are a bit paranoid about putting your data on some third party server, Tonido is a great compromise. More »
We’ve already shown you how to shutdown Windows via SMS with Outlook and how to do the same on a Mac using Mail.app, but a user on the Hak5 forums demonstrates how to setup a similar SMS shutdown using the venerable Thunderbird email client. The method requires the Mailbox Alert extension and a little configuration, but once you’re done you can save some power with a quick text message next time you forget to shutdown your computer. The tutorial is Windows-specific, but I’m guessing you could mesh the Mail.app method with this one and accomplish the same thing for OS X. Remote Shutdown Via SMS [Hak5]
You’re at a friends house, extolling the virtues of your latest TV obsession or music kick, and you can’t wait to get them into it as well. Usually, this conversation ends with a promise of burned CDs—but why not offer them what you’ve already grabbed from BitTorrent, or give them a user name and password to get what you’re about to start downloading? TorrentFlux, a free, open-source, server-based BitTorrent manager, can do all those things. If you’ve got a Windows or Linux computer you keep on most of the time, a home server, or even hosted space, you can take control of your downloads. Follow through the jump for a tutorial on getting started with TorrentFlux.
The Murphy Mac weblog steps through how to retrieve any file on your Mac using a simple AppleScript in conjunction with Mail.app. When you’ve finished configuring the script, you can send an email to your home computer with a keyword subject and the full path to the file you forgot—say your homework or that big Keynote presentation—and the script will automatically email the file to you. Of course there are tonnes of other ways you could go about accessing your home files remotely, but Murphy Mac’s slick solution is a good option to add to the list. Retrieve a Remote File – by Email [Murphy Mac]
You want access to your home computer wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, whether that’s via a remote desktop connection, SSH, FTP, web interface, or any other remote access you’ve set up. The catch is, you don’t like throwing money away to an always-on system. Luckily you can have your digital cake and eat it, too, and today I’ll show you how to boot and shut down your system remotely so that it’s ready for you when you need it and it’s not wasting energy when you don’t.
Two years ago, we showed you how to take your data home for the holidays.
