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Archive utility

Have you wondered which is the best Windows compress/deflate to use? I use WinRar at home and PKZip at work. Recently I had to compress a 3GB database backup using PKZip. I used maximum compression and used deflate as the compression method. I could only bring the zip file size down to 1.9GB. It was not good enough because transferring from the ftp server proved challenging. I provided the option to split the files into smaller zip files of 650MB.

I googled and found a link that provided comparison for archiver methods http://molhanec.net/archivers.php

It is interesting because many times I tend to use whatever utility that is available, i.e. free, open-source or what the company uses. I have not considered alternatives for the reason stated earlier. The link gives a good indication of the ability of each utility and recommendation. Check it out.

Web sites that deliver unique services to its users

Recently I have been researching on web sites that provide business ideas or services that are unique.  Interestingly I have come across quite a few web sites that has originality not in terms of design but in terms of the delivery of a unique service to its users.  Here are some of the web sites listed in no particular order.   http://www.junglescan.com Tracks sales rankings of Amazon products.  A web application developedusing the Amazon API   http://www.blogshares.com Fantasy shares trading of blog websites.  Value of shares aredetermined by comparing incoming and outgoing links to a blog.   http://www.audioscrobbler.com A media player plug-in is used to track music that you listen to andthen it recommends you to a music group with similar music taste forsocial networking.   http://www.bookcrossing.com Book exchange, reviews and social networking   http://www.pricenoia.com Using the Amazon API, it compares prices of Amazon merchandise fromall Amazon shops including shipping cost.  Does the currencyconversion for you.  As a consumer you can then pick which Amazon tobuy from at the best price.   http://www.musicplasma.com A music search engine and a music map (flash interface).  Groupsingers of the same genre together and you can move around the map andlisten to their music.   http://www.bloglinker.com Blogs can exchange links using bloglinker as the central linking server.