Opera Unite is an amazing service that allows you to run a web server right out of your own browser! What does that mean? It means that you can share photos, music, and files without uploading them to some external service. You can even set up a private chat room for your friends at a moment’s notice.

This has obvious awesome implications for people who have something to hide– or who just don’t want to share their information with a big corporation. However, I’ve found it to be very useful as a designer– when I finish a large graphic design job for someone I can just put the (huge) image files up on my new webserver, send the URL as an IM or an email, and let my client download it directly. Security-minded companies find this much more desirable than sending sensitive files out over the open intertubes.

You can even stream your iTunes music folder by adding it to the “Media Player” window in Opera Unite. Then you can log into your iTunes from anywhere in the world and listen to your favorite songs off your own computer. Of course, like any good server, your computer has to be ON with Opera Unite running for this to work. That’s what makes it a great option for your old computer that’s just sitting around collecting dust. Turn it into a media server, add Opera Unite, and leave it on, connected to your network.

As anyone who has ever operated their own home server will tell you, it’s sort of a hassle to keep it on and running (especially when you need it most). At least with this, there is no messy configuring.

What do you think? Do you use it? Is there a way you can see it being more practical than using Web 2.0 tools? Talk about it in the comments!

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