This is an excellent idea in theory... but what about the massive size of most map files?  Mine are typically 50MB+, and my "home" map is about 300MB.  Not very convenient for sharing, unfortunately.

I have large maps of Chattanooga, TN (300MB); Knoxville, TN; San Francisco, CA (280MB); and Cincinnati, OH.  I have smaller maps of several towns/areas in TN, GA, AL, KY, and MS.  My primary use of BCN is for geocaching. 

If anyone can tell me how to share them (files are too big for email), then I'll gladly participate.

Music and video files are typically shared using a peer-to-peer network.  Users download a small client program (Napster, Morpheus, Kazaa, WinMX, etc.) then put files they want to share in a public folder.  Other users tell the program what they want and the program searches until it finds another connected computer with the requested file.  Files are transferred directly from one computer to another.  Some systems still use centralized servers to coordinate transfers (Kazaa, Napster), while others are purely peer-to-peer.

A couple of huge problems is that these programs are typically loaded to the gills with spyware and are notorious virus-spreaders.  Just because the file is named "Kermit-Sings-ABC.mp3" doesn't mean it's safe.

Hi, new guy here, don't even have BCN downloaded yet - I just got my first PDA in the mail and am waiting for the battery to charge so I can start on BCN.

Meanwhile I was looking through some of the old posts here, and found this one. Did you guys find another way to solve this problem? If not, I think I might be able to help. I'm not much of a geek, but I know just enough to be dangerous, as the saying goes. And sharing maps sounds like a good idea to me.

My initial idea is to set up a free file storage account on Xdrive, and just openly share the user name and password here on the board. Then, any of us can go there on our desktop PC and take or put files just like we do to drives or a PDA. We can get 5 GB free total storage space (there might be a per-file limit of 1 GB, I think I remember something about that although I don't see it in a quick perusal of the site). That ought to get us started. Once we fill that up we can discuss options for plan B.

As to risks, being that open with the password might expose us to somebody maliciously leaving dangerous files there, or modifying our files to introduce dangerous elements. I don't understand how all that stuff works, but I'm with the guy above who suggests that a small group like this would be "under the radar". Still, going forward, if we find this works then maybe we can get secretive with the password usng email or something.

If anybody is still interested, post here and I'll be happy to set it up. Then one of you can test to see if you can access it, download and upload files.

Thanks for setting up the XDrive account.

I have many maps of the Salt Lake City (and surrounding ATV'ing desert area) that I'll be uploading.

5Mile Pass OHV
12Mile Pass OHV
Eureka
Richfield (the Paiute trail system)
Fillmore (trails)
Logandale, Nevada (Valley of Fire)