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Bluetooth file transfers

I often find myself needing to move small files (ex., text documents) between my laptop and desktop computers. Both box boxes are online and sitting on the same desk, but aren't necessarily on the same network. (I'll leave the interpretation of that to your imagination—but wi-fi, VPNs, and DMZs may be involved.) To make it more complicated, I don't run file sharing services on either machine (not that it would matter anyway since they can't see each other.)

With the two computers sitting physically next to each other, not being able to easily move files between them is highly frustrating. Originally (and still for larger files) I was solving this sneakernet-style, using a USB memory stick. However, awhile back I had a very small file that needed to be transfered, yet I was feeling particularly lazy and didn't want to go get my USB stick from the other room. What to do...what to do...

I have a USB Bluetooth dongle for my desktop machine so that I can sync and install files to my phone. The PowerBook came with Bluetooth built-in. Because I frequently transfer files to my phone, I leave the Bluetooth File Exchange app ("/Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth File Exchange.app") in my Dock.

Sending a file to a phone isn't anything special. The transfer uses standard OBEX, thus, sending a file from computer-to-computer over Bluetooth should also "just work." Turns out, it does. Establishing a connection isn't 100% reliable, and the bandwidth is pretty lousy, but if you're stuck needing to move small files between physically-close, but not network-close, computers, you can add Bluetooth to your bag of tricks.