Just thought I would put together a Bit-torrent guide. Don't be expecting any rocket science here. This is just going to be the basic's.
First of all I am stating that to copy films / files/ programs/ software without the owners permission is illegal!! Do not do it. Any information that follows is purely educational.
With the advent of broadband technologies such as DSL and cable modems, the everyday user suddenly has a big chunk of bandwidth, not only for download, but also upload. Sharing files directly from your computer (without first sending them to a server) is now a reality. This is where p2p comes in. The acronym p2p stands for peer-to-peer, which basically means client to client. That is, you download files from people like you instead of from big servers, and in turn they download files from you. You share your files, your friends share their files, and everyone talks directly to each other.
The problem with most P2P networks is that many people just don't like to share. They open up their program, download their files, then close the program before they can help anyone else. It's called leeching. BitTorrent is a P2P file swarming application. This means that as soon as you have downloaded a few chunks of a file it will start uploading it to others, thereby spreading the file better. This makes it easier to get the file from many different people at once, thereby increasing the probably that you'll get a good download speed. This means that the more you upload, the faster you'll download.
You first need to install a Bit Torrent client to be able to download from BitTorrent. There is a evergrowing list of these.
Next you have to find a Bit Torrent to download. There are lots of sites out there which have links to whatever Torrent you prefer.
Guide to torrent abrievations;
I am not an expert and if anyone has a better explanation please help clear up my (mis)understanding,
CAM- usually lowest quality, like camcorder in a theater
TS - TeleSync visually about as good maybe better than CAM, but has a direct source to the audio, so audio is usually better than CAM
TC - TeleCine, much better than CAM and TS, not exactly sure how movie is recorded
Screener - usually DVD of new movie that is sent out early to stores or awards organizations or even as promotional material... usually has property of so and so studios or some other marker like station identification or subtitles...
I'm not sure why some people choose to put out DivX or XviD, or VCD vs. SVCD or DVDrip or .iso or .cue or .bin files, probaly down to personal choice, but in the end if you want to put these files onto DVD then you have to convert them again with the appropiate software. So you can see this process takes time and it's just not a walk in the park.
Monday, April 11, 2005
ZoooooooooM
The Madasafish 8Mbps trial has begun! A handful of lucky Madasafish customers were selected to assist in testing the super-fast broadband service which is expected to launch later this year. With an 8Mb connection online gaming, internet radio and the future promise of TV over broadband will be seamless and waiting for content to load will be a thing of the past.
Click here for link to full article.
Click here for link to full article.
Powerline communications come of age
Power line communications (PLC) has evolved into Broadband Powerline Communications (BPL) that has two primary applications - broadband access (BPL-Access) and home networking (BPL-Indoor)
A new report has been produced on this technology by Research and Markets Ltd and finds that:
- Every household connected to the power grid can be offered BPL-Access service by the power utility in partnership with the appropriate vendor. More than eighty trials and commercial deployments are currently underway in all the continents.
- BPL has matured to a point where it poses a serious challenge to entrenched technologies in the realms of both broadband access and home networking. Since BPL allows the use of existing infrastructure, it lowers the cost of deployment and allows service providers to offer competitive pricing.
- BPL-Access offers higher data rates than other widely available competing alternatives such as DSL and cable modem. Similarly, BPL-Indoor competes against other home networking technologies, such as Wi-Fi and HomePNA, and offers several competitive advantages.
- A wide range of innovative BPL-enabled devices are being introduced into the market. These devices range from broadband gateways, digital media adapters, personal computers (PCs), and home security monitoring devices. More than 30 device vendors are competing in this market.
- The HomePlug standard is driving the home networking market. Intellon?s ?turbo? solution supports 85 Mb/s, and the upcoming HomePlug AV standard will support 200 Mb/s. Competing proprietary solutions have been proposed by DS2, Spidcom, and Panasonic. All these solutions support Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and triple-play applications - data, voice and video.
- There is no BPL-Access standard, but several proprietary standards with unique capabilities are being offered. DS2?s 205 Mb/s technology, which enjoys the support of most of the BPL-Access vendors, has been chosen as the baseline technology by the OPERA consortium. The HomePlug standard is being enhanced to support BPL-Access, creating the prospect of multiple competing standards.
- Vendors involved in BPL range from start-ups to established players such as Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Siemens, Sharp, and Samsung. Additional major vendors will get involved in BPL in the coming months.
- Service providers involved in BPL range from telephone operators (BellSouth, France Telecom), cable companies (Comcast, Cox), satellite services providers (Hughes, EchoStar), and fixed wireless access providers.
- Those deploying BPL-Indoor solutions include schools, hotels, and multi-dwelling units (MDUs) and multi-tenant units (MTUs). In addition, there have been several of deployments in residential neighborhoods.
A new report has been produced on this technology by Research and Markets Ltd and finds that:
- Every household connected to the power grid can be offered BPL-Access service by the power utility in partnership with the appropriate vendor. More than eighty trials and commercial deployments are currently underway in all the continents.
- BPL has matured to a point where it poses a serious challenge to entrenched technologies in the realms of both broadband access and home networking. Since BPL allows the use of existing infrastructure, it lowers the cost of deployment and allows service providers to offer competitive pricing.
- BPL-Access offers higher data rates than other widely available competing alternatives such as DSL and cable modem. Similarly, BPL-Indoor competes against other home networking technologies, such as Wi-Fi and HomePNA, and offers several competitive advantages.
- A wide range of innovative BPL-enabled devices are being introduced into the market. These devices range from broadband gateways, digital media adapters, personal computers (PCs), and home security monitoring devices. More than 30 device vendors are competing in this market.
- The HomePlug standard is driving the home networking market. Intellon?s ?turbo? solution supports 85 Mb/s, and the upcoming HomePlug AV standard will support 200 Mb/s. Competing proprietary solutions have been proposed by DS2, Spidcom, and Panasonic. All these solutions support Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and triple-play applications - data, voice and video.
- There is no BPL-Access standard, but several proprietary standards with unique capabilities are being offered. DS2?s 205 Mb/s technology, which enjoys the support of most of the BPL-Access vendors, has been chosen as the baseline technology by the OPERA consortium. The HomePlug standard is being enhanced to support BPL-Access, creating the prospect of multiple competing standards.
- Vendors involved in BPL range from start-ups to established players such as Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Siemens, Sharp, and Samsung. Additional major vendors will get involved in BPL in the coming months.
- Service providers involved in BPL range from telephone operators (BellSouth, France Telecom), cable companies (Comcast, Cox), satellite services providers (Hughes, EchoStar), and fixed wireless access providers.
- Those deploying BPL-Indoor solutions include schools, hotels, and multi-dwelling units (MDUs) and multi-tenant units (MTUs). In addition, there have been several of deployments in residential neighborhoods.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Important Emerging Trends
One of the most important emerging trends at the minute seems to be Voice over IP and IP Telephony. We discussed in class the various advantages this service could provide if fully realised. So it was not surprising when I found this web page on the subject. I have summerised as follows. Please read.
Voice over IP (VoIP), the convergence of voice over packet-switched IP data networks, and IP Telephony are amongst the most important emerging trends in telecommunications. The business case for implementing VoIP or IPT will inevitably include such business benefits as increased functionality, ACD, CTI and extension mobility whilst cost savings may be found in reduced on-net call costs and lower costs associated with moves, adds and changes. However, once inherent start-up costs are considered, it can be challenging to build a business case based entirely on cost especially for companies currently with a private internal network or having an install base that is not fully depreciated.
Implementing VoIP requires attention to many factors including: available bandwidth, Qos/Cos policies, manageability, scalability, functionality requirements, availability (including survivable remote solutions for branch office networks), performance and security. Integration is another key consideration as, inevitably, large enterprise telephony environments often feature heterogeneous, multi-vendor networks with disparate devices deployed for the distinctive needs of their large and small sites.
Business deployment can be hindered by the lower quality of voice over IP.
Voice quality is a subjective topic and the definition of ‘good’ voice quality varies greatly with business needs and user expectations. Whilst lower delay, packet loss and jitter values produce the best voice quality the trade off may come in the form of increased costs associated with network infrastructure upgrades. There is also a trade off between real world limits and acceptable voice quality. Indeed some limits lie beyond easy control (such as the inherent fixed delay between geographically remote sites, for example between the UK and India).
Here is a link to the full article
Voice over IP (VoIP), the convergence of voice over packet-switched IP data networks, and IP Telephony are amongst the most important emerging trends in telecommunications. The business case for implementing VoIP or IPT will inevitably include such business benefits as increased functionality, ACD, CTI and extension mobility whilst cost savings may be found in reduced on-net call costs and lower costs associated with moves, adds and changes. However, once inherent start-up costs are considered, it can be challenging to build a business case based entirely on cost especially for companies currently with a private internal network or having an install base that is not fully depreciated.
Implementing VoIP requires attention to many factors including: available bandwidth, Qos/Cos policies, manageability, scalability, functionality requirements, availability (including survivable remote solutions for branch office networks), performance and security. Integration is another key consideration as, inevitably, large enterprise telephony environments often feature heterogeneous, multi-vendor networks with disparate devices deployed for the distinctive needs of their large and small sites.
Business deployment can be hindered by the lower quality of voice over IP.
Voice quality is a subjective topic and the definition of ‘good’ voice quality varies greatly with business needs and user expectations. Whilst lower delay, packet loss and jitter values produce the best voice quality the trade off may come in the form of increased costs associated with network infrastructure upgrades. There is also a trade off between real world limits and acceptable voice quality. Indeed some limits lie beyond easy control (such as the inherent fixed delay between geographically remote sites, for example between the UK and India).
Here is a link to the full article
Thursday, March 24, 2005
My Top 10 list of free downloads sites.
Everyone likes to get something for nothing. So here's my top ten list of free download sites. You will find something that you like- completely free!!!
1. www.download.com
2. www.fileplanet.com
3. www.majorgeeks.com
4. www.addictive247.co.uk
5. www.freeserifsoftware.com
6. www.freeukstuff.com
7. www.zdnet.com
8. www.freewareandstuff.com
9. www.tucows.com
10. www.fontvillage.com
1. www.download.com
2. www.fileplanet.com
3. www.majorgeeks.com
4. www.addictive247.co.uk
5. www.freeserifsoftware.com
6. www.freeukstuff.com
7. www.zdnet.com
8. www.freewareandstuff.com
9. www.tucows.com
10. www.fontvillage.com
Monday, March 07, 2005
Course round-up
So far the course is interesting and I'm learning a lot from it. For example, have a look at my Online C.V. and let me know what you think (click on the link). I know the web page is very basic, but it is my very first attempt at web design, something I never thought of ever doing. I plan to add to it as I learn more. So you never know, it could could all "singing and dancing" after a while. I am learning about the different protocols used in networking and their encoding. Also I have learned a bit about MPEG encoding, something I want to go into a little deeper. WHY IS THERE SO MANY CODEC's?
Our next lecture touches on peer to peer networking (file sharing) As I am interested in BiT-Torrent, (A form of file sharing, used mainly in sharing movies. Also see my links). this should be interesting.
Also, part of the lectures are videos on various topics on networking and the internet. These form a very important part of the course and I feel link the course to the "REAL WORLD". One of the video's was about "911", the World Trade Center disaster and how it affected the public telephone network. One of the buildings destroyed beside the World Trade Center contained one of the biggest public telephone switching nodes in America and all traffic had to be routed away from it. As was shown in the video, cables were even temporaly put through the office window of one building and into the window of another building across the street. It was truely was a feat of engineering. It also showed, how in times of crisis how much traffic increases on the public telephone network, with everyone desparate for information and how this was dealt with. Many people also started their own web sites, to list people that survived. It makes you think how much we depend on information.
Our next lecture touches on peer to peer networking (file sharing) As I am interested in BiT-Torrent, (A form of file sharing, used mainly in sharing movies. Also see my links). this should be interesting.
Also, part of the lectures are videos on various topics on networking and the internet. These form a very important part of the course and I feel link the course to the "REAL WORLD". One of the video's was about "911", the World Trade Center disaster and how it affected the public telephone network. One of the buildings destroyed beside the World Trade Center contained one of the biggest public telephone switching nodes in America and all traffic had to be routed away from it. As was shown in the video, cables were even temporaly put through the office window of one building and into the window of another building across the street. It was truely was a feat of engineering. It also showed, how in times of crisis how much traffic increases on the public telephone network, with everyone desparate for information and how this was dealt with. Many people also started their own web sites, to list people that survived. It makes you think how much we depend on information.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Good Bye Dial-up!!!
100% ADSL coverage in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland became the first UK region, outside of London, to have every one of its exchanges enabled for broadband. The announcement was made by BT Northern Ireland in association with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and the Building Sustainable Prosperity programme.
Northern Ireland became the first UK region, outside of London, to have every one of its exchanges enabled for broadband. The announcement was made by BT Northern Ireland in association with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and the Building Sustainable Prosperity programme.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Research
I've been reading some of the other blogs of the people in my class and I'm very impressed. Our class comprises of computer science students and electronic and computer system engineer's. Some of these guys are naturals at this sort of thing.
So I've been thinking on what sort of content to put on my blog. I think I'll give a report on my lessons so far, with a few of my rants and raves just for fun. Also, as I have stated on my profile, I am interested in Bit Torrent, so I will also give a report on what I know of Bit torrents and what I find out in the future. So keep tuned folks.....
So I've been thinking on what sort of content to put on my blog. I think I'll give a report on my lessons so far, with a few of my rants and raves just for fun. Also, as I have stated on my profile, I am interested in Bit Torrent, so I will also give a report on what I know of Bit torrents and what I find out in the future. So keep tuned folks.....
Monday, February 21, 2005
Working Life
Just thought I'd rant again.....IT IS REALLY HARD TRYING TO STUDY PART-TIME. Especially when you work shifts, have two children and a nagging wife (hope she doesn't see this!!)
Cool gadgets...
Just thought I'd share this cool gadget with you. It's a USB memory stick in a Swiss Army knife. Please click on the link.
LINK
It's really quite a neat gadget.
Being a computer nerd just got dangerous!!!....LOL.
LINK
It's really quite a neat gadget.
Being a computer nerd just got dangerous!!!....LOL.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Networking
I've started Data & Networked Communications this semester and so far so good. Its a very interesting subject and one I want to get to grips with, as it is not only a subject I want to learn about, it's also a big employer!!! Although I've missed the dot.com boom now by about ten years (I was always slow to catch on!!), there is still a lot of work out there, especially in the south of Ireland. I v'e read in some papers that there is going to be a shortage in I.T. people in a few years. So if all goes to plan, I'll be just qualified when the shortage comes!!....LOL.
I'm currently employed in the chemical industry, but if current industrial trends remain the same, (I have seen nothing yet that will change my mind), nearly all major industry is moving out east to countries like China, Poland and the emerging eastern bloc countries. Lower wages, costs and I'm afraid to say less stringent laws on the environment, all have their attraction to the big industrial players. Maybe someone can enlighten me as to why we, as an European community are letting this happen. If there is no jobs because there's no industry, there's no money, so how you going to sell all the products made in those factories in the east? Please someone tell me. That's why I am now doing a honors degree in Electronics and Computing, cause I don't have much faith in my current employer being a resident of our green Island much longer. (OK enough ranting!)
It's not all doom and gloom though, as I've been interested in computing and computer gaming for a very long time now, so this course will let me get into the, "workings", of networking and more especially the internet. I've sort of skimmed through the course and what I have read of it seems to compliment what I have learnt on other subjects so far, and sort of cements together the other topics, ie. "embedded systems, c programming, visual basic, data bases, and all the other good stuff...LOL". So that's enough for now.
I'm currently employed in the chemical industry, but if current industrial trends remain the same, (I have seen nothing yet that will change my mind), nearly all major industry is moving out east to countries like China, Poland and the emerging eastern bloc countries. Lower wages, costs and I'm afraid to say less stringent laws on the environment, all have their attraction to the big industrial players. Maybe someone can enlighten me as to why we, as an European community are letting this happen. If there is no jobs because there's no industry, there's no money, so how you going to sell all the products made in those factories in the east? Please someone tell me. That's why I am now doing a honors degree in Electronics and Computing, cause I don't have much faith in my current employer being a resident of our green Island much longer. (OK enough ranting!)
It's not all doom and gloom though, as I've been interested in computing and computer gaming for a very long time now, so this course will let me get into the, "workings", of networking and more especially the internet. I've sort of skimmed through the course and what I have read of it seems to compliment what I have learnt on other subjects so far, and sort of cements together the other topics, ie. "embedded systems, c programming, visual basic, data bases, and all the other good stuff...LOL". So that's enough for now.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Bla Bla Bla
Hello there....,
As this is my first post, it's not going to be too interesting, so bear with me to I get the hang of this. I've been reading some of the other bloggs out there and I've come to the conclusion that the world is crazy....Well thank God for that or it would be a pretty boring place......
As this is my first post, it's not going to be too interesting, so bear with me to I get the hang of this. I've been reading some of the other bloggs out there and I've come to the conclusion that the world is crazy....Well thank God for that or it would be a pretty boring place......
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