What’s this about?:
Here are some things that you will probably know:
- Internet speeds are getting faster all the time.
- disk space on home computers is getting larger and cheaper all the time.
- People can download music and movies off of the internet.
- Some people have started setting up computers in there living rooms to perform like a VCR, DVD player, stereo and such.
- Sky is the televisual equivalent of a frontal lobotomy.
- You cant get freeview in all locations in the UK.
- NTL’s TV service should be avoided like an old school chum contacting you from friendsreunited.com.
But what do all of these well known facts have to do with each other.
Thee words
Bit Torrent TV
Allow me to explain.
File sharing has been popular on the internet new for over 5 years. It started off with systems such as Kazaa, Lime Wire and Bare Share. These systems where based around software that you installed on your computer. They allowed you to perform a search of other users collections of music and movies and download what you wanted. There where 3 major down sides with these systems.
- There was not way of proving that the file you wanted to download was actually what it said it was. This lead to multiple downloads of Fight Club, ScoobyDoo and other movies when you thought you where getting the latest cinema release.
- While some files would come down quickly, there was no guarantee of this. In some cases files could take in excess of 6 months to come down, if you could be bothered waiting for them.
- The software had a tendency to be riddled with spyware and adware.
That was how things used to work. Until a new system became popular. This system was (and still is) called BitTorrent. With BitTorrent, rather then searching other users collections of files, users who wish to share files post a small amount of data on a web page that tells other users how to access the file they are sharing. This file is called a “tracker”. Using this method, communities of users grew based around web pages and forums who where concerned with good quality recordings that download quickly. This has produced a system that is so efficient and well maintinaed that you can pretty much throw your TV out the window and just watch things you download via BitTorrent, or as I like to call it Bit Torrent TV
How do I do it?:
Exited yet? OK, now let me tell you how to do it. The instructions bellow may not be the best, quickest or smartest way of doing it, but it’s a way that has works very well for a good number of people that I know of.
The first thing you will need is some software to allow you to download BitTorrent files. This type of software is called al “client”. There are many different BitTorrent clients out there, in my opinion this is a good one. Its called Utorrent you can download it for free from its website http://www.utorrent.com/ . This software will understand the “tracker” files that other people upload. When a tracker file is opened with Utorrent it will start the download of whatever the file is.
Important: remember, when you download a tracker file from a website you have to open it with bit comment, if you jus save it nothing will happen
Now you have the software installed you will need to know where to look for the tracker files. There are a few ways you can do this. There are many-many tracker file sites out there. Some are good, some are not so good. Here are some good ones to get you started.
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a good all round site for any sort of media you could want, including audio books |
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This is the site that really lets you throw your TV out. It’s a very active community of users in the UK who post UK TV shows. These can be classic shows from years ago, or last nights East Enders. You have to register to get started (which is free). They like to keep the numbers down to make sure the community is active, so if you don’t get in first time keep trying. |
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A very large and quite famous tracker site. Worth a look. |
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Another good all round site, although not up to the same standard as mininova.org |
If you cant find what you are looking for on any of these sites you can do a Google search. The best way to do this is to go to Google and enter the name of whatever you are looking for followed by the word “torrent”. For instance if you where looking for episodes of Dr Who you would enter “Dr Who torrent” as also shown in this link http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=dr+who+torrent&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Things to bear in mind before you start:
Its important to remember that if you download anything that is copy write protected (that’s 95% of what is available on these sties) you are breaking the law. At the moment groups such as the British Phonographic Industry are tracking down people who are sharing large volumes of music and are prosecuting them, successfully. If you choose to do this, remember that one day you may be called to account for it . Although at the moment that is not that is quite unlikely for the casual users.
It is also important to remember that this should never be done at work. 100’s of people lose their jobs each month in the UK alone due to misuse of there Internet access, particularly with relation to file sharing systems. This is in part due to copy write theft and in party because it is often used to download porn. Do not take the risk, broad band is so cheap, just do it at home.
That’s pretty much it:
That’s pretty much the size if it. If you require any further information these links may be of help:
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Information on BitTorrent |
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Some info on UKnova |
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An overview of fires haring on the Internet |
If these sites don't give you the answers you are looking for remember, www.google.co.uk is your friend.
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visitors to this page since 6/9/2005
updated 26/07/2007