Newsletter #103 The Torrent of Bits

Created on 09/03/06

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Our last newsletter (14th December, 2005) was "What is a Wiki? "
This article is based on one that appeared in the March edition of Business to Business.

BitTorrent is a file distribution application that is revolutionizing the way files are distributed. Normally, when you attempt to download a file, your computer waits in line with all the others trying to get it from the host server. However when you use BitTorrent, it breaks the file up into fragments and instructs the host server to send these bits to all the waiting computers, who then share what they've received with other computers asking for the same file. This sharing between computers is called a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Once all the file fragments have been collected, BitTorrent reassembles the file.

OK so this may sound a little humdrum but when you are talking about large files it can make a huge difference. Until recently California-based Blizzard Entertainment would allow fans of its Warcraft computer games to download mammoth two gigabyte files for testing, frequently crashing its servers. That is until they started using BitTorrent which split the files and therefore the bandwidth requirements amongst thousands of users. Peter Jackson’s production diaries for King Kong have been posted as BitTorrent downloads and the NASA Space agency recently included BitTorrent as a means to download some of their larger space image files.

As noted by Wikipedia: “BitTorrent is overwhelmingly the most popular P2P protocol adopted officially for legal uses, and many adopters report that only by using the BitTorrent technology, with its dramatically reduced demands on networking hardware and bandwidth, could they afford to distribute such large files. This has lead to a rapid upswing in both the size and quality of many files distributed freely online, notably from amateur film or video producers.”

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Of course the power of this application can be used illegally by file-sharers to distribute movies, software and other large files without the permission of the copyright holder. Interestingly though, BitTorrent Inc. (the company) occupies a unique place amongst other file-sharing technologies in that it has never created a network to connect users the way that others like Kazaa or eDonkey do. For that reason BitTorrent’s creator Bram Cohen has been courted by the Motion Picture Association of America.

There are a number of developments in Europe that show that the BitTorrent or similar technologies are taking hold. In the United Kingdom, NTL, the largest provider of broadband will soon start testing the file-swapping service as a way to deliver video more cheaply than the traditional download method. In January Warner Bros. said that it would soon begin selling movies and television shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland using a peer-to-peer network over the Internet.

Although the legal download of movies in most countries may be a little while away you can be sure that when it arrives you will be using a BitTorrent-derived application to download them. Also if you’re distributing software or large files to many users it may be worth checking BitTorrent out.

It’s kind of cool that when you’re downloading a large file using BitTorrent you’re actually grabbing bits of it from others all around the Internet.

To my mind that is a great use of the power of the Net.

Newbies

If you visit a Webpage that you have been to recently, the content will appear not to have changed. However this may not be the case, both Explorer, Firefox and other browsers "cache" or store pages that you have visited recently to help speed up your browsing, and these cached pages may be the ones you are viewing. To view the latest version of a page press F5 on your keyboard.

Power Users

If you're a Power User you should be browsing with Firefox or Opera. Both these browsers provide for tabbed browsing that offer huge advantages over IE. I use Firefox and some keyboard shortcuts for tabs that you might not be aware of are:

Ctrl+T = Open a new tab
Ctrl+Tab = Move to next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab = Move to previous tab
Ctrl+n (n is a number) = Go to the nth tab

ExtremeTech is like it says, high tech taken to the extreme. Where else would you get an articles like: "Hacking Your Linux-Based Router" or "Getting Started with RFID". If you have any idea what these articles are about, this may be the site for you! http://www.extremetech.com/

Craigslist is a sprawling mostly free classified advertising site used by more than 10 million people a month. Started in San Francisco, it's tentacles have spread through all 50 states of America and 35 countries. The extremely stripped-back design of the site is in stark contrast to most Websites you'll see, but it has been successful in threatening one of the cash cows of the newspaper industry. http://www.craigslist.com/

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." Pablo Picasso.

You can see our other Quick Quotes on the front page of www.netinsites.com; just refresh the page to see another one randomly selected from our database. Great for presentations or times when you want to appear to be a techno-dude(ss)!

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Best wishes

Alex Garden

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