journal

A Mini Lesson in BitTorrent

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:20:26 GMT

This is mostly for Gabbi, because I'm pretty sure I promised her every weekend I was at her house (which has been about every weekend for the past month...) that I would teach her how to download things via BitTorrent.

The gist of it is this. A torrent file essentially contains instructions for your BitTorrent client to know where to look to download the file(s) you want. When a person creates a torrent file they are pledging to have at least one other person download that entire file from them via BitTorrent, and then others download it, and so on and so forth. You are going to be receiving parts of the file from a bunch of different people until what you have on your computer is the whole, original file all put back together.

You will need two things: a BitTorrent client, to recognize the torrent files and then download them accordingly, and also a torrent file. I like BitTornado because it doesn't use a lot of resources and is easy to use. I also use BitComet because of the GUI. But, to each his own, as they say.

I usually get my torrent files from Mininova.org, or I just scour the internet for different torrent search engines to find what I need. It's essential when picking a torrent file to look at how many "seeders" a torrent has, and how many "leechers". They are just as they sound; seeders are people who have the original file in whole and are hosting it so that others may download it, and leechers are people who are leeching all of the parts of the file but don't have it all the way just yet. If a torrent has a lot of seeders you're likely to get faster download speeds, where the converse is true for if a torrent has a lot of leechers.

*Note* If you are going to use BitTornado as your client, ALWAYS save the torrent file to your computer (like your desktop). In the event that your computer freezes or you would like to pause the download and start again another time, BitTornado will close, no matter what progress you have made, and you will need to find the exact same torrent file again and run it in order to continue. Thus, having it saved to your computer facilitates this process in a much less frustrating manner.

Anyway, back to the little tutorial. After installing your client, and downloading your torrent file, you should be able to easily double-click to open and it should pop up in your BT client. Select a location that you'd like to save your file(s) in, and it should start to download. Don't worry if it lags a little bit at first; it's simply searching for the best seeders to download from, or collaborating a list of the seeders to start leeching from.

If you are trapped within the dark reaches of a firewall, there are a couple of websites that you can find via Google that can show you how to edit your settings to still be able to download torrents. It's basically as easy as getting into your router's settings, and allowing a range of IP addresses to connect with your computer.

Also, please, please, please do the torrenting world a favor, and leave your torrent file active and open after it's completed -- this is called SEEDING! Allow others to download what you have just gotten your hands on.

I think that's all there is to it. If there are any questions, just comment me. :)

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:03:42 GMT

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

DO IT.

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:32:47 GMT

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. How have I affected you?
5. What do you think of me?
6. What's the fondest memory you have of me?
7. How long do you think we will be friends?
8. Do you love me?
9. Do you have a crush on me?
10. Would you kiss me?
11. Would you hug me?
12. Physically, what stands out?
13. Emotionally, what stands out?
14. Do you wish I was cooler?
15. On a scale of 1-10, how hot am I?
16. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
17. Am I loveable?
18. How long have you known me?
19. Describe me in one word.
20. What was your first impression?
21. Do you still think that way about me now?
22. What do you think my weakness is?
23. Do you think I'll get married?
24. What makes me happy?
25. What makes me sad?
26. What reminds you of me?
27. If you could give me anything what would it be?
28. How well do you know me?
29. When's the last time you saw me?
30. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
31. Do you think I could kill someone?
32. Have we ever had sex?
33. Do you miss me?
34. Do you think I miss you?
35. Are you going to put this on your Myspace/Livejournal/email and see what I say about you?

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:26:23 GMT

Without you, the ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows.
Without you, the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play.
The stars gleam, the poets dream, the eagles fly, without you.
The earth turns, the sun burns, but I die, without you.

Without you, the stars roar the breeze warms, the girl smiles, the cloud moves.
Without you, the tides change, the boys run, the oceans crash.
The crowds roar, the days soar, the babies cry, without you.
The moon glows, the river flows, but I die, without you.

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:50:11 GMT

lol, it really sucks when you realize that your old friends don't care about you.

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:14:58 GMT

but what if i'm a mermaid
in these jeans of his
with her name still on them

well i don't care
cause sometimes
i said sometimes
i hear my voice
and it's been years

silent all these years.

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:48:52 GMT

Dear diary,

Weight: 148
Number of cigarettes: 2
Text messages sent: 19

We're on the road to Tally, and we almost died about an hour ago. It was slightly scary. But now we're fine. :) this trip is starting out slowly but I know it will be a lot of fun once we get there.

Sincerely,
Bridget Jones

today

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 23:16:57 GMT

is my 18th birthday.
I'm really happy.
I'm not too sure why, I just am.
I bought a lottery ticket.
I bought two packs of cigarettes. (you might say, why two if you're not gonna smoke them? well, I'm not too sure myself why two...)

I did a bunch of shopping.
now I need to finish wrapping some family presents.
and pee.
and play Final Fantasy :)

♥
have a great christmas y'all.

I love Christmas shopping. :)

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 23:34:41 GMT

I got almost all of my shopping done for my family today. I just need to get Maddie something, but I don't know what! Just wanted to poke in and quickly update as I'm about to go give my sister a bath and clean my room up and perhaps even wrap those presents that I bought today.

Exciting stuff.

Tomorrow I'm going out again with Kathryn because I have to run around town and buy things for all my friends. :P

hope everyone in Palm Beach is having a nice exam week...

hiatus

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:30:13 GMT

if i'm distant, and i don't answer the phone, or reply to anything, and you basically think i've fallen off the face of the earth

then good