Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Download Daughtry's new album "Leave this Town" for free
Sunday, December 7, 2008
6 Things You Can Do To Test Your ISP for BitTorrent Throttling
BitTorrent Throttled? Try a Private Tracker
The first thing you should do if you notice poor torrent speeds is to try out a torrent from a private tracker. I know this may sound silly, but here’s a true story: A friend of mine in our building came to me last month and said, "Well, I guess Rogers Cable has finally cracked down on BitTorrent - I’m only getting 2 KB/s DL speed for the past three days on a new PC game ISO torrent with tons of peers". Curious, I asked him what tracker / torrent sites he’s using. He replied, "Mininova.org, ThePirateBay and IsoHunt - those three" D’oh! He’d heard of private trackers, but never bothered to research it, assuming they were ‘out of his league’. So I said, "Check your email, I’ve sent you an invite to www.TTi.nu". An hour later he was at my door, thanking me profusely, as he was now able to max out his connection. More than likely this story is not an isolated occurrence - many erroneously blame their ISP for their BitTorrent woes when they use public trackers exclusively. Now, if you’re still getting piss-poor speeds from private trackers, then the culprit is most likely your ISP, or a really, really poorly-configured client/PC.
Additionally, public torrents from http://slackware.com/torrents/ are a good way to benchmark BT speeds, and should download fairly quickly. After running the slackware-12.1-iso torrent for 20 minutes, DL speeds averaged ~280 - 390 KB/s on our home 1.2 Meg (~1,150 KB/s) connection:
The truth is - no matter how many public torrents you are simultaneously leeching, and regardless of their health (S/L ratio), you’ll probably never, ever be able to hit even half of your broadband’s top DL limit. And that’s being generous.
Glasnost Test
Ah yes, the Max Planck Glasnost BitTorrent test. Hands down, it’s the easiest test you’ll ever do to discover if your ISP is manipulating BitTorrent traffic - all that’s needed is a web browser and Java. Six months ago when TorrentFreak first ran the story, finding an available slot was a difficult chore as Planck’s hosting servers were hopelessly busy. Lately though, we’ve rarely come across a time when we’ve had to wait.
In short, the Glasnost test performs simulated upload and download diagnostics for BitTorrent and TCP transfers for a tester’s ISP connection. While the results below indicate a potential problem with uploading (seeding) for BitTorrent, 108 KB/s upload rate is, in actuality, a very satisfactory number.
Many users have scrutinized the Glasnost test as being unreliable. For one reason, it conducts testing on common BitTorrent port numbers: 6881 (which, heaven forbid you should ever be using as a port # in a BT client, anyway) and 10009 (which, while an unassigned port, may still be a throttled port). It’d be great to see a Glasnost test where users can either input their own port number for the exam, or if they’d emphasize on a third option which incorporates (random) ports from the dynamic and/or private ranges between 49152 through 65535 (which have long been known as good port numbers, especially for BitTorrent/P2P clients).
We contacted Marcel Dischinger from Max Planck with our suggestions, who promptly responded, "I am currently working on enhancing the test and I will take your suggestions into consideration. Especially randomizing the non-BT port seems to be a good idea." Great news, indeed!
(NNMA) NNSquad Network Measurement Agent
The NNSquad Network Measurement Agent (NNMA) monitors network activity on computer systems, looking for and flagging a variety of potential problems. When it comes to BitTorrent sandvining, NNMA also includes a special function that attempts to detect reset (RST) packets that may have been injected into a TCP connection by any entity not located at the connection endpoints.
NNMA comes as an installer for Windows computers only (2000, XP, Vista). You’ll also need WinPcap, which comes bundled in with the installer. After installation, click on the blue/yellow icon in your taskbar - this will launch the web-based portion of the test. From the new browser window (http://127.0.0.1:88/) you can now select a variety of options. Select Network > All Connections.
Before you run the test, we recommend that you fire up your BitTorrent client (with seeding/leeching torrents). If you desire NNMA to show the connections for BitTorrent only, then enter the port number that you use in your BitTorrent client, and hit FILTER.
If you suspect your BitTorrent is being throttled or sandvined, and you begin to receive a lot of messages that pertain to ‘Detected forged TCP Packet… Suspicious RESET packet’ (see below), this might be an indication that your ISP is messing with your BitTorrent. It can also be a sign that you’re using bad public torrents which have been planted by the MPAA / RIAA, as well. *Note: It can also occur as a false-alarm (i.e. unrelated to BT) for those who are not being throttled.
Azureus/Vuze ‘NEWS’ Plugin
NEWS, or Network Early Warning System, is a plugin which allows your Vuze client to monitor the Internet (and your ISP). It does this by passively monitoring your BitTorrent performance and checking for changes that might indicate problems with the network.
While NEWS is not designed for specific BitTorrent problems (at the individual level); it’s more inclined towards a group of users that are experiencing similar anomalies. A perfect example of this would be a large ISP that throttles BT traffic - data is collected, compared and sent back to the user upon detection (read more about it here).
NEWS works with both 2.5.x and 4.0.x versions of Vuze. Download NEWS from here. To install, switch to the classic view in Vuze, and choose Plugins > Installation Wizard… By File - and browse to the *.jar file (currently it’s "news_1.0.1.jar" for Vuze 4.0.0.4). You should now see a NEWS menu item under Plugins - here you can configure it.
NEWS (Vuze) will now report any (and all) suspected network problems in a taskbar popup. We probably needn’t say this, but we received many more ‘anomalies’ when using public trackers as opposed to private ones. Don’t be alarmed by the volume of reports - even on our ISP that doesn’t seem to be throttling BitTorrent, we still generated quite the eclectic array of anomalies (mostly pertaining to latency, total up & down rate, and packet loss rate). These popups can be disabled in the NEWS plugin configuration, and then only confirmed anomalies will be reported.
The Gemini Project
We won’t dig too deep on this one, as it requires two users from the same ISP. To prove the existence of file-sharing traffic shaping and throttling can be difficult, especially if one seeks for evidence on a single computer, but the process gets easier if a test is performed by two remote users exchanging given data packets through BitTorrent. That’s where the Gemini Project comes in.
In short, both users install a Ubuntu LiveCD and connect to each other remotely, whereby one is the seeder and the other is the leecher. Incoming and outgoing traffic is compared & analyzed - a high number of dropped and/or forged packets indicates an ISP’s involvement in BitTorrent tampering (packet injection).
Wireshark
Wireshark is the world’s foremost network protocol analyzer, with a rich set of features including deep inspection of hundreds of protocols. Wireshark requires WinPcap (under Windows environments) which is included in the installer.
We’ll leave the interpretation of Wireshark up to the professionals at www.EFF.org, who have put together an amazing guide entitled Detecting Packet Inspection. To grossly oversimplify it, if you’re receiving an abnormally high number of RST flags in the capture results, then it’s a good indication that your ISP is meddling in your torrent transfers.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Youtube finally goes widescreen!
We're expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels to better reflect the quality of the videos you create and the screens that you use to watch them. This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience. And don't worry, your 4:3 aspect ratio videos will play just fine in this new player.
Best.Flash.Game.Evar.
is an extremely well-polished shooter game that's as fun to play as it is easy to learn. You play the role of a mercenary robot hired to investigate and eradicate the hostile forces that have taken over Titan Prime, a space station orbiting Mars. On arrival, you're dropped off in the first level of the station, equipped with dual miniguns attached to your shoulders.
Play now! You will be hooked!
http://www.rocksolidarcade.com/games/robokill/
Monday, November 24, 2008
Net+, A+, MCSA, MCSE, Server+ and many more!
Just make a comment if you are interested in some of these! Thanks and have a good day!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Ghostbusters Becomes First Movie Released on USB Memory
Sony Entertainment and PNY Technologies have teamed up to become the first to distribute a movie (legally) on a USB flash drive. PNY Technologies, developers and manufactures of all kinds of memory devices such as USB sticks, SD cards, computer memory and so on, announced the arrival of the original "Ghostbusters" movie on a 2 gigabyte USB drive.
Some immediate questions may be: what's the price, is there DRM, and is there any space left over? So far, the USB drive is available on the UK online retailer Argos for £29.99, or about $53.30. That's a pricey USB stick, considering a Ghostbusters DVD is selling for less than $15 on Amazon. A new USB drive on Newegg sells for less than $20.00.
As for DRM, you bet there is. According to Custom PC, the end user can download the movie onto their computer, however, the USB stick must be inserted in order for the movie to play.
"They have DRM protection," a PNY spokesperson told Custom PC, "so customers can download the movie onto their laptop or PC if they wish, but they have to have the USB drive plugged in to watch the movie, as the DRM is locked in the USB drive."
To make the price tag a bit more palatable, there is plenty of room left over on the USB stick for personal items. According to PNY's press release, the memory device has 2 gigabytes of space, which equates to "12 hours of video play, 33 hours of music and 1080 pictures", even with the movie installed. It's a bit unclear if the USB drive still provides 2 gigabytes of memory with Ghostbusters, or whether the movie consumes a portion of the 2 gigabytes.
So, over 50 bucks for Ghostbusters...most will scratch their heads at the offer and move along. However, the move has come at an interesting time. Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronic of Samsung (founding member of the Blu-ray Disc Association), told Pocket Lint "I think it [Blu-ray] has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10." Blu-Ray wont be around forever, as DVDs and upconverting hardware continue to hamper this format's entry into the mainstream. High capacity alternatives, such as USB and SD cards, are perfectly capable of playing HD media, let alone standard media, and today's announcement could be a glimpse into the future.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Mississippi Attorney General Warns Against Inadvertent Sharing
The sky is falling, didn't you know, and if you're not careful, your favorite P2P application might fall right on your head. File-sharing technology, often times scorned by political heavyweights and the entertainment industry, is once again the target of the Attorney General’s office. This time, it's not from the state of New York, rather, Mississippi is deriding the nature of file-sharing.
So what nefarious act has P2P been up to this time? The Mississippi Attorney General's office has issued a "Cyber Warning", alerting consumers that some popular P2P clients such as LimeWire or FrostWire might leave the end user susceptible to inadvertent sharing. Although not mentioned on the release, this type of sharing is problematic on older or outdated clients. P2P developers never anticipated that people would end up sharing their entire hard drives, therefore, older versions of Gnutella clients LimeWire and FrostWire didn't prevent the end user from sharing their root directories. Today, developers such as LimeWire have gone through extraordinary lengths to prevent this from happening.
Still, human nature being what it is, people are still finding novel and inventive ways to expose their personal information online. Take Mississippi AG Jim Hood's reaction to some popular P2P applications.
“If you are not careful when you download programs such as eDonkey, Limewire, Frostwire, BearShare, Kazaa and Morpheus, you can end up sharing your entire hard drive with other users,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.
That's not exactly true, at least for LimeWire and FrostWire, which are still actively developed. As for eDonkey, BearShare, Kazaa and Morpheus, these applications have have lost considerable relevancy in today's file-sharing market. BearShare and eDonkey (MetaMachine) were sued by the music industry, and settled for $30 million. eDonkey was discontinued, and BearShare was purchased by MusicLab, the company that owns iMesh. Kazaa has fallen out of favor, while Morpheus is no longer available. The point being, these latter 4 clients no longer carry the same lineage that LimeWire and FrostWire do.
Today's versions of FrostWire and LimeWire deliberately prevent the end user from sharing their root directory. In other words, with LimeWire or FrostWire, it’s virtually impossible to share your entire hard drive. If you try, this is the warning message you’ll receive in FrostWire:
In order to circumvent this error, the end user would have to go into the source code of either LimeWire or FrostWire, remove the security feature, and recompile the software. To say the least, for the average end user, it has become very difficult - if not impossible - to share an entire hard drive.
But Slyck, the AG said that people shared documents such as bank statements, tax documents, and other sensitive data. Can’t the evildoers find a 1337 user like me?!!11111”
Just about anyone can find resumes and other interesting documents on file-sharing networks by conducting wildcard searches for files ending in “EML”, “XLS”, “DOC”, etc. Most people keep these types of files in their “My Documents” folder, but sharing this folder takes a bit of work. Nevertheless, as the AG points out, it happens.
“In one recent instance, investigators with the Attorney General’s Office found where one Mississippi family was unknowingly sharing tax forms, social security numbers, checking account information, personal photos and videos with other users of Frostwire, a popular website commonly used to download music.”
Although we couldn’t find any music downloads on the FrostWire website, we discovered that trying to share the “My Documents” can’t be done without a certain level of effort. If selected, the end user receives this warning message:
If the end user unintentionally tries to share their “My Documents”, he or she will have to defeat the warning screen designed to prevent such an action.
File-sharing applications and developers are often blamed for the follies of their userbase. LimeWire CEO Mark Gorton was grilled by the US Congress in July of 2007 over this very issue. But file-sharing software by its nature is not simplistic, even such applications as LimeWire. They take some effort and knowledge to use, and, considering the lack of computer literacy outside of checking email and Googling, properly setting up P2P applications is often times outside the knowledge scope of many users. The result is the current sharing fiasco exemplified by politicians. The Mississippi AG office recommends deleting these programs to avoid problems, however, reading pertinent documentation and keeping software current will yield an identical effect.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Textbooks Killing your Budget?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Most Downloaded DVDrips on BitTorrent (wk31)
As of August 4, 2008…
| Ranking | (last week) | Movie | |
| 1 | (new) | Hancock (R5) | |
| 2 | (1) | Wanted (R5) | |
| 3 | (2) | Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay | |
| 4 | (new) | Felon | |
| 5 | (5) | Never Back Down | |
| 6 | (new) | You Don’t Mess with the Zohan | |
| 7 | (6) | Leatherheads | |
| 8 | (4) | Meet Dave (R5) | |
| 9 | (3) | Son of Rambow | |
| 10 | (8) | Prom Night |
Top 10 Most Pirated TV Shows on BitTorrent (wk31)
Top Downloads July 27 - August 03
| Ranking | (last week) | TV-show |
| 1 | (1) | Top Gear |
| 2 | (3) | Weeds |
| 3 | (2) | Stargate Atlantis |
| 4 | (4) | Generation Kill |
| 5 | (8) | Burn Notice |
| 6 | (new) | Eureka |
| 7 | (new) | Flashpoint |
| 8 | (new) | Mad Men |
| 9 | (7) | In Plain Sight |
| 10 | (new) | Mythbusters |
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Pioneer finds 20-layer 500GB Blu-ray Disc "feasible"
Now here's a rate of progress we could get used to. Nary a month after Pioneer trumpeted a 400GB Blu-ray Disc, out pops another press release from the firm boasting about a 500 gigger with a score of layers. Based on research at its Tokyo headquarters, specifications have been drafted for an incredibly capacious 500GB BD. Granted, this very company already had plans for a 500GB optical disc nearly four years ago, but there's no time like the present to make this stuff a reality, right?
New 3.2Gbps FireWire spec approved, not as fast as USB 3.0
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 working group behind the development of FireWire in both its 400Mbps and 800Mbps configurations has formally approved the next-generation S1600 and S3200 standards. These two standards build on the already established FireWire ecosystem, and will offer speeds of 1.6Gbps and 3.2GBps, respectively. The final specification itself should be published in October, but there's no word on when we'll see shipping product, or what the adoption ratio between S1600 and S3200 will be. Backwards compatibility concerns, thankfully, should be kept to a minimum. The new S1600/S3200 cables will be fully compatible with both older FireWire 800 cables and FireWire 400/800 devices. S3200, meanwhile, isn't the end of the line for FireWire technology, as current plans call for the interface to scale up to at least 6.4Gb/s over time. That's not going to happen any time soon, but there's obviously still plenty of headroom in the interface itself.
The IEEE 1394 standard will face a new competitor in the form of USB 3.0. USB 3.0's specification is expected to be published by the end of the year, which may give S3200 a few months' head start. FireWire, however, has never enjoyed the widespread success of USB 3.0, and as a result, could find itself the first standard out the door, but the last standard on the shelf. Motherboard manufacturers will drop USB 3.0 on high-end boards as soon as chipsets are available (even if devices aren't), but FireWire ports are considerably harder to come by.
That's not to say they don't exist, but FireWire 400 is easier to find than FireWire 800 (except on Macs), and the number of available ports is typically limited to 1-2, even on a high-end motherboard. USB 2.0 ports, on the other hand, are plentiful, with most boards offering 8-12 in some combination of included ports and onboard headers. The peripheral interconnect field is also more crowded now, and S1600/S3200 will have to compete against eSATA, as well.
Daring to mention USB 2.0's dominance over FireWire inevitably brings the standard's defenders out of the woodwork, and to be fair, FireWire has always been the more technologically-advanced standard, with its faster transfer speeds, lower CPU utilization, and the ability to provide more power to attached devices (devices that can run off a single FireWire port could well require two USB ports). These advantages, however, have never managed to overcome USB 2.0's general popularity, and FireWire remains a niche interface outside certain peripheral markets (i.e., video cameras), where it has always done well, and Macintosh computers.
Broad market penetration notwithstanding, the appearance of a faster FireWire standard will be warmly greeted by anyone frustrated by FireWire 800 transfer speeds who doesn't want to deal with the potential hassles of USB 3.0.
23 TV shows heading to the big screen
Magnum
Tom Selleck and his moustache are absent from the planned cast list of the big screen Magnum movie right now, with Matthew McConaughey in the running for the lead role. The script is written, and now it’s up to director Rawson Marshall Thunder (Dodgeball) to get it filmed for a planned 2009 release.
I, Claudius
Producer Scott Rudin has optioned the Robert Graves original novel, although he’ll have a tough job beating the terrific BBC adaptation of old. 2010 at the earliest for this one too, which is still at the writing stage.
The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole
Adapted for a TV show in the 1980s, Sue Townsend’s creation could be hitting the big screen, with The Wedding Date director Clare Kilner currently attached to the project. The film’s in pre-production.
Alan Partridge: The Movie
Steve Coogan’s most famous and funniest creation – if you scrub the last series of I’m Alan Partridge from your memory – could yet hit the big screen, if a script ever gets completed to everyone’s satisfaction. 2009 is the earliest we’ll see it.
Arrested Development
The wonderful American sitcom that was so good it got canned is coming to the big screen! Expected release date is 2009, and all of the show’s cast and crew appear to be attached. Result!
The A Team
The movie is still pressing ahead, with John ‘Shaft remake’ Singleton in the director’s chair. Latest casting rumours: Woody Harrelson as Murdock and Ice Cube as B.A. Take with pinches of salt. The film’s due in 2010.
Wonder Woman
Originally this had Joss Whedon attached, but he’s moved on to other things. Producer Joel Silver still has the film on his slate, though, although the targeted 2009 release date will be tough to hit.
Masters of the Universe
Joel Silver had also been lobbying to get the rights for a big-screen adventure for He-Man and company. The project, however, seems stuck in development hell for the time being.
Thundercats
Jerry O’Flaherty – a video game art director who worked on the likes of Gears Of War and Daikatana (remember that?!) – is the odd choice to direct the big screen Thundercats movie. We understand it’ll be animated rather than live action, and will be out in 2010.
V: The Second Generation
This is looking like a television project that’s a follow on to the 1983 mini-series. Kenneth Johnson, who worked on the original V and directed Short Circuit 2 as well, is attached to the mini-series.
The Sweeney
With Ray Winstone reported to be singing on to play Regan, the planned movie of The Sweeney – buoyed in no small way by the success of Life On Mars – is moving ahead. It’s in pre-production for a 2009 release, with Nick ‘The Business’ Love directing.
Hustle
The BBC’s hit con artist drama is heading to America courtesy of Fox. The big screen version has director Deon Taylor attached, and should be filming this year.
State of Play
Currently filming for release next year is Hollywood’s remake of the cracking BBC drama series. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren are in the cast, under the stewardship of director Kevin ‘The Last King Of Scotland’ Macdonald.
The Prisoner
Will Christopher Nolan really direct the big screen version of the iconic Patrick McGoohan TV show? With a screenplay by Janet and David Webb Peoples, this could have solid gold stamped right the way through it…
ChiPs
Ready for a big screen bout of Chicago Highway Patrol? Warner Bros is developing the project for possible release next year; writers are attached to the film now, with Wilma Valderrama (from Party Monster and Fast Food Nation) reported to be interesting the casting team.
Fraggle Rock The Movie
Given the fact that big screen Muppet movies are – tragically – a thing of the past (or are they - see the next entry), this one was a bit of a surprise. But Fraggle Rock has been optioned, and a writer is being sought for the project. 2009 is the earliest we’ll see it.
The Muppets
But here’s a stop press! There’s talk of a Muppet revival, with Jason Segal and Nick Stoller writing and directing the project. Hurray!
The Smurfs
Blame the huge success of Alvin & The Chipmunks for this, as now The Smurfs are being dusted down for a big screen outing. Colin Brady is down to direct, and John Lithgow may be persuaded to lend his vocal talents to the film. 2009 is the planned release year.
Dallas
Betty Thomas – who did the The Brady Bunch Movie (great) and Dr Doolittle (rubbish) is down to direct the big screen tale of J.R. et al. They’re looking to start filming this year, if all goes to plan. Cast is yet to be finalised, though.
Spaced
This link is all you need to know about this one. Sigh.
The Tripods
Remember the series that the BBC showed back in the 80s? Well, a bit more cash could be being spent on The Tripods this time, with Gregor ‘Buffalo Soliders’ Jordan in the director’s chair. It could hit the big screen in 2009.
Prison Break: Cherry Hill
A potential spin-off of Fox’s hit TV series, although if it comes about it’s all but certain to be a small screen project.
Mighty Mouse
A big screen animated Mighty Mouse movie is being planned for 2010, with Nickelodeon stumping up the dollars to make it.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Top Downloads June 13 - July 20
| Ranking | (last week) | TV-show |
| 1 | (1) | Top Gear |
| 2 | (2) | Weeds |
| 3 | (3) | Stargate Atlantis |
| 4 | (new) | Generation Kill |
| 5 | (back) | The Daily Show |
| 6 | (new) | Psych |
| 7 | (7) | So You Think You Can Dance |
| 8 | (9) | In Plain Sight |
| 9 | (back) | The Colbert Report |
| 10 | (4) | Burn Notice |
Radiohead BitTorrent Experiment Successful
So the big question about the Radiohead BitTorrent experiment is, did it draw users away from the likes of The Pirate Bay and MiniNova? Is "legal free" possible in an "unauthorized free" world?
Big Champagne, who has for the better part of the last decade collected statistics on the growth of the P2P community, set out to answer these questions. In a five page study, Big Champagne pored over economic theories, gauged the volume of downloads, and burned the candle from both ends. The conclusion: maybe.
What Big Champagne did manage to discover conclusively was that the "In Rainbow" torrent was wildly popular during the experiment. According to the study, the "In Rainbow" torrent was downloaded over 2.3 million times between October 10th and November 3rd. In its first day of release, the torrent was downloaded over 400,000 times. Estimating the volume of "In Rainbow" trading was the easy part. Unfortunately, applying this to Radiohead's experiment is difficult, since the band has not released the album's sales statistics. In other words, did those 2.3 million torrent downloads come from Radiohead, The Pirate Bay, or the dozens of other torrent sites?
Big Champagne readily admits there's no definable method in determining the experiment's success - at least in the traditional way of reasoning. What Big Champagne did manage to discover was the release of "In Rainbow" caused a surge in BitTorrent activity during the initial release - much more so than other big artists such as Gnarles Barkley or Panic at the Disco, who saw about 150,000 torrent downloads during one week's time. That is in stark contrast to the 400,000 Radiohead downloads in one day.
Success is a funny word, and in this circumstance, a matter of perspective. What defines success may not be apparent, and the implications of such may have far reaching consequences. In other words, the "In Rainbow" experiment appears to have helped reach Radiohead's minimal expectations - it helped spread awareness of the new album and attracted attention. It may have also helped pad Radiohead's coffers. But the success didn't stop there, and it appears the experiment may have benefited just about every BitTorrent user, tracker, and indexing site with new users and traffic.
