Hello again, and welcome to what I will try to turn into an stream of articles regarding the installation and use of some notorious BitTorrent clients, and maybe even some additional Torrent-related tools, if you'll ask. The idea is pretty simple - I have a plan written down, which I won't completely reveal now or later, because there's plenty of time to hit each subject as we move on, but if you want to know more about some program, just name it, and if it's not on my list, I'll add it. Now, let's talk a little about the big things to come...


Contrary to what most people may think at this time, the BitTorrent communications protocol was not created to help pirates distribute illegal copies of movies, music and games, but to lower costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth required when dealing with large files, and the first to use this were various Linux distributions.

Since I am sure you're not crazy about technical details, let's check the highlights I have prepared for you already, shall we? As I said, nothing is final, so I will say it again and again: don't hesitate to stand out and shout what you want!

First of all, we'll talk about Azureus, considered by many users to be the best torrent client software available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Since Azureus has a classic version and a new one, called Vuze, and there are some differences between them, we'll also see what Vuze can do and the classic version can't.

Next, we'll cover the same topics for BitComet - installation and initial settings, downloading torrents, creating new torrents and uploading them to a tracker, setting speed limits and using BitComet's search feature.

The third program we'll talk about is uTorrent, a tiny yet powerful piece of code that only requires you to download it and run the executable, without any boring installation and setup steps needed.

Since most downloaded files are disc images using the ISO format and others that are similar, you'll learn how to handle them, using some of the best tools available to get the job done - Daemon Tools for mounting disc images, PowerISo and UltraISO for editing them, and Nero to burn your CD or DVD discs using these images. These are extra-tools, and if you say "no," I can easily push them aside.

Last step of our Spotlight on Torrents series will be to talk about the father of all torrent clients, the first program from this category that has seen the light of day, BitTorrent.

Of course that the list is open - and this is the last time I say it. Since there are a lot of individual torrent tutorials on the Web, but I didn't run into such a thing as this one I am planning now before, I am sure we'll end up with some nice articles in the end but, more important than anything else, I want you to interact with me. Don't be afraid to ask questions, that's why we have the Internet at our disposal, and don't forget: knowledge is power!

Read more 2 comments

Yesterday, we were able to notice that Microsoft's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, thinks there's still a chance for them to buy Yahoo, or at least a part of it. Now, it's Jerry Yang's turn to talk about the matter, by going in the open and speaking his mind. Finally, it was the time to do that, after all, there are 4 months already since this whole deal has started!


According to Yang, "Microsoft is no longer interested in buying the company, and we are talking about other things. We definitely have to understand what they're proposing...they clearly have an interest in Yahoo, and we need to understand more."

Come ooon!!! Four months! I guess it was enough time to make things clear so far... but I can't say I feel sorry for the current situation. Yahoo can keep it all together, and must push forward as it is, that's what I think, and I am sure most Yahoo users feel the same.

Regarding a partnership with Google, Yang said "It makes a lot of sense, but if we do something, we will talk about it. The level at which Yahoo can fully partner with Google has not been fully appreciated by the marketplace."

Finally, there's one more thing to add - according to Yahoo's CEO, price has been the only problem stopping them from linking with Microsoft - "We never got through the price door ... once we could have gone through it, then other issues could have been discussed."

These being said, I can only hope for the best for Yahoo. What do you think? Do they have what it takes to pull this off?

Read more No comments

Oh, my, what in the world is going to happen with Yahoo, after all? To be honest, I wouldn't feel good at all to see that, after I say "NO," those trying to buy my company would still be talking about a future strategy involving a "YES," and it seems this is exactly what just happened! This time, we're not talking about Mr. Gates or Steve Ballmer, because it's all about Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, and the things he said at a Bernstein investor conference. So...what did he say?


"Yahoo was not a strategy onto itself. Yahoo is an accelerator. We'd love to still discuss possibilities with Yahoo," said Ozzie, and this makes me wonder. "Accelerator of what?"

According to some inside sources, it seems that, while Microsoft dropped the idea of buying Yahoo from head to toe, the last idea was to buy only their search business, and taking a stake in the rest of the company. Ehem...so this is what Microsoft was after! No surprise with that, anyway...

At last, I guess I should say it, although it may not be really nice - Microsoft, please stick to what you do, and try to make Windows 7 a good operating system, rather then trying to go where it's clear things are not going well for you - Internet search! Just my 5 cents...

Read more One comment

It seems there are a looot of people waiting for Microsoft to show us a better operating system in the future, and the first stop is - obviously - Windows 7. A few minutes ago, I was amazed to find a site started last year dedicated entirely to this subject - Windows 7 news, but that site is not my topic now, as you can easily figure out. The news is that, despite what Bill Gates previously said, it seems Windows 7 will arrive in 2010.


Getting back to Bill Gates' previous declarations, is enough to quote the following: "Sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version [with] the ability to be lower-power, take less memory, be more efficient, and have lots more connections."

Various reports claim this week we may even see a Windows 7 demo, at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital Conference, aka D6, while others say Microsoft will only show some future technologies, and not Windows 7 itself.

Next, I have some sad news for you - Windows 7 won't be rewritten from scratch, so it's going to use the same foundation as Vista. Obviously, considering the above, it shouldn't be a surprise the fact that Windows 7 will support a wide range of hardware already compatible with Vista at the time of its launch, in 2010, and hardware requirements should be pretty light, when that moment comes.

At last, let's see the funny part of it all - when asked about a future Windows version, Bill Gates said "sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version," but now, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky told CNET "We've been very clear, and will continue to say, that the next release of Windows, Windows 7, is about three years after the general availability of Windows Vista, and we're committed to that, and we've signed up publicly to do that."

Ehem...what am I missing here? Who's right and who's wrong? Probably there's no accurate answer to that, and it still seems a very long way until 2010...

Read more One comment

As long as our right to privacy is not hung, drawn and quartered, I have nothing against MPAA and RIAA chasing down and sending into court all those downloading illegal content, but I think we're still far from the truth. Did they try to work with every ISP, so that every new Internet user can be accurately informed about the legal risks involved by downloading various things, and - most important - explain exactly what is legal, and what is not? As far as I know, they didn't do such a thing, but fortunately, today it's not about someone sent into court for downloading songs he (or she) was thinking of being completely free. Today, it's about two more websites that have been shut down by the MPAA...


The sites we're talking about are ShowStash.net and Cinematube.net. Well, it's better to say "have been ShowStash.net and Cinematube.net," because if we try to visit them, the first one displays a parked domain page, and the other, the following message: "This site has been permanently shut down because it was operated in violation of copyright laws. On May 7, 2008, a federal judge in Los Angeles issued a $1.375 million judgment against Cinematube.net for the infringement of numerous popular copyrighted motion pictures and television shows. There are plenty of sites that offer legal downloads and streaming of premium film and television content. A list of these sites can be found at http://www.mpaa.org/piracy_LegalOpt.asp."

Oh, my! MPAA is helping us, by giving away that precious list of "premium film and television content!" Thank you very much, but now, let's get back to ShowStash.net and Cinematube.net, shall we?

So, what did they do so wrong, after all? They weren't hosting a single bit of copyrighted content, but they were both showing the path to such content. Basically, we're talking about the same thing as a Torrent tracker that has torrents with illegal content, so ShowStash.net and Cinematube.net, despite the fact they weren't hosting anything illegal, ended up by being found guilty of contributory copyright infringement, simply for searching, finding, collecting and indexing links to illegal copies of various movies and TV shows. Ta-taa!

That's it. The money? Well, damages totaled $2.7 million for ShowStash and $1.3 million for Cinematube, and the most funny part is that none of them was particularly well-known - at least I never heard those names until now!

If you know anything about this deal, please don't hesitate to enlighten the rest of us. Some details about these two sites I mentioned today would also be great, so feel free to drop those comments!

Read more 2 comments