Basic Guide to Torrents

DISCLAIMER: This is not a guide for making torrents faster, this is a guide for people who want to try downloading torrents but can't understand why. This will not contain more complicated terms such as DHT or whatsoever, and will focus on the basic operation of torrents. In short, it's a quick and dirty, newbie-friendly guide.

Are you tired of having to search songs one by one if you can download the whole album at once? How about merely downloading movie by yourself so you can save the environment albeit in a faster way (Yes, there are legal options.)? Well, you can theoretically say goodbye to them because of torrents.

What are torrents?
These are small files that when opened, will let you download even bigger files. Usually, the file ends with the extension ".torrent" and this system was created by BitTorrent Inc. for the purpose of sharing  significantly larger files over an Internet connection without having to wait very long when downloading. This means that a person can put up a 1 gigabyte high-definition movie for grabs, but the one downloading that movie could get it in just 10 minutes depending on a few conditions.

How fast are torrents?
There are several conditions that have to be met for a torrent to gain its peak speed, but it can theoretically go as fast as downloading a hundred megabytes a second. Of course, it's quite impossible for regular home users with a decent DSL connection to get that kind of speed, but if you read on, you'll understand what kind of conditions you will have to meet before you go on pressing that shiny download button.

First step
The first thing you need to do is find a nice torrent client, or application, so you can open and start downloading them. Don't fret if you don't know what to pick, because there are tons of options you can choose from, especially since this is the wild world of the Internet we're talking about!

The best, however, is uTorrent. And if you're still living in the stoneage of Windows 95, uTorrent still supports it. Mac users will have to wait for uTorrent, although they can try Transmission, although my whole Internet connection gets terribly slow when I open it. Don't fret, though, the steps below will be wholly the same for all users regardless of platform.

The search
After downloading uTorrent, you can go through its simple wizard, and you can now start looking for the stuff you want to download!

The stuff you want to download will mostly be available in websites aplenty, but you'll have to find the right one.

Most popular among downloaders is The Pirate Bay, the BitTorrent website (the most legal option, but only for the United States) and a few specialized sites like FlixFlux for movies and more.

Most of the time, there's always a search panel where you can type in your keyword, and for the most part, there will be relevant results that you can pick from.

Viruses
Proceed with caution, though, and remember to always read the Comments panel. Does it have viruses? Is it fake? Well, downloaders in a website's community will answer that for you. So if a torrent file doesn't have comments yet, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Seeders and leechers
The first thing you should look for in a torrent (that is, after reading the comments panel) are the number of seeders versus leechers. The more seeders the faster the download, the more the leechers, the slower it will get.

Just think of it like this: the torrent file is a plant. The seeders are the one who help pollinate, while the leechers are the weeds who suck the life out of the plant. So if the weeds overpower the pollinators, the plant dies.

Same goes for the torrent. If there are more leechers than seeders, that torrent will be removed.

Am I a seeder, or a leecher?
If you're the one downloading the file, you're the leecher. If you have finished downloading the file and you are starting the upload process, you are then called the seeder. Torrent applications usually indicate whether you are seeding or downloading anyway.

I have dial-up, so I want to ask whether I can get fast speeds or not.
The answer is predictably no. Download speeds can still depend on your Internet connection, and if you have dial-up, your connection will mostly likely disconnect constantly. Torrent applications do have an option to pause downloads by default, but trust me, you won't like the hassle.

Wait, you can pause downloads?
Torrent applications can pause, resume and restart downloads, and not just automatically, you can also do it voluntarily. So if you think the torrents are slowing your Internet connection a little too much, you can pause them for a while and resume them anytime.

Failed DL?
This is simply the data that fail certain tests before going through. It won't affect your download as a whole, but it merely indicates that you have wasted time downloading bad data (that will be replaced by a better duplicate).

Am I set?
Yes, that's all the basic information you need to know when starting a torrent download. If you have any questions, you can consult Wikipedia or the torrent application's manual.

Today's looong post

Aside from the stuff I said yesterday, there are also quite a lot of additions for today's post, making it looong again. Anyway...

Ramon Magsaysay essay... how the hell was I chosen?!
I must've been drunk when I wrote my first draft. But then, my writing style's all over it. It's too informal for a formal essay but then again, I had some dictionary help. I actually never expected this to happen to ME (I thought, no, I WANTED other people to be picked). This new draft is already the sloppiest I can think of without letting it be too evident. Hopefully, it'll work. I'm not fit for essay competitions, not now. I can't fare well in comparison to the other more "gramatically-advanced" people, it'll just make me ashamed of myself! (must be adolescence, lol)

Cyclopentazhrzhrzhrzhr WHAT?!
"Class, memorize all 20 amino acids as well as all the parts of the animal AND plant cell. It will be included in your long test."
Did he have to say that? Makes my feet colder than ever for this quarter's long test. Just imagine how much colder they will be in the succeeding quarters. Brrrrr!





In the wonderful world of downloads...
If you don't have a PS2 nor an XBOX 360, then you'll be wondering what the heck's Guitar Hero. Now it's your chance to experience the thrill in your own PC. Though it's been known to lag, this FREE alternative to the hit game can provide you with hours of fun. You can put all Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2 songs into it and even download some from somewhere. You can also edit them as well. The core gameplay is of course, similar to the real thing but the visuals are of course, different from the original. The download size is at 30.73MB and it's called Frets on Fire. Find it on Download.com and don't worry, it's spyware-free! ROCK ON!

Oldie Movie Review: Beetlejuice (1988)

Ask the baby-boomers of the 80's and they'll tell you that the young emo Winona Ryder was hot in there. I sure don't think that way. But BeetleJuice, in today's modern times, is still entertaining especially in its hilarious musical scenes and Michael Keaton (Batman), is perfect for the title role though he actually receives little screen time.

A young, thin and quite good-looking Alec Baldwin stars as the husband of the childless couple who dies in an accident. When they find out that living humans have destroyed it and made it into something uhh... aesthetically weird, they want to make them restore the house in its original state... but how you ask? They hire a so-called bio-exterminator called Beetleguese. Just say his name three times and trouble is abound.

The movie is relatively mediocre and sometimes boring but if you watch with an adult or maybe a baby-boomer, you'll see them crying or laughing because of the times back then. You won't be feeling what they feel because it's contrary to the nature of the movie but it'll still make you laugh one way or another. It uses old catchy party songs like Day-O (I tell you, I was hooked on that song one day) and Shake Shake Senora by Harry Belafonte for the musical scenes I've told you about and they just seem to fit.

Tim Burton's (director of Corpse Bride) directing this and you'll just see that the movie seems to be the foundation for all of his more modern movies (that involve death, of course.). It simply oozes with his directorial style and is comparable to Corpse Bride (I'm referring to the directorial style again). Special effects were awesome during those times but seem a bit like clay today, but it just seems that the components that made it a hit is just Keaton, the effects and the musical possession scenes. Just that, and not the adolescence of the character Wynona Ryder plays, which I reiterate, is emo. So I would rate this movie with a 6.5/10. And to take this column away is the video of the musical possession scene I keep talking about. Enjoy!


Full Album Review: My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade
Of all the tunes I hear everyday (in the radio), it never fails to deliver at least one MCR track. I Don't Love You may be their current chart-topper but there are also a few songs that might make cult status.
"Dead!" is already included in the new Guitar Hero II line-up (for XBOX360) and "Famous Last Words" is also a hit (it already has a video).
"Teenagers" may sound a bit like those rock n' roll bands with a punk fusion (in short, mainstream) and "This Is How I Disappear" does as well.
I don't really like "The End." with the acoustic guitar but "Welcome to the Black Parade" has grown on me (I used to hate it).
They use a Liza Menelli (did I spell it right?) track for "Mama" which is a bit more grim than the others but I still like it.
I also like the unique piano combination for "Cancer" (it works) and "Sleep", "Disenchanted" are going to be sleeper hits (pun intended).

*Boy does re-reading this part of the post makes me sick. Remind me never to put an Album Review EVER AGAIN!*

Poll Overview
Question: Is Biology ruining your life?
"OK, class, let's have a fish-and-feather type of exam" wins 25% which is already the lion's share. Boy, does the student body hate that type of exam! (Me included though I didn't vote.) Nobody loves it (except one person actually, I don't know who he/she is) but it's life. If you want to vote, you can still vote since there are three days left before it officially closes.

Next week's poll: Is your feet cold for long test week?
Choices: Simply YES and NO as well as a little surprise or two. Wait, these choices I'm gonna add aren't really gonna be a surprise IMHO.
--> Tell me if you want to vote for this question.

Of Microsoft and MacBooks: Activation is... VALID?!
It's hard to believe but my MacBook's 2-days old XP partition is genuine! The thing is, I used the same copy of genuine XP that I formerly put on my 40GB hard disk this same copy but my serial number was rejected! What gives?!

WTP?! (What's the Point?!)
Chinese Classes- It seems to be a ritual but I don't think I've been learning much of the language ever since the memorizing and the memorizing started in Elementary Year 2. My classmates can totally relate. Preparation for the next world language? I think not! And everytime they start, they just seem to draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag.

High School Musical 2- I had to put a hate message to this movie sooner or later! It's gonna suuuuuuck. Obvious ba?

If I Had... an iPhone
It's practically sexy for the tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy people but the features simply do not stack up to today's standards except for the browser, the Wi-fi and the patented glass (no more scratches and prints) screen. The photo handler is cool and I'll be the center of attention. And what I mean by that are snatchers! So it's no public usage for me!






"No public usage for me!"----------------------------->












To end this post, I'm just gonna have to post another musical scene from Beetlejuice. It's also the ending of the movie anyway.