Torrent

The return of Geek Speak. *shudders* No, I wont bore you with straight, hard up facts but hey, a little information wont hurt a fly, right? RIGHT?

Anyway, this edition of Geek Speak is about torrent. Okay, if you're a heavy internet user like a certain someone *cough*..me..*cough*...there are things that you will discover slowly but surely and end up being a more effective user. Living in Singapore has its perks. We are miles away from natural disaster and the country is clean and green (well..almost..). But when it comes to tv, we...are pretty backwards. It's okay. Thou shalt not complain.

So it is through the internet also that I get to do some 'catching up' with our US counterparts. For myself , being a minor fan of indie films by independent film makers who are pretty much liberal in the way they convey certain messages, which may sometimes come across as offensive or well..kinky, can be hard to get hold of them and watch it in full if youtube subscribers do not put up the film in different parts.

But a random search, for example, 'shelter movie torrent file' will generate responses and then you are welcomed by the fact that you can download the entire movie! Of course you need broadband and not dial up because trust me, we're not talking a file of minor proportions here.

Basically, when you download a torrent file, you need a supporting software (called a P2P software) which will find this file that you have already saved to desktop, for example, and start downloading once the settings are clear. It means that you have acquired the correct estimated downloading and uploading speed which you will roughly have to enter manually based on certain tests that the software conducts in order to maximise your downloading experience. In other words, for a faster less interruptive download.

Now this supporting software will actually capture bits and pieces of information from various computers worldwide that already have the torrent file and all these bits and pieces will form together into downloading that one single torrent file. Of course, these little bits and pieces have a name and they're called 'seeds'. The more seeds, the better..geddit?

Okay, before I start sounding like Im doing some biological lesson here, I shall direct you to read more about the facts on torrent via this wiki

Wiki on BitTorrent

Of course, there is this legal issue because of copyright infringement blah blah. Technically, BitTorrent, which is one of the P2P communications software for downloading and uploading of torrent files, may claim that it is not illegal because they do not store copyrighted material. Depending on where you stay, this is pretty much a touchy issue. To the best of my knowledge, if you distribute copyrighted material, then it's considered illegal. If you use it for your own personal viewing or listening pleasure, then why not.

But like I said, there are various interpretations depending on where you stay. So to be on the safe side, to me it's just better to either rent the movie, buy the album or if you're lucky, do a search on video sharing websites, and who knows, you may get to watch the entire full length movie.

So just take it with a pinch of salt and not to overdo it like trying to download chunks of information at any one time because heck, you'll never know if you are downloading copyrighted material among them.

So that is Geek Speak to you!

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