Advantage, Geeks!

While I might not pass the requisite litmus test for being a True Geek, I know cool stuff when I see it, and I'm utterly intrigued by this development in file sharing technology:

Most file-sharing programs aren't the most upstanding citizens of the computing world. Yes, the entertainment industry hates them for the way they're used to download movies and albums without paying -- but many of these programs also fail to treat their own users well, often installing an unadvertised, unwanted load of advertising and spyware.

BitTorrent is different. This free, open-source program offers a spyware- and nuisance-free installation. And while it is certainly handy for downloading movies and other copyrighted material for free, it's also increasingly used to distribute software and entertainment legally.

This makes BitTorrent (www.bittorrent.com) not only a fascinating test case for legal experts, but it also looks a lot like the logical fusion of peer-to-peer file-sharing and traditional downloading. It's too robust to stamp out with lawsuits, but too effective not to adopt for commercial use.

BitTorrent works by enlisting everybody into the file-distribution process. A BitTorrent download starts when you click on a ".torrent" link on a Web page, in an e-mail or some other document. That link gets handed off to your BitTorrent program, which follows that link to a "tracker" computer. (BitTorrent doesn't have any file-search capability built in; you must find these .torrent links yourself.)

The tracker, in turn, points your copy of BitTorrent to a random grouping of other BitTorrent users who have the file you want. Your copy then starts downloading, assembling all these disparate chunks into a perfect copy of the original. But once you have part of the file on your computer, BitTorrent also begins uploading that to other people who come looking for it.

This uploading continues until you close the BitTorrent program.

I've long considered P2P to be an evolutionary leap in line with (but standing on the shoulders of) the Internet's original purpose. "Founding intent" if you will.

Unless I am mistaken, BitTorrent is no mere "piracy" or "copyright infringement" software. The idea of "putting the entire Internet to work" could revolutionize the way we consume information and human knowledge.

Most of all, I love the fact that apparently it can't be stopped!

Freedom is a wonderful thing.

UPDATE: In a nanomemory breakthrough, bigger things are about to happen in much smaller spaces.

.... A memory cell in a conventional flash memory device cannot be made smaller than about 65 nanometres across, whereas Ovonic memory cells could potentially get down to 10 nanometres. That could be enough to put Ovonic technology at the head of the field for the next two generations of electronic devices, he says.

But the key selling point is that the memory cell is remarkably simple to make, since it is essentially just a chunk of material hooked up to two electrical contacts. "I've spoken to a couple of companies and they're thrilled about this," says Wuttig.

While bigger gets smaller, smaller gets bigger! (Or something like that....)

posted by Eric on 03.17.05 at 10:54 AM





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Comments

One of the key advantages to BitTorrent is that it prevents server overloads; in other words, if a person posts a hot property and everybody starts downloading it, the server hits (and bills) are huge, but with BitTorrent, that load is distributed to thousands of servers. No Instalanche or Slashdotting problems.

Another advantage is the way it's written to grab the rarest bit first. That way, it keeps the bits roughly balanced (rather than starting at the beginning and working to the end, a sure way to keep the end bits in short supply.)

There are currently suits against technologies such as Bit Torrent, which is a shame, because BT is an incredible way to distribute information, especially that of news interest. I saw a recent story that pointed out the tsunami videos as a good example; one blogger posted them direct and got hit with a huge server bill, while somebody else converted them to a torrent and had no difficulties whatsoever distributing them.

B. Durbin   ·  March 17, 2005 04:07 PM

BitTorrent is already the distribution method of choice for Linux distriubtion like Fedora. It really allows the vendor not to waste their own bandwidth.

BigFire   ·  March 17, 2005 05:56 PM

I scored 22 - right up there with you and Ahnuld!
Have you taken the test since the site updated it in '04 with questions based on their previous experience?

Aristomedes   ·  March 19, 2005 03:11 PM


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