Category: Internet

How to use Bit Torrents

I really liked the software Qbittorent available from http://www.qbittorrent.org/ I think bit torrents should be the default way of sharing huge content especially software downloads. For protecting intellectual property there should be much better codes and software keys than presently available.

The qBittorrent project aims to provide a Free Software alternative to µtorrent. Additionally, qBittorrent runs and provides the same features on all major platforms (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, OS/2, FreeBSD).

qBittorrent is based on Qt4 toolkit and libtorrent-rasterbar.

qBittorrent v2 Features

  • Polished µTorrent-like User Interface
  • Well-integrated and extensible Search Engine
    • Simultaneous search in most famous BitTorrent search sites
    • Per-category-specific search requests (e.g. Books, Music, Movies)
  • All Bittorrent extensions
    • DHT, Peer Exchange, Full encryption, Magnet/BitComet URIs, …
  • Remote control through a Web user interface
    • Nearly identical to the regular UI, all in Ajax
  • Advanced control over trackers, peers and torrents
    • Torrents queueing and prioritizing
    • Torrent content selection and prioritizing
  • UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding support
  • Available in ~25 languages (Unicode support)
  • Torrent creation tool
  • Advanced RSS support with download filters (inc. regex)
  • Bandwidth scheduler
  • IP Filtering (eMule and PeerGuardian compatible)
  • IPv6 compliant
  • Sequential downloading (aka “Download in order”)
  • Available on most platforms: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, OS/2, FreeBSD
So if you are new to Bit Torrents- here is a brief tutorial
Some terminology from

Tracker

A tracker is a server that keeps track of which seeds and peers are in the swarm.

Seed

A Seed is used to refer to a peer who has 100% of the data. When a leech obtains 100% of the data, that peer automatically becomes a Seed.

Peer

A peer is one instance of a BitTorrent client running on a computer on the Internet to which other clients connect and transfer data.

Leech

A leech is a term with two meanings. Primarily leech (or leeches) refer to a peer (or peers) who has a negative effect on the swarm by having a very poor share ratio (downloading much more than they upload, creating a ratio less than 1.0)
1) Download and install the software from  http://www.qbittorrent.org/
2) If you want to search for new files, you can use the nice search features in here
3) If you want to CREATE new bit torrents- go to Tools -Torrent Creator
4) For sharing content- just seed the torrent you just created. What is seeding – hey did you read the terminology in the beginning?
5) Additionally –
From

Trackers: Below are some popular public trackers. They are servers which help peers to communicate.

Here are some good trackers you can use:

 

http://open.tracker.thepiratebay.org/announce
http://www.torrent-downloads.to:2710/announce
http://denis.stalker.h3q.com:6969/announce
udp://denis.stalker.h3q.com:6969/announce
http://www.sumotracker.com/announce

and

Super-seeding

When a file is new, much time can be wasted because the seeding client might send the same file piece to many different peers, while other pieces have not yet been downloaded at all. Some clients, like ABC, Vuze, BitTornado, TorrentStorm, and µTorrent have a “super-seed” mode, where they try to only send out pieces that have never been sent out before, theoretically making the initial propagation of the file much faster. However the super-seeding becomes less effective and may even reduce performance compared to the normal “rarest first” model in cases where some peers have poor or limited connectivity. This mode is generally used only for a new torrent, or one which must be re-seeded because no other seeds are available.
Note- you use this tutorial and any or all steps at your own risk. I am not legally responsible for any mishaps you get into. Please be responsible while being an efficient bit tor renter. That means respecting individual property rights.

Why LinkedIn and Twitter are up for grabs in 2012-14?

Given Facebook’s valuation at $60-$100 billion , Apple’s $100 billion cash pile, Microsoft’s cash of $ 52 billion, Google’s cash of 43 billion $ , there is a lot of money floating. I am not counting Amazon as it deals with its own Fire issues.

But what is left to buy. In terms of richness of data available for data mining for better advertising- it is Twitter and LinkedIn that have the best sources of data.

and LinkedIn is worth only 9 billion dollars and Twitter is only $8.5 billion dollars. Throw in a competitive dynamic  premium, and you can get 50 % of both these companies at 13 billion dollars. if owners dont want to sell 100%, well buy a big big stake.

Makes a good case- buy the company- buy the data- sell them ads- sell them better products.

What do you think?

Stanford Courses Delayed Again

Message from the guys at Palo Alto— Why dont they just make videos using Sal Academy’s help?

We’re sorry to have to tell you that our Machine Learning course will be delayed further. There have naturally been legal and administrative issues to be sorted out in offering Stanford classes freely to the outside world, and it’s just been taking time. We have, however, been able to take advantage of the extra time to debug and improve our course content!

We now expect that the course will start either late in February or early in March. We will let you know as soon as we hear a definite date. We apologize for the lack of communication in recent weeks; we kept hoping we would have a concrete launch date to give you, but that date has kept slipping.

Thanks so much for your patience! We are really sorry for repeatedly making you wait, and for any interference this causes in your schedules. We’re as excited and anxious as you are to get started, and we both look forward to your joining us soon in Machine Learning!

Andrew Ng and the ML Course Staff

On Software

1) All software has bugs. Sometimes this is because people have been told to code in a hurry to meet shipping deadlines. Sometimes it is due to the way metal and other software interact with it. Mostly it is karma.

2) In the 21 st Century,It is okay to insult someone over his software , but not over most other things. Sometimes I think people are passionate not just for their own software but to just diss the other guys. It is a politically convenient release.

3) Bloggers writing about software are full of bull-by products. If they were any good in writing code, they would not have time to write a blog. Mostly bloggers on code are people whose coding enthusiasm is more than their coding competence.

4) Software is easier than it looks to people who know it. To those who dont know how to code, it will always be a bit of magic.

5) Despite immense progress, initiatives and encouragement- the number of females writing code is too low . Comparatively, figuratively and literally. If you are a male and want a social life- get into marketing while the hair is still black.

Man walks into Bar. Says to Women at Bar. ” Hey,What do you do, Me- I write code”

See!

6) People who write software end up making more money not just because they create useful stuff that helps get work done faster or helps reduce boredom for people. They make more money because they are mostly passionate, logical problem thinkers, focused, hard working and better read on a variety of subjects than others. That’s your cue to how to make money even if you cannot code.

7) I would rather write much more code rather than write poetry. But I sometimes think they are related. Just manipulating words in different languages to manipulate output in different machines or people.

8) Kids should be taught software at early age , as that is a skill that helps in their education and thinking. More education for the kids!

9) Laying off talented software people because you found a cheaper , younger alternative half across the globe is sometimes evil. It is also inevitable. Learn more software as you grow older.

10) The best software is the one in your head. It was written by a better programmer too.

 

Moving from OpenDNS to Google DNS

It is best to use a DNS resolution service to avoid targeted attacks on your machine esp if you use the browser a lot. and it is quite fast!! Takes 2 minutes to set it up even for non geeks

I was getting slower browsing speeds on OpenDNS http://www.opendns.com/

so I switched to Google DNS (though I am not sure how people in Iran and China – who have a much greater need for DNS verification services will get secure resolution of DNS)

http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/

What is Google Public DNS?

Google Public DNS is a free, global Domain Name System (DNS) resolution service, that you can use as an alternative to your current DNS provider.

To try it out:

  • Configure your network settings to use the IP addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as your DNS servers or
  • Read our configuration instructions.

New! For IPv6 addresses, see our configuration instructions.

If you decide to try Google Public DNS, your client programs will perform all DNS lookups using Google Public DNS.

Why does DNS matter?

The DNS protocol is an important part of the web’s infrastructure, serving as the Internet’s phone book: every time you visit a website, your computer performs a DNS lookup. Complex pages often require multiple DNS lookups before they start loading, so your computer may be performing hundreds of lookups a day.

Why should you try Google Public DNS?

By using Google Public DNS you can:

How to find out people who are spamming you

Step 1-

We assume you have Gmail. If you dont have Gmail, you deserve the Spam

You click -show original on the drop down in the spammy message

 

you see a lot of mumbo jumbo

(or you just pick the IP addresses from comment spam)

Step 2-

You pick the IP addresses from the mumbo jumbo above (called headers )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer networkthat uses the Internet Protocol for communication.[1] An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and locationaddressing

Step 3-

You find out who has that IP address using arin

https://www.arin.net/

 

Step 4-

You put those IP addresses in your firewall for your computer

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc733090(v=ws.10).aspx

(or if you have a self-hosted blog using Website cpanel ip deny)

http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/cpanel/ip_deny_manager.htm

Step 5-

 

Communicate to that IP Address using IRC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing.[1] It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels,[2] but also allows one-to-one communication via private message[3] as well as chat and data transfer,[4] including file sharing.[5]

or use HOIC to test your own firewall better before people  spam  you

http://gizmodo.com/5883146/what-is-hoic or

http://www.decisionstats.com/occupy-the-internet/

 

Predictive Analytics World Events in 2012

A new line up of Predictive Analytics World and Text Analytics World conferences and workshops are coming March through July, plus see the save-the-dates and call-for-speakers for events in Sept, Oct, and Nov.

CONFERENCE: Predictive Analytics World – San Francisco

March 4-10, 2012 in San Francisco, CA
http://predictiveanalyticsworld.com/sanfrancisco/2012
Discount Code for $150 off: AJAYBP12

CONFERENCE: Text Analytics World – San Francisco
March 6-7, 2012 in San Francisco, CA
http://textanalyticsworld.com/sanfrancisco/2012
Discount Code for $150 off: AJAYBP12

VARIOUS ANALYTICS WORKSHOPS:
A plethora of 1-day workshops are held alongside PAW and TAW
For details see: http://pawcon.com/sanfrancisco/2012/analytics_workshops.php

SEMINAR: Predictive Analytics for Business, Marketing & Web
March 22-23, 2012 in New York City, NY
July 26-27, 2012 in São Paulo, Brazil
Oct 11-12, 2012 in San Francisco
A concentrated training program lead by PAW’s chair, Eric Siegel
http://businessprediction.com

CONFERENCE: Predictive Analytics World – Toronto
April 25-26, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario
http://predictiveanalyticsworld.com/toronto/2012
Discount Code for $150 off: AJAYBP12

CONFERENCE: Predictive Analytics World – Chicago
June 25-26, 2012 in Chicago, IL
http://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/chicago/2012/
Discount Code for $150 off: AJAYBP12

 

From Ajay-

CONTEST- If you use the discount code AJAYBP12, you will not only get the $150 off, but you will be entered in a contest to get 2 complementary passes like I did last year . Matt Stromberg won that one

http://www.decisionstats.com/contest-2-free-passes-to-predictive-analytics-world/

 

see last year results-

http://www.decisionstats.com/congrats-to-matt-stromberg-winner-2-free-passes-to-paw-new-york/