How To - Techie Buzz

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 10:16 AM PST

BitTorrent has been around for a while and like every other technology, it has evolved and become better. DHT, a form of decentralized distribution; Peer exchange, that allows a group of peers to share a file faster and so, several improvements have been made over the base protocol. One such feature called Web Seeding was implemented in 2006.

What are web seeds?

What seeds give the torrent client the ability to download torrent pieces/data from an http source in addition to the swarm. So if you have a file somewhere on the internet, you can simply add its link to your torrent. Now if the swarm is weak, the torrent client will fetch data from the http source. The advantage, of course, is that a publisher can create a torrent of a file which is already hosted on his server and not worry about seeding it full time, while the user can obtain the data directly from the http source or through the torrent. Either way, the user will get the data from the http source. However, if the torrent becomes popular and self-sustainable, the torrent client will fetch data from the swarm and only use the http seed for pieces which are not available or are deficient in the swarm.

This is a very good approach towards file distribution which can be used by artists, producers who distribute their content online. Using web seeds, they can keep their torrents alive for as long as their servers are up. A perfect balance between load-balancing and content availability.

How to use web seeds?

greenshot_2010-11-17_23-30-53 Adding a web seeds to a torrent is very easy. If you're creating a torrent in uTorrent, just add the http (or https or ftp) link to the Web seeds box. Only http, https or ftp links will work. Also, do note that if the torrent has just one file, you can add its http link right away. However, if it's a directory of files, you can add the http link of the directory in the Web Seeds box and the torrent client will automatically append the file names. If the torrent has just one file, the file names in the torrent and in the web seeds can be different. However, in the second case, where it’s a directory of files and only a http directory link has been given in as a web seed, make sure the file names in the torrent and in the http directory are same, because the torrent client will simply append file name and if they don't match, the file won't be web-seeded.

Pro tip: Want to share a file through bittorrent but can't seed for a lot of time? Host the file on Dropbox and add its public link (or directory link) as a web seed. Your torrent will be alive as long as Dropbox is up (which is always)

TAGS: bittorrent, Torrent, web seeds

What Are Web Seeds? [BitTorrent] originally appeared on Techie Buzz written by Keshav Khera on Wednesday 17th November 2010 01:16:49 PM under How To. Please read the Terms of Use for fair usage guidance.

How to Disable Instant Previews On Google Search Results

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 08:34 AM PST

Google Instant previews, which was rolled out the earlier week allows users to previews websites on search result pages. With Instant previews, users are able to see a graphical overview of a search result which highlights the most relevant sections related to the search terms.

If you haven’t noticed the instant preview of search results on Google.com, here is an example:

This feature is useful but can be distracting at times. You hover the cursor over any link and an overlay window starts loading the screenshot of the webpage automatically.If you ask me, I have three words – “Unnecessary UI Clutter”

If you are like me who prefers simpler things and want a minimalist search interface, you may want to turn off instant previews on Google search result pages.

Though Google doesn’t provide any option to disable Instant previews yet, like they do for Google Instant search but you can use a Greasemonkey script for Firefox and Google Chrome and say good bye to Google Instant previews forever.

Firefox users can use this userscript, provided they have the Greasemonkey add-on installed already. Google Chrome users can install the userscript directly because Chrome supports userscripts by default.

Once the script is in place, you will notice a new link named “Disable Instant previews” on the right side of search result pages. Click that link and the thumbnails won’t appear, as long as you are on the same browser tab.

I tested the script in Google Chrome and it worked just as fine. The only downside is that when you open a new tab or restart the browser, you have to click the “Disable Instant previews” link again. Hope Google soon comes up with something in Google account preferences so that users who don’t want to use the Instant previews feature can turn it off permanently.

Script Source: Varun’s Scratchpad

TAGS: Firefox, Google Chrome, Google News

How to Disable Instant Previews On Google Search Results originally appeared on Techie Buzz written by Amit Banerjee on Wednesday 17th November 2010 11:34:27 AM under How To. Please read the Terms of Use for fair usage guidance.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010