Simple Help » Bittorrent http://www.simplehelp.net Common questions, simple answers Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:12:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 How to automatically download your favorite TV shows using uTorrent http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/06/how-to-automatically-download-your-favorite-tv-shows-using-utorrent/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/06/how-to-automatically-download-your-favorite-tv-shows-using-utorrent/#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:30:22 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1259 Windows

This tutorial will guide you step by step through using uTorrent to automatically find and download your favorite TV shows, as soon as they’re available on bittorrent sites. It’s important to mention up front – depending on the country you live in, downloading television programs from the Internet may not be legal. Be sure to check before you proceed.

  1. Launch uTorrent and select the Add RSS Feed button in the upper left corner.


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  2. You’ll be prompted to enter an RSS feed URL. A good one to start with is http://tvrss.net/feed/combined/ Make sure that Do not automatically download items is selected, and then click OK.

  3. Select your newly added RSS feed from the left navigation window, and the ‘main’ screen will populate with all of the feed entries.


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  4. Right click on one of the shows you want to automatically download from now on (I selected “Bones”) and click Add to Favorites. This isn’t the only way to add shows to download automatically – I’ll show you another method later in this tutorial.

  5. The RSS Downloader will open. From here you’ll need to specify a number of things in order for your downloads to happen automatically, and correctly. First, enter a name for this entry in the Favorites list. Then click the … button to set a default Save location. If the Filter isn’t pre-populated, enter the name of your TV show. From the Quality: drop-down list, select the formats you’re willing to download. It’s very much worth noting that you can select more than one. As soon as one of your selected formats appears in the RSS feed, that’s the one that will download (not one of each). Place a check in the box labeled Smart ep. filter to make sure that you only download one copy of each episode (in case there are multiple copies in the feed) Thanks Rarst!.

    Finally, use the Episode Number: field to define which season and episodes you want to download. In my example, I set it to 4×1-26. That means I’ll download episodes 1 to 26, from the 4th season. When you’re done, click Close.


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  6. Your download will begin right away (because it was in the feed and one of the seasons and episodes you opted to download).


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  7. Now on to the other method to download files. Visit the web site http://tvrss.net. Select the Search link, and in the Show Name field, enter the title of the show you want to automatically download every time a new episode comes out. Run the search.


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  8. At the top of the results screen, you’ll see a link titled Search-based RSS Feed. Right-click that link, and select Copy Link Location.


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  9. Back in uTorrent, click the Add RSS Feed button again. The Feed URL: will probably be pre-populated, but if it isn’t, right-click inside the space and click Paste. Again, make sure Do not automatically download items is selected, and click OK.

  10. Right click on one of the entries in your new RSS feed, and select Add to Favorites.


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  11. Repeat the process of setting your preferences (download location, Season and Episode numbers etc).


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  12. Make sure to leave uTorrent running at all times. That way as soon as one of your favorite episodes shows up in the RSS feed, it will automatically begin downloading. To make sure uTorrent starts each time you reboot/start Windows, select Options -> Preferences. On the General page, place a check in the box labeled Start uTorrent on system startup.

    The default behavior for uTorrent when you click the “X” to close it is to actually minimize to your system tray, keeping the program actually running. Leave that setting as it is, so that uTorrent will constantly check for new shows.

    When one of your RSS feeds finds an episode to download, you’ll be notified by a pop-up from the uTorrent in your system tray.

  13. Keep repeating the above process until you’ve automated all of your favorite TV programs to download.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/06/how-to-automatically-download-your-favorite-tv-shows-using-utorrent/feed/ 12 Sneak Peek: uTorrent for OS X http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/22/sneak-peak-utorrent-for-os-x/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/22/sneak-peak-utorrent-for-os-x/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:54:31 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1216 Mac

Today on one of the popular Bittorrent sites, an early “alpha” version of uTorrent for OS X was posted. I’ve downloaded a copy, and below you’ll find a bunch of screenshots along with my initial thoughts.

First, this is something along the lines of a pre-alpha. Which means it’s expected to be very rough around the edges. With that said, I’m currently downloading a concert, and so far, so good. It does lack a lot of the features of its Windows counterpart, though I’m sure they’ll be added as it moves closer to beta. Though it’s labeled as “Version 1.0″, a more accurate description might be “Version 0.1″.

Main Window


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Main Window w/ Active Torrent


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General Preferences


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Network Preferences


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Info Panel Displayed


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Activity Panel Displayed


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Rate Limiting Options


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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/22/sneak-peak-utorrent-for-os-x/feed/ 0 How to use Transmission as your BitTorrent client (OS X) http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/17/how-to-use-transmission-as-your-bittorrent-client-os-x/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/17/how-to-use-transmission-as-your-bittorrent-client-os-x/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:28:31 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=669 Mac

From the About Transmission page:

Transmission has been built from the ground up to be a lightweight, yet powerful BitTorrent client. Its simple, intuitive interface is designed to integrate tightly with whatever computing environment you choose to use. Transmission strikes a balance between providing useful functionality without feature bloat. Furthermore, it is free for anyone to use or modify.

This tutorial will guide you through the steps to install, setup and use Transmission to download files using BitTorrent.

  1. First up – download Transmission. The installation is simple – open the .dmg file and drag Transmission to your Applications folder. Launch it from there.


    2. click to enlarge

  2. Transmission will open. Don’t be fooled by it’s fairly simplistic interface – it had a lot of advanced features, and way less bloat than some other BitTorrent programs. To open a torrent, click the Open torrent files button (2nd from the left).


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  3. Navigate to a .torrent file, select it and click Open


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  4. A confirmation/information window will pop up. This window lists all of the files that you’ll be downloading as a part of the .torrent. If you remote the check mark next to a file (in the DL column, that file won’t be downloaded. When you’re ready to start downloading, click Add.


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  5. After a few seconds, the Transmission icon in your Dock will display the download speed (blue) and the upload speed (green).

    6. Of course that info (upload and download speeds) is also displayed in the main Transmission window – along with your current ratio (how much you’ve downloaded:how much you’ve uploaded), the completion percentage, and an estimated time until the download is done.


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  6. Click the Shortcuts for changing global settings button in the bottom left corner of Transmission. From here you can alter a number of Transmissions settings/preferences.


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  7. Click the Toggle the filter bar button (second from right), and the filter bar will appear. This allows you to quickly view which torrents are active, which ones are seeding, paused etc.


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  8. With a torrent selected, click the Toggle the torrent inspector button (far right). This will bring up a window that provides detailed information on the torrent you’re downloading. By clicking the various tabs across the top of this window you can find out things like which Tracker you’re using, the peers you’re connected to, and some bandwidth related options.

  9. To view and change the Transmission preferences, select Transmission from the menu bar, and then Preferences… from the drop down list.

    The General tab offers exactly what you’d expect – general preferences. Make any changes you see fit – though the defaults are fine.


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  10. Click the Transfers tab. One of the neat features of Transmission can be found on this page – and it’s disabled by default, but enabling it is a piece of cake. If you want Transmission to automatically load any .torrent files as they’re downloaded, place a check in the box labeled Watch for torrent files in: and then select the folder you normally download torret files to.


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  11. Now each time a .torrent is downloaded to that specified folder, and Transmission is running, the confirmation/Add window will appear automatically (as seen in the screenshot below).


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  12. Back in the Transfers tab, select Management. From here you can set things like “stop transfer after seed ratio hits x”, the maximum number of active transfers etc.


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  13. Click the Bandwidth tab. Here you can set the maximum upload and download speeds you want to use with Transmission. Removing the check marks from Download rate: and Upload rate: will tell Transmission to use the maximum bandwidth your connection allows.

    Another neat feature of Transmission is that you can set bandwidth rates based on the time of day. If you use your PC for work during the day, and don’t want Transmission to “hog” all of your bandwidth while you’re trying to get important Internet related tasks done, set a lower transfer rate in the spaces provided, place a check in the Schedule Speed Limit between: box, and set the start and end times for this Transmission “throttle”.


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  14. Click the Peers tab. Generally, the defaults here are good. If you have an insanely fast Internet connection (higher than cable or DSL), you can increase the Connection: numbers. Again, the defaults are good.


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  15. And finally, click the Network tab. If you want to change the default port that Transmission uses, this is the spot to do it. If you do change the port, make sure your Firewall (or router) is set to use this new port.


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  16. If you’d like to use Transmission as your default BitTorrent client (program) – and another one already is, select a .torrent file (any will do) and bring up its properties by clicking Apple Key+i. In the Open with: section, click the drop-down button, and select Other… from the menu.

  17. Navigate to Transmission in your Applications list. Select it, and click Add.


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  18. Back in the properties/info window, click the Change All button.

  19. Click Continue when asked if you want to use Transmission to open all .torrent files.

    Now each time you double-click a .torrent file (or open one directly from a web page), Transmission will launch.


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  20. If you have Growl installed, Transmission will use it to notify you of completed downloads.

  21. If you quit Transmission with an active transfer still going, you’ll be notified that it will continue the next time you open Transmission.

  22. And that’s about it – have fun!

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/17/how-to-use-transmission-as-your-bittorrent-client-os-x/feed/ 27 How to access uTorrent from your mobile device http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/04/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-mobile-device/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/04/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-mobile-device/#comments Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:00:59 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/04/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-mobile-device/ Windows Mobile

This brief tutorial will walk you through the steps required to access (and control) uTorrent from your mobile device (phone, PDA, wi-fi mp3 player etc).

  1. Make sure that you’ve installed and set up uTorrent Web UI. Once it’s up and running, visit http://m.utorrentmui.com in your mobile browser. Opera Mini works great, Internet Explorer Mobile, not as well. Enter all of your uTorrent Web UI info and select Login.

    2. utorrent mobile

  2. And you’ll be presented with a list of your current uTorrent torrents.

    3. utorrent mobile

  3. Selecting (clicking) one of the links to a torrent will display all the info (current download speed, upload speed, ETA etc).

    4. utorrent mobile

  4. If you select Settings from the main uTorrent mUI screen, you’ll be able to change some of the settings for each of your bittorrent files.

    5. utorrent mobile

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/04/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-mobile-device/feed/ 0 How to access uTorrent from your iPhone or iPod Touch http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:00:25 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch/ iPhone iPod

This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to install and set up the iPhone (and iPod Touch) Web UI for uTorrent. This version of the uTorrent Web UI was created specifically for the iPhone/iPod Touch and allows you to access your uTorrent client remotely to pause or add new torrents.

  1. First you’ll need to install the uTorrent Web UI
  2. Next, download this zip file from http://www.davidraso.com/utorrent-iphone. Extract the contents of the zip file to the same folder that you installed uTorrents Web UI to (%AppData%\uTorrent).
  3. Now you need to add the iphone folder (that’s what was in the zip file you just downloaded) to the webui.zip file itself. You should be able to do this by clicking the iphone folder, holding down the mouse button, dragging it to the webui.zip file and then letting go.

    utorrent web ui for the iphone and ipod touch

  4. Open the webui.zip file to confirm that the iphone folder is now there.

    5. utorrent web ui for the iphone and ipod touch

  5. On your iPhone or iPod Touch, enter the url: http://your-utorrent-ip-address:utorrent webui port/gui/iphone/i.html (eg. http://24.24.24.24:44940/gui/iphone/i.html) into Safari.

    6. utorrent web ui for the iphone and ipod touch

  6. Enter your uTorrent Web UI user name and password when prompted, and you’ll be presented with the uTorrent iPhone Web UI. From here you can pause torrents (use the green/yellow play/pause button) or start new downloads by clicking the + (plus sign) in the uTorrent menu bar.

    7. utorrent web ui for the iphone and ipod touch

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch/feed/ 0 How to access uTorrent from a remote PC http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-a-remote-pc/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-a-remote-pc/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:00:43 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-a-remote-pc/ Windows

This tutorial will guide you through setting up uTorrents Web UI (User Interface). The Web UI allows you to remotely connect to the computer running uTorrent, through a web browser, and control all of your torrents.

Before you even get started – it’s very important to note up front – Internet Explorer 6 is not supported by uTorrent Web UI. Firefox, Safari and IE 7 all appear to work just fine.

  1. To enable the Web UI service, open up uTorrent, select Options and then Preferences…

    2. utorrent web ui

  2. Click the + (plus sign) next to Advanced to expand the list. Select Web UI from that list. In the main section of the Preferences window, place a check in the box labeled Enable Web Interface. Leave the user name as admin and then select a password by entering it in the Password: box. You may also want to enable access to the uTorrent Web UI on a different port. For me, the only way I could get it working was to use a different port. Remember – if you do use an alternative listening port you’ll want to make sure that port is being forwarded to the PC running uTorrent. Click OK when you’re done.

    3. utorrent web ui
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  3. Now download the Web UI file from the uTorrent forums. The Web UI addon is a .rar file – if you need help opening and accessing the contents of a rar file, see this tutorial.

    You’re going to need to extract some of the contents of the Web UI rar file to a specific folder on your PC. To access that folder, click the Windows Start button, select Run and enter:

    %AppData%\uTorrent

    4. utorrent web ui

  4. Now extract webui.zip and sortabletable from the rar file into the folder that you opened in the previous step. NOTE: – do not actually open webui.zip – it should remain a zip file.

    5. utorrent web ui
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  5. Here’s the moment of truth. On the PC that’s running uTorrent enter http://127.0.0.1:the port that utorrent runs on/gui/

    If you used all of the default settings when you installed uTorrent, the port that utorrent runs on in the URL above will probably be 44940. In the screenshot below, I’m using port 8080 – because I opted to use an alternate listening port (back in step 2).

    6. utorrent web ui

  6. Enter your user name (which is admin, unless you changed it) and password. You should be presented with the uTorrent Web Interface. From here you can control many of the uTorrent settings – including adding new torrents, stopping existing ones etc.

    7. utorrent web ui
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  7. If you are not presented with the uTorrent Web User Interface, here are some troubleshooting tips and suggestions.
    1. Start again from the top. Make sure that port forwarding is properly enabled for whatever port you opted to use uTorrent with. Make sure you extracted webui.zip to the correct folder.
    2. Press CTRL+F5 in your browser. This will either revive the Web UI, or you will see a blank (white) screen. If you only see a blank white screen then close and reopen the browser then load Web UI again.
    3. If that doesn’t work then use the following URL http://YourIP:UTport/gui/?action=setsetting&s=webui.cookie&v={} and then reload the Web UI using the normal URL
    4. Try accessing http://127.0.0.1:the port that utorrent runs on/gui/?list=1
    5. Try a different browser – remember – it will not work in IE 6.
    6. Review the info here.
    7. If that doesn’t work, try asking in the uTorrent forums.
  8. When accessing your uTorrent files remotely, you’ll need to connect to the computer running uTorrent through its public IP address. You can obtain your public IP address by visiting http://www.whatsmyip.net from the computer running uTorrent. Then when you want to access uTorrent from a remote computer, enter: http://your-public-ip-address:port:/gui/ into the browser address bar.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-access-utorrent-from-a-remote-pc/feed/ 0 How to use uTorrent to download bittorrent files http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-use-utorrent-to-download-bittorrent-files/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-use-utorrent-to-download-bittorrent-files/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:00:16 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-use-utorrent-to-download-bittorrent-files/ Windows

This tutorial will walk you through each of the steps in setting up and using uTorrent to download files using bittorrent. uTorrent is a free (and very feature-rich) bittorrent client for Windows 98/ME, NT/2000, XP, 2003, and Vista.

note: this tutorial was created using uTorrent version 1.7.5 Stable.

  1. First up, download uTorrent. Save the file to your downloads folder (or wherever you store temporary files) and run it when the download has completed.

    Decide where you want to create shortcuts to uTorrent, and click Yes.

    2. utorrent
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  2. When uTorrent is done installing, you’ll be prompted to set it as your default .torrent program. Click Yes.

    3. utorrent
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  3. Now you’ll need to set up uTorrent so that it performs as well as possible for your specific Internet connection. This will help ensure your bittorrent transfers go as quickly as possible, so it’s important to be accurate. If you know what your Internet connections upstream bandwidth is, select it from the Connection Type: drop down list. If you’re unsure, click the Run speed test at: www.dslreports.com button.

    4. utorrent
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  4. Your browser will open to a page that lists a bunch of speed tests. Assuming you have Flash 8 (or higher) installed (and you probably do), click the Flash 8 plugin based speed test link.

    5. utorrent
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  5. Make sure you’re not uploading or downloading any large files (so that your Internet connection remains mostly “unused”), and run the speed test from one of the locations that’s physically close to you. Once the test has completed, look for the Upload Speed number.

    6. utorrent

  6. Back in uTorrent, select the Connection Type: that’s closest to your Upload Speed result from the previous step. In my case, my upstream speed is about 582Kb/s, so I selected the xxx/512k entry. If your upload speed is in the 300-400 range, select the xxx/384k option.

    7. Now click the Test if port is forwarded properly button.

    utorrent
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  7. You’ll be directed to a web page that will say either Error (see screenshot below) or OK!. If you get the OK!, skip down to step 9.

    You got the error. That means one of a few things. You may have a software firewall installed (eg. McAfee Personal Firewall, Norton Internet Security, Windows Firewall etc). You may have a router (wireless or otherwise). But something is blocking port 44940 – the port that uTorrent uses. If a pop-up window appeared on your screen asking if you want to allow activity from uTorrent on port 44940 – click Yes, Yes and allow forever, or whatever similar option may be offered. If you have a router, you’re going to want to manually add port 44940 as ‘allowed’ for the PC that you’re running uTorrent on. As suggested on the error page, portforward.com has a great list of routers with clear step-by-step instructions on how to forward ports on each one. Your router is probably listed on that page, and all of this port forwarding talk is not as difficult as you may be thinking.

    8. utorrent
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  8. Once you’ve enabled port forwarding for port 44940, run the test again. This time you should get a green OK!. Once you get the good news, click the Use Selected Settings button on the uTorrent Speed Guide window.

    9. utorrent

  9. So now find yourself a torrent to download. I frequent http://bt.etree.org – it’s a site filled with live concerts from bands that allow audience members to tape and trade. Either open the .torrent directly (as seen in Firefox below) or save it to your hard drive and then double-click it to launch uTorrent.

    10. utorrent
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  10. You’ll be prompted to save the files contained in the torrent to somewhere on your hard drive. The default location in XP is in the Downloads folder of your My Documents. If you want to change the location, click the … (three dots) button. Click OK when you’re done.

    11. utorrent
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  11. Your torrent files will begin to download. Feel free to ‘click around’ and get to know the uTorrent interface.

    12. utorrent
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  12. You may have noticed that uTorrent also has a system tray icon. You can right-click it to bring up some of the options and preferences.

    13. utorrent

  13. You can also click on the series of tabs in the main uTorrent interface and change settings that way.

    14. utorrent
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  14. Select Options -> Preferences… to bring up the uTorrent prefs – of which there are many. You may want to stick with the defaults, but by all means feel free to poke around and change the settings to your liking.

    15. utorrent
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  15. Once your torrent has finished downloading, the Status will change to Seeding. This means you’re sharing the complete set of files with other people.

    16. utorrent

  16. It’s generally considered good netiquette to seed the files until you hit a ratio of at least 1.0. That means for every byte you downloaded, you uploaded the same amount. Aiming for a ratio of at least 2.0 and you’ll be highly regarded :)

    17. utorrent

  17. When you do want to stop seeding a torrent, select it from the list and click the Remove button.

    18. utorrent

  18. When prompted, click OK to confirm.

    19. utorrent

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/12/03/how-to-use-utorrent-to-download-bittorrent-files/feed/ 64 Search Results For Simple Help http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/31/searchresult/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/31/searchresult/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2007 03:43:37 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/searchresult/



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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/31/searchresult/feed/ 0 Comcast: Another chapter of lies, misdirection and ps. good luck using bittorrent http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/24/comcast-another-chapter-of-lies-misdirection-and-ps-good-luck-using-bittorrent/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/24/comcast-another-chapter-of-lies-misdirection-and-ps-good-luck-using-bittorrent/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:01:20 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/24/comcast-another-chapter-of-lies-misdirection-and-ps-good-luck-using-bittorrent/

The following collection of lies, misdirections and legal-speak is typical of Comcast. I’d like to take a moment to point out a couple of the larger errors in this statement. The post/statement itself was taken from the Comcast Help forums which require a Comcast uesrname/password to view.

There have been many news reports speculating about how Comcast manages it network. It is important for us to provide you with the facts.

The facts have already been brought to light. What they really want to do is provide you with a patently false response to make you feel a bit better about your current situation, which is only getting worse.

First, and most importantly, our customers have unfettered access to all the content, services, and applications on the Web.

False. I know that Mitch has access to dictionary, so please don’t use words like unfettered. Sending reset packets on behalf of Comcast subscribers does not fall into the “unfettered” category.

They use the Internet for downloading and uploading files, watching movies and videos, streaming music, sharing digital photos, accessing numerous peer-to-peer sites, VOIP applications like Vonage, and thousands of other applications online.

It’s also important that we make something very clear: Comcast does not block access to any Web site or applications, including peer-to-peer (P2P) services like BitTorrent. We also do not discriminate based on the type of content.

Sigh. Again, sending reset packets on behalf of Comcast subscribers is the very definition of discriminating based on the type of content. Unless by “type” you mean file type (.gif, .jpg, .mp3 etc) – in which case this is again, nothing more than fancy legalease look over there while I pull this rabbit from my hat.

So, what do we do? We use the latest technologies to manage our network so that our customers continue to enjoy these applications. We do this because we feel it’s our responsibility to provide all of our customers with a good Internet experience.

Customers who use bittorrent to share files with friends and family have got to disagree here. I would hardly find it “enjoyable” not to be able to share files via bittorrent because of your packet resets. That does NOT fall within the realm of “good Internet experience”.

As numerous studies show, peer-to-peer activity consumes a disproportionately large amount of network resources, and therefore poses the biggest challenge to maintaining a good broadband experience for all users – including the overwhelming majority of our customers who don’t use P2P applications.

That’s right. The majority of their customers use broadband to send emails, watch videos on “The Fan” and surf the web. Just like Comcast wants. Because it costs them money if you use broadband to transfer large files – which is what most of us thought broadband was for. If all we wanted to do was surf the web and send emails, we would have stayed with AOL.

We never prevent P2P activity, or block access to any P2P applications, but rather manage the network in such a way that this activity does not degrade the broadband experience for other users.

I’m tired of explaining why the above statement is a lie, aren’t you tired of telling it?

Network management is absolutely essential to ensure the health of our network for all of our customers. All major ISPs manage their traffic in some way and many use similar tools.

Network management helps us protect our customers from things like spam, viruses, the negative effects of network congestion, or attacks to their PCs. As threats on the Internet continue to grow,

Sorry I had to cut this one off mid-sentence – where the hell did spam, viruses and “attacks on PCs” come from? The issue that prompted this statement has nothing, and I repeat NOTHING to do with spam, viruses or attacks on any network. NOTHING. This is the typical feel-goodery that Comcast tries to include in any statement on how it runs its network. Oh and speaking of spam, maybe Comcast could do a little more work on not being the #1 source of it (source).

we will do everything we can to ensure that our network management tools evolve and keep pace so that we continue to maintain a good, reliable online experience for our customers.

Mitch Bowling
Senior Vice President
Comcast Online

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/10/24/comcast-another-chapter-of-lies-misdirection-and-ps-good-luck-using-bittorrent/feed/ 0 An introduction to AllPeers http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/09/an-introduction-to-allpeers/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/09/an-introduction-to-allpeers/#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2007 06:34:29 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/09/an-introduction-to-allpeers/ Firefox

AllPeers is a Firefox addon (plugin) that allows you to use Firefox as a bittorrent client. This brief tutorial shows you how to use it to download files.

  1. Start by downloading and installing AllPeers. The installation is the same as any other Firefox addon, though it’s somewhat larger than most Firefox addons (at 9.1MB).


    2. click to enlarge

  2. After you restart Firefox, you’ll be taken to the Terms & Conditions page. Click I Agree to continue.


    3. click to enlarge

  3. At this point you can sign up for AllPeers, which allows you to share files with your friends (who will also need to install AllPeers). Or, you can skip the sign up (which I did) and just use AllPeers to download torrents.


    4. click to enlarge

  4. AllPeers creates a new toolbar in Firefox. The next time you click a .torrent file, you’ll be prompted to open it with AllPeers, open it with another bittorrent program (if you have one installed) or to save it. Select Open with AllPeers and click OK.


    5. click to enlarge

  5. A new Firefox window (or tab) will open, and the contents of the torrent will be displayed. To start the download, click the Download All link (see screenshot below).


    6. click to enlarge

  6. The download will begin, and your upload and download speeds are displayed at the top of the page.


    7. click to enlarge

  7. Click the Transfers button from the AllPeers toolbar. All of the files that you’re downloading will be displayed, with the info on each file (its name, how much of it has been downloaded, etc).


    8. click to enlarge

  8. Select the Uploads tab and the files that have completed downloaded that you’re now sharing (seeding) are displayed. Note: in the screenshot below I’m not seeding anything, yet).


    9. click to enlarge

  9. Click the Preferences button in the AllPeers toolbar, and you’ll be presented with the various AllPeers settings. One of the features that I appreciate is the Seed torrents until upload ratio is option. The default is 2, but increasing the number will improve your karma :)


    10. click to enlarge

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/09/09/an-introduction-to-allpeers/feed/ 0 How to install uTorrent in OS X http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/08/15/how-to-install-utorrent-in-os-x/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/08/15/how-to-install-utorrent-in-os-x/#comments Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:11:21 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/08/15/how-to-install-utorrent-in-os-x/ Mac

Update: uTorrent is now available for OS X without having to install Darwine (which is the method used in this tutorial).

Another name for this tutorial could be “how to install Windows programs in OS X without buying Crossover“. Or “how to use Darwine to install Windows programs in OS X”. But this tutorial will take you step-by-step through installing uTorrent (which is currently Windows-only) via Darwine – an OS X port of Wine.

Before your start:

  1. Install X11 in OS X, if it isn’t already
  2. Download Darwine
  3. Download uTorrent for Windows

Installing Darwine and uTorrent in OS X

  1. Unpack Darwine and drag the entire Darwine folder to your Applications. Then locate and double-click the WineHelper.app file in the Darwine folder.

    2. utorrent in os x
    click to enlarge

  2. A small Process Window will appear. You can minimize it to your Dock or just ignore it.

    3. utorrent in os x

  3. From the WineHelper menu, select Application -> Open…

    4. utorrent in os x

  4. Navigate to the utorrent.exe file, select it, and click Open.

    5. utorrent in os x
    click to enlarge

  5. A bunch of text will fly by in the Wine Log window. Ignore it.

    6. utorrent in os x
    click to enlarge

  6. And you’ll be prompted to install uTorrent. Leaving the shortcut boxes checked is fine, but you clearly won’t have a “start menu” shortcut when the installation is done (though you will have a desktop shortcut).

    7. utorrent in os x

  7. That’s it. uTorrent will launch and ask if you’d like it to be the default application for opening .torrent files.

    8. utorrent in os x
    click to enlarge

  8. Select your Connection speed etc, and click the Use Selected Settings button.

    9. utorrent in os x
    click to enlarge

  9. You should also notice a shortcut to uTorrent on your desktop.

    10. utorrent in os x

  10. And now you can use uTorrent in OS X :)

    11. utorrent in os x
    click to enlarge

  11. Darwine is also able to run many other Windows programs. Probably not as many as Crossover, but the price is right.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/08/15/how-to-install-utorrent-in-os-x/feed/ 0 An introduction to Miro http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/18/an-introduction-to-miro/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/18/an-introduction-to-miro/#comments Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:38:52 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/18/an-introduction-to-miro/ Linux Mac Windows

Miro is a free application that turns your computer into an Internet TV video player. Miro used to be known as Democracy Player, but as it approaches v1.0, it’s now known as Miro. For a brief introduction to Miro (and why I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread), keep reading..

Miro is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux (download it here). The Windows version of Miro embeds the VLC player to play videos. That means you can use it to watch Windows Media, Quicktime, MPEG 1, 2, 4, H264, AVI, DivX, XviD, Flash, OGM, and many other video formats. The Mac version uses Quicktime 7 for video, which is built into OS X. They use plugins for Quicktime that allow you to play even more video formats, including: MPEG, MP4, MOV, H264, Flash, Xvid, AVI and OGG.

Miro includes a number of default “channels” for you to explore. You can delete them and/or add your own from a selection of over 1500.

The reason I won’t bother to explain how to use Miro is that Miro itself has a channel full of brief videos on how to use it. Just select the Using Miro channel from the left navigation.

miro video player
default Miro view

From there you can download and watch videos that explain the basic features of Miro, and some of the advanced ones too.

miro video player
the Using Miro channel

During the brief setup wizard, you’re prompted to tell Miro where you store video files on your hard drive. It will then scan that folder and make it available as your Library.

miro video player
Miro Library view

Just click a video thumbnail and if it has already been downloaded, it will begin to play.

miro video player
non-full screen video playing

As an excellent OS X feature, Growl is supported – so you’ll be notified when your downloads have completed.

miro video player

Because the videos you watch are all downloaded to your hard drive (including YouTube videos), Miro will – by default – set them to expire after 5 days. So you don’t need to worry about your hard drive filling up with videos you may never watch again. With that said, you can easily ensure any given video is stored forever by clicking the KEEP button.

miro video player
all downloaded videos

And finally – Miro is also a BitTorrent client. Though I wasn’t able to find the info on their help site (though it may very well be there and I just missed it) – all you need to do is download a .torrent, open Miro then select File -> Open. Navigate to your .torrent, select it and it will immediately begin to download.

Or, if one of your favorite video sites supplies RSS feeds, you can create a channel by using that feed. Simply select Channels -> Add Channel… and enter the RSS address.

miro video player
bittorrent view

So what are you waiting for – download it now :)

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/18/an-introduction-to-miro/feed/ 0 An introduction to Azureus Vuze (a BitTorrent client and more) http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/06/19/an-introduction-to-azureus-vuze-a-bittorrent-client-and-more/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/06/19/an-introduction-to-azureus-vuze-a-bittorrent-client-and-more/#comments Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:01:29 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/06/19/an-introduction-to-azureus-vuze-a-bittorrent-client-and-more/ Windows

Azureus is one of the most popular BitTorrent clients, with millions of active users. Vuze is powered by Azureus 3.0, and it joins movie and music fans with filmmakers and artists to create a rich, social, and completely new entertainment experience. Vuze claims the largest library of hi-def videos – and this guide will show you step-by-step how to get your hands on them.

  1. Start by downloading Vuze from http://www.vuze.com/app. Vuze requires the Java Runtime Environment to be installed on your system, but have no fear – if Vuze doesn’t find it, it will automagically download it for you, if you select the Download button.

    2. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  2. See? I told you..

    3. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  3. After Java has installed (or if you have it already) the actual Vuze installation will begin. Click Next to start.

    4. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  4. Review the License Agreement (yeah, sure) – select I accept the agreement and click Next

    5. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  5. Use the Browse button to select a location to install Vuze, if you don’t like the default. Click Next.

    6. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  6. Again.. Next

    7. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  7. If you want Azureus Vuze to be the default program for your bittorrent downloads, make sure Azureus Download is selected, and click Next to continue.

    8. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  8. Boring, but not long.

    9. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  9. And now click Finish to begin using Vuze.

    10. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  10. Locate Azureus Vuze in your Programs menu, and click it.

    11. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  11. If your firewall asks, make sure to Allow (or Unblock) Vuze to access the Internet.

    12. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  12. And finally, the default screen for Vuze. From here you can start finding content in many different ways. One is to pick a Channel that interests you, and then use the sorting options in the right column to narrow down the list (ie. free vs. cost, most popular, content duration etc). If you’re not interested in Vuze content, you can skip down to step #23 to see how to use Vuze as a bittorrent client.

    13. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  13. If you find something that looks interesting, click on it once and you’ll get a summary of that piece of content.

    14. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  14. If the content isn’t free, you’ll see a Buy for $x.xx button.

    15. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows

  15. If you try to download something and get a strange pop-up window (see below), don’t be too shocked.

    16. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  16. A closer look at that content reveals that it isn’t available to download in your region/country. For more information on region specific content, see http://www.vuze.com/IntlPage.html

    17. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  17. When you find something you want to download, just click the Download link.

    18. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  18. If the content is available, you’ll get a confirmation window.

    19. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  19. You can continue looking for more stuff to download, and your download status will be displayed in the bottom right corner of Vuze.

    20. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows

  20. A small Information window will appear when the download has completed.

    21. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows

  21. Click the Home tab from the top menu, and you’ll be able to watch (or listen to) the files that have finished downloading. Select the file (in this case it’s a video) you want to watch, and click Play.

    22. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  22. Your default video player will launch, and the file will load.

    23. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

  23. Azureus Vuze can also act as a standalone bittorrent client. Download the .torrent..

    24. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows

  24. double-click it, and it will be added to your download list.

    25. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows

  25. Just like Vuze specific content, your downloads will appear on the Home tab.

    26. Azureus Vuze bittorrent client windows
    click to enlarge

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/06/19/an-introduction-to-azureus-vuze-a-bittorrent-client-and-more/feed/ 0 How to download files using Bittorrent (Mac OS X version) http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/07/02/bittorrent-osx/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/07/02/bittorrent-osx/#comments Sun, 02 Jul 2006 22:30:30 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/04/02/bittorrent-osx/ Mac

This tutorial will guide you in downloading, installing and setting up Azureus (a Bittorrent client that works in OS X) – and will then show you how to use Azureus to download files.

This tutorial uses Azureus version 2.4.0.2 – which can be downloaded here.

NOTE: If you have an Intel Mac (PowerBook, PowerBook Pro, new iMac etc) make sure to download the Universal Binary version of Azureus – which can be found here (scroll to the Universal Binary Version section of the page) and save yourself the headache of wondering why Azureus won’t start)

If you’ve already installed Azureus and just want to know how to use it, click here to skip down.

  1. First step – download Azureus – save it to your desktop.
  2. Next, double-click the .dmg file you just saved to your desktop

  3. Accept the agreement by clicking Agree

  4. Double-click the mounted volume

  5. To insall, drag Azureus to your Applications folder

  6. Locate Azureus in your Applications and start it

  7. You may be prompted to update Azureus (or part of it) – click Cancel this time – you’ll be prompted to update the next time you open Azureus – do it then

  8. Select English (or whatever language you prefer) and then Next > to continue

  9. The default User Proficiency level is Beginner – make sure that it’s selected and click Next > to continue

  10. On this screen you’ll need to select your Internet connection speed. If you’re in North America and have Cable or DSL (broadband), it’s safe to leave the default settings. If you have a “lite” version of Cable or DSL, or you’re still using dial-up, it’s a good idea to select a lower level. When you’re ready, click Next > to continue

  11. Here you’ll need to run a test. Click Test

  12. Make sure that the test comes back OK! and then click Next > to continue

  13. Select a location

  14. You’re done! Click Close

  15. Now you can begin downloading torrents, or restart Azureus to download and install any updates.

Using Azureus in OS X

  1. Locate the .torrent file you want to download and save it to your desktop


    2. Click to enlarge

  2. Double-click that .torrent to open Azureus (if it isn’t already)

  3. Drag the .torrent file from your desktop into the blank space in the top half of Azureus (see image below) and let go

  4. Select the Browse button to choose a location where you want to save the file(s)


    5. Click to enlarge

  5. Because this example .torrent is a Black Crowes concert, I’ll save the files in my Music folder


    6. Click to enlarge

  6. After you’ve selected a location and are returned to the previous screen, select OK to begin downloading the contents of your .torrent


    7. Click to enlarge

  7. If you’d like to monitor the status of your download, double-click the torrent name in the summary window


    8. Click to enlarge

  8. The General tab will be displayed by default, and it’s on this screen you can see how much you’ve downloaded, what percentage your download is at, etc.


    9. Click to enlarge

  9. When your download is complete – this can be anywhere from a few seconds to several days, depending on what you’re downloading (file size, your connection speed, how many seeds there are) – the Remaining: field (see image below) will display a Finished in XXhrs XXmins message. NOTE: it is considered good Internet etiquette to allow your download to achieve a ratio of 1:1 or higher. Make sure your Share Ratio gets to 1.000 or higher before you exit Azureus or stop the torrent.

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