Downloading torrents through seedr, the safer way

With the advent of Bit torrent protocol, downloading content via it became popular. One reason for this is its use of multiple seeders reducing bandwidth needed for main server. In fact, increased number of torrent users of a file will increase the speed of the file downloaded. This is exactly opposite when a single server handles all the download traffic.

However, recently downloading copyrighted material through bit torrent became controversial due to prolific sharing of copyrighted material.

How to download files thorough torrents the old and unsafe way

For this you have download bit torrent client, for an example Utorrent (Most popular torrent client). Then give torrent file to the bittorrent client for downloading. But the problem is your IP address or internet protocol address is exposed to other parties. There are several methods that can be used but but not all are fool proof. E.g. Downloading via VPN or Virtual private network, but you have to pay for the traffic sometimes they keep logs of users. This can be used to track you.

Movie and music industry giants took several methods to stop downloading copyrighted materials through bit torrent.

Their main practice is litigation or taking legal action when a user is found sharing copyrighted material through bit torrent client. Legal basis is that “You are sharing or seeding copyrighted material”. They will identify through your internet service provider sue you. There are some landmark cases where ordinary citizens being sued of millions of dollars of damages due to file sharing.

Torrent caching services and Seedr

For safer torrenting, the most famous and reliable is the Seedr.cc, you can use a bit torrent caching service. Here you give the torrent file or magnet link to caching service and they will download the file (Movie, Song, eBOOK) to their server. Usually this is pretty fast because of their very fast server.

In fact you will have the file in their server once you finished upload the torrent into them. It is that fast.

In addition, Seedr.cc provide very convenient Movie streaming player with subtitles support giving you the feel of Netflix. So you can choose to watch it online, which is convenient or preview it so you got the file you desired, then download it. It is safe, convenient and fast. Currently I never download any torrent through a torrent client.

Features offered by Seedr as a free user  they call it free tier

1. As a free user you will get 2GB
2. You can increase the storage upto 7GB depending on various activities including tweeting about their service.
3. You get the web player but only in standard definition (NO HD)
4. Only ONE download stream
5. Limited time to download a torrent to their server (2hrs)
6. Unlimited bandwidth to download torrent.

If you are a paid user,

1. They will allow full HD movie playback through their convenient web player.
2. More storage space starting from 30GB
3. Multiple simultaneous download streams
4. Unlimited time to download torrent to their server

There are other competitors, I have tried them all but the Seedr.cc is the best deal you get in terms of torrent caching and downloading.

How to Prevent Usb Pendrive Viruses

USB flash drives are the current most popular data transport media. Convenience of USB interface, small size and less chance of data corruption are the main reasons for this popularity. Malicious software writers target this platform due to this popularity and due to security flaws in Windows operating systems.

 There are currently around thousands of various bugs, including viruses, worms and malicious software using USB flash drives as a vector. Many of them transmit through multiple other ways including internet and email as well.

 How do these bugs spread through USB drives?

One of the security flaws, in windows is running code that is linked to Autorun.inf file in removable media without users consent. These bugs create an autorun.inf file and links themselves to it in an infected USB Flash drive. Once user inserted infected drive to USB port, windows (Especially Windows XP) runs the linked bug without users consent. Then it will infect the host system and the infected host infects every USB drive that is inserted to it.

 Sometimes viruses infect every possible file in USB flash drive, including executable and document files. Some worms overwrite themselves into user’s files, effectively destroying users data. Clean computers will get infected once these files are executed.

 How to prevent these bugs?

Sometimes running updated antivirus software alone won’t solve the problem. Usually antivirus software scans every possible file in a flash drive, including compressed files. This presents a problem for people like me, who carry awful lot of files in Flash drives. E.g. my flash drive is 16 GB in size and even the fastest antivirus software needs at least 45 mins to completely scan it. So if I want to get a printout of a document in my drive, I have to wait for 45 mins.

 One solution is using only Antivirus Resident programme without manually scanning the drive. But there are lot of virus variants using flash drives and since classic antivirus software is using signature based detection methods, these bugs may evade. Other thing is some viruses are so quick and they will act before resident software.

 Another solution is upgrading to Windows 7. This latest OS is inherently resistant to these Autorun viruses. User account protection is quite useful in this scenario, even though some people hate it. It informs the user when programme tries to change dangerous changes to the system, so user can stop it. So when you insert infected flash drive in Windows 7, suddenly you might get a prompt saying “kfkjf.exe tries to change system settings”. Then you can stop it and delete the file.

 There is third party software called Autorun Virus Remover, which I use. It will load at system startup, consume extremely little system resources and detect if there is an autorun file in USB flash drive. After that it will go through that file and delete the virus attached to it. So you can safely open your flash drive. If you are to get print out of a file in USB drive, you can safely copy it to your hard drive, scan only the needed file with antivirus software and then get the print out. But running files directly with viruses, inside USB drive manually is a different story. This software does not offer protection for this. For this you need proper antivirus software. But software like AutorunVirus remover can save your time, if you know exactly what you are doing. There are free alternatives to Autorun Remover in the internet as well.

Review of Acer aspire one 532

Acer is known to manufacture cheap but quality netbooks catering to the budget market segment.  This netbook is an upgrade to the popular Aspire One 250D netbook. Acer aspire one 532h is one of the latest netbook computers that comes with the Intel Atom N450 microprocessor.
Specs
Aspire One 532h contain the latest Intel N450 Atom processor. It has 20% less power consumption than the previous version (N280). According to several benchmarking sites, it is slightly speedier than the N280. Graphics core is embedded into the processor die. Graphics performance is slightly higher than the previous version as well.
Aspire One 532h has 1 GB DDR2 667 MHz memory. It can be upgraded to 2GB.  It comes usually with a 6 cell Li ion battery. It is enough for average use around seven hours.
Screen is a LED backlit 10.1‘’LCD display. It has WIFI, but no Bluetooth.  It comes with three USB 2.0 ports, network port and a VGA port. One multi card reader is also included.  It has a Multi touch compatible touchpad. This netbook is usually preloaded with Windows 7 Standard edition.
Real world performance
I bought this netbook primarily to work with office files, browse internet, and watch movies and to read eBooks.
Working with Microsoft Office®
Performance is usually enough for basic office editing tasks. But there is a slight lag, when the office proof reads something. It also takes comparatively long time to save documents, especially PowerPoint documents. But performance can be improved by using windows ready boost feature (Windows 7 Home basic or higher needed).
Browsing the Internet
Browsing the internet is fairly snappy provided that you do not open too much browser windows. But smaller screen size can be sometimes frustrating.
Watching movies
Since this device does not have an optical drive, you can only watch downloaded or copied movies. But movie performance is surprisingly good. It can even play the High definition wildlife sample video without a significant frame drop.
Reading eBooks
This device is ideal for reading eBooks. It has long battery life, and it is snappy in decoding and displaying PDF and other eBooks. You can even lie on the bed and read books (due to less weight).
Design and ergonomics
This netbook has a glossy finish, and it is a fingerprint magnet. It has a long mouse key below the touchpad. It is fairly stiff and very difficult to press. Its three USB ports are pretty stiff as well. It is quite difficult to insert or remove a device from the USB ports.
How to upgrade?
This netbook has a built in 1GB of RAM. But it can easily be upgraded to 2GB. In addition you can insert MINI PCIe SSD drive and install primary operating system into the SSD for further performance. All these things can be done without voiding the warranty (there are several you tube videos explaining how to do it).
Overclocking
Eventhough some people have overclocked the older N280 and associated intel graphics processor, currently there are no overclocking options for acer aspire one 532hs processor (N450 and X3100 graphics core).
Summary
Acer Aspire one 532h is a fairly good netbook for its price with easy upgradability, but with some design flaws.