Deluge: For All Your Torrent Needs

Using torrents has become quite an everyday routine for most of us. Though eating up all your bandwidth in one bite, they surely can take the load off traffic-heavy servers. How? Each of us becomes a peer that "seeds" tiny bits of the download, leading to exponentially growing speed and availability. Most of the times, people associate the word "torrent" with piracy, which certainly doesn't come as a surprise, but there are a lot of other legal uses of this great technology.

But I'm not here to discuss ethics, I'm here to present you with June's application of the month: Deluge BitTorrent client. Residing in the "Internet" category, Deluge is quick to launch and provides a perfectly integrated GTK+ interface.


Besides the regular Menu items and the most used controls, Deluge's window is split into three sections: a left pane categorizing torrents to easily find what you're looking for, the bottom part showing in-depth details of the currently selected torrent and, of course, the "main" area, from where you can overview the current state of all your torrents.

Review image Adding a new torrent for Deluge to handle can be done in multiple ways. You can either choose "Add Torrent" from the interface and navigate to its location, drag & drop a torrent file from the file manager, or simply set Deluge to be the default BitTorrent client and use the trusty double-click. Whatever way you choose, the "Add Torrents" window will pop-up, letting you fine-tune the process. If there are multiple files in the torrent, you will be able to only select some of them from the "directory tree" view by checking or unchecking each file. The "Options" tab allows you to set download and upload limits, as well as the number of maximum connections permitted and whether you want to start the transfer immediately or "add it in paused state." There is also the possibility of prioritizing the first/last pieces. The "-1"s in the speed limit boxes shouldn't scare you, as they only mean that there is no set limit. You can play around with the settings as much as you like, because a handy "Revert To Defaults" button is there to help. Of course, from this same "Add Torrents" window, you can set the download location.

When opening multiple torrents at the same time, you won't be flooded with separate windows for each of them. Instead, they will appear as entries in a single window, from where you can still modify the settings per-torrent. Once you're done, click add and Deluge will begin torrenting. With your downloads in place and active, you can start changing priorities, set on-the-fly download/upload limits, pause or delete torrents. You can also easily add more trackers to improve the chances of having a large number of seeds.

If you want to quickly watch a YouTube video and need some extra speed, instead of restoring Deluge's window, you can access the tray icon menu with a right-click and pause all the torrents or set global download/upload speeds. You can either manually input specific limits, or choose from the predefined ones: 5, 10, 30, 80 and 300 KB/sec.

The full control panel can be accessed from the "Edit --> Preferences" menu. There are 10 categories: Downloads, Network, Bandwidth, Interface, Other, Daemon, Queue, Proxy, Notification and Plugins. From the first one, you can change the default download location and, more useful, set a "watched" folder, so whenever you download a torrent file from the Internet into that folder, Deluge will automatically start the transfer. Deluge also offers the possibility of moving completed downloads to a separate location. The Network tab is for advanced configuration, and, in most of the cases, you won't need to tweak these settings.

However, the stream encryption feature that "disguises" BitTorrent traffic to prevent ISPs from throttling your connection is worth mentioning. Moving on to the "Bandwidth" section, you'll be able to change the Global Bandwidth Usage Rules, such as: maximum connections, upload slots, download/upload speeds, number of maximum half-open connections and the number of maximum connection attempts. Ignoring local network limits and rate limit IP overhead are other options that can be switched on and off. Review image

There are times when you want your torrenting activities to remain hidden from curious eyes that might roam around your PC while you're away. Instead of shutting down the application altogether, you can simply minimize it to the tray and set a password, so, whenever you want to bring it back up, you'll have to provide Deluge with the password. Useful, indeed, but don't rely on it too much, as one can simply kill the process from the system monitor and start Deluge again, thus bypassing the password.

Queuing torrents and setting share ratio limits, as well as seed times and seed time ratio limits can be done from the "Queue" tab. For less than typical connection configurations, proxies can be set for Peer, Web Seed, Tracker and DHT. When a transfer finishes, you will want to know that it is complete, so Deluge offers quite a few options for that: blinking tray icon (the default behavior), pop-up or play a sound you choose. If you're away from home, you can also configure Deluge to send an email notification. Nice!

Deluge can also be extended with a few plugins: Blocklist, Label, FlexRSS, RemoteNotify (for extended notification capabilities) and Autoport. Moreover, as an optional package, Deluge comes with a Web interface.

Here's a quick look at Deluge's most important features:

· Web User Interface;

· BitTorrent Encryption;

· Mainline DHT;

· Local Peer Discovery;

· FAST protocol extension;

· UPnP and NAT-PMP;

· Proxy support;
Review image · Private torrents;

· Per-torrent speed limits;

· Password protection;

· Useful tray icon;

· Helpful notifications;

· Light on resources;

· Support for many distributions.


How do I install it?

If you don't find Deluge in your distribution's repositories, or want the latest version (currently 1.9), the Deluge team offers packages for a lot of Linux operating systems: Slackware, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Foresight, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Arch, Debian and PLD-Linux. Of course, you can always choose to download the source code and compile it yourself. Ubuntu users can also add the PPA in the software sources database and thus receive updates as they are made available. Whatever way you choose, you can download Deluge right now from Softpedia.

Deluge is, surely, one of the greatest solutions for managing torrents. It can perfectly be used as it is, without changing any of the default settings, but it can also be tweaked to maximize its performance in different network setups. It has a great interface, a lot of useful features and is light on resource consumption.

source: sofpedia.com

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Lenovo Updates Pricing On Consumer Desktop, Laptops

Lenovo on Friday updated pricing for a consumer desktop, a netbook, and laptops introduced at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The IdeaCentre A600 entertainment desktop; the IdeaPad Y650, Y550, and Y450 laptops; and the S10 netbook are scheduled to be on store shelves and available online this month across the United States, the computer maker said. The retail outlets expected to carry the new systems include Lenovo.com, Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com, TigerDirect.com, Fry's, and Newegg.com.
The final manufacturer suggested retail prices are $999 for the A600; $800 for the Y650, Y550 and Y450; and $349 for the S10.

The A600 is an all-in-one desktop system with a 21.5-inch high-definition display. The PC is powered by an Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Core 2 Duo processor and ships with Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)' ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card. The system also has a wireless keyboard and mouse.

The Y650 laptop is one of Lenovo's thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptops, measuring 1 inch thick at its thinnest point and weighing 5.6 pounds. The Y550 and Y450 are of the same product line and have similar designs. The Y550 has a 15.6-inch screen and the Y450 a 14-inch display. The Y series is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and is available with up to 500 GB of hard drive storage and 4 GB of DDR3 system memory.

Finally, the S10 is a mini-laptop with a 10-inch display. The system is 0.9 of an inch thick and weighs 2.4 pounds. Lenovo says the low-priced S10 is built for people looking for an ultraportable PC for light computing, such as e-mail and browsing the Web.

source: informationweek.com

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AT&T, Labor Talks Continue As Strike Threat Looms

AT&T (NYSE: T) continued to negotiate with union members whose contracts expired over the weekend as the company focused on several issues, including how to protect the job security.

The two sides are also trying to hammer out agreements related to the status of worker positions being lost because of the shift of subscribers from landlines to wireless.

Although AT&T -- the largest telecom company in the United States -- has nearly 300,000 employees, just 15,000 workers in one unit represented by the Communications Workers of America are at the center of attention in the negotiations. The workers have agreed to work on past the expiration of the contract. The union members already have approved a strike vote.
"AT&T stands ready to negotiate at any time in a continuing effort to reach an agreement," AT&T said in a statement.

In a reply, the CWA said: "This company takes care of executives and investors. It needs to set the right priorities and maintain quality jobs and quality benefits for workers."

Many of the issues at stake in the negotiations are similar to bones of contention at other telecommunications companies and even in other industries. For instance, the two sides have been trying to resolve issues over health care payments, which have been rising sharply in recent years.

Another major issue involves the fate of workers who are faced with losing their jobs as consumers increasingly drop landlines in favor of wireless phone service. According to media reports, the two sides have been exploring ways by which workers dropped from landline service rolls will be able to pick up employment in AT&T's wireless operation or in its growing cable programming unit. Earlier, AT&T said it plans to cut 12,000 jobs this year.


2009 marks the 12th year that InformationWeek will be monitoring changes in security practices through our annual research survey. All who complete the survey and provide their contact information will be entered into our prize drawing for a 46-inchSony (NYSE: SNE) Bravia V Series LCD flat-panel HDTV, valued at $1,800. Find out more, and take part by April 26.

source: informationweek.com

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Facebook Quick Tip: Managing The Redesign

With the advent of Facebook's design changes a couple of weeks ago, the News Feed suddenly got to be much more crowded and busier, filled with random comments and observations, links, conversations, photos, and other minutiae.
Some of us are noisier than others. Indeed, this article might also be headlined "how to get Mitch Wagner to shut up," because I am most definitely part of the problem. I just love to share on Facebook. How do you get blabbermouths like me to shut up and stop bothering you?
Well, you can un-friend them of course. I've done that with a few people who are active on Facebook, and whom I barely know. But un-friending people has consequences. As obnoxious as your cousin's political links might be, un-friending him could be awkward at the next family Bar Mitzvah.

Fortunately, there's a way to get rid of obnoxious people's updates without un-friending them -- and it's actually pretty simple.

3 Easy Steps To Silence

1. Just look for one of their updates in your news feed, and hover your mouse over it. You'll see the word "Hide" appear in the top-right corner of the update.

2. Click on the word "Hide." You'll see a couple of dropdown selections; one of them the word "Hide" followed by the name of the user -- if you're hiding me, it would say "Hide Mitch." If the noisy user posted using a third-party application, you also get a choice to hide that application.

3. Click on your choice, and you're done.

Remember, the word "Hide" won't show up unless you hover your mouse over an update posted by the person you want to hide.

So, go ahead, hide news items on Facebook from over-sharing motormouths, and enjoy the blessed silence.

Facebook spokeswoman Meredith Chin (who has wisely chosen to ignore my recent friend request) shares some additional tips.
"You can add [people you hide] back to your stream at any time by going to the bottom of the page and clicking on 'Edit Options' and then 'Add to News Feed' beside their names.

"In addition, you can create a special Friend List of the people you care about the most. That Friend List will appear on the left hand navigation menu giving you the ability to filter your stream by those friends and see only their updates. If you want that list to be the default every time you go to your home page, you can drag that list above the 'News Feed' filter. Whatever filter is at the top will be your default view."

She noted that Facebook is constantly tweaking its user interface, so what you see on your screen might be slightly different from what's described in these instructions and shown in the accompanying image gallery. But it should be close enough -- until Facebook does another radical redesign, that is.

Keep Your Friends Separate

And now, here's how to create a Friend List:

1. Click "Friends" on the blue horizontal bar at the very top of your Facebook page. Select "All Friends" from the dropdown.

2. Select an existing Friend List from the vertical sidebar on the left side of the page, or click the blue "Make a New List" button and create a new list.

3. Look for the text box near the top of the center column, labeled "Add to list." Start typing a friend's name in that box and then when the correct friend's name comes up on the list below the box, select that name by clicking it or hitting "Enter" on your keyboard. Alternately, you can click the "Select Multiple Friends" button, and see a list of all your friends, and click on the ones you want to include in your list.

I've created one list so far, called "Fav" for people who are actually my friends and family in real life.

New communications technology requires new forms of etiquette. When answering machines became popular, people argued about whether it was polite to screen calls. People argued over Caller ID. Now, we're starting to see arguments about appropriate of social media like Facebook.

I think in the future we'll see a consensus that you're not required to subscribe to your friends' Twitter feeds, or Facebook news, or blogs. That's what I already tell people who complain about my social media garrulousness, I say, "I realize my style isn't for everyone -- if you want to un-friend me, I won't be offended."

How do you handle people who talk too much on social media? Or are you the one who talks too much -- how do you handle complaints? Let us know.

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PC Failures, PC Fixes: Troubleshooting Mysterious Problems (Last)

Problems with video cards can show up for reasons that have nothing to do with gaming. On a system that shipped with a 375 watt power supply (low end, to be sure), I added a second display and within barely a week was experiencing all of the above symptoms in various combinations.

I shied away from upgrading the power supply -- which would have been a major hassle -- and sought other solutions. As it turned out, the software control suite for the video card (an ATI Radeon HD 4650) allowed the user to manually override the GPU and memory clock speeds, as well as the fan speed. I set all of these to the lowest possible settings (see the illustration), reattached the second display, and haven't had a problem since.
I should point out that other devices, such as hard drives and optical drives, typically don't draw all that much power. Removing them as a power-saving measure (as opposed to debugging, as described above) gives you back very little.

Stress-test

One common reason for random failure is issues with memory -- a bad memory module can appear even on the most high-end machines. The best way to determine if there's a memory issue with a given machine is to test it, rigorously and repeatedly. Vista has its own memory test application, but you can also download and run a program like Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/), which sports a slightly broader set of test parameters.

The best way to run a memory test is to set it up and let it run overnight: not just one pass, but continuously, for hours on end. If the test program detects an error -- or, worse, if the machine locks up solid -- there's a good chance one of the DIMMs is defective. Sometimes mismatched DIMMs can cause problems; try pulling one and then the other, and see if things go south on you then.
Get Everything Up-To-Date

This means more than running Windows Update. Your PC manufacturer may have updates not offered through Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) -- BIOS patches, for instance, or device drivers not provided in the default Windows installation. Fortunately it's become that much easier to find these things and keep them current --Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Dell (Dell), for instance, both have applications that bring you directly to the relevant web page for your system. BIOS updates often go by undetected, both because they're generally not delivered automatically and because many people are still twitchy about applying BIOS updates. They shouldn't be: in the past, updating BIOS typically required booting a DOS disk or something similar, but today the vast majority of such updates can be done from within Windows, quite safely.

Have Patience

The single most important thing -- and the one hardest to remember for many people -- is to be patient and diligent. It's easy to succumb to the temptation to pitch the whole thing out the window and start anew, but that's also an expensive solution -- and brings with it the risk that you'll end up no better off than you were before. Solve a problem like this on your own (or with a little guru oversight), and you'll be that much better equipped to tackle something like this the next time it shows up.

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PC Failures, PC Fixes: Troubleshooting Mysterious Problems (3)

When you run AutoRuns (remember to run it in admin mode!), use the Options | Hide Signed Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Entries menu option to show only files have been provided by other companies, which are more likely to be the problem. Pay specific attention to the entries in the Drivers and Services tabs, but a once-over in the Everything tab wouldn't be a bad idea if you're patient.

Another good way to get a complete summary of kernel-level objects is through Gabriel Topala's outstanding SIW utility, easily one of the best general-purpose system-information tools out there. The program can generate in stupefying detail, reports about a system's makeup, including kernel device drivers.
Run the program (again, in admin mode), look in Software | Drivers and sort by the "Type" column, then scroll down to "Kernel Drivers" (with "Running" in the Status column) to see a full rundown of what's currently running as a kernel driver. Right-click on any of those entries to change their running status -- but be very careful what you turn off here, as you could bring your system to a screeching halt if you're careless.

So how do you know what's needed and what's not? This part may require some research on your part, since it isn't always obvious. If you have a guru handy, dump the list out to a file (SIW lets you do this), send it his (or her) way, and have him (or her) peek at it. If your guru can't figure out what a given kernel driver is for, or feels it's creating more trouble than anything else, nix it.
Be Mindful Of Power Issues When Debugging

Electrical problems can be some of the toughest to diagnose because they don't seem to be related to anything happening on the PC itself. They just strike like, well, lightning.

I mentioned before, in passing, that electrical problems can take two forms. One is the power supplied to the PC itself, and if you live in an area with glitchy power you already know about this first-hand. I live on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, where even on less windy days the power to my house is fairly dirty. Consequently, UPSes for each computer and its associated peripherals are mandatory. I should also note that a UPS's power load should be distributed intelligently: don't plug laser printers, for instance, into the battery-backup sockets of a UPS, since there's little reason to give them power protection.

The second form is the power supplied within the PC itself -- the power that the PC's power supply distributes internally. Few people reading this need to be convinced of the wildly varying quality of computer power supplies. Anyone stuck with a low-wattage, no-name or third-tier power supply in their PC automatically has a good reason to drop a few dollars and upgrade to something a little more robust. 500 watts or more is a good margin of safety for most desktop PCs.

Also, be mindful of a common PC component with potentially high electrical consumption that can be a hidden source of problems: the video card. A gaming-quality video card can use up enough juice by itself to count as a compelling argument to upgrade the power supply. Problems with video card power draw can manifest in three ways: BSODs, hard freezes, and (most commonly) that frustratingly inconclusive "Video driver stopped responding and has been restarted" message. That error has caused no end of people to tear their hair out because it doesn't tell you why that happened.

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