Usenet Servers Compared 2014

Back to [Part 1 - Introduction]

This is an update to the Usenet guide I wrote a while back, you can find the introduction discussion linked above. This post will help you to understand the best options in 2014 for Usenet providers.

Lets walk through the steps involved in signing up for a Usenet subscription
This, as always, remains the easiest part of getting started with Usenet!

First you need to choose a Usenet subscription service that suites you.

A Beginners Guide to Bittorrent [Part 3 - Indexing Sites]

Now that you have finished setting up your torrent client we can talk about indexing sites.
The most famous indexing site in the world is probably "The Pirate Bay". You can absolutely use this site since you are a beginner and will not have access to any private indexing sites or trackers.

A Beginners Guide to Bittorrent [Part 2 - Torrent Client]

So the bittorrent client is probably the most familiar part of the torrent network. Many people have used uTorrent or Vuze. These are both good options, but have gotten too big for their britches in my opinion. I would suggest trying a program from a smaller developer.

Deluge

I like Deluge. They are free and cross platform! They are basically what uTorrent used to be years ago. Download the program and install it. I am going to assume that you don't need help installing a program. If you aren't sure how, the rest of this guide is going to be a little more difficult that you probably want to tackle. You can always check the Deluge website for install instructions on your platform.

A Beginners Guide to Bittorrent [Part 1 - Introduction]

Check out MaximumPC's post on the new Bittorrent model!

By now you are sure to have heard of Bittorrent. It has been a mainstream term for more than a decade now and has become nearly as popular as p2p clients such as Napster and Kazaa once were.

Unlike those networks, however, bittorrent has no centralized servers and cannot be easily shutdown. The bittorrent network relies on several key components: users in the form of peers, trackers which regulate traffic, and indexers which store torrent files or magnet links.

The target of most DMCA shutdowns is the index site. Without links to a torrent, the swarm cannot find and download files. This is the reason that sites like The Pirate Bay are constantly under attack. They host no actual pirated files, but they do host the links or instructions needed to let your computer find those files in the swarm.

All of that nonsense is boring though, and you are here to get started using Torrents. I don't blame you, the protocol is an essential part of any computer users toolbelt. It can be used for just as many legal file transfers as it can for illegal.

How to create Linux live CDs and USBs [a handful of options]

Creating live disks and install disks from image (.iso) files is an essential skill for any computer enthusiast (thats the best name you are going to get, trust me...). So lets dive right in and look at the options available to you.

Writing a (.img) file to a USB in Windows

This one is quick and easy but requires a 3rd party piece of software. Just enough detail here to need a page break... enjoy the sweet gooey goodness of knowledge after the break!

Some Other Linux Distros for Netbooks [April 2013]

Following my post on netbook suitable Linux distributions, I was given several recommendations...
These are a few of the follow up tests I did on distro's I had never used before.

Each was installed and tested using the following hardware:

• ASUS 1000HE Netbook
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB SSD

So before I begin, this post will feel somewhat more critical than the last. This is NOT because I am responding to reader suggestions. Please be assured that I am being critical of the flaws I feel are important. It is possible that you might love every second of use you got from these operating systems. I am not attacking anyone's opinions personally, and I hope you all have long happy lives. If after that warning you still  feel the need to angry comment, then I hope you die under a bridge, troll!!! ;)

How to configure Sickbeard

Sickbeard

Sickbeard is advertised as "The ultimate PVR application that searches for and manages your TV shows - Automatically finds new and old episodes for you and it works with your current download client!" This is exactly the type of thing that computers were designed for! Tivo and the cable companies have offered pay upgradable DVR receivers for many years now, it seemed crazy that the internet didn't have a similar feature to offer all of you perfectly legal file sharing types...

Before we get into the installation and configuration portion of Sickbeard let me talk for a brief moment about the pitfalls you may encounter.

When I began using Sickbeard I already had a robust library of episodes. Not the type of library that was easily repaired or replaced after making a mistake with a program that would automatically rename and sort my files...

Trust me when I say, "It sucks when you accidentally destroy and entire show's worth of data just by scrambling all of the filenames. It sucks so, so much."

Okay, there are a few keys to making Sickbeard work well. The first is understanding what each post processing option does, and the other is strict German-esq folder organization.

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 4 - Configuring Third Party Applications!]

This is part 4 of my series on getting started with Usenet...

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 1 - Introduction]
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 3 - Install & Configure sabNZBD+]

By now you have already finished setting up a Usenet subscription and installed your download client! At this point you have finished setting up Usenet at the most basic level. You might be tempted to call it a day, to settle for what you have accomplished here, and to continue finding and downloading your media by hand like you did with torrents.

I am here to tell you that this is no way to live your life!

The ultimate goal here is to have all of your TV, Movies, and Music automatically downloaded by scheduling application. We want the TV downloader to know when your favorite shows air, we want the Movies released by your favorite director to download automatically, and we want the new albums by your favorite bands to download as soon as they are available.

In the olden days we might have organized your downloaded content using something like Belvedere for Windows, or Hazel for Mac. This method was complex and easily broken by failure in your personalized Macros. It worked well for very specific tasks, but lacked the flexibility that I wanted when it came to media organization.

Enter Sickbeard...

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 3 - Install & Configure sabNZBD+]

You have already read and digested:
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 1 - Introduction]
Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]

Next you need to install the program that you will be using to download files from Usenet.

Installing Sickbeard - Debian based OS's

We are going to install a super cool program now called sickbeard. Sickbeard is targeted at Usenet users, and is designed to find its content on Usenet. BUT! It also has a really very functional torrent search built in too. So lets just dive right in and get things going. [UPDATE: the torrent search function is a bit limited these days unless you have some pretty gnarly private tracker invites. Check out my post on getting started with Usenet if you want to use this program to its full potential.]

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 2 - Signing up for a Usenet Subscription]

Back to [Part 1 - Introduction]

Lets walk through the steps involved in signing up for a Usenet subscription
This is the easiest part of getting started with Usenet!

First you need to choose a Usenet subscription service that suites you.

Beginners Guide to Usenet [Part 1 - Introduction]

You are probably already well versed in the methodology and culture of bittorrent downloading. The torrent community has been rapidly gaining in popularity since the rise of high speed home internet more than a decade ago, a fact which has not been lost on the media industry, nor to which have they turned a blind eye.
The war on internet piracy has been long and hard, but the battle rages on. For every torrent site taken down, another pops us in its place.

I am not here to discuss the politics or legality of internet piracy.
I am here because many of you are concerned over privacy, anonymity, convenience, and freedom.

Many of you are looking for freedom from the constant surveillance by your ISP. Many of you are looking for anonymity, fearing an $80,000 fine for being caught downloading. Many of you are here because your favorite torrent site has been taken down, and you want something more secure. Many of you are here because you have tried for years to get invites to private trackers, and failed.

Many of you are here because the last line in your search for freedom has found you standing nervously at the door of Usenet, and wondering if you should go inside.

The world of Usenet is poorly documented and can be very confusing at first. The biggest hurdle for newcomers is understanding how Usenet differs from torrents.

Lets dive right into the subject and help you sort out exactly what to do!

The Best Linux Distribution 2013: Netbooks and Old Hardware

Welcome to 2013!
It's a new year and this means that your netbooks and old towers are another year older. The eternal struggle to maintain you hardware's relevance has crept on into another long year of recession. Someday you will have bags of money to buy something new, but for now you need to find a way to get that slow old laptop to feel a bit more springy.

Not all Linux distributions are created equal. There are so many options to choose from and so many acronyms that it can be hard to get a straight answer on what the hell you should download!

The first big thing you need to ask yourself:
"Does the computer I want to use have modern 3d graphics hardware?" 
(aka a nice graphics/video card)

If you do not have a graphics card in your computer, as is the case with many low end and older netbooks, then you need to stay away from distributions which use Gnome 3 or Unity. Unity 2d was an option in previous releases of Ubunut, but has been dropped from current releases. You have heard that there are other lightweight distributions, but don't know much about them or you haven't found any that are actually lightweight enough.

Well this year looks a lot like last year's lineup with one exception! A new minimal debian based distribution has stolen my heart and is being recommended as the first choice for linux fans who do not want to build and compile their own Arch distribution.

Read on to see the new year's recommendations!

The most detailed guide to building a simple NAS with nas4free!

My 14TB (and growing) NAS

Good morning campers!

I have good news, the super detailed guide to building a NAS using nas4free 9.1 is now complete! The article is written in two parts. Part one helps you to decide just what type of NAS you really ought to be building while part two is the detailed account of installing and configuring nas4free. This portion also covers the somewhat confusing task of creating users, installing disks, building mount points, building share points, and generally making things work.

There are a few caveats that I should mention now.
These are really provisos to avoid any would be trolling:

• This guide is the result of trial and error with this software. 
• I have spent two years playing freeNAS 7.2 and now nas4free 9.1
• In that time I have never found a post on how this stuff is supposed to be setup.
• I do not claim to have any sort of professional (or amateur) knowledge concerning freeBSD.
• This guide is not here to help you create a quadruple redundant dual gigabit software raid ZFS monster with complicated user and group file permissions that would baffle Steven Hawking.
• When starting my build I had no desire to build a RAID box.
• There is exactly one user using this NAS, me. I do not now, nor will I ever need fancy security.
• Hackers are not out to get me or my files.
• The purpose of this machine is to store and serve out media.
• I have no idea what you are using your NAS for, but mine was built to hold and serve TV & Movies to my HTPC's.
• It works well for this.

With those warnings out of the way please browse around and comment as you have questions!

DIY NAS: with freeNAS [Step 1]
DIY NAS: with nas4free [step 2]

Ras Pi: Installing an OS

Installing the Raspbian image to your SD card from Linux. 

[windows/OSX users click here] - I can write these instructions up, but I feel like most of you who are playing with a Pi must already be using linux machines. However my blog stats show that almost all of you readers are win/mac guys so I continue to try to include Windows instructions... I strongly suggest checking out my guide to installing linux for beginners! You wont regret it!

Download the Raspbian image here and save to your home directory.

Open your terminal and get ready for a few simple commands:

DIY NAS: with nas4free [step 2]

If you have not done so already, please read the introductory post on building your own NAS, DIY NAS: with freeNAS - step 1.

The good stuff...

1. Boot Disk
2. Install OS
3. Configure System
4. Add Users/Groups
5. Add Disks
6. Build Mount Points
7. Build Shares
8. Enjoy sweet, sweet, sweet, satisfaction...

Automatic TV, Music, (and possibly Movies) Download Server on Raspberry Pi

I have been playing with the raspberry pi rev.1 for a few days now, and I have decided that it has just enough power to run a SABnzbd+, Sickbeard, Couchpotato, Headphones server.

With the extra memory on the rev.2 board I figure I can allocate it to the CPU and probably squeeze out a little more speed in the unrar process for SABnzbd.

So... I ordered a new board from modmypi and am awaiting shipment at the moment.
I have made some progress on the rev.1 pi, but have run into lots, and lots of permissions issues with my nas4free 7.2 file server. Hopefully as time goes on I will be able to compile a nice easy guide to setting up a PiServer for all of you.

Lets get started:

Coaxing a Motorola SBG6580 into “Bridge” mode

Okay, I have covered ATT's modem router combo.

Now we are going to look at putting the new Time Warner high speed internet modem router combo into bridge mode so that you can use your own network equipment with it.

The Time Warner technician who connected my service did not understand what bridge mode was. After some discussion and explanation, he disabled the wifi transmitter but did nothing else.

This left my dd-wrt router being assigned a local ip address... which is useless to me.

Here we go...

Using a dd-wrt router behind an AT&T U-Verse Gateway

This is a unique problem which I felt needed its own post. Many people use routers flashed with dd-wrt the open source linux firmware. This allows you to implement loads of terrific personalized network settings and to turn your basic $30 router into a $200 monster for free!

I have recently moved to an area where AT&T U-Verse is the only internet connection type possible. This means that my old ADSL modem which worked fine with my AT&T hsi account was now useless! In fact, the only available modem is built into the AT&T provided modem/router combo!

The switch from my highly customized dd-wrt setup, to a wireless g only locked down AT&T pile of garbage that cost me $100 was too much to bear! I immediately began working on a way to restore order to my LAN.