Flowchart collection torrent -rapidshare

Mythbusters Streamline Edits

2012.05.01 04:03 postdarwin Mythbusters Streamline Edits

Edits of Mythbusters episodes (all the fluff removed)
[link]

2013.01.23 03:34 appropriate-username Vocaloid torrents

For any and all content banned at vocaloid ;)
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2014.09.14 08:47 sandhouse Free ebook finds, any format.

Ebooks for free. People sharing free ebook finds.
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2023.02.23 23:11 Private_Braeburn Linux software list. Discussion and advice welcome!

I have compiled a comprehensive list of the software I have previously used with Linux.
I would also appreciate recommendations for new software and better alternatives to the list below.
I welcome any feedback, tips, and advice on software that could be useful in a fresh setup.
Thank you 😊
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____________________
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Browsers
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Communication
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Media, Gaming, & Entertainment
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Productivity
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Art, editing, & creation
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Privacy & Security
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Other tools
submitted by Private_Braeburn to linuxquestions [link] [comments]

2019.09.25 11:45 Rocknocker Demolition Days Part 21a

That reminds me of a story.
This was the time between semesters just before I was to graduate with my first geology degree. I couldn’t start my graduate studies yet and my scholarship was wrung out drier than a kudu corpse in the Kalahari.
So, I faffed around town looking for a little summer employment. I couldn’t go anywhere else as I was already selected for graduate studies in the same university system, albeit a campus just to the north. Basically I wanted to sock away some funds and kill the time I had to spend in my benighted home town.
So, after a visit to the local employment office, I found work as a “materials handler” at one of the local scrapyards.
A different type of employment, for certain. At least one that doesn’t require a uniform with my name stitched into the left-front pocket or the need to rapidly handle food destined for other’s faces.
It was, however, slightly hazardous.
Regarding blood, gore, and guts, there’s really very little. And by ‘very little’, I mean there is actually quite a lot of some rather gory stuff. I mean it is a scrap yard with all sorts of entertaining, jagged and potentially lethal tools, extraordinarily heavy bits of sharp, rusty, pointy metal; explosives and the odd dead helicopter or two.
That being said let me set the scene: the scrapyard was owned by a pair of brothers of Jewish extraction, by way of Poland and Dachau.
They had some very interesting tattoos: “Hey, Pinky. Why do you have a tattoo that just reads ‘95673977’?”
Their names were: Pincus, aka, “Pinky”, and Czack, pronounced: “Czack” or “Hey, dummy!”
Pinky ran the show and Czack did nothing more than pore over the books, swear profusely, and pour from a never-empty Jack Daniels bottle.
To say that Czack ‘could drink’ was like saying that an active volcano is ‘a bit warm’. Czack spilled more booze than most people drink.
Both Pincus and Czack drove identical Cadillacs, which they replaced every year without fail, and drove the 50 or so kilometres from the yard to their home which they shared, twice daily, as neither ever married. How Czack ever managed to navigate his way home, much less not end up as a lamentable highway statistic after a usual day of work was one of the mysteries that came with employment at this place.
Continuing; the scrap yard was a veritable Six Flags over Mutilation™ for death and dismemberment. There were literally tons and tons of sharp, rusty, nasty, jagged metal of all descriptions. We took in nigh-on anything metallic and, of course, it was up to us to make sure they were correctly separated; red copper #1 is worth more than red copper #2, you see, and properly binned.
We accepted and had areas for iron, steel: stainless-A, stainless-B, and cetera. Aluminum, although not cans, that fad had yet to begin; chrome, copper; of a variety of classes, not just the two I previously mentioned. Molybdenum, brass, bronze; there were at least four cast-foundries in my little burg, and we got all the cast-offs.
We also took in rags. Once a sneezy month we’d venture to the St. Vincent DePaul’s to pick up a load of old, nasty freebie duds that even a charity couldn’t use. We also accepted slick paper: magazines and the like, newspaper, cardboard, spoiled newsprint, ad infinitum, ad nauseam…
A quick rundown of the tools and apparatus located at the yard is needed as they figure prominently in the day to day operations.
We had hammers. You know, the usual entourage: claw hammers, rip hammers, ball-peen hammers, lump hammers, zero-recoil hammers, sledgehammers, jackhammers, trip hammers…
Hell.
We had a lot of hammers.
There was a crane with a 6-finger bucket for picking up cars to be deposited into the crusher: a large hydraulically operated metal-munching monster that would reduce a typical family sedan into a 1-meter cube. There were also an assortment of oxy-acetylene torches, lances and other fiery items used for detaching exceptionally pig-headed bits of metal from each other.
These were also useful for lighting cigars which Pinky and everyone else swiped at every opportune moment.
We also had, thanks to OSHA, to wear hardhats every time we ventured into the yard. I opted for the…very cool…brushed-aluminium ‘Red Adair’-style “tin hat”, which invariably and unfortunately met a cruel fate my last day of work…
The remaining retinue of the cast of co-workers preferred the lighter-weight plastic versions. They weren’t terribly effective but provided laughs for the crew when someone swiped one of my cigars and lit it with an oxygen lance.
“Um…Stav?”
“Stav!?”
“STAVROVIAN!”
“Yeah. What?”
“Your head’s on fire…”
There was all this and A&W strawberry shakes, too.
We were also the proud owners of one of the first-generation plasma cutters.
Editorial aside: plasma cutters work like this: one of various gases, such as nitrogen, argon, or oxygen, is forced, under considerable pressure, through a narrow nozzle, within which is an electrode which pumps electrical current into the gases in a process known as ‘ionization’. Ionization causes the atoms in the gases to jolt around crazily with stimulation, much like college students on Spring Break in Boca Raton, separating the electrons from the nuclei and thereby forming plasma, which is the state of matter pushed to its highest state of activity. This activity, in turn, produces an enormous surge of energy that can easily melt down the toughest metallic components, along with nearly anything else in its path: pants, keys, fingers, legs, etc.
For this reason, the beams of plasma cutters are kept carefully contained in a thin arc by means of shielding gases; helium, argon, beer farts, emitted from side channels in the cutter, which subtly exert pressure on the emission and keep it pointed in the direction the wielder intends.
Just thought you’d like to know…
Moving right along, to one of my personal favorite dismembering devices: the “K-12” unit. Basically, it’s a 500 cc. chainsaw engine with a large carbide cutting wheel upfront. You can chew through an engine block in minutes with one of these bad boys.
Also works a treat on cars parked in the “No Parking – Loading Zone” area.
We also had a rudimentary, albeit quite large, heavy and unwieldy set of mechanicals that would later evolve into the “Jaws of Life”. These were operated hydraulically, powered by a ‘portable’, read: ‘hernia-inducing’, 15-horsepower gas engine. They could exert around 200,000 pounds or approximately 100 short-tons of force. The powerhead included attachments for spreading, cutting, or just plain ripping.
They came in real handy when the National Guard wanted to dispose of a couple of surplus UH-1 ‘Huey’ helicopters or the occasional errant airplane. They were real time, though not back, savers.
We also had a ‘baler’. A baler is a device that converts 15 vertical meters of loosely packed paper, aluminum siding, card stock, sheet steel or people we didn’t really like, into a tightly compressed ‘bale’, hence the name. The finished product measured some 2m x 1.5m x 1m maximum dimensions; though it could also easily form nice, neat, stackable cubes, weighing in around 500-1,000 kg.
It basically was a large vertical press that dove deep into the ground some 5 m.
As we will see in a bit, this is not an especially good place to hide from local law enforcement types.
Also at our disposal were loads and loads of relatively slow deflagrating explosives as well as a few cases of good old 60% Extra Fact Herculene dynamite. I had to take a course at the local technical college and have my Blaster’s Permit updated to include both high and low explosives.
Let me tell you, it comes in really handy after an impromptu 4th of July fireworks display, usually held in any month other than July.
We used these charges to break up really big machinery. Things like printing presses, turret lathes, auto body forms as we were in the same town as American Motors, Inc., tool & die making machines, bank vaults…
Yes, bank vaults. Don’t know why, but the local 1st National Farmer’s and Swineherd’s Bank for some reason replaced their vault doors and guess who got tasked with reducing them to shippable, i.e., about 1m x 1m size? Yep.
They were also good for busting nuts off of old rusted, metal parts, splitting “T’s”; pipe joints, and blowing the door off the outhouse, especially if someone’s in there trying to recover from the previous evening’s festivities at the local Gasthaus.
We had the most amazing assortment of visitors, both wanted and unwanted.
First one was “The Sneak Thief”.
Remember the old adage that: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? Well, this bozo won’t soon forget his seeking treasure, as it probably relieved him of ever again seeking pleasure.
We had taken in a load of old dental equipment. Seems 5 or 6 neighborhood dentists decided to retire at near the same time and they, much to their consternation, discovered that old, antique-looking, but not really antique, well used, and positively obsolete dental equipment was worth precisely:
Dick.
Hence, we came into possession of them in the scrap yard.
Now, in this pile were 3 or 4 old dental X-ray units. These were radium-powered units and still had the radioactive source ensconced within. At the yard, we dealt with radioactive substances once in a while; we would get old water-well logging tools, with their Americium-137 source, radio-tracers from the water department, off-cast filters from the Point Beach reactor facility; typically low-level sort of stuff.
We would remove the sources, and put them into special lead-lined boxes to later be collected by either the local university or agents of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We were one of few sites that actually applied for a “Radioactive Agent Permit” which was, paradoxically and totally unexpectedly, awarded. However, we were more than a bit lax about the whole affair. The box could be locked, but usually wasn’t, and items were generally just tossed in the box and the lid slammed shut.
Ahhhh…the late ‘70’s…
Now, these radium sources were bright and shiny, looking just like an oversized and metallic Tylenol™. It was odd in that it was warm to the touch, not that we touched them much without protection, and the metal didn’t seem to rust or corrode. This proved to be just too tempting to one idiot. We often had people wandering around the yard, looking for this part or that gizmo, so we never really paid wandering folks much mind. However, you had to see either Pinky or Czack to get permission to wander around and the obligatory hardhat, and this character didn’t and hadn’t.
Pinky came out and started screaming that this guy shouldn’t be in the yard. So, Randy and I wander over to where he’d been rooting around and informed him that if he wants to snuffle around out in the yard, he’d best see the owner and get permission.
The guy goes instantly non-linear. Completely ballistic. Wholly off the rails…
He starts screaming about his rights, and he’ll have us arrested for “illegally detaining him”, when he just wandered in off the street and fucked around for the last couple of hours, as well as other sundry threats.
Randy and I exchange looks like: “If you hold him, I’ll kill him”, but decide that discretion is the better part of valor and at only $28.50/hour, we’re not about to go to the mat with this whack-job.
Pinky runs out and screams for us to “bolt the doors”. The man was absolutely clairvoyant when it came to thieves and pilferers, grabs the retard and holds him until the local cops could show up. He had them on the 70’s equivalent of speed-dial and I’m certain that the police had us on their GPS or whatever existed at the time that would be a fair substitute.
Grudgingly, Randy and I corral the miscreant and ask, very politely, if he has on his person anything that he might have picked up in his perambulations of the premises.
And if you believe that, there’s this bridge in Brooklyn that’s just waiting to be sold for scrap.
Of course, he roundly denies any wrongdoing. In retrospect, if he had, he might not have run up such exorbitant bills at the local general hospital.
It took the police about an hour to arrive; theft at a scrap yard just doesn’t rank up there with underage drinking and border-town citizens buying loads of smokes to transport covertly across state lines. So Mr. Sneaky sat in Czach’s office, waiting for the air to clear, Czach’s bottle to empty, and the federales to arrive.
When they finally did turn up, they were treated to a most unusual display: the earlier pilfering suspect was now doing a credible imitation of someone who had just poured a large bottle of organic, pesticide-free honey in his lap and plonked down on a large, busy fire ant mound.
Seems Mr. Sticky-fingers had found an unlocked box which contained several burnished, slightly warm-to-the-touch canisters which have spent the last couple of hours cheek-by-jowl with his, well, let’s just call it: “his happy place”.
Needless to say, ‘his happy place’ was now none too happy.
In fact, it was downright miserable.
He was the proud recipient of a profusion of ionizing radiation which was rapidly doing its best to both unravel his DNA and make his reproductive activities from this point onward, well, rather pointless.
He suffered some rather unpleasant and awkward second degree radiation burns, sort of like one would get visiting a nude beach for the first time, in August, in Cabo San Lucas, and forgetting your SPF2000.
He was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for theft and a Class-A felony for stupidity. Hopefully, the Darwin Award fund will cover his medical costs; short of reconstructive surgery.
Leaving this sordid tale, we delve into yet another. This I call the “Whiner”. Typically, a trailer-trash denizen of the first water. Universally unkempt: smelly, nasty and wholly disordered.
The typical plaints were, once they wheeled in a rusty pram-full of old, soggy newspapers, moldy magazines or obviously pilfered paraphernalia: “Why won’t you buy this from me? I need money for beemeth/horse/crack/my baby.”
“Sorry, but the landfill is the only place where you can dispose of this shit.” I offered.
Cue NORAD as they proceed to go, yet again, a-linear.
I normally turn these dolts over to Pinky and let him deal with these bottom-dwellers. Hell…it’s his yard. But since it was a slow day, I thought it’d be fun to see what color I could get them to turn.
“But I need…fill in the blank with favorite non-essential…and these are my great aunt’s uncle-in-law’s cousin’s nephew’s best friend’s grandfather’s war medals. They gotta be worth a few bucks.”
I explained that we are neither a fence nor a pawnshop and we only deal in scrap. Not mementos. Not war trophies; had one old codger bring in a live 3-inch cannon shell that he somehow wheedled back from the South Pacific… nor a dump yard. So no useless, nasty, and obviously worthless junk.
Sanford and Son’s we’re not.
Watching the gears slowly grind in the process that passes for thought in these cretins, the slight wisps of smoke are dead giveaways, I await the inevitable.
“You have to buy them from me. It’s the law.”
“Well, since you brought up the law, let me call the cops to see if any of your trinkets have recently been reported as missing…”
95 times out of 100, the next thing I see is the moron’s backside as they scurry out of the yard.
This was one of the other 5.
“This stuff isn’t hot!”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I’m just doing what the owner wants. Tell you what…leave them here for a couple of weeks and if no one shows up looking for them; we had this happen regularly, just like pawnshops get regular visits from the police. Then we’ll see if they’re really worth anything. Don’t worry, you’ll get a receipt, and we’ll get your contact information”.
4 out of 5 times this works and the doofus bolts in a flurry of disgust and the vague suggestion of old gherkins and kerosene.
This was that one abysmal time where the other 99 simply admitted defeat.
“God damn it. You’re going to give me my money or I’ll kick your…”
“Put your pencils down and step away from the scrap pile!”
You have just crossed the Rubicon and I am legally empowered to toss your happy ass off the premises.
I used to live for days like this…but, then again, I am a misanthrope.
As I noted in earlier screeds, I am not now, nor whenever had been, what would be considered in any way, shape or form “small”, at the time about 185cm tall and 130kg in mass, plus or minus a gram and/or angstrom unit or two. And I have this wonderful inventory of tools: rip hammers, sledgehammers, hell, we had lots of hammers, bar stock, angle iron, Hapkido training and a couple of meaty fists at my disposal.
I believe the term employed was: “Urrk!” as I physically picked the malefactor up by the collar and belt and frog-marched him off the property.
He made the most satisfying “splat” as he hit the pavement out front of the yard, closely followed by the merry tinkle of his precious bits and bobs that followed him immediately thereafter. He was either astonished enough by his brief reprieve from gravity or was still trying, like the ‘ball in the cup’ game, to get his somewhat less-than-ample grey matter functioning again.
Luckily, he quickly departed and we never saw him again.
The next thing I knew it was Pinky barking at me that it’s lunchtime and I need to bring him a strawberry shake.
We did go to A&W often; but how the hell he always knew in advance was very, very strange…
Next up, there’s this piece of human driftwood, one I christen: the “Nosy on-looker”. A seriously annoying piece of human flotsam, irritating to the point of wanting to stuff him into a bush hog after 5 or 6 hours of his well-intentioned banter.
These characters are usually harmless old farts; veterans, of course, retired and nothing better to do before the VFW hall opens, than to come over and regale us with endless stories. As mentioned, they never buy/sell anything, just stand on the side-lines and give free advice, which is worth every penny.
Occasionally, the story was mildly interesting, but sort of lost its dynamism after the 254th telling. Particularly when it’s punctuated with the raucous whip song of a heavy sledge upon the pile of radiators I was currently dismantling.
I didn’t really mind too terribly until after we grew sort of accustomed to them and they seemed to think that our sporadic “Humph.” was an indication that they should press on and they would have full access to the yard.
Then, on a bright and sunny day, one venerable old fogey was following me around the yard, babbling incessantly, when he perchance sauntered a shade too close to a pile of dismantled scrap aluminum window frames. He had, unbeknownst to us, sliced his arm open from shoulder to elbow.
I think the term he employed was: “Ow.”
Actually, it was more like: “Holy fucking shit! I’m bleeding to death!”
This necessitated our shutting down the yard for a few hours, calling an ambulance, notifying OSHA of an accident and the concomitant reams of paperwork that inevitably followed.
Czack, with lightning-fast reflexes and a desire to avoid any additional work, paper or otherwise, opened a new bottle of whiskey.
Then we had to hose down the yard and search for the codger’s watch that he somehow managed to lose during his immediate post-gash decapitated-chicken dance.
Pinky immediately forbade this type of activity henceforth; Jack swore and poured himself another double. All us yard hands nodded in accordance and went to the A&W for chili dogs and strawberry shakes.
We never did find that watch.
Next up in this rollicking cavalcade of idiocy is a relative of our old friend, Mr. Sticky Fingers, the “Obvious Thief”, of which are two distinct varieties, which I will detail individually.
The first is one who comes into the yard dragging the most badly chosen, strangely familiar, yet out of place, items which he, tries to transform into some quick cash.
He’ll bring in items like…manhole covers, stamped “Baja Canada Dep’t. of Public Works”, hundreds and hundreds of meters of weather-beaten, odd-lot sort of bundles of copper cable, marked with the seal of Baja Can. Elec. Power Co., and even fire hydrants.
One almost has to admire the sheer get-along-little-doggy bravado of not only swiping a fireplug but actually having the brass; a painful pun, as the innards of these critters, are finely machined brass and worth, new, a few hundred bucks, to try and sell it off as scrap for a paltry few dollars’ worth of beer or weed money.
These guys were actually very easy to deal with: we detained them with various degrees of small talk; keeping them in the yard and off guard until the police show up.
But to what avail? The recidivism rate for these characters was enormous. It was only a Class “Q” or so misdemeanor; though tell that to the person whose house burned to the property lines due to lack of water connections for the fire brigade or the chap who just busted a wheel off his new Range Rover after hitting an open manhole, sans cover. However, the police were obliged to come corral these critters, as we were obliged to rat them out.
We had several of this type of goofs show up almost weekly.
A related species to the “Obvious Thief” was “The Even More Obvious Thief”. This goob would wander into the yard with an empty bag, box or crate. He’d set it down and very, very carefully watch the yard for his chance of grabbing something: typically unusual looking, easily identifiable, invariably expensive and stuff it in his poke.
He’d then try to sell it off as his own and try to swindle Pinky and Czack into buying back their own stuff.
Did I mention that Pinky and Czack were Jewish? Far be it from me to perpetuate a stereotype, no racism or irreligionism intended here, as it’s near-verbatim from P&C; but no one and I mean no one is going to financially out-clever a couple of grizzled old concentration camp ex-inmates.
I mean that with both admiration and approval.
For the record, in Pinky’s own words: “Ain’t no one gonna out-Jew this old Jew.”
For all their tight-fisted reign of the yard, their insane fiscal “scrupulousness”, i.e., they were so fucking cheap, and their seeming photographic recollection; there is no way…no way in hell…no fucking way, someone is going to get the financial better of these two characters.
The entire yard would gather when one of the more obvious clade of obvious thief tried his hand at a quick round of “fleece the owner”. We’d stand around, surreptitiously blocking the only exit and take in the torrent of abuse and derision Pinky and Czack heaped upon these poor unsuspecting idiots.
Never once did Pinky call the cops on this subspecies of vagrant benthos, nor did they ever physically assault them. At the end of one his and Czack’s tag-team tirades, we’d need an ambulance, a wire brush, Dettol, a fire hose, and mop to clean up the resultant mess.
Don Rickles was Mother Teresa compared to these two when someone dared cross this dual Hebrew Rubicon.
Of course, after all this, we had to go to the A&W to get 2 extra-large strawberry shakes.
Verbal exsanguinations must be thirsty work.
Moving right along, we come to the bane of all scrap yards: “The Scrounger”.
Typically, some form or another of Yuppified ‘sweater-tied-around-the-neck’, Birkenstock wearing, bleach-blonde doofus who recently came into a small inheritance. He had immediate delusions of Bill Gates-ianism and thinks that the rusted-out old shitbox ride he had as a diminutive high-school whelp would be “Primo” if he could only restore the thing.
Motorcycle restorers may be just flaming pain-in-the-ass dreadful.
“Classic” car restorers are worse.
Invariably, they’ll embark on the epic quest to find that elusive left-door handle for the 1962 Belchfire Supreme that they’re adamant on restoring.
To say he’s always in the way, the way he crossed a few palms with silver to gain access to our automotive sanctum sanctorum…where we stash all the good shit for our “classic rides”: our Gremlins, our AMXs, and odd Firebird… is like saying Lake Michigan is somewhat soggy.
Damned if he’s not always in the way when the forklift roars through or he’s precariously perched on a 5-deep pile of rusting hulks trying to find that “special lug nut” or “perfect gas cap” when we rev up the crane to dispose of a few car carcasses.
Now, personally, I don’t mind animal testing if it’s for a good cause, though I strongly oppose vivisection on advanced animals. But cretins of this ilk are ripe and ready for inclusion to any biomedical study, the more painful the better.
Except for breeding; that’s right out.
Invariably, they will find the bit, bobble, or piece of automotive debris to make their dream complete. Customarily it’ll be old, rusted, pitted and obviously original.
Whereupon comes this inevitable seiche of stupid: “Have you got this in blue?”
Once, and only once, I made the ultimate mistake of actually responding to one of these Faustian nightmares.
“Um. No. No way. That’s the only one I’ve ever seen.”
“Are you sure?”
Is very deep crimson a normal Caucasian color?
“Yes. I am very sure. Totally sure. Absurdly sure. Even more wholly than absolutely sure. In fact, I know every square millimeter of this yard by heart and you, Sir, have recovered the Holy Grail of automotiveness. You’ve found the only that we have. There are no others, either in this yard or, in fact, on this planet or galaxy. Congratulations. Your parents must be very proud. The check-out desk is over that way. Ask for Czack.”
Assholes.
May your all paint be lead-based.
Moving along allegro non-troppo, we come to that most inconsiderate client: the dead one.
WARNING: GORE ALERT
OK, this is where the genuinely splattery hits the road.
And walls. And roof. You have been summarily warned.
We took in practically everything made of metal; anything that could conceivably turn a profit. That included old kitchen appliances. Here I must digress: in the USA, there was a concerted effort to get people, invariably those from southern states and lacking in decorum, teeth and IQ points…to quit dumping old refrigerators.
They are, were, and continue to be: death traps.
They had locking mechanisms which were totally incapable of being opened from the inside. There were several heart-wrenching stories of children, believing this would make a ‘real cool hideout’, asphyxiating inside old abandoned refrigerators.
I don’t mean in any way to denigrate these poignant episodes, but we were still tasked to retrieve any old, abandoned fridge that was found. This situation was, if I may be permitted to make a small digression, a major pain in the ass.
The upshot, that warmed Pinky’s cardiac cockles, is that he got the:
  1. Fridge. He usually sent Mark and me out in the scrap yard’s un-tuned and obstinate truck to collect the bloody thing, no matter if it was buried under two meters of Sangamonian glacial clay,
b. EPA credits for removing a Freon source, as a CFC…a chlorinated fluorocarbon, dichlorodifluoromethane; from the environment, and
iii. All that lovely copper plumbing, for free.
We regularly went out in the county and retrieved 4 or 5 of these dumped bastards per month.
Most were without doors. Dumping an old fridge was bad enough, they made great targets for deer hunters wishing to sight in their new .30/06. But then dumping an old fridge which later contained a cyanotic 9-year old was beyond the pale. Some dumpers went diametrically in the other direction and had the doors sealed with everything from duct tape to heli-arc welding.
Which, sort of round-aboutedly, returns us to the story.
Usually, we’d strip off all the copper, letting all those fine CFC’s vent to the open air, bust off all the porcelain, which was absolutely worthless, and reduce it to component parts.
Then the fridge posed no problem. We’d use Jaws and rip the thing open, discard the repugnant contents, though some people actually threw out fridges full of beer and liquor… amazing what a quick wash and CO2 fire extinguisher could do...and rip apart the body, getting it ready for the baler.
But, one day, the worst of the worst showed up.
Or actually, did not show up; but rather burst, quite literally, upon the scene.
Well, Mark and I delivered the 4 or 5 wayward fridges to the scrap yard. Surprisingly enough, Czack set up some sort of incomprehensible paper trail flowchart where odd lots were checked in, registered and then summarily they were disposed.
There was always a blizzard of paperwork; I can sort of, somewhat, understand Czack’s infatuation with Jack Daniel’s.
Paul grabbed an oxygen lance, one of my cigars, and proceeded to begin dissection a series of off-cast collectibles which we had collected.
After about an hour, there was a short lapse as Paul sheared off the remaining copper, venting all those wonderful ammoniac and CFC-laden gases Antarctic-ward. He then proceeded to lance into the next occupant in the line of the latest gathering of fridges which we had collected.
He had just started torching open fridge number three when there was a massive explosion.
Pinky yelled: “ROCK! God damn it! Enough with the dynamite!”
“Wasn’t me, Pinky.”
This time.
Paul picked himself up; ineffectually brushing off the various bits and pieces of organic debris that followed. We did our best to extinguish the fires. The whole yard rushed over and helped pick up what remained.
Evidently there had been a human body in fridge number 3.
Seems the oxygen lance had not only opened up the crypt that was the fridge but also ignited the gasses of decomposition.
The results were, for the lack of a better idiom: “stunningly spectacular”.
And stunningly spectacularly messy.
Somehow, given the late 1970’s equivalent of CSI, the character inside the fridge was already figured to be, well, seriously, well, dead.
Seems the unfortunate occupant was, in all probability, the unwilling and ungrateful recipient of a high-speed, up close, and very personal .45 caliber lobotomy; “execution-style”, according to the official papers. After we rummaged around the yard we found what remained of his combusted coconut hiding in the weeds some 50m distant. He was very enthusiastically, and very emphatically, deceased when sealed into the fridge.
Some people have no class.
Especially corpses.
Especially corpses strewn over approximately 2500 square meters.
Paul had sort of a retroactive case of the jibblies, as he scrutinized the scene and then looked down at the leather shop apron he was wearing.
Suffice to say, he could have answered the casting call for any George Romero movie filming in the area. He looked like he had been wading through the blood tank of a slaughterhouse.
He was, well, a bit of a mess.
“Um, Paul. You’ve got intestines all over your pants.” I offered.
Mitch helps him out with: “Yeah. You’ve got brains all over your, ick, hat….”
Paul adds to the chromaticity of the drab scrap yard by promptly regurgitating; a singular tragedy since he just returned from the A&W and the enthusiastic gurgitating of a couple of Poppa burgers and a large root beer, energetically and enthusiastically, all over the landscape.
Luckily, we did have D&D, douse and disinfect stations all over the yard.
Paul, not caring about local mores and graciousness; stripped down to nothing more than his woolen socks and stood in the cleansing and chilly spray of the shower. He was upchucking uproariously and cursing the day he ever went to Employment Services.
We were all introspect.
A human being who had his life abruptly terminated by the vicious act of murder had just messily exploded and aggressively distributed himself all over the local landscape and fellow co-worker.
It was a time for solemnity.
A time for reflection.
We silently pondered the human condition and the inevitability of our own mortality.
Yeah, right.
We were all laughing our asses off.
Paul was less than amused. But, he persevered, and didn’t quit until that fall when he married and headed east.
We all went to the A&W for a bag of momma burgers, curly fries and root beers, chili dogs were, for some reason, off the list de jure.
And, yes, we did bring back two strawberry shakes for Pinky and Czack.
Moving right along, we next happen upon that unique individual we shall designate “The Not-so-terribly-stupid Patron”.
This person was an oddity in the scrapyard; cautious, courteous and actually possessing more than two brain cells which he could call his own.
We had hordes of “treasure seekers” that would while away an afternoon digging through the piles in hope of finding the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack’, or in this case, the ‘jewel in the junk pile’.
He was an older gentleman; well-graying of visage, well-kempt, and well-mannered. He stood out like a sore thumb against the usual assortment of assholes, co-workers included, when he was in the yard.
He bade me over to a pile destined to the baler and inquired about an absolutely ghastly piece of ostensible pot-metal sculpture.
“Can I please take a look at that?” he asked.
“Sure.”
What the hell? Pinky let this guy in and he seems a tolerable sort.
So, I dig into the pile and excavate the surprisingly heavy cast sculpture of some sort of Greco-Roman FTD-Florist sort of demigod.
It was horrific.
He was entranced.
He intently studies it for 5 or so minutes and breathlessly asks me if I’ve ever seen another, perhaps in this very yard.
“Good news, everybody!”
A bit of background; we took in all manner of yard kitsch: lawn jockeys, garden gnomes, and odd-lot assortments of junk that people found the previous tenants’ had left behind. So, an appalling statue of a winged, though tiny-titted nude never caused as much as a blink.
Continuing: I went to search the yard and found the statue’s counterpart lying in a bin, destined for Lost & Foundry, the place we sold most of our meltable materials.
Reuniting the twins nearly brought the old gentleman to tears.
“Do you know what these are?” he asked.
“Junk?” I ventured, shaking my head...
Hellenistic sculpture, at this point, was a closed book to me.
I was more interested in dinosaurs and depositional environments.
Alas, I digress…
“No, no. Oh, my. No. These, if I’m not mistaken, are the “Winged Victory of Samothrace”, or, at least, credible copies.”
Continued in part b.
submitted by Rocknocker to Rocknocker [link] [comments]

2017.05.19 20:11 ToTV_Terebi /r/Trackers FAQ v3

What is a tracker
A tracker is two things. for the purpose of this subreddit, trackers generally consist of both parts.
1) A website that indexes lists of torrent files to download. The actual payload (movie, application, whatever) is not hosted on these sites, merely an index of torrent files. The data is actually stored distributed across all of the users' computers who are seeding that content.
2) The software which coordinates different users' bittorrent clients to decide who should download/upload from whom.
There are public indexers (Pirate Bay (TPB), Kickass Torrents (KAT), etc) that anyone can use if they know the URL
There are also private or semi private trackers, where you need membership to access their files or communicate with the tracker protocol.
Much of the discussion in /trackers, and most of the content in this FAQ is about private trackers.
Give me an invite to X / How do I get started in private trackers?
No. Check /invites
or https://opentrackers.org/tag/application-signup/
or /trackers/comments/3vn9jw/open_signups_thread/?sort=new
or /trackers/wiki/getting_into_private_trackers
or /trackers/wiki/reddit_offers
or https://opentrackers.org/tag/limited-signup/
But I have superfast internet/seedbox, please please please?
Still no. Also, at many trackers large disk space (100sGB-TB?) dedicated to long term archival seeding is more valued than speed. Private trackers are generally over-seeded,especially for new content. One more fast connection in the mix doesn't help a lot. Keeping a torrent alive years later does.
Get into one of the trackers that does applications or open invites. Build a good ratio and a reputation. Increase your user class. Then you will have access to recruitment forums to get into other trackers.
Can I buy/trade an invite to X/Should i use invite forums
No. Do not buy or trade invites. You will get caught. You will get banned from that and (possibly) all other trackers. You will lose your money.
Do not join tracker invite or trading forums. On many trackers merely being a member of any of the account trading and invite forums is a ban-able offense, even if you do not buy or trade any invites.
The notable exception is ThePirateSociety (TPS), which is largely considered a bittorrent community and not an invite forum. TPS members use their tracker usernames without risk of ban from trackers and the forum is generally allowed and respected. They do not have an invite offers section like other invite forums, but they do have recruitment threads run by tracker staff.
How do I get into the elite trackers/Which sites have recruitment threads for site X
The rules of this subreddit do not allow answering this question directly.
The general answer is that many trackers have invite and recruitment forums for their advanced user classes (Power User (PU) and Elite, etc). Don't confuse these forums with the public invite/trading forums which will get you banned.
Private tracker Invite forums are where other users can offer their extra invites to other members of that tracker.
Recruitment forums are run by other tracker staff generally offering unlimited invites to those that meet certain criteria.
So, you start out on entry level trackers, level up. Get invited to intermediate trackers. Level up. Get invited to more elite trackers. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Focus on enjoying the trackers that you are already a member of rather than just racing to the next tier. If you aren't actually interested in the content of a tracker, it is just going to be frustrating for you to meet their requirements and contribute. The tracker obviously is also not happy about being just a stepping stone for you. Also, for the most part you probably don't actually need the elite tracker (See the are higher tier trackers better question below)
** A Special Note on PTP, RED, Bb (and others) Invites **
PTP, Red, Bb, (and others) have more restrictive rules on their invites. In particular, it is considered a "public offering" to give invites to people you know from Reddit/IRC/Tracker forums, even if done "privately". Their invites are intended for real-world friends and family only. Others should be directed to recruitment threads on other trackers.
Scene/0Day/General
A good scene or general tracker can serve 99% of your needs. A great majority of new content available from the specialized sites below is available from the scene and general trackers. Many of them are also relatively easy to get into with a number of them holding interviews or regular open applications.
Bb is the reddit community general tracker, but recruitment and invites are usually closed due to being at user cap. Due to inactive user purges, invites are available every few days/weeks, so find a friend who has invites and tell them to watch for when invites are open.
GeForcesTracker (GFT), PreToMe (PTM) - Ratioless.
DigitalHive (DH), TorrentLeech(TL), Alpha Ratio (AR) - Ratio.
There are many more trackers in this category. check the spreadsheets and flowcharts. If you are interested in automatically downloading tv and movies from these trackers, see which trackers are supported by Jackett to help you pick.
Many people will say iptorrents (IPT), or SceneTime (ST) but see the bottom section on reputation.
What is a good TV tracker
BroadcastTheNet (BTN) is the best. If you are asking this question, you probably can't get in. Invites are very rare. They do have limited recruitment at at least one top tier tracker.
Try MoreThanTv (MTV)or nebulance (TTN/NBL) or BitMeTv (BMTV). Also most TV shows up on the 0-day scene trackers. BTN, and MTV are ratioless. NEB, and BMTV have ratio requirements.
MTV is a strong but distant second place. It also carries a decent selection of movies and other content.
NEB has ratio, but seasons are freeleech, and "cubits" earned from seeding can be used to "reduce download" and fix your ratio.
BMTV was considered one of the greats, but is hard to get into, and difficult to maintain ratio on (can donate for more ratio)
What is a good general movie tracker
PassThePopcorn (PTP) is widely considered the best general movie tracker. If you are just getting started, you can't get in. It is currently impossible to get in. Both invites and recruitment have been disabled for the meantime.
HDBits (HDB) is considered bettemore elite by some, but has a reputation of being very difficult to get into. Most of their popular content filters down to other trackers. They have some recruitment threads are top tier trackers, for very high user classes.
AwesomeHd (AHD), TehConnection (Tehc), BeyondHD (BHD) , UHDBits, are very good alternates that are easier to get into. Realistically, any one of them would serve 99.9% of your cinema needs.
There are many more movie trackers that specialize in certain formats or genres, see the spreadsheet or flowcharts below if you want something special.
AHD focuses exclusively on high def releases, and has a good amount of TV bluray encodes and remuxes as a bonus
Tehc is probably the easiest of the more popular movie trackers to get into, and has a good selection.
BHD is ratioless.
Generally almost all of the movie trackers are ratio sites, but most have bonus point or freeleech systems that make maintaining ratio easy if you try.
Many of the other movie trackers not specifically named are high quality trackers, but have more specialized audiences or are too hard to get into for someone new. Not naming them here is not intended as any slight, but for someone who is asking a basic question like this, naming those trackers probably wouldn't help them much
What is a good music tracker
Yes, it was. (Who's on first?) (cry)
In the wake of the closing of OINK and What, numerous new music trackers have cropped up including :
Redacted/PassTheHeadphones, Xanax/Apollo, NotWhatCD, and old standby Waffles still exists.
Red and Apollo both do IRC interviews similar to the old WCD interview.
Many other music trackers exist and are specialized in particular genres. See the spreadsheets and flowchart.
For new, popular music, most of the scene/general trackers will have it.
What is a good ebook/audiobook tracker
Bibliotik (Bib) and MyAnonymouse (MAM).
Bib is a lot harder to get into, and is harder to keep ratio on, but has a large catalog, especially of retail ebooks.
MAM has a much wider selection of audiobooks, but a very good collection of ebooks and staff-picks are regularly set to freeleech to help with ratio. MAM occasionally has interviews for recruitment.
Best sellers are often available from scene/general trackers.
Games GazelleGames (GGn) is the biggest.
UltimateGamerClub (UGC) is a newcomer to the gaming sites, and has open applications. Scene trackers generally carry games too.
I'm looking for something rare/obscure/cult/VHS/fan-edits
Myspleen has a great selection of out of print, VHS, 80s, 90s, etc. They are also famous as the home of several Star Wars preservation projects and fan-edits.
CinemaGeddon (CG) and , Karaganga (KG), cinematic have a lot of cult, B, and art house movies.
Also PTP's and BTN's huge catalogs have a wide selection of older or more unusual content if you can get into them.
Porn
Empornium is probably the best. They have recently opened recruitment.
pussytorrents,Pornbits,pornbay, PornoLab
gay porn - trackers/comments/6b11ga/biggest_gay_torrent_trackers/ /trackers/comments/2d4c05/where_do_the_gay_trackers_recruit/ /trackers/comments/56nvyk/gay_tracker_with_good_quality_control/
Many scene/general trackers carry porn.
What is up with all these acronyms!
Some trackers have rules about writing their name in full to avoid attention. Others are just long and people are lazy and don't want to type them over and over. It also makes those in the know feel more important than those not in the know. Go google them, they all come up.
I need a tracker not mentioned above
Flowchart : https://i.imgur.com/k7XcGrh.png
Spreadsheet : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zYZ2107xOZwQ37AjLTc5A4dUJl0ilg8oMrZyA0BGvc0/
Giant database : https://opentrackers.org/tracker-list/
Are private trackers better than public trackers
Depends on what you mean by "better". They are much safer. They generally have higher quality releases and bigger back-catalog. They have community. If you make requests, they often will get filled. Speeds are generally quite fast.
They also have rules. If you can't contribute back by long term seeding, uploading, encoding or some other contribution - you may find it a struggle.
Are the high level trackers better than the entry level trackers
Yes. But maybe not in a way that matters to you. For US/English, mainstream, recent content every place has it, and has it in good quality. Sites such as AHD, Tehc, MTV, Bb (and many others), etc have excellent communities, and seriously can serve 99.9% of your needs in for their target specialty.
The elite trackers generally have a much wider selection of items, more encodes for a given item, etc. It is difficult to exaggerate how much bigger PTP and BTN are than their competition in terms of catalog. On the other hand if you are interested in what was on TV in the last week, and the latest blockbuster release, that extra selection is mostly dead-weight you won't miss.
See also the next question about Scene vs P2P
Are P2P/Internal/Remux releases better than the Scene release?
Yes. But maybe not enough to care. The quality of a good P2P/Internal is measurably better. But is the quality noticeably better? YMMV depending on your eyesight, your TV/computer, how far away you are, your lighting, your sound system, etc.
Realistically, unless someone did a really shit encode, most people probably cant tell the difference between the scene release and the P2P/Internal release. (which is not to say that there aren't groups that consistently do shit releases, for both scene and p2p/internal groups)
trackers/comments/3r9hin/asapfleetreleases_getting_internald_afterwards/
Most people can't tell the difference between 720 and 1080. Most people can't tell the difference between V2 and V0 and FLAC. For those that can, (or that pretend they can) they go to the higher-tier sites with more P2P and Internal releases.
Some people really do care about 100% transparency (in some cases even improvements OVER the bluray/wire). They are willing to wait, and they are willing to give up the bandwidth/space/ratio.
This probably matters more for movies, where people keep them around for long term repeat viewing and a small wait for a better version is not significant. Also, unless you are dealing with a CAM or Screener, the movie was out in theaters months ago, so the additional wait for better quality and the resultant additional risk of spoilers is minimal.
In the TV world, scene typically rules, because if you don't want the scene release, waiting might mean waiting for the Bluray to come out, or at least a day or two, and the show might get spoiled the next day at work/school. However, the first scene release is for some shows is of noticeably lower quality due to racing, and a P2P/Internal/Proper release will generally come out within a few hours/day that is better (Game of Thrones commonly has this issue)
Here is a thread that shows good comparisons between various releases of Westworld S01E01. /Piracy/comments/56vznwestworld_s01e01_comparisons/
Even the scene release is huge. I want a high quality 1GB 1080p movie rip
No. You don't. Even a raw DVD is 5-9GB. A raw BluRay is 30-50GB. Compression is good, but not free. You are giving up an incredible amount of data to compress the file down that far. You would be far better served by watching a 720p or 480p version that wasn't compressed as much.
Compare these two screenshots of StarWars, and look at the detail in the guy's wrinkles. If you aren't going to watch a version that lets you see that detail, then don't bother with the 1080p version, because its literally worse quality than a 720p version of equal size.
Heres a few more shots.Look at near the boy's eye, or his cheek. All that skin detail is lost. Is that version perfectly watchable? Yes absolutely. But the detail is missing, and that same detail is missing in the 720 version. Just watch the 720 version. http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/154325/picture:0 or, his beard especially is noticeable http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/187422
You don't need to go to 30GB (which is remux range, or something special you want perfect for repeat watching). But 5-10-15-20 is probably correct, depending on the type of movie (animation or drama can get away with less. Action needs more).
I want X.265 releases
The general consensus is that x265 is not as good as x264 yet. While the file sizes are significantly smaller, the quality is also reduced. As 4k content becomes more common, the size savings will be important, but thus far is isn't a good trade for most people. Also, the x265 encoder takes significantly longer (20x) to encode, so is generally not used by the Scene racers. Also, most 265 releases are re-encodes from the x264 release, and most of the higher end trackers do not allow lossy re-encodes. PrivateHD does have a release group that makes 265 encodes from the source though.
Here is a shot typical of a 265 conversion. Note the loss of detail in the pinstripes, or on the pews. Is this watchable? Yes. But if you don't care about those details, you could also have just watched the 720 version, that didn't take XX hours to encode. http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/193950
Which sites have release X/Has release X come out yet/Which site gets content the fastest?
https://trace.corrupt-net.org/live.php
http://predb.me/
http://pre.c-burns.co.uk/p2ptrace.php
https://layer13.net/browse
How do I automate downloading TV/Movies/Music?
WARNING automation can seriously destroy your ratio and result in you losing your account. Make sure you have filters set up correctly, or do this only on ratioless sites.
TV - Sonarr is probably the most popular and feature rich. You may need to use Jackett with Sonarr depending on which trackers you are trying to use. Sickrage, Sickbeard, and flexget also work.
https://sonarr.tv https://github.com/Jackett/Jackett
Movies - Couchpotato is the usual answer, but it has some issues, and might possibly be a dead project. Radarr is a fork of Sonarr which targets movie automation. https://couchpota.to/ https://radarr.video/
Music - Headphones https://github.com/rembo10/headphones but music not as heavily automated as TV/Movies
RSS - most torrent clients have RSS plugins that will work against many sites, but do not have as much hand-holding and logic built in as the tools above
Ratio-Building - For those on fast connections or with seedboxes trying to build buffer by racing the swarm, IRC based autodl-irssi scripts are the fastest, but are the most difficult to set up, and the most risk of screwing up your ratio.
How do I use trackers safely (from a legal/MPAA standpoint)
VPN or Seedbox. If you use public trackers from the US, or many other countries, use of a VPN and or Seedbox is strongly recommended. You could lose your internet access, or in rare cases be sued for copyright infringement by using public trackers. Some VPNs and Seedboxes will forward any ISP/MPAA letters they receive. Do some research and pick one that is piracy friendly, and does not keep logs.
Safety is much less of a concern on private trackers. The majority of users do not use either VPN nor Seedboxes with private trackers and ISP issues (other than exceeding bandwidth caps) are very rare.
Most private trackers allow VPN and Seedboxes for downloading. Many have rules against VPNs for browsing the site. Double check before you use one. Seriously, double check. Several of the top tier trackers will permanently disable your account for using a VPN or using a VPN incorrectly. (WCD, PTP, BTN, etc)
A seedbox gives you both increased security and higher speeds for maintaining ratio. Be careful of seedboxes that use shared IPs and double check your tracker's rules.
Seedbox comparison seedboxes/comments/3swnsg/indepth_comparison_tests_information_and_links/
VPN comparison chart https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJTvWT5RHFSYuEoFVpAeQjuQPU4BVzbOigT0xebxTOw/edit
How do I use private trackers safely (from a getting pwned standpoint)
Pick unique strong passwords, use 2FA where available. Run proper virus scanners etc.
See /trackers/comments/30xtk9/trackers_security_and_you/ and trackers/comments/4s4b7m/psa_ensure_your_passwords_are_unique/
My account at X tracker was deleted or disabled/I need to talk to tracker staff
If you broke a "serious" rule (ratio cheating, account selling/trading/etc) you are probably SOL.
Otherwise go to your tracker's IRC support channel.
/trackers/wiki/irc_support
or
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=private+tracker+irc - These IRC lists are maintained by various source and may be inaccurate. Some of them are maintained by invite trading forums. Take with a grain of salt, and don't join the trading forums.
Or the tracker's twitter http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2010/12/list-of-private-torrent-trackers.html
Is tracker X down?
https://trackerstatus.info
/trackers/comments/5119ic/is_your_tracker_down_ask_here_instead_of_making_a/?sort=new
What is the best way to stream content from my computer to my TV/Device
Plex or Kodi for most users.
https://plex.tv/
https://kodi.tv/
What is the best torrent client?
Most private trackers have a whitelist of allowed clients. deluge, qBittorrent, uTorrent, Transmission and rTorrent are fairly universally accepted. Some trackers have blacklisted more recent versions of uTorrent because they previously/recently included some malware.
Using an unapproved client, or spoofing your client is generally against the rules, and considered cheating, and a ban-able offense.
Don't auto-update your client. Most private trackers manually white-list new versions after testing. If you upgrade early, you won't be able to download/seed anymore.
Why does tracker X have a bad reputation
There have been several incidents of tracker staff allegedly DDOSing other trackers, stealing peers, scamming users, selling invites to their own or other trackers, being pay-to-leech, and other actions frowned on by the community. Some people disregard the drama and are only interested in the content. Others think that these actions are poisoning the common well. YMMV.
/trackers/comments/1zfy9n/staff_of_ipt_td_and_tt_are_behind_the_recent_ddos/ /trackers/comments/419m0l/ipt_lottery_winners_scammed_again/ /trackers/comments/3z19oi/sporthdorg_is_a_scam_avoid_like_the_plague/ /trackers/comments/3w1lfw/is_hdsportbits_a_scam/ /trackers/comments/2slsfe/and_the_ipt_co_scams_just_keep_on_coming_the_3/ /trackers/comments/30t7us/evidence_of_matthers_trading_activites_and_ddos/?ref=search_posts
submitted by ToTV_Terebi to trackers [link] [comments]

2016.09.05 21:00 ToTV_Terebi Frequently Asked Questions

What is a tracker
A tracker is two things. for the purpose of this subreddit, trackers generally consist of both parts.
1) A website that indexes lists of torrent files to download. The actual payload (movie, application, whatever) is not hosted on these sites, merely an index of torrent files. The data is actually stored distributed across all of the users' computers who are seeding that content.
2) The software which coordinates different users' bittorrent clients to decide who should download/upload from whom.
There are public indexers (Pirate Bay (TPB), Kickass Torrents (KAT), etc) that anyone can use if they know the URL
There are also private or semi private trackers, where you need membership to access their files or communicate with the tracker protocol.
Much of the discussion in /trackers, and most of the content in this FAQ is about private trackers.
Give me an invite to X / How do I get started in private trackers?
No. Check /invites
or https://opentrackers.org/tag/application-signup/
or /trackers/comments/3vn9jw/open_signups_thread/?sort=new
or /trackers/wiki/getting_into_private_trackers
or /trackers/wiki/reddit_offers
or https://opentrackers.org/tag/limited-signup/
But I have superfast internet/seedbox, please please please?
Still no. Also, at many trackers large disk space (100sGB-TB?) dedicated to long term archival seeding is more valued than speed. Private trackers are generally over-seeded,especially for new content. One more fast connection in the mix doesn't help a lot. Keeping a torrent alive years later does.
Get into one of the trackers that does applications or open invites. Build a good ratio and a reputation. Increase your user class. Then you will have access to recruitment forums to get into other trackers.
Can I buy/trade an invite to X/Should i use invite forums
No. Do not buy or trade invites. You will get caught. You will get banned from that and (possibly) all other trackers. You will lose your money.
Do not join tracker invite or trading forums. On many trackers merely being a member of any of the account trading and invite forums is a ban-able offense, even if you do not buy or trade any invites.
The notable exception is ThePirateSociety (TPS), which is largely considered a bittorrent community and not an invite forum. TPS members use their tracker usernames without risk of ban from trackers and the forum is generally allowed and respected. They do not have an invite offers section like other invite forums, but they do have recruitment threads run by tracker staff.
How do I get into the elite trackers/Which sites have recruitment threads for site X
The rules of this subreddit do not allow answering this question directly.
The general answer is that many trackers have invite and recruitment forums for their advanced user classes (Power User (PU) and Elite, etc). Don't confuse these forums with the public invite/trading forums which will get you banned.
Private tracker Invite forums are where other users can offer their extra invites to other members of that tracker.
Recruitment forums are run by other tracker staff generally offering unlimited invites to those that meet certain criteria.
So, you start out on entry level trackers, level up. Get invited to intermediate trackers. Level up. Get invited to more elite trackers. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Focus on enjoying the trackers that you are already a member of rather than just racing to the next tier. If you aren't actually interested in the content of a tracker, it is just going to be frustrating for you to meet their requirements and contribute. The tracker obviously is also not happy about being just a stepping stone for you. Also, for the most part you probably don't actually need the elite tracker (See the are higher tier trackers better question below)
** A Special Note on PTP and PTH Invites **
PTP and PTH have more restrictive rules on their invites. In particular, it is considered a "public offering" to give invites to people you know from Reddit/IRC/Tracker forums, even if done "privately". Their invites are intended for real-world friends and family only. Others should be directed to recruitment threads on other trackers.
Scene/0Day/General
A good scene or general tracker can serve 99% of your needs. A great majority of new content available from the specialized sites below is available from the scene and general trackers. Many of them are also relatively easy to get into with a number of them holding interviews or regular open applications.
Bb is the reddit community general tracker, but recruitment and invites are usually closed due to being at user cap. Due to inactive user purges, invites are available every few days/weeks, so find a friend who has invites and tell them to watch for when invites are open.
TheGift (GFT), TorrentShack (TSH), PreToMe (PTM) - Ratioless.
DigitalHive (DH), TorrentLeech(TL), Alpha Ratio (AR) - Ratio.
There are many more trackers in this category. check the spreadsheets and flowcharts. If you are interested in automatically downloading tv and movies from these trackers, see which trackers are supported by Jackett to help you pick.
Many people will say iptorrents (IPT), or SceneTime (ST) but see the bottom section on reputation.
What is a good TV tracker
BroadcastTheNet (BTN) is the best. If you are asking this question, you probably can't get in. Invites are very rare. They do have limited recruitment at at least one top tier tracker.
Try MoreThanTv (MTV), Freshon (TvT), or TransmitTheNet (TTN) or BitMeTv (BMTV). Also most TV shows up on the 0-day scene trackers. BTN, and MTV are ratioless. Freshon, TTN, and BMTV have ratio requirements.
MTV is a strong but distant second place. It also carries a decent selection of movies and other content.
Freshon has ratio, but a lot of free and half leech to help maintain positive ratio. They offer upload credit for donations, but it is generally not needed.
TTN has ratio, but seasons are freeleech, and "cubits" earned from seeding can be used to "reduce download" and fix your ratio.
BMTV was considered one of the greats, but is hard to get into, and difficult to maintain ratio on (can donate for more ratio)
What is a good general movie tracker
PassThePopcorn (PTP) is widely considered the best general movie tracker. If you are just getting started, you can't get in. It used to be virtually impossible, but they have recently relaxed their recruitment rules so it is eventually obtainable.
HDBits (HDB) is considered bettemore elite by some, but has a reputation of being very difficult to get into. Most of their popular content filters down to other trackers. They have some recruitment threads are top tier trackers, for very high user classes.
AwesomeHd (AHD), TehConnection (Tehc), BeyondHD (BHD) are very good alternates that are easier to get into. Realistically, any one of the 3 would serve 99.9% of your cinema needs.
There are many more movie trackers that specialize in certain formats or genres, see the spreadsheet or flowcharts below if you want something special.
AHD focuses exclusively on high def releases, and has a good amount of TV bluray encodes and remuxes as a bonus
Tehc is probably the easiest of the more popular movie trackers to get into, and has a good selection.
BHD is ratioless.
Generally almost all of the movie trackers are ratio sites, but most have bonus point or freeleech systems that make maintaining ratio easy if you try.
Many of the other movie trackers not specifically named are high quality trackers, but have more specialized audiences or are too hard to get into for someone new. Not naming them here is not intended as any slight, but for someone who is asking a basic question like this, naming those trackers probably wouldn't help them much
What is a good music tracker
Yes, it was. (Who's on first?) (cry)
RIP OINK and WCD. Waffles is probably the remaining leader, but has been down for a while, and may be down for good. It is likely a new music tracker will rise to be the leader, but thus far it is not known which one it is. PassTheHeadphones and Xanax/Apollo are two of the new contenders.
Many other music trackers exist and are specialized in particular genres. See the spreadsheets and flowchart.
For new, popular music, most of the scene/general trackers will have it.
What is a good ebook/audiobook tracker
Bibliotik (Bib) and MyAnonymous (MAM).
Bib is a lot harder to get into, and is harder to keep ratio on, but has a large, especially of retail ebooks.
MAM has a much wider selection of audiobooks, but a very good collection of ebooks and staff-picks are regularly set to freeleech to help with ratio. MAM occasionally has interviews for recruitment.
WCD also has a good book/audiobook selection. Best sellers are often available from scene/general trackers.
Games GazelleGames (GGn) is the biggest and has regular freeleech to help with ratio.
UltimateGamerClub (UGC). UltimateGamerClub (UGC) is a newcomer to the gaming sites, and has open applications. Scene trackers generally carry games too.
I'm looking for something rare/obscure/cult/VHS/fan-edits
Myspleen has a great selection of out of print, VHS, 80s, 90s, etc. They are also famous as the home of several Star Wars preservation projects and fan-edits.
CinemaGeddon (CG) and , Karaganga (KG), cinematic have a lot of cult, and art house movies.
Also PTP's and BTN's huge catalogs have a wide selection of older or more unusual content if you can get into them.
Porn
Empornium is probably the best. They have recently opened recruitment.
pussytorrents,Pornbits,pornbay,Deviloid, PornoLab
gay porn - /trackers/comments/2d4c05/where_do_the_gay_trackers_recruit/ /trackers/comments/56nvyk/gay_tracker_with_good_quality_control/
Many scene/general trackers carry porn.
What is up with all these acronyms!
Some trackers have rules about writing their name in full to avoid attention. Others are just long and people are lazy and don't want to type them over and over. It also makes those in the know feel more important than those not in the know. Go google them, they all come up.
I need a tracker not mentioned above
Flowchart : https://i.imgur.com/NaagU4o.png
Flowchart 2 : https://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/9965875/L.png
Spreadsheet : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14A2ZYzIinFbL2aI1hsSwuQRT8rGhrj09K_bRUMQ2lsc/edit#gid=1145971129
Giant database : https://opentrackers.org/tracker-list/
Are private trackers better than public trackers
Depends on what you mean by "better". They are much safer. They generally have higher quality releases and bigger back-catalog. They have community. If you make requests, they often will get filled. Speeds are generally quite fast.
They also have rules. If you can't contribute back by long term seeding, uploading, encoding or some other contribution - you may find it a struggle.
Are the high level trackers better than the entry level trackers
Yes. But maybe not in a way that matters to you. For US/English, mainstream, recent (last 10 years?) content every place has it, and has it in good quality. Sites such as AHD, Tehc, MTV, Bb (and many others), etc have excellent communities, and seriously can serve 99.9% of your needs in for their target specialty.
The elite trackers generally have a much wider selection of items, more encodes for a given item, etc. It is difficult to exaggerate how much bigger PTP and BTN are than their competition in terms of catalog. On the other hand if you are interested in what was on TV in the last week, and the latest blockbuster release, that extra selection is mostly dead-weight you won't miss.
See also the next question about Scene vs P2P
Are P2P/Internal/Remux releases better than the Scene release?
Yes. But maybe not enough to care. The quality of a good P2P/Internal is measurably better. But is the quality noticeably better? YMMV depending on your eyesight, your TV/computer, how far away you are, your lighting, your sound system, etc.
Realistically, unless someone did a really shit encode, most people probably cant tell the difference between the scene release and the P2P/Internal release. (which is not to say that there aren't groups that consistently do shit releases, for both scene and p2p/internal groups)
trackers/comments/3r9hin/asapfleetreleases_getting_internald_afterwards/
Most people can't tell the difference between 720 and 1080. Most people can't tell the difference between V2 and V0 and FLAC. For those that can, (or that pretend they can) they go to the higher-tier sites with more P2P and Internal releases.
Some people really do care about 100% transparency (in some cases even improvements OVER the bluray/wire). They are willing to wait, and they are willing to give up the bandwidth/space/ratio.
This probably matters more for movies, where people keep them around for long term repeat viewing and a small wait for a better version is not significant. Also, unless you are dealing with a CAM or Screener, the movie was out in theaters months ago, so the additional wait for better quality and the resultant additional risk of spoilers is minimal.
In the TV world, scene typically rules, because if you don't want the scene release, waiting might mean waiting for the Bluray to come out, or at least a day or two, and the show might get spoiled the next day at work/school. However, the first scene release is for some shows is of noticeably lower quality due to racing, and a P2P/Internal/Proper release will generally come out within a few hours/day that is better (Game of Thrones commonly has this issue)
Here is a thread that shows good comparisons between various releases of Westworld S01E01. /Piracy/comments/56vznwestworld_s01e01_comparisons/
Even the scene release is huge. I want a high quality 1GB 1080p movie rip
No. You don't. Even a raw DVD is 5-9GB. A raw BluRay is 30-50GB. Compression is good, but not free. You are giving up an incredible amount of data to compress the file down that far. You would be far better served by watching a 720p or 480p version that wasn't compressed as much.
Compare these two screenshots of StarWars, and look at the detail in the guy's wrinkles. If you aren't going to watch a version that lets you see that detail, then don't bother with the 1080p version, because its literally worse quality than a 720p version of equal size.
You don't need to go to 30GB (which is remux range, or something special you want perfect for repeat watching). But 5-10-15-20 is probably correct, depending on the type of movie (animation or drama can get away with less. Action needs more).
I want X.265 releases
The general consensus is that x265 is not as good as x264 yet. While the file sizes are significantly smaller, the quality is also reduced. As 4k content becomes more common, the size savings will be important, but thus far is isn't a good trade for most people. Also, the x265 encoder takes significantly longer (20x) to encode, so is generally not used by the Scene racers.
Which sites have release X/Has release X come out yet/Which site gets content the fastest?
https://trace.corrupt-net.org/live.php
http://predb.me/
http://pre.c-burns.co.uk/p2ptrace.php
https://layer13.net/browse
How do I automate downloading TV/Movies/Music?
WARNING automation can seriously destroy your ratio and result in you losing your account. Make sure you have filters set up correctly, or do this only on ratioless sites.
TV - Sonarr is probably the most popular and feature rich. You may need to use Jackett with Sonarr depending on which trackers you are trying to use. Sickrage, Sickbeard, and flexget also work.
https://sonarr.tv https://github.com/Jackett/Jackett
Movies - Couchpotato is the usual answer, but it has some issues, and might possibly be a dead project. https://couchpota.to/
Music - Headphones https://github.com/rembo10/headphones but music not as heavily automated as TV/Movies
RSS - most torrent clients have RSS plugins that will work against many sites, but do not have as much hand-holding and logic built in as the tools above
Ratio-Building - For those on fast connections or with seedboxes trying to build buffer by racing the swarm, IRC based autodl-irssi scripts are the fastest, but are the most difficult to set up, and the most risk of screwing up your ratio.
How do I use trackers safely (from a legal/MPAA standpoint)
VPN or Seedbox. If you use public trackers from the US, or many other countries, use of a VPN and or Seedbox is strongly recommended. You could lose your internet access, or in rare cases be sued for copyright infringement by using public trackers. Some VPNs and Seedboxes will forward any ISP/MPAA letters they receive. Do some research and pick one that is piracy friendly, and does not keep logs.
Safety is much less of a concern on private trackers. The majority of users do not use either VPN nor Seedboxes with private trackers and ISP issues (other than exceeding bandwidth caps) are very rare.
Most private trackers allow VPN and Seedboxes for downloading. Many have rules against VPNs for browsing the site. Double check before you use one. Seriously, double check. Several of the top tier trackers will permanently disable your account for using a VPN or using a VPN incorrectly. (WCD, PTP, BTN, etc)
A seedbox gives you both increased security and higher speeds for maintaining ratio. Be careful of seedboxes that use shared IPs and double check your tracker's rules.
Seedbox comparison seedboxes/comments/3swnsg/indepth_comparison_tests_information_and_links/
VPN comparison chart https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJTvWT5RHFSYuEoFVpAeQjuQPU4BVzbOigT0xebxTOw/edit
How do I use private trackers safely (from a getting pwned standpoint)
Pick unique strong passwords, use 2FA where available. Run proper virus scanners etc.
See /trackers/comments/30xtk9/trackers_security_and_you/ and trackers/comments/4s4b7m/psa_ensure_your_passwords_are_unique/
My account at X tracker was deleted or disabled/I need to talk to tracker staff
If you broke a "serious" rule (ratio cheating, account selling/trading/etc) you are probably SOL.
Otherwise go to your tracker's IRC support channel.
/trackers/wiki/irc_support
or
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=private+tracker+irc - These IRC lists are maintained by various source and may be inaccurate. Some of them are maintained by invite trading forums. Take with a grain of salt, and don't join the trading forums.
Or the tracker's twitter http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2010/12/list-of-private-torrent-trackers.html
Is tracker X down?
https://ptp.btnstatus.info/ https://btnstatus.info/ https://www.whatstatus.info/
/trackers/comments/5119ic/is_your_tracker_down_ask_here_instead_of_making_a/?sort=new
What is the best way to stream content from my computer to my TV/Device
Plex or Kodi for most users.
https://plex.tv/
https://kodi.tv/
What is the best torrent client?
Most private trackers have a whitelist of allowed clients. deluge, qBittorrent, uTorrent, Transmission and rTorrent are fairly universally accepted. Some trackers have blacklisted more recent versions of uTorrent because they previously included some malware.
Using an unapproved client, or spoofing your client is generally against the rules, and considered cheating, and a ban-able offense.
Don't auto-update your client. Most private trackers manually white-list new versions after testing. If you upgrade early, you won't be able to download/seed anymore.
Why does tracker X have a bad reputation
There have been several incidents of tracker staff allegedly DDOSing other trackers, stealing peers, scamming users, selling invites to their own or other trackers, being pay-to-leech, and other actions frowned on by the community. Some people disregard the drama and are only interested in the content. Others think that these actions are poisoning the common well. YMMV.
/trackers/comments/1zfy9n/staff_of_ipt_td_and_tt_are_behind_the_recent_ddos/ /trackers/comments/419m0l/ipt_lottery_winners_scammed_again/ /trackers/comments/3z19oi/sporthdorg_is_a_scam_avoid_like_the_plague/ /trackers/comments/3w1lfw/is_hdsportbits_a_scam/ /trackers/comments/2slsfe/and_the_ipt_co_scams_just_keep_on_coming_the_3/ /trackers/comments/30t7us/evidence_of_matthers_trading_activites_and_ddos/?ref=search_posts
submitted by ToTV_Terebi to trackers [link] [comments]

2016.02.17 20:14 ToTV_Terebi /r/trackers Frequently Asked Questions

What is a tracker
A tracker is two things. for the purpose of this subreddit, trackers generally consist of both parts.
1) A website that indexes lists of torrent files to download. The actual payload (movie, application, whatever) is not hosted on these sites, merely an index of torrent files. The data is actually stored distributed across all of the users' computers who are seeding that content.
2) The software which coordinates different users' bittorrent clients to decide who should download/upload from whom.
There are public indexers (Pirate Bay (TPB), Kickass Torrents (KAT), etc) that anyone can use if they know the URL
There are also private or semi private trackers, where you need membership to access their files or communicate with the tracker protocol.
Much of the discussion in /trackers, and most of the content in this FAQ is about private trackers.
Give me an invite to X / How do I get started in private trackers?
No. Check /invites
or https://opentrackers.org/tag/application-signup/
or /trackers/comments/3vn9jw/open_signups_thread/?sort=new
or /trackers/wiki/getting_into_private_trackers
or /trackers/wiki/reddit_offers
or https://opentrackers.org/tag/limited-signup/
But I have superfast internet/seedbox, please please please?
Still no. Also, at many trackers large disk space (terabytes?) dedicated to long term seeding is more valued than speed. Private trackers are generally over-seeded,especially for new content. One more fast connection in the mix doesn't help a lot. Keeping a torrent alive years later does.
Get into one of the trackers that does applications or open invites. Build a good ratio and a reputation. Increase your user class. Then you will have access to recruitment forums to get into other trackers.
Can I buy/trade an invite to X/Should i use invite forums
No. Do not buy or trade invites. You will get caught. You will get banned from that and (possibly) all other trackers. You will lose your money.
Do not join tracker invite or trading forums. On many trackers merely being a member of any of the account trading and invite forums is a ban-able offense, even if you do not buy or trade any invites.
The notable exception is ThePirateSociety (TPS), which is largely considered a bittorrent community and not an invite forum. TPS members use their tracker usernames without risk of ban from trackers and the forum is generally allowed and respected. They do not have an invite offers section like other invite forums, but they do have recruitment threads run by tracker staff.
How do I get into the elite trackers/Which sites have recruitment threads for site X
The rules of this subreddit do not allow answering this question directly.
The general answer is that many trackers have invite and recruitment forums for their advanced user classes (Power User (PU) and Elite, etc). Don't confuse these forums with the public invite/trading forums which will get you banned.
Private tracker Invite forums are where other users can offer their extra invites to other members of that tracker.
Recruitment forums are run by other tracker staff generally offering unlimited invites to those that meet certain criteria.
So, you start out on entry level trackers, level up. Get invited to intermediate trackers. Level up. Get invited to more elite trackers. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Focus on enjoying the trackers that you are already a member of rather than just racing to the next tier. If you aren't actually interested in the content of a tracker, it is just going to be frustrating for you to meet their requirements and contribute. The tracker obviously is also not happy about being just a stepping stone for you. Also, for the most part you probably don't actually need the elite tracker (See the are higher tier trackers better question below)
Scene/0Day/General
A good scene or general tracker can serve 99% of your needs. A great majority of new content available from the specialized sites below is available from the scene and general trackers. Many of them are also relatively easy to get into with a number of them holding interviews or regular open applications.
Bb is the reddit community general tracker, but recruitment and invites are currently closed due to being at user cap.
TheGift (GFT), TorrentShack (TSH), PreToMe (PTM) - Ratioless.
DigitalHive (DH), TorrentLeech(TL), Alpha Ratio (AR) - Ratio.
There are many more trackers in this category. check the spreadsheets and flowcharts. If you are interested in automatically downloading tv and movies from these trackers, see which trackers are supported by Jackett to help you pick.
Many people will say iptorrents (IPT), or SceneTime (ST) but see the bottom section on reputation.
What is a good TV tracker
BroadcastTheNet (BTN) is the best. If you are asking this question, you probably can't get in. Invites are very rare. They do have limited recruitment at at least one top tier tracker.
Try MoreThanTv (MTV), Freshon (TvT), or TransmitTheNet (TTN) or BitMeTv (BMTV). Also most TV shows up on the 0-day scene trackers. BTN, and MTV are ratioless. Freshon, TTN, and BMTV have ratio requirements.
MTV is a strong but distant second place. It also carries a decent selection of movies and other content.
Freshon has ratio, but a lot of free and half leech to help maintain positive ratio. They offer upload credit for donations, but it is generally not needed.
TTN has ratio, but seasons are freeleech, and "cubits" earned from seeding can be used to "reduce download" and fix your ratio.
BMTV was considered one of the greats, but is hard to get into, and difficult to maintain ratio on (can donate for more ratio)
What is a good general movie tracker
PassThePopcorn (PTP) is widely considered the best general movie tracker. If you are just getting started, you can't get in. It used to be virtually impossible, but they have recently relaxed their recruitment rules so it is eventually obtainable. HDBits (HDB) is considered bettemore elite by some, but even more impossible to get into.
AwesomeHd (AHD), TehConnection (Tehc), BeyondHD (BHD) are very good alternates that are easier to get into. Realistically, any one of the 3 would serve 99.9% of your cinema needs.
There are many more movie trackers that specialize in certain formats or genres, see the spreadsheet or flowcharts below if you want something special.
AHD focuses exclusively on high def releases, and has a good amount of TV bluray encodes and remuxes as a bonus
Tehc is probably the easiest of the more popular movie trackers to get into, and has a good selection.
BHD is ratioless.
Generally almost all of the movie trackers are ratio sites, but most have bonus point or freeleech systems that make maintaining ratio easy if you try.
Many of the other movie trackers not specifically named are high quality trackers, but have more specialized audiences or are too hard to get into for someone new. Not naming them here is not intended as any slight, but for someone who is asking a basic question like this, naming those trackers probably wouldn't help them much
What is a good music tracker
Yes, it is. (Who's on first?)
What.CD (WCD) and Waffles are the two leaders.
WCD is generally considered "the" music tracker. Seriously, go take the WCD interview already. https://www.whatinterviewprep.com/ If your country is banned from the WCD interview, find a friend with an invite, or a recruitment thread, or see the spreadsheets for alternatives.
Many other music trackers exist and are specialized in particular genres. See the spreadsheets and flowchart.
For new, popular music, most of the scene/general trackers will have it.
What is a good ebook/audiobook tracker
Bibliotik (Bib) and MyAnonymous (MAM).
Bib is a lot harder to get into, and is harder to keep ratio on, but has a somewhat wider selection, especially of retail ebooks.
MAM has a much wider selection of audiobooks, and staff-picks are regularly set to freeleech to help with ratio.
WCD also has a good book/audiobook selection. Best sellers are often available from scene/general trackers.
Games
BlackCatGames (BCG) and GazelleGames (GGn) are both very good. BCG has a unique seed-points system that makes it effectively ratio-less if you seed for a few days. GGn has regular freeleech to help with ratio. Scene trackers generally carry games too.
UltimateGamerClub (UGC) is a newcomer to the gaming sites, and has open applications.
I'm looking for something rare/obscure/cult/VHS/fan-edits
Myspleen has a great selection of out of print, VHS, 80s, 90s, etc. They are also famous as the home of several Star Wars preservation projects and fan-edits. BluTorrents also has a fan project collection.
CG, KG, cinematic have a lot of cult, and art house movies.
Also PTP's and BTN's huge catalogs have a wide selection of older or more unusual content if you can get into them.
Porn
Empornium is probably the best. They have recently opened recruitment.
pussytorrents,Pornbits,pornbay,Deviloid
gay porn - /trackers/comments/2d4c05/where_do_the_gay_trackers_recruit/
Many scene/general trackers carry porn.
What is up with all these acronyms!
Some trackers have rules about writing their name in full to avoid attention. Others are just long and people are lazy and don't want to type them over and over. It also makes those in the know feel more important than those not in the know. Go google them, they all come up.
I need a tracker not mentioned above
Flowchart : https://i.imgur.com/NaagU4o.png
Flowchart 2 : https://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/9965875/L.png
Spreadsheet : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14A2ZYzIinFbL2aI1hsSwuQRT8rGhrj09K_bRUMQ2lsc/edit#gid=1145971129
Giant database : https://opentrackers.org/tracker-list/
Are private trackers better than public trackers
Depends on "better". They are much safer. They generally have higher quality releases and bigger back-catalog. They have community. If you make requests, they often will get filled. Speeds are generally quite fast.
They also have rules. If you can't contribute back by long term seeding, uploading, encoding or some other contribution - you may find it a struggle.
Are the high level trackers better than the entry level trackers
Yes. But maybe not in a way that matters to you. For US/English, mainstream, recent (last 10 years?) content every place has it, and has it in good quality. Sites such as AHD, Tehc, MTV, Bb (and many others), etc have excellent communities, and seriously can serve 99.9% of your needs in for their target specialty.
The elite trackers generally have a much wider selection of items, more encodes for a given item, etc. It is difficult to exaggerate how much bigger PTP and BTN are than their competition in terms of catalog. On the other hand if you are interested in what was on TV in the last week, and the latest blockbuster release, that extra selection is mostly dead-weight you won't miss.
See also the next question about Scene vs P2P
Are P2P/Internal/Remux releases better than the Scene release?
Yes. But maybe not enough to care. The quality of a good P2P/Internal is measurably better. But is the quality noticeably better? YMMV depending on your eyesight, your TV/computer, how far away you are, your lighting, your sound system, etc.
Realistically, unless someone did a really shit encode, most people probably cant tell the difference between the scene release and the P2P/Internal release. (which is not to say that there aren't groups that consistently do shit releases, for both scene and p2p/internal groups)
Most people can't tell the difference between 720 and 1080. Most people can't tell the difference between V2 and V0 and FLAC. For those that can, (or that pretend they can) they go to the higher-tier sites with more P2P and Internal releases.
Some people really do care about 100% transparency (in some cases even improvements OVER the bluray/wire). They are willing to wait, and they are willing to give up the bandwidth/space/ratio.
This probably matters more for movies, where people keep them around for long term repeat viewing and a small wait for a better version is not significant. Also, unless you are dealing with a CAM or Screener, the movie was out in theaters months ago, so the additional wait for better quality and the resultant additional risk of spoilers is minimal.
In the TV world, scene typically rules, because if you don't want the scene release, waiting might mean waiting for the Bluray to come out, or at least a day or two, and the show might get spoiled the next day at work/school. However, the first scene release is for some shows is of noticeably lower quality due to racing, and a P2P/Internal/Proper release will generally come out within a few hours/day that is better (Game of Thrones commonly has this issue)
Which sites have release X/Has release X come out yet/Which site gets content the fastest?
https://trace.corrupt-net.org/live.php
http://predb.me/
http://pre.c-burns.co.uk/p2ptrace.php
https://layer13.net/browse
How do I automate downloading TV/Movies/Music?
WARNING automation can seriously destroy your ratio and result in you losing your account. Make sure you have filters set up correctly, or do this only on ratioless sites.
TV - Sonarr is probably the most popular and feature rich. You may need to use Jackett with Sonarr depending on which trackers you are trying to use. Sickrage, Sickbeard, and flexget also work.
https://sonarr.tv https://github.com/Jackett/Jackett
Movies - Couchpotato is the usual answer, but it has some issues, and might possibly be a dead project. https://couchpota.to/
Music - Headphones https://github.com/rembo10/headphones but music not as heavily automated as TV/Movies
RSS - most torrent clients have RSS plugins that will work against many sites, but do not have as much hand-holding and logic built in as the tools above
Ratio-Building - For those on fast connections or with seedboxes trying to build buffer by racing the swarm, IRC based autodl-irssi scripts are the fastest, but are the most difficult to set up, and the most risk of screwing up your ratio.
How do I use trackers safely (from a legal/MPAA standpoint)
VPN or Seedbox. If you use public trackers from the US, or many other countries, use of a VPN and or Seedbox is strongly recommended. You could lose your internet access, or in rare cases be sued for copyright infringement by using public trackers. Some VPNs and Seedboxes will forward any ISP/MPAA letters they receive. Do some research and pick one that is piracy friendly, and does not keep logs.
Safety is much less of a concern on private trackers. The majority of users do not use either VPN nor Seedboxes with private trackers and ISP issues (other than exceeding bandwidth caps) are very rare.
Most private trackers allow VPN and Seedboxes for downloading. Many have rules against VPNs for browsing the site. Double check before you use one. Seriously, double check. Several of the top tier trackers will permanently disable your account for using a VPN or using a VPN incorrectly. (WCD, PTP, BTN, etc)
A seedbox gives you both increased security and higher speeds for maintaining ratio. Be careful of seedboxes that use shared IPs and double check your tracker's rules.
Seedbox comparison seedboxes/comments/3swnsg/indepth_comparison_tests_information_and_links/
VPN comparison chart https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FJTvWT5RHFSYuEoFVpAeQjuQPU4BVzbOigT0xebxTOw/edit
How do I use private trackers safely (from a getting pwned standpoint)
Pick unique strong passwords, use 2FA where available. Run proper virus scanners etc.
See /trackers/comments/30xtk9/trackers_security_and_you/ and trackers/comments/4s4b7m/psa_ensure_your_passwords_are_unique/
My account at X tracker was deleted or disabled/I need to talk to tracker staff
If you broke a "serious" rule (ratio cheating, account selling/trading/etc) you are probably SOL.
Otherwise go to your tracker's IRC support channel.
/trackers/wiki/irc_support
or
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=private+tracker+irc - These IRC lists are maintained by various source and may be inaccurate. Some of them are maintained by invite trading forums. Take with a grain of salt, and don't join the trading forums.
Or the tracker's twitter http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2010/12/list-of-private-torrent-trackers.html
Is tracker X down?
https://ptp.btnstatus.info/ https://btnstatus.info/ https://www.whatstatus.info/
/trackers/comments/3k8oiy/is_your_tracker_down_ask_here_instead_of_making_a/
What is the best way to stream content from my computer to my TV/Device
Plex or Kodi for most users.
https://plex.tv/
https://kodi.tv/
What is the best torrent client?
Most private trackers have a whitelist of allowed clients. deluge, qBittorrent, uTorrent, Transmission and rTorrent are fairly universally accepted. Some trackers have blacklisted more recent versions of uTorrent because they previously included some malware.
Using an unapproved client, or spoofing your client is generally against the rules, and considered cheating, and a ban-able offense.
Don't auto-update your client. Most private trackers manually white-list new versions after testing. If you upgrade early, you won't be able to download/seed anymore.
Why does tracker X have a bad reputation
There have been several incidents of tracker staff allegedly DDOSing other trackers, stealing peers, scamming users, selling invites to their own or other trackers, being pay-to-leech, and other actions frowned on by the community. Some people disregard the drama and are only interested in the content. Others think that these actions are poisoning the common well. YMMV.
/trackers/comments/1zfy9n/staff_of_ipt_td_and_tt_are_behind_the_recent_ddos/ /trackers/comments/419m0l/ipt_lottery_winners_scammed_again/ /trackers/comments/3z19oi/sporthdorg_is_a_scam_avoid_like_the_plague/ /trackers/comments/3w1lfw/is_hdsportbits_a_scam/ /trackers/comments/2slsfe/and_the_ipt_co_scams_just_keep_on_coming_the_3/ /trackers/comments/30t7us/evidence_of_matthers_trading_activites_and_ddos/?ref=search_posts
submitted by ToTV_Terebi to trackers [link] [comments]

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