Filed under: Internet, Utilities, News
New software could make P2P downloads a whole lot faster
The software, called Similarity-Enhanced transfer works like BitTorrent, allowing users to download a file from multiple sources at the same time. But instead of looking for identical bits of information, the software looks for similar pieces.
In other words, if you're using BitTorrent to download a movie that's been dubbed into German, you'll probably only be downloading from German sources. But if you use Similarity-Enhanced transfer, you could download the video file from sources throughout the world, and just download the audio from German users. With more download sources to choose from, your download speed should be significantly enhanced.
[via Wired]
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Me said 8:55PM on 4-11-2007
So will this be a separate technology apart from BitTorrent? Or will the code be implemented into existing torrent clients?
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Kip HT said 9:09PM on 4-11-2007
Wow, so you mean that now I will be able to download faster than actually possible! Will my ISP allow that...
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Jumpfroggy said 4:38PM on 4-12-2007
This is just a technique, not a program. They made some software to test the theory, but from what they wrote it's not a standalone app that could replace current bittorrent clients. It's not supposed to either; they'd rather prove that the theory works and then incorporate it into existing clients. Think of it as a nice add on to existing protocols.
It's only a matter of time before the big clients integrate the code and theory into their protocols. This will make transfers faster (to some degree), but aside from that users probably wont notice.
"Wow, so you mean that now I will be able to download faster than actually possible! Will my ISP allow that..."
Can't tell if this is serious, but this software does not enable "downloads faster than actually possible". Basically think of it this way; say your internet connection can download at 600kb/s, but when you're downloading a specific file it's only going at 300kb/s because it can't find enough people to download from. If you had SET, you could find some other people sharing similar (but not identical) files and download from them too, so you're now downloading at 600kb/s. You'll never download more than your internet connection though, which is a separate issue from SET.
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