...more recent posts
Comcast throttles BitTorrent traffic and makes seeding (basically) impossible!
Unfortunately, these more aggressive throttling methods can’t be circumvented by simply enabling encryption in your BitTorrent client. It is reported that Comcast is using an application from Sandvine to throttle BitTorrent traffic. Sandvine breaks every (seed) connection with new peers after a few seconds if it’s not a Comcast user. This makes it virtually impossible to seed a file, especially in small swarms without any Comcast users. Some users report that they can still connect to a few peers, but most of the Comcast customers see a significant drop in their upload speed.
The throttling works like this: A few seconds after you connect to someone in the swarm the Sandvine application sends a peer reset message (RST flag) and the upload immediately stops. Most vulnerable are users in a relatively small swarm where you only have a couple of peers you can upload the file to. Only seeding seems to be prevented, most users are able to upload to others while the download is still going, but once the download is finished, the upload speed drops to 0. Some users also report a significant drop in their download speeds, but this seems to be less widespread. Worse on private trackers, likely that this is because of the smaller swarm size
DirecTV Moves to Put Net on Power Grid
Currently limited to The Metroplex(tm), also known as Dallas-Fort Worth. This gives DIRECTV a route to triple play (voice, video, data). Telephony can ride over the IP link (Voice over IP, aka VoIP). This helps counter the triple play offerings of cable and telco operators.
Surgically alters thumbs to better use iPhone
Editor's Note
SCO v. IBM and Novell: End of the line
A company created (out of the shell of a reputable company) to extract money from Linux users fails to monetize their litigation strategery.
Exorbitant award in Alcatel-Lucent MP3 patent case overturned -- US judge overturns $1.5 bn ruling against Microsoft
Wireless victory for tech industry
Google's battle for wireless spectrum -- Google is pushing the FCC to write rules for an upcoming auction to enforce openness.
Sex and Violence
* Japanese Porn Industry Embraces Blu-Ray Disc
* Sony Inks Exclusive Rockstar Deal for PlayStation 3
YouTube here on the iPhone and net neutrality. I have no opinion.
The 1080p60 LCD HDTVs with 120 Hz refresh rate that I saw in January at CES are starting to roll out. Sony's are going under the XBR4 and XBR5 designation.
"DVD Jon" Cracks iPhone Activation, Kinda
Microsoft's costly Xbox problem
Microsoft took a billion dollar charge to cover anticipated costs associated with extending the warranty to three years. Ouch.
james fallows, the atlantic
China Makes, The World Takes
Good News/Bad News for Sony
Blockbuster favors Blu-ray DVDs to HD DVD
GTA IV episodic content exclusive to 360, confirms Take-Two
Microsoft Unveils New Version Of IPTV Platform
Sony, Matsushita to launch Internet video-on-demand for flat TVs
Wintel become Macwintel?
Supposedly Time Warner Cable (RoadRunner) starts traffic shaping (at some times of day, in some markets, etc....) This is their response to the issue of a very small percentage of users who constantly utilize all their bandwidth (so, almost always BitTorrent clients or Newsgroup readers.) Those users (for those applications) will see their bandwidth being throttled. Attempts to get around this (by, say, running your BitTorrent client on a non-standard port, or encrypting the traffic) will be seen as a violation of the TOS.