Bits and Pieces
Following up on an earlier post relating to torrent support at Sidepodcast, I figured it might make sense, having covered the reasons for using peer-to-peer technology, to also look at how it works from a user perspective.
Within the past couple of weeks, links to torrent files have been appearing all over this site. You’ll find them beside episode names within the archive pages, in the small panel to the right of audio shows and beneath the transport controls in videos.
In order to use these .torrent files, you’ll need some client software and recently we’ve been getting a lot of mileage out of Vuze. The software runs on Linux, Mac and Windows operating systems and it’s free to download from the homepage.
Once installed, you can click on any of the torrent links on this site and Vuze will download the associated episode, partly from our server but additionally pieces will come from any other user who’s also done the same.
You can track progress using the Download tab on the dashboard, and once complete the episode will play within the application. We’ve mostly been avoiding P2P software because until recently Vuze (formerly Azureus) was a bit geeky to work with, and to see just how geeky it used to be, try hitting the Advanced button. I’m sticking to simple windows for the time being.
Additionally, by using the integrated search bar, entering sidepodcast will bring up a list of audio and video that we’ve uploaded onto the Vuze network. It’ll take a very long time to get everything published though, so for the time being we recommend using the various links dotted around this site.
There are of course other torrent clients available, and if you know of any good ones please do let us know. Also if you use Vuze, tell us what you think of it and feel free to add us as a friend by looking up sidepodcast.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pmJoe said:
I think it’s awesome that you guys are using torrents, I use them a lot myself for music, F1 etc. Hell I just finished getting last year’s Chinese GP, I’ve gotten quite a few races in the last month particularly. I use uTorrent if you’re wondering, it’s always been great for me. Never used Vuze though.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:06 pmme said:
cheers joe. we must give that one a try too.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:20 pmAlex Andronov said:
I wonder if there’s anything in pushing different feeds than the combined Sidepodcast feed?
I mean I listen to everything. But I wonder if other people only listen to one kind of show but still download all of the feeds?
I will be torrenting tonight (and my computer is on 24hrs).
August 10th, 2008 at 6:38 pmme said:
we currently have an audio only feed, a video only feed, a combined feed and a transcript feed, listed here:
http://www.sidepodcast.com/feeds/
are you thinking we need more options than those, or do we need to do a better job of promoting that feed page?
very good to hear
August 10th, 2008 at 6:59 pmAlex Andronov said:
Well I don’t know. I don’t mind of course as it all works for me. I meant promotion really.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:10 pmme said:
cool, we can add feed promotion to the list
interestingly, despite the subscriber count almost doubling in a month, we’re not seeing a huge influx of new comments here. i guess itunes subscribers don’t necessarily equate to blog readers.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:22 pmlou said:
I found sidepodcast on Itunes and listened for ages without actually visiting the blog. I think it was only about a year ago that I started reading the blog, and then about January before I started commenting. So you’re right, itunes subscribers don’t necessarily mean blog readers.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:30 pmme said:
that sounds about right. any idea what finally made you check out the blog?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:35 pmAlex Andronov said:
I listened and checked out the blog all at the same time. But sidepodcast was my first podcast!
Now I listen to lots and lots - you were a gateway podcast
August 10th, 2008 at 8:20 pmlou said:
Erm it was during the 3 week break and it was then that I started to check websites searching for f1 news and I thought I would check out sidepodcast as I really enjoyed the podcasts. Another factor was probably that I didn’t have many friends to discuss f1 with so I went looking for a place to do just that. Also I think my review on Itunes was mentioned on the podcast which was totally unexpected and I think made me more inclined to visit the blog - I imagine mentioning random people’s fantasy racers teams or reading out their emails/ facebook comments/ discussions has the same effect.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:57 pmme said:
ah-ha, will keep that in mind, thanks you
August 14th, 2008 at 10:48 pmDave Monks said:
I think having prompt responses from the site admins makes a huge difference to the return business you guys get. There are plenty of sites I visit that I would never comment on (even with mustcommentmonday…) because it feels totally pointless. Active moderation/commenting leads to good quality posts and less flame/spam - and that, in turn, returns worthwhile disscussion.
Nothing beats having an active comments section to a blog. I often follow links through from my RSS feed to the comments on SPC to see what reaction people are having.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:40 pmme said:
ahh, good to hear. i wasn’t sure if anyone but us uses that facility.
we do need to improve the recent comments section of the sidebar though. 5 entries was fine at the beginning of the year, but it’s easy to lose track when several come in during a short period.