Napster

[Neeranam]

I tried to join Napster but they said the country was not allowed. Does anyone know a way round this, or can someone lend me their password?

[Maigo6]

I tried to join Napster but they said the country was not allowed. Does anyone know a way round this, or can someone lend me their password?

I just tried to subscribe for the free trial also, from Japan.

It's only available in United States.

[Neeranam]

Well can someone in the States send me their password please.

Maigohok - what are you wearing on your head?

[Maigo6]

Well can someone in the States send me their password please.

Maigohok - what are you wearing on your head?

It's Bubbles, and the helmet he wears when driving his go-Kart round the trailer park.

[page449]

Well can someone in the States send me their password please.

Maigohok - what are you wearing on your head?

It's Bubbles, and the helmet he wears when driving his go-Kart round the trailer park.

Safety first, Bubbles.

[steveromagnino]

Well can someone in the States send me their password please.

Maigohok - what are you wearing on your head?

It's Bubbles, and the helmet he wears when driving his go-Kart round the trailer park.

Of course it is. Trailerpark boys is probably the funniest TV show I can think of out of north america, right up there with Mr Show and Family Guy.

Brilliant television :-)

[Crossy]

Have you tried using a US based proxy to disguise your location? You can bet Napster is using your IP address to determine your country.

Whilst this won't be illegal in Thailand (we're not bypassing a government block) it would contravene the usage terms of Napster.

[a2396]

Most of these other American based music download sites, such as Sony, are not accessable if you are in Thailand. They know your location by your ISP address, I suppose. I really don't understand the reasoning to block this. Like nobody will pirate their stuff, right?

[colino]

Bearshare is a good alternitive no problem being in thailand

[Neeranam]

I got a virus using bearshare

[colino]

I got a virus using bearshare

i have a virus checker running and so far no problems unlike utorrent wich seems to be full of mailware

[Upcountry]

Until commercial sites start offering music in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files instead of lossy MP3's, I suggest using a torrent app like uTorrent or Azureus and search for torrent .flac files of the music you want. It's not as easy as finding MP3's but there is a lot out there and it's better quality. You can easily convert FLAC to CD audio and vice versa.

Lossy MP3's are to CD's and FLAC, etc., as cassettes are to LP's. Would you have bought cassettes from iTunes just because that's all they offered?

Although "VHS" usually wins out over quality for most people, I think there is a good chance that the future will bring cheap storage and media (Blue Ray data capacity or more) that will make high-quality sound files easy to provide. Even CD's will seem like '78's to folks in a few years.

It's good that companies are dropping DRM. Since they are doing so, that's one less hurdle to providing FLAC versions of their products.

... and it sucks that Napster and others are filtering their customers by IP.

OP, Maybe a friend in the US can help you buy the digital music. They could then send it to you.

[Neeranam]

Well can someone in the States send me their password please.

Maigohok - what are you wearing on your head?

It's Bubbles, and the helmet he wears when driving his go-Kart round the trailer park.

Never heard of him.

[meadish_sweetball]

Some posts have been removed.

To clarify the rules: Discussing file sharing technology is fine, but discussing illegally obtained copyright material and where to get it is not allowed in the open forum.

Please respect this difference, or the topic will have to go. Thanks.

[Neeranam]

Looking at that utorrent thing but it's pretty hard to figure out what to do.

[Upcountry]

Looking at that utorrent thing but it's pretty hard to figure out what to do.

Hm, yes, it's not like searching in Kazaa, or whatever. Firewall/port issues would apply just as they do for any program that accesses the Internet with a port number.

If you do a web search for something like "torrent <whatever you seek> flac", you will hopefully get at least one good match. Once you download the .torrent file, you can open it in the torrent app, and the app should start downloading it if there any sources. Try to find .torrents that have active sources.

It's not as convenient as searching for mp3's in Kazaa, but, like I said, a flac file sounds much better than an mp3. If a CD audio file is turned into a FLAC file, it'll sound just as good (expanded on the fly like MP3, or converted back to AIFF). Higher bit-rate files (24 bit, 32 bit) can be saved in FLAC and played back as FLAC or re-expanded to AIFF, wav, etc..

I really hope that iTunes, Napster, etc., realize that people are more likely to want to spend money on higher quality non-DRM files. But then, I'd probably empty my wallet faster than I should!

Edited August 31, 2007 by Upcountry

[Crossy]

The latest version of the Opera browser (and others I suspect) will download torrents directly, although I think there may still be port forwarding issues. Just double click on the torrent file

[Upcountry]

Good point, Crossy, double click if Azureus or whatever app you're using is the default for that file type!

I had a private request for more info on FLAC, so here are a couple of good links about it:

Here's the best starting-place to learn about FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flac

Several apps that can use and that can convert to and from FLAC are mentioned.

Here's info about a high-end audio device that supports FLAC:

http://www.broadbandcarrier.net/helios_x5000.htm

also:

http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT4892149397.html

I think there's another server component device, but I can't find or think of it right now.

FLAC files are bigger than MP3's, but the biggest advantage is that it is "lossless", you can play FLAC files directly, or convert them to the original uncompressed state with no loss in quality. Excellent for archiving. FLAC takes more energy to convert, so it will probably be a while before it shows up in phones and thumb drives. You can always convert FLAC to mp3, which is what I often do when needed.

[Neeranam]

Good point, Crossy, double click if Azureus or whatever app you're using is the default for that file type!

I had a private request for more info on FLAC, so here are a couple of good links about it:

Here's the best starting-place to learn about FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flac

Several apps that can use and that can convert to and from FLAC are mentioned.

Here's info about a high-end audio device that supports FLAC:

http://www.broadbandcarrier.net/helios_x5000.htm

also:

http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT4892149397.html

I think there's another server component device, but I can't find or think of it right now.

FLAC files are bigger than MP3's, but the biggest advantage is that it is "lossless", you can play FLAC files directly, or convert them to the original uncompressed state with no loss in quality. Excellent for archiving. FLAC takes more energy to convert, so it will probably be a while before it shows up in phones and thumb drives. You can always convert FLAC to mp3, which is what I often do when needed.

UC, could you tell how you change your firewall please.

[Upcountry]

What firewall do you use? I'm not talking about the Windows "Firefall" thing, I'm talking about third-party software.

I use Zone Alarm.

Check 'dis out:

http://portforward.com/

Great source of info for firewall issues that pertain to P2P.

UC

[Neeranam]

I've got it to work and dowloaded heaps already using 'thepiratebay' - excellent - ch ch ch changes, time to face the strange ch ch changes

[Maigo6]

I've got it to work and dowloaded heaps already using 'thepiratebay' - excellent - ch ch ch changes, time to face the strange ch ch changes

That brings back memories, I bought Hunky Dory years ago, great album. Bewlay Brothers is a great track.