<p>as sad as it may seem, bittorrent is a big part of my life. i'd feel lost without it, which is why i want to avoid schools that block it.</p>
<p>and don't worry, this is not the only factor i'm taking into consideration! it's just the only factor that i can't seem to find much information about on the web.</p>
<p>so please share what school you go to, and whether you're allowed to use bittorrent or not. and please mention if bittorrent bandwidth is completely unmonitored, or just capped at x gb/day, completely blocked, or blocked with a workaround.</p>
<p>I doubt there's going to be many universities that "allow" bittorrent, but rather ones that don't strictly enforce the rule. Plus, there'll probably be a DC++ hub wherever you go, and many students prefer that since it's within the network and you won't get caught.</p>
<p>Schools will usually not specifically ban bittorrent, they'll just not allow you to upload over X amount in a month. I've never run into a download limit, but there may be one as well.</p>
<p>Somebody please take pity on a poor, unsophisticated, old person and explain what you are actually talking about -- please?
I'm gathering this is computer related, but that's about all I get.</p>
<p>of course in most cases it's illegal as you're dl'ing copyrighted materials, but vanderbilt doesn't restrict the network at all they seem to trust us quite well</p>
<p>simply put, bittorrent allows you to share files with other people. it's very controversial as it is mostly used to illegally download copyrighted material, but it also has many legal uses. i personally use it to send large files (such as vacation photos and things) to friends and family, and also to download things like ubuntu (a linux distribution) and other free, open-source software (like openoffice). there are also legal paid bittorrent downloads.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies everyone, keep 'em coming!</p>
<p>My sister goes to UVA and she uses Bittorrent every day. Technically, if you use too much bandwidth you get a warning but she has yet to get one.</p>
<p>WOW! Amazing. In the good old days, for we graybeards, you went to a library and did old fashioned research and pulled the books off the shelves and read them and did your papers that way. We mailed pictures to family and friends. We bought 8 tracks, cassettes or vinyl 33's. We had phones in our rooms that we used and got billed for. We had typewriters for our papers, which were supposed to be written in long hand first, but when cramming, we just typed as we thought...doing all nighters on caffeine and chocolate and popcorn. </p>
<p>I could write a PhD thesis on why the new information age has not improved society but made it worse. Gadgets, gizmos, and now facebook, the internet and bittorent. Cellphones and phone cameras. No privacy. Every city looks the same, has the same malls with the same stores and the same drug store chains and fast food restaurants and coffee houses. Nothing is unique anymore. Everything is in bits and bytes and downloading speed and bandwidth. Finding "research" is pushing buttons and googling, not doing legwork and reading in a LARGE undergraduate library. Globalization has lead to a complete loss of national identity. </p>
<p>I am sorry. But you guys don't know what you missed in the good old days. I know, the dinosaurs all perished. But its sad. Bittorent. People who can't live without Bittorent. Amazing.</p>
<p>And the greybeards before you probably made comments about how they never had TV, and were disgusted at how promiscuous kids were becoming in the 60's and 70's. That's just how the world is...</p>
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Finding "research" is pushing buttons and googling, not doing legwork and reading in a LARGE undergraduate library.
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<p>Yup, which is why Berkeley's 10-million volume library, Harvard's 15-million volume library, and Yale's 12-million volume library sit there gathering dust. Same for all the other university libraries.</p>
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People who can't live without Bittorent.
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<p>Most people don't use bittorrent. It has rising popularity, though.</p>
<p>I was at UIUC last year, and they had a strictly enforced bandwidth cap. You were allowed to use 750MB within the last 24 hours until they capped you down do something around 30kbps. This included all traffic, even just streaming videos off of Youtube. Currently, I'm at Olin now and I haven't run into any bandwidth cap. Bittorrent doesn't go as fast as it could, but I would guess that has to do with being behind a firewall and not being able to connect as easily to peers. DC++ hubs at schools are also really nice (and fast :D), but, depending on how big your school is, can be a little limited.</p>