If you’re tired of torrents and IRC, usenet is still IMO the best way to download. Get yourself a (US$10) subscription to Easynews.com and check out what you want to download at Newzbin.com and Vcdquality.com.
A little big about Par(ity) files and Easynews:
(00:14:35) Do you know what par(ity) files are?
snip
(00:15:18) Let me tell you a story…
(00:15:56) Spanning RARs are a problem because its easy to lose one out of a hundred then your files are useless.
(00:16:32) Using the theory of parity, by creating a special hash files, the lost files can be reconstructed.
(00:16:48) For example, if I have 99/100 RARs and 1 PAR, I can reconstruct whatever RAR is missing.
(00:17:07) It’s a 1-1 ratio so a 9MB PAR file can reconstruct 9MB of data
(00:17:43) Easynews lets you click on a PAR file and it will go out and find all the parts of the RAR archive and PAR files.
(00:18:19) Then you need a prog like this to reconstruct the archive (if it even needs it): http://www.quickpar.org.uk/
(00:18:46) If you search for anything, the PArs and RARS will come up. A quick way to see all the RARs, is to click on the Pars
(00:19:09) And if the RARs are all there, Easynews will unrar the archive for you and give you a direct download link.
SNIP
(00:20:28) Yah. If it doesn’t have an autounrar file, you have to ZIP up the RARS and do it yourself
SNIP
(00:20:48) You can even see the thumbs to check the quality
