Hey, here's a tutorial for new users on macs...


HOW TO DOWNLOAD:
First start by finding a torrent you like. Browse for bands, search them, etc. Find a thread with a specific band you like, and download the attached torrent link. Now download Bittorrent . Double click on the torrent file icon to start it. Once it shows up in the Bittorrent queue, click on it and then select the Start button. It will then show you the name of the torrent, the speed at which you're uploading (sending to other people) and downloading (what you're getting). It also has a progress bar which shows how much you've downloaded already. On the far left is an estimate of how long the download will take at the current speed. Once it's finished downloading, DON'T QUIT. Even though Bittorrent seeds (uploads to other people) while it's leeching (downloading for yourself), you almost never (unless you have an incredible connection and a huge file to download) upload at a 1:1 ratio (meaning for every byte you download, someone else downloads it as well). Having a 1:1 ratio or above means that you're giving back to the community what you take, or more. Once the files are downloaded, you can now listen/watch them. If they're audio files (Lossless), they've either got the extension .ape, .shn, or the most common, .flac. All 3 filetypes are compatible with xACT . Download xACT and select the files you want to decode. Then select the different options (WAV and AIFF are both compatible with iTunes) and decode. Depending on the length of the concert, the size of the files, and the speed of your machine, it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes to completely convert. Once you've done that, import to iTunes using drag and drop, or the import button under the file menu. If you don't want to go through that whole process, use Cog to play the files directly. If you're trying to watch a video, download VLC . VLC plays DVD discs, vobs and about every other file type as well. From there, select the file menu and choose what type of file you want to play. If you want to take a screenshot to show quality, hit Shift-Apple-3. A .png file will appear on the desktop entitled "Picture 1," there's your screenshot!

HOW TO FORWARD YOUR PORTS ON AN AIRPORT:
1. Open the Applications folder on your Macintosh HD
2. Scroll down and open up the Utilities folder
3. Open up the program called "Airport Admin Utility"
4. Select "Base Station"
5. Click the configure button
6. Click on the "Network" tab in the new window
7. Make sure the "Distribute IP addresses" box is checked
8. Select the "Share a single IP Address (Using DHCP and NAT) bubble
9. Select "Update"
10. Open System preferences
11. Select the "Network" option
12. Click on the AirPort tab (should have a green dot next to it)
13. Click configure
14. In the new window, select the TCP/IP tab
15. Select "Configure IPv4" and select the "Manually" option
16. Make sure the IP address reads 10.0.1.X, X representing a number between 1 and 254.
17. The router box should be 10.0.1.1, and the DNS server also 10.0.1.1
18. Click "Apply Now"
19. Go back to the Airport Admin Utility, and select the "Port Mapping" tab.
20. Click "add," and create new open ports with the public port reading 6881, IP reading 10.0.1.X (see above), and private port reading 6881.
21. Repeat step 20 for ports 6881-6889.
*all this taken from this site

HOW TO RIP AUDIO FILES (thanks AAR.oner):
1. Open xACT
2. Click the "util" tab & then select the "CD Extraction" radio button
3. Click the "Add" button, select all of the files on the disc, and click "add files" (the tracks will load into the file window)
4. Click "Execute" and let it do its thing
5. Once done, xACT will spit out an extraction log, which you'll want to save and include in your lossless file set (make sure all tracks ripped accurately by checking that each one reads "recorded succesfully" and had no errors)

HOW TO UPLOAD A TORRENT:
1. Insert CD into slot.
2. Use xACT to extract audio
5. Once you've got the raw AIFF/WAV files, name them to what you want (track 1, track 2, etc. doesn't distinguish a concert).
6. Convert them to FLAC Format using xACT (see above for where to get these apps).
7. Now, create an md5 for the whole package (.txt file, music files, etc. Use xACT to go from checksum>add files [select files]>select "traditional."
8. Include the md5 in the post/file you're uploading.
9. Open up Bittorrent and choose file>generate torrent, select the folder you want, and the Tracker URL (look at dime's homepage for this), it's everywhere on TTD
10. Let it generate the torrent file.
11. While it's generating, select "Upload torrent" from the menu at the top of the page.
12. Fill out all the pertinent information.
13. Select the torrent you want to upload. Let it upload, and post the torrent.
14. Click on the torrent in Bittorrent, and select "Start." It should say "Seeding Nonstop." Let it seed for however long you want (but at least long enough for someone else to get a copy, but longer=better).

NAMING TRACKS (thanks U2Lynne):
1. Open xACT and go to the util tab.
2. Drag all the files from disc one into the window. Leave the selection at batch rename.
3. Hit Execute. It will ask you for the prefix, for this show you would do something like "rush1994-05-04d01t" (I put d01 to denote disk 1, for the second disk, you would put d02, and the t for the track number because it will keep the numbers from in front of the names).
4. Hit OK. Then it will ask you about the period found, tell it to keep it as an extension. You will then end up with tracks named like this: rush1994-05-04d01t01.flac, rush1994-05-04d01t02.flac, rush1994-05-04d01t03.flac, etc. 5. Then, do the same thing for the second disk. xACT's batch rename is really simple!

DVD BURNING
This is a small tutorial for burning DVDs with Toast Titanium (there are other apps that'l do it, but this is by far the best)
1. Make sure you've got the VIDEO_TS folder on your desktop or somewhere on your home computer.
2. Insert your blank DVD.
3. Open up Toast, and select the "Video" tab at the top.
4. On the sidebar menu on the left, select "DVD from VIDEO_TS"
5. Drag the VIDEO_TS folder onto the toast window.
6. Unless it's for personal viewing, deselect all the compression/"Fit to DVD" schemes, just leave it as is.
7. Click the big red dot, and burn away!


If you've got any questions, PM me or reply back and I'll try to get to you as soon as possible. If it's something that isn't specific to you, I'll edit the above post to include it.

Happy downloading, calvin