With The Pirate Bay losing its previously ever-loyal crowd due to being sold out to the Global Gaming Factory, and possibly requesting certain users to pay for its operations, many users are now turning to alternative torrent trackers to fill their needs to file share.

Here are 6 of the best alternatives to Pirate Bay torrent downloads.

Mininova

Mininova is one of the most visited and most used torrent trackers on the web, formed after the split of SuprNova. Mininova tracks .torrent files from numerous websites across the web, including those that are private and commonly requires invites.

Mininova also has a large, dedicated base of users that consistently makes Mininova one of the higher quality moderated torrent trackers.  At the time of writing, Mininova had over 8.9 billion downloads – definitely credible.

isoHunt

Another extremely popular torrent tracker is isoHunt with over 1.3 Petabytes of data (1300TB) of files and over 1.6 million active torrents.  So you can be pretty sure you will find what you are looking for.

One good feature of isoHunt is that it updates all of its torrents seeders and leecher numbers hourly, unlike many other torrent trackers, which occasionally updates on a 6 hour or even daily basis, allowing users the ability to get accurate information consistently.

btJunkie

A lesser known torrent tracker, btJunkie is quite an effective alternative to more popular trackers. Boasting that it has over 3.6 million torrents and 80 million peers (seeders and leechers), certainly puts it up there with some of the top torrent trackers.

Similar to Mininova in that btJunkie also has a spider that automatically searches public and private trackers for the latest and greatest, makes it definitely worth checking out.

NowTorrents

Although NowTorrents is not a tracker, it is one of the best, if not the best, torrent search site. By searching over 14 popular torrent trackers, and allowing you to vary your searches based on the relevancy, number of seeders, number of leechers, seeder to leecher ratio, etc. really helps making finding torrents that much easier. NowTorrents even allows users to register for the site and change various preferences to your liking.

VerTor

VerTor is one of the best torrent search sites on the web, and that is not an exaggeration at all. The main feature that separates VerTor from any other torrent search engine though, is its ability to scan and verify all of it’s torrents and individual files.

Furthermore, when searching for a movie, for example, VerTor will automatically show you the different virus scanner results for the individual files and give you 9 screenshots throughout the movie as well as a 30 second audio preview for quality purposes, and can even tell you when there is a password protected archive file.

The only downside to VerTor is the number of torrents it has (around 650,000 at time of writing), but make no mistake VerTor almost always has at least 5 different versions of the latest kind of torrent, just not the variety you would get from a traditional torrent tracker. (VerTor has been previously covered on MUO here.)

(For more torrent search engines, see the MUO directory for the tag “torrent”.)

Is this the end of the famous Pirate Bay tracker? How long before Pirate Bay downloads are a thing of the past? What torrent tracker sites, or torrent search engines, do you use for your torrent sharing needs? Tell us in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Source: MakeUseOf.com

These days we all have places to go, people to see, and things to do. Life is just like that; we’re never in one place anymore!

As busy as we all are, and as much as we are always on the move, it ends up being a real pain trying to carry our laptops around with us. With our laptops, we need to make sure to bring our peripherals, including our power supplies, mouses, and possibly even our printers and such.

Today I want to share 4 methods of using a USB drive or an external hard drive to make your computing portable so that you can leave your laptop at home for once. This way, you can use any local computer you want, taking advantage of the convenience of just carrying your portable hard drive with you.

For each one of these methods, there have been previous posts written (both by myself and here on MakeUseOf) so I will link to them as I go.

(1)  File Syncing:

The first option is possibly the easiest option and is done with the least effort. The basic idea is to have a copy of your most needed files saved on a portable external hard drive. This is handy because any computer you end up using these days will have USB ports so you can gain access to your files.

You also want to make sure that all of the most recent changes to those files are with you. You can do this by “syncing” (or synchronizing) them.  Here on MakeUseOf, Shankar has written an article showing how easy the process can be. Just make sure that when you return to your computer, you sync the USB files and the originals on the computer. With all of your files a portable hard drive away, your important functions will be as portable as your portable drive is.

BUT, what about those programs you leave behind on your own PC?

(2) Portable Applications:

Portable applications (aka portable apps) are programs that you can install on an external hard drive to be run on almost any computer with a USB port. All parts of the program are typically located in one folder and therefore it is portable. This is very handy because you can find many useful programs (Aibek lists 100 Portable Apps in this post) that you can carry with you, feeling confident that all of your settings are staying the same. Now, any computer you come in contact with will have your favorite programs right there for your use.

Portable applications, along with your personal files synced, will make your computing experience virtually portable.  Check out a review of a cool suite containing many portable applications, including a standalone programs menu, called PortableApps Suite.

BUT, what if you enjoy having a consistent Operating System experience?

(3) Virtual Operating System:

Mojopac offers a solution you may like. It’s almost like Windows XP installed on your external hard drive.  This means that you can have your OS settings, programs, and files just the way you like running on any computer that has an external hard drive (and that runs XP but most if not many still do so it shouldn’t be much of an issue).

The programs installed in the Mojopac installation are all located on your portable hard drive so it enables true portability. I did a review but if you want cool screen shots and a video, check out the 4 Ways to Carry your PC on iPod or USB Thumbdrive that was published earlier on MakeUseOf.

What if a “virtual” OS isn’t good enough?  What if you want the safety and flexibility of actually booting from your portable hard drive?

(4) Operating Systems Which Are Boot-able From An External Hard Drive:

Another solution for making your computing portable is to install an operating system that can be booted straight from your thumb drive. There are several operating systems that you can use in such a case, one of which being Windows XP!

Basically if you can get a bootable live CD version, you can use an external portable hard drive instead of a CD!  Check out some of these links showing how: How to make your own Windows Live CD (check out this added help from Lifehacker), UNetbootin Creates USB-Bootable Linux the Easy Way.

There you have it, four methods for making your computing portable! Which of these do you typically use? Can you think of another method that doesn’t fit in these four categories? Let us know!

Image credit: Wheels00

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The grade level where children make the transition from math to algebra can be very easy for some students, but difficult and confusing for others. Math concepts that are centered on clearly defined numbers and with all “factors” within the problem typically defined, are usually fairly easy for most students to follow and understand.

However, algebra concepts insert “unknowns” into equations and formulas that can really throw many students for a loop. Solving an equation for a factor that appears to be on the “wrong side” of the equal sign can feel like a very strange and impossible premise for those students.

As usual, help is available on the Internet, and the following list are some of the best free algebra homework help websites that can make the process of learning algebra a whole lot easier.

MyAlgebra – A Free Algebra Problem Solver

A very simple and useful resource is the MyAlgebra online problem solver application.  While this isn’t the first place a student should go for help, because it simply provides the answer to the equation, it is an excellent website for students to check their work.

Students can work through their algebra problems, and when they’ve come up with a solution that they feel is correct, they can simply enter in the equation and click “Answer.” Of course, solving for equations isn’t the only thing the application can do – there is a long list of funcions in the drop-down list to choose from.

Obviously, the most common choice will be to “solve the equation,” and the nice thing about this online application is that it converts both the problem and the solution into the same sort of format that it would appear in the textbook.

Unfortunately, “show steps” isn’t really a legitimate option, as it takes you to a website for Bagatrix, where you can purchase Algebra solving software that provides step-by-step solutions. Regardless, as an answer-checker the free online app proves very useful.

Illuminations – Cool Algebra Activities and Lessons

Nothing is quite as frustrating for many students as trying to understand abstract concepts, and learning to do so by reading drab and boring textbooks that make you want to go to sleep. Luckily, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in the U.S. understands this problem and created a website called Illuminations that brings the subject (including algebra) to life for students.

The site includes high quality activities and lessons that cover all aspects of both math and algebra. Of all available free algebra homework help websites, this is definitely the one that’s the most fun and interesting. For lessons, you select grade levels and topics (one area is devoted to just algebra), and you get access to dozens of valuable lessons that teach important algebra concepts. However, my favorite part of the site is the “activities” area that offers some really high quality and valuable online applications that graphically show algebraic principles, such as this “pan balance” app that graphically displays what happens when you change different elements of equations.

Tutorvista – Free Lessons

While Tutorvista isn’t technically a free site, because the primary aim is to get parents to sign up their children for an online tutor, the website does offer an entire algebra help section with well formatted lessons that teach students about the many elements of algebra, from foundation principles all the way to the more advanced topics.

Of course, if you do need tutoring for your child, you can actually submit an assignment and for an average fee of $5, a tutor will actually send back the answer in a fully worked-out step-by-step solution. However, before you start dishing out your cash for any paid tutoring, make sure to check out the next free Algebra homework help website that actually does offer many tutoring services for free.

Algebra.com – Math Tutors Who Just Can’t Get Enough

Of course, the best place to get some free algebra tutoring is Algebra.com, an online community of mathematicians who are obsessed with the topic. You can turn their obsession into your child’s advantage by posting problems for the tutor community to answer. The website itself offers more lessons and information than probably any other algebra help website out there.

Just the algebra section includes pre-algebra, algebra I and algebra II – and of course there’s a quick and easy “Universal Simplifier and Solver” at the top that will either simplify or solve your algebra equations. At the top of the site, there’s a “Free Tutors” menu option that’ll take you to a section where you can either sign up to be a free tutor (a public service which gives you exposure for your tutoring business), or you can submit your own algebra questions to the tutors. There are almost a thousand active tutors – and the question/answer area is a huge community of fantastic tutors who are eager to help kids with their algebra problems.

Math.com – Interactive Algebra Help

Another valuable site filled with step-by-step instructions and lessons for students to learn the most important algebra concepts is Math.com. This site covers both the basics as well as advanced concepts under categories like “The Language of Algebra”, “Equations and Inequalities” and “Graphing Equations and Inequalities.”

The lessons at Math.com take students through an easy step-by-step “wizard,” and on each step there’s often a “show me” option students can click where the application offers examples or additional information that better explains a specific topic. It’s just like having a teacher available with instant answers to the typical questions that students often ask.

Drexel University  – The Math Forum

The Math Forum is a valuable public service offered by Drexel University that offers both students and teachers dozens of resources. Many of the resources are buried within internal links, but the Algebra Section alone offers classroom materials for teachers, Internet projects, public forums and even links to algebra software throughout the net.

The Math Forum is one of the largest math & algebra resources on the net, and if you can afford to donate it would be a valuable and worthy cause to contribute. Mathematics, and algebra in particular are critical skills for students to learn early on that can tremendously simplify their lives later on. Any free algebra homework help websites that exist on the Internet are very positive resources that should be promoted and applauded by everyone.

Do you know of any additional algebra resources for teachers, parents or students on the Internet? Share them in the comments section below.

Image credit: aussiegall

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Source: MakeUseOf.com