Now I think I’ve given plenty of opportunities to show my gratitude to TPS in my various blog articles, and at this time there is no specific tracker that is deserves a special thank you above others, so I just wanted to offer a thank you to the man who started it all, Mr. Bram Cohen. First, a little backstory. A professor of mine once noted that human beings created language to share our stories, as we are social animals. Language led to the printing press, the sound recording and the motion picture. During the analog era, people would share such storytelling content by hand, and now in the digital era, such sharing continues, but by using computers and the internet. The Bittorrent technology that Mr. Cohen pioneered has revolutionized digital filesharing and is the only type of p2p sharing method I use.
Now being able to obtain content quickly and efficiently via Bittorrent is great, but it is the social interaction involved with Bittorrent which keeps me coming back for more. First off, there’s almost a transcendent experience when you are sharing a common file in a swarm, and you see the flags of peers from around the world in that swarm with you. I also enjoy going to the websites of my private trackers, leaving thanks and comments to the uploader, meeting other peers on the forums, and conversing on the IRC channel. Needless to say, the social interactions at TPS are amongst the best. I cherish my ability to meet, befriend and learn from some really bright and talented people. I am so thankful I discovered the Bittorrent experience.
I also wanted to share the Bittorrent moment most special for me. About 20 years ago, I saw something on TV which I enjoyed very much and for the next 20 years I had been searching for it. It is not commercially available anywhere, and I have not seen it broadcast on TV since I saw it. It was not on any public tracker, but after joining private trackers, I found a reference to where I could find it, so I joined that tracker and my 20 year search was over! Thank you, Mr. Cohen again for this find and for my ongoing Bittorrent adventures!