If anyone has been having a look at the comments section of the previous posts to this blog they will see that in amongst the comments about Celtic gubbing Newcastle United at the footie, there has been some mention of my hope to be able to post mp3s on the blog.
Unfortunately, this matter is still in the hands of my lawyers ( I can't believe the royalty cut Donny and Marie Osmond want before they will allow me to post their cowpunk version of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' onto the blog) but in the meantime I thought if I can't post mp3s of obscure music onto the blog, then the next best thing would be to post a link to mp3s of some obscure politics instead.
Those of you up with the 'Bit Torrent revolution will understand the following info - for the rest of you I apologise, I can't post an idiot's guide to what is a 'bit torrent', how to download a 'bit torrent' and how it all works, 'cos I'm a bonafide technoidiot myself and my name is already on the waiting list for an idiot's guide to all this myself. (Where's Magnus Pyke when you need him?)
'Why Socialism Is Still Relevant' - Centenary Meeting of the Socialist Party held on the 12th June this year in London, England. 'Martov and the Anti-Bolshevik Approach To Revolution' - A recording of an old meeting but which was part of an excellent series of meetings, 'Socialist Thinkers - People Who History Made', in which other figures from history under discussion included Karl Kautsky, William Morris, Bronterre O'Brien, Joseph Dietzgen and a couple of others.
Now *gulp* for the difficult bit. Contradicting my comments above, and for those people not yet up with all this 'Bit Torrent' shenanigans, an attempt at an idiot guide written by an idiot:
What is a 'Bit Torrent'? A bit torrent allows people and/or companies to upload a file (in everyday language, a film or album or ebook etc, etc)to the internet and rather than it being downloaded from a single web server, and thus increasing the bandwidth - and cost - for the person uploading the file, the download is shared between multiple file users, who are also downloading the same file at the same time.
Sorry if that sounds a bit garbled, we didn't do computer studies at school, we daydreamed through woodwork. For a nice diagram that gives you the gist of what I am wittering on about, click on the link.
The link above is a bit disingeneuous, cos it gives a PR speak impression of bit torrents being for the use of companies to best distribute their products on the internet. However, in reality, its just the bloke who conjured up the bit torrent covering his arse with a disclaimer; cos in reality most people use bit torrents to share and download films, music etc etc across the net without first having to first break a twenty pound note.
How Do I Get A 'Bit Torrent'? For those of you who have a desperate need to hear what sort of Public School accents abstract propagandists have, you will first have to download a bit torrent. These can get downloaded here.
OK, I've Got A 'Bit Torrent', What Next? As mentioned above the recordings of the meetings are available at Suprnova and Loki Torrent They are both listed in the miscellaneous sections of the websites. At Suprnova, after you go click on the miscellaneous section you have to go into the 'Other' section, where both talks are listed.
How Big Are These Files? 'Why Socialism Is Still Relevant' is 64mb in size, so with a good connection it should take forty minutes to download. The Martov meeting is 94mb in size and will take about an hour to download.
How Long Will These Files Be Uploaded For Download? I will try and keep them up as long as possible, but if and when Donny and Marie's lawyers see sense then obviously my priority will be to post to their classic reinterpretations. Therefore, those of you thinking: "Mmm, I will eventually download the socialist guff, but first I must download that Croat language version of Spiderman 2", then I must warn you that when you finally do complete that download (with a dial up connection, it should be finally downloaded around about the same time as the closing ceremony of the Olympics), then it may be the case that even Donny and Marie have exited stage left to be replaced by the 'Rab C. Nesbitt does Shakespeare' file.