The Scene R3ader supplied us with a partial glossary of terms, just in case today’s Emping post needed any clarification.
Buffer: The quantified value for the difference between your uploads and your downloads — the calculation of which (megabytes up/megabytes down) determines your ratio.
The Cycle: Downloading the FLAC, 320, V0, and V2 rips of a new popular album on a tracker-based Web site for the betterment of one’s ratio.
Dupe: A duplicate upload of an already existing torrent on a tracker-based Web site.
Emp: An MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 file, commonly referred to as an Mp3. Also used as a verb, meaning to download Mp3s.
Lossy: When any audio source is compressed and audio quality is compromised for the sake of file size (Mp3s are inherently lossy). Note that FLACs — Free Lossless Audio Codecs — are lossless.
Mediashare: An inferior way to emp, i.e. the Peter Lynch Way. Also known as “Blog Emping” or “Sordo-ing.” Akin to having sex without a condom (while on the John). Mediashare links open you up to the risk of mutt rips and improperly-tagged emps.
Proper Rip: When an album is converted into Mp3 format using established ripping methods. Usually includes log and cue files to verify a quality conversion.
The Queue: The list of Mp3 albums set to download in your bittorent queue or bookmarks of torrents on the private tracker Web site.
Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (pictured): Hardly inexpensive, a RAID solution secures your data better than a disk drive. Basically, data is stored and replicated, so if one drive shits the bed, the data remains stored, safe, and accessible on the other drives.
Remote-Desktop (verb): To access your home computer/emping rig while away. This complement to the art of emping has been made somewhat obsolete with the advent of RSS emping (please purchase The Scene R3ader for a full article, “RSS EMPING: A Maiden Voyage into the Belly of the Scene”).
The Scene: is a loosely-associated and nonhierarchical group of content piraters, who follow rigid rules for releasing and managing said booty. When you acquire a Scene release — that is, if you download an Mp3 folder that was ripped by The Scene — you can be assured of the pristine quality of the files.
Seedbox: A private dedicated server used for the uploading and downloading of emps. By definition, a seedbox can be hosted on any network, but it is most effective when hosted at a location with a 100Mbit connection for maximum upload and download speed, so as stay ahead of the swarm.
Tranny: Short for transcode, which is when Mp3s are converted from lossy files to higher quality lossy files. It’s the equivalent of forging a painting, and accomplishes nothing but fooling your brain into thinking you have a hi-quality rip. Your ears will not be fooled. We cannot vouch for the relationship between your brain and your ears. Some people can easily tell if they are listening to garbage, whereas others gladly and sometimes unknowingly subject themselves to 128 kbps audio on a daily basis. May the Lord have mercy on your ear drums and those you live with if you are one of these people.