CatBot - Help

What is CatBot?
What is Peer to Peer?
How does Catbot Work?
Who is Catbot?
How do I Use Catbot?
How do I Install Catbot: Catpeer?
How can I tag content?
How can use Catbot to Publish Media?
How can I Download Torrents?

CatBot is an open source system for easy distribution of large files using peer-to-peer technology (p2p). A peer-to-peer system (aka file trading system) is a method of exchanging data that combines the networked, distributive power of each individual computer, to enable an interconnected mesh of network bandwidth. CatBot is also known as the South West Creative Archive (SWCA).

What is Peer to Peer?

A peer-to-peer system works differently to how media is currently streamed on the Internet; This is how media is streamed currently. Media files are broken in to smaller parts to distribute online. The host has to sent a complete copy of the file to each member of the audience, and once the bandwidth it has is exhausted then new audience members cannot see anything.

Click To Play

Whereas in peer-to-peer, each member of the audience gets a different bit of the media file and exchanges parts with each other, so meaning the host only needs to send out one copy. This reverses the traditional supply and demand idea so the greater the demand the greater the supply!

Click To Play

How does CatBot work?

CatBot is a peer-to-peer distribution system. It is structured like this:

CatPeer - This consists of a co-peer, installed on a computer within the same institution that can connect with the Swarm. This provides content for the Swarm and also retrieves content from the Swarm for users who have requested it. The users interact with the co-peer via this website and once registered, users (who belong to the participating institutions) will be able to publish torrents via this website.

CatAlogue - The website (CatBot.org) contains a catalogue of material that is on the system. This material is held on the co-peer and anyone can search the CatAlogue for content to then download onto their machine. This site (CatAlogue) hosts the torrent files of published material.

"The Swarm" is the term given to the larger community of p2p torrent users.

Who is CatBot?

CatBot is currently a collaborative project between FluffyLogic, Knowledge West, South West Screen, BMEX, Bristol University, Bath Spa University, the University of Gloucestershire and the University of the West of England.

Where can I find out more?

The project has released the following public reports of information:

SWCA_Phase1_Report.pdf - Outlines the project scope and the initial research into how it might work.
SWCA_Phase2_Report.pdf - Incorporates feedback on the project and adds additional research to shape the proposed system more fully.
catbot_technical design_v3.pdf - Is the first draft of the technical design for consultation. This will be subject to change.
CatBot_presentation_notes_160307.pdf - These are notes from the presentation at UWE on 16th March 2007.
CatBot_Test_results_v1.pdf - Test results from pre-Alpha CatBot with Bristol University.
Creative_Commons_licenses info-1.pdf - General information about the Creative Commons license.
creative_commons_factsheet.pdf - Creative Commons factsheet By Becky Hogge (University of the Arts London).
QuickMark_Final_Report_CatBot_Jan_2008.pdf - Quickmark final report
Appendix_1_Let_Music_Play_White_Paper_EFF.pdf - Quickmark appendix 1
Appendix_2_A_guide_to_lower_database_TCO.pdf - Quickmark appendix 2

How do I use CatBot?

It depends on who you are and what you are trying to do as to how you use CatBot;

I want to download a file... If you just wish to download a file, then you need to install a BitTorrent client. This software will allow you to use this website to download files. Once you have installed a client, you simply click on the download link of the file you want, the client will get the torrent file and the download will begin.

I want to distribute my institutions media files..For this you need to get involved in the CatBot project contact us! Once you are involved there are two stages to the process:

First you may wish to get your media content into a good state for distribution. There are lots of files and file formats, so we have created the CatConverter to convert video files into an easy to use format. See the CatConverter page for more information.
Then you will need to setup a CatPeer this is a computer at your institution to act as a server for the media files. See section: 'How to Install Catbot: Catpeer' for more information.

CatConverter

The CatConverter is a simple application for converting video files. You can find out more here

How to Install CatBot: CatPeer

This section tells you how to install the CatPeer component of the CatBot system. The CatPeer is the component that acts as a 'media server' for an institution; downloading files people within the institution have requested and sending files to people outside the institution they have requested.

Preparation

Before you install the CatPeer you will need a computer to run it from! The CatPeer software is not especially intensive and will run on the average PC, however, because the task the machine will then perform is akin to that of a server, when thinking about which computer you will use the following points should be considered:

It needs to be a PC running Windows 2000 or XP. (While the system runs in Java, and it will be possible to port it to other platforms, our work is currently focused on getting the system in place. The code is all open source, so please test/develop for other platforms as you see fit and let us know the outcomes!)
A quality motherboard and processor and network connection with a respectable amount of RAM; the more the better!
The PC needs to be left on; so an energy efficient unit with good fans and in a location with a stable temperature (preferably cool).
It needs to have a large hard-drive to store all the media/assets that will be shared and downloaded; the bigger and faster the better!
It needs to be networked; both into the LAN of your institution and to the Internet - so a good quality network card and preferably a wired connection (wireless is generally slower than a wired connection).
It needs to be accessible to the user/users over the LAN and any support people should be able to get into the room it is housed in.
It needs to have permissions/network access set to allow authorised users within the institution to copy files from it and place files onto it.
If the computer is frequently powered off and on, then it is not suitable to be a CatPeer. You need a machine (preferably a dedicated machine) where Azureus can run uninterrupted.
You will also need to start getting together the files you wish to share! If they are video files, we recommend using the CatConverter to get them into a common file format (see above).

For information on how to install the CatPeer, click here.

You may wish to run Azureus as a service, if you wish to do this see the guide.

Tagging Help Guide

Tagging is a way of users adding their own knowledge to the CatBot project. The site has a built in folksonomy system for collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content. You may see a film or listen to an audio piece and wish to add a genre or other key word/s that describe it. You may wish to tag a torrent as being material for a set course or featuring a certain artist. The CatBot cat-alogue allows you to add tags to any torrents on the site, regardless as to whether or not you are the publisher of the piece.

If you want to help by adding the folk to the folksonomy; Register as a user here. Then log in to the site:

To create a new tag

click on the 'tag this' link (to the right of the torrent title). Simply add the tag/s text, using a comma to denote separate tags, e.g. documentary, copyright, local film collective, open source video, linux

Note: it is helpful to use the same tag text where applicable. For this reason if you are typing something similar to an existing tag CatBot will give you the option using the existing tag, which you can just click on to add. Click 'ok' once you have finished to save the addition/s.

To see what torrents you have published or tagged click on my stuff. This lists all of the torrents that you have published or tagged.

To edit a tag (add, remove or edit the text)

Click on the 'edit tags' link (to the right of the torrent title). This will allow you to edit all of the tags in a text box as you wish. From there you can delete unwanted tags, add new tags or edit the text of an existing tag. Click 'ok' once you have finished to save any change/s.

Once you have finished, logout.

Publishing Help Guide

To publish media using the CatBot system, you must be member of a partner institution. You must also have your contact us.

If you want to help by adding the folk to the folksonomy; Register as a user here. Then log in to the site:

Once set up you will need to complete the following steps:

1.First consider what you want to publish. The CatBot system allows you to publish individual files or a collection of different file types bundled into one torrent. For example, you may wish to publish a single video file or a collection of video files with PDF notes. If you are going to publish video files, we suggest that you view the Log-in to your account and click on the 'publish' link at the top of the page. This will take you to the publish page.
1.Complete the publish form:
- Title - the name of the item, e.g. 'The Great Escape'
- Creator - the organisation or person who created the item.
- Format - Select the type of file you will be uploading (Video, Audio, Text, Software etc.) If you are uploading more than one file (it can be any mix of formats) then select 'Bundle'. If the file you wish to upload it not on this list, select 'Other' and please specify what the file format is.
- Publisher - Select the institution you are from.
- License - Choose the copyright license would you like to publish under. We recommend one of the creative commons licenses. See the Creative Commons General information and factsheets for further information.
- Description - Tell the potential audience a little about what you are uploading.
4.Once you have completed this form, click the 'OK' button. This will take you to the next screen where the file/s to be uploaded are specified.
4.Click 'browse', locate and select the file you wish to publish. Click 'Open'.
4.The browse menu will close and the path and filename will appear in the text box to the left of the 'Browse' button.
4.If this is correct, click the 'Upload file'. This will add the file to the torrent you are creating and appear in the list.
4.Add and remove files until all the files you wish to have in this torrent are listed. (remove files using the 'Remove File' link to the right of the file/s you have added.)
4.Click the 'Publish Torrent' link, this will publish the files on your local cat-peer and the torrent on the CatBot.org website!

Once you have finished, logout.

How to Download Torrents

This page will show users how to download files from the CatBot website. Note: If you are within one of the universities running the catbot system then you don't need to read this page, as there is an easier way for you to download a torrent, click here

A torrent file is a sign-post to larger file, much in the same way that a website address is a sign-post to the webpages held on that website. To view a website you need a program that understands the language of websites, such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, which by understanding languages such as 'http' and 'HTML', are able to turn raw website data into the understandable text you see.

So to use a torrent file (of the sort that are cataloged here) you need a torrent client that will load the 'torrent' file, much as a web-browser will use a website address to load a website. There are lots of different torrent clients available, but we recommend that you start with one of the more simple, easy to use ones; BitTorrent.

To install BitTorrent

Go to the website bittorrent.com and click on the link for your computer (Windows, Mac, Linux etc.)
Download and run the executable file and follow the instructions to install it.
Your computer should now understand what it needs to do with a torrent file - run it in the Bittorrent client you have just installed! (If not see here)

If you don't wish to use Bittorrent as your client, then you might like to try the following help guides for other clients