Streaming vs. progressive download : Understanding the difference

One of the most frequently asked questions about delivering video online is – “What’s the difference between streaming video and progressive download?” As a user clicking a video link on a website, you will not often know which delivery method is being used, unless you do some poking around. Although the end result may look the same to the end user, streaming and progressive download are very different delivery methods, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Here we will take a look at the two delivery methods and help you to decide which will work best for you.

Delivering a file via HTTP:

• Delivery of a file over HTTP is normally referred to as ‘progressive download’ or ‘http streaming’.
•  In reality, it is not streaming at all but a very simple bulk download of a video file to the end user’s computer.
•  A temporary copy of the video file is then stored on the local computer so that the viewer can watch the file over and over without having to download the file each time.

• Let’s assume you have a video file encoded at 500kbps.
•  The server delivering the file does not know or care that your video file is encoded at 500kbps; 
• it simply pushes data to the host machine as quickly as it can. This can sometimes give the illusion that the file is being streamed because playback can start as soon as enough of the file is available on the local machine.
•  This obviously restricts the users from skipping to parts of the file that have not yet been downloaded.

If the bandwidth available to the machine downloading the file is smaller than the encoded bit-rate there may be a wait before the file will start to play. For example, on a 56kbps dial-up modem, trying to play a file that is encoded at 500kbps you may have to wait a fairly long time before enough of the file has been downloaded for it to start playing. On a 500kbps internet connect, or faster, playback should start almost immediately and the file should download faster than it will play, meaning that playback will not have to stop because not enough data has been downloaded.

HTTP(Hypertext transport protocol) operates over TCP(Transport control protocol) which controls the actual transport of the packets over the network. TCP is optimized for guarantee of delivery, regardless of file format or size. If a packet is skipped during the transfer of a file, it will request a resend of that packet. Resend requests take time and bandwidth and could increase the load on the server. TCP is not designed for efficient real time delivery or careful bandwidth control, but for accurate and reliable delivery of every bit.

Delivering from a streaming server:

Effectively, a streaming server is a piece of software which deals with video requests. Unlike a standard web server delivering a video file over HTTP (progressive download), a streaming server opens a conversation with the local machine. There are two sides to this conversation, one is for transferring the video and the other is for control messages between the media player and the server. These control messages include commands such as ‘play’, ‘pause’, ‘stop’ and ‘seek’.

If you have a 56kbps connection, you will not be able to receive a stream encoded at 500kbps; you will have to settle for a lower quality video encoded for 56kbps connections. Streaming does however have many advantages.

1. You can begin video playback at any point of the video, or skip through the video as you see fit. This is very convenient for users.

2. It makes a lot more efficient use of bandwidth as you are only using bandwidth for part of the video that are actually watched as opposed to HTTP delivery where the whole file gets delivered.

3. The video file is not stored on the viewer’s computer – the video data is played and then discarded by the media player. This lets you maintain more control over your content.

Streaming servers use a specific set of protocols to deliver streams, such as RTSP(Real time streaming protocol), RTMP(Real time messaging protocol) and MMS(Microsoft media services). These protocols are all more suited to delivering video streams because they are more focussed with continuous delivery than they are with 100% accuracy. Unlike TCP, they do not send resend requests for missing packets but instead continue with the rest of the video file. The idea is that it is better to have a momentary glitch in audio or video than for the playback to stop altogether and wait for the missing data.

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"Girl killed herself" Facebook scam - be aware before you Share!

You know the saying about buses - you don't see one for ages, then three come along at once.

Facebook scams and hoaxes are a bit like that, except for the "you don't see one for ages" part.

But, judging by the most popular articles on Naked Security over the past couple of weeks, large-scale hoaxes and scams do sometimes come in threes.

A perfecta of long-running Facebook falsehoods has topped the charts recently.

Firstly, it was Talking Angela, the chat bot cat that was accused of all sorts ofdubious behavior - including behavior that isn't programmed into the software, couldn't have happened, yet was widely and regularly reported by people claiming "I saw it with my own eyes."

Secondly, it was the annual "Facebook will close from 29-31 February" hoax, circulated presumably as a joke but apparently taken seriously by some.

Now, it's the venerable "Girl killed herself video" bait-and-switch scam, already in its fifth year, that is making a reappearance.

→ Hoaxes and scams aren't the same, but they are similar in how they end up being shared over and over again. Generally, hoaxes are bogus warnings that spread because people forward them on the assumption that it's better to be safe than sorry. Scams are bogus links that spread because people forward them in return for some illusory benefit, such as access to an intriguing-sounding video.

We've written about the "Girl killed herself" video before, right back to 2010.

There are numerous variations on the theme, but the premise is often that a teenager committed suicide in shame after being caught out, perhaps by her own father, in some sort of inappropriate online activity.

There's a video, and you're invited to watch.

Here's how this sort of scam plays out, based on one of the versions circulating right now:

1. One of your friends Shares a link along the lines of "Girl killed herself live on cam."

2. It comes from a friend, so you click the link and arrive at a page that doesn't overtly claim to be affiliated with Facebook, but nevertheless uses visual clues to make it look more official than it is.

3. You're invited to Like the publisher's Facebook page, a request that seems routine and harmless enough:

4. If you take a look, the publisher's page was recently created and might best be described as uninspired and uninspiring, but it seems harmless enough, perhaps leading you into a false sense of safety. (Banality is a surprisingly good cover for scammers, when you think about it.)

5. You can skip past the Like popup, but before you watch the video, you are forced to Share it:

 6. And once you have shared it, you need to answer some questions as a sort of CAPTCHA - one of those tests to prove you're a person, in this case a person who's old enough to watch adult videos:

→ CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Procedure for Telling Computers and Humans Apart. CAPTCHAs are challenges that are meant to be reasonably easy for humans to work out, but tricky for computers to process accurately. Examples include reading fuzzy characters against a distracting background, or answering arithmetical questions written out longhand using words, not symbols.

Except that the questions to prove you are illegible are, in fact, pay-per-click surveys or special offer pages that clock up revenue for the scammers every time someone fills them in:

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Receive AdSense Payments using Wire Transfer in India

Being an Indian publisher we have to face the payments problems made by google as there are bad postal conditions and even after receiving that hard worked payment after 2 weeks in form of check we still have to deposit in the local branch to get the amount cleared in 4-5 days depending on the bank you have deposited it too. Well now earlier there were rumors that google will soon launch the another best possible method that EFT (Electronic Finds Transfer) that really fast and easy to be used.

What is EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) or Wire Transfer

Well now you might be thinking that what is exactly Wire Transfer and why you should actually OPT in for

this feature, well Wire Transfer means getting your payments directly into your bank account, so this saves you from the bank trip to drop your check and then allow it to clear.

Well now with Wire Transfer it won’t take much long as after your payment is released by Google you will receive your payment in your bank account within 2-3 days possibly and now you do not have to think about those postal problems.

Well you have to bear few changes for this service its like Rs.56 – Rs.110 for once transfer, well that really nominal as you are bypassing all those check problem’s for GOD’s SAKE :p so see below how to apply for this feature.

How to Apply for AdSense Wire Transfer Payment Mode

Well still you do not have have any visible option to shift to this awesome feature but there is a little workaround as mentioned on this official announcement, well you need to activate the Self-Hold option before 16th of March 2014 to show AdSense that you are interested in this feature and would surely like to opt in for this feature.

• Receive AdSense Payments using Wire Transfer in India
• How to Add Adsense Ad in the Middle of Blogger Post
• Requirements for becoming Premium AdSense Publisher
• Make your AdSense Ad Units Responsive for More Clicks
• Make AdSense Ads Load Faster with Asynchronous Loading
• How to Change Google AdSense Account's Payee Name Easily

Well as they have said they will make this feature as default in upcoming months, but still they are not forcing everyone to opt in for this feature, so if you are really interested for this ne then you can easily activate this for free.

1. Open AdSense Account.
2. Now navigate to your Account Settings.
3. Now under Payment Settings, click on edit Self-Hold.
4. Now you need to mark HOLD Payments option and then press on Apply button.

That’s it now you have successfully completed the steps that would activate your feature within in a week or so, but make sure you do this before 16th of March 2014 as that’s the last date for changing your payment mode.

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