The Google MP3 Directory Locater Technique

Now this is an absolutely brilliant, thoroughly unscrupulous bit of advice, courtesy of The SaltwaterPizza Blog.

To quote this most public spirited of blogs:

1. Go to Google.com.

2. Type in one of the following two phrases (try the first one; if you're not happy with the results, try the second one on your second search):

"index of/mp3" -playlist -html -lyrics
"index of/mp3" -playlist -html -lyrics

3. If you'd like, add an artist's name or song name to the end of the phrase, then click the Search Button.

Why this works:
All around the world, but particularly in the United States, students accumulate MP3s. Many of these students leave their collections in searchable directories on school networks. Once Google indexes these sites, they become accessible via Google's search results. If you don't believe this to be true, wait till the end of August (the time of year students traditionally return to school) and watch this method's success rate improve dramatically.

Of course, it isn't just students leaving their files unprotected. Many small (and surprisingly, sometimes large) businesses have 100s of MP3 directories available to the public. A word of warning: Once one of these sites begins getting lots and lots of hits via the web, the SysAdmin for the site will discover the security hole and remove access. So be quick! And again, only download legal content. ;-)