“When they invent the transporter on Star Trek, then the Internet will be a real threat.” Jerry Storch

I had planned a lot of important posts for this week and then I got sick and now it is Friday. So in honor of the end of the work week I felt a fun post was better than the usual so here we go.

Now I have written before of geeky things being posted on the net because I believe if you understand the geeks of the planet you will understand why technology is the way it is. So to proceed, if Monty Python is the North pole of the geek world then Star Trek must be the South pole. Star Trek for many is the reason they got into computers or at least pursued it in some manner. For years watching the old glorious series was a pain that involved purchasing a huge library of videos. In fact , growing up, a friend of mine Josh owned all the episodes on VHS that took up fully half of his room. Even on DVD it is an investment and a storage issue but thankfully another problem has been solved. CBS just uploaded the entire original series to YouTube. There are full length commercials but this isn’t too bad. The quality is not HQ but it is acceptable. I do like the added feature if you want to keep it small to dim the brightness of the usually way too bright YouTube page. I know I have talked many times about TV on the net but this is increasingly how people are watching TV. So on this Friday take a small adventure into space during your lunch break.
I have to say it Live long and prosper.

Since I am doing a frivolous post I might as well finish it off with the theme to Friday the 13th.

	Henry Mancini - Friday The 13th Theme
	Found at skreemr.com

"Men, I want you just thinking of one word all season. One word and one word only: Super Bowl." Bill Peterson

I love the internet! The reason is simple. I do not have to watch football. Yes I can skip all the fanfare of people playing catch and get to the real reason to tune in. Of course the commercials. Now before I get angry emails let me say I have a short attention span and commercials are just the right length while the actual game that many people watch the Superbowl for is a bit too lengthy. In the past you have been able to watch some of the commercials at one site and then some at another but this year it has all boiled down to HULU. Just click the site and watch away. The only issue I find a bit strange is that the commercials are all sponsored by other 5 second commercials but this is our new world. It is some strange twilight zone when commercials have to pay for other commercials to be watched. Anyway enjoy them if you like or if you would like to rewatch the highlights of the game click here.

“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” Abraham Lincoln

On January 20th two things will happen our new president will be inaugurated and I will be freezing in DC. Many people who are at work, school, or just don’t have TV have asked me where they can watch the inauguration. To this point I have put together a list of sites and places where you can watch it. Also I will try to do a bit of live blogging from the National Mall. If I have time and inclination I will put up some photos from the action on the ground. Did I mention freezing? On to the list.

All the major channels will stream it live.

• CNN
• MSNBC
• ABC
• C-Span
• Hulu. This one is also embeddable for any site or blog.
  

Also some Starbucks coffee houses will have it on. My personal favorite so far is the movie theater. The idea of watching it on a giant screen with popcorn. It is after all political history but also political theater. The tickets are free but first come first serve. They are being shown at Providence Place Mall Cinema. That is all the info I could get without signing up.

NPR will be streaming so you can get that radio by the fireside in a darkened room sort of deal going (during the day).

Finally to put this all in perspective give this site a chance for some great histiry. They have Kennedy's and Reagan's inaugural. Really fascinating stuff.

Hope this helps.
Note: The photo is of Lincoln’s first inauguration.

"Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other." Ann Landers

It seemed to sneak up on us. The world of the one time event is gone. I mean the idea of sitting down to watch something on TV because they will only be playing it once is gone. The other day a friend and I were playing Halo and decided not to stop for some major news event both of us wanted to watch. We both came to the simple conclusion it will be online in about an hour or less. The idea of a video or image not online seems improbable to a growing segment of our society. Middle schoolers now are perplexed when they can’t find something online. Everything is online or so it seems. Websites like Hulu have made this sort of thinking true. Hulu is an amalgamation of many different TV channels and shows. You can watch almost anything you like in good quality and with fewer commercials than TV. It is easy to use and can be made to be full screen. The amount of good shows is staggering. Hulu is good on its own but with YouTube that has gone both widescreen and high quality plus they have just finished a contract with the some of the movie companies to show films through their service the world of recorded video is enormous. Much of the time I turn to the computer for video or shows before I go to the television. I recommend giving both of these services a try and see what conclusions you come to. Is this the true new world of video and information on demand?

“What bothers me about TV is that it tends to take our minds off our minds.” Robert Orben

During a class the other day I mentioned that I watch most of my TV online. A student asked the simple question why? My reasons are many. To begin with I can find almost anything I want online which means I get to choose the time and place of my viewing. Also I have found I have to ingest less ads when I am watching the show on my computer. As an example when I watch the daily show online I only see 4 commercials during the entire show compared to 3-4 per commercial break. My main complaint with the ads is they are so short that there isn’t any time to run to the fridge or bathroom. As little as two years ago I would have said do not bother with watching TV online. It just was not worth it. I should say that not all stations make it easy. CBS, I find, makes me work to find what I want to see but for the most part I look for a site and then I am done. Also with the introduction of sites like Hulu ,that aggregate all the shows to one place, I never have to search long. It only makes sense. Now some may argue that you are limited to a small screen but it is a simple matter of an adapter if you want to hook up computer to your giant television. I prefer the smallness of a computer screen and only look for giant screens when playing video games. If you happen to miss your show give the online option a try.

“Television is called a medium because anything good on it is rare” Fred Allen

The picture you see is of a TV that is two years older then I am (35 Years). This TV lives at my father’s house where he changes the channels using a pair of pliers and has to adjust the rabbit ears plus tin foil contraption used to get a signal. Amazingly he still gets great reception with it. The problem here is the date Feb. 17, 2009. Once we pass this fated day analog reception and broadcast TV will die and be replaced with a digital signal. This means for my father to still be able use this ancient television he must get a digital convertor for this TV. Thankfully he can get a coupon from the Digital TV Transition and public safety site. The US government has put aside money for all those that need these convertor boxes. You can either click the link on the right side of the site, which was down when I clicked it, or call the phone number. Once you get the coupon you can head to most electronic resellers and get the convertor box at quite a discount. Now there is potentially good news and bad news here. With the new box installed you will not have to try to watch a TV show through snow or white noise. If it can pick up a signal it comes in perfectly. The downside is that if the signal is not perfect it will reject it and you get nothing. According to what I have read it is mostly going to be good for the TV watcher. If you are not using bunny ears or antennas for your signal then most likely you do not need the convertor. If you have an older set you have two choices get a new one or get a convertor. I am of the mind that if it aint broke don’t buy a new one try the convertor first. If given a choice of watching what is on TV (American Idol) today or doing something else (surfing the net, read a book, anything) I will take the latter.

“In automobile terms, the child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.” Benjamin Spock

Recently a friend told me about a series that was missed on my radar. Apparently Frontline the PBS series has done a several part investigative series called Growing up Online. I have read many sites that promote it as a way to teach children about online safety. I believe this view is a bit skewed. Kids are learning about internet safety as part of the curriculum and they are being taught it earlier and earlier. So who is this for? The parents seem to be the easy answer. Parents should watch this and take notes. Unfortunately the series does not stress strategies but focuses on stories and different ways families have dealt with it. When it comes to the internet I choose to view it just like a car given to a teen. You teach them and try to influence them with good decisions but at a certain point they are going to get behind the wheel. You have to hope you have instilled wisdom and intelligence. As you watch this series you see the way parents who are so watchful for something to happen drive their children away and you also see the parents who do not realize there is a concern and what are the results. When I watched it I came away with one overall message. These children who grow up online are not victims put participants in an online world. Ask a kid what they do when they get an unsolicited friend request. They know how to handle that situation. The problem for them is in knowing when what they are doing has crossed a line. Watch the entire series from their site. It is cut into 6 digestible chunks. This is not a give it a try situation. It is more must situation. Become smartly informed instead of scared by nightly news media broadcasts. The internet is part their world in the same way a phone or eventually a car will be. Ignoring this is a disaster. Talk to your kids and be smarter for watching this!

A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

When I teach eBay classes I get very worried looks when I bring up the words credit cards online. There is a real hypocrisy when it comes to us using credit cards online versus anywhere else and I am just as guilty. The question I always ask is “Do you use your card at a restaurant?” Most people would say yes. We will give a complete stranger a key to our finances without thinking of it but we hem and haw when it comes to a secure database online. I argue that it is far safer to use it online (with caution) than in regular life. To support this I say it is easier to grab your numbers or steal your cards than it is to hack something online. Now I understand there is hacking online and some places do have problems but not to the extent that theft is there in real life. The news show 60 Minutes did a segment just recently on credit card leaks at stores. The y showed the unfortunate ease of grabbing your numbers. This means when you use your card at your favorite store, and you feel safe because it never leaves your sight, your numbers are actually flying through the air to a router and a server. Some stores have not made this secure and your info can be easily captured as we all saw when Marshals stores had been in the news. Now should you be scared all the time? I would say a decent bit of paranoia is OK but I would not build the bunker yet. Take precautions like contacting your CC company and asking them what they have in place to guard against problems. Now that I am armed with info like the 60 minutes spot and reading online I am becoming more of online shopper than ever before. I have written on this blog about some of the pitfalls like phishing and bad sellers but these are minor in comparison to the problem with the stores. So for the time being I may pay in cash in person and save my Credit Card for the virtual stores.

Alright fine I will still use my card at restaurants as well.

“You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.” M. Scott Peck

As we head into the great and wonderful Holiday week that is Thanksgiving I would like to highlight some sites that have no real redeeming educational value or help to you (may not be true) because why should it all be good for you. I mean sometimes you have to go for the sweets rather that the veggies.

When working I have always needed something else going on to truly concentrate. I usually use music but if I want something a bit different I turn to Listentoamovie. Many of us know certain movies by heart and it really doesn’t matter if you see what’s going on because you know it so well. That is what this Listentoamovie believes. This site has a huge list of movies and TV shows to choose from. All you do is choose a film or show and then click the launch audioplayer button. A small window will pop up looking like an old fashioned tuner. It has all the standard features like pause, play, and volume control. I have to say the most inventive feature is stealth. By clicking stealth it masks the player with a window that resembles Excel. The vast majority of people reading this are single taskers but for the minority of true multitaskers Listentoamovie is perfect for you. Give it a try.

“I steal from every movie ever made.” Quentin Tarantino

Sometimes I am teaching at a location that does not have an internet connection and I need to show an example of something from Youtube. Now obviously because it is streaming video (think water from a fountain, shut off the water and no more fountain) I need the connection to view it. This is not 100% true. You could download it and save it for the time when you need it. Youtube does not endorse downloads or provide a button to do so. However a site called Online FLV Converter has sprung up. Before this site I would have to use at least to 3 programs to accomplish my goal. Now all I do is go to the specific Youtube video I want and copy the URL (address) and then head to OFC. Once there I paste in the URL. I then have to choose the format I want. I personally like .mov but .wmv is easy to play as well. I also love the mp3 choice if I just need the audio to a speech or something like it. The hit convert and download. It may take several minutes depending on the length. Finally a button will appear that says download. Click it and choose where you want to store it. Now I do not endorse using this for illegal purposes. I would use this only for educational purposes and when you are done you should delete the file. That being said give it a try.

“Very few of us are what we seem.” Agatha Christie

There are many out there who enjoy a good fictional crime novel or murder mystery and then there are others who want the true life story. Crime Library is a site created by Court TV that satisfies that interest. Now I have to say I have never sought out this information but I had to mention a site that seems to have all the details you would ever want on this subject. It ranges from serial killers to spies. In each category there are countless articles to go through and even if you do go through them all, there is a notify me of new stories feature at the bottom. The interactive stories allow you to play detective and sort through all the details. The only downside is that there are a lot of ads for the TV channel. Give it a try but don't be surprised if you keep checking behind yourself.

TUNE OUT, TURN OFF, ZONE OUT

Every time I turn on my television I find nothing to watch. Either my timing is bad or what I am looking for is a repeat. More and more people are watching news, sitcoms, cartoons online first. Some channels like ABC and Britian's Channel 4 are showing the shows on the net first if not simultaneously. The problem I have had is that I need a list to choose from so that I don’t just surf through pages that offer little or no watchable content. Streamick is one site that does just that. It provides video feeds from ABC, ESPN, NBC, BBC, Cartoon Network and many more. They are grouped into convenient and logical categories. So it is easy to go through and find your show. So turn off the tube and surf the net for your shows instead.