Why I Stopped Worrying About Missing My Favorite TV Shows

12/14/2022 Update:  I had forgotten all about this blog. I got an email saying that this post was put behind a warning because it violated community guidelines, which seems fair I suppose given the questionable legality of the activity I described.  It only took 16 years for someone or a bot to flag it.  :)

OLD POST WITH OFFENDING CONTENT REDACTED:

I tell people that I sometimes miss an episode of a favorite TV show and turn to the net to download it and watch it. Invaluable for shows that have an ongoing plot line. The first thing they ask is: "How do you do that?" I tell them, and the next thing they say is: "Show me..." The latest file sharing technology is called BitTorrent. Here's what you need: DISCLAIMER: This list is purely for informational and educational purposes. I am not encouraging anyone to use P2P technology for unlawful purposes. Pay for what you use. Big Brother is watching! 1. A BitTorrent Client. The best is REDACTED. (Look for the download link under latest release.) 2. REDACTED is a Java-dependent program. So, you need the latest Java Virtual Machine Run Time Engine. The download link is right at the top. 3. Most video files that are shared are in DivX format. So, you'll need the latest DivX CODEC for Windows Media Player installed. It also comes with it's own player that is pretty good too. 4. It doesn't matter what order you installed any of the first 3 items in. But once you have that all done, you;re ready to find some files. To do that you'll need a search tool. (That's not built-into REDACTED) Here are a couple of good sites: REDACTED  5. REDACTED may need some tweaking if you're behind a router/firewall on your network. That's a much larger discussion, and way too time-consuming. To read up on optimizing REDACTED, go to their REDACTED. 6. Some people are worried that the MPAA and content producers like Time Warner's HBO unit are monitoring these networks and set to sue downloaders. Some believe that using a program like REDACTED can protect you from being detected by those monitoring the P2P networks. Well, that's it. Play around. Have fun. Don't steal music or movies or any other copyrighted material. That's bad.

 

Steve "Woz" Wozniak, the original phone prankster gets 100 crank calls a day. From Babies!

Sometimes things you read just make you laugh out loud and shake your head.

Steve Woziak, "Woz", co-founder of Apple computer was known to be quite the phone prankster back in the early days. He built boxes that manipulated the phone system and loved to play pranks on people by messing around with phone system features he had learned to exploit.

Apparently it's been a goal of his to get a phone number with all the same digits for some time now. The wait is over. He apparently got the number 888-8888. Who knows what area code. I suppose you could try all the CA area codes and see if he picks up. But then he could have bought and activated his cell anywhere, right?

Anyway.... Woz started getting dozens of seemingly crank calls per day. All the same. Just dead air on the other end.

Wired News has the rest of the story for you. Too funny.

Living like the ewoks

I'm sure some day I'll wake up and decide that I want to live in the forest, in a sphere, hanging in a tree.

When that day comes, these crazy people have me covered.

Kids, don't do drugs. Not even a little.

iMac Love Story

Given the new lovey-dovey relationship between Apple and Microsoft, this video is appropro.

Clever French.

Video at YouTube

Walt Mossberg Reviews Apple's Bootcamp

Walt Mossberg details his experience setting up his mac with Windows...

Must be nice to be all cozied up to SteveO. A few glowing reviews works wonders I guess.

OK, Apple Lets You Install Windows, but When Are They Going to Get it? I Want to Install OS X on a PC!

I honestly don't get this at all. First geeks ponied up some serious cash as a reward to the first super-duper geek to get Windows running on an Intel-based Mac. Now Apple is jumping into the pool (with what looks alot like the same tool...) and "officially" providing software to let their customers do so.

When is Apple going to figure this out? I want OS X without the uber-expensive box of PC parts! Hello McFly! I want to buy a $300 PC and OS X for $150 and install it myself. Or a $500 laptop and then install OS X on it.

I mean, get real Apple. Dell frequently sells loaded dual-core laptops for under $1,000. I don't want to have to spend an extra $1,000 to get the same machine with OS X. Why the hell don't you guys wise up and start selling your OS to manufacturer's like Dell and HP and give MSFT some real competition.

Apple makes a great OS. Dell understands how to efficiently mass produce a PC box. Put that peanut butter in that chocolate my brainy friend!

Why in the world did the geeks who all bitch about how crappy Windows XP is salivate over getting it to run on a machine that already had a superior operating system? I mean, duh!

Get that cash back and hand it out to someone who can get OS X to run on an eMachines!

Sheesh!

Apple Boot Camp Public Beta Announced, Part of 10.5 Leopard

More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today

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Best Web Video Ever - Star Wars Light Saber Duel

Rocketboom turned me onto what I would say is the absolute best home made web video to date. Forget about all those lip-syncing Asian kids that make you laugh, this is the best.

Michael Scott and Ryan Wieber have made their own Star Wars Light Saber duel and it is absolutely amazing! Not only are the visual effects and sound impressive, but they clearly spent a great deal of time working out the choreography as well. The ending is not to be missed. TheForce.net has good info on the creation of the video and some comments from the people who made it.

You can see the video here:

TheForce.Net * VideoSift * i am bored * Google Video

My Toy is Coming! My Toy is Coming! Oh Happy Day!

My Black Creative Labs Zen Vision:M 30GB Digital Music Playerhas tracking info!

Is it here yet? Is it here yet?

Is it here yet? Is it here yet?

I'm probably setting myself up for a big disappointement, aren't I?

I can't wait to see if it's really an iPod Video killer. I'd bet the day after it arrives Steve-O announces the new widescreen iPod Video.