Can we get a technology board?

So many questions (some are mine) about who is the best cable provider, how to keep 2 computers in sync, whether using neighbor's unsecured network is safe/cool, etc.

Seems like we'd have enough topics to keep a board alive.

Discuss.

OOH. Nishe.

Seconded.

I have a question for the new tech board/thread.

I don't have cable, and watch my shows through the internet. I know there are sites such as bittorrent, or fileshare etc, where you can download popular TV shows/movies. Does anyone know what is the most popular/safest filesharing program on the web for this sort of thing? I used to use lime wire--is that still a good bet? Muchas Gracias.

oh god no.

Limewire, shareaza and the like are horrible now.

Bittorrent is the best bet. I use the U Torrent client as it seems to be the best.
As for bittorrent sites, the pirate bay is good, but you need to be careful with it. (this pretty much goes for all BT sites) Some random popup could use an exploit and nail ya. If you are on a 64bit system, you are semi invulnerable to rootkits but not to other types of maleware.

When browsing to bittorrent sites, I use a program called Sandboxie. It opens your favorite browser without its own contained area (think of a childs sandbox)

It doesnt let anything into your system unless you say "ok". So if a pop up happens to be maleware exploiting some loop hole, you can just terminate the sandboxie browser and delete the files with no harm to your computer.

To round it off, I highly recommend Avira antivirus (google free avira) and superantispyware (i recommend paying for SAS since it will give you real time protection)

Update: Folks in management are considering the idea of a tech board, we'll see...

But in the meantime, back to the specific discussion at hand:



Yep, for downloading and playing wherever, the bittorrent route is a pretty solid way to go.

Otherwise there are sites like Hulu. I also missed several Heroes episodes last season and was *very* pleased with being able to view them in larger, high-quality format directly on the NBC Heroes site (and with minimal commercial interruption, at that).

Obviously there's also the for-pay route via iTunes for some who are willing to compensate for the brain-dead ease of viewing on their computer or iWhatever. Haven't tried that yet.

Good luck.

Tossing in my two cents - yeah, I think that the board would have some merit. There are plenty of tech boards out there (I peruse many, participate in some), but they tend to not be n00b friendly - often it's an information overload, other times it's a condescending tone. I think that this would be a little more... neighborly.

As far as my favorite methods of watching TV, and I don't actually own a TV -

* I have a TV tuner for my PC - there are both internal (PCI) and external (USB) options available. Vista and Win 7 include Media Centers, which provide DVR functionality - this'll get you all of the major network stuff for free.

* As was mentioned previously, many shows/networks feature full streaming episodes - FOX seems to be particularly good in this respect. Image quality isn't fantastic, but oh well.

* My wife uses and loves Hulu. I haven't tried it.

* Lots of TV series are available (streaming) on Netflix - I don't know if this is included with all of the plans, but it certainly is at the 3 DVDs at a time/$15 month plan. The catch here is that the series/season has to have been released on DVD, so there's a bit of a lag, but it's great for catching up on shows that you haven't followed from the pilot.

* I follow non-NY sports teams, which can be impossible without paying through the nose. Thankfully, I've stumbled across ATDHE.net - most football games have been available through the first three weeks - image/sound quality sucks, but it's better than nothing and better than some of the bars in the area.

Glad to hear a tech board is under consideration :-)