A few weeks ago we discussed some hardware to connect your TV to your PC.  It was so long ago (in gadget time), that I'm sure everything has changed by now.  You're all probably getting cortical implants and receiving entertainment right to the retina from satellites.

We can break down techniques into two categories:  recording and live surfing.  Downloading video and burning it onto a DVD is an example of the former (so is the Neuros OSD), and a MythTV box, or any computer, with your TV as its second monitor is the latter.

Okay, let's say you've done some of that.  The next question, surprisingly, hasn't changed since when we had three broadcast channels and tinfoil on the rabbit ears:  What do you wanna watch? 

I have suffered so you don't have to.  Also, I have enjoyed myself so now you can!  It's not all bad news out there.  Though where would entertainment commentary be without snarky remarks about internet amateurishness?  Nowhere, that's where.

I sampled the following on my Thinkpad T30 (2.4ghz Pentium 4) on my home WiFi with Internet over cable.  Bear in mind!  Streaming video is not the quality you expect even from live TV.  My TV is a small tube unit (remember them?), but gives a better video experience than any streaming source.  Whatever kind of screen you're using, from cell phone to 100" plasma, you can't beat the following sources for variety and convenience. 

Hulu.com - just two days after my first article on web video was declared "popular" by Digg, I got an email from Hulu inviting me to the beta test.  Behold the awesome power of LA2DAY!  Either that, or the awesome power of coincidence!

So, how the hell is Hulu?  Well, you can watch the Simpsons, which I have fond memories of making me laugh once long ago.  Hulu features clips and shows from Fox, NBC, Bravo, and more.  Also full length features from Lions Gate, Universal and MGM.  And too many more to list here, sortable by popularity (on Hulu), genre, and studio/network.  A lot of stuff.  Catch up on your Daily Show or, if you are in a nostalgic mood, watch Alf. 

Eztv.nl - torrents.  Please don't make me explain this.  I have a family, and can't afford legal trouble.  You will need a bittorrent client.  Azureus is what I use.  Google it.  And you didn't hear it from me. 

Onnetworks.com - original programming with a very slick, very easy interface.  Of widely varying quality, but, then again, so is network TV.  There was some entertaining material, better even than public access cable.  Being the "beverage guy" at home, I especially enjoyed Cocktails on the Fly, with Alberta Straub. 

Current.com - very interesting site founded by Vice President Al Gore.  I met two Current.com correspondents (if that is the right term) on a plane once, and they were very nice guys, rather smug and pleased with themselves.  But why not?  It was the hot thing three years ago.  If you like an MTV approach to news, with thumping bass and images sliding back and forth, this is for you. 

Comedy.com - boy, somebody paid some dinero for that URL.  I only took twenty minutes to check it out, and it has the same range of quality as anything else - execrable to barely tolerable.  I'm sure if I took more time, I'd find something really funny.  I have to believe that.  But, as they say, YMMV.  For all I know, you'll be ROTFL.  But then, you probably find goiters funny.  Me, I'm much more sophisticated - I only find very LARGE goiters funny.

MojoHD.com -  I was confused by this one.  Apparently, you have to watch shows at a particular time.  Huh.  And this is an advance over regular television how exactly?

Funnyordie.com - most famous as Will Ferrell's Fun Thing to Do Between Sports-Movie Spoofs.  And maybe a good investment too, I suppose.  I doubt his business manager would let him just drop a bag of money out the window for nothing.  I don't mean to be a downer, but the few clips I watched had that sophomore-with-a-camcorder quality. 

Mydamnchannel.com - original material, very professional, and features Harry Shearer.  That makes it legitimate and cool, as far as I'm concerned.  For the rest of you, it also has a section devoted to cherubic web-creature Andy Milonakis. 

Blogginheads.tv and fora.tv -in this political season, let's take a look at these great wonksites.  Bloggingheads.tv features a spiffy side-by-side format where two pundits, each in the comfort of their own la-z-boy with their webcam, debate each other.  One will usually be rightish and the other leftish.  While the debates are spirited, you don't get that moronic cable-news foxy screaming, and they seem readier to be smart than they usually are on TV.  Highly recommended.  And fora.tv is the video aspect of The New Republic, and interesting too.  

And I'm sure there are more.  Please tell me about your favorite online video sites and your favorite hardware solutions for bridging that gap between your desk chair and your couch!

Coming soon, maybe:  battle of the set-top boxes!

Peter Basch