Well the last few weeks have been very different. No cable meant I had to do something more creative with all the free time that I had. Well I tried my best but eventually I became restless and after the worldcup realised I had to find a solution quick. Well from there began a hunt on the net for some type of entertainment. An assortment of things popped up but I finally settled for the closest thing to cable.

It started of with online gaming and well that caught my interest for a very short time. I think it was my age but after almost falling asleep at the keyboard I decided to move on. There was one online game that kept me going for a while but impatience kicked in. It might be worth a try for riddle enthusiasts – here is the url –> www.conspiracygame.co.uk/conspiracy. Ideally you need a windows machine with internet explorer and macromedia flash player.

Then there were the infamous unlimited movies for ridiculous prices. These were sites that allowed users to share movies over a network. Well all the legal mumbo jumbo seemed so vague. I also realised that I’d have to sit and wait for a day or two before I got to watch anything. Well it did not seem worth to me – I’m sure most people would disagree.

Then I moved onto streaming online video (Movies, news, radio etc.). Now there are a tonne of online stream providers. You can watch all your favourite shows and catch international news. I managed to find one streamer with MTVnews and sirasa news. This would again all depend on your media player and internet connection. ADSL is a must to enjoy streaming video and when the bandwith gets clogged up (usually mondays- friday / 9 – 5 ) vacumming is more enjoyable than streaming video.

Some websites ask you to download their own propietry streamers which I didnt want to do. So I tried more popular streamers like Realplayer, Winamp. After downloading realplayer and applying for Superpass and Unlimited Movies I must say I was very disappointed. Never have I been more confused, frustrated and lost at the same time when using a piece of software. Well with Realplayer BBC 24 can be watched and with superpass one can view CNN news footage. I couldn’t find the unlimited movies section and navigation was a pain. I unsubscribed and uninstalled realplayer on the same day.

iTunes — not really a streamer but definaltely worth it when it comes to video podcasts and regular podcasts. Also if you have an American billing address (anyone ??) you can download free pilot TV shows and episodes of your favourite serials. Though not the cheapest TV entertainment the experience is quite good and lag is very minimal.

Finally and truly a relief to stumble on Winamp!!!!!!! I had almost given up on finding entertainment but then when I downloaded the basic Winamp and clicked on Shoutcast TV, Shoutcast radio, AOL Radio, AOL music videos, and singing fish media browser to name the few. I was thrilled when I got to watch a replay from the Worldcup 2006, then a documentry on blackholes and after that a 50 cents video with minimal lag ( around 11pm at night). Also Winamp allows you to view subscriber internet TV through dedicated servers (like Saltwaterchimp.com for $5 a month)

For those using Linux streamtuner, totem,rhythmbox, kaffeine, and amarok are remarkably good. I have not been successfull with video streaming yet.

Finally for those of you who really don’t watch TV anyway (lucky you) and who listen to background music while typing their blog or surfing I highly recommend lastfm.com (tagged radio).