Missing pieces

I have posted previously about IPTV, or been close enough about that subject. IPTV has some other names too (like vidcast). I'll just use IPTV, vlog doesn't really describe these shows, vidcast is more like it. But even people making those shows are not always certain about the thing. Wikipedia seems to suggest that vidcast is the right term, but some shows describe themselves as IPTV shows.

So by using IPTV I don't mean the corporate version, that means means just sticking to what the proprietary IPTV network can offer you. I mean shows you can download and transcode to any device you want to watch them with. You just need Internet connection. Sometimes transcode is not necessary as shows are already available in few different formats.

Previous posts about this issue were just links to various shows, this time I'm going to get little deeper with some shows that I have watched more than one or two episodes. And it's good to bring this this topic up again, as some (or most) of you haven't read the archives.

Some shows are not for the minors, as some shows contain swearing and alcohol usage. I guess only exceptions to the rule are DL.TV and Crankygeeks, but they're both more or less corporate shows.

Other thing is that security related shows show things that could be used for criminal activities, so don't blame me if you do just that and get caught (not that it's any better if you don't get caught, it's still criminal). The decision is yours alone. On the other hand it's good to know these things so you know how you can prepare yourself if someone tries those tricks on you.

Games

I don't watch shows about games much, but I have watched one episode of Openalpha.tv. I'm not sure yet what my opinion is so see it for youself.

News

Crankygeeks

Crankygeeks is John C. Dvoraks show, so if you really hate him, it's better to pass this show. I can see why though, sometimes it seems that he doesn't have a clue. Luckily Dvorak is not only one talking and there are three guests too, though Sebastian Rupley is more like co-host. And they don't usually agree with Dvorak.

So basically, the show is half hours of discussion about news stories, so format in itself doesn't mean a good show, it's more about the people in it and guests have been good enough so far.

Diggnation

Diggnation is basically rehash on few stories from Digg and some commentary from the two (drunk) hosts, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht.

I have not watched Diggnation for a while, but I guess it has its moments. At least recap of Diggnations best moments was not that bad. I'm not sure if I have time to still keep watching, there's so much else to do. But some people like it, so it might work for you.

DL.TV

DL.TV is one of the shows that has bit corporate backing and that means there's advertisement breaks. But I like the hosts, sometimes there's too much gadgets though. But in short DL.TV has news, game and gadget reviews and sometimes other stuff too.

Host are usually Patrick Norton and Robert Heron, unless other one is away. Usually backup host is Roger Chang (normally behind the camera) or Jim Louderback. I don't know if there have been others.

Pure Entertainment

Pure Pwnage

Pure Pwnage is "reality" show (or at least I hope so) about game addict. First episode bit of too much of the reality show part, but second one is much better. Just imagine what happens when game addict tries to pick up girls...

TikiBar

Tikibar TV is show by Jeff Macpherson, he has done some real work in the film industry too, so he's not completely inexperienced.

Almost every episode goes like this: there's some problem, doctor writes a prescription for a drink, problem is solved and there's a party. Doesn't sound like much? Well some episodes are not that good, but they're short enough. Most are quite funny, if you're not impressed, check out some most popular episodes.

Quite impressive for a low budget production, part of the "quality production" look comes from clever use of video effects and good soundtrack choices. If you decide to watch just one episode, try Red Oktober.

The Scene

Scene is the place where the pirated goods come from. First season has all the action on the computer screen, there's small picture showing the actor too. Upside is that The Scene is most realistic computer fiction that I have seen. Second season has shorter episodes and bit more scenes around the computer action. Of course, everything important still happens in computer screen. But this time text is easier to read, because camera zooms to the relevant part of the screen.

I haven't been watching The Scene for a while. First season had it's moments, but mainly watching other people chat can be bit dull, though it worked suprisingly well. Second season has been more tight in many ways, there has just been many problems with RSS feeds and downloads, so I have not been checking for a while. But now there's good change for it, as second season is ready.

Security

The Broken

The Broken is show about all borderline illegal hosted by Kevin Rose and Dan Huard. There was episode that showed how to crack wireless network and how to get free pizza. Also they show how to play backup games with game consoles.

There hasn't been more than four episodes of The Broken, but that means getting up to date with show is fast. All four episodes have been good so far, some cracking and hardware mods. I guess some game console giants won't be happy about this show, though I'm sure that same information is available from elsewhere too.

From the Shadows

I watched only one episode of this show. It wasn't that bad, but I'm not really into game shows. Though that episode was more about what you can with portable game devices. So I was wrong, rest of the episodes are mostly about security, so maybe I'll need to watch more episodes.

Hak.5

Hak.5 is technology show which includes hardware modifications, security stuff like password cra...eh recovery and various jokes. Some jokes are parodies about various shows, so be sure to check out originals first. There's at least one too that works better if you have watched few episodes from first season first.

Show has gotten more professional, but second season lost some of the fun that was in first season. That might be because some of the crew left. But it's still worth watching, there's not too many shows like this as The Broken doesn't have any schedule right now, it's not even sure if there will be another episode. On other Hak.5 comes out more or less regularly.

Tutorials

Systm

Systm is another Kevin Roses and Dan Huards show. It includes tutorials about various topics like MythTV, Asterisk and podcasts. Latest show is about Maker Faire and worth watching if you're interested in inventions, modifying and tinkering. It's not so much about computers as other episodes.

I'm not sure if there's more episodes coming, Kevin Rose has Diggnation and not so regular The Broken too or he could be busy with Digg. Dan Huard has ScopeTech and Revision3.

"TV" Networks

Channel 101

I still have not watched their show, excluding two episodes of Chad Vader. But idea behind the network is interesting. In short, is that shows are shown live and audience decides if they want to see another episode of the show. Most shows don't last long, even very popular Chad Vader was canceled after two episodes. But that means that creators of that show can experiment with new ideas.

Mathclub Productions TV

I have not checked out what they have, but at least there's few drama shows and I have not seen too many of those freely available.

Revision3

Revision3 seems to get out lot of content and shows that I have seen have not been not that bad. Choice of formats should be good enough for most of us and if you want to share your bandwidth, BitTorrent downloads are available too. Though Mysteries of Science was bit of a dissapointment, I thought it was more of a science show than not so funny one minute of nonsense.

I practised what I preached and tried to get more out of Last.fm. Recommended music is fine, but sometimes I listen to some artists that bring some artists to the list I don't like that much. It's possible to dismiss them, so it's not that bad.

I subscribed to some music related groups and that seems to be good way to get some interesting recommendations. Amarok group is nice, but that brings very broad range of recommendations. So I added progressive rock and progressive metal group.

Listening to group radios (that are generated from music that people in group listen to) was interesting experience. Bit random music, but more good stuff than bad. Seems like there's much more good stuff if you listen for a while.

But there's even better solution, global tag radio. That means that it plays music that people have tagged with certain tag. I'm not sure where to find more of those yet, I just copied one from another user. There's some in Amarok too, but heavy metal radio wasn't so good. Progressive rock radio works though, there's some metal in the mix, but it doesn't really matter. I have not yet heard so broad range of progressive rock anywhere. Most Internet radios don't have so large selection of music when there's random mix playing (at least when I'm awake, most stations that I have found are in USA).

Seems like I will be listening to much more Last.fm in the future.

PS: I found the tag radios, they were in plain sight all the time.