How to Set Up Your New TV

Guest Post from Dana Griffen

Remember the good ol’ days when buying a TV meant deciding between black and white or color, and choosing a size? Those were pretty much the only options for a long time. Well, there were also the sets that needed a television stand, and the console ones you’ve probably seen in your grandparents’ house. But buying a TV used to be a lot simpler. Now it’s plasma or LCD, 1080p, 1080i, or 720p, stand or wall-mounted. And then there’s the size—27 inches used to be a pretty good-sized TV. Now if your television measures less than 40 inches, it’s considered small. You know what? Leave all those specs and analyses to the techie in your life (and if it’s you, bonus!), and focus on what you’re going to do with that big, flat TV when you get it home.

Whoa, not so fast, there! Where are you going with that coaxial cable? Now hold on just a minute. You’re not going to go out and spend all that money on a nice, new, flat, big, high definition television and then just hook it up to cable, are you?! Not when there are so many other choices, many of which can save you a lot of money. Let’s take a look at some of the options.

Cable

Sure, it’s fast, it’s easy, and you probably already have it hooked up in your home right now. You could get home with your new set, hook up the cable, and be watching TV in no time. And then you can get that bill once a month that causes you physical pain every time you pay it. How many cable channels do you have? And how many do you actually watch? How does it feel to pay for a lot of something you never use?

The further into the 21^st century we get, and the more alternatives that become available, cable becomes more and more of a money pit. Why isn’t it à la carte yet? Why do we have to buy channels in packages? And why do they insist on separating the most popular channels into separate packages so that you’re compelled to buy more than one? You can only watch one channel at a time, unless you have picture-in-picture which is so last century. Get with the times. Ditch your cable provider, save yourself some money, and watch TV on your terms.

Box

Back when cable first started getting popular, it wasn’t just a matter of connecting a cable to your TV and firing it up. It was accessed through a cable box that usually sat on top of the TV. Televisions weren’t so thin back then, and you could actually put things on top of them. The box had push buttons to select channels, although there weren’t more than a couple dozen. That’s where the box began, but it’s evolved into so much more.

The most popular boxes for watching TV nowadays are TiVo, Roku, and even Apple TV, although that’s seen its share of problems. They all connect to both your TV and the Internet, accessing content from different sources.  http://www.roku.com/ provides programs from Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix. TiVo offers the same, plus regular broadcast TV. Apple TV gives you access to the iTunes store where you can buy or rent TV shows and movies. If you’re a Netflix fan, you can also gain access to their instant watching feature via the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 gaming consoles.

Streaming

Still not finding anything good to watch? Want to keep up with your prime-time favorites, or the soap opera you won’t admit you watch? No problem. You can find nearly any TV show, as well as thousands of movies online. Some are free, some you have to pay for, but with a little savvy, you can get rid of your cable and still know what’s happening on your favorite shows. All you have to do is connect your computer to your television set, and you’ll be able to watch streaming TV on large screen instead of your monitor.

All the major networks, and several cable networks offer full episodes of their shows on their websites. You’ll still have to sit through some annoying commercials, but there’s no fee to access the content. Just be aware that most shows only stay on the sites for a few days, so don’t procrastinate too much. Hulu is a great site for watching shows from several networks, both regular and cable. Only five episodes of any show are available at a time, so again, don’t wait too long if you’re trying to stay current with a storyline. Not sure where the show you want to watch is available online? No problem. Yidio aggregates over 500,000 episodes from more than 5,000 TV shows, along with about 30,000 movies. You search, either by title or genre, and Yidio will tell you where to find what you want online. All you have to do is click the link that comes up, and you’ll be watching TV online in no time.

See? With this many options, there’s no reason to spend all that money every month on cable. Cancel that service, and use the money you save to buy that really big flat-screen TV you’ve had your eye on. You know you want to.

About the Author: Dana Griffen is a freelance writer who specializes in getting the most of technology for for busy professionals. You can reach Dana at griffen.dana [at] gmail [dot] com.

Is your favorite show a rerun this week?

When I was growing up, it seemed like t.v. shows ran all new episodes from September to May. These days, however, it seems like you can’t go an month without having a rerun. Last week after watching Law and Order SVU, the commentator indicated there would be no new episodes until January! Really? House was a rerun last week and apparently is this week. Holidays, sports, presidential news casts all conspire to ruin regular programming.

If you’re like me and get upset when you sit down to watch your favorite show only to discover you just saw it a few weeks back, you can now use Rerun Check to find out if your show will be a new episode or a rerun. You can even request an email or subscribe to the RSS fees to you can be notified whenever a new episode is going to run.

Check it out at RerunCheck.com

Translate Business Jargon

Every industry has its own language and businesses are no different. If you ever happen to be around business-types and wonder what “Accelerated emergence of high maturity behaviors” or “ideate” means, you visit Unsuck-It.com to get a translation (they mean “faster results” and “think”).

Search for your word or phrase  or use the browse button to discover more business-babble.  In the spirit of Google’s “I’m feeling lucky”, you can click on “I’m feeling douchey” to get random business-speak with its corresponding translation.

Write a Novel in a Month

How many times have you said, “I wish I could write a book?” Well if you’ve said it at least once, November is your chance to write a 50k novel.  National Novel Writing Month is now in its 10th year. Last year over 100,000 people participated. Started by Chris Baty, National Novel Writing Month or Nanowrimo as its referred to, seeks to help would-be writers get that first draft down on paper in a manic filled month of writing. Its not about perfection. Its about getting all the ideas down on paper without editing or worrying about quality. Writers who meet their 50K goal get a certificate and a virtual pat on the back.

Participating in Nanwrimo is free. Over at the site you can register, get weekly updates from Chris to keep on writing, join in on the forum to get support or ask questions. You can even find local Nanowrimo writing groups.

The rules to Nanowrimo are easy. You need to start from scratch (no completing a work in progress) and write 50k words (1667 words a day) from Nov.1-30.

I have participated in Nanowrimo twice, but only reached the 50K goal once. But I’m gearing up to try again this year. Will you join me?

To learn more visit, National Novel Writing Month

What are the odds? BookofOdds.com will tell you.

Ever wonder what the odds are that you’ll get struck by lightening or win the lottery? BookofOdds.com can let you know. According to the site:

“For over three years we have been building what we believe is the missing dictionary, one filled not with words, but with numbers – the odds of everyday life. It contains hundreds of thousands of Odds Statements, from the odds of being the only one to survive a plane crash, to the odds of having a heart attack, to the odds of having ever eaten cold pizza for breakfast.”

Simply visit the site and type in your odds inquiry to receive a list of possibilities. The site also provides a variety of articles with interesting statistics and other number related items.

Visit BookofOdds.com to test it out.