For those that don’t know, early this year Netflix started offering movies from their library for downloading or streaming.  Currently there are over 12,000 movies and TV show box sets that you can watch instantly on your PC.  Of course, most people prefer to watch movies on their TV, which is where this blog post comes in.

The movies range from black and white classics to recent Oscar winners, although most movies are older.  The TV shows include cult hits like Xena Warrior Princess, 80’s classic like Night Rider and The Incredible Hulk, and current shows like Heroes and The Office.  As for pricing, the basic $8.99 a month Netflix service will get you unlimited streaming PLUS one DVD at a time through the mail.  This is the package I’m on, and I use the online portion to stream TV shows and older movies and request the new releases I can’t stream through the mail.  Hopefully, some day we can eliminate those pesky discs altogether and be able to stream any movie we want for one low flat-rate monthly fee.

Netflix has announced their service will be coming to Xbox Live late this fall, but you can actually stream Netflix movies on your Xbox now if you have a copy of Windows Vista on your PC.  All you have to do is download a copy of the Windows Vista Media Center plug-in called VmcNetFlix and follow the directions on their website.  I use the program myself to stream Netflix movies to my TV and it’s worked great for me so far.  The only issue I had installing the program is that it didn’t work until I set IE7 as the default browser on my PC rather than Firefox but that is clearly stated in the troubleshooting instructions.

Personally, I don’t use the 360 option as I have an actual PC hooked up to my LCD TV through HDMI.  This is probably the best method for watching Internet videos on your TV because you can watch any format movie and aren’t limited to only watching formats compatible with Windows Media Center.  However, if you don’t have a spare PC running Windows Vista that you can hook up to your TV, an Xbox 360 is the next best thing, but still requires a Vista PC running somewhere on your network.

The Xbox 360 is a Media Center Extender, which means it can be used to access movies, mp3s, and photos stored on Windows Media Center machines on your network.  This also holds true with the Netflix Media Center plug-in, which allows you to stream Netflix videos to your TV through your Xbox 360 once it’s installed on your PC.  If you have Windows Vista Media Center, you can watch Netflix on your Xbox 360 now.  If not, I recommend trying it out this fall when it comes to the Xbox Live service.  Note, however, that you’ll have to pay for both an Xbox Live Gold subscription and a Netflix subscription, while with my method all you need is the Netflix subscription.

Arcade - $199
Pro (60 gig) - $299
Elite (120 gig) - $399

This news has caused new speculation on the pricing of the discontinued 20 gig models that are currently $299 and still collecting dust in many stores.  Likely, this older model will get a price drop as well, as otherwise why would anyone pay the same price for a 20 gig model as the 60 gig model?  I’ve got over $400 store credit available at Blockbuster/Gamerush saved up from trading in used games.  I was going to get a 20 gig 360 for $299 a couple of weeks ago until I stumbled across the price drop rumor.  Now, I’m definitely glad I waited.

Besides a price drop, the current 360 models are built using new technology and are less likely to overheat or get the red ring of death, according to gamer sites.

For those who have been holding out on getting a next gen system, the magic $199 price point for the Xbox 360 Arcade bundle may finally get them to jump into the current generation of gaming.  Also, the announcement that Netflix is bringing their streaming DVD service to the 360 late this fall is sure to create a few converts as well.  I already have the Netflix streaming service on my PC (which is hooked up to a 50″ HDTV), and it’s a great service, although the selection of current movies is very limited.  If you like classics, TV box sets, or don’t mind watching movies that are several years old, the selection is great.  If you want to watch movies that just came out on DVD or Blu-ray, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Bigfoot Links

Bigfoot Wikipedia Page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot

Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization - http://www.bfro.net/

Bigfoot Encounters - http://www.bigfootencounters.com/

The Shadowlands Bigfoot Page - http://theshadowlands.net/bf.htm

The Skeptic’s Dictionary Bigfoot Entry - http://www.skepdic.com/bigfoot.html

Alliance of Independent Bigfoot Researchers - http://209.85.50.7/~skookum/

Willow Creek-China Flat Museum - http://bigfootcountry.net/home/

Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist - http://www.lorencoleman.com/

Bigfoot Lives - http://www.bigfoot-lives.com/

The Bigfoot Discovery Project - http://www.bigfootdiscoveryproject.com/

Skeptic World Bigfoot Page - http://www.skepticworld.com/cryptozoology/big-foot.asp

It takes about a minute to fill out the form to sign up for an account and maybe another 30 seconds (depending on the speed of your Internet connection and PC) to install the Dropbox software.  Once installed, a Dropbox icon is added to your System Tray at the bottom of your screen, as well as a folder located in your Windows Documents.  Drag and drop any file into the Dropbox and it will be quickly uploaded to your online account, accessible by logging into the website or installing the shortcut application on another PC.

I would have loved to have something like this when I was in college, as I had to carry a stack of floppy disks with me back then to hold all my papers and other homework assignments. (Yes, this was in the days before cd burners and USB flash drives).  Inevitably, being absent-minded, I would forget a floppy at home that had a paper on it I needed to finish or print out in the computer lab.  Since it was 30 minutes each way to get to campus, that was an extremely inconvenient thing to do and caused me to miss more than one class.

Besides the obvious file storage benefits, you can also upload photos and documents to share with others, as the site can generate a link for direct access to your photo gallery or document.  This can be usefull for sending files to those who can’t receive documents via e-mail or when you have so many photos you want to send to some one, it’s easier to just send a link.

The uses for Dropbox are many and varied and even though I have access to other means of storing files online, such as e-mailing them to my Gmail account, storing them on the webspace that came with my ISP account or simply uploading them to one of the many social networking sites that let you store certain types of files online, Dropbox offers more convenience than any of these alternatives.

The site is free for beta testers and according to their terms of service, beta accounts will remain free even when they go to a paid model.  I’m not sure how much space beta accounts receive, but the terms page mentions free accounts after launch will receive 1 gig of storage space, with premium accounts receiving more space for a fee.  The more gigs of storage you want, the more you pay.  Seems reasonable.

Will people pay for a service like this?  I’m sure some will.  I know many, like myself, probably will not, just because we’re used to getting everything on the web for free.  One gig seems like plenty to me for what I would use the site for.  Hopefully, their business model includes selling advertising to support the free accounts so they don’t go out of business because of all the freeloaders, such as myself.

Now that Blu-ray is the clear format winner, there are still several hurdles before the format is actually profitable for Sony and their partners.  For one thing, you need a high-definition TV to see any benefits from Blu-ray and not everyone has upgraded yet.  Secondly, not everyone feels there’s enough improvement from DVDs to Blu-rays to justify the cost of upgrading their players and movie libraries.  Third, Blu-ray is still competing with another high-def format that I think will eventually win in this new format war:  high-def digital downloads.

With cable providers and video game consoles both offering on-demands high-def movies purchases and rentals at the click of a button, is the attraction of owning a physical disc enough to make Blu-ray a success?  Will a generation trained on buying constant downloads such as ringtones and games for cell phones and other devices have a problem doing the same for their living room television?

I think in the short term, there is still a place for Blu-ray as a storage media if nothing else.  50 gigs of space on a single-layer disc and 100 gigs on a double-layer is nothing to sneeze at.  Until 100 gig flash drives are $10 a pop, Blu-ray is a much cheaper format for storing massive amounts of data.  Pioneer’s claim that they’ve created a 400GB, 16-layer, possibly Blu-ray compatible disc is even more promising.  Downloads are great but people will always want to make backups of their data, and we seem to have more and more personal data every year as cameras, camcorders, and other digital devices become more and more affordable.

I have a Playstation 3 and so far I think I’ve spent more money downloading content from the PS3 store than on actual discs, although I have rented several Blu-rays from Blockbuster.  As an old school video game collector, I never though I’d latch onto the download concept, as I love buying and trading actual physical games, and yet I’ve spent $100+ on game downloads for my Wii at $5-10 a pop.  If a child of 80’s console gaming and colleting like myself can learn to appreciate game downloads, anyone can.

Also, I believe the media companies are missing out on a huge opportunity when it comes to online file sharing. Most of what people trade online these days are TV shows, the most popular of which are recent (aired within the last 24 hours) shows. The networks would be better off creating their own torrents of these shows complete with commercials and seeding the episodes themselves. I think if there was a legal alternative for downloading a TV show you’ve missed for free, most bit torrent users would take advantage of it.

The other option would be streaming the shows with commercials as Hulu does. While many people prefer downloads at the moment, I think streaming on-demand content may actually be the future. I’d like to see a day when I can watch any TV show ever made, streaming over my cable or Internet connection onto my television on demand.  Whether this will cost a flat monthly rate, a per download fee, or be free and advertiser supported is up to the market to decide.

Hopefully, the TV networks won’t make the same mistake the music industry made and go after their core demographic with lawsuits and alienate them. There will always be pirates. You don’t eliminate piracy through lawsuits. You make it less attractive by providing easily attainable legal alternatives.

Jul 24 - Britain’s six biggest Internet providers have agreed a plan to send warning letters to those suspected of illegal file-sharing.

ISPs had previously argued they were mere conduits and not responsible for content.

But they agreed to the deal after the British government said it would impose legislation if they did not work to curb illegal file-sharing.

Reuters Technology Correspondent Matt Cowan reports.

Jun. 3 - The Social Network Integrated Friend Finder is a permission-based service that allows friends to find each other in the real world.

The service is billed as a safe and convenient way to connect with online friends in the offline world. But do people really want their friends to SNIFF them?

June 27 - Nintendo games are banned in most Japanese schools, but its DS console is becoming the latest Japanese teaching tool.

Teacher Motoko Okubo uses the handheld DS and textbook software and says after years of Super Mario Bros. and other games on the prohibited list, students weren’t expecting Nintendo in class.

June 2 - It may be a Great Wonder of the World, but the Grand Canyon could not stop a determined 17-cm robot and a pair of AA batteries.

After a few returns to base camp, a carbon-plastic robot powered by Panasonic’s Evolta batteries made the 530-m rope climb in under seven hours.