Miguel Carrasco's Real World

Vista Microphone Issues Resolved

About a year and a bit ago I had a issues with Vista and my Microphones.  I do a lot of stuff with the Microphone and my computer, and this was a huge issue!  Why on earth could I not get the microphone to work In Vista! Within Vista, there was no way to get the microphone audio to play through the speakers.  It always seemed muted.  How could I un-mute the microphone?

Luckily within a few days of posting the Vista Microphone issue, hundreds of people started posting their solutions to the problem.  The main issue was that the Microphone Line Monitor in the sound control panel was nowhere to be seen.  Therefore, by default as Vista mutes the line, there was no way to turn it on.

If your soundcard uses the Sigmatel Audio Codec, you are in huge luck as there is a simple way to enable the Microphone on vista with a simple registry hack.

Simply go to your start menu and type in regedit and hit enter to get into the Vista Windows Registry

Next you are going to want to find the following folder:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000\Settings\filter\SpeakerHp\

Then you're going to find the key: EnableIntSpkrMute

Change this key from 01, to 00.

Reboot Vista, and you are ready to go!  Next time you go into your sound control panel, you will have the ability to un-mute, and change your microphone levels in Vista!

 

Hope this helps everyone out there with what I have found to be the most annoying issue in Vista out there.  Who knows what made them decided to lock out the Microphone from 90% of the people out there, but at least now you can resolve the issue pretty easily!

Of course if you don't want to go into the registry to fix your Vista Microphone issue, simply download this Reg file, and run it on your machine, then reboot.  Simple.  Enjoy your microphone!

 

Technorati Tags: Vista,Microphone,Microsoft,Technology

Google Calendar Sync

I was researching some online calendar web sites for an application we are working on and bumped into Google Sync for BlackBerry!

One of the major problems I have had with Google Calendar is its inability to stay in Sync with my Outlook Calendar, and my BlackBerry more than anything.  One the main reasons I don't use Google Calendar is the fact that I already spend hundreds of hours a month keeping things up to date in my Outlook Calendar.  Why on earth I would spend additional time keeping Google Calendar up to date is beyond me.

Have you every used Google Calendar?  It's a very slick AJAX application that lets you easily add events, reminders, appointments to an online, always available application.  The fact that you can get to this application on any device, at any time is a real draw, verses having to have your laptop handy.  I personally always have my BlackBerry with me, however in some instances, it would be nice to just pop onto a computer and use a large screen and keyboard to make changes, create new meetings, or even just review the day.

Google Calendar Sync for BlackBerry solves this problem!  Simply point your BlackBerry to: http://m.google.com/sync, download the application, and you are ready to Sync your calendar!

A new icon will appear on your main window.  Simply sign into your Google account, and press "Sync".  You are done!  Enjoy the benefits of having all your information up to date on your Google Calendar, BlackBerry, and Outlook!

How To Get 32 AA Batteries for $5

It seems the more electronics you get, the more batteries you have to buy.  Rechargeable batteries are not bad, but sometimes you need great quality batteries that will last a little longer.  Plus you cant go wrong 32 batteries for 5 dollars!

Here is the video showing you exactly how to do it.  I tried it for myself, and it worked really well lol, I was shocked.

Technorati Tags: save money

How to be the Perfect Girlfriend

Some funny videos from YouTube. They are meant to be funny, but have some good points I thought.

How to be the Perfect Girlfriend

How to be the Perfect Boyfriend

Technorati Tags: perfect boyfriend, perfect girlfriend

How To Chill A Beer, Soda, or Wine in 3 Minutes

So have you ever needed to chill some nice cold beer fast?  How about that bottle of Champaign or wine for that special night?  You usually have to wait at least an hour to make sure the drink is cold enough to enjoy.  Not anymore!  Here is a quick trick that will have you enjoying your cold beverage of choice in under three minutes!

What you will need:

1. Steel Pot
2. Water
3. Ice
4. Salt
5. Wooden Spoon

What to do:

1. Put the drink in the steel pot.  Make sure that the beer or other beverage to be chilled fits in the pot and does not protrude over the top.
2. Take the ice and completely cover the drink with the ice.
3. Fill the pot with water to the top.
4. Add two cups of table salt.
5. Stir with a wooden spoon until all the salt is dissolved.
6. Place the steel pot in the freezer for three minutes.
7. Take the steel pot out of the freezer and enjoy ice cold beer!

Just a small piece of warning, make sure you do not try this with Soda Water, or you will be in for an explosion.

How does it work:

The salt creates Brine, which has a lower cooling point.  Creating ice uses more energy, therefore the energy is used to cool, rather than create ice.  The ice also starts melting, which needs heat to melt.  The heat is drawn from the warm beer, etc, and causes everything to get colder faster.  Cold (Ice Cold) Beer.

Source: Mythbsusters

Word 2007 Crashing?

Recently I cleaned up my development laptop and installed a fresh copy of Microsoft Vista Ultimate, fresh copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate, and everything was running fantastic!  Then I started with the third party applications I use on a regular basis (SnagIt, Camtasia, PhotoShop, Flash).

Next thing I knew, Word was crashing all the time.  And when I say crashing, I mean it.  Every time I would click the "x" and try and get out of Word 2007, it would hang and crash.  Worse yet, any document I opened, the scroll bar would not work, and the mouse would not be able to move  the cursor and highlight text.  Brutal!

I tried going to my Word Options, in hope I could disable some add-ins, however at this point I discovered that my mouse was rendered pretty much useless, and could not click on the add-on's section to do anything.  Tabbing also seemed futile.

After re-installing Office three times, I stumbled across an article on the Microsoft knowledge base to fix this very common problem.

1. Close Word 2007
2. Load the Registry Editor (Type: RegEdit in the run and search box).
3. Navigate to the key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data
4. Rename the "Data" Key to "DataBackup".
5. Close Registry and Load Word 2007!
6. Do the happy dance!

This should resolve the problem!  This problem is due to a corrupted key.

How to Download a YouTube Video to your computer

Ever wanted to save that favorite YouTube video to your local computer?  I have wanted to do this for a while now ever since I started using Media Center more and more.  I have most of my videos in a video folder, however all my favorite YouTube videos were on the internet, so I was forced to minimize my Media Center, load up IE7, load YouTube, etc.  I just wanted to have them ready to play in case people came over!

Although some people might have you believe this is a difficult task, it’s actually very simple.  Below I outline the easiest way to rip a YouTube video to your local computer.

1. Load your favorite YouTube video.
2. Copy the URL from the address bar.
3. Go to RipZor.com
4. Paste the URL into the textbox and click "Get Video".
5. The website will generate a flash file for you to download.
6. Click on the "Click Here" link to download the flash file, it will save as an flv file.

At this point as long as you have a flash viewer on your computer, you will be able to play this saved file, without having to connect to the internet, or having to go to the YouTube website!  What if you want to play them in Media Center?  You will need to convert this file to sometime of video format that is supported in Media Center.

The simplest way to do this is to download this zip file.  It includes a program that will convert your newly created flash file to mpg format.  Here are the easy to follow steps.

1. Download the zip file here.
2. Extract the zip file to a folder on your computer and run flvconverter.exe
3. Click Add Files and Browse to the location of your flv file you just converted.
4. Choose an output folder by clicking the browse button.
5. Click "Process"

You should now have a mpg file on your computer that you can play at any time!  Most importantly, you can add this to your video library on your Media Center without having to load YouTube!

Microsoft Calculator Plus

I am constantly having to convert different measurement units from one to another.  Lately I've been using this nifty calculator from Microsoft.  It has some neat features like allowing you to convert from various measurements, to other measurements.  I'm more or less posting this so I remember to download this tool next time I wipe a machine or set up a computer for someone.  Check it out!

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=32b0d059-b53a-4dc9-8265-da47f157c091&displaylang=en

Vista Microphone and Line-In Issues?

I've been using Microsoft Windows Vista for almost 6 months now, and recently transitioned my Media Center PC to Vista Ultimate.  Everything has been working phenomenally and I am really pleased with the operating system!  Security is vastly improved, sharing has taken it up to the next level, searching is much better, and it is much more visually appealing.  However I have been running into a few annoying issues as of late, and it seems other people are having the same issues, yet no resolution.  The main annoyance?  Why does my microphone not work?  I should re-state this, I mean the microphone itself works, and if I plug it into the microphone port and record, it works great.  However, I cannot hear the microphone audio through my speakers... and I also have no option of turning it on through the new audio control panel. 

As you can see below, the new design is great, and I love the ability to set audio levels for different applications!  What a concept!  However, I can’t set my microphone audio levels at all, nor can I un-mute its default state.

The new Volume Mixer in Vista

So I did some more poking around the control panel, and found out that my Microphone is definitely working, however, options have changed in Vista, and it seems I have no way of turning on my microphone to play through my speakers.

Sound Control Panel in Vista

Microphone Properties - Levels

Nothing to exciting in Levels either, all I can do is set it to 100, yet Vista still seems to want to not play anything through my speakers.

So why do I want to get things playing through my speakers from the microphone anyway?  Well, on top of Karaoke which is a blast with friends (singshot.com and ksolo.com), I'm trying to learn Guitar and have a few programs that I need to hook up with my Line-In.  However Line-In seems to have the same issue, no audio through speakers.

If anyone has a solution to this, please email me or post in our comments below!  I'll post the solution to this issue as soon as I find a way to do it!

Make your Wii a Media Center!

Well I finally have most of my entertainment system running the way I want it!  Media Center is hooked up and recording all my shows like mad, and I never watch commercials anymore!  My life has improved immensely!  Now, time for some Wii tweaks! Red Kawa has released software that can turn your Wii into a media center extender!

Download today!
http://www.redkawa.com/mediacenters/wiimediacenterx/

It seems to work really well, although not all file types are supported, I am at least able to load images, mp3's, and some videos without too much trouble!  Beats having to use the SD Cards that’s for sure!

Share Files Online Top 5 Web Applications

There are so many services out there that let you share files.  But what are the best and easiest methods?  Here is a list of absolutely fantastic services to get you sharing files extremely fast!  These systems allow huge file sizes in some cases, and in others, have a really easy to use interface.  Below you will have all the basis covered for any of your file sharing needs!

Quick File Sharing

Looking for a quick way to put a file on the Web for later retrieval?  With Localhostr, its as simple as:

1. Select the file to upload (anything up to 7MB).
2. Upload.
3. Copy the resulting link.

Really useful site! However this is not for large files, just the fastest method I found.

www.localhostr.com

Track files being shared

DLiveo try's to solve the problem of how to easily send and track large files over the Internet.  This nice thing about this service is it can bypass firewalls and e-mail systems.  Unfortunately its client based and not web based, therefore requires you have access to your machine to install the application.

www.dliveo.com

Free Virtual Private Network

Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private networking application.  This program allows you to create a network from multiple computers that are connected to the Internet as though they were connected by a physical network cable.  In essence, LAN over the Internet!  Want to play StarCraft over the Internet in Multiplayer LAN Mode?  No problem!

www.hamachi.cc

Upload Large Files

GigaSize is another large file email service that lets you upload and share files up to 1.5GB for free! The GigaSize team is made up of an international group that embraces Web 2.0 principles and methodologies. With members who previously worked with multi billion dollar hi-tech and engineering companies, you can be assured that GigaSize will offer you the most professional service available today.

www.gigasize.com

Send Huge E-Mails

YouSendIt is a large file e-mail service that allows users to send files up to 1GB in size.  This allows you to take a large number of data, and just e-mail it to yourself for future use, or allow for some travel of your data to another machine.

www.yousendit.com

Watch TV for Free - Part 3

Update:  Watch TV for Free - Part 4 is now available here

Free TV Web sites have always fascinated me.  How they manage to stay up and running is beyond me.  I do believe this is the wave of the future however, as I absolutely hate watching TV in the living room simply because it means I have to endure hours of commercials.

I much prefer to watch great online content, that is commercial free!  Below are some great web sites that are going forgotten since the whole "YouTube" frenzy caught on!  Although I do agree YouTube is by far the best of the sites, the sites below should not go un-noticed as some content here you will not find on YouTube!

 

Zango is actually a very interesting site in that it attempts to resolve copyright issues.  It allows people to post advertisements along  with their published content.  Zango calls this "content economy".  Zango also employs time-of-day technology to ensure that it is displaying the right type of advertisements, at the right time of day.  See, I don't mind advertisements personally if they make sense to what I'm looking for at the time.
http://www.zango.com

 

Some of the best episodes of Frontline are available for free online right now!  A great video I just finished watching is "Kim's Nuclear Gamble" created back in 2003.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/

 

So for all of the sites I have covered, it involves the web sites being up and running, and using their sometimes flaky web pages.  Multiple clicks and page loads do tend to annoy me. Instead, download and watch all the best Internet TV shows in one powerful application: any video RSS feed, video podcast, video blog, or BitTorrent file. Fullscreen, high resolution, 100% free and open source. New channels arrive daily in the built-in Channel Guide.
http://www.getdemocracy.com/

 

 Provides categorized free tv watching through categories like movies, news, music, entertainment, business, sports, etc.  being a little bit of an organizational nut myself, I love having everything easy to find and access, which is not the case with some other free tv web sites.
http://www.streamick.com

 

 This site differs from other free tv sites by offering cartoons and Anime.  It also has categories such as Asian Television, Independent TV, Comedy, and the World Cup of Soccer.  They currently boast over 10,000 videos online.  They do however simply organize the content for you, as most of their videos are hosted on YouTube.
http://tv.peekvid.com

 

 No list would be complete without mentioning the company that started not even a year ago in December 2005, and just recently sold to Google for for an estimated 1.65 billion dollars.  This site has absolutely everything you would ever want online.  Some of my favorite searches are: Russell Peters, The Evolution of Dance, and Super Mario Brothers. This site would literally keep you busy for the rest of your life!  Next time you miss a piece of a tv show, or miss an interview, check it out on YouTube, it will be there!
http://www.youtube.com

 

Channelchooser is a free tv portal that is very nicely designed from a user interface perspective.  It loads extremely quick, and has a very clean easy to use navigation system.  Another plus is the channels:  HBO, MTV, Comedy Central, ESPN, etc.
http://www.channelchooser.com

Of course one of the best ways you can watch TV on the Internet, like HBO, ESPN, and CNN is to download software that allows you to do this.    You can get Satellite TV for PC, Elite Edition here.  It’s by far the best software I have found, and will save you a lot of headaches.

Well there you have it!  Some of the best, top quality sites for you to watch free TVon the Internet!  This is part three in a series of articles I have published.  If you would like to view the complete list, here it is:

• Watch TV for Free - Part 4
• Watch TV for Free - Part 3
• Watch TV for Free - Part 2
• Watch TV for Free - Part 1

Having issues with choppy video playback?
Instead of going into details here on how to resolve these issues, please read Speeding up video playback.

Speeding up video playback

There are so many reasons why your video playback could be choppy or slow.  I wont speak to the independent variables that you can not control, instead I will tell you how to speed up video playback right now! Let's get down to business!

TCP IP Optimizer
One of the main reasons your video could be running slow is your computers inability to handle all the traffic its receiving. Windows by default sets this extremely low and tweaked for dial up connections believe it or not.  Don't worry about all the details, just follow the steps bellow to get it up and running quickly:

1. Set your connection speed

2. Select your network adapter

3. Select "Optimal settings" and choose "Apply Changes"

4. Your done!

Download this tool here:
http://www.speedguide.net/files/TCPOptimizer.exe

Windows Media Player Tips

If you are still having issues at this point, you can start tweaking some settings yourself.  Although Windows Media Player does a pretty good job on its own, sometimes it definitely gets it wrong.  Just load up media player, go into tools, options.  In there you will see a "Performance" tab.

Within this section, select "Choose connection speed" and select your correct connection speed manually.  Next move down to the buffering section and set this yourself to 60 seconds or more.  This will cause a longer buffering time up front, but will remove constant choppiness!

Lastly for this tab, make sure the Video Acceleration is set to full  and you are ready to go!

Next make sure to select the Network tab and ensure all check boxes are selected.  Specifically, ensure UDP is selected.

Latest Drivers and Software

Make sure you are using the latest version of your software! This could actually be the largest contributor to your issues, and the easiest to fix.  Below are links to update to the latest most popular web streaming video playback software:

• Windows Media Player 10 / 11
• QuickTime
• Real Player

You will also want to make sure you have the latest drivers for your video cards and sound cards, as well your motherboard!

Finally...

Now that your tweaked out, make sure to check out the best free TV sites on the Internet!  There are a series of articles on this web site below:

• Watch TV for Free - Part 2
• Watch TV for Free - Part 3

That's it for the tips on optimizing your video playback.  Internet connection speed plays a great deal to do with your streaming media quality, as well as how many hops you are from your destination server.  If you are still having issues, please feel free to post comments below and I will gladly answer your questions or another user will certainly help you out! 

Travel Tips for Frequent Flyers

I travel all the time!  Its crazy really.  I have been travelling constantly for the last 8 years.  I tell you this is I have learnt how to travel!  And I love it!  Travelling is a funny thing... at first you love it.. It's new, refreshing, people say things like "Oh you get to travel to all these awesome places!", but then suddenly it becomes something you hate.  One day you wake up after falling asleep in an airport and go.. "Where the heck am I...".  You have to learn pretty quick how to make travelling enjoyable again, or it can eat you up and make you a pretty miserable person!

What makes travelling goodness is a few simple tips that keep me sane.  So without further wait, here is the road warriors survival guide to travelling and managing a software team.

I will keep updating this post constantly, so please feel free to bookmark using your favourite blogging software!  Also I love comments, so If you have any tips of your own, please pass them along!

1. Get a Blackberry
   I can't really stress this enough.  I love technology that just works, and this is one of those devices that does just that.  I land in a city, I power up my Blackberry, and in comes the emails, moved appointments, and wav files of any voice mails from home and office.  We have BES setup so its pretty much instant push from the exchange server.  This is truly an awesome device that has saved me from having to boot up the laptop just to check my emails at the airports!  I love it!
2. Ask for Exit Row!
   For some reason everyone seems to be afraid of the exit rows in air planes.  I have news for you, if that door opens, its not just the one row that will be affected.  Anyway, you get twice the leg room here, and with recent squeezing on almost every airline, you wont be able to open your laptop if you do not get this row.  Yes some airlines are charging an extra 15 bucks now for this row, but its worth it!
3. Get an iPod
   Ok, if you are travelling and do not have one of these yet... then... well.. BUY ONE.  You will spend so much time sitting, and walking from gate to gate, that you simply can not waste that time!  Every once in a while when you have -5 minutes to get to your flight you might want to put on some jamming tunes!
4. Get a subscription to Audible.com!
   So you have an iPod, or some sort of MP3 capable device, now is the time to load it up with some relevant materials.  Audible.com is awesome for this!  you can get books in audio format, speed them up by about 2x on your iPod, and in a 4 hour flight, you could read/listen to the Da Vinci Code!  Prices are actually really good.  I ended up subscribing monthly, and I get two books for "free" every month.
5. Use Flight Aware!
   This is one of those sites I check just before leaving.  Shows me all the aircraft that are in North America at a glance, as well as departures and arrivals for most major centres.
6. Check SeatGuru!
   Seat Guru is awesome.  It has complete seating charts for all the major airlines.  This includes their own custom configurations, because as you know, same aircraft, does not mean the same seat configuration.  Like I said before as long as you get an exit row, and even a window, and then the aisle seat, you should be ok, but its always nice if  you have time to check before you pick your seats.
7. For U.S.A. only, Check the FAA!
   This is a very reliable site that I have book marked in my blackberry.  lets you know quickly if flights in the major hubs are delayed.
8. Travel Light! Carry on!
   Why bring so much stuff!  So many people I see check so many bags and I really have a hard time understanding why.  If you are going on a few days business trip, you should do well with just one laptop bag, and a carry on suite case.  This is the best way to avoid loosing your luggage, which trust me, is one of the worst things that can happen and NOT FUN!
9. Get some snacks and a Magazine!
   Food on flights these days are terrible!  In an effort to cut costs, you literally will get maybe 10 little tiny sticks of pretzels in a bag, and a half a can of coke for a four hour flight.  If you're really lucky and the flight is delayed enough, you might get two whole helpings.  Save yourself the aggravation of waiting for food that really is never coming and get some snacks.  You can carry them on the plane, and don't have to worry about what they will give you for snacks!
10. Bring a decongestant and some gum!
    My ears never bother me, but when they do.. make sure you have the supplies you need to make the pain go away.  If you know your ears will hurt because you have sensitive ears, take the decongestant before the flight.  Also chew gum so you are constantly swallowing, this will help relieve the pressure building up in your ear.
11. Check your Gates Regularly.
    This is especially important if you land for a connecting flight and are laying over.  Gates change all the time.  Make sure you know the gate, the section of the airport so you don't miss your flight!
12. Try The Universal Packing List.
    This is really neat!  It lets you enter in the parameters of your trip, and then creates a list of things you need to pack and remember for your trip!
13. Using the Subway?  Save Subway Maps to your iPod with iPodSubwayMaps.
    If you are going to be doing any serious subway travel once you get into the destination, you will want to be ready!  This site lets you download images of different routes around the world, and save them to your iPod!  This is awesome!
14. Get Local Car Plates.
    Once you get to the destination, and you go get your vehicle, you will probably be tired, and just hop in the car and go.  Before you do that, CHECK YOUR PLATES.  Sometimes someone will return an out of state vehicle, and you will be given a car with out of state plates.  This is perfectly legal except you will be drawing some un-wanted attention to yourself.  Last thing you want is your car broken into.  Insist on local plates, they have to comply.
15. Cary an Extra Laptop Battery!
    For my Asus V6V I carry two batteries with me at all times.  Just in case one dies, you can swap in the other one and get another 4 hours of battery life.  Laptop batteries in general are still pretty useless but this tip will ensure you stay up for at least double whatever your stinky laptop can give you now.  My battery for my Asus looks like the barrel of a riffle, so it makes for some interesting stares when I pull it out mid flight.

Besides the annoyances that can occur, flying is really one of the best ways to travel.  It is also very safe, I've hardly ever experienced any scary situations while travelling in an air plane.  Following the steps above, all thought they may seem straightforward to some, will ensure you have a great and enjoyable experience!

Like this article?  Digg It!

Happy Travelling!

Font Sites and Tools

I'm working on a few sample designs for one of our software applications and didn't like fonts I had.  So I started looking around the Internet for Font Sites, and some Font Tools that you can use to find the perfect font!

Font Sites

• Creamundo http://www.creamundo.com/
• DaFont http://www.dafont.com/
• Typenow http://www.typenow.net/themed.htm  I really liked this site they have all the fonts from the movies and television shows!
• BitFont Maker http://pentacom.jp/soft/ex/font/edit_dir.html  This site lets you make your own fonts online and preview and test them.  You can also save them and send them to friends.
• Abstract Fonts http://www.abstractfonts.com/. About 10,000 free fonts to use
• 1001 Free Fonts http://www.1001freefonts.com/.  In one click you can download 4,000 fonts, plus additional fonts in their web site.
• Simply the Best Fonts http://simplythebest.net/fonts/.  Nice variety here, all categorized for your viewing pleasure.

Once you have all these fonts, it can be really hard to actually tell the differences between the fonts! Typetester will let you select different settings for three different types of fonts, and view them together for comparison!  Really nice!

Have you ever found yourself looking at an image and wondering what font was used in the text?  If you have, you will love My Fonts What The Font.  This site will let you upload the image, and it will attempt to detect the font type that was used!  Pretty snazzy!

If you still cant find your font, Identifont should be able to help.  Using either keywords and descriptions, or by answering a series of questions about the font in question, this tool should be able to help you on that sometimes annoying quest of "what was that font!".  Not knowing what font to use can sometimes annoy a person as much as "what song was that!".

Now of course since there is no "Font Download" technology readily available yet, there are only certain fonts you should use if you performing web work.  However if you are just creating concepts, or fooling around in Photo shop, then these sites should definitely spruce things up for you!

Like this article?  Digg it!

Happy Fonting

Watch TV for Free - Part 2

Update:  Watch TV for Free - Part 4 is now available here!

Free TV is now here!  This post will be updated constantly to serve you the most complete and up to date Free TV Viewing Web Sites On the Internet!

The previous post on watching free TV received a lot of traffic, however there are some other services available that also work very well at getting you free TV.  I started looking and found a ton of free TV web sites.  I've posted the best ones here for you to try for yourselves.

Having issues with choppy video playback?
Instead of going into details here on how to resolve these issues, please read Speeding up video playback.

New!
Choose and Watch
Free TV site offering over 200 channels on your computer with no software needing to be installed.
http://www.chooseandwatch.com

New!
Watch Episodes of Lost
Channel 4 has set up streaming media files of the first and second season's of lost for free TV viewing on the Internet!http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/L/lost/vod/index.html

wwiTV
Free TV Web Site, Huge collection of free Live Internet Television stations - over 1500 online Television channels available.
http://wwitv.com

TVGratis
TV Gratis specializes in Spanish television channels.  Some great channels can be found here for all the Latin American countries, as well as various other channels.
http://www.tvgratis.com

CraftTV

CraftyTv is a free TV-portal. Watch the best online news, entertainment, sports, music and information TV channels. Choose your channel and enjoy viewing on CraftyTV!.
http://www.crafttv.com

Watch World Cup Soccer!
This is pretty awesome, http://www.sopcast.org has a ton of streaming feeds! Enjoy the World Cup!

Medinalia is a web based service that offers over 900 live television channels,  50 on demand channels, and 3800 radio stations, all from over 148 countries.
http://www.medinalia.com

Orb is a web service that lets you stream any media content from your home, to any Internet connected device.  This is perfect for traveling and accessing your home satellite or pre-recorded television shows.
http://www.orb.com

absOrb IQ is a front end windows application you can use for your Orb account.  It adds features such as local television listings, recorded content, volume controls, and some other stuff.  It also has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to.
http://briandailey.googlepages.com/absorb

This is really cool!  You can watch some free TV channels on your computer!  MTV, Golf, Specialty Networks!  Check it out!
http://www.channelchooser.com

Free tv, live streaming video of your favorite television shows and channels! Watch dramas like 24 and Prison Break, or comedies like South Park and Arrested Development. Or watch live channel feeds from more than 70 stations like the BBC News, Poker TV, and the Game Network!
http://www.channelbreak.com/livechannel.php

Streamclick offers over 80 free television channels for free streaming over the web browser categorized by subject area. Comedy Network, ABC, all available for free.
http://www.streamick.com/

StreamWired.Com provides over 150 different channels of your favorite TV Shows from only $8.00 USD per month! Ok so this one is not totally free, but they do have a free trial and its a really nice service so I wanted to add it in. Unlike most services that offer foreign channels, they offer only premium quality English speaking TV shows, and shows you know!
http://www.streamwired.com/

With over 12300 videos streaming right now, this site is awesome.  It is divided into sections: TV Shows, Cartoons, Anime, Asian Drama and Movies, Independent TV, Western Music Videos, Japanese Music Videos, Chinese Music Videos, Korean Music Videos, and Bollywood Music Videos.  Great Site!
http://www.peekvid.com/

Mediascrape is the first global Internet news network!  This site will give you access to all the news channels and networks around the world.  This will enable you to see ALL the sides of the stories, completely uncensored!
http://www.mediascrape.com

ContentStock offers over 6,000 channels to choose from, streaming.  Shows like 24, Lost, are available here.
http://www.contentstock.com/

We also have, Martial Arts TV.  This one is my favorite as I love martial arts and have been doing Karate for over 15 years (www.kyokushincanada.com).  This site has hundreds of martial arts videos and streaming content for you to enjoy, as well as a really nice search feature and interface.
http://www.martialartstv.com/

There is another site, http://www.adultswim.com/adultswimfix/index.jsp. If you are an Adult Swim fan (This is an animation site, not adult), you will want to check this out!

Guba.com is an awesome site with a ton of videos, this one allows for people to upload videos so I was a little reluctant to place it on this posting, however it does have some free television shows as well.

Craft TV is a great site with a ton of shows, you have to pay for this one, however, they are so cheap, and a really nice quality site!

Internet TV Guide is another great site!  This one has over 1200 Channels!

Beeline TV is a new one I stumbled upon.  It has channels from various countries around the world.  Very easy to use.  Just find the country, the show you would like to watch, and it loads instantly.

Fabchannel This is not a TV Channel site like the rest.  Instead it streams live concerts!   Pretty nice site.  Check it out.

Of course one of the best ways you can watch TV on the Internet, like HBO, ESPN, and CNN is to download software that allows you to do this.    You can get Satellite TV for PC, Elite Edition here.  It’s by far the best software I have found, and will save you a lot of headaches.

This is part three in a series of articles I have published.  If you would like to view the complete list, here it is:

• Watch TV for Free - Part 4
• Watch TV for Free - Part 3
• Watch TV for Free - Part 2
• Watch TV for Free - Part 1

Having issues with choppy video playback?
Instead of going into details here on how to resolve these issues, please read Speeding up video playback.

Happy free TV Watching!

GMail Invites

I thought I would just let everyone know that I have a bunch of gmail invites.  Let me know if you are looking to get invited.  I think most people have gmail accounts now that wanted them.  Anyway, if you would like one, just send me an email at:  miguelcarrasco@gmail.com!

Happy e-mailing!

Get Windows Live Mail Beta Now!

Here's a trick to upgrade from Hotmail, to the new Windows Live Mail Beta.  Currently you have to submit a request on the live site to get on a cue, however with this trick, you can be using the new Windows Live Mail in the next 5 minutes!

1. Go to: http://www1.imagine-msn.com/minisites/sweepstakes/mail
2. Type in your e-mail address and click submit

This doesn't seem to work for everyone unfortunately.  It has worked for about 80% of the people that  have tried this with.  For some people it tells them to wait two weeks, which still is not to bad.  Another method that has worked is:

1. Go to: http://www4.imagine-msn.com/minisites/mail/Default.aspx?locale=en-ca
2. Type in your e-mail address and click submit

Good Luck!