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TV For Nerds: Cable Science Network?
Ridgelift writes "Wired is covering The Cable Science Network. New York Times science writer Sandra Blakeslee puts it best: "I cover a lot of meetings and I can just see things unfolding, but we can't cover it all in print media, so it would be wonderful to have things like talks and plenary sessions accessible to the public. There are a lot of C-SPAN junkies, and I think there would be a similar interest (in science TV) from the American public." There's also a home page for the network here."
Seems like only two months ago we discussed the possibility.
It's called the SciFi Channel.
Hopefully a channel like this can stick to what it was meant to show. Remember TLC? Didn't that used to stand for The Learning Channel? When did it become The Trading Spaces And Other Non Educational Crud Channel?
If they include Mr. Wizard!
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
I realize I'm a professor and very well educated, but so are you guys (after all, anyone using Linux is probably in the top 3 percentile for raw intelligence).
:-p
That being said, I DON'T WATCH TV. There are so many other great things I could be doing, like playing with my kids or doing research or spending quality time with my wife or watching LOtR on DVD.
I want my science news from respectable sources (Nature, Wired, etc.), not from some silly television show based on CORPORATE INTERESTS like profits, profit sharing, etc.
This is NOT what we want. We're smart, we love science, but we prefer the Internet, a place where WE MAKE THE NEWS and are independently allowed to form our own opinions.
Plus COMMERCIALS SUCK anyway
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
At home, I have 293 channels of TV for dorks and boobs, why not ONE channel for nerds?
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
By focusing mainly on medical developments and boiling everything down to 30 seconds, science is often sensationalized and distorted, said Sandra Blakeslee, a science writer for The New York Times.
Of course we don't have any problems like that on Slashdot, where everything is reported accurately and with little fanfare...
Oh wait, this just in, THE MILKY WAY JUST GOT BIGGER!
WARNING: If accidentally read, induce vomiting.
Now couldnt they just do a merger of Sci-Fi and TechTV to do this.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
We do have science channels on cable.
Discovery Channel (and it's numerous topic-specific offshoots) - Unfortunately, they are 33% infomercials and the remaining programming is usually uninteresting things like re-runs of rescue 911 and "rescue emergency" and other non-scientific things. At best, you'll get a piece of less-than-laymen's scientific programming.
The Learning Channel - unfortunately, this is really now The Ladies Channel, what with A Baby Story, A Dating Story, A Wedding Story, A Makeover Story, What Not To Wear, Trading Spaces and the dozens of other women-centric, non-learning, non-science shows.
It will be cancelled. You can't compete with sound bites.
Supposing even that there are plenty of people interested, showing conference proceedings C-Span style will fail. Conferences are too narrow for this to work. Even when I attend a conference in my area of expertise, I follow only about half the talks, and would need to read up a bit to follow the rest. To someone outside my field, they are all probably undecipherable. So even though I like the possibility of viewing conferences, I doubt enough viewers will follow it to be marketable.
As a Netflix subscriber I can make do without TV... most of the good shows eventually make it to DVD. Most everything else sucks.
A channel like this however could bring me back, however, especially if it were commercial-free, like C-SPAN.
When I had a TV I used to leave C-SPAN on all the time, and it was actually rather enjoyable, that is, until I figured out just how corrupt our government is. Then it became extremely aggravating.
I trust the same thing wouldn't happen here.
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
I can envision a Crossfire-type show about paranormal/pseudoscientific claims...
Maybe we can get James Randi and Uri Geller to cohost.
[/straight face]
I wish them well, but they will run into harsh competition for channel slots.
Yes, with really scientific nerdy shows like "Crossing Over".
24 / 7 nerditude is either enough to make me want to dance or enough to make baby Jesus want to cry.
Maybe both.
Sharpies don't just sniff themselves.
We already have the Discovery Science channel! I just can't get the Anime Network on DirecTV!!
Well lets see 1) Cameras in heated stem-cell debate forum 2) ?????? 3) Profit ????
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
There's so much fun and crazy science already -- and it's on American TV and in a cartoon. Yes, you guessed it -- The Simpsons!
:
Remember this part?
Homer: "I'm feelin' low, Apu. You got any of that beer that has candy floating in it, you know, Skittlebrau?"
Apu: "Such a product does not exist, sir! You must have dreamed it."
Homer: "Oh. Well then just gimme a six-pack and a couple of bags of Skittles."
So, check out the Skittlebrau project and enjoy the entire experiment.
These friends made Skoors Light, Bacardi Skilver, Skitrona, Old Skilwaukee, and finished off with Skittlebrau!
Their conclusion? "Skittlebrauology is a new science. But it certainly shows an intriguing new path in mixology. Malt beverages do not seem to mix well with the fruity candy, but bitter, quality beers seem to mesh well. Obviosuly, more research needs to be done, but it certainly is nothing to laugh at."
Hahahahaha!
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
It's called the SciFi Channel.
no, it's the Playboy Channel.
i mean already we have seen the discovery channel and the learning channel go towards mainstream media.
I mean is it really possible to have a channel devoted just to science and still make a profit?
i just don't see it happening... not big enough market and the costs would be too high. eventually they will fold and become more mainstream. ro
I think there would be a similar interest (in science TV) from the American public.
I think he is vastly overrating the American public. In this day and age, most people generally don't want to learn. They want to be entertained (hence gobbling down fish semen on Fear Factor). I'm not saying it's a bad idea, though. They could grab a niche market. I like the Discovery and History channels (and TLC), but too often they have "stupid" programming (weddings, babies, interior designers, etc). Also, they are not very technically oriented. You never hear anything except horsepower on most of the "good" shows. I would love it if this new deal had much more technical details in its programming, or at least went into more depth about how stuff works rather than "Look at this cool gizmo!"
If you find this post offensive, don't read it! THINK ABOUT YOUR BREATHING! I am what I am because of how apes behave.
24 hour coverage of DMCA, RIAA, MPAA and other tech rights issues - it would be cool to see news anchors talking about students being sued for holding down the shift key, keyboard manufacturers being sued for creating circumvention devices, and the rest of the fool's parade that is the entertainment industry these days. I think it would wake a lot of people up.
I mean, is this going to be like tech tv, which to me is more like a gadgets commercial. I find that appart from few shows, most science programs are sort of thin on content. I still love Nova somehow :) I just hope this is not going to be another of those channels whose documentaries are filled with goofy re-enactments bi third rate actors whose faces you rarely see ....
photoplankton
the Washington Generals of the History Channel.
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the strongest word is still the word "free"
Isn't this going to be just like Discovery Science channel?
That's the only channel I watch when it comes to science, (maybe a little of the Discovery Wings). TLC and the other Science channels really don't show much.
BUT even the Discovery Science channel tends to show the same documentaries and episodes of shows. I think it needs some new material, but I still watch something new every other night at least.
One last thing..
AHHHHH!!! The Atmosphere!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Causing Chaos Everywhere,
Nik J.
The strange world of a loner, in a populous city, drowning in society
Several of us posted comments pointing out that there are at least three channels that do this now. They are all run by universities and show science lectures, in depth debates, etc. These other stations, though, do also run non-science content, but they are non-commercial so you get fairly true and balanced content.
I REALLY would like to see a channel that focuses on science for the intelligent. TLC used to be nice, then they went all foo foo, so they started the Discovery Science channel. They are now starting to run non science and non educational stuff, plus they are so beholden to ratings and the sponsors that they never run any lectures or shows that actually raise debate or cover controversial subjects.
I'll give this new channel a shot as soon as it comes on my sattellite lineup, but I don't have any high hopes. The first show I see like "The science behind Microsoft Windows XP", the channel comes out of my lineup. Keep the programming more like NASA TV, CSPAN, UCTV, FSTV, Research Channel, etc and you'll keep me as a viewer.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Might be worth a look if you get the channel. I have it on Dish Network. It appears that it may be broadcast live on the web as well (sadly, in Windows Media).
Madness takes its toll. Exact change please.
so why can't i find any indication that slaughter college exists?
because it probably doesn't.
poser!
I'd love to see them offer their "C-SPAN" coverage of science on-demand. I'm a C-SPAN junkie, but I'm a slave to their broadcast schedule. If on-demand programs were available, I'd make a playlist of C-SPAN and C-SN programs that I could watch when I have time, like at my desk at work ;). The network could offer preprogrammed playlists, with "anchors" introducing the streams. We could pass around RSS on the Net, like a videoblog. Slashcode revs, anyone?
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make install -not war
Nope. It's TechTV!
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
Okay first of all, from the male perspective, TLC is crap because its nots about geek stuff, or science, or history, or any of those things geeks value as learning.
Now try to put yourself in the place of the average woman, stay at home or otherwise. Women learn a lot from that home decorating stuff! You might be surprised what you might learn. Also there all those medical shows which tell you about medical conditions people have and stories of what they have gone through. Your average female TV viewer, especially the stay at home mom, eats that stuff up, and its still learning!
I'm not belittling women's TV by far, I'm in fact showing that comments like the parent to this are subjective, usually based on the male or geek (or both) point of view. Learning is subjective. Just because it's not science, history, or math doesn't mean its not learning. The channel just switched tracks from men to women. Yes it was done for business reasons, switching to a better demographic, and yes I, personally, absolutely do not like, what they show now, but the discovery and history channels filled in for me quite nicely, and this science channel will help too.
I watch Queer Eye for the Straight guy (okay that's on Bravo but its the same idea), and it's decidedly a "chick show." But DAMN do you know how much stuff guys could learn from that? And I'm not talking about "learning to match clothes so you can be superficial." I'm talking about things that matter (or should matter) to geeks like:
1) Getting your house organized so you don't look like a slob and can find things.
2) Keeping and staying healthy and reasonably well groomed.
3) Learning to cook more than ramen noodles.
4) Looking and acting like a guy a woman might want to go to bed with.
5) Looking like a guy someone might want to hire.
6) keeping your girlfriend happy!!
I call that learning... maybe that's why the gender gap is still so wide, because men don't think these things that women consider learning about are learning.
Think of it this way... this is a low level sociology channel. Be fascinated by the interations of people and their living spaces!
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
TechTV is hardly for nerds. It's more for confused retards who think they're trendy computer users.
nerd dancing will make baby Jesus cry.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
C-SPAN isn't about whether you want to see it.
It's about congresscritters marketing themselves to you.
It was created not because of some right to be informed, but because they want to deduct their suits and have clips of themselves being mendacious and fervent about it to show the voters back home.
Book Time is there simply because Congress forgot to allow commercial spots to be sold. Otherwise, it'd be Lifestyles of the Profligate and Incumbent.
I was just thinking the other day about how nerds don't spend nearly enough time staring at a screen!
There are a ton of very-narrowly-focused channels out there, but they are only available to small groups of people, it seems. I like cars and computers, so I would love to have Speedvision and TechTV, but of course my local cable company doesn't carry it in my area. I do, however, get such great channels as the golf channel, multiple religious channels, and the public access channel that shows powerpoint slides when it's not showing a blue screen of death.
I have blog like everyone else
TLC still is educational, where else are you going to learn the essential skills of survival, like how to make sure an insane designer doesn't completely wreck you're neighbors home?!
Have you guys considered getting a few hours air time per week? Might be good to have SlashTV or something...
So have YOU bought a slashdot subscription for a notorious troll for Christmas yet?
Sorry, I don't see this happening.
... I'm not going to sign this.") to "Monster Garage" is tastefully presented and very captivating to watch.
Last I checked, there were about 4 or 5 different flavors of the discovery channel on my digital cable box. The big difference between CSPAN and Discovery is that CSPAN is mostly an open feed for anything that wants a voice in Washington, such as, recently, the Ultimate Warrior talking at length (rest assured, amazing signal-to-noise ratio) about rights and freedoms to a youth conference. I could be wrong, but there are not hundreds of professional scientists gathered in one area at a time to debate issues and topics on a 9-to-5 basis. A public set of channels simply wouldn't have any continuous content to feed off of, unlike CSPAN.
Discovery makes up for this with heavily-produced and well-funded edutainment. There is no CSPAN equivalent (24-hour cable networks aren't really "heavily produced"). The quality far outshines the quantity witnessed by CSPAN, though. Almost everything from TechTV's "Big Thinkers" featuring interviews with Michio Kaku and Lessig (reading a release form...~"'I waive all right to claims I make in this interview and the ability to collect royalites from TechTV and parent companies etc. etc.'
I like what we've got, thank you.
Because the TV industry's desires are right in line with the Recording and Motion Picture industries'. YRO will have to be limited to /. and other web forums (like k5, MeFi, HuSi, LJ, etc.)
The previous sig has been removed due to
All that learning has really been tempting me to get myself a television. I am information-ravenous, and it's taken every ouce of willpower I have to not succumb to the temptation to subscribe to cable television for access to TLC, the History Channel, Discovery, The Food Network, and so forth, but this... This could totally smash my resolve.
Oh television... It's been years. Should I give in?
You work in tech support, don't you.
You can always learn something from most viewing situations as long as you stay away from the American "reality" and "sitcom" TV shows.
One of my favorite channels on television is LINK TV. This is available on DirecTV satellite and it's a wonderful resource of alternative news and information.
While not specifically technical in nature, this network runs a lot of documentaries and shows that the mainstream media would never show. There was a great documentary shown recently where they placed Internet Kiosks in a middle eastern country and didn't tell anyone how to use them, and observed how quickly the children learned to use the Internet and what information they sought out (another segment of the show features the developer of the Kiosks meeting with Issac Asimov and watching 2001 with him! He likened the un-explained Internet kiosk to the monolith in the movie and discussed it with Asimov).
Another great show on this network is Mosaic which is a daily news program which features excerpts from news broadcasts throughout the middle east. The video footage is much more substantive and you can almost always see an entirely different angle on the daily news stories, as well as a lot more information (and best of all, J-Lo is never mentioned).
This network is a MUST SEE channel. And had I known about it prior, it would have easily justified switching cable/sat companies.
CSN... Fair and Balanced.
Pelé!
Direct from the website
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Trading Spaces - Ever sit in someone's home and wonder what would happen if you stripped, ripped and painted as you pleased? Find out during this one-of-a-kind decorating show when two sets of neighbors swap keys to transform a room in each other's home. They have two days, a set budget, and they're not allowed back into their own homes until the moment of truth. This is how-to with a neighborly twist.
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Actually, while not main streem education, it's actually a decent show to get decoration ideas. Interror design is actually a field, though sometimes not as respected as construction.
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What not to wear - What Not to Wear draws on the personality and talent of fashion experts Stacy London and Clinton Kelly to convert participants from dowdy to dashing. Hair stylist Nick Arrojo and makeup artist Carmindy add the finishing touches that complete the change.
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Again, not mainstreem education, but after a full week of geeking out, it's good to tune to this once and a while to get some ideas so you can actually get a date. Let's face it, it's hard to pickup chicks in a cisco t-shirt (though not impossible).
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Date Patrol - Watch the daters stammer, blush and squirm on these first dates.
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Ok, I have no defence for this one, I won't even try.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
I got Dish Network two years ago and have been enjoying The Research Channel, UCTV, and UWTV. They've got university lectures nearly around the clock. Some of the lectures are toned down for a lay scientist (lots of annual faculty lectures), and others are broadcasts of actual university classes. CSN would be a welcome addition to these networks for me.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
Like a lot of others, I get the Internet via cable broadband and don't mind if a bit of my fees go to provide me with this channel as streaming video/audio. Material like this makes cable broadband worth getting.
I must say I don't give this one much of a chance. It's like C-SPAN--except it's not.
I'd be interested to know where the funding is going to come from. C-SPAN works because it is funded by the cable industry, so they can be (delightfully) boring. Unless they get a similar arrangement with some group or other, they're going to go the way of The Learning Channel.
Next, he'll have to deal with cable carriers.
Where he'll be competeing with some 300 other cable networks (some of whom have similar missions.) C-SPAN gets a place on your cable dial because the company is helping pay for it. Bingham may have to pay companies to carry the network.
Finally, saying you want something to be "like C-SPAN, but more fun" is like saying you want something to be "like Slashdot, but more accessable": you've clearly missed the point.
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
We really are screwed, aren't we?
"You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo
...or the Science Channel. The Science Channel has been airing for a few years--I believe it was formerly called the Discovery Science Channel, or maybe it was the original Discovery Channel. They have good programming--the only problem is, they rerun stuff way too much. Wayyyy too much. Alot of the programming has been broadcast for at least a year. Still, if you haven't seen it before, it's new to you...
Harold
The problem with Science on TV is they pretty much have to do it for the least common denominator, which is people who know a hell of a lot less about science than your average geek/nerd.
I don't have a T.V. and couldn't get PBS down here in Mexico anyway, so I downloaded the three part series that Nova did on String theory. While I found it mildly interesting, it was definitely dumbed down quite a bit. In fact, before I downloaded, I was thinking to myself, how could they possibly explain String theory to your average dolt. Well, they did, and because of that, I found maybe 10 minutes worth of new information in 3 hours of programming.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't and don't expect, a channel that's going to explain string theory in detail. I mean, how many people understand that level of math anyway? But I would have liked something a bit deeper.
But that is exactly my point. They can't do that because they won't get enough viewers. I've tried explaining some potential geometries of the universe to my mother, using diagrams and concepts as simple as I could figure. It went completely over her head. In fact, I think after about 30 seconds, she just stopped listening even though she looked like she was listening intently.
I thought I could explain it in a way that made sense to a lay person, but I just couldn't. And not just physics. In many topics in science, if you want to go to a depth where I'm going to learn a lot, you're not going to get a lot of viewers. Viewers = money, and folks, money is what runs TV networks. But hey, I'm curious to see what the programming is like, and I wish I could get it down here in Mexico.
I'd be tempted to disagree with you about calling it the channel for nerds... but lets face it, most 'nerds' are incredibly stupid.
The answer should be obvious. Making your show stupid to appeal to stupid people is not a valid approach at educating anyone.
There are a lot of C-SPAN junkies, and I think there would be a similar interest
Nope. C-SPAN, already a legendary font of boredom, is tremendously more exciting than a hard science channel would be.
The daily routines of both politicians and scientists are boring to watch, but politicans have two big advantages in becoming successful TV-fodder.
1) Their job is already based on attracting the public. (At least when elections are upcoming)
2) Their behavior is based on conflict. Conflict leads to excitment. Excitment leads to anticipation. Anticipation leads to... ratings.
...is that everyone is at a different level when it comes to science. Every show is either going to be too complex for some or too simple for others. Usually both. It is very hard to make a show that is deemed worthy science to someone with a graduate degree and still be understandable to a highschool student.
The key to entertainment through science is the idea that you are learning something new. Thus for the show to be entertaining it must be something you don't already know and actually be able to teach you it. This is very hard to do.
Discovery and TLC realized this and resorted to the lowest denomiator seeing as there are a lot more people without degrees.
All the other answers pretty much suck. I don't want to pay for 450 channels I don't watch and I can see any serious (long term) reason I should. Anyone with a server and enough bandwidth (and the proper licenses for the content) should be able to set up their own broadcast network. Period.
Quack, quack.
Who is going to make the cable companies add it to their line-up? Hell, I don't even get the NASA (I have been asking) channel. The cable company seem more incline to add another shopping network, then something like this.
Chris Southern
When a 'source' covers the Orgasmatron i think it stops being respecatble ;)
- meta language used, please apply your own spelling and gramma
We have
*The Discovery Channel
*The Learning Channel
*National Geographic Channel
*about a quarter of PBS- NOVA, SciAm Frontiers, Frontiers,
*some items on the Hostory Channel
and probably others I've overlooked.
Science journalism pretty much has to follow the general rules of drama:
*You need an engaging theme/conflict to drive a story,
*It has to have a proper beginning, development, and ending,
*It needs interesting human characters.
Often these "science dramas" take the form of mysteries to be solved, races between labs or against time, quirky characters, and so on.
I enjoy watching the Physics stuff by Dr Samuel R. GoodStein? Cool stuff!
There was some guy that was confined to a wheel chair that did some cool stuff about physics. Don't see him around anymore. (Sigh)
With the problems of public schools, it would make sense to have learning Via TV, but that makes too much sense.
Tech TV is far more for us than Sci Fi. At least given the poor state of Sci Fi today.
If you haven't watched, I suggest you check out an evening of X-Play, Screen Savers, and, of course, Unscrewed. (Tech Live as well, but I don't get home in time for that, and wouldn't have time to watch it if I recorded it.)
(No, Leo isn't always technical, but he is there to try to explain things to the masses.)
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
I much more prefer to watch talks/conference online, if available. There would be no ads nor some other kind of junk flying over, just scientific bytes from the people who really care about science, and I can work at the same time. Doing this on TV channel is kind of waist of money and energy. The commercial benifit flowing into the corporated media should be put to some other better place. There are alreadt some popular channel like NASA and discover.
It only shows what I want to watch all the time, whenever I want, without annoying repeats, and as much geeky science shows, or not, from any channel as I like. Even add in some porn if I feel like it.
No channel is my master; only Cable.
Science is cool, but there is always Drama. People pissed at one another. Hence the high impact of Reality shows and deadline shows. Every scientist has gone through some type of drama. You name it. It is always a battle. Every Science has had it's battle with Religion. You can't eliminate the Human factor out of the equation. So, it basically boils down to Drama. Drama sells.
The way I see it, this will be science that doesn't get covered by the mainstream media-- and more accurate, to boot.
Quit saying the SciFi channel is adequate. They ****ing have John Edward's Crossing Over on it. What's sad is people believe that cold-reading trickery. TechTV is nice, also, but is it raw science discussion? Certainly not.
I want to see raw, unfiltered science discussion, not the new "cool hot topic" like string theory.
Also, part of the scientific process is peer review. This should certainly help, don't you think?
It's too hard to find good science nowadays. Hell, PBS sells stupid creationism B.S. with their science stuff...
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Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
I've never watched TLC, simply because almost everything they show is not close-captioned. Hopefully this new science channel won't make that mistake.
Twenties Retirement
Nah, NASA Tv is tv for nerds. Unfortunately, you have to own a c-band satellite dish.
Maybe subscribers could go online and vote for the programming they would like to see, or even submit program ideas. You could call it "TV for Nerds. Stuff that Matters."
Comcast gives us NASA TV on standard analog cable here. My theory is it's a plot to bore us into buying their overpriced digital cable package.
Like every other previous attempt to provide educational TV, how long until CSN turns towards the masses? To be frank, the frontiers of modern science are so complex and fine-grained it's going to be damn tough to actually present anything that is really 'news'. And how long before it sacrifices TRUTH for ENTERTAINMENT and rounds off the minutiae to give us an entertaining science-fiction account of 'How Our World Works'? If the CSN wants to teach the average semi-conscious, insipid TV-viewing mind something, they're going to have to recruit more Film School kids than scientists!
A place where we make the news...I understand.
WikiTV
It's also available on Dish Network you dolt.
+++OK ATH
Anyone using Linux is probably in the top three percentile for raw intelligence?????? That has to be one of the most absurd statements I have heard in weeks. To be honest, I have always discounted someone as a poser, fraud, fake, or perhaps ignorant one they say that they use Linux. People who use Linux are the ones that are easily swayed by what is popular, IMHO. Now, if someone talks about Solaris then I will sit up and take notice. Linux is a very poor implimentation of Unix, unless of course you are like those case moders with their blue lights and simply like the flashy gui or pretty colors. Real geeks don't care about that stuff. They care about getting things done. NOT about how things look. So all of you Linux users, go download Solaris and work with a REAL version of Unix!
I'm surprised that not more channels buy in more content produced from other countries. The best programs I have seen are made either in
:-)
/. Good thing this is the last day at work before the Christmas break, I think I need sleep. :-)
a) Britain
b) Sweden.
I'm sure there are lots of other quality programs made in the US and around the world that I never get to see though. Unfortunately I'm guessing that the channels that aim for the lowest common denominator are the ones that are making money...
But there must be lots of stuff in the archives of national public TV channels around the world that is available for very cheap, isn't it possible that there is enough of a market to make at least a little profit from each show?
Oh well, I'm not holding my breath. If it wasn't for the crackdown on P2P I would be downloading much more quality stuff from the net. The annoying thing is that the people who made for instance Time Team encourage swapping tapes (they have a forum on their official homepage where people can ask for episodes to trade), and the people behind Mystery Science Theatre 3000 have said in interviews they don't mind people sharing episodes on the net. These things are not available to buy (those MST3K episdoes available to buy are not traded), so there is no one losing money when people share. However, when the big media companies are cracking down, you can't be sure you won't get a whopping lawsuit anyway.
Does anyone know if for instance Scrapheap Challenge (the British seasons) or Time Team are available somewhere on the net? I bought the Scrapheap DVD - Commandments, what a disappointment that was! A straight VHS to DVD recording. A whole season crammed into one hour, so each episode was basically summed up to: "Ok, this week we are building a catapult. [cut] Here we see someone welding. [cut] The teams are finished, and now lets spend five minutes on the exiting competition!" They removed all that made the show interesting, i.e. the design decisions, the little explanatory animations (perhaps a bit simple, but good for me who isn't very technical), the history trivia etc. The competition was only interesting because then we got to see how the design and skills of the team played off, but no, they had to dumb it down to the "action" part.
For pure entertainment, I can recommend finding the DAPCentral on the net and downloading Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
Now that I've gotten my Radeon All-in-Wonder card, I'm definitely starting to record Time Team, A Car is (Re)Born and Scrapheap, lets see if I share them in the future...
Wow, I just read through what I wrote. This must have been one of the most rambling and incoherent posts I have ever made to
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
You can get NASA on DirecTV. You just have to have a triple LNB dish becuase it's on another satellite, along with the non-english language channels. These days most vendors are bundling the triple LNB dish because you will also need the other sats to get HDTV channels.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
It started (IIRC) as a channel showing any movie that they could buy for $20. Eventually it grew into what it is today. Now, IMHO, they hit a peak with Farscape and have gone down slightly since then, but I'm optimistic enough to think that that was just "a peak" and not "the peak." I think Stargate SG-1 is a good series (but that started a while ago, as it's in the middle of season 7), and their "You are watching SciFi" spots are entertaining (the new ones for the Food Network are good too). But UFO investigations with BRYANT GUMBEL? Eep. And Scare Tactics is just dumb.
WMBC freeform/independent online radio.
I have Dish Network also, and was a big fan of the CCN network up in that same range of channels. They had a kick-ass series on PhotoShop that I wish I had taped (who knew they would drop the channel).
Now that I have a DVR, I've been recording all the lectures and other things that are of interest on the Research Channel, UCTV and UWTV.
Damn I need to get a life...
WTF? Over?
Of course, if you can go three pages of posts without a Hitler reference, you've also done well.
Oh, well.
Batou: Hey, Major... You ever hear of "human rights"? Major: I understand the concept, but I've never seen it in action