MediaFox

I don’t even know why I still have cable. Well, actually I do. It’s because the wife likes the cable. She’s a freakin’ DVR ninja. If however I was single, I’d have already canceled my cable months ago. Between RSS bittorrents, Newsgroups, and online TV shows straight from the networks themselves or Hulu, why bother shelling out the extra money?

There’s a few problems with this setup though:

1. You have to have a PC connected to your TV. (which I suspect most people will have in the near future. I have a shuttle hooked up to every TV in my house)

2. Setting up a media center PC can be a bit of a pain in the ass.

3. Finding all those websites for online TV can be a bitch and might not look slick in your default vanilla browser.

Well, for the first two,you’re on your own. For the third one though, you can check out Mediafox. Mediafox is simply a download of portable firefox (no install, just unpack and run) version of firefox that has been tweaked with the media junkie in mind.

This handy tool has a theme and addons such as cooloris, foxytunes, as well as a fullscreen button. It also has a shit-ton of bookmarks for all your online TV needs. Check it out. It’s worth the download if you ask me.

Mediafox.zip

Kantaris Media Player

Kantaris Media Player is a more or less a skin for VLC Media Player. It does more than just skin though, it adds a few features to the player that are worth having. This player integrates Last.FM and Apple Movie Trailers to bring your media collection together.

Since it’s built on top of VLC Media Player, it can play pretty much any file without having to download any extra codecs. I’ve been using VLC for a while now, but I think I’m going to switch it up to this. Why not get the extras if you can keep the same core right?

Walk-through video after the break.

I know I’ve told several of you that you need to be using newsgroups for all your warez needs, but some of you have yet to listen. In this post I’m going to explain why it is that you should be using newsgroups.

For those of you who don’t need any convincing and just want to see how to get going, check out the video after the break.

“I just use torrents, they work fine for me.”

True, torrents do work. Here’s a few drawbacks to torrents though that I know you have faced in the past.

1. Not enough seeders (download takes forever)

2. Always wondering if RIAA or MPAA is on the torrent with you, writing down your IP and calling your ISP

3. Your favorite torrent site keeps getting shut down due to litigation (where the authorities now how your IP listed as one who has downloaded from that site)

4. Waiting 4 days on Season 3 of (insert TV show here) and you get to 98% complete and the one asshat seeder bails.

Here are a couple of answers to them.

1. Just download popular stuff

2. Download some IP blocker do-dad and hope for the best.

3. There’s always another site. Spoof your IP somehow.

4. Track down that piece of shit and kick his teeth in.

or…

5. Just use newsgroups (the correct choice)

Newsgroups are not peer to peer. You download (only, no upload) files from a newsgroup server of your choice. This means that only two people are aware of what you’re downloading. You… and your newsgroup provider.

“But I don’t want to have to pay for anything!!!”

You don’t have to. You can download any one of a hundred free newsgroup clients and use your ISP’s newsgroup servers and download your stuff from there.

Why should you pay and for what?

1. Newsleecher. This newsgroup client is 29.95 a year and well worth it. This program will save you shit tons of time. Essentially it turns newsgroups into a google search for warez. I also repairs and unpacks all the files you download for you.

2. Giganews (or newshosting). These two providers offer decent retention, they will max your connection, and for 15-30 bucks a month you can download all the movies, music, games, and software you want. You get your money’s worth after the first game download.

Watch the video, then stop being such a joo and start using newsgroups. You won’t regret it.