TV and Computers

[jinsai]

Anyone read this article about "missing" TV viewers? "In TV's worst spring in recent memory, an alarming number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months..."

Um... slap me and call me crazy but isn't that actually a good thing? Not for the TV industry but certainly for the viewers! Considering the number of obese Americans,

Comments

[scottishfae]

w00t! I'm one of those who stopped watching TV--why? Because it's too expensive for the crap they put on! I had to choose between TV and internet and internet won out in an unanimous majority of "WTF--I don't even like American TV." I watch Dr. Who straight from the UK & anime, and that's about it. If there is anything else I want to watch, I'll buy it on DVD later. Oh--and MST3K but those aren't on TV anymore, so it doesn't matter.

The only annoying thing, everyone just assumes I have TV and they act like I'm the plague when I don't know what they're talking about.

[jinsai]

Ooh, I really like that icon! What series is it from? I love the outfit that the girl in it is wearing. ^__^

Internet wins with me too. There are a couple of shows I do enjoy (Psych and Scrubs are my favorites) but I can live without them OR I can download them. But the net lets me download, read stuff, AND keep in touch with people. All that = the win. And honestly, a lot of times there's nothing but crap on the TV anyways. (We miss MST3K!)

I know what you mean about the plague thing. >_< I was once the ONLY person in the entire room who wasn't squeeling over the upcoming Friends finale. And when people start talking about Dawson's Creek, Grey's, or whatever the hell is the day's equivalent, I tune right out. Never seen them, don't care to!

[scottishfae]

The series is Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, though she never appears in that outfit during the series; it's one of the artbook extras.

I DL all my MST3K from a site called myspleen. They actually have a lot of stuff, including old school Nickelodean, but I just go for the MST3K.

I never found Friends funny. I didn't like it and the only reason I ever watched it was in the dorms when my roommate watched it and I was therefore forced to (of course, I made her watch my anime in return, so it was an equal trade.) I was likewise never into Dawson's Creek, and by the time Grey's came out I was pretty much only watching BBC, Food Network, Cartoon Network, Scifi, Discovery, Comedy Central, and HGTV (so for me, only channels between 37 & 100) and now of course I simply don't have TV. I've never desired to be normal or average, so the fact that I'm not in with the fads doesn't affect me as much as it would others (like my sister.)

[jinsai]

Ha! I thought it looked like Haruhi! But I didn't recognize the outfit so I wasn't sure. ^___^ It's a much sexier look for her than seems to fit in the anime.

I browse watch Food Network, Discovery, and the History Channel for good programs. I USED to watch Will & Grace, Buffy, and Angel. Now I watch Supernatural, Scrubs, Monk, and Psych more or less regularly (ie. when new episodes are on). Monk and Psych are both on USA which in my opinion is one of the only decent (over-all) fiction programming channels out there. I watch Comedy Central for the Daily Show and The Colbert Report (♥!) but I'm pretty sporadic about that. And all that about sums up my affair with TV. I went an entire year without it in Japan and it certainly didn't kill me.

[stormcloude]

You should be able to save your bookmarks somehow and transfer them over as a file. I'm not exactly sure how it's done, but I know you can do it. The firefox website should be able to help.

And there should be a setting in your display options for the wallpaper. You know the "center, tile, stretch" part.

How do you like Vista?

[jinsai]

*clings to knowledgable computer type person*

Hey, you have two computers - does del.ic.ious transfer somehow? Will check out the firefox thing...

There is a display setting but "center" makes it smaller than the entire screen size with these big borders around it. I want it to fill the entire screen but if I use "stretch", the picture is stretched out of proportion. My Ash wallpaper gets sulky about being made fat.

Vista has some good and some bad features. I really like the gadget sidebar; you can either make it vanish or set it up with all sort of little gadgets like a clock, a mini slideshow, the weather, and so on. I don't like the "allow?" feature. Ever seen that Apple commercial where the PC has this bodyguard and he has to say "allow" to every little thing? It's not quite that bad but it's still annoying. Have to figure out if that setting can be changed because I don't like having the extra pop-up window whenever I try to run a new program

[stormcloude]

Your del.icio.us bookmarks are saved on the web. You can access them from any computer.

The wallpaper borders probably have something to do with the resolution then. You might want to see what size the wallpapers are then adjust the screen resolution to match. Sounds like you'll still have some border on two sides though because the aspect ratio isn't the same.

[jinsai]

Your del.icio.us bookmarks are saved on the web.

Excellent...

I did try messing some with the screen resolution but that doesn't seem to help. If I turn it down to 1064x768, the text becomes hard to read. (The default is 1280x800 I believe.) Thing is, a LOT of the new laptops these days are widescreen. That seems to be the really big promoted thing. But most of the online and downloadable stuff is programmed for the traditional aspect ratios.

[imayb1]

I loved this quote from the article: "We let them get out of the habit of watching television a little bit, and it's going to take some time to get these people back in front of their television sets," said David Poltrack, chief researcher for CBS...

OMGZ, NO! We can't let them ignore the TV or they'll realize there is life outside the box! :O

I wouldn't have cable if it were up to me. Munchkin gets the use out of it, though, and Hubby can't get his European and MLS soccer any other way. I record or download the only TV programs I watch and I definitely watch them during "off" times, at my leisure, when no one else is using the TV. Supernatural, Blood Ties, and the Daily Show are the only ones that come to mind. Funny article. Maybe they'll learn the American public is SICK of "reality" TV?

Once you get PSP transfered, just resize all your pretty wallpapers. Just click 'image' then 'resize' and lay in the size you want or increase by percentage; it will keep the height/width ratios if you click the box. :)

[jinsai]

Guess maybe they shouldn't have played all those "Verb" commercials. >)

I actually prefer to record shows and them watch them later. The ones I watch on a more or less regular basis are Supernatural, Scrubs, Psych, and Monk. I can't watch repeats though, so I only catch the new episodes. I'll go days without touching the TV and not miss a thing. *stabs reality TV to death*

it will keep the height/width ratios if you click the box

I'll try that. I'm just worried that it's the aspect ratio of the screen itself causing the issues. All the newest, "coolest" laptops are being marketed as widescreen, but the majority of stuff out there on the net (including wallpapers) is tailored for the traditional screen sizes. They don't seem to have caught up to each other yet.

I'm happy with some of the things on this new computer but the things that bug me REALLY bug me. So, I need to decide quickly if it's worth my even keeping it or if I should just say screw it and gird myself for the battle of the returns.