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its all about the late night post! to those that actually tune into my tech rantings, i apologize for not hitting you up with your monday fix sooner!

recently on one of my favorite blogs, i found one of the coolest things. its an app by tvu networks (windows only) and it lets you watch live tv for free on your pc! the obligatory broadband connection, proper hardware (at least a 800 mhz, 256 mb ram, 10 gig hard drive), and version of windows media player apply, but so far…it’s worked pretty well for me.

the concept essentially piggy-backs off of the P2P (peer-to-peer) torrent idea. instead of trying to get one big file from one place through your connection (downloading a 1 gig movie from one persons computer for example), why not all the people that are downloading the file (or have the file) share bits and pieces of the movie and let your computer put it together. this allows for faster downloads and doesn’t require a direct connection to your buddy half way around the world! tvu has taken this idea, the ubiquity of being able to record live television into digital data files, and provided a medium for users that are on the system via the app to share tv broadcasts! this same idea behind is the key behind torrents and why the MPAA is fuming over it with some distributors of how to get torrents.

my experience with the application has been pretty good so far. the more popular channels like MTV and ESPN seed well, although a little grainy at the beginning. the channel line-up is pretty unique as well with a link for al-jazeera. the local channels like fox, cbs, nbc, and abc all seem to be seeding from california (and consequently in their time zone), so if you’re going to watch grey’s anatomy, be sure to get your show time correct. the biggest drawback (but inherently why p2p works so well) is that the less popular channels will not be as smooth. remember, the more people that are watching, the better the quality.

obviously this app is not going to rival any hd setup you may have, but for ybp’ers on the go, travelling constantly, or even in another country missing their favorite television, this is a viable option. if you want a better quality of tv, but want the same options, look at purchasing a slingbox.