Accessing What is Left of TV Shows After Recent Events

Recent raids have closed down many file exchange websites, most notably megaupload.com Icefilms.info is still going as a strong choice for movies and tv shows and they seem to rely on rapidshare now as their primary storage. There is also letmewatchthis.name and watchfreemovies.ch. Of course if you are less pirate-bound there are now more than ever legal opportunities. Amazon offers a lot of movies for $3.99 a pop and some of them are free with their Prime membership. There is still Netflix, Hulu (free with commercials) and the networks/shows websites, like www.thedailyshow.com

Streaming netflix

Netflix has been developing into a really nice streaming solution over the last couple of years. It is not free per se, but after a measly 8 bucks/month you get access to literally tens of thousands of free movies and tv shows. None of the freshest movies are there to begin with, but it is awesome for catching up with those 1-2 year old gems you might have wanted to see but somehow didn't get to. It also comes with a nice recommendation engine, picking streams that you might like to watch next based on your viewing history and movie ratings.

Stream at netflix.com

And don't forget their 2 weeks free trial!

A Few New Streaming TV Shows in 2011

There are a few good new TV Series appearing lately. The Protector (2011) is a really good cop drama, the twist here is that both LAPD partners are female. Also Weeds is still kicking strong with its 7th season of HBO hilariousness.

You can watch The Protector on Hulu, for the rest head on icefilms.info (and there you can stream without commercials). Once again, it is your responsibility to make sure what you are streaming is legit in your country.

Another free online streaming site is getting traction, it's called letmewatchthis.com. Two advantages: easy to remember name and automatically connects you to the best stream based on the user votes.

StreamTransport Stopped Working

Apparently, Hulu and other restricted sites are getting smarter about blocking StreamTransport. I would start looking for alternative free streaming solutions. Have you checked icefilms.info? It has a great selection of movies and TV series and if you use it with the open source XMBC media center you can start watching right away = streaming your downloads!

Download From Hulu: A Definitive Guide

Ever wanted to download your favorite movie from hulu to watch later? I did some digging recently and here is a step-by-step guide.

Step 1: The best free software I found for downloading from Hulu is streamtransport. Download it from streamtransport.com and install (Windows 7, Vista or XP)

Step 2: Run the program and click "Visit Hulu" button in the top right corner. The top part of the software is essentially a web-browser that will display Hulu main page. Click to play your favorite show or movie.

Step 3: In the bottom part you will see a link appear with the name of the show (e.g. Hulu - Dancing With The Stars Week 3 Results - Watch the full episode now. Select it and click "Download" button.

That's it! In a few minutes you will have a .flv file. You can play it with many free players, for example a free VLC player

As a bonus, the video will be stripped of all the commercial, so you can consider it a way to remove commercials from Hulu too!

Stay tuned to this page to find out about new free online streaming software as it becomes available!

Where to Watch World Cup Streaming Online?

For the soccer fans out there, the question is looming as the 3 weeks of joy in South Africa are upon us. The World Cup !!!

Lifehacker has this posting outlining several sources

Looks life ESPN3 is the best bet for streaming live in US - they promise to stream all matches!

Have fun and post here to let me know if you found a better source!

The Battle Is On: Skip or Block Hulu Commercials

On the wings of the new rumors that Hulu may extend the length of their commercials to the size of their cable counterparts (that's 5 minute commercial breaks!) I did some digging.

Turns out there is a free app that lets you download Hulu shows as FLV files. It is called StreamTransport and features a split screen with a full functional browser on top and the download button at the bottom. Just navigate to the show you would like to watch and click download.

Now you have a file on your hard drive and whenever there is a commercial you can fast forward through it. Plus it is good of you internet connection is flaky or if Hulu's server is overloaded and slow.

Give it a shot!