LFC Consulting - Entertainment

I love entertainment. During a rainy weekend I can sit back with a laptop and spend the day watching TV or movies online, reading a biography or listening to wonderful music. 

For TV and movies, there are at least a couple of good options. YouTube (www.Youtube.com) is great for watching short clips of funny antics or seeing a music video you enjoyed when you were younger and never thought you would see again. Try it, it is certainly great for that purpose. If you like showing videos you can create an account and share clips with business associates or your family. If you create an account be mindful of your Youtube privacy settings. Your privacy settings will allow the right people to see your posted clips. It will also block your video from broadcast to the general public. If you do not want the Internet world to see your first moments with your newborn baby, adjust your settings.

If you missed your favorite TV show last night, turn to Hulu. If you are tired of watching 5+ minutes of commercials to watch your heavily edited favorite movie on TV, turn to Hulu. www.Hulu.com is a free site that broadcasts TV and movies with minimal commercial interruption.  Create an account for Hulu. This will allow you watch adult-aged unedited movies. The commercials are usually only 30 seconds and allow you get back to the action without interrupting the tone of the story. Hulu is good if you want to see a movie but are not inclined to rent it. For example, I like the film Ordinary People. I do not own it and had not seen it in over 10 years. However I would not go through the time or trouble of renting it either. I watched it unedited on Hulu with a few commercials and I was happy...well, sad because that story is so depressing.  Since you can pause the playback you have the option of watching something over the course of a few days. Another option Hulu offers is watching TV shows and movies in High Resolution. So if you want to see Tina Fey on 30 Rock in crystal clear view, use this option.

On the subject of creating accounts for these types of sites, create a disposal email account. Create a free email account in www.Yahoo.com or www.Hotmail.com and use these to create accounts at various web sites requiring an email address for access. This allows any junk mail you receive not to interfere with your "good" email address.

Since I like reading backgrounds on all the things I enjoy, like a favorite book, movie or prominent figure, I use Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) It is a free online encyclopedia that is updated very quickly. Its idea is to have a community based, user-editable reference site. According to Wikipedia, "it is currently the most popular general reference work on the Internet." I use it after I watch a movie. The site will give me background on the story, production process and even box office receipts. The entry almost always has a link from the movie's Wiki page to www.IMDB.com, which is an online database pertaining to movies, actors and related information. In turn, I use IMDB to read trivia associated with the movies I have watched.

Wikipedia is great if you want a thorough, yet succinct, biography on an Italian Renaissance artist, Greek philosopher or Polish Fractal mathematician.  The content range is vast - from Vitamins, to the origin of Potato Chips, to the etymology of the word Etymology. I use it daily as a reference, as much as I use www.Dictionary.com.

For music I like www.Pandora.com. Once you create a free account here, you can have Pandora suggest music you may like. It works like this: Click on Create a Station, you type in a song you like or an artist you enjoy and Pandora will play songs based on what you have typed. I have discovered a wonderful artist using Pandora. While updating my web site, I was in the mood for Enya and I created a Playlist based on her name. What Pandora suggested (and played) for me were songs by Loreena McKennitt. Try Pandora, if not for the music you like, then for the music it will suggest.

Have fun!

Rafael Miranda is a computer consultant with LFC Consulting, Inc.

He started the company in 1991 to provide Sales, Service and Support of PC Hardware and Software.

Rafael services the small business community, as well as home networks and laptop users.

Please call 973-316-9191 for more information.