By Peter Daley
I decided to do a positive tutorial on the benefits of using modern technology. Leave all the dire security warnings behind. Something fresh, and positive about modern technology. Do I hear a sigh of relief out there? 
Recently, I was going to do a tutorial at the Sunshine Coast Computer Club Inc. meeting, on Internet TV. I was going to demonstrate how to access all these great free legal TV programs and documentaries. Just before I started, a member approached me with a recommendation of a Internet site his relatives where raving about. I quickly typed in the address to see if it was worth recommending to club members. Well, this was a presentation computer I set up so it has all the software I have recommended people use in my recent blogs, plus more. Who said I was paranoid! As soon as the site came up, a large red warning sign popped up. “This site is trying to drop malicious code into your computer!” A little bit of paranoia sometimes pays off!
Well, what was I to do? I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. So I left the warning sign glaring into the room as members sat down for the tutorial. A chance to get back at my detractors. It certainly reinforced all that I had been saying about the state of Internet security!
There are lots of TV media sites popping up all over the Internet. A considerable percentage of these are using free media as a lure to people, in order to hook their computer for hacking. Another trick in my opinion is false advertising. Sites that state for a one off fee you can have life time access to services offering thousands of free satellite TV programs and documentaries. What you are actually paying for is not a service, but a piece of software that correlates all the freely available Internet media content. It does save you from having to spend days trying to find it all.
Equally, there are free software programs available that do this, like Miro.
Programs like Miro allow you to easily organise, and customize the media you want to watch. Unless you have a very fast connection, it is generally smarter to download the content first, and watch it later. This is so you can watch it in peace without the picture breakup, and sound screeching cause by Internet traffic congestion.
Yes, there are great sites where you can safely download or stream Internet TV and documentaries. Most National public broadcasting TV networks have free TV content. The Australian ABC has a new Iview service. Missed this weeks Doctor Who? You can go on to the ABC and watch it. So, I am a fan.
Australian ABC
BBC service UK
Some ISPs in Australia will allow you to watch the ABC TV content without it going onto your download limit. Great, because watching TV, movies and documentaries can add GiGabytes to your downloads.
Yes, there are tens of thousands of TV programs, documentaries and satellite programs to watch for free over the Internet, just be careful where, our how you source it!
© Peter Daley, 2009