December/2005: Internet - There are two media players you should have. Only two. One for video, one for audio. The video media player you need is VLC Media Player. It's the best video player on the internet, bar none. It plays about every video file possible. It even plays .bin/.cue files. It plays OGM files. It's just a great media player in general.

However, for audio, I only use Winamp. Not because it's the best audio player, it's fine... but I'm not qualified to say it's the best. No, winamp is awesome because of it's integration with online radio and online TV stations.

People who have been reading this blog for a very long time know I love watching historical documentaries. Hey, it's just the kind of party guy I am. You give me a nice night filled with interesting historical documentaries and I'll be pleased as punch. There are three cable channels that rule for historical documentaries. The first, Discovery/Times Channel, is a great mix of current topical issues, historical documentaries and well, crappy "TV shows" that I don't watch. The historical documentaries and current topical issue documentaries are top-notch, however. Easily one of my favorite channels.

It is, unfortunately, only available on Digital Cable here in Portland. I can watch it in my living room, but not in my room where my computers are.

History International is another great channel for historical documentaries. It's wonderful. They cover all segments of history, the world wars, the dark ages... hell, you name it, they have documentaries about it. Nearly 24/7 historical documentaries, it is about as good as it gets.

It is, unfortunately, only available on Digital Cable here in Portland. I can watch it in my living room, but not in my room where my computers are.

The channel that supposedly covers history that I get in my room is, unfortunately, the History Channel. There are many abortions in America, many each day, but there is no greater abortion than the History Channel. All the abortionists in all the states, working around the clock together, could not create a bigger abortion than the abortion that is the History Channel. It is crap. Purely, truly crap, and it deserves to be wiped off the face of cable. It is crap. The crappiest crap that has ever crapped on the face of crap.

The History Channel is filled with shows that... are not history. Nope, not history. Auto-maniac with Bill Goldberg? Not history. It is crap. Mail Call with the guy from Full Metal Jacket? Not history. It is crap. Modern Marvels... yes, MODERN... MODERN Marvels... MODERN... MODERN MARVELS! It is not history! It is crap! It is modern non-history crap! Wild West Tech? NOT HISTORY IT IS CRAP. These are not historical documentaries. They are crap. Crappiest crap that ever did crap. And this is the show that I get in my room. This is the crap I have to settle for.

NO LONGER!

Winamp is my and your god. It is a goodly god that shines down upon us. Winamp has a streaming TV area supplied by Shoutcast. Now, I don't usually check this because the last time I checked it... oh, a year ago, all they had was crappy channels showing shit like Family Guy, which like the History Channel... is shit. Pure shit. So, on a lark, I checked it tonight. And lo and behold... lo and behold indeed... what do I find? A HISTORY CHANNEL! SHOWING THE WORLD OF WAR DOCUMENTARY SERIES ABOUT WW2 PRODUCED BY THE BBC IN THE SEVENTIES!

GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!

Beautiful black and white footage, interviews with those that lived it, classic narrative historical story-telling... IN-DEPTH. Playing back to back, all night long. Oh yes, and no commercials. None. I, the world's cheapiest cheapstake and lifelong poor man would pay money per month for this channel. Right now, as I write this, the documentary is playing Winston Churchill's famous "This was their finest hour" speech because the British and last of the French are stuck at Dunkirk.

This is the kind of stuff you rarely see on the non-History Channel. This is internet gold. To access it, either open Winamp or download it from Winamp.com, go to Shoutcast TV and peruse the channel listing. I have three monitors. One for IM. One for Internet Browsing/Writing and now? One for this channel, right in the middle.

They are literally playing old radio newsreels talking about the motorbike corps of the British Empire while mocking the chances of a German invasion. This is just about as good as the internet gets. I haven't even checked to see if there are other REAL history channels on here, but I shall be... oh, I shall be.

All praise Winamp, for it is the good. The very good.