Alright, I just wanted everyone to know that the stubid box is evil. It kills your brain, sucks out your soul, trains you to be a "consumer" above all else. It creates expectations that you are going to grow up to be moviegads and rockstars... but you''re not (heh). KILL YOUr TELEVISION! Some of you out there might not agree. You might say, "TV is fine, if you don''t watch too much." Yeah. Heroin''s fine if you don''t do too much, too! Do yourself a favor, next time you sit down to the old box, don''t Do something else. Read. Code. Play video games. go to www.hell.com. Don''t tell me "I''m too tired..." If your tired, SLEEP! That freakin TV will only make you feel worse. It''s so good to lay down at night knowing you''ve done something, instead of counting the hours robbed from you by the box. Sure, you''ll be tempted in by quality programming like the simpsons, but soon it''ll be reruns of Full House. There''s no stopping it. You all need to take a good hard look at my signature; displayed below. | | | v ===== Are you aware that the people who bring you television actually refer to it openly as "programming?"

My TV gets turned on to watch movies I rent.

I havn''t watched ''television programs'' for many years.

TV Gooooooood!
Freakshow BAAAAAAAAD!

I'd sell my soul, my self esteem, one dollar at a time for just one taste of you, my Magdelena.

We haven''t had cable in over 10 years. {There''s a much higher percentage of crud on that than commercial TV.} But now we''re at a bit of a crossroads.
A cable modem will probably be installed in our house by the end of the year. That means we''ll have to also get *some* amount of cable service. We''re planning on the second to minimalist option. It goes for $6US {yes, there is cheap cable} and will have the local stations, the Community Access channels, and some regular cable channels {I think Disney {blech!} and HBO.}

Regardless, we''ll probably still watch more of the local stations than the cabel ones. We simply don''t watch enough TV to care. I gave up on sitcoms in the second season of Sienfield. It''s then that I realized that all sitcoms just steal material from other sitcoms. No wonder it was cookie cutter characters and plot.

We''re Sci-Fi nuts in this house so our viewing habits include:
-Stargate SG-1
-ST: Voyager
-Earth: Final Conflict
-The Outer Limits {occasionally}
We also watch Nova. I like Scientific American frontiers a little bit better {wish it was on more than once a month.}

Stuff that''s never on:
-WWF anything
-TV magazines {Dateline, 60 minutes. Okay, ocassionally we watch 20/20, but it''s rare.}
-I Dare you, When Animals Attack MMCMLVII, anything that pedastals human ignorance/stupidity
-soap ops {I wish one of our local stations that carries news at noon wouldn''t stop at 12:20}
-talk shows
-Barney, Teletubbies {well, maybe the two aren''t bad, but your kids shouldn''t be watching it if they are as old as the kids in them.}
-dating shows
-SPORTS {"we now interupt your your regular brain-stimulating show for people running back and forth bouncing a ball"}

I''m noticing now that we generally go for the hour long shows. Hmm, could it be that more effort has to be put into the writing? Nah.
Oh, last thing. I believe the lowest, most degrading show I''ve ever glimpsed {as in the commercials were disgusting enough} it''s Fox''s "Family Guy." It makes South Park look like a 50''s show {not in terms of language, but situation.}


----Sonic Silicon----

My plan for raising children: Physically remove the transponder from my TV, thus disabling network "programming". The, I won''t have cable either. BUT, I will give my kids access to WHATEVER video games they want (well, if they''re good).

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Are you aware that the people who bring you television actually refer to it openly as "programming?"

id hate to be your kid. i watch tv the most because of sports... id rather be a tv junkie than a console junkie. the internet''s not much different from tv. 99% of thw world today think that the internet is alot worse than tv. you know... an example would be... you have to ''pay'' for tv porn. 5 year olds can get it for free on the net. porn junkies sicken me though but thats another story

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"There are no stupid questions. Only stupid people who ask them."

I''d rather play football than watch it. Actually, any sport.

As for the internet being worse than tv, let me put it this way. With Television, you are viewed as a member of a mass audience, being fed infomation carefully tailored for your eyes/brain. The internet comes with the power of decision in both content and direction. Now you have the power to do more than be spoken to, you can actually talk back! You could never convince me that going back to "programming" is the best way.

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Are you aware that the people who bring you television actually refer to it openly as "programming?"

I''m with freakshow... However, I think that you can get some good inspiration from TV. I still don''t *Watch* it, though, only accidentally when I can''t Program, or do something else, like read. I should have looked through the lounge before i made my last post, "How many of you would rather program than watch TV?", cuz i would have seen this one... In the wisdom-filled words of homer, DOH!
farmersckn

Sometimes even chickens need to eat... Don't bang your head against a wall just to enjoy the good feeling when you stop.