With the leaking of the BBC iPlayer iPhone app over the weekend, Auntie’s on demand colossus reminded us once again why it’s the very best TV service on the planet. And with Xbox 360 support set to follow PS3 and Wii backing, it’s only getting better. Here are 10 reasons why it’s TV’s top dog.
It’s on almost any telly-connected device
You know iPlayer’s available for PC and Mac, but it’ll also shuffle onto your telly with the minimum of fuss. If there’s a PS3 or Wii stashed under your gogglebox, BBC iPlayer will play nice for you. And with Freesat and Virgin Media also offering its on-demand services, it’s hard to come across a TV-loving gadget that doesn’t dance to Auntie’s tune.
It’s with you all the time
Got a smartphone? Then chances are you’re packing BBC iPlayer too. The iPhone can hook up to the VOD service through its browser, with an dedciated app in the pipeline. On top of that you can get it on Android, the Sony Ericsson W995 and a raft of PMPs. Use it on a Symbian phone, such as Nokia’s N-series mobiles, and you’ll also be able to download shows to watch later. Which brings us to…
BBC iPlayer iPhone app leaked: TV downloads incoming
It’s available offline
Web connection down? No matter. The desktop player lets you download shows and tuck in wherever you are. Perfect for lengthy train trips. Symbian downloads are already here and the new BBC iPlayer iPhone app promises to do the same for Apple.
It’s in HD
Favourite BBC show in HD? Then you can snag it in hi-def and watch it back either on your HD TV, PC or Mac. Perfect if you’re packing a HD-friendly computer. Seeing the white’s of Malcom Tucker’s eyes while he tears into his minions in The Thick of It is awesome.
It knows what you’ve been watching
Had to duck out halfway through a show, or forgotten which episode you were up to in a series? The BBC iPlayer will remember exactly where you got to and help you find your way back into your favourite programme. It’s not clunky or obtrusive either, so you won’t be nagged to return to a programme you left on purpose, it’ll simply give you a gentle reminder with the last watched feature.
It’s not just catch-up TV
iPlayer is about more than the Beeb’s channels over the last seven days. Selected series are also up for grabs, so you can get stuck in to Auntie’s best efforts and gorge on several episodes at a time. Ray Mears’ Northern Exposure is currently yours to snaffle in its entirety.
It’s not just TV
Sure, you can get hour after hour of TV on the BBC iPlayer. But it’s as much about BBC radio as it is TV. Shows are offered as listen again episodes, so if you’ve missed Cerys Matthews blathering on 6Music, you can check her out when you get in from work.
BBC iPlayer on Xbox 360 delayed
It’s live too
If you can’t get to a TV, but just have to watch that all-important episode of Doctors (or this Friday’s World Cup draw), you can watch BBC TV live via iPlayer. And we’re not just talking BBC1 and BBC2 either, the kids and news channels are here as well, as is BBC Three. In fact, any broadcast the Beeb makes is streamed online, completely free as long as you’re in the UK.
It’ll let you interact with shows soon
The new BBC iPlayer iPhone app packs a ’send a message’ function, which will let you tap up the show directly, as long as it’s live. This could mean texts to live shows, or ideas for future episodes. The possibilities are endless. We’re not promising the presenters will reply though.
It doesn’t cost a penny
Well, apart from your licence fee. But all these added extras mean you’re getting the very best VOD service in the world on top of your regular TV and radio offerings. And with new apps and Xbox 360 support in the offing, iPlayer is only going to get better.
As we prepare to stuff our faces with a bountiful Thanksgiving feast, we turn our Thanksgiving spirit to the gobs of free software we love to say thank you to the developers, and to give our computers a feast of their own.
Drop your bags, grab a drink, and grab the XP CD—it's time for the holiday ritual of fixing up your relatives' computer. Here are some tips and downloads to keep handy while you're cursing all the auto-starting crapware.
Quick-fix triage: Load the original XP, Vista, or Windows 7 (Really? Broken already?) CD or DVD in the system and boot the system from there, which might require hitting a key to bring up "boot options" or pressing a key when asked to "Press any key to boot from CD." Wait for the CD to load—it may seem like it's installing, but it's just loading a mini-system for installation and, in this case, repair. Follow the prompts to repair an existing installation, or, in the case of Vista or 7, ask it to repair the startup process.
Back up the files: Have your USB hard drive or blank DVDs handy, and remove the Windows CD/DVD from the computer if you tried to use that for a fix. Stick your thumb drive with the Ubuntu (or Knoppix) image into a USB slot, then boot up the computer. You may have to hit F12 or another key to boot from USB, or change a setting in the BIOS (which you can access by hitting a key—written in that fast-disappearing text—at boot-up). You'll be asked to choose a language, then hit the option to "Try Ubuntu without any changes." After some loading, you'll arrive at an Ubuntu desktop.
When you're ready to back up, simply open your USB drive from the Places menu, then open your main Windows drive, and drag files to copy from your Windows system onto the backup medium.
If you're burning to DVD, head to the Applications menu in your temporary Ubuntu system, mouse over the Accessories sub-menu, and select 'CD/DVD Creator' when it pops up. You'll get a folder you can drag files you want to burn into, then hit 'Write to Disc' to burn them.
Click the "Tools" button, choose the Autorun menu on the left, and look through the items on the right. Uncheck the stuff that's really unnecessary—most of it, really, unless they constantly use a printer/scanner or run an antivirus app—and remind your host to un-check the toolbars and "helper" apps offered when installing things.
The fixing process? It's nothing special, actually—just run the quick-fix triage in any case, removing the auto-run apps that bog down system resources, and then run these secondary apps, generally in the order they're listed. Keep Security Essentials or Panda Cloud Antivirus installed (not both!), and, while you're being helpful, back up this computer's pictures, music, and important documents.
Set up their email in Gmail: Gmail has made it 
There are plenty of online TV listing services that detail what programs are showing in your area. Then again, you probably don't care what's on every single channel. Create a personalized TV guide with FreeGuide and skip The Flossing Network.
Your neck can't text you to explain how annoying it is to have to keep looking down at your laptop. Over time it will let you know, though, in a nagging, painful way. If your laptop is your day-to-day work machine, elevate it to eye level using any one of a number of clever solutions. Perhaps one among our 
It's hard to slouch when you're not in a seat. To help your body benefit from your upright instinct, and give your lower body a break from sitting, work a standing desk into your workspace. You can go for it in a big way, like with this 
How your back, neck, and joints fare over eight hours of work can be influenced by how they spent eight hours in bed. Give your body a better night's sleep by catching up on 
If you've stuck with your mouse and keyboard just because your desktop came with them, we feel for you. If you've been using a laptop at a desk without an external mouse or keyboard, we're in tears. Invest in the tools your hands spend thousands of hours on every year by perusing the 
Adam's had his problems with hand, wrist, and back pain from repetitive stress and other conditions at his workspace, and a few years ago, he decided to 
You don't have to have Bob-Vila-level woodworking skills to craft your own workspace—after all, college students have been laying doors on cinder blocks for years. To 
You can do a lot to prevent stress and pain in your hands working at a computer all day, but you'll almost inevitably have bad days full of overly long hours, and, over the long haul, risk sidling yourself with repetitive strain injury (RSI). Percussionist David Kuckhermann knows a thing or two about repetitive wrist and forearm strain, as does 
Are you the type that busts out the tape measure whenever you're putting anything up on the wall? For setting up your workspace with proper distances and heights between yourself and your computer tools, ergonomic goods firm Ergotron offers an 
It's great that you're dedicated to pushing out this project on time, but unless your deadline's right this hour and you need every second, you should be stepping back occasionally to give your wrists, eyes, and arms a rest—and maybe even read something off-screen, while you're at it. If mental reminders aren't enough, apps like 
Eye strain is particularly bad news for those who write (code, copy, or anything else) or assemble things on a computer all day—it hits you right in what feels like your brain, and makes concentration terribly hard. Two simple solutions are to 
Who wants to wait until 2010 to get a look at the Chrome OS?"
Since 
Local backup is a useful and necessary part of securing your data against catastrophe, but with the advent of broadband and inexpensive online storage, you've got little reason to not back up critical files to the cloud as well.
Mozy is an automated backup solution. Once you install the Mozy client on your computer, it will back up any files you specify at the frequency you specify. Mozy can back up files while they are open—so that huge presentation you've been working on for the last few hours will be backed up even if you're still working with it. Mozy also backs up based on file changes, only uploading the portion of a file that has changed and not the entire file all over again (meaning quicker incremental backups after the initial backup). Mozy stores previous versions of your files for easy restoration, and in addition to restoring all your files by downloading them, you can also order a backup on physical media for a fee.
Carbonite is the other contender in this week's Hive Five that doesn't offer a free basic account with teaser storage. They have a simple pricing plan: $54.95 for a year of unlimited storage from a single computer. Like Mozy, Carbonite also offers block-level incremental backup to speed up the backup process. You can access your files through a web-based interface when you are away from home, and you can use the Carbonite application to restore all or some of your files at any time. Carbonite does not provide a hard copy of your data upon request, so get ready for some heavy downloading time if you've got a lot of data you need to restore.
Adam thinks 
The only major tweak you'll need to make is to Boxee's audio setup. Head to the Settings menu in the lower-left corner, then to Hardware, and then to the audio tab. Set your settings to look like those on the left, or, in text form: