The Daily Show & The Colbert Report on Hulu

I woke up this morning to very exciting news in my RSS feed reader. I subscribe to new additions to Hulu and saw that two of my favorite shows are now available for viewing. (The Daily Show with Jon Stweart & The Colbert Report This is really, really exciting for me because I don't have Cable TV in my apartment. I now have an ever increasing number of ways to view my favorite shows on the internet very easily.

While Hulu isn't the perfect video viewing option, it is still a very strong competitor. A downloaded-able version of the videos in a local client would be a much better option. While DRM free podcast like feeds would be great, I would settle for a DRM infested player that would allow my to download the episodes and view them at slightly higher resolution.

Just my thoughts, I will definitely be watching Monday's episodes as soon as I get back from world.

Eureka would be more entertaining if I was a business major

I need to give credit to Alex for saying something along these lines before I did, but I couldn't help but blog this.

We were watching the new episode of Eureka that just aired today in my dorm room, and we were analyzing the episode where space junk is falling from the sky.  This was the episode that aired right before the new episode.  Simply put, the science in this episode is just crazy.

First off, you can't really repel metal using a magnet, it has a tendency to attract.  This totally negates the final resolution of the plot.  Also, the sudden realization that helped some of the main characters solve the problem with generating enough power was the difference between parallel and series circuits.  There is also a mention of PV cells (photo voltaic) and they are definitely indoors where there isn't very much sunlight.

Back to my main point, Eureka is still a great show, but their science has slipped a little bit.  The engineering classes I've taken just make some of the things they say just comical.  They have nothing to do with the science.  Not to bash business majors, but as a geek, if I took fewer physics classes I'd probably enjoy the show a bit more.

Michael Moore on Daily Show talking about Sicko

I'm glad our our country has its priorities straight and Paris Hilton is more important than health care.  Of course I'm talking about how Moore was bumped off of Larry King to make room for the newly released Hilton.

As for this clip, it was interesting to hear Moore talk candidly about his movie.

Jimmy Wales on Colbert Report

"It is the first place I go when I am looking for knowledge or when I want to create some." - Colbert

Not that I am going to make it a habit to start posting videos on my blog, but this was just too tempting. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia was on the Report. This was just classic, especially because of the influence Colbert has on Wikipedia through fans. The incident about elephant populations comes to mind (and it is mentioned in the clip).

It is a really great interview, I only wish it could have lasted longer. Wales did a great job handling Colbert's character. Too bad it didn't go further and mention other projects Wales is working on. Although there is not much hard information in the interview, it is interesting to hear Colbert talk about Wikipedia. Also, as a byproduct of this interview, many Wikipedia pages will be under constant assault from Colbert fans. (Although those same pages will probably be quickly locked by other fans who have a little more integrity for the system.)

Al Gore on The Daily Show!

This was really interesting. Gore actually said The Daily Show was one of the better places to get actual news. I would have to agree. I only recently started watching it regularly. I typically watch it online and thought it would be interesting to embed the movies on my blog. I wonder if they take them down after a while. I know that they are a not the best at making it simple to watch an entire episode on their website.

Television: Heroes

Something different for a change seemed to be in order, so here it is. Heroes is a relatively new television (new as still in its first season) that is one of the best shows on television. Think of it as a version of X-Men where the point is not to fight, so much as just live out their lives (however complicated there lives may be). The show does have many parallels to X-Men but they are only skin deep, the show branches off into deep character development that makes the show so fascinating.


The season is coming to a dramatic conclusion where apparently a large fraction of New York is going to be taking out by the exploding man (yes, there is a Wikipedia article on the exploding man although it is actually about an upcoming episode). There are only two episodes left according to the Wikipedia article on Heroes (List of Heroes episodes) and personally I am looking forward to resolving some conflicts and learning more about the more mysterious characters. The end of this season will probably be a giant cliff hanger (like every single episode), but I can live with that (as there will be a second season).

This series does have a many similarities to other comic book based movies and shows. It even has a graphic novel associated with it that I haven't quite got around to reading yet (I keep saying I'll read them but never do). There is no way I could even talk about this series without mentioning the effects. They are truly amazing for a television show. Every episode I watch I am convinced I am watching a movie (be it a movie even longer than The Lord of the Rings) but a movie none the less. Additionally, it has amazing artwork involved in the plot.

This is definitely a series that has taken me by surprise. I really did not expect it to be a amazing as it has turned out to be. I only hope it holds my attention longer than other series that seem to get Lost in complex plots that never seem to resolve.