'Fast And Furious' Movies Make People Drive Faster, Study Finds

Long Story Short

The Fast and Furious movies are either super effective, or (more likely) people are super dumb.

Long Story

There are few things sweeter than Dom and the gang tearing up the big screen in the Fast and Furious films. You can decide for yourself what the best scene is; I’ll take Vin Diesel jumping a Dodge Charger over a submarine (on ice).

And it seems a lot of people feel the same way. A fascinating and semi-hilarious study printed in the New York Times has revealed that Fast and Furious movies may be encouraging people to drive like maniacs.

The Times study, led by Anupam B. Jena, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, found rates of both speeding and extreme speeding increased in the sample county of Montgomery County, Maryland, following the releases of three Fast and Furious movies between 2012 and 2017.

The study examined 192,892 speeding tickets across three weekends after the release of the films. Ticketed speeds increased almost 20%, from an average of 16 miles per hour over the speed limit to 19 miles per hour.

Rates of extreme speeding were even worse, with the number of people caught driving more than 40 miles per hour above the speed limit almost doubling. The extreme speeders were often busted within two miles of theaters, which the study’s authors say suggests the speeding was “induced by moviegoing.”

The idea behind the Times story is to look at the effect different media, such as films and video games, have on our behavior. 

Often this area of research is rife with issues concerning causality, and the Times study’s authors admit their results are limited. Nevertheless, initial evidence would suggest there’s a pretty hilarious — if mildly frightening — link going on here.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

“Vin Diesel made me do it.” Legit defense?

Drop This Fact

Deadpool 2 director David Leitch is currently considered the frontrunner to direct Universal’s as yet untitled Fast and Furious spin-off, starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.

1:43 AM ·   0

Best Movie Trilogies

The end of 2015 saw The Star Wars saga pick up where it left off with a new trilogy, thanks to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And the hype of our collective geekdom reached feverish heights. 


Will the rest of the films in the new trilogy manage to redeem the tarnished Star Wars universe after the last three underwhelming prequels? Only time will tell, but if they manage to pull it off, it will be quite the feat seeing as expectations are still sky-high.

Making a satisfying collection of three films is something very few series achieve, because it requires exceptional story control, characters you’ll care about over many hours and many years, plus a writer/director’s ability to tie everything together without necessarily knowing the end of Part Three when they’re making the beginning of Part One. These, in my view, are the 10 trilogies that have done it best. 

1:43 AM ·   0

7. Train tracks – The Fast and The Furious

This race is the equivalent of the two leads, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker), having a dick-measuring contest. After chasing down a bad guy, the pair have a quick drag race to see who can clear the train tracks before the approaching train hits them. Just for fun. Dom’s in his stripped-back muscle car and pretty boy Brian is in his flashy motor with all sorts of bells and whistles, because they’re different but also the same. And they make it across the line at the exact same time! Their dicks are precisely the same size! Hooray!

1:42 AM ·   0

Furious 7 Giveaway

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1:42 AM ·   0

Drunktown's Finest Review

When Robert Redford stood up to introduce Drunktown’s Finest at Sundance 2014, it was clear this project was close to his heart. More than seven years in the making, the project and its writer/director, Sydney Freeland, had been through the Sundance Institute’s 2009 Native Lab, 2010 Screenwriter’s Lab, and 2010 Director’s Lab. It should be noted that taking part in the Sundance Labs is no guarantee that a film will make it to the actual festival, but this film did. Freeland definitely knows a thing or two about tenacity.

On the film’s Kickstarter page, Freeland explains how a news segment she saw on ABC’s 20/20 that described her hometown as “Drunktown, U.S.A.,” inspired her to make this film: “This film is my effort to defy that judgment of my community. With your support, my film will show the world that label was wrong, and that my community has complexity, dimension and hope.”

Freeland set out to tell stories about the places and people familiar to her, and the result is honest and authentic. Drunktown’s Finest features a Native American cast, and is set on a Navajo reservation in Gallup, N.M.

The film follows three young Navajo characters as they struggle to find their way, on and off the reservation. There’s SickBoy, a young father-to-be (Jeremiah Bitsui), who struggles with impulse control, particularly around alcohol and violence, and as we meet him, he’s just trying to make it through the weekend without getting into trouble. Then there’s Nizhoni (Morning Star Wilson), a college-bound Christian who was adopted off the reservation and is now searching for her biological family. And finally, there’s Felixia (portrayed by first-time actress Carmen Moore), a transgender prostitute who is dying to be a model in the “Women of the Navajo” calendar. She just needs to get through the audition without anybody realizing that she wasn’t born with a woman's body. She lives with her traditional grandparents, who are accepting of her gender identity, as their worldview holds a place for this: In the Navajo culture, there is a “third gender,” something Freeland herself discovered only after leaving the reservation.

Lead actor Jeremiah Bitsui may not yet be a household name, but he’s no newcomer, either. His first acting credit came 20 years ago, when he played “Young Indian Boy” in Natural Born Killers. More recently, he had an eight-episode stint on Breaking Bad as “Victor.”

Lamenting the lack of multifaceted Native American characters in film, Freeland sought to portray a richer reality. Her characters are honest and multidimensional, transcending stereotypes — flawed as they may be, we come to genuinely care about them. Their stories intertwine as the film focuses on life in a community, and through their interactions, we are exposed to an incredible spectrum of emotion. Ultimately, each of the characters simply seeks comfort in their own skin, though they take very different routes in trying to reach that end.

There is no happy ending — Freeland explains that she does not believe in such things — but the film does end on a hopeful note. The issues are heavy indeed, but it’s not a heavy-handed film. It feels real, gritty, and ultimately, like a new beginning.

The photo of Jeremiah Bitsui in this article is by Jeremy Valdez.

1:41 AM ·   0

Ryan Reynolds Selfless Interview

SELF/LESS, making its in theater debut tonight, is a film about transhumanism and the implications of immortality. And while the premise is very much science fiction, the message is surprisingly down to earth. 

We sat down with the film's star Ryan Reynolds to get his thoughts on some of the more interesting themes of the film — that of sacrifice, the value of being mortal, and whether he would choose to live forever if given the chance. Check out our interview with him above, and check out the trailer below if you haven't had a chance to.

1:41 AM ·   0

Will diehard Star Wars fans like it?

With its exacting blend of nostalgia, charm and ripping action, last year's The Force Awakens managed to please Star Wars fans in their masses. But can Rogue One do the same, or is it a crushing disappointment like Episodes I-III?

It is certainly a bold first for the Star Wars films stable. Like the future Han Solo and Boba Fett films, Rogue One isn’t part of the main George Lucas-created Star Wars storyline, but it does happen in the same universe. It takes place before the events of Episode IV – A New Hope and shows the early days of the Empire and the resistance of the Rebel Alliance, before the introduction of Luke, Leia, Han, et al.  

Joining the Rebel Alliance is Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), whose father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is responsible for the design of the planet-destroying Death Star. It’s Galen’s plans that the Rebel Alliance need to find if they want to destroy the Death Star and bring down the Empire. So Jyn, and her motley crew of Rogue One comrades, go after it.

That’s enough about the main conceit which, if you’re a hardcore Star Wars fan, you can probably recite as well as the opening crawl to A New Hope. What you really want to know is…

Is it any good?
I’m genuinely very sorry to metaphorically smack you around the face with the handle of my lightsaber, but it isn’t great.

How does it compare to previous Star Wars films?
Before you charge at me like a horde of AT-AT Walkers, let me say that it's no where near as bad as Episodes I-III. It’s much better. But it suffers from a few problems that make it no match for The Force Awakens or the original Star Wars trilogy.

So, what’s wrong with it?
Character development. Rogue One has an ensemble cast of intriguing characters, but the audience’s relationship with them goes only skin deep. Interesting back stories for temple warrior Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), Rebel Alliance officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Imperial pilot defector Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) don’t get properly explored – neither in the plot or in their actions – and these characters remain wells of untapped complexity. At one point, someone tells Jyn that her actions are unexpected – and they are, because the audience don’t really get to know her. Jyn is an avatar pushed by the requirements of the plot, not by the motives of her character.

The nature of the story also calls for a darker, serious tone. Which is fine, but Rogue One often strays into po-face territory. Funny quips aren’t quite funny enough to break the tension, although sardonic droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Turdyk) has a decent go at it. You know a film takes itself a little too seriously when you start laughing at things you aren’t supposed to laugh at (like some rather ungodly CGI).  

I want to cut off your arms and legs with a lightsaber and leave you on the side of a lava lake to die. Can you tell me what’s actually good about it?
The cinematography is gorgeous throughout. The climactic ending and the actions that lead up to it is a thing of pure Star Wars beauty – it’s a quite brilliant crescendo befitting of an epic space opera and goes some way to make up for the rest of the film. 

Will diehard Star Wars fans like it?
There are excellent reviews for Rogue One, but critics haven’t been so unanimously full of praise as they were for The Force Awakens. Likewise, a few Star Wars fans I know haven’t been so impressed, but many have loved it. If you enjoy immersing yourself in Star Wars and can’t get enough of the universe, it's decent fodder. If you’re looking for a film that manages to be outstanding on its own merits, perhaps not.

Will new Star Wars viewers like it?
Rogue One is preaching to the converted, so I doubt it. It gets stuck into what feels like a secondary Star Wars plot – the Rebel Alliance’s attempts to stop the Death Star before they actually try and stop the Death Star – and it gains most of its significance from its relationship to the events in other Star Wars films.

Any loveable R2-D2/BB-8 type characters for the kids?
With all this talk about engineering plans and exposition that sets up the original Star Wars trilogy, Rogue One isn't really a kids’ film. Only K-2SO is worthy of being made into a kid’s toy, and I’m talking about a droid who appears to suffer from some kind of existential angst.

Got any final thoughts? Want to stick that lightsaber in even deeper?
Yeah, go on then! Meninists can rest assured that even though the film features a female lead, it suffers from the Smurfette principle and is otherwise a sausage fest of male characters. But then again, the men are pretty diverse in terms of race. It still represents some kind of progress.

Rogue One also feels like a fitting film for 2016. Aesthetically, one of the settings draws broadly from the Middle East – perhaps a reference to the conflicts that are taking place there? In any case, the story of freedom-fighting rebels coming up against an oppressive imperial force is not an allegory that will be lost on many today.

1:40 AM ·   0

9 Best Holiday Movies to Stream With Kids

For many, the holidays are the only time of year we can all manage to get enough time off to make the trip and spend dedicated time together. What’s the one thing that everyone can agree on after Christmas Eve dinner or after all the presents are opened on Christmas morning? Watching a Christmas movie. That doesn’t mean that every Christmas movie out there is appropriate for the entire family. (Don’t worry, we rounded some of those up for you as well.) So where do you start when Grandma, Grandpa, and the little ones are all ready to gather around the TV and soak in some family time? You start right here with one of these family-friendly holiday movies, that’s where.

9.

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES

YouTube

This new Netflix movie from the people who brought you “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone” and “Home Alone” has already become a favorite for a lot of folks this season. With Kurt Russell’s updated take on Santa Claus being the best we’ve seen in awhile, we’re pretty sure it’s destined to become a holiday classic. Once Santaproclaims his famous “Ho Ho Ho” isn’t something he does, it’s just a myth, we knew he wasn’t going to be the chubby, plump, jolly old elf on the side of the Coca Cola can we’re used to.

8.

MARVEL SUPER HERO ADVENTURES FROST FIGHT

YouTube

It’s amazing what can be a holiday movie these days, and that is certainly true when it comes to this Marvel superhero flick. Captain Marvel, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor fight to save Santa Claus and therefore save Christmas. What could be better than that? #GoTeam

7.

PRINCESS SWITCH

YouTube

Get your preteen to start sharing your love of the Hallmark movie genre by adding this to your Christmas queue. In a predictable plot line where the princess and the pauperette trade places because, you know, the grass is always greener, light-hearted hilarity ensues. Cozy up with the kids and listen to some questionable British accents from Vanessa Hudgens, the girl the kids loved in “High School Musical.”  

6.

HOME ALONE

YouTube

This is undoubtedly a classic from your childhood that will be fun to watch all over again with your kids. The crass humor and outrageous hijinks are sure to get some belly laughs out of everyone in the family. It doubles as a cautionary tale of what Christmas would be like if you took away all the kids’ screens and they had to rely on fun the way you used to … and oh yeah, and if they got left behind at Christmas, too.

5.

A STORYBOTS CHRISTMAS

YouTube

The StoryBots are the “it” characters right now with the younger set, and the amended length of this movie is great for the little ones with shorter attention spans. From segments with simply drawn characters to CGI and even live action where Santa from the holiday favorite “Elf” (Ed Asner) makes an appearance, this has a little something for all animated tastes. It’s really no wonder it won two Emmys earlier this year for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program and Outstanding Directing in a Preschool Animated Program. Those may not be Best Picture, but hey, it adds a bit of street cred to this animated short.

4.

THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT CHRISTMAS

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How can you have Christmas and not have Dr. Seuss? Whether it’s green eggs and ham or the future the Lorax is trying to warn us about, there is always a fun and valuable lesson when it comes to Seuss. Why not the ubiquitous Grinch this time of year? Give those kids of yours another Dr. Seuss character to fall in love with this season and give yourself a break from Jim Carry’s somewhat inflated portrayal of the green, mean, anti-Christmas machine.

3.

MICKEY’S ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS

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Celebrate Christmas and Mickey’s 90th birthday with three charming Christmas stories in one delightful film. All of your family's favorite Disney characters are there lending their likeness to help tell the tales of Donald Duck Stuck On Christmas, A Very Goofy Christmas, and Mickey and Minnie’s Gift of the Magi. With Disney vacations being a popular holiday family destination, this is a great way to start getting everyone excited.

2.

DREAMWORKS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

YouTube

Netflix brings the weird yet lovable Boov from the successful film “Home” into yours with this animated movie. The heartwarming cartoon makes it good for kids, and the humor of tire snowmen and cats hurling hairballs at Christmas trees makes it tolerable for adults. Plus Kelly Clarkson’s caroling cameo makes it fun for everyone.

1.

BEETHOVEN’S CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE

YouTube

Who doesn’t love dogs at Christmas? The young to the young-at-heart can all get behind some canine chaos at Christmas. In this straight-to-video movie, big, clunky lovable St. Bernarnd Beethoven is out to save the holiday. Sure, it’s cheesy, and Tom Arnold as Beethoven is a little weird at times, but what better time of year to put on a mindless movie that has one mission in mind — to make your Christmas a little funnier.

1:40 AM ·   0

Best Apps to Streamline Your Life

“Where does the time go?” If you’re anything like us, you likely pose this question to yourself several times a day as you scramble to get to #inboxzero, maintain your Keto diet regimen, keep up on group text chains, clean your apartment, and try to catch some Z’s, all before 24 hours is up and you’re back at it again.

While we didn’t believe it as kids, when a 10-minute wait felt like a lifetime, it turns out our parents were right: Time really does fly by.

On the bright side, technology is here to help.

While we have yet to invent a smart device that can literally create time, there are a number of smartphone apps that can help you save it. From managing your smart-home gadgets to storing your passwords, these apps help streamline your life by taking mindless tasks off your plate and allowing you to put more energy toward the things you actually enjoy.

As Ferris Bueller said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

IFTTT

Best for: Everybody!

Price: Free

IFTTT: “If this then that.” This app reigns supreme when it comes to saving time and removing menial tasks from your everyday to-do list. All you have to do is create recipes to connect one activity or device to another. From simple social media requests like sharing Instagram videos as native videos on Twitter, to saving your smartphone images in your Dropbox, or synching your Amazon Alexa to-dos with your smartphone reminders, the options for streamlining your digital life are endless.

Find out more at ifttt.com

LastPass App

Best for: The Forgetful

Price: Free, $2/month for Premium

If you’re anything like us, you spend far too much time recreating passwords, answering secret questions, and responding to “I forgot my password” emails. When every website seems to have its own set of password rules and its own timeline for password renewals, it becomes nearly impossible to keep track of them all.

Luckily, LastPass is here to save the day. Not only can you save all your passwords in the LastPass interface, but you can take advantage of their helpful features — think password generators and secure sharing — to ensure your information stays safe.

Find out more at Lastpass.com

Audible

Best for: Commuters

Price: 30-day Free Trial, $14.95/month

Making better use of your time and saving time often go hand in hand. While you might not be able to avoid spending hours stuck in traffic throughout the week, you can take advantage of that time to catch up on your reading. With apps such as Audible, it’s never been easier to tune in and listen to your favorite stories and expand your literary horizons on the go.

Find out more at Audible.com

Matchbook

Best for: Foodies

Price: Free

We’ve all been there. You had the most amazing sushi two years ago while visiting friends in another city. Now, you’re back, you’re craving sushi, but you can’t for the life of you remember the name of that restaurant or the location.

Enter Matchbook. Inspired by the fact that patrons of the past would snag a matchbook with an eatery’s name to remember for later, you can think of this app as your digital restaurant phonebook. Save your favorite cafes, bars, and menu items in the app, or add spots from your must-see list to revisit later.

That time spent trying to pinpoint your restaurant location on Google Maps has now been freed.  

Find out more at Matchbook.co

Stocard

Best for: Frequent Shoppers

Price: Free

Stocard is here to streamline your wallet and your headspace. Through this app you can keep all your store loyalty cards in your smartphone, so never miss a freebie or bonus point opportunity again.

Find out more at Stocardapp.com

Flat Pomodoro

Best for: Busy Bees

Price: Free

Just as the saying goes,“you have to spend money to make money,” sometimes you have to spend time to save time. Studies have shown that overworking and skipping breaks can not only lead to a decrease in productivity, but also leaves greater room for errors and mistakes.

With Flat Pomodoro, you can break up your day into tasks, set estimates for how long they will take, and set up break reminders for every 25 minutes to ensure your mind and body stay fresh and focused.

Find out more at FlatPomodoro.com

Instacart

Best for: Home Cooks

Price: Free + Shipping Fees

Grocery shopping just got easier. Through Instacart, you can complete all your grocery shopping with a few swipes of your phone. Simply browse through their thousands of product options — available at the stores you already shop at — pick your items, and have them shipped to your door.

Not only can you access exclusive discounts and deals on the app, but the handy interface makes it simple to compare products and price points.

Find out more at Instacart.com

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RELATED: 20 Male CEOs on Their Morning Routines

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Tripit

Best for: Globetrotters

Price: Free, $49/year for Pro

When traveling, time is particularly precious. To stay organized and avoid wasting time searching through emails and documents to gather all your travel information, use Tripit. From restaurant reservations to car rentals and flight confirmations, Tripit allows you to view, share, and edit all the elements of your travel itinerary from one place.

Plus, it’s available offline so you don’t need to hunt down a Starbucks in order to look up your hotel location.

Find out more at Tripit.com

Pocket

Best for: News Fans

Price: Free, $4.99/month or $44.99/year for Premium

For all those “I’ll read that later” moments in the day, there’s Pocket. Whether it’s a recipe, a news article, or a Youtube video, Pocket makes it easy to save all your content in one space to catch up on later. Access your Pocket from your phone, tablet, or computer — it’s all linked together.

Find out more at get.pocket.com

Acorns

Best for: The Financially Savvy

Price: $1, $2, or $3/month

Investing might seem complicated and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. With Acorns, all you have to do is select a portfolio, link up your credit or debit card, and they will round off your transactions to the nearest dollar and invest those extra cents. You can adjust your investments or change your contributions at any time.

Find out more at Acorns.com

Sleep Cycle

Best for: Restless Sleepers

Price: Free

Getting a good night’s sleep is hard enough without the stress of thinking about how you’re going to get a good night’s sleep. Enjoy your slumber and leave the work to Sleep Cycle. The way they see it, if you can adjust your sleep patterns and wake up at the optimal time, you’ll have more energy to expend throughout the day.

Sleep Cycle tracks your movements to ensure you rise at the right time — not during REM cycles — and shares your sleep patterns so you can see where you have room for improvement.

Find out more at Sleepcycle.com

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50 Coolest Websites 2005: Arts and Entertainment

The official site of the studio that created Wallace, the hapless yet well-meaning, cheese-loving inventor, and Gromit, his faithful canine companion, is a treasure trove of video clips (click on Show Reel) and links to character sites including www.wandg.com, where you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Wallace & Gromit's first feature-length movie, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, due in theaters in October.

Books
The Complete Review
www.complete-review.com
This well-organized, easy-to-search compendium of book reviews—last we checked, there were 1,430 titles covered—includes editor's picks and bestseller lists by year. The site links to (and vets) dozens of literary weblogs, from Bookninja to Mobylives to its own Literary Saloon. The Review Index lets you search for books by author or title, genre or nationality; you can read the site's own review or click to read reviews published elsewhere.

Classical Music
Opus 1 Classical
opus1classical.com
A rich, expansive resource for music fans more into Handel than hip-hop, Opus 1 provides information on classical music concerts, festivals and opera in dozens of cities across the globe. You can browse by city and calendar month, or try the Venue Finder. Listings include program information and links to where to buy tickets.

Collections
New York Public Library's Digital Gallery
digitalgallery.nypl.org
Lose yourself in this vast collection of rare prints, vintage maps, manuscripts, posters, photographs, sheet-music covers, dust jackets, menus, cigarette cards and other artifacts. There are more than 300,000 digital images of original materials available for viewing. Access is free, and you can download images to your computer for personal or research use. The My Digital page will store your favorite discoveries along with your search history.

Galleries
The Museum of Online Museums
www.coudal.com/moom.php
This elegantly-designed portal links to established museum and gallery sites such as those run by the Museum of Modern Art, The Bauhaus Archive and The Art Institute of Chicago. It will also introduce you to countless other online collections, from Van Gogh's letters to Chinese postage stamps to Manhole Covers of the World. For more, go to the MoOM Annex.

Games
Orisinal
www.orisinal.com
Dozens of free Web-based games, gorgeously designed and relatively simple to play, which is perfect for non-gamers looking for an engaging way to waste time. Choices are presented as icons on the home page (no names, no explanations) but this only heightens the joy of discovery. Keep spiders off your cake, protect dragonflies from rhinoceros beetles, toss tiny umbrellas to baby birds as they fall out of their nest—all you need is your mouse and maybe your arrow keys to maneuver. For more silly diversions, try Little Fluffy Industries, which is part blog, part portal: editors review and link to new online games every day.

Humor
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
www.mcsweeneys.net
This site has amused and delighted fans for years, but has hit new levels of inspiration with funny bits like the recent Baseball Knowledge Will Not Help You Pick Up Girls. There's an archive full of Lists (Embarrassing Things That Might Happen to You While Using a Lightsaber) and Reviews of New Food (on blowing bubbles with Skittles gum: "You would have far better luck coaxing a sphere out of chewed-up crayon and oatmeal"). Affiliated with, but separate and distinct from, the quarterly print literary journal McSweeney's.

More Funny Stuff
Ze's Page
www.zefrank.com
The site began four years ago with "How To Dance Properly," a series of short looped video clips that web designer Frank posted online to amuse friends. The link was passed around like a virus you wanted to catch; within days millions had logged on, and a Web star was born. Today, Ze's page hosts a huge collection of interactive toys and games, comedic writings and humorous video monologues.

Podcasting
Podcast Bunker
www.podcastbunker.com
The Web's best source of talk radio for your iPod. Unlike other sites that offer podcasts for downloading, such as podcastalley.com and ipodder.org (two other good sources in their own right), Podcast Bunker evaluates each feed for audio quality and content and only lists the best stuff. Click the Quick Guide for the full list of recommended programs, plus 30-second previews.

Radio
Mercora
www.mercora.com
Got a fabulous digital music collection, but don't like breaking the law to share it? This peer-to-peer service is legal, because listeners don't actually download any music. Instead, they stream music on their computers that is webcast over the Internet by other members. (The company does have to pay webcasting royalties to copyright holders, and charges some user fees to cover them.) The offerings are listed in the traditional peer-to-peer way, noting artist, album, song title—in this case, the one currently playing—and source. Basic service is free, but limited to 30 minutes of listening a day. For $5 a month ($48 if you pre-pay for the year) you get unlimited listening time and can save up to 10 hours of programming for listening later. Premier members can also download the IMDJ application and create up to five different channels. Honorable mention: Underheard.org, which makes independent and community radio available for streaming or downloading to your portable audio player.

Television
TV.com
www.tv.com
An ambitious guide to what's on television. The All Shows index is organized by category (Comedy, Drama, Children's Talk, Soaps, Reality, Sci-Fi and so on); browse from A to Z or by decade. You'll find everything from the Life and Times of Juniper Lee to The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. But of the 14,000 shows in the database, only 2,500 of them have content that's fully fleshed out, so the idea is to have fans help fill in the rest. Register for a free account to write (or edit) plot summaries and episode recaps, contribute trivia tidbits or write reviews. (The website's editors review every submission before it is posted.) The News page reports tidbits like Patrick Stewart's heart-attack scare and Megan Mullally's talk show deal. For a snarkier take on what's on the tube, there's always televisionwithoutpity.com.

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