Family-Friendly ROKU! Warning, some will appeal to 20 year olds!

I had one of them, a kid, only she's a young adult now.  It wasn't that long ago where I had to pick and choose programming and you can choose which channels to put on your TV, as opposed to setting up parental controls and hoping they don't watch something confusing across the street.  I can only make recommendations of channels I have limited knowledge of, it is up to you to test the waters and if you don't like a channel, go to the asterisk on the remote, press it, and follow the prompts to remove it!  Movies on any of the channels may have material you don't choose, but it seems most or all of pornographic channels are private channels you in fact have to search to locate.  For my mini tour of Roku, see my first video blog at: http://tvwithoutcable.blogspot.com/2012/03/roku-mini-tour-tv-addiction.html

Firstly, look in the channel store.  There is a row of channels called "Kids & Family," but be prepared some of this entertainment will make twenty-somethings smile or the little kid in all of us.  First the freebies.  Disney has a video channel, with clips from TV shows, Kidlet has free TV episodes most or all of which are cartoon shows (limited time offer), Khan Academy has subject teaching videos, The Bazillions with animated music videos and live performances.  Now you know your kids are grown up and you are getting old when you don't recognize the next best entertainment for kids.  I had to "google" The Bazillions.  Iggy.tv described as family-friendly and not embarrassing to adults, blip.tv independent "home" content, Party Rockers reality tween scene dance shows from Delaware, and Kid Paint (reminds me of Mario Paint)!!  At minimal cost:  Sudoku Art, Nature Window TV, Superman Classics  (1940s cartoons), Baby FirstTV (higher end at $4.99/mo.), Timeless Toons (24/7 live from FlickStream from 30s to 90s), Pets.TV, Ameba, some of the "Science and Technology" choices, Netflix at $7.99/month as a channel has Anime and Children & Family movies categories with Phineas & Ferb, Teen Spirit, cartoon movies, Lemonade Mouth, Iron Giant (good for all ages), and more, plus Netflix has some ABC Family movies mixed in.  Nowhere TV has a Kids and Family area with podcasts from DragonflyTV, Cartoon Network, BabyShiz, Sprout, Sesame Street, Kid Videos, Inside the Magic:Disney, EarthTouch and more.  If memory serves, I think PlayOn had some kid friendly offerings, see my blog http://tvwithoutcable.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-roku-channels.html  Also, Spiritclips has the ultimate in family entertainment with many Hallmark Hall of Fame films for about $3.00 a month.  See you soon for more hints on how to have inexpensive or free TV and movies and cartoons! 

Student-Friendly TV without cable-- check out my Roku video too

A few weeks ago, I gave some ideas for students on how to get free TV and movies without a cable or satellite bill.  I went back to school after my daughter graduated, so we both don't have cable.  She watches on her laptop and I watch on my Roku.  I mentioned streaming options on PS3, Wii, Roku, XBox360, Roku, Apple TV and others on my blog: http://tvwithoutcable.blogspot.com/2012/03/free-tv-and-movies-on-your-laptop-and.html .  I also mentioned some TV and movie channels that are accessible right off the internet.

I discussed playon which streams from your computer to the television, its merits and trying it free to make sure your internet speed and computer are adequate on this blog: http://tvwithoutcable.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-roku-channels.html  

My first video can be seen at: http://tvwithoutcable.blogspot.com/2012/03/roku-mini-tour-tv-addiction.html which gives a mini tour of Roku on television.

Some additional student-friendly channels on Roku include: new channel iFame which has indie movies, music, dance, and even some hip hop and classic comedy from Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello; Party Rockers Dance Reality, TED (some courses use these), Revision3--geekbeat and net news, AOLHD-cooking to gadget new, many radio channels, many sports and movie channels previously mentioned, Giant Bomb-video game reviews and previews, Twit-tech, Tested-smartphone, tablet camera reviews, Screened-trailers and more (some humor), Crunchyroll-anime, Live Exercise and other exercise channels, cooking channels, Kid Paint-like Mario Paint, comedy from Funny or Die and Break, Blinkx-videos, Kung-Fu Theater and so much more!  There is are vimeo, picasa, flickr, shutterfly, Smugmug, Facebook photos & videos, horoscopes, travel, international stations, and religion channels.  Games are probably at cost.  The budget $49.99 Roku LT when available comes without angry bird game.  You can also get private channels to put on Roku.  And....if you don't like a channel, press the asterisk on your Roku remote, follow the prompts and voila...it's gone.  Come back for more ideas and enjoy the show!

Roku: mini tour & TV addiction

MANY people before me have created blogs and sites about Roku, some with great screenshots.  If my embedded video doesn't work, see it at: http://youtu.be/FGq1OG6uu5I .  I simply wanted to save money, so I set up an experiment to see if I wouldn't go stark raving mad without my sound box to keep me company and sing me to sleep.  TV is like "boxed company," sad huh?  I was raised with TV in every room (except bathrooms); I admit it, I was addicted to THE BOX.  Why isn't there a teleholics outreach or a 5-step program to set us free?  Roku is a portable streaming device that offers an alternative so our living rooms don't go silent and our brains can get their daily fix of movies or TV shows.  Here are some of my screenshot photos:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/collegemum505/?saved=1  Here is one of them:

I began my journey with old analog TVs and no antennas.  Pulling my cable connection for me literally meant NO TV.  I had to do it in steps, just like an addict.   A little Roku box on an old analog TV with a game or video channel (under ch. 2) plus 2-3 yellow, white, maybe red A/V openings, and high speed Internet are all that are needed to see series, movies, news.  Add an amplified antenna and a digital converter box and you may get some local stations too, it was so exciting when that antenna pulled in TV at no monthly cost!  Add that antenna to a newer HD TV and voila!  Roku has Audio-visual or HDMI connections.  Come back soon to learn more tips about Roku, TV alternatives, Free shows & movies on the Net.