So you’re in the market for a new HDTV, but don’t know what size screen to buy. You could go with the “bigger is better” adage, or you can precisely calculate a more suitable size by applying the following formula.
Gadgetwise blogger J.D. Biersdorfer and NYT personal tech editor Sam Grobart demonstrate how to determine the right television size using one simple formula.
According to the duo, the process involves taking the viewing distance from the screen (in inches) and dividing that by the number two. Why two? According to Jude, salespeople will tell you to divide the distance by 1.5 because they want you to buy a bigger set, whereas non-salespersons typically suggest 2.5 as a benchmark. The “pragmatic thing” to do, she says, is to split the difference between these numbers and divide by two instead, which should provide you with a proper screen size.
Check out the above video clip to see the simple calculation in action. If you don’t want to hassle yourself with all that inconvenient math (or you just want a more forgiving scale of sizes within maximum and minimum viewing distances (not everyone is sitting exactly the same distance from the TV, after all), this previously covered TV-to-space chart can do the trick, too.
Web site ezRSS is yet another web site designed to help you “subscribe” to your favorite TV shows via BitTorrent so your download automatically starts as soon as a new episode is available (known as 
Whether you purchased your HDTV yesterday or last year, there’s a big chance you just plugged it in and fired it up. Tweak your HDTV for better viewing quality. Photo by 
Hot on the heels of 
If you’re missing the now defunct 
DVRs have revolutionized the way people watch TV, but if you’ve always wished your DVR were a little better at skipping commercials, this classic 30-second skip hack is a must.
Windows/Mac/Linux/Xbox: What could make the already awesome 
Once you’ve grabbed a copy of XBMC and installed it, the customization can begin. The default skin on just about every distribution of XBMC is Project Mayhem III and its HD variant, the original skin is show at right. It’s a beautiful skin and if no one could customize it away, very few people would complain. You’re not here to keep things stock though, so admire Project Mayhem for being so awesome it was made the default skin and prepare to customize!
If the purists among you are shocked and scandalized by all of these non-traditional skins, especially that nonsense about putting the Xbox 360 skin on a classic Xbox, don't worry. The same team behind the beautifully executed 360 skin has a classic Xbox skin that is just as accurate and stunning in its own right. The interface of the original Xbox wasn't a marvel of flashy transparency but it was a very well implemented—and green!—design. The Classix Xbox skin pays hommage to that design and remains very faithful to the original interface. Love the design but not sold on the bright green? There are themes included to turn the skin fiery red and deep blue.
Let’s say a 
Upset users can easily follow our 
Windows only: Sure, almost all the offerings on NBC Direct can be watched at streaming site Hulu. But if you’re an HD fiend and want offline access, NBC Direct’s player might be worth checking out.
Once the installation starts rolling, you’ll be asked to close down your browser. NBC Direct downloads and plays its shows through your browser, and it plugs in a rights-restricted media handler to do so (pictured at right).
Even when you’re “offline” to watch a show, though, you’re getting some ads. The one complaint I’d make about NBC’s video site, versus Hulu, is that they take “fullscreen” to mean something less than literal. Here’s an episode of The Office, in HD, set to “Fullscreen.” There’s actually a bunch more space at the bottom and right-hand side, but I clipped it for Lifehacker page constraints: