We’ve been on this TV alternatives kick for a while now, and continue to explore. Most of us have heard of podcasting, but it wasn’t until we started looking for video feed that we discovered how many professional looking podcasts there are out there, especially of a tech-flavor.

We previously did not explore podcasts as much, because of the link to Apple and the fact many of them have a more primitive production model But, when things are done well, and seriously, even by less professional groups, we have to respect them. After all, we’re amateur pundits, not a professional ones ourselves.

We’ve lacked a good set of technology themed shows. Years ago, the Sci-Fi channel used to have a show run by CNet. But since then, we haven’t found a weekly show to tell us about all the tech we can’t afford.

So, we did a little searching as part of this alternatives research and came up with two shows to start, run by Ziff-Davis, the media company that publishes PC Magazine. The first is DL. TV, described as “For Tech Fans by Tech Fans.”

Here’s a link to their episode with a showcase and interview with one of the people at Boxee, a social video watching software package we’re enthused about. Boxee’s policy of pulling in anything free with an RSS feed to be part of its package is one we keep advocating.

Since we don’t have Boxee(not available for our platform yet), we’ve come up with our own solution for now. A software package that downloads the latest entry in an RSS feed to a local directory, which we’ll be programming to download feeds such as DL.TV and integrate them into our system in the wee hours of the morning, so they are ready to be watched.

We’ve started to add in a variety of news-based podcasts that become programs on our DVR-like interface. Here are some useful ones. Why are there so many news ones? Well, it is harder to find Entertainment podcasts(except entertainment news).

• DL.TV – mentioned above
• Cranky Geeks – Tech industry pundit John Dvorak, the “Head Crank”, argues with other pundits abouta variety of tech issues.
• CNN  Podcasts – Includes special podcast news updates, as well as highlights from Anderson Cooper 360 and other areas of CNN news. Nothing like downloading a news roundup each day.
• Revision3 – Revision3 is a TV network for the web. Some interesting original programming is available on it.
• Podcast Award Winners – We have to assume any podcast that wins an award is of good quality. It includes such podcasts as Grammar Girl(tips to improve your grammar for writers), which won best in education. We’re going to have to check some of these out.
• CNET Podcast Central – Lots of different programs on technology
• MSNBC – We’ve mentioned this before, but downloading netcasts of many popular MSNBC programs such as Meet the Press seems to be a good thing.
• Fox News Podcasts – Doesn’t seem as good in terms of options as CNN or MSNBC, but, still an option.
• ABC News Podcasts – Lots of good watchable content here.
• CBS News Podcasts – Face the Nation and the CBS Evening News in full, as well selected other pieces.
• PBS Podcasts – Lots of good content, with new episodes added regularly.
• Discovery Channel Podcast – Explore your world with Discovery Channel video podcasts! Watch behind-the-scenes interviews with your favorite Discovery Channel hosts; go inside the making of Discovery specials and hit series; get an inside glimpse into the world of Discovery.
• Sky News Podcasts – Podcasts from Sky News.
• John Cleese Podcast – Nothing like a famous British comedian talking at you.
• NASA Podcasts – The latest from NASA.
• Washington Post Podcasts – Several good video sources on here from the Washington Post
• G4 TV Podcasts – Video Game Podcasts from G4 TV
• Reuters Video Podcast – The latest in Reuters Video downloadable.

There are many more. And we’d love your submissions to add in. Send in your comments. Our criteria in this category is high quality(production quality, not resolution, although that helps) video podcasts that have the feel of television shows, and thus can be watched in lieu of them.

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