Recently, I’ve started having slowdown problems with Firefox. It was’t awful, but I was still dealing with some long standing issues hanging around the browser for awhile. Sometimes it would just stall out, and when you quit, it’s still running in the background, things of that nature. Nothing of the order where I had to stop browsing because of it, but enough little annoyces, that they built up over time.

Then yesterday, I saw an article where Google might be pulling funding for Firefox down the line. It’s all speculative, and I’m not foolish enough to think that Firefox will up and disappear at all, but that article got me thinking. I’ve had a lot of little nit picky issues with Firefox. Not any one enough to make me want to change software, but put ‘em all together, and it got me wondering if I should look at Chrome again.

So yesterday I decided to take another look at Chrome. I initially decided not to use it, because there were several plugins I had which there was no comparison for in Chrome. If I switched awhile ago, Chrome would cramp my style a bunch insofar as my browsing goes. So I stayed with Firefox, which wasn’t a bad thing.

I noticed the importer for Chrome does a great job at importing not just the bookmarks, but the login sessions and passwords and other info from Firefox. It was pretty quick. Granted, I had to fiddle with the bookmarks a bit to get them to come up the way I wanted them to, but they were all there. My online travels today were in Chrome. Didn’t go to Firefox today except when I was researching plugins. It was stupid faster than Firefox was. Loaded faster, ran faster, displayed faster. I knew it was a fast browser, but I never really sat down and delved into it like that. Was impressed.

The overall “look” to the browser isn’t that terrible dissimilar to Firefox. A few FF revisions ago, they went minimalistic like Chrome has been for awhile, so it’s not a complete shock to go to Chrome.

So I started looking into plugins, which was the big deal for me. Jotted down all the Firefox plugins I was using. There were a handful that were specific to Firefox, and were not relevant. Went down my list of plugins, and found there were 10 I was actively using in Firefox, so I wanted to see what was out there for Chrome. First choice is a Chrome version by the same developer. After that, something similar. I’ll get into my specific plugin choices later, but suffice it to say with one exception I found something I could use.

Given I was leaning towards Chrome anyway, I decided to make the jump when I had such a good rate of coverage on the plugins. That’s where I am now. I’ve changed from Firefox to Chrome mostly because of speed issues. I’ve got my battery of plugins up and running, except for one. I’ll address that in my plugins story below.

Unlike some people who make these kind of moves, I’m not gonna trash Firefox, and claim it sucks, because it doesn’t. Served me well for quite a long time. Just found that for me and my feelings towards a web browser, Chrome works better. There you go.

Here’s my plugins I was using in Firefox, and what I did with ‘em.

1. Adblock Plus -> Essential plugin. They make a Chrome version, so that was stupid easy to bring over.
2. Add to Amazon Wish List Button -> I use Amazon’s Wishlists a lot, and you can add just about anything to one. Amazon makes a Chrome version, so I just installed that.
3. Web Developer -> This is a plugin that I’ve used for awhile. Shows you a lot of fiddly low level CSS/HTML stuff about web pages. They make a Chrome version, so I installed it. It visually looks a lot nicer than the Firefox version, too. Also, Chrome itself has a lot of built in tools for this kind of thing, but I’m used to Web Developer, so I installed it.
4. Google’s Advertising Cookie Opt-Out -> Google made an official plugin which let you permanently opt out of some of the doubleclick advertising cookies. I was using that. Looked around, and they have a Chrome one too, so I installed that.
5. Easy Youtube Downloader -> They don’t have a specific Chrome replacement, but someone else had one that did the same thing, so I installed that. Don’t use it often, but when I do want it, it’s nice to have.
6. Echofon -> It’s my twitter plugin. This is the one thing that I’ve yet to find a good replacement for. I poked around at a few Twitter plugins for Chrome, and I don’t like any of them. I prefer Echofon, so I opted to install their Windows specific client. Looks the same way as the Firefox plugin, but I’d prefer a Chrome plugin.
7. FEBE -> This was a plugin for Firefox that backed up your entire profile. Bookmarks, config, plugins, everything. Chrome does this for you (save for plugins), so it was not necessary in Chrome.
8. Garmin Communicator -> I have a Garmin GPS, and it gets new maps and updates via a browser plugin through their site. That same plugin works in both Firefox and Chrome, so I didn’t have to do anything, it just used the existing stuff on my computer. That was cool.
9. Paste Email Plus -> This was an app that let you paste existing snippets of text into any text box in a browser that your cursor is at. With the work I do (both pro & hobby), you type things over and over again alot. These guys don’t make a Chrome verison of their plugin, so I had to go find a replacement that does the same thing. I did, it’s called “Insert Text”.
10. Rapportive -> Gives you some extra info about the person whose email you are reading in Gmail. Had it installed in Firefox, and didn’t use it too much, so I just left it out in Chrome, even though they do make a Chrome version.

That’s it!

You knew you were awesome.

You loved yourself.

You thought you were beautiful, even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.

You loved your body, and the things it could do.

You thought you were strong.

You knew you were smart.

Do you still have it?
The awesome.

Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?

Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?

Look at her. She is full of awesome.

You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.

All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.

NOTE: I did not write this text.  It originally appeared on a blog called “Pigtail Pals”, and was written by “Melissa”.  The picture, however is my own daughter.    Go check out the original here.  The text was reprinted with permission.   Thanks, Melissa – this text was full of awesome!

I didn’t write either of these two remarks, but I echo them exactly.  Thanks to Chris F for these..

“For a man I never met, Steve Jobs had an undeniable and unmeasurable impact on my life, my career, and my daily affairs. Rest in peace.”

“Saw the Steve Jobs news when I loaded up apple.com on my iPad to get info on the iPhone 4S and iOS5. That says so much about his impact.”

This one below is mine, though.

The filename of the image on apple.com of Steve Jobs’ RIP msg was “t_hero.jpg“. Tells you what someone there thinks of him.

I’ve been around TV for a long time, and my “head” tells me that to get better reception, you need to get a bigger antenna. I figured with a large tree in my neighbor’s house, as well as it being an attic, I was looking at something large up there. Specifically this (Antennas Direct DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna). I was looking at getting the DB8, when a friend of mine who was going to help me by mounting it in the attic suggested I might get by with something smaller. He recommended the antenna I’m writing about now. I was initially skeptical (again, the bigger is better) attitude. But I read through a ton of reviews, and there were a lot of happy people. At the time I bought it, there were 220 reviews on Amazon with an average star rating of 4.5 out of 5. That’s actually a higher review than the DB8 I was looking at. So I started reading, and was thinking perhaps I’d go with this.

Then while we were thinking about how to run cable, I remembered when my wife and I got the house 9.5 years ago (as of Sep 2011, when I’m writing) it was wired for Cable TV. I dropped the Cable TV, but the wires were all still there. Which meant that there was a cable run there already. So I decided to run a test. I took the same stupid $6 rabbit ears I was at the time using (RCA ANT111R Basic Indoor Antenna), and took ‘em into the attic. I found the cable that went to the jack by my TV, and plugged the rabbit ears into it. Rescanned, and wow. Not only was my interference gone, it was picking up a lot more channels than I knew about. The most I got with the rabbit ears inside the house was about 35-40. It was more here. So I figured with the rabbit ears doing that much better, perhaps I didn’t need the overkill DB8, and opted for this antenna, the RCA ANT751R.

Did my research beforehand. Hit up antennaweb as well as tvfool for compass directions. Personally I think tvfool has way better antenna resources than antennaweb, but that’s a side story (look at this report from tvfool showing the location and range of everything from my area). I got it installed in the attic (you can see a picture of my installation in the photo gallery here on Amazon). The mounting was fairly painless, although I will say what others have said. It’s quite a value that the antenna comes with the mounting brackets and the pole in the box. Not all antennas do. The one thing that was missing was the wood screws needed to actually bolt the bracket to whatever you’re attaching it to. The instruction manual even says to use a couple of wood screws (not included). Given they gave you the more expensive pole in the box gratis, you’d think they’d throw in a few wood screws, but that’s a minor quibble.

Once I got it up there and hooked up, I reran a scan on the TiVo. I was bloody well amazed at what it found! The total number of channels it found was 79. Granted, several of those are inactive, or are otherwise things I don’t care about. There were also a couple of channels it found which were on neither antennaweb’s or tvfool’s reports. Since I live right outside of Dallas, the majority of these kinds of channels are spanish speaking something or other. Given that’s not my language, they’re of little interest to me. What WAS of interest to me are the major networks (PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, & one local “old UHF” channel that broadcasts Texas Rangers games).

All of these channels are quite strong. Even with the large tree outside and being in an attic, the average signal strength of these channels (according to the signal strength meter on the TiVo) is around 80-85 or so. PBS is a bit low (mid 60′s), but the same friend who lives about 3 miles away from me says that PBS is his weakest signal too, but it’s not an issue unless there’s some epic storms out, but we’re probably not watching much TV at that time anyway. At least one or two of the channels that are of lesser concern to me are quite strong – I had a couple of them as high as 98 on the meter Oh, before I forget, in the Dallas area, the majority of the antennas (especially the major networks) are in the same general area, as it’s the highest point in the general D/FW metroplex. According to tvfool, I’m anywhere from 28.2 to 30.7 miles from the transmitters (except for a few rogue close ones that are about 8 or 14 miles), and they all are 80-85 or so in an attic mounted, non powered antenna.

There is no signal booster on here. It’s just the antenna that was in the box hooked up through a cable run that used to be used for Cable TV into my TiVo box, and then on into my HDTV, which is this, BTW. The quality is astounding. The signals are rock solid, and I have to say, I’m quite happy with my purchase of this antenna.

While the old rabbit ears worked “OK” enough (especially for $6), it wasn’t quite a universal solution. I’d have to fiddle with the antenna depending on what I wanted to record. Given I TiVo everything, having to worry about where the antenna was pointed meant I was back to the pre-TiVo days of caring what the broadcaster’s schedules were. Didn’t like that, so I looked into what became this choice of antenna. I’m quite happy with it. I suppose the only negative I could say is that the antenna is sold as an outdoor antenna. When I was putting it together, I felt like it wouldn’t hold up to extreme winds, and things of that nature outside. It works great, but if left outside to the elements, I’m not sure how well it would hold up. But as an attic antenna, it won’t have to deal with any of that, so it should last a good long time up there.

I was initially concerned that this being a “cheaper” antenna wouldn’t function well enough as one that was into the $100 range or so. I was wrong. This works really quite well for me.

Today is August 31, 2011. It’s a day that’s fairly odd for me emotionally. It’s in some ways the end of the road for the biggest single “event” in my working career. You see, today’s my last day at Gearbox Software.

But before I get to that, let me rewind the clock a bit. Going back to early 1992. I was living in Philadelphia then, and I was big into the BBS scene. Ran first an Apple // BBS, and then a PC BBS. Both operated under the name “The Arsenal of Freedom” (a Star Trek: TNG Episode title). Given the time then, I used to carry Apogee Software shareware games. They were very popular back in the day, titles like Commander Keen, Crystal Caves, the original Duke Nukem, things like that. Then on May 5, 1992 Apogee & id released Wolfenstein 3D, a game that pretty much blew away everyone who was playing games at the time. There was nothing like it, and I like most everyone else called Garland to place an order for the full game. I was part of Apogee’s SysOp program, and I’d dial into the Software Creations BBS to check for releases, etc. It was somewhere around this time that I found what was supposed to be an “adult/porn” version of Wolfenstein 3D v1.3. I reported this to Scott, and he and id issued a statement saying it was false. This must have stuck with Scott, as a few months later, I came on board as an Apogee beta tester. During that time, Scott was asking if anyone wanted to move to Garland to work for Apogee. At that time I was working for the computer repair department of Bell Atlantic (about 70,000 people), and decided to move to Texas to take this job with Apogee (about 15 to 20 people or so at the time, mostly order takers). So on December 4, 1992 I hopped on a train at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia for the two day train ride to Dallas.

Me as Heinrich Krist in Rise of the Triad

That began my career in the videogame industry. Started initially answering phones and then worked my way into online support, customer service, & Community Management. Funny thing is during all my time at Apogee (Dec 14, 1992 to May 22, 2009), I still had the same job. Never promoted, the tech behind the job evolved from BBS’s & and your CompuServe/Prodigy’s of the world to the Internet, and websites, FTP, and finally at the end your Facebooks & Twitter. But it was still the same job. One I loved dearly. One that I thought I was going to be with for the rest of my life. I really loved that job. Scott & George (and Steve Blackburn) did a lot for me personally. Professionally, how could you not like the job? I worked at a videogame company, but I didn’t actually MAKE the games, so it was more fun than I’d say some of the developers, because they had pressures I didn’t. I was a developer on one game though, Rise of the Triad. One of the mappers. There were so many great moments in the making of that game, I could probably write for bloody ages just about that. But that’s not what this is about.

I was at Apogee (later 3D Realms) for the creation of many a great title. Duke Nukem 3D was probably the single most well known game. There was the aforementioned Rise of the Triad. Also Shadow Warrior, Death Rally, Balls of Steel, Monster Bash, Raptor, Terminal Velocity, the list goes on. All told, the company I worked for had their hands in something like 75 games or so over their lifespan. In all that time I made friends with an enormous amount of game developers, both with people I worked directly with at Apogee, and folks I knew through other companies. While it’d be impossible to list everyone, I’ll cherry pick a few, and hope I don’t piss off the ones I didn’t mention.

Steve Quarrella, Lee Jackson, Bryan Turner, Tom Hall, Joe Selinske, Richard Gray, Jim Dose, & Scott Alden. There’s a ton of others who I was friends with, hung out with, talk on Facebook with, or whatnot, but these guys are some of my closest friendships from Apogee. I also want to point out Shawn Green, but if it wasn’t for Shawn moving on to id Software from Apogee when he did, I likely wouldn’t have had the job I had there for all those years – I directly replaced him at Apogee, and he was “Employee #1″ (not counting Scott’s own family).

So the years went by, and during my time at Apogee I got married (1996), had two kids (2005 & 2009), found God (2007), and generally had a happy career there. Made a lot of friends, had a lot of fun. But I’ve got to talk about the three words that have been with me professionally for ages…..

Duke Nukem Forever

He tasks me! He tasks me, and I shall have him!
I’ll chase him round the Moons of Nibia,
and round the Antares Maelstrom,
and round perdition’s flames before I give him up!
(Khan Noonien Singh)

I worked at Apogee on Duke Nukem II (I was the original voice of Duke Nukem in that game). Worked on all of Duke Nukem 3D, got married, and when I returned from that, work was just getting started on Duke Nukem Forever in December 1996. Yeah, 1996. Much has been written about Duke Nukem Forever, it’s problems and all that. I’m not here to write the story about Duke Nukem Forever. That’s for another time. But I will say this. I was there from Day 1. I saw everything. A lot of folks who (how shall we say) don’t like me will tell you that I didn’t have any impact, that I didn’t know anything. That’s a lie. I did. I just didn’t talk about it. As my job as PR/Support/CM at Apogee, I was “the company guy”. I’m not about to go spouting off info about the game that was unauthorized. But I worked there through every employee, through every change in the game, I saw most everything ever tried at some point or another. I saw all the mistakes, all the successes, and I can tell you this. There were definitely some problems with the game, both personal and technical over the years. There were internal power struggles, arguments over how to do this that, or the other thing. But despite all that, everyone who ever worked on the game (except for maybe one artist who lasted a single day – haha) wanted nothing more than to put out a kick ass followup to Duke Nukem 3D. As time wore on though, it became a struggle against the passage of time. Time breeds expectations, and the passage of time meant that the game became an industry joke, and the expectations would only be satiated by an event on the scale of the second coming of Jesus Christ. There was no way Duke Nukem Forever could have led up to the expectations that were being stacked up against it. The almost total media blackout over the years was especially hard for me. First in that I was the person charged with keeping the community together, and the online guy, it was hard being the “face” of Duke Nukem Forever when I was forbidden from talking about the game. I hung a LOT on “The game will be fun, it won’t matter how long it took”. I genuinely believed it, because I was playing the game all that time. I knew the fun parts. I knew the problems, but I chose to overlook that on the grounds that the fun bits would win out in the end. But it was hard being the guy online and having my hands tied from talking about the game. Took a lot of slings and arrows during my time at 3DR because of that one.

So we move forward a bit, and we get to 2008. 3D Realms hired Brian Hook as a producer, a move that when it first happened, grated most everyone that worked there. I know myself and Bryan Turner didn’t like the idea. Hook was fairly unlike the culture at 3D Realms at the time. However, the one thing that Hook did was not give in. He (as well as Trammell Isaac, the art director) didn’t take shit from people. They were both determined to get this thing pointed in the right direction. And they did. I saw all the old versions of the games, and the one being worked on in the latter days of 3D Realms was good. It was right, it was a fun game, it looked good, it played well, and dammit, was the version that we should have released (on our own, that’s not a slight against Triptych or Gearbox, I was talking about 3DR on it’s own). 3DR always had internal projections for release dates. Had 3DR survived (in it’s old form) the game’s internal release date was April 15, 2010. I had no doubt we would have made that. There was still work to do, sure, but things were moving in the right direction. It felt GOOD to be working on DNF again, the feeling of “do I want to tell people about my association with that, I’ll just get mocked” were gone. Had Hook been hired before he was, i suspect the entire chain of events with 3DR, Triptych, & Gearbox would have never happened, and I’d still be at Apogee/3DR.  Hook turned out to be one of the better decisions made for DNF.  Pity it wasn’t made earlier.

Team DNF on the last day of 3DR as a studio - May 8, 2009

So it was quite the shock when George Broussard & Brian Hook gathered the entire company in the lobby of 3D Realms in the late morning of May 6, 2009 for a meeting that had the words out of George’s mouth (and I quote), “Basically we’re closing down the studio”. It went on from there, but I have to say, that fucking sucked. It was the single worst professional meeting I’ve ever had in my life. There were a few doozies in the past (the one after the guys who founded Hipnotic/Ritual left 3DR was ugly too), but this was worse. It was my livelihood. It was a job I never expected NOT to have. And I was just told it was gone. Spent most of that meeting just in a daze. They explained the situation to us – some of which I saw come out at Shacknews a few days after that. It was a mess. The developers’ formal last day of work was May 8, 2009. The guys hung around the offices for a time after that working on resumes, portfolios, etc. That next week, Randy Pitchford and a few guys from Gearbox Software came down and made a hiring pitch to the dev team. I listened in, because I mostly didn’t have much else to do, but if you don’t know Randy, he’s QUITE the motivational speaker. At the end of his talk I was ready to march out the door with him back to Plano. That didn’t happen, and my actual last day of work at Apogee was May 22, 2009. Those last two days I spent reworking the product line so you could buy them from Apogee’s new online store, and they’d work in Windows. You can still buy those today from Apogee. No DRM, work in Windows, etc… The last game I did was Rise of the Triad. That was my favorite game released during my time there, and after I finished with that project, I was last out the building. I wrote a goodbye story there that night about it, and included it on the Rise of the Triad bundle. If you’ve bought ROTT from Apogee since May 2009, go look in your installed game directory for a file called goodbye.txt and goodbye.jpg. That was my “Goodbye to Apogee”.  UPDATE: I forgot I also hid them on the 3D Realms website, you can see the picture and the story via the provided links.

Except the “goodbye” really wasn’t. Given I never wanted to leave, that goodbye wasn’t the one I wanted. I was unable to say goodbye the way I’d like given my job was ripped away from me. To some extent, I wish I was still there. Apogee/3DR was a big family to me, I miss the job still.

Then six days after my last day of work there, my son was born. Was a heck of a time. The day before he was born, I interviewed at id Software for a job, but then they were bought out by Zenimax, and the job I interviewed for was deleted due the merger. So that didn’t happen. The couple of months after that were frought with many different thoughts. My career was seemingly over, but yet I had a new baby. I had a lot to be thankful for, and I still do. So I continued looking for work, and had the odd part time & contract job here and there. I still had tons of friends, and I found out a lot about what was going on with Duke, specifically the Triptych guys. There was a comment by several folks during that “3DR is closing” meeting that some would want to work for free on the game and keep the studio going. So what Triptych did isn’t a complete surprise to me having been in on that meeting.

In the summer of 2010, I had talked with Randy Pitchford, and given we worked together at 3D Realms back in 1997, I have the ability to talk to him. I had an inkling that DNF might not be as dead as thought, so I pinged Randy and asked him about work. While there was no job for me then, I did ask him this. “If you guys do end up putting out DNF, I wanted just one thing. Stick my name in the credits somewhere. Let my name go out with the game in SOME capacity, given how much time I spent around it in the past”. So he said that wouldn’t be a problem, and some time passed. In August of 2010 I got an email from Steve Gibson and Randy offering me a contract for part time work with Gearbox doing Community stuff, and helping out with constructing some historical bits from the past. I started a few days before the Pax announcement in 2010. It was quite amazing for me to see the project revived like that.

So, I was “back in the saddle” so to speak at Gearbox. Working online at Duke forums, and on Duke Nukem Forever. Not quite in the way I wanted it to be (meaning no 3DR), but I was grateful. As the game got closer to release, the word surreal came into my head more and more. That it was possible the game was finally coming out was just astounding to me. Speaking of credits, there was one night towards the end of DNF’s dev time where George and I did up the credits section for 3D Realms one night. What a blast of memory from the past to come up with everyone who ever worked on Duke at 3DR. You can see that in the credits in the final game.

The contract with Gearbox allowed me to do one huge thing I was unable to do in 2009. Say goodbye on my own terms. I still never wanted to leave Apogee/3DR. I know the company still legally exists today (and never went away), but there’s no need for a “me”. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t entertain a thought in returning some day. But 3DR would have to revive itself, and I’m not sure what they’re planning there, to be honest. So that’s not a realistic option.

I had a lot of fun during my time at Gearbox. I was a part timer working from home, so I wasn’t at the Plano offices regularly. I went up there several times to help out with various bits. One of my favorites there was the day we spent recording interviews and podcasts for the historical series of stuff. Enjoyed that experience a lot.

Me with Jon St. John, the more well known voice of Duke Nukem

However, the greatest moments for me during my time at Gearbox were two single events. First was the release party in downtown Dallas. It was combined with a “Community Day” for Gearbox Software, and it was a lot of fun. Spoke with several fans during that time, got to mingle with true Duke fans. It was a blast. I finally got to meet Jon St. John face to face for the first time. The two voices of Duke finally meet! But the most fun was the release party later that night. Saw a lot of folks I hadn’t seen in awhile, but EASILY the greatest moment of the party personally was when the band “Say Hello to the Angels” played the Duke Nukem theme (aka “Grabbag”) live. Not just because of that song, which was badass, but.. Lee Jackson was there too. Lee was the original author of the song many a moon ago, but that fact was mostly hidden over time. The majority of people never knew that. When the song was over, Randy Pitchford was on stage talking, and Lee and I were down front about 3 rows of people from the stage. Randy noticed Lee, and pointed him out as the person who wrote the song, and the entire venue started applauding Lee. INCLUDING the band from the stage. That was clearly my favorite moment, because I had a hand in putting Lee & Randy together over the Duke theme and credit and whatnot. So for my old friend to get the public adulation for that song – FINALLY after all these years was my favorite moment of that night. The open bar was great, too. hahaha.

The second greatest moment was the midnight release party. Went out with some other Gearbox guys to a Gamestop in Plano. We hung out with fans for about an hour before the game was released. Then I sat in an autograph line and autographed people’s games, and whatnot. That was a moment that was a blast for me. Never thought it was going to happen, so i savored it really well. There were a handful of other 3D Realms guys there with me so it wasn’t just me as a “3DR guy”. But the event was important to me.

The game was out. With the release came closure. Closure is the most important thing that Gearbox gave me. Oh, the money from the contract was important, it’s helped support the family by paying the mortgage and all that. But for my own head I think, the closure I got from the guys at Gearbox for getting the game out the door was huge, and went a long way to soothing over some still raw feelings about the fall of 3D Realms.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the Tripytch team specifically. In the days before Gearbox got involved, these guys wanting to work for nothing to keep the game going laid the foundation for what Gearbox offered me. They too deserve thanks for helping me out, although they didn’t do it as directly as Randy & Steve at Gearbox did. I knew just about all of them from having worked with ‘em at 3D Realms, so I’m grateful. Hey Kristin, thanks for the mugs!

That brings me back to today. Today is my last day at Gearbox. It brings to an end that long chain of events that started way back in 1992 when Scott Miller asked me to come work at Apogee. Moved to Dallas from Philadelphia, and despite a time when I was working part time jobs for other companies, I’ve had Duke Nukem in my life professionally until now. 1992-1993 for Duke Nukem II, 1993-1996 for Duke Nukem 3D, and 1996-2011 for Duke Nukem Forever. Not to mention the other Duke games, but Duke has been hanging around me for bloody ages. Tomorrow I’ll be professionally away from Duke for the first time ever, really. I’m OK with that. A year ago or so, I wouldn’t have been. But I am now. That’s because I’ve been able to say goodbye on my own terms. Today is the last day of my contract with Gearbox, and I will always be grateful to Randy & Steve for offering that to me (and Chris & Adam for having to deal with me most directly). I was allowed me to see the game get finished, come out, and participate in the release parties and all that. I have a copy of the game in my hands, and I’ve played through it several times. It’s fun. But then that doesn’t surprise me. I knew it would be.

3D Realms Group Photo - June 11, 2001, DNF Release Party

So today I say goodbye to Apogee/3D Realms & Gearbox. It’s the end of the line for the biggest time in my life professionally. There’s still some more Duke Nukem Forever to come, the DLC later this year, and all that. I’ll enjoy that, as will you. Unless you’re a hater.

I’ll still be a fan, I’ll still play the next Duke game, maybe participate in Gearbox testing for the next one and all that – who knows? But today I consider my career in the game industry over. Unless there’s some surprise I’m unaware of, or some other company that wants to hire me I don’t know about. I’ve had fun, but I get the feeling there’s something else out there for me, so I’ve decided to look elsewhere for work. Will have to see what it is. Maybe it’s still games, maybe it’s stocking shelves at Target, maybe it’s preaching the Word of God. Who knows? Whatever it is, I know I’ll have my wife and kids with me, who are more important than any darned videogame I’ve ever been or could be involved with. Having said that, I can’t wait to see what Gearbox comes up with for a new Duke Nukem game. Will be a lot of fun, that’s for sure.

A big thanks to Scott Miller & George Broussard for bringing my onboard almost 20 years ago.   And also to Randy Pitchford & Steve Gibson for giving me the closure I apparently desperately needed to close out that portion of my life.   And also to my wife who’s had to bear the full brunt of what I’ve been through since the fall of 3D Realms.  I owe her big time.

God Bless you all, and to all the Duke fans, thanks for being around. Hope to run into you guys somewhere online.

Joe Siegler
“Always Bet on Duke”

P.S. To those of you who have made a habit out of hating on me due to some professional whatever from the past. I forgive you guys too. Guys like Yatta, CultureShock & especially Lengis/EngimaHood. I’ll pray for you guys, because hate is so destructive. I used to be consumed with rage over the various issues between us, but not anymore. I’ve learned to draw great strength from the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit. I’m reminded of Matthew 5:44 with you guys… “But I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you”. May you three guys come to know the spirit of the LORD so you can have inner peace about everything. God Bless. Amen.

Also, I’m in the United States, and DVD and Streaming situations are highly restricted by regions of the world, so this article should be considered to be for US viewers only.   It probably likely doesn’t apply to folks outside of the US.  Streaming also usually is just the episodes, rarely any of the DVD extras.   Also, Youtube has many episodes available, but they’re not er, “legal/authorized”, so  I won’t address that unless it’s a legal viewing release (there’s a few available that way).

Also, there’s other places you can buy Doctor Who episodes online.  Places such as iTunes, Xbox LIVE, Playstation Network, etc..  You can also rent in some places.  But I’m talking about ala carte streaming such as Netflix.  I’m not covering all the places you can digitally purchase Doctor Who.  Just stream it.

Also, there’s also other lesser thought of ideas like your local library.  Where I live, the library system has every Doctor Who DVD available to borrow.  Granted, it’s a library, so the discs won’t be in pristine condition, but it is available.  Something else to think about.   But basically, if it’s available on DVD, you can get it from Netflix’s DVD delivery or from Blockbuster’s DVD delivery services:

So with all that out of the way, here’s the list:

Doctor 1: William Hartnell

Series 1 (1963-1964)

An Unearthly Child (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes (as part of the “The Beginning” Box) [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available

The Daleks (7 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes (as part of the “The Beginning” Box) [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available

The Edge of Destruction (2 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes (as part of the “The Beginning” Box) [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available

Marco Polo (7 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Sort of.  All 7 episodes are missing; however there’s a condensed reconstruction on the “The Beginning” Box set.  [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available

The Keys of Marinus (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes.  [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available

The Aztecs (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes.  [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from Netflix & Amazon Prime Videos

The Sensorites (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Sort of.  This is one of the stories available at the BBC’s Doctor Who Youtube channel.  It used to be available for streaming in the US, but as of the writing of this document, it’s blocked in the US.

The Reign of Terror (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.  However, production is currently underway to release this on DVD in 2012 with animation for the two missing episodes.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 2 (1964-1965)

Planet of Giants (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Rescue (2 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Romans (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Web Planet (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Crusade (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  This is an incomplete story.  Episodes 1 & 3 exist, 2 & 4 do not.  The existing episodes plus audio of the missing ones are available on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Space Museum (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Chase (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Time Meddler (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 3 (1965-1966)

Galaxy 4 (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.  All four episodes are missing, however, there’s a 5 minute segment plus some clips that are available on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Mission to the Unknown (1 Episode)

• Available on DVD:  No.  This episode is lost.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Myth Makers (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.  All four episodes are lost.  However, a few short clips appear on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Daleks’ Master Plan (12 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of. Only Episodes 2, 5, & 10 exist, the rest are lost.  The three existing episodes, and a handful of clips from other episodes appear on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.  All four episodes are lost.  This is also the only story where not a scrap of footage exists to this day.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Ark (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Celestial Toymaker (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  Episodes 1-3 are lost. However, Episode 4 is included in the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Gunfighters (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Savages (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No. All four episodes are lost. However, a couple of clips are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The War Machines (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 4 (1966-1967)

The Savages (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No. All four episodes are lost. However, a couple of clips are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Tenth Planet (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.  Episodes 1-3 do exist, but have not been released on DVD.  However, a couple of clips from Episode 4 are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ].  Additionally, the three existing episodes with a reconstruction were released on VHS some time ago.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Doctor 2: Patrick Troughton

The Power of the Daleks (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No. All six episodes are lost. However, a couple of clips are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Highlanders (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No. All four episodes are lost. However, a couple of clips are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Underwater Menace (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of. Episodes 1, 2, & 4 are lost. However, Episode 3 is included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Moonbase (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of. Episodes 1 & 3 are missing. However, Episodes 2 & 4 (plus audio for 1 & 3) are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Macra Terror (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No. All four episodes are lost. However, a couple of clips are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Faceless Ones (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of. Episodes 1 & 3 exist, the rest are missing. However, Episodes 1 & 3 are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Evil of the Daleks (7 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  Episode 2 exists, the rest are missing. However, Episode 2 (and some other footage from Ep 7) is included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 5 (1967-1968)

The Tomb of the Cybermen (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Amazon Prime Instant Video Streaming.  It is not available on Netflix.

The Abominable Snowmen (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of. Episodes 1 & 3-6 are missing. However, Episode 2 (plus some other clips) are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Ice Warriors (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.  Episodes 2 & 3 are missing.  The remaining episodes were released on VHS some years ago with some talking head dialogue for the missing episodes.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Enemy of the World (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  Episode 3 exists, none of the others do. However, Episode 3 is included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Web of Fear (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  Episode 1 exists, none of the others do. However, Episode 1 is included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Fury From the Deep (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.  All episodes are lost, however, some clips and behind the scenes footage are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Wheel in Space (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  Episodes 3 & 6 exist, the rest are lost.  Episodes 3 & 6 are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 6 (1968-1969)

The Dominators (5 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ].  However, this one is not available as a disc from Netflix; it is from Blockbuster, though. Not sure why.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Mind Robber (5 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Video Streaming.

The Invasion (8 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ] – It should be noted though that episodes 1 & 4 are missing.  They are on here via cel drawn animation; it was the first attempt to completely replace a missing episode with animation on DVD.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Krotons (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.
• Streaming Status: Sort of.  For some odd reason, Episode 2 only is available on the legal BBC Youtube Dr Who channel.  All four used to be there, not sure why there’s only Episode 2 there now.

The Seeds of Death (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Space Pirates (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Sort of.  Episode 2 exists, the rest are lost.  Episodes 2 (and some other clips) are included on the “Lost in Time” box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The War Games (10 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Doctor 3: Jon Pertwee

Series 7 (1970)

Spearhead from Space (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Instant Videos

Doctor Who & The Silurians (7 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Ambassadors of Death (7 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No, although work is underway for a release (unknown date as of yet).
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Inferno (7 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 8 (1971)

Terror of the Autons (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Mind of Evil (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Claws of Axos (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Colony in Space (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No, but it’s due out in November 2011. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Daemons (5 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 9 (1972)

Day of the Daleks (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No, but it’s due out in September 2011. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Curse of Peladon (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Sea Devils (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Mutants (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Time Monster (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 10 (1972-1973)

The Three Doctors (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Carnival of Monsters (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]  It appears to be out of print, though.
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Frontier in Space (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Planet of the Daleks (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Green Death (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Series 11 (1973-1974)

The Time Warrior (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Death to the Daleks (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Monster of Peladadon (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Planet of the Spiders (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Sort of.  Not available from Netflix or Amazon, but all six episodes are available from the BBC Youtube Doctor Who channel.  Except they’re not available in the US.

Doctor 4: Tom Baker

Series 12 (1974-1975)

Robot (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Ark in Space (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

The Sontaran Experiment (2 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Genesis of the Daleks (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Revenge of the Cybermen (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 13 (1975-1976)

Terror of the Zygons (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Planet of Evil (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Pyramids of Mars (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

The Android Invasion (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD:  No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Brain of Morbius (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Seeds of Doom (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 14 (1976-1977)

The Masque of Mandragora (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Sort of.  It’s not on Netflix or Amazon, but it is listed on the BBC Doctor Who Youtube Channel.  Can’t view it in the US, however.

The Hand of Fear (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: No.

The Deadly Assassin (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: No.

The Face of Evil (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: No.

The Robots of Death (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – Appears to be out of print, though.
• Streaming Status: Available from Amazon Prime Streaming videos.  Not Netflix, though.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – The original DVD release is out of print, a new one is coming out in October 2011.
• Streaming Status: Available from Amazon Prime Streaming videos.  Not Netflix, though.

Series 15 (1977-1978)

Horror of Fang Rock (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

The Invisible Enemy (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Image of the Fendahl (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Sun Makers (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – Not available from Netflix, but is from Blockbuster
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Underworld (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Invasion of Time (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 16 (1978-1979)

This season was collectively known as “The Key to Time”, but each story had it’s own individual title and plot.  This was the first season to be released all at once in a Season box set.  It was originally released on DVD in the US in 2002.  It was later re-released as a “Special Edition” box set in 2009.  Both boxes can still be purchased if you want, although the 2002 version is out of print.   Each story is available for individual purchase as well.

The Ribos Operation (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

The Pirate Planet (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

The Stones of Blood (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Androids of Tara (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on Netflix only.

The Power of Kroll (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

The Armageddon Factor (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available Amazon Prime Streaming Videos only.

Series 17 (1979-1980)

Destiny of the Daleks (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

City of Death (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Creature from the Pit (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Nightmare of Eden (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Horns of Nimon (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Shada (6 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No, although it was released on VHS some years ago with narration from Tom Baker.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 18 (1980-1981)

The Leisure Hive (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Meglos (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – It is not available from Netflix, but is from Blockbuster.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Full Circle (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “E-Space Trilogy” box. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on the BBC Doctor Who Youtube channel, but not in the US.

State of Decay (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “E-Space Trilogy” box. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on the BBC Doctor Who Youtube channel, but not in the US.

Warrior’s Gate (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “E-Space Trilogy” box. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Keeper of Traken (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “New Beginnings” box, or individually. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Logopolis (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “New Beginnings” box, or individually. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Doctor 5: Peter Davison

Series 19 (1982)

Castrovalva (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “New Beginnings” box, or individually. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Four to Doomsday (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Kinda (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Visitation (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Black Orchid (2 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Earthshock (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on Amazon Prime Streaming Videos only.

Time-Flight (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 20 (1983)

Arc of Infinity (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Snakedance (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Mawdryn Undead (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “Black Guardian” Box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Terminus (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “Black Guardian” Box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Enlightenment (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, as part of the “Black Guardian” Box set. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The King’s Demons (2 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Five Doctors (1×90 Episode)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 21 (1984)

Warriors of the Deep (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Awakening (2 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – Not available from Netflix on DVD, though.  It is from Blockbuster.
• Streaming Status: Available on the BBC Youtube Doctor Who channel.  Blocked in the US, though.

Frontios (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – Not available from Netflix on DVD, though.  It is from Blockbuster.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Resurrection of the Daleks (2×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – It is out of print, though.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Planet of Fire (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Caves of Androzani (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from both Netflix & Amazon Prime Streaming Videos.

Doctor 6: Colin Baker

The Twin Dilemma (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on the BBC Youtube Doctor Who channel.  Blocked in the US, though.

Series 22 (1985)

Attack of the Cybermen (2×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Vengeance on Varos (2×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available on the BBC Youtube Doctor Who channel.  Blocked in the US, though.

The Mark of the Rani (2×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Two Doctors (3×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Timelash (2×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Revelation of the Daleks (2×45 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 23 (1986)

This series is collectively known as “The Trial of a Time Lord”, and officially is one big story with 14 episodes.   However, for practical production purposes, it was produced with four separate titles.   The titles are not sold individually on DVD; they are only available in the season box set, which can be purchased below.

The Trial of a Time-Lord (14 Episodes)

The Mysterious Planet
Mindwarp
Terror of the Vervoids
The Ultimate Foe

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Doctor 7: Sylvester McCoy

Series 24 (1987)

Time and the Rani (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – Not available from Netflix on DVD, though.  It is from Blockbuster.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Paradise Towers (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ] – Not available from Netflix on DVD, though.  It is from Blockbuster.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Delta and the Bannermen (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Dragonfire (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 25 (1988)

Remembrance of the Daleks (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes, “Special Edition”. [ Purchase ] – This was originally released on DVD in 2002, you can still buy that one here if you want.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Happiness Patrol (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Silver Nemesis (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: No.
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Series 26 (1989)

Battlefield (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Ghost Light (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from Amazon Prime Streaming Videos only.

The Curse of Fenric (4 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Available from Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming Videos

Survival (3 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available.

Doctor 8: Paul McGann

Paul McGann only recorded one televised story, although he’s done a tone of audios as The Doctor.  The lone story was a TV movie made in 1996 called (officially, anyway) just “Doctor Who”.  The DVD of it calls the thing “Doctor Who: The Movie”. It aired on FOX in the US as well as the BBC, and was an attempt to revive the show in the United States.  Didn’t work, but McGann was excellent.  Shame we never got to see more of him on TV.  Maybe someday as a cameo.

TV Movie (1×90 Episodes)

• Available on DVD: Yes. [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not Available.

Doctor 9: Christopher Eccleston

The show came back in 2005 with a new Doctor, and a new everything.  The show had a real budget, was done properly, was a glorious return to form.

Virtually everything of the modern series is available on streaming, but pretty much just the episodes.  Any of the “extras” from the DVD’s are mostly not streamed.  Some of the most recent series have special extras just for streaming – that will be noted below.

Also, officially when the show came back, it was labeled as “Series 1″, not “Series 27″, since according to the BBC, it was “officially” a new program.

On DVD, the episodes were released in the United States as season box sets.  They were not released individually like they have been with the classic series.   Chris Eccleston’s season was also released in smaller “vanilla” packages of like 2-3 episodes on DVD and some other oddball formats, but subsequent seasons were not.   Subsequent seasons (save for the 2011 season) were released in the UK in “vanilla 3 packs”, where the series would be broken up into smaller DVD releases with just three episodes on them, so people could buy it faster, as opposed to waiting out the year to buy the full box set.  Those vanilla releases did not come out in the US.

All episodes from this point forwards are at least 45 minutes long.   The Christmas Special episodes are a full hour, and the odd episode here and there ran long due to story (anywhere from 50 to 75 minutes) The classic series episode lengths were about 25 minutes each, except for Series 22 when it was 45 each, and a couple of oddball scheduling stories where it was forced to be 45 minutes (that happened twice).

Series 27/1 (2005)

10 Stories comprising 13 episodes

• Available on DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming Video

Doctor 10: David Tennant

Series 28/2 (2005-2006)

11 Stories comprising 14 episodes

• Available on DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming Video
• NOTE: Includes the 2005 Children in Need Special, as well as the 2005 Christmas Episode.

Series 29/3 (2006-2007)

11 Stories comprising 14 episodes

• Available on DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming Video
• NOTE: Includes the 2006 Christmas Episode.

Series 30/4 (2007-2008)

11 Stories comprising 14 episodes

• Available on DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming Video
• NOTE: Includes the 2007 Christmas Episode, and the 2007 Children in Need Special, “Time Crash”.

There was no full series in 2009.  They had decided the show was going to “rest”.  It wasn’t taken off the air, but there was a series of “specials” scattered through 2009, with the first one airing on Dec 25, 2008, and the last one actually airing on Jan 1, 2010.   The first of these specials (The Next Doctor) was the final Doctor Who story made in standard definition.  Everything since then has been in HD.  When the Specials box was released, it was the first Doctor Who release on Blu-Ray.   For the Blu-Ray box, “The Next Doctor” was upconverted to HD from it’s SD original format.

Series 30/4 Specials (2008-2010)

4 Stories comprising 4 episodes

• Available on DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Available on Blu-Ray: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming Video

Doctor 11: Matt Smith

Series 31/5 (2010)

13 episodes comprising 10 stories

• Available on DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Available on Blu-Ray: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Yes, from Netflix only
• NOTE: The disc releases include two short “mini episodes” produced just for the DVD set, and are not available on streaming.

Series 32/6 (2010-2011)

From this point onward, it is a bit different.  For the first time, the 2011 Series was split into two pieces, with seven episodes airing in the spring, and six airing in the fall.  Due to that, the DVD release has been skewed, and the Christmas Special from Dec 2010 was released on it’s own early.

14 episodes comprising 11 stories
Not all have aired as of the writing of this page.

• 2010 Christmas Special DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• 2010 Christmas Special Blu-Ray: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Series 6 Part 1 DVD: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Series 6 Part 1 Blu-Ray: Yes [ Purchase ]
• Streaming Status: Not available (not yet, anyway)
• NOTE: There are special extras just for these episodes available on Amazon Video & iTunes that are free.  The episodes are not, but the extras are.

Presumably when “Series 6 Part 2″ is all transmitted, there will be a “Series 6 Part 2″ DVD/Blu-Ray Release, as well as a full Series 6 box with proper extras, as well as the 2010 Christmas Special, and the two “Comic Relief” mini episodes from March 2011 called “Time” & “Space”.

However, today I’m talking about stinky milk.  This comes into play if your house recycles.  I suppose it could still be useful if you throw out your plastic, but I don’t see it as a big a deal as that.  With four people in the household, including two kids, we go through a decent amount of milk.  Not an obscene amount, but we consume our share.  Anyway, when the gallon jugs are empty, most recyclers will crush the plastic and put it in the recycle bin.  However, living in Texas, and especially in the summer, I’ve found that they end up smelling out in the recycle bin.  That’s generally because there’s always a small trace amount of milk left over in the bottom, and that stuff cooks out in the heat.  It’s not so bad if you had your bins outside, I imagine, but with wind and whatnot, you don’t want your recyclables blowing all over the place, so it’s in the garage.

Some time ago I had this idea which you can see in the picture in this post.  What I do when the milk is empty is I’ll give it a quick rinse with some water from the faucet, and then turn the jug upside down in the sink overnight.  This generally gets everything liquid out of the jug via gravity, and it goes down the drain.  Then the next morning, you crush it up and put it in the recycle bin.  If there’s anything in there at all, it’s a few drops of water, and that will evaporate in two seconds in the summer in a garage in Texas.

I’ve found this helps enormously with the recycle bin not smelling when you get to the end of the two week cycle.  Stupid little hint here, but it seems to work for me!  

Seriously though, I’ve never been a big person to get all handy and save money by doing “Martha Stewart” types of things.  I’m generally a “it’s done?  Throw it out, get another one” kind of person.  But for some reason, what about I’m about to post about has glommed on in a big way with me.  If you like candles, and burn a lot of them, then this will probably be of interest to you.  It will extend the life of your candle purchases, and will save you some bucks if you also tend to buy car fresheners.

Anyway, I was in there a few months back, and got kind of chatty with the woman working there.  There wasn’t much going on, so we chatted about any number of things, but mostly the company and their products.  It was this woman who gave me this great idea I’m passing on.  She pointed out that every candle gets to a point where the wick will just not burn anymore.  They burn out.  By this point, the candle wax is all the way at the bottom of the jar, and most people when the wick gets to this stage just toss the candle in the trash.   What the woman told me to do is this:

Take the candle wax, and get it out of the bottom of the jar.  Cut it into small pieces with a knife, and put the pieces into a Ziplock bag or something similar.  Take the bag, and put it under the seat of your car, but with the lid open.  This will make your car smell like the candle smell.  The woman (correctly) pointed out that just because the wick stopped burning doesn’t mean the candle wax loses its scent.  So I decided to try this once with one of my favorite candle scents (YC’s “Tulips”).  What did I find?   This worked pretty darned well!

It didn’t cost me anything, other than the cost of time to cut up the candle wax into small pieces.  I asked about the lazy way and said something like “What happens if you just take the remaining candle wax and put it in the car in one large piece”?   She said something like (I’m paraphrasing), “That doesn’t work as well, as not as much of the candle wax is “exposed”.  Also, you can’t get the candle wax cicle out of the jar in one piece, it’s too large, it has to be at least broken in half.”

So I did this, and I have to say I’m a big proponent of this idea now.  In fact, as I type this blog post, I was in the middle of cutting up the wax from two more candles that have burnt out at our house.   I’ll include a few pictures below.   A few caveats about all this:

• Get a big serrated knife.  I tried it once with a smaller butter type knife, and it didn’t work nearly as well.
• Cutting the candle wax WILL make a mess.  You get a lot of “chunks”, but you get a lot of small wax “mess”, too.  I didn’t put the mess in the bag, just the chunks.
• I didn’t put the bag under the seat of my car for long.   Tried that once, and the bag fell over, and the candle wax fell out.  I now have it in a compartment in the divider where cup holders are.  If you set it the right way, it doesn’t fall over.  The bag falling over is the biggest reason why I say not to include the “mess” from the last step in the bag, just the “chunks”.  If it falls over, it’s a far larger mess to clean up than if you just have the “chunks” in the bag.
• As the temperatures have warmed up, I found this works better due to increased heat.  Also, I found the wax melts just slightly out there, and it tends to want to reassemble itself into a single wax thing again, so you occasionally need to break up the wax into smaller pieces (inside the bag, and with the bag closed).

Once you’re done with all this, you can then take the jar the candle was in, and toss it in the recycling bin.  Look at me, I’m being all green! 

I really liked this idea, thought I’d share it with others who might find some use out of it!

Why does Hulu Plus not allow you to watch the “regular, free” Hulu videos and episodes?   Hulu has been around for a long time, and I’ve used it several times myself, when I missed recording something, or wanted to look at some recent clip, or something along those lines.  You can view these on your computer, and in most cases stream them to other websites, too.

An updated pay version of the service has been available since last Summer, called “Hulu Plus”.  That’s a version where you pay monthly, and get access to a much larger list of shows and episodes.  In most cases, entire series are available.  However, I found the paywall content lacking in shows I’d REALLY want to watch, so I only subscribed for one month as a test.  It is currently $7.99 a month for pay access.  It was initially more expensive than that, but the price came down, amongst stories that not enough people were interested in paying.

However, what I’m writing about today is the Hulu Plus app and the free version of Hulu online.  In the Hulu Plus app, you can only access Plus material.  There is a sample of some free videos in the Plus apps, but you CANNOT access the regular hulu.com free content through the Hulu app.  I’ve always felt this was a stupid move.  The last time I looked, the free/sample material in the Hulu plus app is the same as when it first launched back in the Summer of 2010.  It hasn’t changed.  The free content on the Hulu website, however, is constantly updating.

The Playstation Network has had Hulu plus for awhile now (since late last year), and Xbox is getting it in a couple of days, if reports are true.  My Blu-Ray player in the bedroom also has a Hulu plus app.  But I don’t bother with these, because there’s no compelling reason to pay for Plus, and the free content is not their “real” free content.  I’m sure it’s some stupid licensing issue, but they REALLY need to make the free desktop content available on the “free side” of the Hulu Plus apps (Xbox, PS3, iOS devices, etc)..

Won’t happen, though. 

About bloody time!

This has long been the Achilles heel of the Kindle. That, and ePub support. ePub is a public format. And is how other eReaders get other formats onto their readers. Sony and BN have touted this as a advantage over Kindle for some time. As a Kindle owner since the first model, I don’t personally see the ePub restriction as a big deal. Hover, the inability to get a book from the library WAS. I always wished I could do that.

At some date later in this year, I’ll be able to do that. One cool thing about this feature, I read where the feature will work on all the Kindle models, going back to the original. That’s a surprise, as new features usually ardent added retroactively like that. I upgraded to a Kindle 3 last year, but this will be big for Kindle 1 owners. It will also work over the Kindle apps (iPhone, blackberry, etc.). You’ll be allowed to leave notes and whatnot like with any other Kindle book. They’ll not go to the next borrower from the library, and if you buy the book, or borrow it again, your notes will come back.

This is all quite cool, indeed. I’m glad this is finally happening, as Kindles are starting to get into school libraries, and I think is an important thing to be there to help expand Kindle’s reach into schools. There’s a cool story about schools and Kindles here.

The ironic thing about this post talking about a feature a Kindle needs is that I wrote it on my iPad.