Do you download a lot of stuff that may or may not be legitimate? Music, Movies, Games, TV Shows, and Software aren’t always easy to snag from your favorite torrent sites, so what are you to do? Check out news groups. First things first. News groups are not free. You need to pay to have a usenet provider and an optional usenet search membership. This costs about $12 a month. If you’re the type that eats up entire dvd iso images, albums, and software then this is a drop in the bucket. Did we mention speed? Because you’re paying for a usenet provider that means you don’t have to hope a peer will allow you to leech. You get direct downloads. To put it into perspective on a standard FIOS connection a complete album takes about 25 seconds to download. Hit the jump to read up on how to get in on the action.

In order to get started you will need three things:
1. A Usenet provider, we use SuperNews ($10/month)
2. A Usenet search engine, we use Newzbin (~$2/month) and nzbs ($FREE)
3. A Usenet client, we use SABnzbd ($FREE)

First purchase a membership from the Usenet provider, then download and install SABnzbd. SABnzbd is a Usenet client that takes care of accessing the Usenet server, downloading, and unpackaging your items. The great thing about SABnzbd is that it’s web based so it doesn’t matter if you’re running Mac, PC, or Linux and it’s a snap to setup with the web based configuration tool. Now that you have a provider and client installed it’s time to start downloading. Hit up your favorite Usenet search site, pick what you want and download the nzb file. If you setup SABnzbd correctly the download will start automatically. Once it’s done downloading all of the pieces SABnzbd combines, decompresses and places your new goods in a complete folder when you can use it. It sounds confusing at first, but once you go news group you’re going to wonder why it took so long to make the switch.

Many of us are starting to use our computers more and more to consume music, movies, and even television. The problem with this picture is that not all of us have massive monitors and stereo systems to really enjoy all of this wonderful content. XBMC is media center software that is easy to use, fully customizable, and works on virtually any computer platform. The best part about XBMC? It’s absolutely free. Now you’re probably wondering “That’s nice, how do I get it on my TV?” Well the folks over at LifeHacker wrote up a nice little guide to build a silent and miniscule dedicated media center for about $200. You can read the guide here. Another cool feature with XBMC is that you can even set it up as a video game emulator to play all of those classic ROMs you have floating around your computer.

If you haven’t heard of Steam then you don’t play games. Steam is one of the original gamer market places that lets you sample and buy some of the latest games. Steam also hooks you up to their massive multiplayer community to go head to head with your enemies. Coming in April, Steam’s library will be available for Mac users. This is huge news. Games like Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and Half-Life will be released for the gaming minority. When April comes around try not to lose all productivity.

Forget the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. The A320 Pocket Retro Emulator can run circles around those tired portables… well sort of. The A320 packs all of your childhood systems into a tight and neat little package. You have the ability to play Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World, Sonic, Street Fighter II, Bonk’s Adventure, and Splatterhouse on the same system. To be absolutely clear, the A320 can play NES, SNES, GBA, Sega Genesis, and Neo Geo (what no Virtual Boy?). The system also has 4GB of internal memory which will pretty much hold all of your games with no issue. If that’s not enough, you can even pop in a micro SD card for memory expansion. How do you get games, you ask? Do a quick google search on “roms” for your favorite system.

Everyone should at least be a little curious how their IQ ranks with their peers, so why not unofficially find out by taking the Pocket IQ Test ($14) by Dynamo House. In the box there are 60 questions that are to be answered in 45 minutes and an easy to read grading scale that scores you against your age group. It’s probably somewhere between 70-130 (both extremes each count for 2.2% of the population).

Its always nice finding a product that serves dual purposes. Instead of leaving your controllers for your Xbox 360 and PS3 just laying around, why not have a stand that neatly houses AND charges them at the same time. Its a simple solution that functions and looks good. With the Power Pyramid from Konnet, you can charge up to two Xbox 360 controllers and two PS3 controllers at the same time. Or, if you just have one system, there is an option that can charge all of the same controller. It’s a bit steep in price but considering one controller is around the same price, its not so bad.

If you’re looking for a quick game to kill a little time at work then this is not the game. Super Mario 63 ($FREE) is truly a complete Super Mario flash based game that is basically Super Mario 64, but in 2-D. It has all the levels from castles, floating pirate ships, ghost houses, water levels, underground levels, and even lava levels. If you play this at work you will get fired. The sound track is pretty much directly taken from Super Mario 64, graphics and game are actually really nice, and the author created new items you can use such as a water jet pack. There are save game files so you can keep track of your progress. What do you have to lose? It’s free, try it out.

The Brodmann Blades have taken ping pong to a whole new level by removing the handle, making the new paddle work like a glove worn over either hand. Improved comfort and ergonomics makes for greater ball control, a faster and more intuitive game, more spin and superior backhand. For those who are not so great at ping pong, this will help improve your game and for those who are already good, well this is how you can push the limits of the sport.

If just looking at this picture doesn’t bring back memories of overheating and doing a wheelie across the finish line then well, you just don’t have a soul. Excitebike World Rally($10) is only available via download directly through the online service Wiiware, and it has all the great stuff you remember from the 1984 original with a 2009 facelift. The game includes a track editor, online multiplayer, and that fantastic theme song. The game also allows for both a motion control scheme or the typical button layout.

OnLive is launching the world’s highest performance Games on Demand service, instantly delivering the latest high-end titles over home broadband internet to the TV and ANY entry level PC’s and Macs. Afters 7 years in stealth development, OnLive is fixing to becoming the pioneers of delivering rich interactive media to the home which will change the way entertainment applications are created, delivered and consumed. Now we have to admit this is a pretty interesting concept but not much information has been released about actual cost. The word is that monthly gaming subscriptions should be comparable to Xbox live at around $50 a year. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens when it releases this winter.