Links: Hulu.com

There's been a conscious attempt from most of the major TV networks and movie studios to curtail illegal downloading by providing free streaming content over the Web. One of the largest of these endeavors is Hulu.com, a site owned by NBC Universal and News Corporation.

I've blogged about this type of distribution method before, but Hulu is easier to access and doesn't require a separate application. The site even has a fairly diverse selection of content, including full TV episodes and movies with quality that's a step higher than the usual YouTube fare. Of course, you're going to need a fairly beefy broadband connection to watch stuff at 480p quality, but if you've got the pipe, you can spend a lot of time there.

Strangely enough, Hulu has become a favorite site to test out a new netbook's capabilities, so I fired up my Acer Aspire One and wasted no time in queueing up an episode of "The Simpsons." Playback was fairly smooth, as long as I was plugged in - more about that later...