My Streaming Life

So, how do you record streaming content? Short answer: You can't. Long answer: You cannot or may not record streaming content, for both technical and legal reasons. For some who are new to streaming, this may not make much sense. After all, if you subscribe to Sling TV (for example; any streaming service could be the example), you get cloud DVR functionality. So why can't you use a Tablo or other similar device to record streaming content. Well, let's think for a second. When you record content from Sling TV using their cloud DVR, where is that content stored? That's right, in the cloud. And what is the cloud? That's right, it's somebody else's computer. And it's computers owned or controlled by Sling TV (in our example). That means that the folks who got the original stream from the network and formatted that content to work with streaming are the ones who made the recording. They got to it before it ever went out the Internet from their servers to your...

When I was younger, we had an antenna at the house. I was the one designated to go turn the antenna before my parents bought a rotor to turn it. If you have no idea of what I'm talking about, I'll try to explain. At the top of the antenna pole was a motor to which was connected a short pole that contained the actual antenna. And running from the motor down to the TV was a power cord that attached to a controller that determined which way to point the antenna. If it was set correctly, setting the controller to north pointed the antenna north. If it was moved to the east, the motor would turn and the antenna would point to the east. And it went the full 360° of the compass, pointing the antenna where you wanted it. And, if you aren't sure why that would be needed, well, that was because we were one of many many families that could pick up TV from multiple cities, or at least, from multiple directions. For some nearer the big cities, there may be an antenna on one side of town...

I've been a fan of Plex for quite a bit. But recently, Plex did something that I really didn't like. They got breached. Sure, I know, these things happen. But these things should not happen. Any company that pretends to be technology based or handles money -- and that includes companies such as Plex -- knows that there are people that will try to break in, and need to secure their servers. Plex got hacked. Somebody broke in and got user information. And I got an email last week: Dear Plex User, We want you to be aware of an incident involving your Plex account information yesterday. While we believe the actual impact of this incident is limited, we want to ensure you have the right information and tools to keep your account secure. What happened Yesterday, we discovered suspicious activity on one of our databases. We immediately began an investigation and it does appear that a third-party was able to access a limited subset of data that includes emails, usernames, ...

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had set up and was running Pi Hole , a DNS service that is often used to block ads. I also mentioned that I didn't want it to block ads, but rather, to block tracking of online activity. I'm not doing anything that I would be ashamed for my kids to know about, but rather I don't like being tracked and the data being sold and used to target me for ads and emails. During the initial setup, the default blacklist included information for ad services as well as trackers. I also used a Raspberry Pi device that was actually overkill for the job. I used a Pi 4 B with 8 GB RAM. That's more that is needed to do the job. However, a Raspberry Pi 2 that I had ordered arrived last week, and I set it up. I used Raspberry Pi OS Lite (formerly Raspian), which is a command line version of the OS. There is no desktop interface, and everything is command line. I added a USB connected Ethernet port and set a status IP address. I added Pi Hole servi...

College football kicks off this weekend, and fans such as me have been waiting for this since January. This season, if you've cut the cord, you'll be wanting to find ways to stream the games, or otherwise watch the games without cable. And ever since 2015, when Sling TV launched, it's been possible to watch nearly any major college football (Division 1-A/FBS) game as a streamer. Week 1, weekend 1, is this weekend. If that sounds odd, it is. In the past, there have been references to "Week Zero" as the weekend before the official "Week One" that is when most of the teams start play. However, it seems that "Week Zero" isn't being used by everyone anymore. It was kind of stupid anyway, so I'm glad it's not being as widely used. However, now Week 1 covers two weekends. Week 1 is games from Saturday, August 27th, through Monday, September 5. And yes, those 10 days cover two weekends. Week 1 has two weekends. So, I'm calling this ...

Imagine this scenario. It will be easy for some of you. You bought a new TV, maybe during a Black Friday sale, and you go it home and it was absolutely wonderful. You were able to stream content, and that whole world opened up to you. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Pluto TV, and so many other services were just a few button pushes away. Life, particularly your Streaming Life, was good. That was then. Time has passed, and things are not quite as good. Oh, the TV picture is great. You can't beat the colors, the sharpness of the image, and even the sound. But, there's ... something. When you press a button, or launch an app, things aren't quite as snappy as they used to be. Maybe things have slowed down a notch. Maybe you're just more aware of how long things are taking to happen. Not long, but long enough to notice. Things aren't quite as great as they used to be, for whatever reason. So, what do you do? Do you wait for the next Black Friday sale and buy another TV? I mean, ...

It hasn't launched yet, and we don't know when it will launch, but Netflix will have an ad-supported tier. Right now, Netflix has three streaming tiers, ranging from $10/month to $20/month. What you get on the three tiers today varies . The $10 plan lets you watch a single stream at a time. No watching Netflix in the living room while someone else watches Netflix in a bedroom. Additionally, the content is at standard definition, not HD. The $15 plan (actually $15.49) adds a second stream, meaning two at a time. And the streams will be HD. The $20 plan adds another two streams, giving you four. The streams are available in UHD/4K. All three plans let you download content to devices for offline viewing. The number of devices is equal to the number of simultaneous streams. The coming of a new ad-supported tier brings some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Netflix is reported to have promised no ads in children's programming, or in original movies, acco...

I've written before about NFL+ . Twice , actually. And, I said that it isn't actually for streamers. Now that the NFL preseason is underway, that has certainly shown itself to be the case. One online Website I visit regularly is Phillip Swann's TV Answer Man . Recently, he answered a question from one of his readers about not being able to watch his team (the Raiders) on NFL+. And Mr. Swann gave his reader (named Mike) the bad news . For instance, Mike, since you live in Las Vegas, you couldn’t watch the Raiders-Dolphins game on NFL Plus last night because it was airing on one of your local channels (Fox 5 in Vegas). However, if the game was in regular season, and Fox 5 was airing it in Las Vegas, it would be available on NFL Plus. He went on, explaining that during the regular season, even if the game was on NFL+, Mike wouldn't be able to watch it on his TV. And if you think you’re confused now, wait until the regular season when you will only be allowed to watch the N...

If you know me, you know that I'm a big fan of college football. And that I am an SEC fan as well. The school that my daughter attended is an SEC school, and I've been to some of their games since before she was born. I'm talking about the University of Georgia, which is a team I've followed since childhood. I've also followed Georgia Tech, as my mother favored the Yellow Jackets over the Bulldogs in my childhood. And I've followed Georgia Southern, since football was restarted in the 1980s. But generally, people think of me as an SEC partisan, and I won't argue with that assessment at all. I've enjoyed the domination the SEC has had in college football, winning 13 titles since 2000, and baseball, winning 9 titles since 2000. The SEC was the first conference to hold a championship game, something every conference now does. It's almost as if the SEC runs college football. They don't, but they do carry some heavy influence. There are a lot of S...

One of the things I absolutely do not like about Chromecast with Google TV is the limited onboard storage of the device. I've ranted about this before . A couple of times , actually. Here's the problem. Chromecast with Google TV comes with 8 GB onboard storage. That's four times what you get on a Roku Ultra, by the way. But there's a catch. Google TV (also Android TV) devices can get full, and won't let you add more apps once the device is full. Or, more likely, if the app you're trying to add exceeds the amount of available storage. That's not good. To deal with this, you have to remove an app. Maybe more than one, if the app you're wanting is really large. But you have to do it before you can add the new app. Most streaming devices have this problem. Amazon's Fire TV devices can encounter this as well. Same with Apple TV devices. However, those devices, particularly the Apple TV devices, have a lot more storage. And that's what Google is wantin...

I don't think the recent storm had anything to do with it. I think it being an old device was all that was the problem. But what a problem it was. And is. But not an insurmountable problem. On Wednesday night, I pulled up the Linux desktop computer and there was a major display problem. Now, realize that I have a KVM switch controlling input/output on four devices (three, actually, but it handles four). I had been using a Raspberry Pi, then switched to a Windows desktop to do some stuff. When I finished that, I switched it to the Linux desktop. And only then did I see the problem. That morning, the computer was working fine. I had used it to check email when I woke up, and when I left for work on Wednesday morning, everything was fine. Wednesday night, around 8:00 PM, when I next went to the device, there was a display issue. The screen looked really bad. I was worried it was a cable, but the Num Lock and Caps Lock buttons didn't toggle the associated lights, so I knew the comp...

I read an article last week that talked about a new survey on streaming viewers and their thoughts regarding ads. I've said again and again that I'm fine with ads. I watch free ad-supported television (FAST) services. I watch free over the air -- meaning ad-supported -- television; the same TV that people have been watching for decades. I pay for the cheapest Hulu tier, which has ads. And I don't like ad blockers on Web browsers. So, no, I'm not bothered by ads. But some people are. And they have every right to be. I may not agree with their assessment, but they're certainly entitled to their opinion. So, how to most people feel? Well, according to Infillion, not that much different than I feel about them . Key findings include: 73% of consumers feel the ads they see are repetitive 67% of consumers prefer ad-supported streaming options to ad-free ones 61% of consumers multitask during ad breaks when streaming content This actually surprised me. Based on the compla...

Starting in September, Walmart+ adds a new benefit. The Walmart service will include a subscription to Paramount+ (Essential plan) in its $98/year price. If that sounds like a strike at Amazon Prime, that's because it probably is. Walmart+ doesn't offer as much as Amazon Prime, but this goes a ways towards changing that. Paramount+ doesn't have anywhere near the amount of video available as Amazon Prime Video has, but it still has a lot of content, and some content you can't get with Prime Video. Mainly, I'm talking about Paramount+ original content, which will show up on Prime Video eventually, just like everything else. Amazon Prime is $140/year. Walmart+ is $98/year. That's actually a pretty good deal. By itself, the Paramount+ Essential plan is $5/month, or $50/year (two months free). That's over half the cost of Walmart+. That means you're getting 50% more value for the price. And yes, the price will not increase, according to the news release from ...

For years after I cut cable, I did without local TV. Well, not entirely, but off and on for years. It's complicated. After dropping cable in early 2011, I did without local TV. Eventually, I put up an antenna. It was actually my mother-in-law that prompted that. She wanted to save money on cable, and when the possibility of putting up an antenna was floated, she was skeptical at first. Oh, sure, she knew all about TV antennae and watching local channels that way. But she thought the technology had changed and that old TV antennae didn't work any more. She was half right. Technology certainly had changed, but the old antennae still worked. She didn't have an old antenna, so we got her one, and my brother-in-law and I put it up for her. She found her local channels -- mostly the station that carried MeTV -- and was happy. After putting up her antenna, I decided to put one up on our roof. That was an easy enough process, and I tied the antenna lead into the old cables that wer...

According to AFTV News , Amazon is preparing to discontinue the Fire TV Recast line. The Website cites both Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and other online retailer listings as part of the reason for drawing their conclusion. It has been 4 years since the Fire TV Recast was released and it appears as though the over-the-air (OTA) DVR companion to Fire TV devices is being discontinued. The Fire TV Recast has been a consistent staple of the Fire TV lineup ever since its release in 2018 , but now, for the first time, Amazon is no longer selling the cheaper of the two Fire TV Recast models and both versions are no longer available across several other 3rd-party retailers. Searching Amazon for the Fire TV Recast no longer brings up a listing for the model equipped with two tuners and a 500 GB hard drive. Only the Fire TV Recast with four tuners and 1 TB of storage is currently available for purchase. Clicking to see the buy options on the cheaper 500 GB model’s review page is now redirectin...

Seems like it was around a year ago that Hulu increased their prices. The reason it seems that way is because it was that way. Last September, in fact, Hulu had a price increase . I didn't complain too much about it because it wasn't a big increase, and Hulu hadn't increased in years. In fact, Hulu's last price change before that was actually a drop in the price of the basic tier. This time, though, we're not so lucky. Hulu's basic tier is going up from $7/month to $8/month , starting October 10, 2022. But, one Website offers some hope about the deals Hulu often offers: It’s worth noting that customers usually can find a discount deal on Hulu’s standalone on-demand service at various points in the year. National Streaming Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have happened in the past. It may be worth monitoring those to see if a better price becomes available, at least temporarily. The price increase is not that bad, considering how much everything else has...

A while back, I dropped Netflix. I found I wasn't watching it, and decided to save my money. Now, I did subscribe to the service since that decision. When Mystery Science Theater 3000 was picked up for two seasons by Netflix, I subscribed when the seasons dropped. I binged the shows, then canceled again, once each season. Right now, I have no plans to subscribe to Netflix in the future. I may, but right now, I don't plan on spending any more money with them. I don't watch it, and I haven't seen anything I want to watch on it. Maybe I'm missing out on something, but I really don't think so. I have no trouble finding something I want to watch today. Disney+ is pretty much the same way. I'll subscribe from time to time, but not often. I've mentioned before that I'll subscribe to a service for one month, binge their stuff, then cancel, subscribing to a different service the next month. I'll do that throughout the year and watch a lot of content for n...

What began as a side project back in April -- I got the Linux bug again after setting up a Raspberry Pi device as a Plex server -- turned into a monster. And while I'm not sure how it will end up -- will Linux be my daily OS after this project concludes? -- there are some side effects of this that will likely stay with me. One of the bad things about running Linux is that not all applications support Linux. However, that's also one of the good things, too. You see, Linux, being an open source operating system, depends on a lot of applications that are also open source. And that usually means the software is free. Software can be open source but not free. That's usually not the case, but it can work that way. So, as a way of specifying things, the term "free open source software" is often used. And there's an abbreviation for that: FOSS. Free Open Source Software. Simple enough, right? That brings up an aspect of FOSS that I hadn't previously considered. Re...

Let me first say that I don't have a problem with ads. There are ads on this Website, for instance. And, I subscribe to ad-supported Hulu. I also watch content from many free ad-supported television (FAST) services. I'm fine with ads. If I don't want ads, I'll pay to remove them. For instance, I've subscribed to YouTube Premium to eliminate ads on that service. I will visit Websites that have ads -- my own had ads, so I'm okay with ad-supported Websites -- and if I think the ads are too obtrusive, I will simply stop visiting the Website. You won't find me leading the charge for ad blockers or network filters. However, I am currently testing Pi Hole . And that may need some explanation. First, if you aren't familiar with Pi Hole, it's an application that can run on Linux devices that blocks ads and trackers. So why am I, who claims to be fine with ads, running an ad blocker? Well, it's not the ad blocker I'm interested in. It's the tracker...

I've been a fan of science fiction movies and TV for about as long as I can remember. Watching first run episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, as well as the original Star Trek, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and so many other TV shows was something I really enjoyed. I have watched them all many times, having purchased those shows and more. Science fiction movies such The Thing (the 1950s, as well as the fantastic 1980s film), When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds, Them, Forbidden Planet, The Angry Red Planet, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Amazing Colossal Man, The Time Machine, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and so many other films, good and bad, were movies I could watch over and over again. And have watched each of those multiple times, having purchased each of them. I really have enjoyed my sci-fi, and continue to watch the shows and movies. But, I don't limit myself to movies I own. I still watch newer movies, or old movies I have...

Earlier in the week, I mentioned about damage to some of my electronics from a storm this past weekend. I had found three items that were damaged, and had replaced two, with a third ordered. Well, the third arrived and now things are back to normal. Almost. Turns out there was a fourth item that was damaged. I mentioned that the primary switch on my network had gone out and I had replaced it. Well, in another room, there's a switch that had been damaged as well. It was a five port switch, and I use it in conjunction with my KVM switch. The KVM switch allows me to use a single keyboard, video monitor, and mouse on up to four computers. It doesn't also switch network connectivity. The five-port switch handles that. I have a single feed to the switch, and could run up to four devices on the network. That was damaged as well in the storm. Turns out that two of the ports were bad, and three were good. My main Linux computer was running, as was my Windows device. However, some test ...

The three week pre-season of the NFL starts tonight. There are two games on the schedule this evening, with five tomorrow, eight Saturday, and one Sunday. Of course, there was a game last weekend, when the Raider and Jaguars played in the Hall of Fame game. Both those teams are in action this weekend, the first official week of pre-season play. If you're a streamer -- and of course you are -- you may wonder how you'll watch the games. It won't be hard at all, though it won't be free. Several games are going to be carried nationally on NFL Network, which is available on some cable services, but is also available on several streaming services. Sling TV (Blue, $35/month; Orange+Blue, $50/month). If you are an Orange plan subscriber, you're out of luck. NFL Network is only on the Blue plan. But, if you're Orange plan, you can add Blue plan, upgrading to Orange+Blue, for an additional $15/month. Vidgo (Plus, $60/month). The cheapest Vidgo plan gets you NFL Network. Y...

There was an announcement this week about a new feature coming to Sling TV. Discovery+ will be available for Sling TV as a $5/month add-on. That's the same price as the standalone service with the Discovery+ app, but for Sling TV users, it will have the convenience of already being in the Sling TV app. At least, I suppose that's a convenience. As one who got into streaming in the early days, I'm used to using separate apps, and not just staying in a single app all the time. I'll hop apps in a heartbeat. In fact, to me, it's easier to switch apps rather than find a channel within an app such as Sling TV. But, that's me. I'm not the typical user, I suppose. So, for those that like the idea of a single app for everything, the Sling TV app addition of Discovery+ is a big deal. Oh, and you don't have to subscribe to Sling TV to use the Discovery+ app. You do have to subscribe to Discovery+ through Sling TV, but the $35/month plan for Sling Blue or Sling Orang...

One free ad-supported television (FAST) service that doesn't seem to get a lot of talk -- at least, I don't see a lot about it -- is Sling TV. Now, you may be saying, "But Sling TV is $35/month, which is most certainly not free." And that's true. But, Sling TV offers a free tier. And it's actually a pretty good free service. And it just got even better. Sling TV Free (I don't really know what else to call it) is, like the name I'm calling it, free. And it's comparable to Pluto TV, Xumo, and Tubi insofar as a free ad-supported television service. In fact, it even picked up some Pluto TV channels recently. An article in C ord Cutters News brought it to my attention . These are the Pluto TV channels now streaming for free on Sling: BET Pluto TV CMT Pluto TV Comedy Central Pluto TV MTV Biggest Pop MTV Pluto TV MTV Spankin’ New VH1 I Love Reality I had not noticed the new apps, but sure enough, they...

I love Stormy Weather. The version by Lena Horne is a favorite, although it's hard to beat the earlier recording by Ethel Waters . Having said that, I'm not all that big a fan of stormy weather. You know, the actual weather where it storms. The song is wonderful. The weather phenomenon, not so much. I bring this up because yesterday, there was some stormy weather, and it wreaked havoc at the house. There was damage to electronics, but nothing more than that. No limbs through the roof. No trees uprooted. Just a close by lightning strike that cause the lights to briefly go out, a large pop from where the Internet connection comes in, and then my network not coming back up. So far, I found three things that the lightning took out. My network router didn't exactly die, but it stopped working. Lights came on, and the wireless network allowed connections, but it would not connect to the Internet. I have a separate modem, and was worried that had gone out, but connecting a ...

I've mentioned before that I'm looking into using a phone that provides more privacy than most standard phones. And, of course, since nothing is simple, I've run into all kinds of issues along the way. The options, as previously laid out, boiled down to: Using a modified Android version on an existing phone. Getting a phone with a version of Android installed. Getting a phone with a mobile version of Linux installed. So, which way did I go? All three. I'm currently weighing usage of three different setups. I have a Google Pixel 4a running Lineage OS. I have a Teracube 2e running /e/OS, a modified version of Lineage OS. I have a Pine64 phone running a mobile version of Manjaro Linux. This past week is when I finally got all three setups running, and I have some initial thoughts, though these may change over time. First, the Linux phone isn't working all that great. I don't know if it's the phone or if it's the mobile version of Manjaro Linux that is the p...