My Streaming Life

Over a month ago, I decided I would use Chromecast more . At the time, I said that I wasn't as familiar with the Google TV interface as I was with Apple TV, Fire TV, and of course, Roku. I had used the other platforms a lot more, because of my personal preferences, and family members' preferences: This has come at the expense of my familiarity with Android/Google TV and Apple TV. I'm not comfortable with that. Beginning this weekend, I'm going to start using more Android/Google TV. Chromecast will be the the primary device I use. I have Chromecast attached to all my TVs already, so it'll be a matter of setting out the Chromecast remote in place of the Roku remote. For the last five, nearly six weeks, I have been using Chromecast. I wanted to re-familiarize myself with it, and I've pretty much done that. So, why am I still using it? Well, there was the whole issue of a new one I had purchased not working properly. It started when I bought a new Chromecast...

I had issues with my new Chromecast 4K device recently. Well, actually it was an attempt to add a new Chromecast device. I've had Chromecast 4K devices, but when the HD version came out, I bought one to go on an HD TV. When I replaced the HD TV with a UHD/4K device, I didn't immediately put a 4K device on it. But recently I decided to do just that. My older Chromecast 4K device was the standard white color, but I decided I'd get one of the other colors for my new one. I had two others to choose, besides white: light blue ("Sky" was what Google calls it) and pink ("Sunrise" is what Google calls it). I bought a blue one, and it had problems with the direction buttons. I wasn't sure if it was the remote or the device, but after swapping remotes with another Chromecast that had no issues, I ruled out the remote as the problem. This happened twice. I returned the blue Chromecast 4K device and got another one that happened the same problem. I made an...

Is it possible to stop Microsoft from harvesting all of your data? Yes, it is. One way is to move to Mac, Chrome OS, or Linux. Of course, Mac simply means Apple will harvest your data. Chrome OS means Google will host your data. But you can also keep using Windows if you like, but it takes some work. Britec has a video on how to block certain Microsoft services on your Windows computer. It's an interesting video: [ YouTube ] This is sort of how Pi-Hole works on a network basis. The files used by Pi-Hole are exactly like the Windows Hosts file. That's the standard used by operating systems and domain name services. If an items appears in your Hosts file, that information will be used, rather than the actual information that is hosted by a domain name server. If privacy is a concern, and you feel technically capable of doing this, then this video might be helpful. And, if it breaks everything, you can delete it. An empty HOSTS file won't harm your system. In fact, the d...

Week 9 of college football for 2023 is underway. There are 54 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this week, with seven already played (two Tuesday, two Wednesday, two Thursday night, and one last night). Today, there are 47 games scheduled. There are two games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other: Oregon (8) at Utah (13) Duke (20) at Louisville (18) Michigan (2), Alabama (9), LSU (15), and Missouri (16) all have open weekends. The rest of the Top 25 all play unranked teams. Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games: ABC ACC Network Big Ten Network CBS CBS Sports Network CW ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPN+ Fox Fox Sports 1 Longhorn Network NBC NFL Network Pac 12 Network Peacock SEC Network Note: No games are on Longhorn Network or Peacock this week. Between this weekend's games and next Saturday, there are eight games involvin...

It seems odd to me, but I'm constantly trying to find ways to spend less on cord cutting. Why is this odd? Well, I cut the cord originally to save money, and for some reason, I end up spending more than I should anyway. Part of the reason is I try to stay on top of things, and become familiar with processes, so I do subscribe to services on occasion. I don't generally do live streaming cable replacement services such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, and the like. Standard Hulu is more my speed, not Hulu+Live TV. For $7/month I can watch what I want, and the $77/month for Hulu+Live TV is overkill. However, I do subscribe to some services. Most of the time, it's not for me, but for family members. We end up not watching the services anyway, so it is often a waste of money. That's not to blame the family member, because I'm the one actually making the decision. I'll subscribe to give a chance to see if the service is worthwhile. Most of the time, it isn't. However,...

I mentioned the other day that I finally replaced my temporary network . I mean, 14 months is temporary, right? Right? Well, that setup didn't last long, and I don't know why. Something odd happened, and I'm now keeping an eye on things. The other day, the power went out. A large power outage hit a large section of town, and my house was impacted. The outage lasted over nearly two hours, which is pretty unusual. Georgia Power doesn't often have outages that long. Even an outage of minutes in length is unusual, making the hour-plus outage very unusual. The outage of that length also meant that all of my network shut down. While this seems obvious, the fact is that it is rare that my network shuts down. I have uninterruptible power supplies on my network, meaning the occasional power blip, though rare, does not impact my network at all. The long outage meant that the battery backup died and my network went down. When it comes back up, there should be no issue. Howeve...

It was about this time in 2009 that I began to seriously consider cutting the cord. I didn't, not until a little over a year later, in January 2011 that I actually cut cable, but around this time in 2009, I was seriously looking into it. I had visited my son and he was watching ESPN SportsCenter on his Xbox. I was intrigued. I had heard about streaming TV, but I didn't know anyone who did it -- at least, I didn't think I knew anyone that did it -- until I found out my son was doing it. Seeing it in operation made it less of an unknown for me. I dove in and tried to find out everything I could about it. Keep in mind that there was no live streaming service such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, or the like. TV entertainment was on-demand. Live sports, if it wasn't on ESPN, was non-existent. Forgetting about live sports for a minute, I was fine with on-demand TV. I had used a TiVo since early 2006, and recorded everything anyway. I was watching stuff hours after it aired on cable....

I saw last month that Amazon was updating the Fire TV platform to better manage app storage . At the time, it was rumored to be coming, then confirmed to be coming. Now, it's here. Amazon has announced that the the new feature has launched. If an app is not used for more than 30 days, Auto Offload will automatically clear the app cache, and if your device runs low on storage (meaning there is less than 800MB of usable storage remaining), it will offload the apps that are not used for more than 60 days. Though some experience-critical apps, and those with active subscriptions will be exempt from this feature, you can choose to manually offload eligible apps by navigating to Settings > Manage Installed Applications through the options menu when selecting an app in launcher. If you choose to reuse an offloaded app at a later date, the reinstallation process will be seamless. Upon opening the app, you will be automatically signed in using the account that was last used on ...

Last summer, a storm took out my home network. The network wasn't exactly new, and had been in service for a while. I rant to Walmart and picked up a cheap network device (two, actually) and was back up and running the same day. But, it was an inferior setup. Okay, it was not all that bad, as it took me 14 months to replace it. For that year and change, it worked fine. But, it wasn't as good as it could have been. The old network was great. It was an older Google Home network. It worked well. Very well, in fact. I have an older house (built in 1954). The way it's laid out, and where all I want wireless, can be challenging. The Linksys network (the temporary, but over a year in service network) did well, but not as well as my older Google Home network. And just a few days ago, I finally replaced the Linksys with a new Google Net Pro network. I really have to give Google credit for making the network setup really really easy. Don't get me wrong, I've set up many n...

YouTube Channel Britec09 has a video up this week that discusses how much of your data to which Microsoft has access on a Windows computer. Some of the Microsoft policy is understandable, as they won't to be held blameless if someone uses your data in a way you don't like. For example, if you share your data with a third party by way of a Microsoft service, and the third party uses the data in a way you don't approve, Microsoft isn't repsonsible. While that is reasonable, there are lots of other bits of Microsoft's privacy policy that you might not like. [ YouTube ] So, what do you do? As the video said, if you don't want Microsoft to have access to all of your data on your computer, don't use a Windows computer. Personally, I rarely use a Windows computer. I switched to Mac in 2007. More recently, I moved to Linux. At work, I've had to use Windows computers, but at home, I don't have to. And I don't. My Linux laptop works great. I have som...

The 8th week of college football for 2023 is underway. There are 54 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this week, with eight already played (three Tuesday, two Wednesday, two Thursday night, and one last night). Today, there are 46 games scheduled. There are four games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other: Penn State (7) at Ohio State (3) Tennessee (17) at Alabama (11) Duke (16) at Florida State (4) Utah (14) at Southern California (18) Georgia (1), Oregon State (12), Notre Dame (15), and Louisville (21) all have open weekends. The rest of the Top 25 all play unranked teams. Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games: ABC ACC Network Big Ten Network CBS CBS Sports Network CW ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPN+ Fox Fox Sports 1 Longhorn Network NBC NFL Network Pac 12 Network Peacock SEC Network Note: No games are on Longhorn Netwo...

After a few days of using the new blue Google Chromecast device (the color is called "Sky" but it's a light blue) for a couple of days , I've discovered that it's not the remote. Okay, briefly, a new Chromecast device was not working properly. Some remote directional pad presses were not executed, and some executed as if the button was pressed and held. I sent it back and got a replacement. Both were "Sky" blue. The replacement exhibited the same behavior. This time I did a better job of troubleshooting. I decided to rule out the remote by using another Chromecast remote. The alternate remote didn't make a difference. The odd behavior still happened. It's not the remote. Or at least, it's not just the remote. It's the device itself, it seems. I'll be sending it back. I really don't want to go through that again. Oh, don't get me wrong, Google makes it easy to return an item. That's not the problem. It's having a de...

Well, the rumors were right. Netflix is upping their prices. Again. The highest tier went up $3/month, from $19.99/month to $22.99/month. The middle tier stays $15.49/month, and the ad-supported tier is $6.99/month. Cord Cutters News reports that Netflix has reintroduced the $11.99/month plan, but it's not showing as available for me. Maybe it will show up for me later. Maybe it shows up for you. Maybe. But as I write this, the $12 plan isn't back. Not for me, anyway. Based on the numbers we ran the other day , the $3 increase, which is 15%, would be a net gain if less than 13% of customers with the highest tier drop the service in response. If more than 13% drop the service, then it's a net loss. I think some will drop, but not many. I won't drop Netflix because -- wait for it -- I dropped it long ago. It's not a service I use. This isn't good news for subscribers, though. If you're a subscriber, and have the highest tier, then you're impacted. ...

First, I'm still on Team Roku. I've had Roku devices since 2010, and cut cable on January 11, 2011. Roku is my streaming device of choice. Lately, I've been using Chromecast . For four weeks. Okay, 27 days. Today is the 28th day. Or will be. Anyway, I've ran into an issue with one of the devices. I replaced the Chromecast HD (1080 version) that I had on my main TV. A while back, I replaced my 1080 TV with a UHD/4K TV. I had a Chromecast HD on it. With some swapping around of devices, including setting up a family member with a Chromecast, I would up with an HD device on my UHD/4K TV. Rather than try to undo some of that, which would involve taking back a device from someone, I decided to just get a new Chromecast UHD/4K device. Only, rather than the standard white, as I have always done, I got a blue one. Google calls the color "Sky" but it's what I would call light blue. That's the device with which I had a recent issue. New device, issue, it get...

In today's edition of "Duh" a new survey says that some Netflix customers may cancel if the service raises prices as is rumored. Okay, in fairness, the actual news is that it's 39% that may consider canceling, which is a pretty big amount. And yes, if the survey reflects actual intentions that are followed through, then it is news . CivicScience, an opinion research group, surveyed current Netflix users and those likely to subscribe. The report shows that 39% on the ad-free tier would consider canceling their account if the cost increases and 31% would consider subscribing to Netflix Standard with Ads. Of those considering signing up, 29% would still land on the ad-free plan. If it's true, then in order to maintain the same income, a 39% drop in customers would mean prices would go up nearly 64%. Yeah, go do the math. If your customers decrease by half, you'd have to double the cost to make the same money. For example, at $10/customer, with 1,000 cust...

According to a new report, cable TV is losing subscribers. That's not a surprise. However, streaming cable replacements -- you know, Sling TV, Fubo, Vidgo, Hulu+Live TV (though not regular Hulu), DirecTV streaming -- are losing subscribers as well. Only, YouTube TV is actually gaining subscribers. Cord Cutters News reports that data from Leichtman Research Group indicates that nearly four million in the USA have canceled pay TV services, both cable and live streaming, in the first two quarters of 2023 . Now in the first half 3.9 million Americans have canceled their live TV services, including cable TV and streaming services like Hulu, Fubo, and Sling TV. The only live TV service to add customers os far in 2023 was YouTube TV. YouTube TV reportedly added over 300,000 new subscribers in the first half of 2023. This comes as all live TV services, including streaming, cable TV, and satellite, lost over 3.9 million customers in the first half of 2023 according to the Leichtm...

A new line of Chromebooks has been announced. Only it's not really new. It's a designation actually, and I already had one before it became a thing. Let me explain. Recently, Google announced that Chromebook Plus was a thing. It's a standard for higher quality Chromebooks. Better Chromebooks. I have a Chromebook -- a couple, actually -- and one of them, the better one (of course) already meets the Chromebook Plus designation. You can read about what it is here and here . And Lon Seidman has a good rundown on Chromebook Plus here: [ YouTube ] Now, you may know that we sometimes stray a little bit from straight streaming here on Sundays, and touch on security and privacy. And if you do know that, you may be wondering why I'm a) talking about Chromebooks, and b) own a Chromebook. Chromebooks are secure. Much more secure than Windows. They aren't that private, though. Unless you're running Linux, you aren't really private. Even then, you have to take step...

The 7th week of college football for 2023 is underway. There are 55 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this week, with ten already played (three Tuesday, two Wednesday, two Thursday night, and three last night). Today, there are 45 games on the schedule. There are four games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other: Oregon (8) at Washington (7) Southern California (10) at Notre Dame (21) Miami (25) at North Carolina (12) UCLA (18) at Oregon State (15) Oklahoma (5), Texas (9), and Ole Miss (13) all have open weekends. The rest of the Top 25 all play unranked teams. Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games: ABC ACC Network Big Ten Network CBS CBS Sports Network CW ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPN+ Fox Fox Sports 1 Longhorn Network NBC NFL Network Pac 12 Network Peacock SEC Network Note: No games are on Longhorn Network this week. Between ...

YouTube TV was claiming that streamers could save up to $600/year by using their service instead of cable. The company has agreed to stop the claim , after Spectrum complained. The claim was based on users paying for two TV boxes in their service plan. And, based on that, YouTube TV's numbers were actually right. However, Spectrum doesn't require the TV boxes, even though cable companies always try to push them on customers. Savvy customers know the devices are not required, and will opt out, saving a lot of money in the process. Those users do have to have equipment that will allow them to receive the channels, however. Still, YouTube TV was essentially correct. But, they're dropping the claim. That got me to wondering how much TV would cost me. It's been a while since I ran those numbers, but I did recently, and it turns out that streaming is still cheaper. Comcast's Xfinity Internet and TV service would cost me $168.16/month for its cheapest plan. That's...

A reports on Tom's Guide recently asked -- and answered -- the question about which cable alternative live streaming service is the best. The service they picked is the service that is my go-to service. But here's the thing: I think we're both wrong. Okay, that doesn't make sense, right? But let me tell you why I think I'm wrong. Well, not wrong, because I know what works for me. I just think others would prefer something else. My choice is for my circumstances, and I think my circumstances are not that common. Tom's Guide picks Sling TV as the best service . 1. Sling TV Best cable replacement service overall Starting Price (per month): $40 | Channels (in entry-level package): 31 | DVR: 50 hours (200 hours for $5 per month) | On-Demand: Yes | Device Support: Amazon Fire, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, Chromecast-enabled TVs, Computers, iOS, Roku | Simultaneous Streams: 1 ($40 per month); 3 ($40 per month); 4 ($60 per month) + Wide variety...

One of the things I've run into with my project to use Chromecast as my primary streaming device (instead of Roku) is that the Chromecast doesn't have as much space for apps, along with the way Roku handles on-board app storage. Roku doesn't have a lot of storage, but its method of managing it is much better than the way Chromecast does it. When an app is downloaded, and there is not enough on-board storage space, Roku will automatically remove one or more apps to make room for the new one. It keeps all the settings, but the actual app is removed and the space is available. When the app is launched later, the process happens again, with one or more other apps removed to make room for the one being downloaded. It actually works well, and more platforms should adopt that way of operating. Okay, Fire TV is now adopting that process . I wish Chromecast would. But, it doesn't. And that brings me to my primary topic. I've added many apps to my Chromecast, but not all...

I've been with Comcast for several years now. One of the reasons is that they offer good service. The other reason is more of a factor though: there are no other options where I live. That's no longer true. Starlink is now available in my area. That's not because they decided to include my area. It's because they're now nationwide. Well mostly. All of Georgia, to be sure. I got an email yesterday giving me the news: Starlink is Now Available Across the United States The Starlink team has raced to keep up with the growing demand for high-speed connectivity around the world, especially in areas where few, if any, options for broadband connections have existed before now. Earlier this year, the team started deploying our second generation Starlink satellites which have four times more capacity per satellite than the first generation systems. This means more bandwidth and increased reliability for our current users, while enabling us to connect even more pe...

DirecTV's streaming service is the latest to raise its prices. According to a report, and confirmed by small print on the DirecTV Website, prices are going up next month. Cord Cutters News reports the price increase is $5/month on average across the services plans : DIRECTV has confirmed both its satellite and streaming services will be going up in November. Both DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM will go up between $2 a month and $11 a month, depending on your package. The average price hike is $5 a month for most customers. This news comes a few weeks after DISH announced it would be raising the price of its satellite service. DIRECTV says they are raising the price of DIRECTV STREAM because they are “adjusting the price of your television package in order to remain competitive in the marketplace, while still delivering the best possible programming. TV networks are continuing to increase the fees they charge DIRECTV® for the right to distribute the content they produce, inc...

I know the focus of this Website is streaming. I know that often on Sundays, I'll vary from that a little bit and talk about security. And I know that while my original security posts were related to streaming, I've done more and more non-streaming security posts on Sundays. I'll say that there is a justification in that streaming is a field that can be exploited by scammers. Anything that is new and different and that receives an increase in users can get the attention of scammers, and become a focus of scammers. Streaming can be that. I focus on security and privacy in my day to day life, partly because it was my job for a while, but also because I realize that anyone can be a target, even me. Even you. Since streaming does grow day by day, scammers will be targeting streamers. I should say more scammers will be targeting streamers. Because it is happening. The best way to stay safe as a streamer is to be security and privacy conscious. After all, you do it in your ...

We're now in Week Six of college football for 2023. There are 51 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this weekend, counting the six already played (two Wednesday night, three Thursday night, and two last night). Today, there are 52 games on the schedule. There are five games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other: 12 Oklahoma at 3 Texas 23 LSU at 21 Missouri 20 Kentucky at 1 Georgia 10 Notre Dame at 25 Louisville Penn State (6), Washington (7), Oregon (8), Utah (18), Duke (19), and Tennessee (22) all have open weekends. Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games: ABC ACC Network Big Ten Network CBS CBS Sports Network CW ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPN+ Fox Fox Sports 1 Longhorn Network NBC NFL Network Pac 12 Network Peacock SEC Network Note: No games are on Longhorn Network this week. Between this weekend's games and next Saturd...

I've been testing the Chromecast Google TV interface. There was a little hiccup when my new Chromecast device ran into some issues . I'm using my older HD model, and it works fine. So, I've been using the Chromecast and so has a family member. She noticed something that was of concern. She said that the Chromecast was not as responsive. So, I decided to check it out. Turns out that the device is as responsive as my Roku device, but the way the interface works makes it appear slower. On Roku, if I launch, say, Peacock, the screen blanks and within 2-3 seconds, the Peacock splash screen displays. However, on Chromecast, when I launch Peacock, the screen remains on the menu, and within 2-3 seconds, the Peacock splash screen appears. The difference is that Roku indicates that it accepted your button press by changing the screen. Even though it was to a black screen, it still was a change, and you knew that your button press did something. With Chromecast, the menu doesn...

I'm one of those old guys that has a hard time letting go of how things used to be. That's not to say I wish things were like they used to be. Well, okay, in some cases, I do wish something things were that way. But not everything. That's another way of saying that not all change is good change. What I'm talking about is that I see or experience something -- or someone -- and base my thoughts about it -- or them -- on that impression. I'm not talking about a quick first impression. I'm talking about experiences that go on for a while. I do something, experience something, interact with someone, multiple times over a long period of time. And over that time, I develop an impression. That impression changes and refines, but eventually solidifies. That then I have my final opinion on something. That's not always the right thing, though. That's not to say my "final opinion" is wrong. At the time, it could very well have been correct. And, as arrogan...

Netflix has not announced it, but there is a report that Netflix is going to raise prices again soon. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that after the actors strike ends, Netflix is planning to increase the cost of its service. The increase won't impact the lowest cost service, the ad-supported tier, but will impact the other price tiers: The streaming service is discussing raising prices in several markets globally, but will likely begin with the U.S. and Canada, according to people familiar with the matter. It couldn’t be learned how much Netflix will raise prices by or when exactly the new prices will take effect. Netflix declined to comment. Over the past year or so, the cost of major ad-free streaming services has gone up by about 25%, as entertainment companies look to bring their streaming platforms to profitability and lead price-conscious customers to switch to their cheaper and more-lucrative ad-supported plans. Currently, the Standard with Ads Plan (a...

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to spend more time with Chromecast . Specifically, Chromecast with Google TV. I like the overall interface . I like their Live TV section . I was planning to write next about another feature that a family member really likes, but some problems got in the way. I started with my Chromecast HD device, but purchased one of the new 4K models. Last Monday, the new Chromecast arrived, and I swapped it out with the older device. That was a mistake. Well, maybe it wasn't, but that is what started the problems. The new Chromecast 4K was not as responsive as the older Chromecast HD. Also, the remote would repeat arrow presses. Specifically, I would be on the menu, say in the YouTube app, and pressing the right arrow would sometimes keep scrolling to the right, as if I was continuing to press the right arrow. Same thing on the down arrow. This wasn't a YouTube thing, as it happened when using Hulu, ESPN, Plex, and even on the actual Google TV interface....