Cutting The Cord: It's Easier Than You Think. I Think. I have No Idea. That's What This Post Is For

Treat this as a forum in which to discuss the various ways to decrease your financial commitment to the various media companies that drain our life's essence every month through their nefarious, government sanctioned pillaging of our bank accounts.

A couple of requests....please don't recommend anything that is against the law, and please try to stick to the topic at hand, which is, obviously, ~~guns and boobs~~ ways to get content that don't require a cable or satellite connection, or at the very least allow one to decrease the total cost, and limit the exposure to ~~dirty stinking filthy leftists~~ ESPN.

This post is entirely my idea, and "Village Idiot's Apprentice" has nothing whatsoever to do with its planning and execution.

And to prime the pump of cord cutting conversation, here is commenter "Blaster"......

We cut the cords last fall. Prior to cutting we had Netflix and Amazon streaming (because we had Prime). After taking the cable package off of our FIOS, bill went from $160/month to $60.
We added the following - Sling TV and DirecTV Now.
A few notes:
Sling comes in a couple of flavors. Sling Blue, Sling Orange, and then both together. Orange is $20/mo, includes 30+ channels. Those include ESPN and ABC family of channels. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: only streams on 1 device at a time.
Blue is $25/mo, 40+ channels. No ESPN or ABC. Streams to 3 devices simultaneously.
Then you can get both for $40/mo.
Sling works on just about anything that plays streaming video.
DirecTV Now Is $35/month and has 120+ channels. It is $35/month - they have been promising/threatening to take it to $60 a month, but it is still $35. The $35 price will stay if you started at that price. They say. Stream to 2 devices simultaneous. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: does not work on Roku. Yet, They said it would be Q1 2017. Now they say 2017. So it could still be a while. We got a prepay 3 months get an Apple TV free. We also, for some reason, got a year of HBO for free. I don't know if everyone did or some other reason.
The DirecTV Now login works with many other apps for streaming, so you might get those apps on Roku and watch things there. (Example, HBO Now works on Roku with DirecTV Now login) I do not think they count against device logins with DirecTV Now.
Quality: Your device matters. We started Sling on a 2015 model Amazon Fire stick. It worked. Kind of. Had to restart the app or stick often. Have a Roku stick (we got free with 3 month prepay of Sling) and it is much better than the Fire stick. But not nearly as good as the Roku Premiere or Apple TV. The picture quality on the boxes is fantastic. I am on 75mbps internet and we have few issues with buffering, but it does happen sometimes, but I think it is a problem at the source. Every once in a while a channel is down.
What you give up: DVR and DVR functionality. With a cable DVR you can pause/rewind etc. every channel. Not so with Sling/DirecTV Now. Different channels offer different functionality. I suppose there are PVR options out there but I am pretty much top of the techie food chain, and I can't be bothered with it. Some channels have on-demand but that functionality differs per channel, and they seem to be mixing those up over time. Sometimes there are more shows/episodes than at others. So it is possible that if you miss a show, well, you missed it. You are tied to the "broadcast schedule" a little more tightly. For example, if you missed a show that was on tonight, it may not be on demand for a couple of days or a week, depending on the channel.
Navigational interfaces - I actually miss the up down button and channel surfing. Also, you cannot punch in a number and go to the channel you want. There are only the slidy interfaces. Sling has a horizontal motif, DirecTV is vertical. Neither wraps around, so you get to the end, you have to slide back. They both have the ability to designate favorites so you can slide through a smaller number of channels, but no way to do one button press to SyFy for example. I suspect these work better if on a phone or tablet than with the remote. And just a note, the new touch screen like pad on the Apple TV remote is too darn sensitive. Hard to control in comparison with rockers. And, because it is an RF remote, if you watch in bed and stick it under the pillow you still can change channels and stuff when you move.
I think that eventually this stuff will come to streaming, but for now, the streamers will be less easy to use than cable or a dish on purpose.
What you gain: Out of contracts. Unless you do the 3 month prepay in exchange for some hardware, you can cancel any old time.
Out of hardware rental. You buy your stuff and it's yours and you don't have it on the bill. The hardware updates fairly often, though so it may net out if you buy often. But a $40 Roku streaming stick? Works pretty well and you can take it with you wherever if that matters.
Theoretically you are a la carte on these, but they are really bundles. You get plenty of crap channels along with the ones you want. I think Sling's 40 channels is about half and half. But sometimes even the crap channels have something to watch.
Let me add another service that is in the mix, and all I have is what is on their website, since I don't use them: Playstation Vue. They were just getting started when I cut my cord, but despite the name, they are available on other than PlayStation devices. Channel lineup looks similar - but not the same - as SlingTV on their base package, which is $30/mo. They have Cloud DVR included with their service, and it *looks* like that works with all the channels they offer. Their Elite Slim package looks like everything a cable package would include that doesn't have premium channels for $45/mo. I would rank DirecTV Now as the best deal out of these, but when they go to $60/mo pricing, I think that PS Vue will move to that position.
Just one more thing to add, we have both sling and DirecTV so our total bill is only $45 less than before, but we will drop Sling TV when DirecTV now is available on Roku, due to the mix of hardware we have. Plus, we got Sling TV before DirecTV Now became available. If we were doing it today we would be DirecTV on Apple TVs.
Kind of stream of consciousness, but hopefully something useful there

Posted by: CBD at 06:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 One!

Posted by: GJB at May 07, 2017 06:25 PM (ltL0V)

2 Got me a digital an-tennae, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and a Netflix subscription.

Pretty happy, pretty cheap.

Posted by: some asshole at May 07, 2017 06:26 PM (d8j/c)

3 I am going to the FireStick from that bald old devil Bezos the Ass.

I had his slaves at Amazon Prime ship it out. I figure in 6 months after a laborious install and downloading from hell and back I will get to enjoy my TV on my terms.

A man can dream.....

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 06:26 PM (5VlCp)

4 silver!

Posted by: ghbucky at May 07, 2017 06:26 PM (D2q91)

5 Idea pirating is a prestigious line work on the internet, with a long and glorious tradition.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at May 07, 2017 06:26 PM (FxxNW)

6 There was previous discussion of Playstation Vue. I've looked into it, and it looks interesting, but I'm not having much luck figuring out if there is any local channels included?

I tried a regular ol antenna and got nada.

Posted by: ghbucky at May 07, 2017 06:27 PM (D2q91)

7 Out of respect I will refrain from bashing the French until post 100.

Just call me Mr. Respectful.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 06:28 PM (AtCmq)

8 Top 10 and cut the cord last year!

Posted by: Uncle Si at May 07, 2017 06:29 PM (ZLmoR)

9 We cut the cord...it has to be at least seven years ago or more.

We started out with a subscription to a service called PlayOn. It became frustrating after a while though, so the easiest thing for us to do was take an old laptop and hook it up to our flatscreen.

Now we watch everything through the internet.

Amazon Prime is a staple. Had Hulu sub for a while too, but there wasn't enough content there that I wanted to watch. Netflix was good too, until we started having streaming issues on a regular basis that never got resolved.

For
everything else current we use websites (not torrents) where we watch content.
This includes movies, tv shows and live sports events. There is no downloading or uploading of content on our part, so from a legal standpoint, it is ok on our end.

I do however recommend that if you are going to go the website route for watching shows, that you get a very good ad blocker and pop up blocker (or more than one). Most of them run on ad revenue so they are heavy with the ads.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 06:30 PM (/o9Qk)

10 We do Roku only. Have for a while. Cable sucks balls. The only thing I've missed is Fox News, but not really, because it has likewise sucked balls for a while.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at May 07, 2017 06:31 PM (EUMr7)

11 anyone else with the impression that Netflix's selection quality has nose dived over the last two years?

Posted by: Grad School Fool at May 07, 2017 06:31 PM (swEzU)

12 At least 2 years without cable with 10 qnd 8 y.o. Kids, parents 50 and 54. Never looked back. Easier than I had thought. Rabbit ears, amazon prime video, netflix, Sling tv plus. All good. Internet is still twc/spectrum unfortunately, but on
Y $35/mo. Have to threaten to move internet every year, but they have lowered back to 35 every time. F 'em.

Posted by: Hamitchell3rd at May 07, 2017 06:31 PM (BnjCY)

13 Free internet pron is the way to go

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at May 07, 2017 06:32 PM (18h+i)

14 And even better, i am 14

Posted by: Hamitchell3rd at May 07, 2017 06:32 PM (BnjCY)

15 So I got that go___ for me, which is nice. 15

Posted by: Hamitchell3rd at May 07, 2017 06:33 PM (BnjCY)

16 16. Heh

Posted by: Hamitchell3rd at May 07, 2017 06:33 PM (BnjCY)

17 The thing is, I already don't watch TV. I just need an internet connection.

Which is almost always penalized to help pay for cable for others (or they would say that it's steeply discounted along with cable, assuming that everyone wants cable).

I'm sure there are regions where you can get pure internet or phone/internet without paying that penalty, but not here, not for a long time. The local pseudopolies charge a huge amount.

I cut the (TV) cord like two decades ago.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at May 07, 2017 06:33 PM (wB8Tg)

18 There are two different issues:

Bandwidth

Content

Where you are defines the bandwidth part.

It may also have a big influence on the content part.

Posted by: JEM at May 07, 2017 06:33 PM (TppKb)

19 If you live in a metro area you should have all the networks and especially with sporting events, you may be stunned how incredible uncompressed over-the-air digital TV looks.

Sports is the challenge of course--depending on the league, some of that stuff is really locked down into cable. I cut the cord years ago and compensated somewhat by relying on XM-Sirius radio--check out their various packages for that (it was an easy non-move for me because I already had XM for interminable drives through Radio-Free Pennsylvania).

My current approach is internet-only, not cable TV in the greater DC region. Combined with tons of network and other signals here, plus Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming through my Roku box, I have far more qualtiy TV content than I should be spending time watching. I treat myself to MLB.TV in the summer but the beauty there is I can skip it if I ever have a tough year (and listen to my Red Sox on XM anyway).

There are DVRs that handle over-the-air signals by the way. I just not glanced at Western Digital which says they have a new product that integrates OTA (over the air) and streaming. Another service exists that is called Tablo, but I think they charge a fee. Free OTA signals have a very basic user guide that tells you what's on and what's coming up.

Last of all, use TV fool or a similar service to see what the situation is with tv signals--you enter your location and it has a great graphic with signal strength and antenna suggestions.

I did try Sling to watch a less-hyped Big 10 football game (Big 10 network) and the quality was outstanding, just didn't want to add another subscription, kinda defeats the purpose. But that might be the only solution if you are in a remote area, and for many that will cost less than what they are doing now.

Posted by: Chriscom at May 07, 2017 06:34 PM (WtcVr)

20 Let's all cut the cord with that Loser and Idiot Trump and bring back Presdent Obama !!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Mary Clogginstien from Brattleboro, VT at May 07, 2017 06:34 PM (WmgTn)

21 Forgot to add, we use roku, but i have heard chrome stick may be better, but we like our roku.

Posted by: Hamitchell3rd at May 07, 2017 06:34 PM (BnjCY)

22 I live in the suburbs of a city and can get lots of over the air channels. I tried an antenna inside the house, just wasn't dependable enough. I bought a small winegard antenna, added a amp. and have a fairly long run to 3 TV's. I had to add an amp to each TV, but it all works fine now, and I get about 25 channels. (some are Home Shopping Network, QVC, etc) but all the network channels have at least 3 sub channels, etc.
I also have a Roku, (the $100 one) works fine. I don't have a real high speed internet, but its fast enough, seldom ever see it slow down. I bought a gizmo that resets the modem every night, seems to help. Also have Amazon Prime, which I watch mostly movies, but watch lots of YouTube stuff.

Posted by: Colin at May 07, 2017 06:35 PM (RgKSh)

23 I will never go back to DirecTV. Frork them and ATT with a directional boring machine.

Posted by: frorked at May 07, 2017 06:35 PM (BO/km)

24 Sorry I ain't cutting any cord. I love TV and all 600 channels. I understood the reasoning though for others to take that step.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 06:35 PM (IDPbH)

25 Perfect timing for this thread. I was looking into Playstation Vue. I've wanted to cut the cord for years, but I never could convince the hubby because of sporting events. I think he is ready now though.

Posted by: no good deed at May 07, 2017 06:35 PM (hJamr)

26 The biggest cord to cut is Facebook. It"s "free" only if you don't value your time or privacy. Read more moron blogs instead.

Posted by: Svejk at May 07, 2017 06:35 PM (yqPSJ)

27 Tried to do mlb.tv last fall to complement our Netflix, but since I don't have a cable subscription (internet only), I couldn't do it. What's the point of streaming a game that you can get on your television or other devices that are now supported by most cable companies? I couldn't get a price list out of mlb.tv either. I had to sign up to find out. So, I just watch clips on the Dodgers site. (Also, how am I in the Kansas City Royals market?! They're three hours away and there's no fanbase in Omaha.)

Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 06:36 PM (ar2KI)

28 Sorry, it was Channel Master, not Western Digital, with the integrated DVR/streaming product; and Playstation Vue, not Sling, is the service I tried.

Other than that, much of what I said is true.

Here's a link to the Playstation Vue lineups:

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/channels/?dl=access

Posted by: Chriscom at May 07, 2017 06:37 PM (WtcVr)

29 Installed a rooftop antenna on my MIL's house today. Sunk about $125 in an antenna and amp and she gets 40 channels.

Saved a lot of time and trouble when I noticed Dish Network left her old dish set-up in the back of the house when she dropped them a few years ago. I removed the cables from that and ran them up to the antenna and saved myself all the work of running the inside lines. HA!

Still, the same setup on our very nearby house is not getting one of the channels I most want to have, so I'll keep tweaking it until I get some improvement.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 06:37 PM (oVJmc)

30 I have a simpler version. I cancelled my cable TV after the 2012 election and replaced it with nothing.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 06:37 PM (sdi6R)

31 We have Amazon Prime - given Mrs. D's shopping frenzies, we easily save $99 on shipping every year, and there are quite a few good shoes for free.

Posted by: PabloD at May 07, 2017 06:38 PM (IJTVW)

32 I'm addicted to F-1 though

Posted by: Skip at May 07, 2017 06:38 PM (Ot7+c)

33 Oh, and Pooky has a Crunchyroll and Funimation account, which we use to stream anime that's not on Netflix yet.

Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 06:38 PM (ar2KI)

34
I pirate everything. No commercials. No box office to pay.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 06:39 PM (CpbBC)

35 That should have been "shows."

Posted by: PabloD at May 07, 2017 06:39 PM (IJTVW)

36 It's not easier than I think, because I did it 10+ years ago, and was merely following the path of least resistance. Bruce Jenner has more testicles than I have cable subscriptions.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 06:39 PM (vRcUp)

37 Yes, Channel Master sells a no-subscription DVR that will work on broadcast.

Screw you, TiVo. You expect me to pay how much for your fucking box and then pay you tribute every month, and if I don't you make MY PROPERTY STOP WORKING? Drop dead.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 06:39 PM (oVJmc)

38 Hey you snail eaters. How does my ass taste?

Posted by: Angela Merkel at May 07, 2017 06:39 PM (Fcca6)

39 I cut the cord at least five years ago, maybe longer. The only thing I miss is being able to watch college football from noon to to two the next morning. I watch ball at a public establishment now.

There is no one streaming service that satisfies me. I have Amazon, and have tested Netflix and Hulu. Since I primarily watch Irish, British, Australian and New Zealand programing, I have Acorn TV. It is commercial free and $4.99 per month.

I have also tested CBS service and paid extra for no commercials. What bugs me about CBS is that one cannot access certain shows prior years despite CBS giving the impression one can do so. I suspect this is due to cable syndication.

Posted by: Locke Common at May 07, 2017 06:40 PM (VnyPp)

40 Cut the cable 3 years ago. we have tried a number of solutions (apple TV, various apps on PS4/Xbox/PC, etc.) and the one we find works best is
A Roku with a SlingTV subscription.
The Roku on sales was $45 (one time) and has a ton of free content, especially for our kids.
We have Sling Blue and that covers everything from baseball to a huge number of movies.
My in-laws get us Netflix as a Christmas gift (they pay, essentially) every year, but we watch it about 2 hours a week, max. If we were to take it over it would be $5
So - we watch everything from the Braves to Gordon Ramsey to Godzilla for $30/month, total.

Posted by: Rick Stump at May 07, 2017 06:40 PM (z/8+g)

41
Not only do I pirate everything, but I keep the video files and add them to my Entertainment Library for later viewing pleasure.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 06:40 PM (CpbBC)

42 I had a over the air tuner with a DVR built in. It would record on a USB stick and you could play the files on a PC too. The recorded video looked great. I got it from some place in China for $35. It worked ok but died after about a year.

Posted by: frorked at May 07, 2017 06:40 PM (BO/km)

43 I have a simpler version. I cancelled my cable TV after the 2012 election and replaced it with nothing.

Same here. Cord cutting solved.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at May 07, 2017 06:41 PM (Tyii7)

44 guns and boobs

I thought these were always on-topic.

Posted by: Fox2! at May 07, 2017 06:41 PM (brIR5)

45 Didn't Obama say once that if people couldn't afford OCare, they should consider giving up cable?

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 06:41 PM (vRcUp)

46
If you're going to cut the cord to deprive leftists of your money you need to cut Amazon. That lefty rat bastard Bozos is using your money against you

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (auHtY)

47 If you cut the cord with your teeth you simply MUST eat the placenta.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (JZdsf)

48 Pirate it, steal it. Who cares?

They can all ESADINAF.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (Fcca6)

49 Didn't Obama say once that if people couldn't afford OCare, they should consider giving up cable?

That and proper tire inflation.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (Tyii7)

50
Right now, I have Black Sheep Squadron on in the background via an Over The Air tv channel while I'm on my PC chatting at AoS via a USB tether via my wireless phone with unlimited internet access.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (CpbBC)

51 I see they have those OTA DVRs like the one I had for $40-50 on the internets.

Posted by: frorked at May 07, 2017 06:43 PM (BO/km)

52 But sadly foe me, I can either get high speed internet from Comcast, who charges me for cable which I hardly ever use, or Verizon, which charges me the same for a phone that I never use. Sad.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 06:44 PM (ANIFC)

53
Am I ready for the Apocyples?

So far I have more than a thousand tv episodes and almost 100 movies in my Library.

I think I'm ready for Aplocylple.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 06:45 PM (CpbBC)

54 And we don't really find the need to watch that much tv. Only a few shoes dont suck--Bosch, Victoria, 24, etc. A few bball games, football. Lots ospf time wasters. Rise of tv with idiocracy? Causation or correlation? I have my suspicions. Pick up a fucking book sometime.

Posted by: Hamitchell3rd at May 07, 2017 06:46 PM (BnjCY)

55 Didn't Obama say once that if people couldn't afford OCare, they should consider giving up cable?

That and proper tire inflation.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (Tyii7)

And he needed to blow a few more guys to make up his mind about being gay

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 07, 2017 06:46 PM (auHtY)

56 Only 45 more comments before I can start bashing the Frogs! Goodeeee!

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 06:47 PM (AtCmq)

57 The problem is finding a really fast connection that isn't hooked to a TV deal, or a phone deal of some kind. I love my FIOS, I haven't watched "actual" TV, you know that box with the big screen out in the other room, for months. But, I don't know how to keep my amperage here where I want it without them going all rapist on me.

Posted by: goon at May 07, 2017 06:47 PM (EaQ6/)

58 I had a over the air tuner with a DVR built in. It would record on a USB stick and you could play the files on a PC too. The recorded video looked great. I got it from some place in China for $35. It worked ok but died after about a year.

We've got one like that from HomeWorX. It's a little clunky on the software, but the remote is one of the worst designed I have ever seen-- completely NON-intuitive.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 06:48 PM (oVJmc)

59 Cut the cord about 2 years ago. Netflix - yes, their selection has gotten shitty, but the original programming has gotten way better - and Amazon Prime is all my house has.

I did an analysis of the shows we actually watched vs what we were paying for and the results were obvious. We were paying for WAY more than we were consuming.

Show we liked, we would subscribe to on Amazon. Doing it that way - paying for the shows you watch - really makes you think whether or not the price is worth it. And it's a really good filter.

Don't miss it at all.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 06:48 PM (SOwie)

60 Here's another comment to help LGoPs achieve his/her goal.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 06:49 PM (SOwie)

61 Content? I get most of my content from this site.

I also go to youtube and look up cute animal videos, Shapiro, Crowder, old sitcoms like the Young Ones, or old sketches by comics like Newhart, Carlin, Carson, etc. Or stuff that verges on pr0n. I have literally no desire to see anything on cable.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 06:49 PM (vRcUp)

62
Didn't Obama say once that if people couldn't afford OCare, they should consider giving up cable?

obama told us who dared to complain about gas prices that maybe we shouldn't be driving SUVs, and he laughed while saying it.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 06:49 PM (CpbBC)

63 >> I have literally no desire to see anything on cable.

Amen.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 06:51 PM (SOwie)

64 I don't mind giving Jeff his Prime money. I only watch the crap that I want to watch. And, I buy enough stuff that the shipping savings does, pretty much, mostly, over time, offset the communist propaganda factor built into everything. Scathing reviews of their "chosen one's" also helps me justify keeping that service.

Posted by: goon at May 07, 2017 06:51 PM (EaQ6/)

65 I've seen people mention Popcorn Time with enthusiasm, but doesn't it work on a bit torrent system that makes you an uploader? What I've read seems to indicate that the IP address "sharing" something (vs downloading) is the bigger legal target.

And yes, I understand a VPN can help with such things, but my question remains.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 06:51 PM (fD1ST)

66 I see they have those OTA DVRs like the one I had for $40-50 on the internets.

Posted by: frorked

I have one of them. Hooked up to a super fast, huge flash drive. I can start watching, pause, get a drink or three, come back, start playing, pause, get another drink or three, play, pause, and finally catch up to the end of a 'real-time' football game. All for under a hundred bucks.

The cable companies are trying to make their stuff untouchable in features, but I don't need that many, at that cost.

Been cordless for years, and will never go back.

Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 06:51 PM (HTdUD)

67 If you're going to cut the cord to deprive leftists of your money you need to cut Amazon. That lefty rat bastard Bozos is using your money against you

Posted by: TheQuietMan

Yep, done that as well. I will not order through them. It's not really necessary anyway (at least, I've never found that they were the unique purveyor of this or that).

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 06:52 PM (vRcUp)

68 Over a period of several years I gradually lost interest in entertainment TV. I still watched baseball sometimes, but not as much as I used to, as well as TV news.

After the 2008 election I quit watching TV news.

By the 2012 election, I questioned why I was spending all that money every month for a TV that I hardly ever turned on. So I cancelled cable TV, and kept the internet.

I don't want MSM propaganda and Hollyweird perversion polluting my brain. So I watch no TV whatsoever now.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 06:53 PM (sdi6R)

69 32 left.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 06:54 PM (AtCmq)

70 Once we cut the cord, encountering "normal" television repulses us. So many ads! So many talking heads on ESPN! Blatant falsehoods on "news" shows! The only thing my 91-year-old grandma watches is Wheel of Fortune, and even then she can barely stand the ads.

Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 06:54 PM (ar2KI)

71 Watching Bob's Burgers now.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 06:54 PM (IDPbH)

72 Didn't Obama say once that if people couldn't afford OCare, they should consider giving up cable?

That and proper tire inflation.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at May 07, 2017 06:42 PM (Tyii7)

One of my favorite First Gay President things was when he had to start campaigning and sold his Hemi-powered 300C to buy a more acceptable hybrid (iirc) Escape.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 06:54 PM (fD1ST)

73 Oh look, a cord cutting thread.

What a novel idea!!

Our home is built with Plaster Board walls, with expanded metal grid between it and the cinder block main exterior wall, with the brick on the outside of it.

Natural born faraday cage.

Most people in our community don't even get cellular reception inside their homes.

had good start several years ago using the flat panel amplified mud flap antennas inside the house, with about 20 channels.

Then several months ago, I decided to see how an attic mount antenna would work.

So... we went with this antenna from Amazon.http://tinyurl.com/k4ks36e

Then we used a simple $20.00 RCA four tap splitter/amp, and I used RG-60 Quad Coax throughout, using compression fittings to make my own custom length cable runs.

And of course, to try to keep it neat, I had to fish coax through the walls dropping from the attic down to the basement. and then after splitting it, running it to the wall taps in each of the rooms where I wanted to provide service.

And that requires fishing coax, and getting through the ceiling and floor penetrations in teach room.
You can go with a $35.00 54 inch flex bitt from Home Depot/Lowes, or go to the Dollar Store For Men (AKA Harbor Freight) and buy their $9.00 flex bitt. Trust me, it will work just fine for the limited number of penetrations you will need to make.

The house already has Verizon FIOS 50/50 so that takes care of my internet streaming needs with Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix going to the ROKU.

The antenna, and the Over the Air selection? On the northern edge of Baltimore we pull in 35 channels from Baltimore all the way down to DC, clear as a bell, in uncompressed HD.

So which way to point a directional antenna?

Go to https://www.antennaweb.org
and it will help determine what you should get, and the compass heading to point the antenna.

If you have a smart phone, just bring up the compass ap while you are in attic to determine the direction to point it.

The Antenna we chose will fit between the rafters up at the peak of the roof, and take up minimal space within the attic itself.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 06:55 PM (J+eG2)

74 If you cut the cord with your teeth you simply MUST eat the placenta.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero)

It tastes like bacon... I think I will start to identify as a carnivore. And lesbian.

Posted by: april the Giraffe at May 07, 2017 06:55 PM (vRcUp)

75 Is there an appliance that will replace my DVR and accept input from OTA and IP sources?

Posted by: Grump928(C) at May 07, 2017 06:55 PM (LTHVh)

76 Cable? Not since the condo days back in the early 90s. Today, the smart tv handles most of the services, along with a good quality antenna, and I don't really understand why so many are willing to pay for cable.
Had an HBO promo a couple of years ago and saw they were still showing dances with Costner...

Posted by: Anon a mouse... at May 07, 2017 06:55 PM (MINbv)

77
Speaking of cutting the cord, the Cubs are on tonight, so that means ESPN. I'll follow the game online to deprive those bastards of one more viewer and so I don't have to hear the ex-softball player dyke explaining baseball to me

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 07, 2017 06:56 PM (auHtY)

78 Our current cable bill is more than my first house payment was in 1970. Thinking about that makes me want to puke

Posted by: Eromero at May 07, 2017 06:56 PM (zLDYs)

79 1 Xbox
1 TV
1 Hauppauge tuner to freeze, rewind, FF live TV
1 Leaf antenna

I get all alphabets in HD free
Subscribe to Amazon Prime
Buy season pass to Fargo, Better Call Saul whatever else is really good

Posted by: charley horse at May 07, 2017 06:56 PM (+kahX)

80 Foxnews is on youtube streaming just find different stream if it gets cut. Dont think youtube is against the law but who tge heck knows these days. I search fox news live get a stream almost always. Have not had cable in five years. Have 60.00 month fast bandwidth and netflix and amaxon orime cuz use shipping a lot.

Posted by: Wasone at May 07, 2017 06:56 PM (cqWJg)

81 At least with Amazon you decide to give them your money. Bundling directs money to scumbags that I would prefer not to support.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 06:57 PM (oVJmc)

82 I think I might do a Prime free trial to watch the new Bosch series (my Mom really wants to watch it) and for The Expanse. I ordered a leather jacket from Amazon the other day. It killed me to give Bozos that money, but it was the only one I could find at a really great price. My old jacket is literally falling apart.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 06:57 PM (ANIFC)

83 33 Oh, and Pooky has a Crunchyroll and Funimation account, which we use to stream anime that's not on Netflix yet.
Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 06:38 PM (ar2KI)

Oooo, oooo, do you get season two of AoT?

Posted by: Insomniac, Lord Hurlingbone, Earl of Melancholy at May 07, 2017 06:57 PM (0mRoj)

84 Another good thing about watching TV the way we do is we get to see shows from other countries that never air here.

Masterchef Australia...a billion times better than that lunatic Ramsey's version here. The contestants are pleasant, there is little emotional drama and a LOT of cooking.

The Great British Bake-Off.
The Great Australian Bake-Off
The Great Painting Challenge
The Great Pottery Throwdown

All focus less on the screaming/backstabbing/drama and are all about the art and cooking. Pleasant tv to watch.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (/o9Qk)

85 I cut the cord at least 10 years ago.

Have: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Acorn TV & a hulu subscription no one uses. I watch a lot of programs directly from the websites of the various networks.

Stopped watching sports completely a couple years ago. I don't do any over-air programing at all. I only do on demand.

When I cut originally I priced just buying the episodes of the shows I cared enough to DVR previously. Over a year I could buy my programs pay for both Netflix & Prime for less than 2 months of direct tv/cable. It's actually even less.

Posted by: thekatzemeow at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (JGtOb)

86 Do the package deals include Bravo? I have to watch my mindless shows.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (Ri/rl)

87 Netflix needs a way so you don't see ads for shows you don't want to see.
I don't need to see an ad for "Dear White People" every time I log on.
It may be a good show.
But, I doubt it.

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (w7KSn)

88
If you have a smart phone, just bring up the compass ap while you are in attic to determine the direction to point it.

I use an android app called 'DTV Antenna.' It gives you an array of arrows pointing like a compass to each tower in the area in real time.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (oVJmc)

89 78 Our current cable bill is more than my first house payment was in 1970. Thinking about that makes me want to puke

Posted by: Eromero at May 07, 2017 06:56 PM (zLDYs)

You're looking at it wrong. The dollar has been devalued so badly that now trivial things like movie tickets and cable bills are now substantially more than many of our mortgage payments used to be.

Oh. Wait. Nevermind.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 06:59 PM (fD1ST)

90 Not out of want for cutting the cord, but out of a need to lessen the rage in my life, I cut the cable in my bedroom. For the past six weeks, instead of going to bed to/waking up to FNC and CNN, I watch Netflix.

I'm far less ragey and now I've seen a number of shows and movies that I just didn't have time for 7 weeks ago. While I was at it, I deactivated my Twitter account. Other than the occasional tweet that's periodically required to keep from losing my history, I have, at this time, no plans to go back to it.

It's amazing how much more time I have on my hands, time to be productive, now that 24-hour news and Twitter aren't part of my day.

I won't say it was easy, but it's gets easier by the day.

The only frustrating thing about Netflix is how slow they can be between seasons. For instance, season 4 of Schitt's Creek is airing on tv, but Netflix has yet to air season 3. That... is frustrating.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at May 07, 2017 06:59 PM (nAp1e)

91 87 Netflix needs a way so you don't see ads for shows you don't want to see.
I don't need to see an ad for "Dear White People" every time I log on.
It may be a good show.
But, I doubt it.
Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (w7KSn)

Bleah. They also have some show that's a wet sloppy blowjob to TFG, I've heard.

Posted by: Insomniac, Lord Hurlingbone, Earl of Melancholy at May 07, 2017 07:00 PM (0mRoj)

92 I do struggle with Bezos.

Right now I tell myself that it's a big company and there are many other people that my Prime subscription benefits (like me)

I'm not there yet, but I sense it coming.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:00 PM (SOwie)

93 I'm pretty sure PopcornTime runs on a P2P type platform, which is risky without a good VPN.

There are other sites out there to watch movies on without the P2P platform, such as Primewire.ag.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (/o9Qk)

94 One big issue I didn't see discussed is an Internet data cap. Most Internet providers have in the contract a limit on the amount of data you use per month, say 300 GB. With high def video you can burn down through that data cap really fast. Just like mobile phones, they will either apply additional charges for usage or start throttling down your bandwidth.

I used to have Comcast Residential internet, but it had a 300 GB limit. When my kids discovered Netflix and YouTube, I started busting the cap every month and getting slammed with big charges. I discovered Comcast Business Service has no data limits. I pay more per month than the residential service, but less than residential plus the overage charges.

Posted by: Eric at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (LiN1N)

95 This is more of a food thread comment, but I got to make some salad for dinner.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (ANIFC)

96 At least with Amazon you decide to give them your money. Bundling directs money to scumbags that I would prefer not to support.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 06:57 PM (oVJmc)

If cable had any brains and they don't they'd allow people to pick the stations they want. Sell 25, 50, 75 etc packages and let people pick which stations they want. I don't need a dozen Spanish language stations or tons of other stations

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (auHtY)

97 Netflix needs a way so you don't see ads for shows you don't want to see.
I don't need to see an ad for "Dear White People" every time I log on.
It may be a good show.
But, I doubt it.

***

And shitty marketing for it. Have you noticed that it's a bright yellow background with white text?

No?

That's because it's a bright yellow background with white text.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (nAp1e)

98 "I use an android app called 'DTV Antenna.' It gives you an array of arrows pointing like a compass to each tower in the area in real time."

Damn...now that I like.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (J+eG2)

99 Fwiw, YouTube doesn't show any ads on my noscript and origin equipped Firefox browser.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 07:01 PM (fD1ST)

100 Netflix needs a way so you don't see ads for shows you don't want to see.
I don't need to see an ad for "Dear White People" every time I log on.
It may be a good show.
But, I doubt it.

Posted by: navybrat

You say they "need a way", but if they can force you to look at that shite and you still keep coming back, they don't really need a way.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 07:02 PM (vRcUp)

101 You've got to be kidding? If you can't find what you want on Amazon, or Newegg, or whatever, rather than go down to WallyWorld and mill around amongst the sub-humans, then enjoy the adventure. My cashews are fresher, my electric razor parts are newer, my t-shirts are consistently better, so I don't understand how "cutting the cable" has anything to do with rebelling against a smart commerce model. I don't want to be buying my stuff from a single source Chinese outlet next year. Plus, Jeff and his guys are trying to build rockets and other nifty stuff that is fun to watch happen. We need to be punishing the tuna, not the whales. The tunas are the ones that we can get up against. The whales are, and always shall be, immune to our tiny knives.

Posted by: goon at May 07, 2017 07:02 PM (EaQ6/)

102 92 I do struggle with Bezos.

Right now I tell myself that it's a big company and there are many other people that my Prime subscription benefits (like me)

I'm not there yet, but I sense it coming.
Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:00 PM (SOwie)

Easy solution. Invest in what you use. Scrape up the bucks to buy a couple of shares of his stock. It's like paying the mortgage on a home. You'll get your money back when you sell.

Ditto Costco.

Fuck Verizon.

2 out 3 aint bad.

Posted by: charley horse at May 07, 2017 07:02 PM (+kahX)

103 Almost there - LGoPs

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:03 PM (SOwie)

104 Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

Good work.

The best setup, I've determined by trial and error, is an inside the house -- crawl space or attic antenna. About 50 bucks. Hooked up to a 50 buck PVR, with a super fast 30 buck flash drive. That gets you all the 'majors' recorded. FF through commercials.

Then -- in my case - a 25 MbPs Internet connection -- which will drive about four high definition televisions simultaneously. And a couple of smart-phones, too. Some people pay for a lot more, thinking they need more. I don't think that's the case. You can only be in so many locations, doing so many things at once.

I like Hulu, pay for Amazon, but recently ditched Netflix. I drive my HD tv's with Amazon Fire Sticks which are a cheap way to get your feet wet in streaming.

Posted by: E Depluribus Unum at May 07, 2017 07:03 PM (HTdUD)

105 Another thing to remember is that most of the monthly services make it easy to subscribe for a month at a time: just subscribe and then immediately unsubscribe. An option will usually ask if you want to cancel immediately or at the end of the month. I love watching movies and television, but not enough to justify subscribing to more than one service at a time. So I subscribe to Hulu, or Netflix, or the Great Courses, only one at a time, sort of on-demand. (Amazon isn't yet out for Apple TV, and they may be the exception to this rule.)

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (SWB1A)

106 I discovered that my internet provider has no data caps so long as you've got one other service bundled. Otherwise it's X dollars for every Y gigabytes over some arbitrary amount.

Because, you know, like, the technology isn't mature yet and web stuff is constantly getting smaller and smaller.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (fD1ST)

107 >> Easy solution. Invest in what you use.

That's actually a good idea.

(we had shares of Amazon 25 years ago, it was doing nothing and we sold it - d'oh)

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (SOwie)

108 Sooth, how do you store your video files?

Right now I have a 6TB external drive, but I'm afraid if it goes down I lose everything. I was thinking of buying an 8TB external as a backup but I'm not sure.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (/o9Qk)

109 86; caligirl sling has bravo. it's on their basic package.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (KP5rU)

110
Shoutfactorytv has MST3K episodes, Secret Agent, The Saint, among other TV showss. They also have movies but for the most part they aren't very good ones

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 07, 2017 07:06 PM (auHtY)

111 Netflix needs a way so you don't see ads for shows you don't want to see.
I don't need to see an ad for "Dear White People" every time I log on.

Go in and rate it a '1'. Whether you've watched it or not.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:06 PM (oVJmc)

112 27 --".....Also, how am I in the Kansas City Royals market?! They're three hours away and there's no fanbase in Omaha."
Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 06:36 PM (ar2KI)
----------------------------------
Heh. It's downright silly. I'm in SW VA, 6 freaking hours from Baltimore, yet it's "in the market" because ....Virginia. Yeah, like there's no difference between suburban Washington and the hollers of Appalachia.
(AFAIK, I'm the only Oriole fan in these here hills.)

We're actually closer to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati here but are not "in their market" because ....Virginia.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at May 07, 2017 07:07 PM (0jtPF)

113 " Sooth, how do you store your video files?

Right now I have a 6TB external drive, but I'm afraid if it goes down I lose everything. I was thinking of buying an 8TB external as a backup but I'm not sure."

That's gonna be probably my next step.

When we were stationed in Italy, we bough over 500 DVDs that we really could just go with digital files and physically downsize the DVD pile in the living room.

Any of you Morons wanna shift into covering that project as well?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:08 PM (J+eG2)

114 65 I've seen people mention Popcorn Time with enthusiasm, but doesn't it work on a bit torrent system that makes you an uploader? What I've read seems to indicate that the IP address "sharing" something (vs downloading) is the bigger legal target.

And yes, I understand a VPN can help with such things, but my question remains.
Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 06:51 PM (fD1ST)

I just got a small company for my internet. I asked him about that. My son has been getting me the real housewives of sydney. He explained to me how it works.

I asked the owner if he's gotten letters for people downloading stuff. He told me the computer companies are more hardcore than (windows 10, or a video game) than 1 show or movie. They pulled someone's internet for downloading too much porn?

I asked my son what the Venn diagram looks like, the people downloading housewives of Sydney Vs the amount of people that know how to do it.

Basically I don't want to get in trouble/or lose my internet service.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:08 PM (Ri/rl)

115 We cut cable by moving to a more expensive province and needing to build new relationships

Posted by: Northernlurker at May 07, 2017 07:08 PM (P9yMG)

116 We're in the process of cutting. We chose the $35/month PlayStation Vue package to get TCM, it has all the channels we watch except Hallmark. PS Vue also has some sort of DVR capability but I haven't tried it yet. We also get the local CBS station with it.

Most of our viewing has shifted to Netflix and Amazon Prime, and Pandora for music.

Hardware is a Fire TV box and a Roku 2. The Fire took a little more time to get used to but now I prefer it to the Roku.

I built a 10 terabyte FreeNAS server and installed Emby on it. I ripped all of our DVDs onto the server using MakeMKV to rip and Handbrake for cleanup. Both programs are easy to use and are well worth the license fees.

I have the Emby app installed on the Fire and Roku boxes and also on our phones and tablets. We can watch our media wherever there's intertubes, or we can use the app to download content for offline viewing.

Next step is to get an antenna and connect it to a HD Homerun box to stream off-air content to our devices.

Posted by: Top.Man. at May 07, 2017 07:08 PM (AZIOF)

117
Right now I have a 6TB external drive, but I'm afraid if it goes down I lose everything. I was thinking of buying an 8TB external as a backup but I'm not sure.

I built a 2 TB a number of years ago.

Since then I've found another 2TB at a thrift store for $8, and a 500G tiny one for $3.

I'm thinking of setting up a RAID.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:09 PM (oVJmc)

118 The best things in life are Frye.

Posted by: Ja Rule at May 07, 2017 07:10 PM (vRcUp)

119 Netflix needs a way so you don't see ads for shows you don't want to see.
I don't need to see an ad for "Dear White People" every time I log on.

All media companies, it seems, are intent on jamming their left wing views down our throats

Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 07, 2017 07:10 PM (auHtY)

120 >> I've seen people mention Popcorn Time with enthusiasm

As if there is anything good enough to risk the trouble. Period.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:10 PM (SOwie)

121 There are several good free apps for movies/television on Apple TV (and I expect the other boxes, too). No monthly subscription required.

ShoutFactoryTV has a neat old show called Sapphire and Steel that I am currently semi-binging, as well as older science fiction like A Boy and his Dog (the story of William Jefferson).

Classix has a bunch of old public domain shows in a way that makes them easy to find. There are others, but I like Classic best. Saw some nice old Vincent Price movies on it.

TubiTV has Father Ted.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 07:11 PM (SWB1A)

122 75 Is there an appliance that will replace my DVR and accept input from OTA and IP sources?

Posted by: Grump928(C) at May 07, 2017 06:55 PM (LTHVh)

++++

MythTV. I keep on meaning to build one, but I haven't pulled the trigger. But, it looks like the answer to your question.

https://www.mythtv.org/

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at May 07, 2017 07:11 PM (R+30W)

123 109 86; caligirl sling has bravo. it's on their basic package.
Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (KP5rU)

Really? We just got internet that would be fast enough to stream.
We have dish network with all premium channels. I think we pay 160 a month. We have 2 dishes though.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:12 PM (Ri/rl)

124 71 Watching Bob's Burgers now.
Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 06:54 PM (IDPbH)

On DVR? It's disappeared from Netflix. Seasons kept dropping off, until only season 2 remained. Now, even that seems to be gone.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at May 07, 2017 07:12 PM (BXC+l)

125 Dear white people, George W. Bush doesn't care about black people. And my stepfather in law is a ugly white women.

Posted by: Kanye West at May 07, 2017 07:13 PM (vRcUp)

126 We cut the cord last summer for a number of reasons: monthly cost, lack of enough programs we wanted to watch, the thought of helping to support ESPN and PBS, spending too much time yelling at the screen because of insulting programming and commercials, etc.

Seriously, the only thing I miss is the Hallmark channel's Signed, Sealed, Delivered series. And I get those on DVD when they are available. I follow the Nats games on radio.

I put up an inside OTA as a 'just in case'. It brings in ME TV and a similar one locally. We sometimes watch the old westerns which are better written and acted than any new shows.

I don't want Hulu or anything in that vein. There just isn't enough that is of interest.

Cutting the cord is one of the smarter things we've done.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 07:13 PM (V+03K)

127 And of course, once you cut the cable, then there are all the old classic stations you can watch.

It seems like there is an absolutely huge market for the MeTV type programming.
And it's all good quality viewing and none of the modern SJW crap that gets stuffed down your throat with the new shows.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:13 PM (J+eG2)

128 Thor is the kind of guy who turns the TV on the second he wakes up and he cut the chord several years ago. If he can do it anyone can. He doesn't miss it at all, other than the occasional sporting event, and that's really me more than him. It pisses me right the fuck off that I can't watch some of the baseball post season, but t's not worth giving the assholes our money ever again.

We live in the woods, with a whopping 1.5 whatever for internet, too, so we can't stream anything, and we don't even get very good coverage with the over the air stuff, and he still doesn't miss it. He has a Roku, he has the mail version of Netflix, and we also have Amazon Prime.

If someone dangled a sports package in front of us, we might bite, but with our slow internet and so many events broadcasting in HD now, we might not be able to get it anyway. The packages so far are still a ripoff; no one offers all their sports in one shot, ya gotta buy extra stuff.

Fuck every last one of 'em. Y'all don't need any of that shit, you know damn well you just watch the same shows and movies over and over again anyway, and you can get all pron you could ever want for free online.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 07:13 PM (w0AmX)

129 Right now I have a 6TB external drive, but I'm afraid if it goes down I lose everything. I was thinking of buying an 8TB external as a backup but I'm not sure.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 07:05 PM (/o9Qk)

I tape a lot of movies. The files they generate are pretty huge and I can't really be bothered with compressing them further (though they can be cut to a tenth size with little loss of quality). I put them all on blu ray data disks, precisely because of the issue with hard drive failures.

I went for many years without a single hard drive failure and then, all of a sudden, I had a couple go on me right about the same time. Totally fried. But I have everything backed up (or just saned) on optical media. It's cheaper and much more reliable. I will say that blu rays are a bit of a pain in the ass being only 25 gigs (though you can get double or triple layer blu rays for more storage, though they are more than two and three times the price per gig).

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at May 07, 2017 07:13 PM (zc3Db)

130 Just popped up on my notification bar on phone :

"charlie Munger tells Yahoo finance that single payer is the solution "

Well duh. Of course it is. The only problem is that it wasn't supposed to be happening this fast.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 07:14 PM (fD1ST)

131 On the topic of cable cutting:
I need to build a gate to keep WeaselDog from going downstairs unescorted, but that allows WeaselCats v1 & v2 to pass through. Think a 4" space between bars would let a cat through? It's hard to measure cats.

Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 07:14 PM (Sfs6o)

132 I know that many of you have been eagerly anticipating my promised bashing of the French and it is in acknowledgement of your expectations that I have spent a considerable amount of time coming up with something substantive, thoughtful and yet pithy.

So here it is:

The French Suck!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:14 PM (AtCmq)

133 I am trapped. If I give up cable, my internet and phone skyrocket. So much for choice and free will. Did we lose a war? That's not my America. That's not even Mexico.

Posted by: Regular joe at May 07, 2017 07:15 PM (ROIz5)

134 Posted by: Top.Man. at May 07, 2017 07:08 PM (AZIOF)

I have Roku 3 and a couple roku 2's. We weren't able to watch them at night before the new internet.

The guy isn't done setting up the internet throughout the house.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:15 PM (Ri/rl)

135 Please hold your applause.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:16 PM (AtCmq)

136 "and you can get all pron you could ever want for free online."

Wut??

For reelz?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:16 PM (J+eG2)

137 If you want some quality, scenic programming that you don't have to pay attention to every second, just kind of have it on in the background, check out Slo TV on Netflix.
Absolutely stunning scenery.
I like the Telemark Canal one.
It's about 10 hours long.
I've watched them all.
Zero car crashes or terrorist plots.

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 07:16 PM (w7KSn)

138 Been with TW/Spectrum for 25 years, paying $196/mo

Called ATT (where our wireless is) and switching to Uverse and 50mbps Internet combo for $75/mo

Don't think I can get playstation vue plus Internets for less.

Posted by: LifeOfBrian at May 07, 2017 07:17 PM (cAzTG)

139 I only have Netflix and Amazon and there is zero chance in hell I could ever watch 1% of their content. Zero time and interest has fallen off a cliff.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:17 PM (2qHjF)

140 I c-t-c in 2011 and what prevented me from doing it sooner was I like sports (specifically NFL).

When I figured out how to watch games on my computer for free that made the decision much easier.

But
I had to amp up my security measures because the world is a wicked
place. I had to get a vpn, ad blocker plus and much better security
software than MS offers.

Site I use with all of my security measures up and running:
ifirstrowus.eu/sports

Posted by: Skunky Choom at May 07, 2017 07:17 PM (l9Cm1)

141 The French Suck!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: LGoPs

I feel a bit sorry for them. I want to shake them by the shoulders, spritz some cold water on them, smack them gently on the face and ask them "what the f*** is wrong with you???"

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 07:18 PM (vRcUp)

142 This Degenerate Macron is literally a French Obama!?!? I'm I wrong in drawing this conclusion?

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:18 PM (2qHjF)

143 >> Please hold your applause.

Done.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:19 PM (SOwie)

144 Cut the cord about 5 years ago. DirecTV was screwing us so much and then I looked at the majority of our viewing was network TV. I wanted to get rid of not only cable, but didn't want to start TiVo and pay a monthly fee just to watch free TV.

OTA antenna: bought a flat wire mesh first, that worked okay, but we moved 3 years ago I bought an RCA directional antenna - much better. Even in the attic versus on the back of our old house. Both had pre-amps on them.

DVR: Was a necessity, but also was $0 a month. Bought a Magnavox DVR/DVD burner box and it was okay. It worked for us for 4 years, but the functionality was nothing more than the old school VCR - set a specific time/channel to record and hope you have the schedule right. I gave it to a friend and they are still getting use out of it, so I don't have complaints about it. Bought Channel Master DVRs (they had a special last July to buy 2). Love the functionality of them, they have a 14 day guide, you can program repeating series just like the DVR we had with satellite. The draw back is it's limited to one TV and you have to buy an eternal HDD for it (we had a couple laying around so I didn't have that cost). I looked at Tablo TV for the DVR, but wasn't quite yet comfortable with having to stream from it to a device (Fire/Roku).

Watched the hockey game this afternoon - man the quality of OTA sports picture is so much better. We have access to streaming E!spn and NBC Sports from another way, so I can't comment on Sling or other pay services for that.

Posted by: Memories at May 07, 2017 07:19 PM (mwcEF)

145 I've never paid for cable, because from what I can see, it is useless shit and always has been.

No cord, no cut.

Posted by: Alcoholic Asshole Shut In at May 07, 2017 07:20 PM (CPk08)

146 For Roku, PlayStation offers their Vue streaming channel service. It looks good. MLB channel and others are offered at the lower packages.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:20 PM (2qHjF)

147 86 Do the package deals include Bravo? I have to watch my mindless shows.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 06:58 PM (Ri/rl)

++++

This looks like the website for you.

How to Watch Bravo Shows Online
http://bravowatch.com/watch-bravo-online/

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at May 07, 2017 07:20 PM (R+30W)

148 I throw myself at the mercy of any tech person out there, since I've got no one here.

Got Amazon Prime, been a member since '09 or so. Never use it for anything except free shipping, and my purchases are waaaaay down nowadays. Yeah it's been tied to my TV for the past x years. Like maybe 5.

Got FIOS bundled for landline, cable and internet, currently paying $143/mo total. Kept the landline for sentimental/old school reasons. Probably don't watch even 10 TV channels total. Seems to me I can cut costs. No pay channels, don't do DVR or any tricks. Minimal needs.

Now, if I wanted SOME TV as opposed to working off of hardcopy DVDs to watch, how might I do this? I was planning on ditching Prime come January 2018. Apartment dweller.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess Hurlingbone (T) at May 07, 2017 07:20 PM (tHwdc)

149 Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 07:13 PM (w0AmX)

We were in the same position with basically dsl internet. There are companies now that are putting up their own satellites? Or something so you can get faster internet. They will get to you.
The deal if they put a tower on your land is $500 a month and free internet for life, as they get more subscribers the check increases.
My friend moved to the boonies east of Pismo beach and they're trying to get her to let them put a tower on her hill.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:21 PM (Ri/rl)

150 1- Are there any technical solutions for parents in their 80's so they can find stuff on Netflix or any other subscription service. I have given up on training.
2- I look at my Amazon Prime payment primarily as a subsidy of the rocket program in Texas. Also, I can look at their programming and use maybe 5-10% provided.
3- I save the crap programs on Amazon to view while on the treadmill. Abject boredom makes them marginally acceptable.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at May 07, 2017 07:21 PM (e1mEI)

151 I feel a bit sorry for them. I want to shake them by
the shoulders, spritz some cold water on them, smack them gently on the
face and ask them "what the f*** is wrong with you???"

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 07:18 PM (vRcUp)

I don't feel sorry for them. How can you feel sorry for a people who mispronounce their own language!!!!?????Do you see how they spell things?????? Adding superfluous vowels all over the place!!!!!Hell, even superfluous is a French word. You can't escape them......

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:21 PM (AtCmq)

152 It seems like there is an absolutely huge market for the MeTV type programming.
And it's all good quality viewing and none of the modern SJW crap that gets stuffed down your throat with the new shows.

MeTV
Antenna TV
RetroTV
Heroes!
Decades

are all old-repeat programming subchannel networks. And there are several old movie networks, a few true crime networks, some home improvement/lifestyle channels, and even PBS has multiple networks now (including Create, a cooking/woodwork/etc channel).

Broadcast has a great variety of programming now.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:21 PM (oVJmc)

153 We have an OTA antenna and roku. I have a DVR for the antenna but can only get it to record what you are watching. I have a cable splitter but still can't get it to work. We have Hulu and Amazon Prime. My husband is okay with it so far and he's the one that watches that stuff.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 07:22 PM (Lqy/e)

154 we get our internet AND vidiot through Dish...

not sure what herself pays for the TV, but she hardly ever turns the thing on anymore, so i just keep my mouth shut.

we had DSL for years. first time, ATT took over our provider, and the connectivity turned to shit.

they claimed they hadn't done anything, but it was clear they were strangling the area on purpose, to force us into a more expensive service.

we found a small ISP, and presto, we had service again.

that lasted for years, amusingly through ATT, as all they did was re-sell ATT.

then connectivity went to shit again, and the re-seller admitted that they were being strangled.

ATT was trying to force us into their plans again, which was stupid, because they didn't even offer the one they told us we had to use in our area. idiots.

herself had nothing good to say about cable so we called Dish, and added their Internet service to her existing account. w*rks fine until they change transponders on the satellite, then they have to come out and re-aim the dish.

if it doesn't get knocked out of line in the inevitable quake, we'll be the only folks in the AO with Internet.

Posted by: redc1c4 at May 07, 2017 07:22 PM (r7kgE)

155 Not to be a kissass, but if anything of interest occurs on TV, then either ace, JJ, Vic or MisHum will cover it eventually. Or it will show up in the sidebar. Other than that, I don't GAF.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 07:23 PM (vRcUp)

156 >> Zero time and interest has fallen off a cliff.

This.

Posted by: Scotty doesn't, No at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (SOwie)

157 Miley, if you have a tv with an HDMI input, get a Google Chromecast.
It is a little fob that sticks in the HDMI slot.
From that, anything you watch on your phone or laptop, you can watch on tv.
All you have to do is get the show you want on your laptop or phone, then go to your tv and select the chromecast HDMI for your source.

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (w7KSn)

158 Oooo, oooo, do you get season two of AoT?

Posted by: Insomniac, Lord Hurlingbone, Earl of Melancholy at May 07, 2017 06:57 PM (0mRoj)

"Season one of AoT was pretty good, but season two got bogged down" - quoth the Pooky.

Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (ar2KI)

159 Oh gosh yes, Thor loves him some MeTV, although it doesn't always come in here. There's another one, it has Columbo on it..... Cozy TV, maybe? He watches that a lot.

You can watch a ton of stuff on the Roku if you don't mind waiting a day or two. He loved Bates Motel and he's watching the new Prison Break, he just has to wait a little.

I don't watch TV, so it wasn't a big deal for me, but he is a TV addict and has not missed it one iota, barring NASCAR and football, and if it's something we really, really want to watch, we just run over to my mama's.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (w0AmX)

160 Like others here, I went the OTA route a few years ago, and it works fine, except that with all the free and cheap ways of watching stuff on demand I almost never use it. Depending on your definition of almost. I think the last time was for NFL in 2015. (I didn't find a way around that in 2016, just didn't feel like watching.)

I very quickly got used to watching something when I feel like watching something, not planning my day/evening around something that is only on at a specific time.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (SWB1A)

161 We cut the cable 13 years ago when my wife was on maternity leave.

We survived on:

FIOS internet 45 to 75/Mon
NetFlix DVD subscription 7/mon
AppleTV ~ 10/ mon
Redbox's and Library DVDs
Radio

We have an Prime account, but never tried it.

Kids are great, immersive reader's. They get news and sports from the radio. Both actual radio and streamed.

Posted by: Jean at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (LnUJw)

162 PlayStation Vue also includes DVR service and on demand for the price of Sling TV and others. Far superior.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:25 PM (2qHjF)

163 Cut cable, subscribe to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime (that a relative pays for).

Total cost $22 a month. ESPN? LOL

For Prime, I get access via a family subscription to the Prime package where you get the two day shipping and a limited selection of Prime videos and Kindle books you don't need to pay extra for. I noticed they expanded that library so there's more to choose from now. I'm watching Justified this way.

Of course it helps that I don't watch any sports and limit my news watching to YouTube.

Posted by: Gaylord Farkemall at May 07, 2017 07:25 PM (/j4n5)

164 Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at May 07, 2017 07:20 PM (R+30W)

Thanks.
I watch those crap shows and my husband and I watch shows like GoT, better call Saul. I like Fargo too.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:26 PM (Ri/rl)

165 About 25 years ago I went full frontal cableless. No outside programming except for video rentals. People thought we were weird, but my kids kind of looked down on people who had it.

About five years ago we began to stream in from the internet. DSL didn't have enough horsepower, so now I use a cable company for the backbone.

I have Amazon Prime, Netflix and HBO using Firestick. Works great. Will probably cxl HBO because I only got it to watch GoT.

Don't mind buying from Bezos because ever time I watch a program, it is a vote for the kind of programming I want. Those streaming services are pretty sensitive to how many views a show gets.

I do wonder when there will be streaming news and sports providers. Just a matter of time probably.

Posted by: ObjectionSustained at May 07, 2017 07:26 PM (EZWNE)

166 All I know is that I have probably 500 channels or so and literally watch/have an interest in no more than 10 or 15.
How many Home Shopping Channels does the world need? If you ask Direct TV, the number seems to be infinite.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:27 PM (AtCmq)

167 Forgot OTA. Used it for a while for PBS and QUBO fo the kids.

Had 50plus channels at old house, new place gets maybe seven. It's not even hooked up anymore.

If you have kids, you need to consider cutting the cord. You can still drop in a classic cartoon DVD to babysit.

Posted by: Jean at May 07, 2017 07:28 PM (LnUJw)

168 142 This Degenerate Macron is literally a French Obama!?!? I'm I wrong in drawing this conclusion?
Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:18 PM (2qHjF)

I haven't heard anyone questioning his French citizenship.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 07:28 PM (sdi6R)

169 And for news, I subscribe to the Fox channel on YouTube (mainly for Gutfeld), and use Haystack TV for the rest. It is a free aggregator of the rest of the news stations; again, news on demand, not when they want to give it.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 07:29 PM (SWB1A)

170 Miley

The Mohu leaf line of antennas may work well for you with the apartment

http://tinyurl.com/l4qr2d2

This is what we started the cord cutting venture with, and were very happy.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:29 PM (J+eG2)

171 I have Direct TV. Cost $70/mo. Includes DVR, older black box. It has most everything I want. Wifey calls them up occasionally to get a better deal and they usually give it. Also have an antenna for local channels for the second TV.

Posted by: Ronster at May 07, 2017 07:29 PM (CDUSe)

172 150 1- Are there any technical solutions for parents in their 80's so they can find stuff on Netflix or any other subscription service. I have given up on training.
2- I look at my Amazon Prime payment primarily as a subsidy of the rocket program in Texas. Also, I can look at their programming and use maybe 5-10% provided.
3- I save the crap programs on Amazon to view while on the treadmill. Abject boredom makes them marginally acceptable.
Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at May 07, 2017 07:21 PM (e1mEI)

I printed step by step instructions for my mother and laminated it. She has a roku.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:30 PM (Ri/rl)

173 If ESPN was smart, and they are not, they would stream sports for a monthly fee. I suspect each league will someday cut out the middleman and charge subscription fees.

Posted by: ObjectionSustained at May 07, 2017 07:31 PM (EZWNE)

174
"charlie Munger tells Yahoo finance that single payer is the solution "

Only Nixon can go to China.
Only Trump can go to single payer.

Who is Charlie Munger?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 07, 2017 07:31 PM (IqV8l)

175 Now, if I wanted SOME TV as opposed to working off of hardcopy DVDs to watch, how might I do this? I was planning on ditching Prime come January 2018. Apartment dweller.
Posted by: Miley, the Duchess Hurlingbone (T) at May 07, 2017 07:20 PM (tHwdc)

If you've got an old pair of rabbit ears around, give those a try. I used a pair on the first HD TV I got, before I had cable, and was in awe of the picture quality.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at May 07, 2017 07:32 PM (BXC+l)

176 The Program Directors at the premium movie channels need to be hung from the neck until dead. Or sent to France.

How many times do we need to see Hope Floats? My pets know the dialog for crying out loud.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:33 PM (AtCmq)

177 Why has nobody mentioned a monthly Barzzers pass for 9.99?

It's like I don't know who you people are anymore

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:33 PM (2qHjF)

178 I used a pair on the first HD TV I got, before I had cable, and was in awe of the picture quality.

Broadcast HD is uncompressed, unlike the cable.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:33 PM (oVJmc)

179 I watch those crap shows and my husband and I watch shows like GoT, better call Saul. I like Fargo too.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:26 PM (Ri/rl)

++++

The three shows I'm watching now are Better Call Saul, Fargo, and The Americans. I will watch GoT when it starts up again. Am I missing anything on Bravo? I don't much care for reality tv, but I like good drama.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at May 07, 2017 07:35 PM (R+30W)

180 Hey you snail eaters. How does my ass taste?
Posted by: Angela Merkel at May 07, 2017 06:39 PM (Fcca6)

Hahahaha.....Yup. Like Tang and prune juice with a dollop of tuna fish. Thanks Angela!

Viva La France! Viva La Burka!

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite my ass.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 07:35 PM (5VlCp)

181 "Broadcast HD is uncompressed, unlike the cable."

I was actually unaware of that.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:35 PM (J+eG2)

182 Thanks everyone for the recs.

I don't think transferring to BluRay would be a good option, strictly because of the amount of data we have.

I guess no matter what storage I choose, I run the risk of losing data.

Guess it's time to buy that backup drive.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 07:37 PM (/o9Qk)

183

I very quickly got used to watching something when I feel like watching something, not planning my day/evening around something that is only on at a specific time.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (SWB1A)

I use on demand a lot. I really use the dvr. We are binge watching the walking dead now.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:37 PM (Ri/rl)

184 We cancelled Comcast and got Direct TV, and Windstream for internet. Saves us $25/month.

The Satellite is $65/month and the internet $60/month.

Comcast had gone up to $150/month. That, combined with terrible customer service, was all she wrote.

We are used to having a remote and channel surfing and we are old. I don't understand streaming Netflix et al, but from what I've heard, you don't have those options.

Posted by: ALH at May 07, 2017 07:38 PM (vnWLU)

185 I cut the cord in September 2015 and my only regret is that I didn't do it a lot sooner.

I thought there would be a fairly serious withdrawal period but there really wasn't. One of the best decisions I ever made.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at May 07, 2017 07:38 PM (ul9CR)

186 @148 Miley that is almost exactly where we were. We had more outlets so we were at $160 a month and I had a need to reduce costs all around.

Going to internet only (and upping the bandwidth because we have 4 kids!) dropped that to $60 a month - had I stayed at 50 mbps it would have been about $50.

My reco at this time is get DirecTV Now and an Apple TV.

You can get your netflix and Amazon on there too. You will have cut your bill in half.

Posted by: blaster at May 07, 2017 07:38 PM (HV1LS)

187 Almost forgot.

Before we started the OTA quest, Comcast offered 1 very low price $15.00 per month unpublished bare bones local package.

The communist bastards would take the local OTA stations, downgrade them from HD to 480, and then send them to you through the set top box which was an additional $5.00 a month.

I was furious when I discovered that what they were downgrading and selling to me, I could get OTA for free, in full HD.

Pineapple, rectum.

Some assembly required.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:39 PM (J+eG2)

188

Who is Charlie Munger?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 07, 2017 07:31 PM (IqV8l)

A hobbiest of teh prostitutes and escorts?

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:39 PM (2qHjF)

189 Yeesh, bummer what happened in France. I'm surprised, since I would have thought Le Pen would benefit from low turnout.

As for cord-cutting, we're in an unusual situation since we get basic cable included with the rent. I just get the cheapest Spectrum Internet and use it with my Kindle Fire and laptop. It kinda sucks because when certain cable network websites ask me to login to watch content, I can't unless I upgrade --but I don't want more TV!

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 07:39 PM (GsAUU)

190 When we buy from Amazon, our church gets a percentage of every sale, so there's that.

Posted by: Barb the Evil Genius at May 07, 2017 07:39 PM (FQKBL)

191 The three shows I'm watching now are Better Call Saul, Fargo, and The Americans. I will watch GoT when it starts up again. Am I missing anything on Bravo? I don't much care for reality tv, but I like good drama.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at May 07, 2017 07:35 PM (R+30W)

I have the Americans on my DVR, we have the same taste in shows.
I admit I love Real housewives. My husband tells me I can't believe you watch that crap. Then my friends I discuss it. At length. They're the equivalent of soap operas now.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:40 PM (Ri/rl)

192 Ask yourself: does it annoy me more than it entertains me? If so, follow the path of least resistance and cut it off.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 07:40 PM (vRcUp)

193 I live in my dad's basement (he's 87 I'm 56). He has Directv and likely isn't cutting it. I have found I watch a lot of stuff off youtube and pay internet channels like CRTV or The Rebel. With Amazon prime and Netflix regular TV is minor for my viewing already.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:41 PM (Fz5yy)

194 I use a Kodi player from eBay. Its about $30. It streams all of Netflix, Amazon prime, tv shows, movies. Basically everthing. Free. I'm watching Archer right now. All you need is internet. You can also get an Amazon Fire stick that does the same.

Posted by: Cranders at May 07, 2017 07:41 PM (m4DaC)

195 My cable bill kept going up, and all I had was basic service. Dropped it. Kept the modem, though. Most network shows are available in tablet apps. Or Netflix. Or I can record with the dvr.
I'm in a fortuitous location for OTA reception: 350' elevation, several strong stations, and a crowded market (S.E. CT). Some days I can DX NYC, NH, VT, ME.
There's so many minor networks on the subchannels that it's a lot like cable: Cozi, Comet, Decades, Laff, Get-, This-, and Antenna-TV, Grit, Escape, ME TV, Movies!.
Throw a stick and you hit an ION, PBS, or a Spanish language station; but it's a fun mix.

Posted by: Spice at May 07, 2017 07:41 PM (qAPWu)

196 BTW, has anyone heard if the action in New Orleans has heated up?

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 07:42 PM (GsAUU)

197 114
65 I've seen people mention Popcorn Time with enthusiasm, but doesn't it
work on a bit torrent system that makes you an uploader? What I've read
seems to indicate that the IP address "sharing" something (vs
downloading) is the bigger legal target.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:08 PM (Ri/rl)

I tried Popcorn Time, and after 3 or 4 movies I got a cease and desist letter from my cable company. So I ceased and desisted. Never heard from them again.

Posted by: Corona at May 07, 2017 07:43 PM (OYxyz)

198 Re: el French

I don't care. It really is like a friend from work who constantly complains about his girlfriend stealing his stuff, asking to cosign on a loan she stopped paying off after the first month, and getting caught cheating on him every month or two, and now he's going to marry her because he thinks that will give her the stability she needs to stop that stuff.

There's nothing else we can do to help you, and now you've got to figure it out the even harder way. You're on your own, and don't keep complaining without expecting us to laugh right in your face.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 07:45 PM (fD1ST)

199 Logprof .. I dont get the crap Landrieu did about the monuments. What are they going to do next change the name of Lee Circle and Robert E. Lee Boulevard? Erasing history is a slippery slope.

Posted by: Wasone at May 07, 2017 07:45 PM (cqWJg)

200 @148,

It's line of sight, point to point. The company I work for uses it in areas without a lot of trees. The max speeds on our current towers is a 5mb download, which is fast enough to stream. We are upgrading to newer equipment that can do 10mb. And we are doing fiber, basically dropping it in anywhere we can. Just starting to do fiber to the home with several projects in the works.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 07:45 PM (Lqy/e)

201 I tried Popcorn Time, and after 3 or 4 movies I got a cease and desist letter from my cable company. So I ceased and desisted. Never heard from them again.
Posted by: Corona at May 07, 2017 07:43 PM (OYxyz)

That's why I wouldn't do that. I didn't understand bit torrent until my son explained it to me. We could lose our internet service.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:46 PM (Ri/rl)

202 196 BTW, has anyone heard if the action in New Orleans has heated up?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 07:42 PM (GsAUU)

It's an embarrassment. I was watching a stream earlier while taking my post training ice bath.

Baked Alaska and others are a freaking joke. Need real men who are leaders out there and not pop culture e celebs.

Spoiler- they are afraid of the back people and only engage with salad bois on the left.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:46 PM (2qHjF)

203 Cut the cable a few years back. Don't really miss it. Tried experiments with outdoor antennae, but we're surround by tall trees. If I got something tall enough to require FCC beacons and guy wires, maybe. So we gave up on that one.

Internet and Roku now. Sports? Baseball on the radio. Or home games when we're in the mood to drive downtown. Football - sponge off friends who are having football parties. A social life, novel, no?

And we read. Now more than ever in the past five years.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at May 07, 2017 07:47 PM (/WPPJ)

204 Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:41 PM (Fz5yy)

Finally an internet poster who admits to living in a basement.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 07:48 PM (IDPbH)

205 Quelled surprise, the French surrendered again

Posted by: Jean at May 07, 2017 07:48 PM (LnUJw)

206 How does Kodi on Firestick get past the torrenting and legal issues? Any problems with cease and desist letters from Internet providers or legal threats from the studios?

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:48 PM (2qHjF)

207 Here's my problem...my ONLY good option for internet is Spectrum. So I still need the cord no matter what.

Sucks.

Posted by: Matty at May 07, 2017 07:49 PM (Vfg5+)

208 There are so few programs on that we care about we just get the DVDs for them when they go on sale. I recently got the complete shows for Have Gun Will Travel (superb stories, literate writing, excellent acting, and fantastic B and W film quality) and Ellery Queen Mysteries with Jim Hutton which are just plain fun. Everything we've spent on DVDs so far is no more than we spent for a month of Directv.

For people who want to know what is available on their OTA, go to TitanTV and specify your area.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 07:49 PM (V+03K)

209 It's line of sight, point to point. The company I work for uses it in areas without a lot of trees. The max speeds on our current towers is a 5mb download, which is fast enough to stream. We are upgrading to newer equipment that can do 10mb. And we are doing fiber, basically dropping it in anywhere we can. Just starting to do fiber to the home with several projects in the works.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 07:45 PM (Lqy/e)

That's what I have. I don't understand it.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:49 PM (Ri/rl)

210 The Program Directors at the premium movie channels need to be hung from the neck until dead. Or sent to France.

How many times do we need to see Hope Floats? My pets know the dialog for crying out loud.

In the 80s, it was Beastmaster.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:49 PM (oVJmc)

211 *checks in*

The Horde rocks. Pinch of Larceny is now #59 in Magical Realism on Amazon. Overall at #11,375 in the Kindle Store.

Second story is shaping up and it starts with Tanya getting a letter from the IRS telling her she is being audited. Even she quakes at the mention of the IRS.

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 07, 2017 07:50 PM (IPkp7)

212 Y'know what? Comet is a better scifi channel than the 'Syfy' Channel.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:50 PM (oVJmc)

213 Macron tricked people into thinking he was no longer a Socialist and Le Pen couldn't shake the anti Semitic /racist label.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 07:50 PM (IDPbH)

214 Your local library should carry excellent selection of DVD's and should be able to order them from surrounding libraries as well.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (2qHjF)

215 I tried sling for a while last year. I got very tired of watching the same commercials over and over that were using half of the time. I will e damned if I am going to pay for a service and then still have to watch frigging commercials half the time. Also hadt to log in more than once most of the time. Pitiful service in my opinion all ruond.

Posted by: bobby jones at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Ya4MX)

216 "Finally an internet poster who admits to living in a basement."

It's a really nice basement with a walkout lake view.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Fz5yy)

217 The main point of cord cutting, for me, is to reduce costs. Decluttering your life or whatever is a bonus!

You aren't going to break the back of Comcast and MSNBC by going to a streaming service.

What is going to eventually happen is that the cable companies will just adjust their business model that way. Reducing costs and making more a la carte.

And the streaming services will bend toward where cable is. They will get better at delivery and interfaces and on-demand, and prices will eventually go up.

And they will essentially meet in the middle and merge.

Posted by: blaster at May 07, 2017 07:52 PM (HV1LS)

218 I'll probably cut hulu in the next month or two since I don't watch anything on it anymore. Netflix and Amazon are still good for a few shows, mostly their original programming. I figure that they are more likely to see what I watch, and respond accordingly, so I try to reward good programs.

GoT I get by watching the scenes when they're put up on Youtube.

Posted by: Colorado Alex In Exile at May 07, 2017 07:52 PM (Tnhbr)

219 Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 07:14 PM (Sfs6o)

I found a baby gate with an built-in "cat door" that might do the trick, depends on the size of weasel dog.

Carlsen Pet Products, don't know if they're still in business.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 07:52 PM (gwPgz)

220 212 Y'know what? Comet is a better scifi channel than the 'Syfy' Channel.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 07:50 PM (oVJmc)

Cleans your sinks better, too.

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 07:52 PM (ANIFC)

221 It's a cute idea, but what if there's no internet service where you live?

Posted by: Woooooooah at May 07, 2017 07:53 PM (b2DdE)

222 Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Fz5yy)

I have no doubt . It's just been an internet meme for so long I thought it was amusing.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 07:53 PM (IDPbH)

223 Holy shit, the Ducks are getting roasted.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 07:53 PM (GsAUU)

224 @212 YES! And now they have an app so I will be adding it to the Roku etc. Why is James Bond on SyFy?

Posted by: blaster at May 07, 2017 07:53 PM (HV1LS)

225 GoT I get by watching the scenes when they're put up on Youtube.
Posted by: Colorado Alex In Exile at May 07, 2017 07:52 PM (Tnhbr)

We watched game of thrones on HBO on demand. I'm hooked. I bought the first season DVD.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:54 PM (Ri/rl)

226 Do you know who else didn't have cable?

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 07:54 PM (vRcUp)

227 Moonraker, why James Bond is on SyFy?

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 07, 2017 07:54 PM (IPkp7)

228 Make the world a better place

Punch an antifa in the face

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 07:55 PM (GsAUU)

229 @227 if that is what they showed. Quantum of Solace? Not so much.

Posted by: blaster at May 07, 2017 07:55 PM (HV1LS)

230 216 "Finally an internet poster who admits to living in a basement."

It's a really nice basement with a walkout lake view.
Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Fz5yy)

So not a basement, but a downstairs living quarters.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 07:55 PM (2qHjF)

231 Are all the people talking about alternatives to cable getting your programming for free? Because if not, you're still feeding the beast.

I don't want to give those fuckers a cent. I don't want to watch entertainment made by people who hate me and want me to die. I don't want them inside my mind at all.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 07:56 PM (sdi6R)

232 "Broadcast HD is uncompressed, unlike the cable."

That's not true. ALL HD transmissions (through cable, dsl or over the air) are heavily compressed. They have to be. The amount of data in a regular video stream is HUGE, let alone an HD video. An uncompressed 1080p60 video takes no less than 360 MB/sec. PER SECOND! And there ain't no one on Earth who's going to even try to push something like that through anything.

Broadcast HD channels tend to run about 20 Mbits/sec on their transmissions, and that can be split up between several of their sub channels. 20 Mbits/sec is a shitload of compression from the actual screen data rate of 360 MBYTES/sec == 2880 Mbits/sec.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at May 07, 2017 07:56 PM (zc3Db)

233 Macron tricked people into thinking he was no longer a Socialist and Le Pen couldn't shake the anti Semitic /racist label.

I am starting to come around to the idea that the world is being ruled by Leftist Media. Rush has been saying lately that the media is the Democrat Party, not the other way around.

The media sets the narrative and decides who gets a voice and who doesn't. Think about it, do conservatives have a voice anywhere? Don't tell me Fox News because even if it was mildly conservative, even that is being taken away by Murdoch's spawn.

The media determines the salinity of the water we all swim in, so to speak. And it's all Left, all the time. And just like fish, many of us don't even know that we're wet....or Left.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:56 PM (AtCmq)

234 It's a really nice basement with a walkout lake view.
Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Fz5yy)

That sounds very nice, fancy even.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 07:56 PM (Ri/rl)

235 Quantum of Solace, what a waste of some Strawberry Fields.

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 07, 2017 07:56 PM (IPkp7)

236 Klowdtv.com, there's a free trial, after that it's ~$7 per month. News from OANN (right of Fox) and some entertainment channels.
We like OANN.

Posted by: Another Bob at May 07, 2017 07:58 PM (as4LX)

237 CaliGirl,

I will tell you what I know. We cluster receivers on a "tower" and align a receiver on the house. Typically you need to be within 8 miles to get it, although we have a few areas where people are 10 miles out. You are locked into the signal and have to authenticate to our network to get service. It's not something you can hack into like a wifi signal. It can be affected by high winds and ice. We don't have bandwidth caps but do monitor for people overloading the system.

We use some of the same equipment (ubiquiti) for folks that need to get service into a shop on their property.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 07:58 PM (Lqy/e)

238 It's a really nice basement with a walkout lake view.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Fz5yy)

Good for you my friend. And I'll bet you're a Godsend to your 87 year old dad in that you're there to help him if he needs.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:59 PM (AtCmq)

239 Finally cut the cord with Spectrum about 6 months ago. Turned off my VOIP and asked them for the best price - got the great deal of $145. Which would be $60 for internet and $85 for cable.

Did the research between sling, direct tv now, and playstation vue, and went with playstation vue for $30 a month. Pros: has fox news (not sure how much of a pro that is anymore) and a dvr. For the dvr, you just favorite a show and it keeps all recordings of it for 30 days. There's a nice "on demand" selection of shows too. Cons: no hallmark for the women-folk.

Have netflix and amazon prime as well, but the bottom line is I have $55 a month in my pocket that the cable company isn't gouging me for.

The firestick has a nice interface and works great compared to my older computer running vue in a browser. Plus it's alexa-enabled so I can control the lights/thermostat from my bedroom tv.

Friends from work speak highly of the tablo - for $160 2 tuners you can dvr and network OTA via antenna. It has firestick/roku/etc apps.

Posted by: lymond at May 07, 2017 07:59 PM (FNa/B)

240 I don't know if it's topical but I recently purchased an unlimited Sprint 4G-LTE contract for $400 a year (actually $500 but that included the $100 hotspot) from the Calyx Institute.

https://www.calyxinstitute.org/

If you are somewhere that gets 4 bars of Sprint it's reasonably fast.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at May 07, 2017 08:00 PM (ZeYt4)

241 I wonder if cord cutting is related to age. I really don't know. We are in our 60s, retired and don't have kids to entertain.

The time we used to spend watching the tube is now used for reading (a LOT of reading), hands on hobbies, listening to music, gardening, and conversation. We are living more than watching things that don't matter.

And since there isn't a news network worth shit these days, that saves us time and high blood pressure. Besides, we get more timely and complete news here on Ace.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 08:01 PM (V+03K)

242 @212 YES! And now they have an app so I will be adding it to the Roku etc. Why is James Bond on SyFy?
Posted by: blaster at May 07, 2017 07:53 PM (HV1LS)

Back in the day James Bond was very sci fi, tech heavy with Q being so ahead of the commies in the art of espionage.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 08:01 PM (5VlCp)

243 Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 07:52 PM (gwPgz)
----------
Thanks Hrothgar - just about every gate with a pass through built in would let WeaselDog through, as well. She's only very slightly taller/wider than the cats. So I just bought the stuff to make a gate, which also gives WeaselWoman the impression that I'm actually contributing to the household effort, rather than simply being a net drain on resources.

Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 08:01 PM (Sfs6o)

244 *looks in*

Cable. Fcuk it. Never had it, don't want it.

But, obligatory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqmvrGAu4n0

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 07, 2017 08:02 PM (BdD6T)

245 Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite my ass.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 07:35 PM (5VlCp)

I thought it was Liberte, Egalite, Nudite.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at May 07, 2017 08:02 PM (SRKgf)

246 I don't want to give those fuckers a cent. I don't want to watch entertainment made by people who hate me and want me to die. I don't want them inside my mind at all.

Posted by: rickl

Kind of ruins the mood, doesn't it? And they are making it increasingly difficult to ignore. At this point, I'd never go back.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 08:02 PM (vRcUp)

247 Speaking f the media . . .

I did a double-take when I saw someone was working on a Superman vs. The KKK movie.

I couldn't make that shit up if I tried.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:02 PM (GsAUU)

248 231
Are all the people talking about alternatives to cable getting your
programming for free? Because if not, you're still feeding the beast.

I don't want to give those fuckers a cent. I don't want to watch
entertainment made by people who hate me and want me to die. I don't
want them inside my mind at all.

Posted by: rickl

Come over here, my precious...

Posted by: Putlocker at May 07, 2017 08:02 PM (XcOXh)

249 Watching Little Big Shots now. Like Americas Got Talent but only for kids. Good to know not every kid is just a X Box playing uninterested in carrying on tradition.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 08:02 PM (IDPbH)

250 Miley, if you have a tv with an HDMI input, get a Google Chromecast.

It is a little fob that sticks in the HDMI slot.

From that, anything you watch on your phone or laptop, you can watch on tv.

All you have to do is get the show you want on your laptop or phone,
then go to your tv and select the chromecast HDMI for your source.

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 07:24 PM (w7KSn)
----------------------------
Miley

The Mohu leaf line of antennas may work well for you with the apartment

http://tinyurl.com/l4qr2d2

This is what we started the cord cutting venture with, and were very happy.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 07:29 PM (J+eG2)
-----------------------------
If you've got an old pair of rabbit ears around,
give those a try. I used a pair on the first HD TV I got, before I had
cable, and was in awe of the picture quality.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at May 07, 2017 07:32 PM (BXC+l)

Yep, got HDMI. Nope, no rabbit ears. Maybe I should bag TV altogether, landline likewise.
Thinkin' 'bout it. Minimalism. All I really need is internet, right? I've got a lot of DVDs and music in tangible form.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess Hurlingbone (T) at May 07, 2017 08:03 PM (tHwdc)

251 Oh yes, I meant to ask how big WeaselDog was too.

We use baby gates and place them in the doorways about 10-12 inches above the floor. Our dogs can't get under them but the cats can, so everyone is happy.

Except me, who has short legs and can't get over the gates very easily.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 08:03 PM (/o9Qk)

252
Y'know what? Comet is a better scifi channel than the 'Syfy' Channel.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles

And they have Avalanche Sharks

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 07, 2017 08:03 PM (IqV8l)

253 We use some of the same equipment (ubiquiti) for folks that need to get service into a shop on their property.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 07:58 PM (Lqy/e)

They have a tower on this ranch, another tower at a winery's hill. They put a dish thing on my chimney. I have 75-100 foot trees around my house. It works. It sounds like the same thing.
I know they have to have line of sight. The installer had a bet with the owner about which way to bring the signal because of my trees. The installer was right.

I could be wrong but it sounds like the same type of thing.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 08:04 PM (Ri/rl)

254 Oh and for those saying bad things about Amazon...I have worked customer service for Netflix. It was truly awful and I doubt that it has changed. Nothing is ever their fault. And there was more employee churn than at a fruit packing warehouse. I was glad when I could finally come back to this company (after they got rid of their idiot manager).

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 08:04 PM (Lqy/e)

255 Oh Lord . Right after I posted they had a SJW environmentalist six year old.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 08:04 PM (IDPbH)

256 Oops got my answer...

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 08:05 PM (/o9Qk)

257
Right now I have a 6TB external drive, but I'm afraid if it goes down I lose everything. I was thinking of buying an 8TB external as a backup but I'm not sure.

DG, I do the same as you -- use external storage drives.

BUT, as someone who had a hard drive fail, I now have a Backup for my Backup!

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 08:05 PM (CpbBC)

258 Oh Lord . Right after I posted they had a SJW environmentalist six year old.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 08:04 PM (IDPbH)

At least, he's the right age for that sort of stuff.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at May 07, 2017 08:05 PM (zc3Db)

259 i have ota tv 29 channels. use roku for sling, netflix and hulu. netflix and hulu are shared with our daughter. also have apple tv to rent movies and play all my music. also the screen saver on apple tv is set to play all the photos we have. it's about the only time you ever look at pictures you took. we have uverse for internet. pay about $60/month. we were paying $85/month for direct tv 8 years ago when i told them to piss off. i have all the entertainment i need.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:06 PM (KP5rU)

260 Yep you have the same service we sell. We someimes have problems with tree limbs, weighted down with snow, dropping into the line of sight.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 08:06 PM (Lqy/e)

261 And since there isn't a news network worth shit these days, that saves us time and high blood pressure. Besides, we get more timely and complete news here on Ace.
Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 08:01 PM (V+03K)

--Heh, you'll see comments on here when Tucker has a whopper of a guest on (which happens constantly). Then soon thereafter you can find the clip on the 'net. Which is good for you, since Tucker's show is the only one on FNC now that is consistently good.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:06 PM (GsAUU)

262 Had the Sling service for about 18 months - found be to be 90%+ what you needed on top of Air broadcast - had a sports add-on as well. The only real reason I went back to cable was to get NFL network, and redzone channel... probably will go back to a sling type service after next fall's football

Posted by: phreshone at May 07, 2017 08:07 PM (DpOmP)

263 Good for you my friend. And I'll bet you're a Godsend to your 87 year old dad in that you're there to help him if he needs.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:59 PM (AtCmq)

========

I moved my 84 yo Mom into the upstairs of my house for that reason. Wife and I live in the 2BR apartment downstairs, and with the way the house is laid out we both have ground level separate entrances.

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 08:07 PM (Hj4t4)

264 "We're in the finals!" (British newspaper headline when France surrendered in1940).

Posted by: mnw at May 07, 2017 08:07 PM (qifx9)

265
DG, I would NOT buy a huge external drive.

I'd rather use smaller storage drives because they eventually fail. I'd rather lose 1TB of data rather than 8TB.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 08:08 PM (CpbBC)

266 Only make backups of the data you want to keep.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 08:08 PM (fD1ST)

267 Comet actually does a streaming service, too. It isn't on demand, it's just a duplicate of their broadcast stream. I watched a few Vincent Price shows on their Apple TV app that way.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 08:08 PM (SWB1A)

268 Before I forget, my cousin talked me into getting a Logitech Harmony remote. It's interesting. It works like a universal remote. This has "activities", where you can have it turn on a combination of devices at once. It's easily programmable on a Mac or PC. I was able to use Linux but it took hours to figure out how to do it.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 08:09 PM (Lqy/e)

269 Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 08:06 PM (Lqy/e)

Thankfully it doesn't snow here. This company, the people are really nice. They do our security cameras at our office and my house, the 2 way radios.
The installer guy is sharp and he even fixed my phone jack in my bedroom.
The cordless phone doesn't reach my bedroom, there's four fireplaces.
He even put the security camera way out in my driveway where there's no power.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 08:09 PM (Ri/rl)

270
I thought it was Liberte, Egalite, Nudite.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara

Libertayyy, Egalitayyy and PAR-TAYYYYYYY

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 07, 2017 08:10 PM (IqV8l)

271 Thanks, DG. This gate will be at the head of the stairs, so it will have to be a hinged gate with a latch. I come close to killing myself stepping over the regular baby gates that confine her to the kitchen when we're gone.

Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 08:11 PM (Sfs6o)

272 Liberte, egalite, komeine.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 07, 2017 08:11 PM (SWB1A)

273 Nudites?

Don't you mean Dentites? And did you say the words properly?

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 07, 2017 08:11 PM (IPkp7)

274 i use the tv for motorsports, local bullshit weather forecasts, the occasional movie. we also watch american nosepickers and swamp people. tonite an ota station has an hour show of local bar bands. good stuff.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:12 PM (KP5rU)

275 The media determines the salinity of the water we all swim in, so to speak. And it's all Left, all the time. And just like fish, many of us don't even know that we're wet....or Left.

Posted by: LGoPs

No they don't. AoS is my salt marsh.

Posted by: Thingy in a salt marsh at May 07, 2017 08:12 PM (vRcUp)

276 I pirate everything. No commercials. No box office to pay.

---

If you are so inclined, www.primewire.ag is the place to start. It's selection puts both Amazon and Netflix to shame. I used it often to watch re-runs of the Rockford Files.

Shows in the theaters will be screen captured (ie. a video camera in the theater) which I avoid, but within a month or two an HD version will show up. The biggest pain is dealing with all the excessive pop-overs from the sites that feed content, but a good ad-blocker deals with most of that.

Posted by: mpthompson at May 07, 2017 08:13 PM (b0njJ)

277 It's a really nice basement with a walkout lake view.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 07:51 PM (Fz5yy)

Good for you my friend. And I'll bet you're a Godsend to your 87 year old dad in that you're there to help him if he needs.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 07:59 PM (AtCmq)
Being the big help. I just solved a conundrum he had. Mysterious music was playing. Turned out to be Alexa. Those are the problems I am happy and relived to solve when dad yells down to the basement. Much better than low pressure plumbing problems.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:14 PM (Fz5yy)

278
Also, Solid State Drives (SSD) fail too!

SSD's are sold as more reliable and longer-lasting because they have less moving parts. That might be true, but the question is how much more reliable and how much longer-lasting? Are these differences from a HDD significant enough to justify the big cost difference? Maybe, maybe not.

What's definitely true about SSD's is efficiency. Your PC will run a lot faster with a SSD because retrieving data is easier than retrieving data on a spinning drive.

For storage, I think it's more economical to have duplicate HDD's than to have a single SSD with no backup. And having duplicate SSD's are just too much $$.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- That's class! at May 07, 2017 08:15 PM (CpbBC)

279 Right after I posted they had a SJW environmentalist six year old.

Have a friend whose two young daughters are mini-activists courtesy of the Girl Scouts. Bah.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at May 07, 2017 08:15 PM (Tyii7)

280 I did a double-take when I saw someone was working on a Superman vs. The KKK movie.

I couldn't make that shit up if I tried.

Posted by: logprof

They made Thor a woman, Spiderman black. So I guess this means Superman is black?

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 08:16 PM (vRcUp)

281 Moron Robbie @ 89- Devaluation of dollar?
At the end of WW II a 1911 pistol cost $15 to produce, am M1 Garand $31. Today, a hell of a lot more. Our dollar is worthless. But hey, look at it this way. When there is NO cable, and NO 'leisure' time, and every hour is spent trying to survive zomby attacks? Only commodity will be gold, brass, lead, and such. Paper currency will be used for rolling weed and wiping ass.

Posted by: Eromero at May 07, 2017 08:17 PM (zLDYs)

282 Unfortunately my wife is probably the least technically inclined person ever. Anything beyond using the remote to turn on the TV and select a channel is way too much of a PITA for her.

Posted by: AshevilleRobert at May 07, 2017 08:18 PM (w+Jhj)

283 Mothra vs. John Birch

Posted by: Coming to a theater near you at May 07, 2017 08:19 PM (Tyii7)

284 Second story is shaping up and it starts with Tanya getting a letter from the IRS telling her she is being audited. Even she quakes at the mention of the IRS.
Posted by: Anna Puma at May 07, 2017 07:50 PM

Behold the power of a fully-armed and operational IRS!

Posted by: Lois Darth Lerner at May 07, 2017 08:19 PM (DMUuz)

285 Posted by: Weasel at May 07, 2017 08:01 PM (Sfs6o)

To be fair, I had the same problem, but I added a plywood door reducer cable-tied to the frame, cats could get through but pup could only stare through the "door" and mutter under his breath!

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 08:03 PM (/o9Qk)

That's a pretty clever idea, I don't think even most small dogs are anywhere near as flexible as cats.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 08:19 PM (gwPgz)

286
They made Thor a woman, Spiderman black. So I guess this means Superman is black?
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 08:16 PM (vRcUp)

--LMAO, in the '60s there was Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. Black Superman would make that really funny in hindsight.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:20 PM (GsAUU)

287 No they don't. AoS is my salt marsh.

Posted by: Thingy in a salt marsh at May 07, 2017 08:12 PM (vRcUp)

Being a swamp boy, I tend to think of AoS as being brackish.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 08:22 PM (gwPgz)

288 So excited about this thread. Got TWC/ Spectrum for internet and cable. We live near a major city so we know OtA channels are available. Any suggestions to the order of events to cut the cable cord? I hope to keep the internet portion. We have 4 tvs on cable. My biggest fear isn't cutting cable, it's the steps to get the OtA channels fed through our home wiring. Any suggestions?

Posted by: Just a deb at May 07, 2017 08:23 PM (NrrrR)

289 Another benefit to cutting the cord is seeing the look on peoples' faces if we tell them that. There is actual disbelief at first, followed by puzzlement. (There is a strong but unspoken "But what do you do with your time?")

It's almost as good as when they learn we only have one TV set in the house and are a one car family. Perhaps they think we are from another planet.

I don't usually mention to them the number of guns or books we have. They are alarmed enough as it is. :-)

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 08:23 PM (V+03K)

290 Would Superman's X-Ray vision help him figure out which Klansmen are real, and which are undercover FBI?

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:24 PM (GsAUU)

291 They made Thor a woman, Spiderman black. So I guess this means Superman is black?
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at May 07, 2017 08:16 PM (vRcUp)

Puerto Rican Transsexual NAMBLA member who also teaches "Criminal Justice" at his local government finishing school.

The Klan doesn't stand a chance.......

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 08:24 PM (5VlCp)

292 "At the end of WW II a 1911 pistol cost $15 to produce, am M1 Garand $31. Today, a hell of a lot more."

A 1911 and an M1 both are highly machined guns. never cheap like grease guns or AKs. In 45 A P38 looked less refined then they did in 1941.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:24 PM (Fz5yy)

293 Thanks Sooth. I have one empty 2TB drive now, so I think I'll pick up two more and use those for backup.

I still think I'm going to buy a 8TB drive and start loading more things onto it.

If we cut the internet, we'd still have enough TV and movies saved to last us a lifetime I think.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 08:24 PM (/o9Qk)

294 Test

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (IDPbH)

295 Maybe it's just me but this sounds complicated. Sling TV, Apple TV, Roku, Netflix, etc....my head hurts.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (Enq6K)

296 275 The media determines the salinity of the water we all swim in, so to speak. And it's all Left, all the time. And just like fish, many of us don't even know that we're wet....or Left.

Posted by: LGoPs

No they don't. AoS is my salt marsh.
Posted by: Thingy in a salt marsh at May 07, 2017 08:12 PM (vRcUp)

--Which thingy?

A clapper rail?

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (GsAUU)

297 Haven't had cable in years because money was so tight. In fact, I still have a prepaid cell plan (although the yearly cost skyrocketed to $107.47 haha).

I have a flat panel antennae that picks up more than 20 channels (unfortunately not CBC so no Hockey Night In Canada for me). I also used the Hoopla app to check out movies and shows from through the library. It's limited to 8 TV episodes or movies a month, but it's free.

This past summer two friends talked me into getting Amazon Prime, then I got a PlayStation 4 to run it and YouTube. Prime is $99 yearly; PlayStation Plus $60. My Internet is less than $60 a month.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (G8B7r)

298 290 Would Superman's X-Ray vision help him figure out which Klansmen are real, and which are undercover FBI?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:24 PM (GsAUU)

-------

ITS FUNNY BECAUSE THEYRE ALL UNDERCOVER FBI!!!

Posted by: Ben Roethlisberger at May 07, 2017 08:26 PM (JZdsf)

299 I moved my 84 yo Mom into the upstairs of my house
for that reason. Wife and I live in the 2BR apartment downstairs, and
with the way the house is laid out we both have ground level separate
entrances.

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 08:07 PM (Hj4t4)

Trying to convince my mom, who's 84, to move in with us but she's too independent minded to do it just yet. When the time comes we'll be there. As will my 2 sisters - we'll have to fight over mom. We all love her so much.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:26 PM (AtCmq)

300 We cut the cord back in '95. Stepson was young and he'd watch so much tv he peed his pants rather than get up.

One time, I quizzed him on a Bill Nye show we had just seen on momentum. Despite 30 minutes of having the word MOMENTUM blasted at him, he couldn't recall anything about the show.

(Note: He was diagnosed with ADD and put on Ritalin, which changed his behavior. Now he's 26 and transitioning.)

Anyhew, we have Internet through the phone service, too slow for TV, and now Verizon's threatening to crap our copper wires. We'll probably get a phone / internet package from Comcast and tell Verizon to go fuck themselves with a torque wrench (yeah, one devil or another, take your pick).

As for TV, we get DVDs from the library. Local branches get the good ones a few months after they're available, and I use our excellent Interlibrary Loan department to get the rare ones. Then if I want to keep them, I rip 'em using DVDFab and burn to disk.

Posted by: Uma Thurmond's Feet at May 07, 2017 08:27 PM (gEqN0)

301 I watch almost nothing but you tube videos. Awesome political analysis by interesting people you've never heard of. Joe Rogan has awesome talk shows that last hours and have real conversations. Dave Rubin has good shows. Lots of classical liberals, wide variety of points of view. Sargon of Akkad, Styxhexenhammer666, Lionel Nation.
When I cut the cord, I thong I'd get an antenna. Never did. I got a smart tv and I cast you tube videos to it. Aside from political stuff that I'm semi addicted to, you tube has videos on anything you could possibly want to know.

Posted by: Auntie Doodles at May 07, 2017 08:27 PM (VnNi7)

302 I cancelled satellite. Saved $120 a month. Comcast (spit!) gave me a low tech cable box with local channels, HBO included, and cut my Wi-Fi Bill by $15 per month. No data limits, for all intents and purposes.

With Netflix, Hulu, HBO, local channels on one TV, rabbit ears to gets local HDTV upstairs, and Wi-Fi, we are paying $75 each month. That is down from $210.

Posted by: Fake at May 07, 2017 08:27 PM (wFDuq)

303 I vaguely recall an ancient SNL sketch where they wondered what if the baby Superman's rocket had not landed in the midwestern US in the 1930s, but rather Germany instead. That was pretty clever.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 08:28 PM (sdi6R)

304 I have a flat panel antennae that picks up more than 20 channels (unfortunately not CBC so no Hockey Night In Canada for me). I also used the Hoopla app to check out movies and shows from through the library. It's limited to 8 TV episodes or movies a month, but it's free.

This past summer two friends talked me into getting Amazon Prime, then I got a PlayStation 4 to run it and YouTube. Prime is $99 yearly; PlayStation Plus $60. My Internet is less than $60 a month.
Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (G8B7r)

--Are you near the border?

I miss HNIC as well.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:28 PM (GsAUU)

305 Test

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (IDPbH)

Ok. What's the question?

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:28 PM (AtCmq)

306 Another benefit to cutting the cord is seeing the look on peoples' faces
if we tell them that. There is actual disbelief at first, followed by
puzzlement. (There is a strong but unspoken "But what do you do with
your time?")

Well, let's see...read a book, go to the range, ride the motorcycle, volunteer work for non-SJW charities, go fishing, hunting or camping. Hmm...just can't decide.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at May 07, 2017 08:29 PM (Tyii7)

307 288 So excited about this thread. Got TWC/ Spectrum for internet and cable. We live near a major city so we know OtA channels are available. Any suggestions to the order of events to cut the cable cord? I hope to keep the internet portion. We have 4 tvs on cable. My biggest fear isn't cutting cable, it's the steps to get the OtA channels fed through our home wiring. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Just a deb at May 07, 2017 08:23 PM (NrrrR)

You could check out the Tablo 4 tuner to stream the OTA over your network. You would also need to purchase 4 firesticks/rokus/etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Tablo-4-Tuner-Digital-Recorder-Streaming/dp/B00MWLZR0I

Posted by: lymond at May 07, 2017 08:29 PM (FNa/B)

308 282 Unfortunately my wife is probably the least technically inclined person ever. Anything beyond using the remote to turn on the TV and select a channel is way too much of a PITA for her.
Posted by: AshevilleRobert at May 07, 2017 08:18 PM (w+Jhj)
------------------------
Um,...gasp!....Mr DeVille, is that you?

Oh, wait. We don't live in Asheville.
Never mind.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at May 07, 2017 08:29 PM (0jtPF)

309 Trying to convince my mom, who's 84, to move in with us but she's too independent minded to do it just yet. When the time comes we'll be there. As will my 2 sisters - we'll have to fight over mom. We all love her so much.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:26 PM (AtCmq)

========

The only way I was able to convince my mom is due to the lay out of the house. Her area is like a separate apartment. if we were all living in the same space, she would never have done it.

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 08:30 PM (Hj4t4)

310 Best thing I ever did was cut the cable. I increased my internet speed to compensate for the streaming I would be doing. I also converted my DVD library to MP4 and run it through iTunes/HomeShare/AppleTV.

It works like crazy. I don't even bother with broadcast TV.

In terms of dollar savings, the internet access (I'm on FIOS) runs about 75% of what the entire tv/internet/phone package I had previously. On the other hand, the money is going to Verizon and not to MSNBC, so there's that.

Only real thing I'm guarding against now are streaming providers exporting the cable TV business model to the online world. DirecTV is just the latest offender.

Posted by: Witchdoktor, AKA VA GOP Sucks at May 07, 2017 08:30 PM (eytER)

311 JTB (#289) wrote: "Another benefit to cutting the cord is seeing the look on peoples' faces
if we tell them that. There is actual disbelief at first, followed by
puzzlement. (There is a strong but unspoken "But what do you do with
your time?")

"It's almost as good as when they learn we only have one TV set in
the house and are a one car family. Perhaps they think we are from
another planet.

"I don't usually mention to them the number of guns or books we have. They are alarmed enough as it is. :-)"

JTB, except for the guns, I could have written this. People offer us TVs when they find out we didn't have / want one. My mother on her deathbed said I could have her TV.

Um, thanks Mom.

(We finally did accept one, as you can guess. When that fried, our neighbor was getting rid of hers because the shows were off-kilter and gave it to us. SmartSon adjusted the set and we're still using it.)

Posted by: Uma Thurmond's Feet at May 07, 2017 08:32 PM (gEqN0)

312 303 I vaguely recall an ancient SNL sketch where they wondered what if the baby Superman's rocket had not landed in the midwestern US in the 1930s, but rather Germany instead. That was pretty clever.
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 08:28 PM (sdi6R)

--Heh, that'd be funny. Also ironic since baby Superman's journey is an allusion to Moses being hidden from the Egyptians.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:32 PM (GsAUU)

313 YouTube is rolling out a new TV service (called "YouTube TV", duh) where they basically replace both your cable company and your DVR. You get most of the free channels (Fox, Disney, ESPN, Nat Geographic), plus local channels. Then they give you a virtual DVR (think TiVo) where they will record anything you want and you can play it back later whenever and wherever you want (up to 6 household members). It's a cable killer at 35$/mo. tv dot youtube dot com.

I would have done it myself if I hadn't already got almost the same thing set up with my Roku, TiVo, gray market XTV channel for Fox News, HD antenna, Interwebs, and a real TiVo.

Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 08:32 PM (gYAkw)

314 "it's the steps to get the OtA channels fed through our home wiring. Any suggestions?

If your home currently has cable, you may very well be able to tie in the output from the antenna to the splitter where your cable formerly came into the house.

Depending on your home construction, the actual running of coax cable is not as daunting as it may seem.
I think that Youtube has multiple videos on how to run and fish wires.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 08:33 PM (J+eG2)

315
295 Maybe it's just me but this sounds complicated. Sling TV, Apple TV, Roku, Netflix, etc....my head hurts.
Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (Enq6K)

It's not at all. I set up the Roku. If I can do it anyone can.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 08:33 PM (Ri/rl)

316 The AT&T streaming commercials with Mark Wahlberg are pretty funny.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 08:34 PM (IDPbH)

317 Fils de Vishy France! Vive la capitulation!

Posted by: Bavaria Clock Support Line at May 07, 2017 08:35 PM (NnnZy)

318 303 I vaguely recall an ancient SNL sketch where they wondered what if the baby Superman's rocket had not landed in the midwestern US in the 1930s, but rather Germany instead. That was pretty clever.
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 08:28 PM (sdi6R)

About ten years ago there was a comic miniseries called "Red Son" in which baby Superman's rocket landed in the USSR

Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 08:36 PM (ANIFC)

319 "Trying to convince my mom, who's 84, to move in with us but she's too independent minded to do it just yet."

The reason I live in dad's basement is Mom died. I own a house and pay to keep it up. I was sure dad wouldn't last more than a year after mom passed. So glad I was wrong. Now I am confused about if I should sell my house which would piss off my daughter that is living there now.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:36 PM (Fz5yy)

320 313 YouTube is rolling out a new TV service (called "YouTube TV", duh) where they basically replace both your cable company and your DVR. You get most of the free channels (Fox, Disney, ESPN, Nat Geographic), plus local channels. Then they give you a virtual DVR (think TiVo) where they will record anything you want and you can play it back later whenever and wherever you want (up to 6 household members). It's a cable killer at 35$/mo. tv dot youtube dot com.
Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 08:32 PM (gYAkw)

YouTube is owned by Google, I believe. Just sayin'.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 08:37 PM (sdi6R)

321 "Maybe it's just me but this sounds complicated. Sling TV, Apple TV, Roku, Netflix, etc....my head hurts.
Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 08:25 PM (Enq6K) "

Less complicated than posting links using the Pixiware and Minx 0.7alpha that runs Ace of Spades.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 08:37 PM (J+eG2)

322 We only ever use our OTA antenna during football season (or yesterday for the KY Derby).

We always realize how much we don't miss commercials when we tune into regular tv.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 08:37 PM (/o9Qk)

323 Woo hoo!

Macron!

Posted by: Mary Kay Letourneau at May 07, 2017 08:38 PM (GsAUU)

324 Ya know what the leading cause of death is in France?

Being trampled in the stampede to surrender to somebody. Anybody.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:38 PM (AtCmq)

325 A recent life change prompted me to make some decisions, one of which was to subscribe to land-line telephone service and Internet package without TV ($88/month). Cable would've been another $30 or so. I decided to forego the expense.

There are a couple-few shows that I miss, and NHL hockey - but I deal. None of the TV deals carry my favorite team, so no big loss there.

So it's AoSHQ, a few financial websites, Wikipedia for miscellaneous interests and a lot of YouTube. The selections of videos on YouTube never leave me wanting. Music, old TV episodes, stuff about weather or outer space or mechanical calculators or demographics - whatever I'm interested in at the time is on YouTube. Without paying for anything beyond my Internet, I can learn a language or see some weird mathematical proof or watch a KHL hockey brawl.

Seriously, cutting TV has been one of the easiest things I've done over the past six months. I don't regret it, and I don't miss it.

Posted by: FireHorse at May 07, 2017 08:38 PM (zkGZ8)

326 Got a couple of great suggestions on the switch to OtA! Thanks from a lurker. At this point we are all in on the concept, it's the execution that is daunting.

Posted by: Just a deb at May 07, 2017 08:39 PM (NrrrR)

327 Anyone have a free antenna finder app for apple?

Posted by: Bavaria Clock Support Line at May 07, 2017 08:39 PM (NnnZy)

328 315; yes. it's very easy to setup and use roku. just need an open mind. actually looks like there's enough free stuff on roku you really wouldn't need to buy anything. depending on your viewing preferences.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:39 PM (KP5rU)

329 I'm considering an invasion of France.

Posted by: Lord Panini, Earl of Sandwiches at May 07, 2017 08:41 PM (JZdsf)

330 Mercy!

Mercy!

Posted by: Anaheim Ducks at May 07, 2017 08:41 PM (GsAUU)

331 Macron!

Posted by: Roman Polanski at May 07, 2017 08:41 PM (Tyii7)

332 This man is a Jew!

Posted by: Ubermensch at May 07, 2017 08:41 PM (92Cj5)

333 326; when you think about how cable/sat companies are bagging you, it's not daunting at all. it's money back in your pocket.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:42 PM (KP5rU)

334 Getting ready to ditch Cox Cable except for the internet. It's taken 4 months but now my wife can navigate the inputs on the TV to the Firestick (which has KODI, DirectTvOnline, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video) and to the HD Antenna which brings in all the local channels - I bought my own Cable modem so we're about to give the old heave ho to the boxes, the remotes and the cable tv package shortly. If I had a better phone connection for DSL, I'd tell them to stick their internet where the sun don't shine as well...

Posted by: Asmodai at May 07, 2017 08:42 PM (epW+a)

335 Just finished watching Ghost in the Shell and my initial reaction is...huh?

Now moving to The Space Between Us.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 08:42 PM (/o9Qk)

336 "At this point we are all in on the concept, it's the execution that is daunting."

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 08:42 PM (J+eG2)

337 I had Comcast triple play and it had climbed to $200/mo. Once a year we would pack all our crap in a box and go in to the local office and threaten to leave, they would cut us a "deal" and we'd stay on. When ATT fiber finally came to that hood I got 1gb ftth for $60/mo. Made sure the internet worked, cut off Comcast, got Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Apple TV and I don't miss it a bit. Thought the kids might miss stuff but they didn't even notice.

Posted by: LakePir8 at May 07, 2017 08:43 PM (GRZXd)

338 334, are you gonna cut the Cox? Ouch....

Posted by: JoeF. at May 07, 2017 08:43 PM (89VjS)

339 France once conquered England.
Vic and I were young then.

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 08:44 PM (w7KSn)

340 I bought a fancy Vizio TV. It has smartcast where I can play most things I would watch on my phone on my TV. Youtube is so much better when it is big?

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:45 PM (Fz5yy)

341 Cancelled my cable yesterday, cut my bill by more than half. Realized it was time when Comcast called trying to upsell me and I realized the only time tv is on is when I leave animal planet on for the cat while I'm at work. I've have an Xbox one in the main room and a 360 in the bedroom. Have Netflix, Amazon, WWE Network, YouTube, TubiTV and Crackle, last 3 are free and am trying out Hulu. My iPhone works as the remote. Gonna leave the radio on for the cat from now on.

Posted by: Daveyardbird at May 07, 2017 08:45 PM (/oPgm)

342 "Vic and I were young then."

Objection...

Vic has never been young.

He has always simply been there.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 08:46 PM (J+eG2)

343 I'm considering an invasion of France.

Posted by: Lord Panini, Earl of Sandwiches at May 07, 2017 08:41 PM (JZdsf)

The key to victory is to march in backwards. The French will think you're leaving.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:46 PM (AtCmq)

344 304 --Are you near the border?

I miss HNIC as well.
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:28 PM (GsAUU)

I'm several miles inland from the St Clair River. When I was closer, I could pick up CBC. Now all I get is a fuzzy CTV out of Sarnia.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 08:46 PM (G8B7r)

345 My primary problem is the only hard line that runs to my house is the phone. I can't get anything better than 1.6M/sec because i live in the country and I am at the end of the line. $200/month gets me local phone, long distance, DirecTV Ultimate, and shitty DSL. I pay $8/month for cheapest Netflix and $20 every 90 days for a Tracfone.

Posted by: hurricane567 at May 07, 2017 08:46 PM (uCsil)

346 Cancelled my cable yesterday, cut my bill by more
than half. Realized it was time when Comcast called trying to upsell me
and I realized the only time tv is on is when I leave animal planet on
for the cat while I'm at work. I've have an Xbox one in the main room
and a 360 in the bedroom. Have Netflix, Amazon, WWE Network, YouTube,
TubiTV and Crackle, last 3 are free and am trying out Hulu. My iPhone
works as the remote. Gonna leave the radio on for the cat from now on.

Posted by: Daveyardbird at May 07, 2017 08:45 PM (/oPgm)

My wife and I leave Food Channel on for our dogs when we leave. Just to torture them. We're evil in that way.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:48 PM (AtCmq)

347 I fired Xfinity (one of the worst rated in customer satisfaction) and switched to Comcast Business (one of the best). Legally they are the same outfit but they operate completely separately with different techs, different call centers, etc. It was like night and day. Comcast Business is run by experts who assume you know what you are doing and treat you with respect. A super nice gentleman installed my POP into a rack in my basement in 2 hours with an SnR that is just crystal and a committed IR of 100mbit/s (that's minimum, not maximum), with 24 alert and repair service. I run my eCommerce website and everything else through it, and we get perfect HD for Netflix and Roku and VOIP and everything we could ever ask for. (They threw in a nice 800 toll free number on top of my VOIP with fancy forwarding and VM that is now my main business line.) $220/mo on a three year contract. I paid more than that for my crappy Xfinity with the 'Triple Play' package with the stuttery phone and 12mbit if I was lucky ('capped' at 50, yeah right), with outages that lasted for days at a stretch.

Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 08:48 PM (gYAkw)

348 OK, I was young.
Once.
In a dream.
Hey, I was harsh to a poster earlier today, who posted something about "why should we care if San Francisco gets nuked" or words to that effect.
Later said no conservatives are here.
I would like to point out that this very blog is posted from the heart of a deep blue metropolis, complete with a commie mayor.
I responded that I hoped a tornado ate his trailer park.
That was harsh of me, and I was wrong.
Please accept an apology. Troll. LOL!

Posted by: navybrat at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (w7KSn)

349 319
The reason I live in dad's basement is Mom died. I own a house and pay to keep it up. I was sure dad wouldn't last more than a year after mom passed. So glad I was wrong. Now I am confused about if I should sell my house which would piss off my daughter that is living there now.
Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:36 PM (Fz5yy)

I was living in an apartment when my mom died, then moved in with my dad. It took several months to clear out the house enough so I could move all my stuff in, so I kept the apartment all that time. He died about a year and a half later, and left me his house.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (sdi6R)

350 My wife and I leave Food Channel on for our dogs when we leave. Just to torture them. We're evil in that way.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:48 PM (AtCmq)
Wouldn't glass doors on the fridge be cheaper?

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (Fz5yy)

351 Vic has never been young.

He has always simply been there.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 07, 2017 08:46 PM (J+eG2)

Like Tom Bombadil?

Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004 at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (Wjq9W)

352 It's not at all. I set up the Roku. If I can do it anyone can.

Posted by: CaliGirl at May 07, 2017 08:33 PM (Ri/rl)

The setup doesn't bother me...I can do that. It's all the various options and configurations.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (Enq6K)

353 338 334, are you gonna cut the Cox? Ouch....
Posted by: JoeF. at May 07, 2017 08:43 PM (89VjS)

Go for it!

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at May 07, 2017 08:51 PM (sdi6R)

354 352: every one of them have foolproof onscreen instructions. not hard.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:52 PM (KP5rU)

355 To be honest, the first thing we did was the antenna. I just got a kick out of not paying for anything. I already had Prime and I purchased a couple of seasons of Babylon 5 for me and NYPD Blue for my husband. Hulu is pretty inexpensive. I would like to get the new season of Blue Bloods and Elementary but not ready to pay $35 for those just yet.

My husband falls asleep to the free stuff as easily as he did the expensive stuff. And I'm actually enjoying Kojak this time around.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at May 07, 2017 08:52 PM (Lqy/e)

356 Like Tom Bombadil?
Posted by: OregonMuse, deplorable since 2004

Gilgamesh

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....unfrozen caveman moron at May 07, 2017 08:53 PM (S6Pax)

357 At this point we are all in on the concept, it's the execution that is daunting.

It bears repeating... I was the same as you all, just hated seeing all that money going out the door each month for things I never watched. Only think stopping me was the *how.* I have to say that AppleTV made it easy for me to execute. This was Jobs-era Apple, btw.

What I ended up with is a system where I watch what I want to watch at a reasonable cost. I do a lot of internet stuff too, so that's money I spend on actual internet speed instead of for a channel I don't watch.

It worked out very well for me.

Posted by: Witchdoktor, AKA VA GOP Sucks at May 07, 2017 08:53 PM (tVWQB)

358 Haven't had cable for half a decade. We have several antennas, and our main TV has a Roku with Sling and some other stuff. The only things I missed about cable or satellite were hockey and the UFC. I now have both.

So I miss cable/satellite not one friggin' bit.

Another benefit of antenna is I can pick up the Cheyenne and western Nebraska networks, and am no longer beholden to the Broncos sphere of influence during football season.

Noice!

Posted by: Pug Mahon aka the Deplorable P.U.G. at May 07, 2017 08:53 PM (1Z57K)

359 Wouldn't glass doors on the fridge be cheaper?

LOL! I'm telling my dogs who suggested that when I do it. They will hunt you down.

And knowing them, will probably lick you to death.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:53 PM (AtCmq)

360 He died about a year and a half later, and left me his house.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (sdi6R)

I have 4 brothers and sisters so I cant afford the house once dad is gone. Sad since it's a half mile from work and on a way better lake than my house is.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:56 PM (Fz5yy)

361 I have mostly not had cable since I wasn't in college. Got it briefly for a six month introductory rate about a year ago. Didn't use it. Not sure why this is such a big hang up for people. Just .... get rid of cable. If you need to watch something, Netflix is fine. But you'd be shocked at how quickly you realize you have better things to do then watch tv

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at May 07, 2017 08:57 PM (wmaTe)

362 Up until about 2005, we had cable but no internet. After we got internet in '05 we began using it more and more, then in 2008 when we had to move to a new residence (apartment), we decided not to bother with cable and just get internet instead.

We've never regretted it. Literally anything we want to see can be seen on You Tube or other outlets. We can get news and weather very easily online, and any sports we care about we are generally content to listen to on radio or watch game clips afterward. For a truly must-see-live sports event, such as the Cubs in Game 7 of the World Series, we go to the neighborhood sports bar. My husband occasionally will binge-watch series such as Boardwalk Empire and Justified via Amazon Prime as each season becomes available.

Whenever we find ourselves in an environment where we're exposed to cable TV, such as a motel room or doctor's waiting room, it doesn't take long to remember why we gave up cable. The number #1 thing I DON'T miss about TV is the continual background noise it produces.

Posted by: Secret Square at May 07, 2017 08:57 PM (9WuX0)

363 every one of them have foolproof onscreen instructions. not hard.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:52 PM (KP5rU)

In my stupid younger days (as opposed to my stupid older days) I got a Sony Trinitron with onscreen setup. I was drinking during the process and thought "Wow, I can do setup in Chinese" thinking, drunkenly, that all my programs would be translated to Chinese.
It took me the better part of a day to backwards navigate out of the menu and go back to English so I could get the fucking TV to work.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:57 PM (AtCmq)

364 LMAO Judge Jeanine just told Hillary! to go back into the woods.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 08:58 PM (GsAUU)

365 I would absolutely love to cut the cord, but we have all kinds of problems with doing it:

1. Where our house is located, it has always been impossible to pick up OTA. Up until the mid 80's, our lot next to our house was owned by the neighborhood and had a 100' tower with an antenna on it so that the houses in the neighborhood could pick up TV signals. Once the neighborhood was wired for cable, the people who built our house bought the property and tore the tower down. When we moved into the house in 98, the tower was still disassembled in a corner of the lot. Long story short, no local channels for us.

2. Sports, that is pretty much the only thing that I watch on TV, save a few network shows that the wife and I watch. My cable package gives me the following sports networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNNews, ESPNU, ESPNClassic, ESPNGoaline, BEINSports, CBSSportsNet, FoxSports1, FS2, NBCSportsNet, SECNetwork, PAC12Net, Big10Net, LonghornNet, NFLRedZone, NFLNetwork, MLBNetwork, NHLNetwork, CoxSportsNet, Tennis, GolfNet, NBATV, MidAtlanticSportsNet and ComcastSportsNetDC. About the only one that I never watch is NBATV.

3. Channels and packages on the streaming services. First question for all of them, "Do you have Hallmark Movies and Mysteries", if the answer is "no", the chances of us subscribing are very slim. The Mrs needs her Hallmark Movies and Mysteries since that is what she watches 80% of the time.

4. Landline phone service. We have a fire and break-in alarms that are monitored, and the system we have depends on a landline to contact the service. The location of the alarm system master box in the basement rules out cell service since see issue #1. BTW, issue #1 also makes cell service on the other floors of the house "iffy" at best.

10 years ago, we had Verizon for our home phone, Cox for our internet, and DirecTV for our "cable". About 5 years ago we went with a bundle from Cox, and our cable/internet/phone bill dropped to what we were paying for DirecTV only.

We do some streaming, mostly WatchESPN (ESPN3), and NHL.TV and MLB.TV with a little Crackle, Netflix and Hulu thrown in. We did HBONow for about a month last fall so that we could binge Game of Thrones, which I will probably do again this fall. I'd drop cable in a heartbeat if the streaming services had some sort of DVR like service since I am never able to see the beginning of a game or show and really hate missing the first parts. Since we added a Tivo 5 years ago, I never miss the beginning of games which was always the case when we went to church on Sundays because the M-I-L can never shut her yap, and we wouldn't get home until at least 2pm.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 08:59 PM (1JnAL)

366 And knowing them, will probably lick you to death.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:53 PM (AtCmqI want a dog so bad it would be a great way to die. Not home enough to have pet though.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 08:59 PM (Fz5yy)

367 our son and daughter do not have cable. i told them about roku. they never went back to cable. they paid over$100/month for cable. they don't miss it.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:59 PM (KP5rU)

368 354
352: every one of them have foolproof onscreen instructions. not hard.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 08:52 PM (KP5rU)

No, that's not what I mean. Let's say for example I get a Roku...is that for one TV...do I have to buy one for each TV in the house?
We gave up football last year...it was a no brainer, so that's not an issue but....hubby has to watch Cardinals baseball...this is non negotiable. Can we get that with other options? (I think it's mostly on Fox Sports Midwest).

We have DirecTv now that cost about $200 a month and I'd like to find cheaper options.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:01 PM (Enq6K)

369 363; thats too funny. love it. sounds like something i would do.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:02 PM (KP5rU)

370
Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 08:57 PM (AtCmq)

The Manning brothers would pull that prank on people's phone. I'm trying to think of the celebrity who told that story.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 09:03 PM (IDPbH)

371 "why should we care"

Because Abraham cared about Lot?

Send in the Angels.

Posted by: Ok at May 07, 2017 09:04 PM (bCx5h)

372 Dating is hard in your 50s when you say you live in your dad's basement. And when you never talk to women outside work.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (Fz5yy)

373 I can endorse SlingTv.

I've had it for about a year, and because I chose the package that includes ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and TBS, for $20 a month (and the free over-the-air channels of ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) I haven't missed a major sporting event.

I don't watch much TV other than sports, and I didn't need 137 channels and the $100+ cable bill that goes with it.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (OXPMi)

374 Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:01 PM (Enq6K)

Well you can move the rokus between tvs. I have a chromecast on one tv and an Amazon fire stick on another. I have a third tv that I'll move the chromecast to if i want to stream a YouTube video or something while I'm working in the garage. So... yeah

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (wmaTe)

375 We have an over the air antenna supplemented by a spare Direct TV dish hubby borrowed from work (he works for a local station, it's a dish they don't use. If the station ever needs it, it will go back). We have no subscriptions to anything - we just pick up the local stations. That's all. It's free. I refuse to pay any more than what I consider TV to be worth. So I pay zero. If there is nothing on that interests us, we shut it off or watch DVDs. We don't watch network news. At all. Not interested in left wing propaganda. We only watch the local news for the occasional weather forecast and sports scores. And I can get that stuff from my phone. We never had to cut the cord because we never attached ourselves to it to begin with. I got a three month Sirius Satellite radio subscription when I bought my car, but there was nothing on satellite radio that interested me at all, so I let that lapse. Didn't want it, don't miss it.

Posted by: Nunya Bizness at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (RAc+R)

376 Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 08:50 PM (Enq6K)

I can usually figure out the Roku thing.

Usually.

Of course that's assuming I am able to figure out where Thor left the remote.

If I understand it correctly, Roku has apps like a smart phone. (I don't have a smart phone, so I have no way of knowing if this is true)

But provided I am able to find the remotes(s), and remember which input I need ( I think it's HDMI 2) then it's easy, you just hit the home icon on the Roku remote, then scroll through all the little icons to find whatever you want to watch. Or play...I mostly just go on Roku to play Bubble Jam now and then.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (w0AmX)

377 Thanks for all the comments but I don't see anything about live sports which is the only reason I still have cable. If you want Nationals baseball, you need MASN (Mid Atlantic Sports Network) at least for the rest of this season. They'll probably come out with their own cable network soon. And if you want to watch ACC hoops, you need either ESPN-U or the still-to-be determined ACC network. Almost none of these games are over the air. I looked into it awhile back and adding just those two things meant two different devices for a total savings of about $5/month. Does anyone have advice on how to get the price down? The Verizon bill is the epitome of BOHICA. Merci!

Posted by: Beltway Moroni at May 07, 2017 09:06 PM (Sd0gg)

378 368; you need one for each tv. i have every model of roku from the most expensive to the cheapest. they all work the same. sling has fox sports midwest for the area you live. i.e. if you live in the area of st louis you would get it. i live in wisconsin and we get twins and brewers on fox midwest.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:06 PM (KP5rU)

379 Oh and I use Sling Tv through a Roku 2 and it works reasonably well.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:06 PM (OXPMi)

380 Posted by: josephistan at May 07, 2017 06:44 PM (ANIFC)

Cut cable ($140-$160) at Comcast. Kept high speed internet --$90/mo which I think is high. When I test it, rarely meets speed promised. Use their equipment. I detest Comcast and do not trust them. If I drop speed and get own equipment I suspect it will suck with lots of buffering and cutouts and they will always blame whatever is wrong on the fact that I have my own equipment. Over a barrel always with Comcast.

I could get cable and internet package for around $65 - $70. That would jump to $90 or more with cable taxes. Tax on $90 internet is .70.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 09:07 PM (OU4q6)

381 You can find live sports on the internet, but you need a really good pop up blocker(s) and ad blocker(s) and a lot of patience to find a stream that works.

Hell, I watched the AMA Motocross season strictly on the internet and it was only broadcast on FS1 and FS2.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:09 PM (/o9Qk)

382 372 Dating is hard in your 50s when you say you live in your dad's basement. And when you never talk to women outside work.
Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (Fz5yy)

I've mentioned before the incident that happened several years ago when I was on eHarmony. I was e-mailing back and forth with a woman and everything seemed to be going fine when I mentioned moving back into my parents' house. She cut off contact and that was the end of that.

Seems I neglected to mention that they left me the house free and clear.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:10 PM (sdi6R)

383 Were the woods too squatchy for Hillary?

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:10 PM (GsAUU)

384 All I need to figure out is how to watch my sporting events sans cable. If not for that I would have ditched cable long ago. I haven't been interested in TV since the early 1990s. I just watch one or two shows, and that's it. Nothing that I couldn't buy off of iTunes.

Posted by: CatchThirtyThr33 at May 07, 2017 09:10 PM (HkU+J)

385 Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 09:07 PM (OU4q6)
Downgrade speed ; you never get full advertised speed anyways. I pay for 20 Mbps and get between 20-30. I used to pay for 100 mbps and get between 20-30.

Also, but your own modem. Saves you a rental fee.

I pay Comcast $50ish a month for internet and am a pretty heavy internet user.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at May 07, 2017 09:10 PM (wmaTe)

386 Hell, I watched the AMA Motocross season strictly on the internet and it was only broadcast on FS1 and FS2.
Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:09 PM (/o9Qk)

=======

Have you found a free site that streams FS1?

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (Hj4t4)

387 376; tammy! yes, you are right. thats the way roku works. you can also listen to the radio through it. from your local stations to all over the country. i usually listen to a station out of staten island that plays everything from the 60's to the 90's. they play live cuts i have never heard before.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (KP5rU)

388 Guys? Just get a boob job and look at yourself in the mirror and feel yourself up. Much more entertaining than cable.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (vRcUp)

389 Were the woods too squatchy for Hillary?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:10 PM (GsAUU)

Hahaha....anyone else think Ranae is hot?

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (5VlCp)

390 BIf I understand it correctly, Roku has apps like a
smart phone. (I don't have a smart phone, so I have no way of knowing if
this is true)

But provided I am able to find the remotes(s), and remember which
input I need ( I think it's HDMI 2) then it's easy, you just hit the
home icon on the Roku remote, then scroll through all the little icons
to find whatever you want to watch. Or play...I mostly just go on Roku
to play Bubble Jam now and then.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:05 PM (w0AmX)

This isn't the stuff I have any problem with. We have Amazon Fire on our bedroom TV and I had no issue setting it up or using it. Works fine.

But we have 3 TV's in the house and another in an outside bar area. I'm trying to figure out how I cut Directv and what I use to set up all the TV's. We usually aren't watching the same programs unless we're watching TV in our bedroom.

See...my head hurts.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:12 PM (Enq6K)

391 I like this Macron guy.

Posted by: Pamela Smart at May 07, 2017 09:12 PM (GsAUU)

392 New Orleans update! The alt-lite is teaming up with AntiFa to attack so called Southern Racists who are there to protect monuments and Southern Culture and history. Trump supporters from outside the South attacking Southerners because all southerners are racists.

Here we go. Fuck this shit. Let's get this National Divorce over with. Fucking cowards afraid to be called racist so start attacking Southerners with AntiFa.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (2qHjF)

393 Kudos to Blaster, CBD and VIA free for this great thread. I have copied Blaster's post into my notes on my iPad and will refer to it in 10 months when my contract with WOW is over and I go the streaming route.

Posted by: Ladylibertarian at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (TdMsT)

394 Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:12 PM (Enq6K)
Buy 3 fire sticks (or rokus or chromecasts.) easy.

The stickler is that Netflix. Hulu, sling tv, etc. all limit you to finite number of devices going at the same time.

Posted by: Harry Paratestes at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (wmaTe)

395 Hahaha....anyone else think Ranae is hot?
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (5VlCp)

--Who is Ranae?

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (GsAUU)

396 Roku 4K refurb deal
http://tinyurl.com/m3ztsha

Posted by: Aviator at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (/Nite)

397 You can find live sports on the internet, but you need a really good pop
up blocker(s) and ad blocker(s) and a lot of patience to find a stream
that works.

The instructions for the thread specifically mentioned keeping any advice to the *legal* variety.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (OXPMi)

398 392 New Orleans update! The alt-lite is teaming up with AntiFa to attack so called Southern Racists who are there to protect monuments and Southern Culture and history. Trump supporters from outside the South attacking Southerners because all southerners are racists.

Here we go. Fuck this shit. Let's get this National Divorce over with. Fucking cowards afraid to be called racist so start attacking Southerners with AntiFa.

This. Thank you.

Posted by: Ladylibertarian at May 07, 2017 09:15 PM (TdMsT)

399 I wonder how much overlap there is between the commenters on this thread and the commenters on the book thread?

No judgment. Just musing.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:15 PM (sdi6R)

400 Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 08:59 PM (1JnAL)

Eh, you'd both be fine. As I said, I do miss my sports, but not as much as you'd think.

Well, I kinda miss SEC Nation and the lack of baseball does truly suck, but I don't really miss anything else that much, not even all the pro packages we had. (Football, baseball, NHL)

I mean, yes I miss it now and then, and it is literally all I ever watched except for some of the old classic Christmas shows like Charlie Brown and Rudolph, but I don't miss it enough to keep supporting the industry, or be lectured while I'm trying to enjoy a game.

I sincerely doubt there is anything on the channel your Mrs watches that can't be found on Netflix or youtube eventually.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:16 PM (w0AmX)

401 Have you found a free site that streams FS1?

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (Hj4t4)
You can use Stream2Watch for channels. Here's the FS1 feed. (take out the space)

http://www.stream2watch.cc/ live-television/united-states/fox-sports-1-live-stream

For specific events, I use First Row Sports or VIP Box.

Again, you must have good popup and ad blockers for all of these sites and never click on anything to download. It is live streaming and you do not need to download. Ignore the HD options, which are "downloads" and I don't trust them.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:17 PM (/o9Qk)

402 399 I wonder how much overlap there is between the commenters on this thread and the commenters on the book thread?

No judgment. Just musing.
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:15 PM (sdi6R)

I read and watch a ton of TV.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 09:17 PM (IDPbH)

403 I cut the cord a month ago. I have a Fire stick and Amazon Prime. Since I was new to this I threw in Sling as well. With cable, it was 160.00 a month. Without, 90.00 plus the 45.00 fire the Stick.

I'll probably drop Sling because it's redundant. At first I missed the channel guide and convenience. After I got used to it though, I like it better everyday.

I don't miss the constant scream of foxcnnmsnbc etc. it's all just.....gone away. I even went old school and put digital antennas on my tv so I can switch to local channels when I want.

Cut The Cord.

Posted by: Ralph Kramden's angst at May 07, 2017 09:17 PM (Y9uH4)

404 --Who is Ranae?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (GsAUU)

I will take that as a "No".

She is one of the dudes on "Finding Bigfoot"

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 09:17 PM (5VlCp)

405 The instructions for the thread specifically mentioned keeping any advice to the *legal* variety.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (OXPMi)

These are legal methods. There is no uploading or downloading required. You are viewing a stream someone uploads, just like Youtube.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:18 PM (/o9Qk)

406 Huh, this is the first I'm hearing of Trump's EO about religious organizations.

Also like the visual of two Little Sisters of the Poor standing beside him.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:18 PM (GsAUU)

407 thanks for this thread cbd. entertaining and informative. very good.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:18 PM (KP5rU)

408 "I wonder how much overlap there is between the commenters on this thread and the commenters on the book thread?
"

The being able to read?

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 09:19 PM (Fz5yy)

409 Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:12 PM (Enq6K)

I can't help you there, because I have no idea what you just said, LOL!

But we have three TVs, so it can't be that hard.

I do remember when we still had satellite, we'd move a TV into the bedroom during baseball season so I could watch late games, and Thor used some sort of thing that threw the signal upstairs.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:20 PM (w0AmX)

410 We cut the cord 7 years ago and apart from the savings, we loved that we got a lot more deliberate about what we watched. No mindless channel surfing and being surprised that it was 10 o'clock already. Just an antenna and Netflix via our bluray player, and after a year of that, we actually spent way more time reading than watching TV anyway. We started using the library mostly for ebooks, but occasionally streaming video and DVDs.

Then my mother moved in and really, really, really needed cable TV in order to be happy so we get to pay for cable again, only now we don't even watch it. :-/

Posted by: Mereciel at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (b9pi1)

411 Cut the cord 9 yrs ago when we moved into the RV. Digital Antenna, roku with about 60 free streaming channels, Netflix, Prime, and Shudder (horror streaming). Love the syndication on antenna, I get my Airwolf, A team and 6 Million dollar man fixes. Buzzr channel has gameshow reruns - Gene Rayburn on Match Game is the bomb. Svengoolie on Saturday nights on ME tv. Also a new channel that started up a few months ago called Comet. It's retro sci-fi and has a great line up.

Posted by: Quilters Irish Death at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (g6OJ4)

412 These are legal methods. There is no uploading or downloading required.
You are viewing a stream someone uploads, just like Youtube.

In a word, no. Unless you're pretending that everyone who uploaded the streams had the legal sign-off to do so.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (OXPMi)

413 YouTube TV has a good sports package (ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNEWS, EPSN U, FS1, NBC Sports, Big Ten, CBS Sports). No Turner yet (so no basketball). I see that Hulu now has a 'Live TV' option ($40/mo) with roughly the same lineup. NFL went with Amazon Prime unfortunately. In theory you should still be able to see local games on local channels but who knows.

Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (gYAkw)

414 I can't help you there, because I have no idea what you just said, LOL!

But we have three TVs, so it can't be that hard.

I do remember when we still had satellite, we'd move a TV into the
bedroom during baseball season so I could watch late games, and Thor
used some sort of thing that threw the signal upstairs.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:20 PM (w0AmX)

Hell....I'M not sure what I just said.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (Enq6K)

415 Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:20 PM (w0AmX)

=========

Thank you DangerGirl. Evening Tammy.

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 09:23 PM (Hj4t4)

416 Cutting the cord is one thing, getting a satellite dish off the roof is more difficult.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 07, 2017 09:23 PM (OdK9v)

417 In a word, no. Unless you're pretending that everyone who uploaded the streams had the legal sign-off to do so.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (OXPMi)

The legal risk runs with the uploader. Not the viewer.

But, CBD is more than welcome to delete or alter any post I have made if he finds it inappropriate.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:24 PM (/o9Qk)

418 We cut cable tv a couple years ago, but nothing beats cable internet in our area so it's staying. We have Netflix, Hulu and an HD antenna for local channels. I'd consider dropping the cable internet, but we have normally have a couple different devices streaming at the same time, plus I occasionally play online games.

Posted by: digitalbrownshirt at May 07, 2017 09:24 PM (ROUi8)

419 I do remember when we still had satellite, we'd move
a TV into the bedroom during baseball season so I could watch late
games, and Thor used some sort of thing that threw the signal upstairs.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:20 PM (w0AmX)
A lure? To get you into the bedroom smart man.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 09:25 PM (Fz5yy)

420 Antenna plus Juice pre-amp/filter. That was really needed, as we are less than a mile from a cell tower and it killed a couple of stations via interference. Channel Master DVR. PS3 for streaming apps on the main TV. Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. One other TV has a Roku and the third has apps on a Blu-Ray player.

We got the antenna at a charity auction. 2 bay bowtie for $50. We had DirecTV a while back and I never got around to pitching the dish. I used the mast from that to mount the OTA antenna. I get 50 some odd channels.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf at May 07, 2017 09:26 PM (di1hb)

421 392 New Orleans update! The alt-lite is teaming up with AntiFa to attack so called Southern Racists who are there to protect monuments and Southern Culture and history. Trump supporters from outside the South attacking Southerners because all southerners are racists.

Here we go. Fuck this shit. Let's get this National Divorce over with. Fucking cowards afraid to be called racist so start attacking Southerners with AntiFa.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (2qHjF)

--Ugh.

I was thinking about this today. In Ulaanbaatar there is a huge statue of Genghis Khan. Turkey has numerous monuments to Mustafa Kemal. Brown's and Yale's namesakes were slave traders.

To be sure, I'm using fallacious reasoning, but nevertheless Generals Lee and Beauregard were not even in the ball park with those other guys.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:26 PM (GsAUU)

422 416; i left my dish up. it is at shoulder level on my deck. i figure it makes me look rich and phisticated to neighbors. either that or i look really effin lazy. whatever. right now, it's decoration.

Posted by: chavez the hugo at May 07, 2017 09:27 PM (KP5rU)

423 Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 09:23 PM (Hj4t4)

Hey!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:27 PM (w0AmX)

424 112 27 --".....Also, how am I in the Kansas City Royals market?! They're three hours away and there's no fanbase in Omaha."
Posted by: pookysgirl at May 07, 2017 06:36 PM (ar2KI)
----------------------------------
Heh. It's downright silly. I'm in SW VA, 6 freaking hours from Baltimore, yet it's "in the market" because ....Virginia. Yeah, like there's no difference between suburban Washington and the hollers of Appalachia.
(AFAIK, I'm the only Oriole fan in these here hills.)

We're actually closer to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati here but are not "in their market" because ....Virginia.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at May 07, 2017 07:07 PM (0jtPF)

How close are you to Roanoke?

The whole market thing also applies to the NHL also. The Hurricanes are in Raleigh, which is 2 1/2 hours away, and there are season ticket holders here in Roanoke (we used to be). Yet, our "hometeam" are the Crapitals who are 5 hours away. Biggest shock is that the Hurricanes played in Greensboro for a few years which is only 90 minutes away.

BTW, its the leagues that give the teams their "territories" and not the networks. IIRC, MLB allows either 4 or 6 teams to "claim" Las Vegas as part of their home territory. Dodgers, Padres, Angels, Giants, A's, and Diamondbacks.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 09:27 PM (1JnAL)

425 377 ... The only sport I still follow is Nats baseball. I checked and there doesn't seem to be any way around cable or Directv to get MASN.

Posted by: JTB at May 07, 2017 09:27 PM (V+03K)

426 404 --Who is Ranae?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (GsAUU)

I will take that as a "No".

She is one of the dudes on "Finding Bigfoot"
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 07, 2017 09:17 PM (5VlCp)

--LMAO, no, she's not. I would think that Ranae would leave the woods first after getting tired of Hillary hitting on her.

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:27 PM (GsAUU)

427 The legal risk runs with the uploader. Not the viewer.

Thank you for confirming that your posts in that regard aren't within the spirit of the topic's stated purpose.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:28 PM (OXPMi)

428 388 Guys? Just get a boob job and look at yourself in the mirror and feel yourself up. Much more entertaining than cable.
Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at May 07, 2017 09:11 PM (vRcUp)

Yeah, but I seriously don't want to cut my dick off. So there's a downside, there.

Posted by: Alcoholic Asshole Shut In at May 07, 2017 09:28 PM (CPk08)

429 CBD is more than welcome to delete or alter any post I have made if he finds it inappropriate.

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:24 PM (/o9Qk)

Um....what?

Surely you are referring to another coblogger. One who didn't have a checkered past of posting incredibly inappropriate shit.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 07, 2017 09:28 PM (rF0hx)

430 I like my 8-tracks and cassettes, but Huma says they have a new thing called "CDs". I'm going to try them soon.

I get my news from CBS, but Huma says there's a hot new network call "CNN". I watched it the other day. Somebody said I got a bunch of spies killed with my server. That's just silly--the Secret Service was guarding it.

Things are moving so fast.

Posted by: Bribe Me-Granny, Depends on the meaning of Depends at May 07, 2017 09:28 PM (Ndje9)

431 The instructions for the thread specifically mentioned keeping any advice to the *legal* variety.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (OXPMi)

I'm not disagreeing with you, but to be honest, with the way Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general is mind-fucking the country, I am less and less interested in protecting their so-called intellectual property rights.I used to be the straightest of straight arrows but I'm becoming more of a rebel every day. Because I'm being driven to it.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 09:29 PM (AtCmq)

432 --Who is Ranae?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:14 PM (GsAUU)

Pepe the Frog's girlfriend. She's got that hot Latin thing going

Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 09:29 PM (mkDpn)

433 I used to be the straightest of straight arrows but I'm becoming more of a rebel every day. Because I'm being driven to it.

I feel the same way. There's very little upside to being the only person following the rules.

Posted by: Witchdoktor, AKA VA GOP Sucks at May 07, 2017 09:30 PM (tVWQB)

434 $50 Kodi box from GearBest/eBay/Amazon is the way to go. Pay the extra $15 for a keyboard remote and you're styling.

Posted by: Navin R Johnson at May 07, 2017 09:30 PM (g25eo)

435 Ranae closely resembles Racel Maddow and a cashew.

Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 09:30 PM (2qHjF)

436 380
If I drop speed and get own equipment I suspect it will suck with lots of buffering and cutouts and they will always blame whatever is wrong on the fact that I have my own equipment. Over a barrel always with Comcast.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 09:07 PM (OU4q6)

Same thing with AT&T. Had an outage following a storm and called; the service guy said my modem was bad (I bought it from AT&T). He said they'd send me a replacement - with a rental fee of $7 a month. When I told him that I wasn't paying rent for that, he had his manager send a tech.

Tech was a LOCAL guy. He told me that my replacement modem was a refurb and that the rentals were no newer. He also checked my speed, determined that my connection was to a box four miles away, and switched my connection to a box down the road. And told me how to get my bill lowered (but not to let on he told me I was paying too much).

I was so mad about the modem rental that I called the State Attorney General's office. Because the Internet is not under the FCC guidelines, providers can do as they like.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (G8B7r)

437 Probably make me appear less than manly but I could go without watching all sports on TV.

Posted by: The Deer Hunter at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (Fz5yy)

438 NFL went with Amazon Prime unfortunately. In theory you should still be able to see local games on local channels but who knows.
Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (gYAkw)

--Hmmm, does this mean since I have Prime I can watch red Zone in the fall?

Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (GsAUU)

439 Unless you're pretending that everyone who uploaded the streams had the legal sign-off to do so.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (OXPMi)

It's an interesting point, and one that will no doubt be hashed out in the courts in the next several years, as cable and satellite providers go belly-up.

But it seems that absent some active role (other than simply clicking on a link), the viewer is relatively safe.

FYI: I am not a lawyer, so don't break any fvcking laws you Morons!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (rF0hx)

440 431
I'm not disagreeing with you, but to be honest, with the way Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general is mind-fucking the country, I am less and less interested in protecting their so-called intellectual property rights.I used to be the straightest of straight arrows but I'm becoming more of a rebel every day. Because I'm being driven to it.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 09:29 PM (AtCmq)

Yep. It's LOL-worthy to hear out-and-proud Commies bleating about their "property rights".

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (sdi6R)

441 435 Ranae closely resembles Racel Maddow and a cashew.
Posted by: Widespread Pepe at May 07, 2017 09:30 PM (2qHjF)

It isn't nice to say that about anurans.

Posted by: Alcoholic Asshole Shut In at May 07, 2017 09:32 PM (CPk08)

442 What about the bandwidth of your wifi connection? There doesn't seem to be much discussion of that.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (OdK9v)

443 not interested in enriching bezos further - likely too late for that, as all of americans' past purchases combined were all enough for him to be beyond wealthy into perpetuity.
okay, so no tv for 10 years now. just flat screen to watch classic westerns, etc. got a call from a marketing research company, lady asked what i thought of TV programming and i explained we think TV's a sewer pipe and skipped the stuff years ago.

Posted by: JCL at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (q0EwG)

444
Um....what?

Surely you are referring to another coblogger. One who didn't have a checkered past of posting incredibly inappropriate shit.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 07, 2017 09:28 PM (rF0hx)

I am simply responding to the poster who alleges I am violating your rules for this post. If you find that anything I have posted breaks those rules, please delete it. :-)

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (/o9Qk)

445 try to stick to the topic at hand ... ways to get content that don't require a cable or satellite connection ...

There is the problem right there. Not the method used to deliver 'content' but the content itself; the embedded messages within the 'content' and the industry that grows rich by our purchase of their propaganda.

The political left, the progressives, need to be shunned and ignored when they preach their poisonous political ideology, and ignored when they take to the streets.

Cut the cord, not to get rid of the cord and the cost, but to get rid of the propaganda.

Posted by: Gearald Nerfbanger at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (BTDN/)

446
Yep. It's LOL-worthy to hear out-and-proud Commies bleating about their "property rights".
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (sdi6R)

Because what they actually believe is "all property is theft (except mine you bastard)"

As LIVED by Marx

Posted by: Kindltot at May 07, 2017 09:34 PM (mkDpn)

447 ONT is up.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at May 07, 2017 09:34 PM (DMUuz)

448 I am reminded of the commercial where two young people are greeted on the front porch of their Grandparents. The Grandparents greet them enthusiastically and then hand them a quantity of devices while saying, "Here, none of these works".

That is what I think of when confronted with all of these alternatives to cable TV. I have no idea what any of this means.

Posted by: Javems at May 07, 2017 09:34 PM (yOqwj)

449 General Lee's statute was in honor of his Mexican -American War service and as Superintendent of the US Military Academy. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Posted by: Jack Sock at May 07, 2017 09:35 PM (IDPbH)

450 Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:01 PM (Enq6K)

This is tricky, Roku has MLBTV, so technically,this is a no brainer$170 bucks a year for most of the games), but there are blackouts if you live in the broadcast area of a particular team.

And let me tell ya, their idea of your broadcast range is all fucked up.

I live in Arkansas, and can't get the Cards or Royals.

Now, I am almost on the MO border, so I sorta understand the Cardinal thing, altho it'd take me 5 hours to get to St Louis, so watching a game on TV is not what keeps me from going to see one in person, which I thought was the reason for blackouts? But I am 7 hours from KC, so I think it's ridiculous that they black us out from those games.

Even worse, no fucking Rangers or Astros. WTF?! I am 8 hours from Texas, probably closer to 10 from Arlington and at least 12 from Houston.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:35 PM (w0AmX)

451 442
What about the bandwidth of your wifi connection? There doesn't seem to be much discussion of that.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (OdK9v)

Yeah, the more I read this thread the more I'm thinking that's going to be an issue. Our wifi speed isn't so great...but I think the location I'm in, I'm stuck with it.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:35 PM (Enq6K)

452 Ranae was a female time lord.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 07, 2017 09:36 PM (IqV8l)

453 Nood!
ONT!
Woot!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:36 PM (gwPgz)

454 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (OdK9v)

What does that mean?

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:36 PM (w0AmX)

455 If you find that anything I have posted breaks those rules, please delete it. :-)

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (/o9Qk)

Don't worry...I will.

Seriously, what I meant was to avoid suggesting overtly illegal acts such as stealing your neighbor's cable signal or pirating a Satellite feed.

There is a huge amount of gray area in this topic, and in all honestly I can't police it if I don't know what the hell half of you are talking about anyway.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 07, 2017 09:37 PM (rF0hx)

456 I'm not disagreeing with you, but to be honest, with the way Hollywood
and the entertainment industry in general is mind-fucking the country, I
am less and less interested in protecting their so-called intellectual
property rights.I used to be the straightest of straight arrows but I'm
becoming more of a rebel every day. Because I'm being driven to it.

I feel the same way. There's very little upside to being the only person following the rules.

Perhaps you both should register as Democrats and begin visiting Salon, the New York Times, and Huffington Post. Because I assumed that part of being a regular at site like this was the steadfast belief in "Truth, Justice, and the American Way".

Thievery is wrong, period. What next? If Mercedes buys into "global warming" and then endorses the "wrong" political candidates, do you both then tell yourselves that you aren't wrong for stealing a car from one of their dealerships?

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:37 PM (OXPMi)

457 'Mon corgis. C'mon!

Posted by: April at May 07, 2017 09:38 PM (e8PP1)

458 392 New Orleans update! The alt-lite is teaming up with AntiFa to attack so called Southern Racists who are there to protect monuments and Southern Culture and history.

-

So all these newly discovered states rights advocates are demanding states adhere to their idea of decency?

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 09:38 PM (fD1ST)

459 Cut the cord, not to get rid of the cord and the cost, but to get rid of the propaganda.
Posted by: Gearald Nerfbanger at May 07, 2017 09:33 PM (BTDN/)

This, exactly. Fuck 'em.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:38 PM (w0AmX)

460 Seriously, what I meant was to avoid suggesting overtly illegal acts
such as stealing your neighbor's cable signal or pirating a Satellite
feed.

There is a huge amount of gray area in this topic, and in
all honestly I can't police it if I don't know what the hell half of you
are talking about anyway.

Seriously? Wow. I assumed we had standards here.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:39 PM (OXPMi)

461 I live in Arkansas, and can't get the Cards or Royals.

Now, I am almost on the MO border, so I sorta understand the
Cardinal thing, altho it'd take me 5 hours to get to St Louis, so
watching a game on TV is not what keeps me from going to see one in
person, which I thought was the reason for blackouts? But I am 7 hours
from KC, so I think it's ridiculous that they black us out from those
games.

Even worse, no fucking Rangers or Astros. WTF?! I am 8 hours from
Texas, probably closer to 10 from Arlington and at least 12 from
Houston.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:35 PM (w0AmX)

I didn't realize you were back in Arkansas.

Well, I'm a hour south of St. Louis, so you can drive 4 hours to my house and watch the game here.

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:40 PM (Enq6K)

462 I thought about subscribing to MLB-TV, but it sounds like my home team is blacked out. I'm not that much of a baseball addict that I want to watch every other team's games.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:40 PM (sdi6R)

463 When the law is selectively enforced, the only people who obey the law are chumps.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:44 PM (sdi6R)

464 When the law is selectively enforced, the only people who obey the law are chumps.

Well said, Hillary.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:45 PM (OXPMi)

465 Seriously? Wow. I assumed we had standards here.
Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:39 PM (OXPMi)

=======

Your stand in as thread cop is deeply appreciated.

Posted by: Uber Lyft Driver at May 07, 2017 09:45 PM (Hj4t4)

466 In a word, no. Unless you're pretending that everyone who uploaded the streams had the legal sign-off to do so.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (OXPMi)

Given that most of the content on networks (and sports) TV is owned or sold by individuals and entities that wish to destroy America, stealing from them is almost a moral imperative.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 07, 2017 09:45 PM (0deF2)

467 Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:37 PM (OXPMi)

That's how I feel. Stealing is stealing. And karma is a stone-cold bitch.

I wouldn't steal from George Soros or the Obamas or Michael Moore, regardless of how much I dislike their bullshit.

Also, ask yourself it were being done to you, and you'be upset by it, then don't you go and do it to anyone else.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:46 PM (w0AmX)

468 When the law is selectively enforced, the only people who obey the law are chumps.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:44 PM (sdi6R)

When the law is selectively enforced, even the people that obey the law can still go to jail or be hounded into an early grave!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 07, 2017 09:47 PM (gwPgz)

469 462 I thought about subscribing to MLB-TV, but it sounds like my home team is blacked out. I'm not that much of a baseball addict that I want to watch every other team's games.
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:40 PM (sdi6R)

Watch 'em time-shifted. Blacked out games appear 90 minutes after the game ends.

On Roku with MLB.TV you can hide the scores, and have the option of watching the entire game, or (after some interval) a condensed version of the game, or a recap.

I love it.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at May 07, 2017 09:47 PM (SRKgf)

470 All TV service (Cable, DirectTV) went a few years ago. The only problem is, I am so used to not having TV, that if I see it at a friends house I find it hard to ignore, even the commercials. I buy DVDs or check them out from the library. This week I just cut the phone service. No one used the landline and the kids wouldn't even pick it up. Only calls I got were from doctor's offices, telemarketers and polling services. Should knock about $40 a month off my bill.

Posted by: Nancy at 7000 feet CO at May 07, 2017 09:48 PM (JreH3)

471 Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:40 PM (Enq6K)

Have y'all dried out yet?! We're still half submerged.

I STRONGLY recommend MLBTV if you don't cut the chord. So freaking awesome and I ain't gonna lie, I do miss it!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:49 PM (w0AmX)

472 347 I fired Xfinity (one of the worst rated in customer satisfaction) and switched to Comcast Business ...

Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 08:48 PM (gYAkw)

I have Comcast Business too. Personally, I think their customer service stinks, and they will screw you in a heart beat.

I have been using their service (voice and Internet) for several years, and was out of my initial 3 yr term requirement. I added a new phone feature. Customer Service called and said over the phone that I needed to sign a new contract for two years. I signed the contract. 1 year later AT&T brought gigabit into the neighborhood. I called Comcast to see how much it would be to cancel the contract with one year left on the contract. I was told that there were two years left on the contract and that I would have to pay 75% of the remaining 2 years. I went back and looked at the contract, there was nothing about paying 75% termination fee, and the contract term was three years despite being told on the phone 2 years. (I know I WAS STUPID, I have scheduled reminder to myself of that fact with each bill).

What I found out is that in the Comcast contract there is a hyperlink to a webpage, that has a hyperlink to another webpage that spells out the termination fees. And a federal judge has ruled that to be perfectly legal.

Posted by: Eric at May 07, 2017 09:50 PM (LiN1N)

473 438 NFL went with Amazon Prime unfortunately. In theory you should still be able to see local games on local channels but who knows.
Posted by: HuuskerDu at May 07, 2017 09:22 PM (gYAkw)

--Hmmm, does this mean since I have Prime I can watch red Zone in the fall?
Posted by: logprof at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (GsAUU)

Amazon Prime only has the Thursday Night games. The Sunday afternoon games will still be on Fox/CBS, Sunday night on NBC, and Monday night on ESPN.

IIRC, the Thursday night games, Monday night games, and your local games can all be streamed to your Iphone/Android on Verizon Wireless.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 09:51 PM (1JnAL)

474 Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:37 PM (OXPMi)

Whatever. I said nothing to endorse 'stealing'. But I really, really don't care to defend Leftists/communists - who endorse wholesale governmental theft for the rest of us - when they protest against their property being stolen.
And I wouldn't lift a finger to help them.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 09:51 PM (AtCmq)

475 Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at May 07, 2017 09:47 PM (SRKgf)

I don't know why, but I hate watching a game that is over, even if I don't know who won

The only thing I can do that with is the Olympics, and generally only if I don't know the outcome.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:51 PM (w0AmX)

476 What law are we talking about?

Serious question. It's my understanding that content providers have to have some sort of a takedown request/response system in place (you see mention of DMCA on simple internet search results), but what specific law are we talking about that addresses someone watching the Alabama / Clemson game on a Russian website instead of ESPN?

Is viewing the content illegal, too, or just providing the content?

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 09:53 PM (fD1ST)

477 Given that most of the content on networks (and sports) TV is owned or
sold by individuals and entities that wish to destroy America, stealing
from them is almost a moral imperative.

You can't seriously be that blind. That kind of mindset is exactly what we're fighting against. The deep-seeded conviction that "The law doesn't apply if we're the good guys" IS the HRC campaign, IS the Berkley assaults on conservative speakers, IS the judges ignoring the law and ruling against Trump, etc, etc, etc.

Some of you need to seriously re-think what it is that you *really* believe in.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:55 PM (OXPMi)

478 Have y'all dried out yet?! We're still half submerged.

I STRONGLY recommend MLBTV if you don't cut the chord. So freaking awesome and I ain't gonna lie, I do miss it!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at May 07, 2017 09:49 PM (w0AmX)

We're getting there. Roads are opened again and we've had 3 days of bright sunny weather. But there are parts of our yard that can't be mowed because they're too wet although, nothing like what other people were dealing with.

Someone posted a MoDot map of Missouri with all the major road closures on FB a few days ago with the caption 'Missouri is closed. Please use another state.'

Posted by: Tami at May 07, 2017 09:56 PM (Enq6K)

479 OTA is not an option where I live but that doesn't bother me since I've never lived anywhere where it was of much use. My childhood hometown was a very early cable deployment because of this. I didn't realize until I was in my teens how relatively rare cable was in much of the country.

If it was just me, I'd only need the fastest IP pipe available and torrent everything. But I have too implement something that my sister and mother can use. My sister understands streaming but doesn't really get using VLC to view the terabytes of files I have on the household network. She has network links mapped on her desktop and she knows how to use them but the idea of doing so to watch a movie just doesn't compute in her worldview.

My mother is far worse. She learned to use a DVR with the RePlayTV about 16 years ago. That was replaced with a TiVo when the need for something with HD support arose. The TiVo Premiere had support for streaming services but it was painfully slow on the dated hardware. Boxes like Roku (numerous game consoles that supported Netflix et al were already there but too complicated for the users) were not viable due to the need to switch input on the TV. Yes, my mother is that bad when it comes to learning anything new. If she didn't understand it before around the turn of the century, she never will. Five minutes later and she has forgotten everything she claims to have just learned.

So a TiVo upgrade, which replaces a cable box and doesn't require the user to understand multiple HDMI selections, was in order. I got the newer Bolt model with 4K support and it is a huge improvement. The DVR functions are just like they were but more responsive, with four tuners rather than just the two of the model it replaced. The drive capacity is such that she has never comes close to filling it up after years of needing to remind her to delete stuff she was done with or had never watched months after recording.

There is a fault in the Netflix software that requires the TiVo to be rebooting about once a week. I suspect it is a memory leak that causes the system to become resource deprived after a certain amount of Netflix usage. As such, I can hope the software will be patched sometime soon.

Mom still cannot wrap her head around on demand streaming. She is like an animal that has been caged all its life and cannot allow itself to move around an area larger than its former confines even after being freed. But at least my sister and I can pull stuff up for her.

If my mother died my sister would probably agree to get rid of the TV service and just go with streaming thereafter. At that point I'd kill the TiVo subscription and use the HDMI passthrough on the Xbox One to make it the main feed on HDMI 1, if we had any remaining broadcast TV service. IIRC, the most minimal package from the cable company would still include a few dozen channels.

Posted by: Epobirs at May 07, 2017 09:56 PM (AK5Ni)

480 462 I thought about subscribing to MLB-TV, but it sounds like my home team is blacked out. I'm not that much of a baseball addict that I want to watch every other team's games.
Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 09:40 PM (sdi6R)

If your favorite team is "out of market", it's the greatest thing. Being a Reds fan used to mean that the only time I used to be able to see them was when they played the Cubs (WGN) or the Braves (WTBS) because they were never the network game of the week, and there is no way that ESPN would ever stop sucking the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals or Dodgers dicks long enough to show other MLB teams.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 10:00 PM (1JnAL)

481 It's interesting how I haven't seen a CD store in a decade or so, too. I'm glad the recording industry took the initiative to proactively approach the new technologies and implement them in a model that was useful for consumers.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 10:00 PM (fD1ST)

482
Some of you need to seriously re-think what it is that you *really* believe in.

And "Exhibit A" is that so many of you weren't content to quietly steal content, but instead you *insisted* on inserting your thievery into a thread that specifically requested only *legal* solutions.

Come on, its not really THAT difficult to be circumspect.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:01 PM (OXPMi)

483 Given that most of the content on networks (and sports) TV is owned or

sold by individuals and entities that wish to destroy America, stealing

from them is almost a moral imperative.

You can't
seriously be that blind. That kind of mindset is exactly what we're
fighting against. The deep-seeded conviction that "The law doesn't apply
if we're the good guys" IS the HRC campaign, IS the Berkley assaults on
conservative speakers, IS the judges ignoring the law and ruling
against Trump, etc, etc, etc.

Some of you need to seriously re-think what it is that you *really* believe in.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 09:55 PM (OXPMi)

There is no virtue in honoring and defending those that would steal your very country, your very way of life from you. Boy Scouts get their throats cut by people like this.
The difference between the HRC campaign and us is quite simply us being the good guys and the HRC types being the bad guys. It really is quite that simple and anyone that can't make that distinction is part of the reason why our side keeps losing.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 10:07 PM (AtCmq)

484 476 What law are we talking about?

Serious question. It's my understanding that content providers have to have some sort of a takedown request/response system in place (you see mention of DMCA on simple internet search results), but what specific law are we talking about that addresses someone watching the Alabama / Clemson game on a Russian website instead of ESPN?

Is viewing the content illegal, too, or just providing the content?
Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 09:53 PM (fD1ST)

Both are, but the content providers usually only go after the folks that have the feed up.

Remember, rights holders went after some people that were users of Napster when it was "just a file sharing service".

I'd prefer not to have to deal with a huge corporation's lawyers over something like that.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 10:08 PM (1JnAL)

485 What I found out is that in the Comcast contract there is a hyperlink to a webpage, that has a hyperlink to another webpage that spells out the termination fees. And a federal judge has ruled that to be perfectly legal.

Posted by: Eric at May 07, 2017 09:50 PM (LiN1N)

Wow! That's crazy. Being held to info on web pages for a written contract? You can't even prove that the content of a web page is the same today as it was yesterday. I mean, is the content on those pages digitially signed on the written contract, itself, or something? Otherwise, that's just totally nuts.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at May 07, 2017 10:09 PM (zc3Db)

486 When HBO first came to NJ, I was a little girl. I remember going to my aunt's house and she had the tv on HBO. She wanted everyone to watch it because it was the latest, greatest thing. My dad said, "No thanks. I didn't come here to watch TV. I came here to visit with you."

Posted by: RondinellaMamma at May 07, 2017 10:09 PM (oQQwD)

487 And "Exhibit A" is that so many of you weren't content to quietly steal content, but instead you *insisted* on inserting your thievery into a thread that specifically requested only *legal* solutions.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:01 PM (OXPMi)

Sheesh. Lighten up, Francis.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at May 07, 2017 10:11 PM (zc3Db)

488 There is no virtue in honoring and defending those that would steal your very country...

There is no virtue in honoring and defending *thievery*.

Pick a side. Don't talk to me about "honor" if you aren't endorsing it.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:14 PM (OXPMi)

489 So crime-wise, is watching the Alabama / Clemson game on a Russian website better or worse than agreeing to pay the college kid who cuts your grass in cash even though he might be trying to avoid paying taxes on your $40?

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 10:14 PM (fD1ST)

490 Posted by: Harry Paratestes at May 07, 2017 09:10 PM (wmaTe)

I hope I'm not too late or that you see this. What you said is reassuring.

I depend on my internet for business as well, so it's a concern. But I really want to try it. What do you use for a modem and router. Do you have single units or a combo. I did purchase a modem that I think will be sufficient but no router -- dragging my feet. I thought about a combo, but then if something goes, they both go. Single units easier to trouble shoot. My thinking.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 10:17 PM (OU4q6)

491 Cutting the cord is one thing, getting a satellite dish off the roof is more difficult.

I took down the dish itself and used the same mount to put up my antenna.

Didn't want to put extra holes through my shingles.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at May 07, 2017 10:18 PM (oVJmc)

492 Pick a side. Don't talk to me about "honor" if you aren't endorsing it.

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:14 PM (OXPMi)

Fine, I just did. And you're not on it.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 10:19 PM (AtCmq)

493 BTW, when I watch college football games on Russian websites I'm not intending to break the law, so clearly I'm not breaking the law.

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 10:20 PM (fD1ST)

494 BTW, when I watch college football games on Russian websites I'm not
intending to break the law, so clearly I'm not breaking the law.

Heh. Good one.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 10:21 PM (AtCmq)

495 489 So crime-wise, is watching the Alabama / Clemson game on a Russian website better or worse than agreeing to pay the college kid who cuts your grass in cash even though he might be trying to avoid paying taxes on your $40?
Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 10:14 PM (fD1ST)

No.

You have contracted with someone to provide a legal service and paid for that service. If they fail to pay a third party, that is their fault, not yours.

If you stream that game from a Russian site, you are engaging with someone to provide an illegal service.

The kid mowing your lawn is not an illegal act. If you paid him to prune your pot plants, then that would be an illegal act in almost every state and to the US Federal government.

Posted by: Ashley Judd's Puffy Scamper, aka MrCaniac at May 07, 2017 10:22 PM (1JnAL)

496 BTW, when I watch college football games on Russian websites I'm not
intending to break the law, so clearly I'm not breaking the law.

By that standard I'm surprised you're here--wouldn't you be better served working for the 2020 HRC campaign?

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:23 PM (OXPMi)

497 Some of you need to look in the mirror and decide what you really believe about "honorable people" and "the law".

Once that reflection has been completed, you then you need to ask yourselves the follow-up question:

"Given that belief, what should you realistically expect from "honorable people" and "the law"?

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:27 PM (OXPMi)

498 Posted by: NaughtyPine at May 07, 2017 09:31 PM (G8B7r)

Thanks. Good to know. Suspect as more cable is dropped internet will decrease in quality and service and increase in cost.

Posted by: gracepc at May 07, 2017 10:28 PM (OU4q6)

499 483
There is no virtue in honoring and defending those that would steal your very country, your very way of life from you. Boy Scouts get their throats cut by people like this.
The difference between the HRC campaign and us is quite simply us being the good guys and the HRC types being the bad guys. It really is quite that simple and anyone that can't make that distinction is part of the reason why our side keeps losing.
Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 10:07 PM (AtCmq)

^^This.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 10:31 PM (sdi6R)

500 496 BTW, when I watch college football games on Russian websites I'm not
intending to break the law, so clearly I'm not breaking the law.

By that standard I'm surprised you're here--wouldn't you be better served working for the 2020 HRC campaign?

Posted by: Crusader at May 07, 2017 10:23 PM (OXPMi)

I'm glad you got the joke.

FWIW, I don't watch stream illegal videos from Russian websites, but I certainly see how people with worse upbringing and lesser ethics and morals than upstanding types like you and me would look at Hillarylaw and think, "Well f*ck it, let's get this party started."

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 10:32 PM (fD1ST)

501 Dropped Cox. Got Playstation Vue. Never looking back.

Posted by: Gman at May 07, 2017 10:39 PM (VXoTW)

502 I'm glad you got the joke.

FWIW, I don't watch stream illegal videos from Russian websites, but
I certainly see how people with worse upbringing and lesser ethics and
morals than upstanding types like you and me would look at Hillarylaw
and think, "Well f*ck it, let's get this party started."

Posted by: Moron Robbie at May 07, 2017 10:32 PM (fD1ST)

He didn't get the joke, but I did. He's all sanctimonious and self-righteous towards you.

Posted by: LGoPs at May 07, 2017 10:53 PM (AtCmq)

503 See also the character Ragnar Danneskjold in "Atlas Shrugged".

Was he a criminal?

Your answer reveals a lot about you.

Posted by: rickl at May 07, 2017 10:55 PM (sdi6R)

504 I had a good experience with an outside antenna from Denny's. A mom and pop outfit in Michigan. I went with the HD Stacker and I can get a couple stations in Philly (sadly not all, though) from North Jersey.

http://dennysantennaservice.com/

They were nice, so giving them a plug.

CP

Posted by: Cranford Pundit at May 07, 2017 11:15 PM (f4+Rf)

505 Dude, if we had some kind of regular "cordcutter's corner" Sunday blogpost, I'd happily consider/consent to being its designated deliveryperson.

Posted by: geewhix at May 07, 2017 11:35 PM (fjSw0)

506 Suspect Omaha has more Royals fans than you think.

Omaha used to be KC's main farm team.

Posted by: Weak Geek at May 08, 2017 12:36 AM (AGr/f)

507 That was directed to the Pooky family.

Posted by: Weak Geek at May 08, 2017 12:39 AM (AGr/f)

508 As far as I know, Sling TV is the one that offers 2 ESPN channels, which I would get because I am a football fanatic. I always mute Barb Costas (or is it Barf?)

Yesterday on the NY radio, I heard the Mets announcer/play by play guy saying, "And if you're still not willing to get out there and march against CLIMATE CHANGE, how about this? the game got rained out in Cleveland!"

I nearly threw the radio across the room. Can't these leftwing mutha-effas EVER SHUT UP?

Posted by: Beverly at May 08, 2017 12:52 AM (WKQnB)

509 TIVO sells a box with no monthly fee for $300 that you can use to DVR antenna channels.

Posted by: MikeN at May 08, 2017 02:07 AM (o/eHL)

510 Cut the cable around the time Netflix started, so around eight years. Borders hardest hit; we're right around 3000 DVD's.

We run an up to date Roku (not stick) through our wireless network. Burned out several wireless DVD units (because they were never off) and the Roku hasn't hiccuped in almost a year. DVD player gets almost as much use as our audio cassette player.

Netflix and Amazon Prime content has deteriorated in line with the entertainment world in general. Warner Brothers set up a vault for their classic movies that doesn't stream; I wish them joy of it. I can't buy what I don't know is for sale, and the streaming services give me exposure to stuff I don't know anything about.

Posted by: drlivipr at May 08, 2017 06:27 AM (pME+u)

511 I'm very interested in learning about streaming I've read a lot about it because I have no cable haven't had it for years I had a disabled Son and I am single and I can't afford cable I have Netflix right now broadcast TV online the wish Shopping Channel sells media centers Media box they call it Android Kodi do you recommend that and what I need anything if somebody says I would still have to be paying for an internet connection to my house is that true if I had a really strong cell phone that was good for streaming and I had a tablet when I still need to get a router do you know what else I would need appreciate any advice thank you!

Posted by: Princess Grace at May 08, 2017 07:03 AM (OOMm8)

512 I was surprised there were few mentions of Kodi and no mentions of Plex.

You can buy up tons of movies and TV series cheap on DVD or trade them with your friends. Rip them to a 4TB hard drive and keep a backup or two. Some of the old movies and documentaries on YouBoob are also good quality since so many of them were never filmed in HD to begin with.

It's nice to stream your own media and Plex/Kodi give you a nice interface a lot like Netflix with movie/episode info and graphics.

You'd be surprised how many shows/movies you can get on a hard drive if you convert to H.264 or especially to H.265.

geewhix had a good idea for a regular cordcutter feature here at AoS. A lot of people want to know more about their options, to hear from others who are cordcutting or who have found good solutions already.

Posted by: TooCon at May 08, 2017 07:09 AM (cM2PF)

513 Only been post sat cut (dishnetwork) for 3 months.
Got the directv now $35 deal for 100 channels.
Also got the apple tv.
Also bought playon, which allows you to watch and record directv now on Roku, have the premiere. It does not support vpn however.
Thinking next step is android box, beelink gt1 ultimate which has a better integrated remote. Also trying to work out how to get vpns to work and still play netflix. Im using ipvanish.
Mythtv looks interesting.

Posted by: Ray at May 08, 2017 12:07 PM (CBeKv)

514 I used Playon and ended up ditching it for Plex. The DVR feature of Playon was a great feature but the rest of the program was a mess.

It should be noted: I've used Sling and PS Vue on both the Roku and the Fire Stick - both run better on the Fire Stick and PS VUE has an actual traditional program guide on the the Fire whereas the Roku version is fairly stunted.

Private Internet Access is the VPN I use. I have the proxy setup on a separate router in my home so when I want to proxy any of my PCs or streaming devices I simply connect to that router. You can also run the client software on most OSes if you just want a PC proxy.

Posted by: AZ Jack at May 08, 2017 12:24 PM (v1+vM)

515 A 4 tuner tablo does not require 4 roku's (etc). Instead, it allows you to record 2 or 3 channels at once, while watching a live show simultaneously.

It's $5/month, and most of u probably have 20 or 30 ota channels u don't even know about. Build (yes, build) a high power antenna for $20 and have a ball. I use tablo much more than sling or Hulu.

It rocks. Get the 4 channel, for sure

Posted by: RobM1981 at May 08, 2017 03:43 PM (UgdoL)

516 As of midnite Monday, 08 May, I will be officially free of the Comcast cable. I'm still keeping internet until I can find a local ISP that serves individuals and isn't business-only in its service. I spoke with one of the Comcast managers (why do all calls go to the Philippines?). One topic addressed was the current inability of Comcast, Time-Warner, etc to justify higher advertising rates to their advertisers when the latest figures indicate a 10% loss of the customer base to 'cable-cutting.' I suggested Comcast strongly reconsider its failed 'forced bundle' model and embrace 'a la carte' service, since that's where the market is headed. His response suggested this may have been his first exposure to the idea of 'a la carte' - that, or he's real good at playing dumb. Either way, Comcast will eventually be forced to respond to market pressure. As of Tuesday morning, I'll be on my way to the UPS store with the set-top box, the remote, and my bill so UPS can pack and ship the equipment back to Comcast - at Comcast's expense.

The first direct benefit to me as a result of my disconnect is a reduction in my monthly bill from ~$140.xx to the new figure of $55.88 (tax included) for 75Mbps internet service ($10 of which is the modem fee). Once credits are factored in, I may be bill-free for the next 2 to 3 months burning thru the credits before I have to write another check to Comcast. Next step is to buy either the powered indoor antenna from Kim Komando's site or get one of the others that are available. There's no rush to do it, since I can watch stuff on YouTube and haven't seen much to draw my attention to Hulu, Roku, Netflix, etc. I don't 'movie' anymore, and I was never big into 'sports,' and I can get news 'n weather online, so I don't need the local 'newsies' for that. Like the legendary Al Bundy said once upon a time in 'MwC': "I feel good ... yeah, I feel good."

Posted by: Dr_No at May 08, 2017 05:07 PM (imDUY)

517 Cable... pffffff...

We have never had cable in this house. Doubtful we ever will. We watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, a movie on Vudu every now and again, I do not foresee a need to ever pay outrageous amounts to an uncaring company for programming I neither want or am interested in, nor care about providing funding to.

I'm 41 now and we didn't even have a TV in the house until 1990 or 1991, and that was only to stay abreast of Desert Storm the First and that whole business. Later, was never much interested in staying up to the minute with people I didn't care about and who clearly didn't care about me, or mine.

The wonderful wife and the fab fam I have now have a few shows we enjoy watching together and really that's all I want.

Besides, with the invention of INTERNET I'm able to share my deep and abiding passion for all things thai with... wait, sorry... that is to say, I get my news from sources that I can 'vet' and from those whom I trust.

I am not shelling out hard earned duckets to a shameless and horrible entity bent on ramming its questionable ideology into our home. I am not funding air-brained (sic) bloviators to blather on about whether the PDQueer awards will or will not be watched by the literally 10s of folks who notice that kind of thing. I am not supporting channels with programming I am not interested in and may even be morally opposed to, whether I have a say in how my fee is used or not, whether I purchase a particular channel in a package or not.

I can't claim to know whether it is easy or not to cut the cord, I never had the cord to care about it.
I can say that I have never missed it, or wanted it, or needed it.
There are vast numbers or options out there in the wide wonderful INTERNET that cost wa-a-a-a-a-ay cheaper than the lowest cost cable package could ever hope to meet.
And you are assured of finding the programming that you and yours are interested in keeping abreast of.

I've never tried Sling or any of the Apple stuff, but am glad for my Netflix and Hulu, my Vudu and Prime. And uh, well really that's all.

Good luck in your decision!!

Posted by: AkRonin at May 08, 2017 05:33 PM (0A5SO)

518 Playstation Vue hands down the best option for streaming. DirectTV Now sucks bad. Sling TV is average. They all cost the same.

Posted by: John at May 10, 2017 04:17 PM (MMOa4)

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