Live stuff, Sherlock

Went to bed later than usual last night, watched the Saints beat the Eagles on a last second kick. Woke up at 6:30 unable to go back to sleep. My whole rest cycle is a mess.

If it was not for live sports, I'd probably get rid of cable entirely and stick with the internet and Roku and other streaming programming.

There was a life changer added to my browser this week when something called a Hola Extension was added to my arsenal. It allows the user to easily use a VPN, virtual private network, and use a server from another location to use websites that are blocked from your location.

So we've been watching some programming from the BBC this week on the laptop.

Now, what if there was a device that would allow you to send the screen from your laptop to your HDTV?

Well there is. Yesterday we got Chromecast, a little gizmo that plugs into your television's HDMI port. One of the things it does is allows you to stream a tab from your Google Chrome browser to your set. It also has a few apps, such as Youtube and Netflix that allows you to use your laptop or mobile device as a remote to send signals to your television. I was worried about the amount of space it would take. If there was enough room on the side of my set.



Not really an issue. It's also powered by the USB port in the television. I do have to unplug the Roku as there's only one HDMI port in my set, but this is a first world problem.

I am not a fan of watching long shows or movies on my laptop, so this device is a fine addition to my entertainment needs. I love my Roku, though Chromecast once I start really figuring it out is going to be a well used media tool.

If I knew what I know now, I may have picked Chromecast first

Traveling Light?

How much stuff does one really need to travel with? Clothing aside, how many electronic connectable to the world wide web devices do I want to bring?

I have a camera, laptop, iPod, iPad and they're not all coming.

The camera yes, because the camera on the iPod sucks.

The iPod because it's a nifty portable device that does every thing I want it to, except take a decent picture when I want it to.

The iPad is nice. Large enough to scroll through stuff easily. Easy to connect to the cloud. If I have to get something down in writing Google Drive is becoming a good friend of mine. Light enough to travel easily.



The laptop has my life on there but it takes up more space and weight. I'm not sure if I want to travel with it this time. I'm too reliant on it and I want to get away from it for a few days. But if someone wants to look at pictures...oh Hell no one wants to see those.

Yes, I'm answering my own question here.

Claiming to be my new best friend

A few weeks back we got a flat screen television. I like it, the picture is big enough for the living room and I can see the numbers on the screen during sporting events again. I run the sound through my home theater system and it's more than adequate for sight and sound aesthetics.

Two nights ago we bought a Roku, a device the size of a hockey puck that organizes wireless internet video and audio content and allows you to stream the images and sounds over your television - freeing up the laptop for other time sucking things. It's also said to eliminate your need for cable, but I'm not too sure of that.

Last night I subscribed to Netflix, an eight dollar a month service that contains a vast library of film and television programming. After one day, I'm impressed with what it has to offer. If I can sit around all night and watch Cracker episodes that I did not watch twenty years ago, I consider that eight bucks a month well spent. Plus, there are many, many movies that I have not seen, all ready to stream for me at the click of the remote. There's so much on Netflix, I do not think there's a need to look into Amazon Prime, which does has a decent library of more current materials.

Heck there's so much on other channels that there really is not much need for Netflix, but Netflix is where a lot of the fun is at. It can be a real rabbit hole of discovery and re-discovery, too.

What I'm disappointed in, so far, is that the Roku and its private channels do not offer much live streaming content, at least not what I'm interested in or able to find yet. My interest is sports, soccer in particular. I've researched this online and found it may be available, but I have not found any. Or, what was previously available has been taken down. Such is the life of someone seeking free pirated content. There are a couple of interesting private channels that have old, public domain films. Quite a bit of searching to do here.

If there was a decent streaming service available, and Fox Soccer2go is not it, I'd be right on it. If the BBC would get it's head out of its ass and give us in the states a version of the iPlayer I'd be there. Frankly, I'm tired of watching Everton on dodgy links and $20 is on the edge of what I want to pay for Fox, especially with them losing the EPL after this season. Not a big fan of watching stuff on the laptop all the time, and going to a sports bar is fun, but they're out of my way - and I can't always get there. We'll just have to wait for the summer to see what NBC does with soccer programming.

The Roku is a great little piece of technology though. I'm not sure it's going to allow me to eliminate any layers of cable at this time, however it really gives me an option because I do not watch a lot of current television, other than sports. And anything that gives me a real reason to use Pandora again, and crank it through my stereo, is not necessarily a bad thing.

The New Next Thing

After a few tries I received an invite to Spotify, the new internet music streaming site that all the kids are into. Spotify has been very popular in Europe for the past couple of years and finally launched in the United States a couple of days ago.

My first impression is that it's very similar to your iTunes, but it's like looking at everyone's iTunes. At once. There is a huge amount of songs available, but not everything is. No Beatles or Led Zeppelin to name a couple. But you probably own or have access to those already, right?

Been putting together a playlist. Goofing around, and have been waiting a couple of minutes for an ad to end so the next song can play. Obviously there are limits for the free user, but if you pay you eliminate the advertising and have access to a few more features, like offline access. It is very easy to use. I do not mind the ads, but when they do not play, and there is silence that does not end (which is happening as I write this), it makes me go away from the cloud. Hopefully this glitch will go away.

Is it going to blow everyone's mind? Is it a cult like TurntableFM? Or is it another application that will get lost as so many new ways to listen to music are invented every hour it seems. This one I think has a shot to rise above the noise.

Back it up. I'll Take it!

Got everything packed for the move to the new offices. Tune in on Monday to find out if everything got there in one piece and is hooked up properly. I've spent the last day and a half working a group project at the Fine Arts Library. Pulled a few hundred books off the shelves and the physical activity wreaked havoc on my legs, but mostly my right ankle. It was on fire today!

Never been in that part of the building before so the moving shelving on the second floor was pretty cool to play with the first couple of times I had to go up there. That's where the over sized art books are kept. It was also a kick seeing a few books I've processed over the past four years. My scrawl behind the title page is quite recognizable.

I hit a wall a bit early today and left earlier than I wanted, but I was overwhelmed - and it a bit of pain.

Did head out to the OSU Forestry Department's annual Christmas tree sale and picked up a Scotch Pine. It's lovely, but a bit wonky on the bottom. A lot smaller than last year's, which took up a third of the living room. I recommend this place, the prices are fair, the trees are farmed from Ohio and the service is great. They're located on Fyffe Road due west of the Schottenstein Center.

The other new addition is an iPod Touch. To synch it up we had to upgrade our operating system to Snow Leopard, which took some time but seems to be well worth the twenty nine bucks. As I type this I'm backing up to the external hard drive with Time Machine. Seems to be quiet and seamless.

One of the main reasons we got the iPod is to download some apps for autistics. When we borrowed an iPod a few months back my son seemed to be very interested in touching the screen and playing with it. I've found some free apps for some basic things he may try to communicate to us, we'll see how this works out. There is some more expensive software available, but I'm not willing to jump into that yet.

Been quite the whirlwind this week. More over the weekend, but not as intense. My son's been feeling better. Off the bus earlier he seemed more his old self than he's been in a few weeks. Swimming should be fun for him in the morning.

I Welcome This

This weekend has been a technological ordeal. All is fine, as long as I avoid getting computer parts and attempting a hard drive repair.

The macbook will be taken care of, but not by me.

It felt really good to get out for a couple of hours and write with some friends and strangers. I've had some unpleasant writing group and workshop experience in the past so I was a bit apprehensive giving it another shot. There was some very good prompts handed out, some friendly criticism given and a boat load of ideas were written down. Have not really written in the past few weeks and putting the pen to page in a free write was something that really kicked me in the ass to write. Looks like it's going to be a Sunday night thing.

Now, if I can only decipher my handwriting!

The Bills are now 0-5. I think they have a good shot at not winning a game this season. Sad, but true.

I don't matter, you don't matter, neither does this mindless clatter

Went to the mens room at work. Standing at the urinal I could hear the guy sitting in a stall. He did not sound happy. Sounded like his girlfriend was breaking up with him, over the phone, while he was sitting on the toilet. It was also the handicapped stall.

Did anyone really need to hear this?

Been doing some more thrifting. Found a replacement glass shade for a lamp that was broken three years ago when a small child tipped it over. Today, a larger child noticed something different about the lamp in the corner and tried to investigate.



Changed the locks on the house last weekend. Now that I own the house completely, it was the right thing to do to ensure that nothing else is taken, physically or photographically. It was time.

When my ex moved out two and a half years ago, in her property grab she took my old little league uniform. Despite my asking on more than one occasion, I've been waiting for her to return it. My mother gave it back to me so that one day she could see her grandson wearing it. She's not getting any younger and has health issues.



In the meantime this may be the puck moving defense man the Blue Jackets need.

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Now, the same can be said about this blog, but I know people are looking.