Cutting the Cable

I am living without cable for the first time in my entire life.

As a child my mother always had cable going all the way back to the original cable boxes with mechanical dials and no remote control. I have fond memories of my Father buying a DSS (now Direct TV) dish the very first year they were available. That 18" dish with a single box was like $700 dollars and a real pain in the ass to install but it had this groundbreaking feature called a Guide. That's right kids until that time no cable box had any kind of on-screen channel or programming information, you had to buy a magazine like TV Guide to know what was on. I personally have subscribed to both Satellite TV services at one time or another with other stints as a Comcast subscriber.

So what made me decide to cut my current Comcast service back to just high speed Internet?

Here you go:

1. The number one reason is cost. I was paying $90 for Comcast TV service alone and watching at most a couple of hours of TV a night but usually none. That just doesn't make any sense any more.
   
2. The second reason is that there are now alternatives. Between Boxee's ability to easily pull web streamed shows from their various portals to being able to watch Netflix EVERYWHERE I just don't see the need for Comcast.
3. The third reason is that I watch a bunch of online content that most people consider Podcasts. I watch more of this type of programming than any kind of "traditional" TV. Twit, Revision 3, Current TV, etc.
4. Forth, I was sick of paying outrageous amounts of money for channels I had no interest in. I don't hate sports but there is no way I could justify paying Comcast $5/month for ESPN and NEVER watching it. That's just one example, If I could pay Comcast $20/month and choose just 15-20 channels then that would be awesome.
5. Fifth, I was also paying $13 a month to Tivo because Comcast's equipment is a fucking joke. Considering that Comcast is one of the big proponents of killing CableCard the future have using any device with their service other than their shitty DVRs is becoming LESS likely. I would love to have a Windows 7 Media Center PC stuffed full of tuners but why invest $800 in tuners that Comcast will most likely make obsolete by killing CableCard support.

Soon, you may be making this decision yourself. Apple may be announcing their next genreation of AppleTV devices tomorrow. Imagine having a little box attached to your TV that you could download the NBC app and watch NBC shows or any other content provider you can imagine. Talk about screwing over the cable company.

Today's WTF

I don't know what the fuck it means but it's pretty cool. May be NSFW

In other news...

Ray Bradbury is still alive and a total raving crazy old man!

Houston, We Have a Throblem

Just watch the video....NSFW.

Great Joke.

So the RIAA and the National Association of Broadcasters have come together and proposed a fantastic idea. They want to force manufacturers of portable devices such as mp3 players and mobile phones to include a FM radio in every such device manufactured. Seriously? When was the last time you listened to a fucking radio station? Local radio is a vast wasteland of talentless personalities pushing poorly made advertisements interrupted occasionally by the same recycled crap music that they played an hour ago.

Radio Broadcasters have not woken up to the reality that their entire industry is already dying. What sane person would listen to an FM radio station on their mobile phone when they have access to Pandora, Last.FM or one of a dozen other streaming music services. Radio morons always use the same guise, we are providing valuable local information and if there is ever an emergency you'll be glad we're there. If there's an emergency then I'll grab any one of the shitty little emergency radios that I have lying around my house that haven't been used in 15 years.

Oh and associated yourself more closely with the RIAA is a great idea....they're so fucking popular with consumers.

Douchebag

A wise man once said that your driving skill does not correspond to the size of your wallet.

Here's a perfect example of that.

The Secret to being Evil.

Hopeful nerds around the world have always seen Google as some kind of White Knight in the corporate world. Mostly because Google gives a lot of their services away for free but also because the founders have always pushed the philosophy of "Don't Be Evil".

Google has been making back door deals with Verizon to try and ensure they get preferential treatment in the coming bandwidth wars. When you get betrayed by the ones you love it's always the hardest.

This Techcrunch article is the best one I've seen about the whole situation.

Take it to the bank.

This story about secret number Swiss accounts and tax evading bankers is awesome. READ IT!!!

R.I.P.

R.I.P. Former (i.e. disgraced) Senator Ted Stevens.

I've given Stevens shit in the past for his disgraceful exit from the Senate but I'm still sorry for his family.

Still, he was responsible for one of the best Internet Memes ever....the Series of Tubes.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Headlines - Internet
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Today's LOL

First, this is some really funny shit. Second, she is a Hot Piece of Ass!

Update: BOOOOO!!!! Another Hoax Meme! She's still hot.

Time to punt.

Google and Verizon come out in favor of Net Neutrality...

So at first your like, way to go Verizon! Finally you've done something that is not a total dick move. However...they only want this lack of FCC restrictions to apply to wired networks. What's the big deal there you ask? Verizon knows that wireless is the future and that market has WAY BIGGER margins for them. It's far cheaper to build towers and create a decent mesh network than to buy right of ways and dig ditches for fiber. Besides, wireless users are already conditioned to pay exorbitant amounts of money for tiny amounts of data.

WTF?

I want one of these!!!

CRACKERS!!

Seriously, one day the Onion News Network is going to kill me. Make sure you watch to the end the last bit is the best.


Guatemalan Flight's Data-Recording Parrot Holds Clues To Crash

That's Helpful

LOL....Total losers.