Network audio player streaming
Pandora 192K @ $36/year
Slacker 48$/year (radio
Slaker 120$/hear (ondemand) https://store.slacker.com/store/Subscriptions.do?source=ecom-footer
----
funny that very few devices actually have the favorite or up / down
http://www.amazon.com/Aluratek-AIREC01F-WiFi-Internet-Radio/dp/B001PN8VLQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3ALIT5ZIM0SSQ&colid=15MOGQ4GR0304
pandora is based on raw attributes of a song
Slacker is based on relationship
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Friday, 2 March 2012
Shaw EXO
I'll be honest I haven't liked shaw in terms of how it forces you to go up tiers to get channels you exclusively watch. You'll need to buy basic cable and several other 'packages' and that really much of a choice.
I've you bought the bullet and still have TV (I don't really recommend it) you likely have a huge bill anyway I'm paying 150ish a month. The other day EXO was introduced and wanted to know more about it.
The main point I found out other thant VOD that I don't use or care about, it is NOT tied in anyway to the gateway service.
One gripe I had was the lack of uplink speed. Even the highest packages still was limited to 300k/second. This has changed with EXO. you now can get up to 3-5Mbit which is effectievly about 1Meg/second.
You will need a new modem which they sent and it will reek havock with your existing wireless adapter. Make sure you ask them to update the modem to 'bridge' mode which will turn off the wifi and effectivly turn it into a modem. note to telus, you better be able to do this to keep up.
So far it's been good. And the best part it's 10$ a month. I can deal with that.
One cavet. They now have bandwidth charges so don't expect you can blindly use. This will be a thorn on people's side if they use services like netflix, streaming media and of course 'sharing sites'.
I've you bought the bullet and still have TV (I don't really recommend it) you likely have a huge bill anyway I'm paying 150ish a month. The other day EXO was introduced and wanted to know more about it.
The main point I found out other thant VOD that I don't use or care about, it is NOT tied in anyway to the gateway service.
One gripe I had was the lack of uplink speed. Even the highest packages still was limited to 300k/second. This has changed with EXO. you now can get up to 3-5Mbit which is effectievly about 1Meg/second.
You will need a new modem which they sent and it will reek havock with your existing wireless adapter. Make sure you ask them to update the modem to 'bridge' mode which will turn off the wifi and effectivly turn it into a modem. note to telus, you better be able to do this to keep up.
So far it's been good. And the best part it's 10$ a month. I can deal with that.
One cavet. They now have bandwidth charges so don't expect you can blindly use. This will be a thorn on people's side if they use services like netflix, streaming media and of course 'sharing sites'.
are you on your own wifi channel?
you my not know that encrypted wifi networks are not use channels. to increase the quality of your connection use this tool : meraki.com/stumbler to determine what channel is not being used then you can lock your router to a channel that isn't being used.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
About Home Automation.
House automation is a gagetries dream. I bought into it years ago and have modules that seem like decades old. X10 technology started in the late 1970's they still sell it and from what I see that's all they can do is flog this 30 year old technology because it can't or wont be developed into something more. Be reminded that it seems to be the only widely deployed cheap home automation product. On the same note that it's cheap. It uses 300 Baud technology, has lag time, no confirmation of the signals that have been set out. As the old saying goes.. you get what you pay for. If you can afford it go with Zwave.. but it will cost you 100% more.
http://www.automated.it/default.php?pagename=About
http://www.liveautomatic.com/reviews/home-automation/83-x10-insteon-and-z-wave-price-comparison
http://x10-mentor.com/
bridging: http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=137269
http://www.automated.it/default.php?pagename=About
http://www.liveautomatic.com/reviews/home-automation/83-x10-insteon-and-z-wave-price-comparison
http://x10-mentor.com/
bridging: http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=137269
Friday, 27 January 2012
DLNA not a panacea, codec must match
I'm still learning about DLNA at least the important bits.. one is that I believe DNLA is just a analogous to a highway. You have to determine if you have a vechile capable of getting on it. If you are a pedestrian or say ride a bike you won't be getting on that highway.
The following is from a samsung manual but gives you an idea of what you have to be prepared for. it is NOT plug in play you still need to check your codec's to insure that it's compatible on your device you wish to display. If it's computer it's unlikely an issue but if it's a TV (a samsung in this example)
You'll need to find something that reads the headers to give you an exact idea what codec i could be (one for audio and one for video) but there are hundreds of codec's out there.
Be sure what you get into.. especially when you've made a digital library.
a codec identifyer can be found here: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/codec-video-identifiers
DLNA continued.. it seems that DLNA componentry is mainy meant for library to device items. Not necessarily streaming. you can't stream live streams from a computer to a DLNA device. You can purchase appliances that can stream slacker and Pandora but good luck finding one that is based on the computer.
http://www.digitalversus.com/tv-television/dlna-standard-real-mess-a971.html
live audio to dlna http://www.sdstechnologies.com/ for 40$ for 3 licences
http://tversity.com/
http://twonky.com/
The following is from a samsung manual but gives you an idea of what you have to be prepared for. it is NOT plug in play you still need to check your codec's to insure that it's compatible on your device you wish to display. If it's computer it's unlikely an issue but if it's a TV (a samsung in this example)
You'll need to find something that reads the headers to give you an exact idea what codec i could be (one for audio and one for video) but there are hundreds of codec's out there.
Be sure what you get into.. especially when you've made a digital library.
a codec identifyer can be found here: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/codec-video-identifiers
DLNA continued.. it seems that DLNA componentry is mainy meant for library to device items. Not necessarily streaming. you can't stream live streams from a computer to a DLNA device. You can purchase appliances that can stream slacker and Pandora but good luck finding one that is based on the computer.
http://www.digitalversus.com/tv-television/dlna-standard-real-mess-a971.html
live audio to dlna http://www.sdstechnologies.com/ for 40$ for 3 licences
http://tversity.com/
http://twonky.com/
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
TV's Cross border savings (CND/US)
Because of the size I've never considered lugging one of these around but because of the prices and relative stability of the electronic product I'm getting closer to purchasing one. The key here is the more inconvient you make it the more you save. Sometimes it's not worth it..
Warranttee's may be only US.. if it breaks you have to take it back over the border (unless it has Canada/US) (samsung there is North american Warrantee)
Going through the border and dealing with taxes is inconvient
You will pay the local taxes (unless you physically shop at a state that doesn't have local tax) Oregon isn't that far is it?
Will be subject to many taxes/tariffs..
If it's not made in Mexico/US/Canada (likely Mexico) it will be charged a ~5% (samsungs are made in Mexico)
HST of 12% will be added when you go over the border (HST is said to be removed at some point into the future and will go to PST levels of 8%?
a simple example for a samsung:
Locally for a
online in the us it's roughly 1500USD + taxes and tarrifs
*I'm reading that tax /tarriffs are comulative so it's technically being taxed twice.
*don't forget the exchange as it's no longer at par (anywhere from1-5%)
BTW: it's important where you live as well, resident, if you are in Alberta you don't pay taxes but must show principle resident there.
Warranttee's may be only US.. if it breaks you have to take it back over the border (unless it has Canada/US) (samsung there is North american Warrantee)
Going through the border and dealing with taxes is inconvient
You will pay the local taxes (unless you physically shop at a state that doesn't have local tax) Oregon isn't that far is it?
Will be subject to many taxes/tariffs..
If it's not made in Mexico/US/Canada (likely Mexico) it will be charged a ~5% (samsungs are made in Mexico)
HST of 12% will be added when you go over the border (HST is said to be removed at some point into the future and will go to PST levels of 8%?
a simple example for a samsung:
Locally for a
PN59D6500 1899*1.12=2126.88 Local BC authorized dealer, full warrantee maybe even in house service depending who you buy it from.
1500+1500*0.085+1500*.05+1500*.12+1500*.07=1987.5*
.085 state tax
.05 state tax (may be removable if it's made in US/Mexico)
.12 BC HST tax soon to be 7-8%
.07 luxury tax but there is some talk this doesn't exist
*I'm reading that tax /tarriffs are comulative so it's technically being taxed twice.
*don't forget the exchange as it's no longer at par (anywhere from1-5%)
You need to decide if that's worth it.. could be 105-250 savings.. that's assuming it doesn't ever break.
In the future the savings could increase to 521.88 if you can order it from Oregon, buy a mexican made panel,not pay local WA tax, Pick up in WA (or drive down) wait till HST is revoked and GST is only added.. but again assuming it doesn't break.
BTW: If you can diggle with the price point and get it lower than your 2 day maximum 700$ you can get awy from not paying any tax/tarrif if that's the only thing you bought.
BTW: it's important where you live as well, resident, if you are in Alberta you don't pay taxes but must show principle resident there.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Your TV vs the Internet
If you watch tv in Canada be prepared to pay for it. the normal paradigm shouldn't really apply anymore.
So much is available through the internet and so called 'grey area' if you don't need to review a preset whatever selection as provided by your provider of Shaw or Telus.
When it comes to digital services always remember that bandwidth is meant to generate income and the provider will find a way to compress more channels in the air of providing you a better experience.
Cable has more bandwidth then the varient of VDSL, but IPTV technically uses more bandwidth for what you are likey watching because it's only showing what needs to be shown.
Cable will continue to compress and make your 1080i (or usually much less) picture which takes about 29.9 Mbit per second uncompressed likely uses only a small fraction of that in actualy bandwidth.
Clear picture per channel is never guaranteed. If you were a past or current provider of satilite digital you got a good view of what 720p was (dvd) and if you have uncompressed OTA HDTV signals in your area then you can see how good a signal can be.
On the flip side.. If you really don't care how clear things are the net is a relatively good choice. If I like a movie/tv series I get it on DVD or Blu-ray if it's available otherwise it's just more economical to go through another way.
Which brings me to internet..
Shaw really squeezes you here the current plan of 45$ doesn't give you much for that you get 10Mbit down and .512Mbit up with a cap of 125Gb.. recently shaw has upgraded the upload side to 3Mbit but you'll need to change out your modem. So if it works well we are at par with Telus.
Telus (non optik) is roughly 39$/month for 6Gbit it gets more expensive to 25Mbit for about 54$ (I'm a little unclear which is optik but I believe the 15 or 25Mbit plans are optik TV only. Optik TVas far as I can tell is required if you want the higher speed so your cost jumps to 75$ a month.
Telus has more of an edge when tocomes to upload speed, Shaw has much better download speeds as you can get up to 250Mbit if you are willing to shell out 140$ a month for it.. about 30 less if you can live within the cap of 1TB which you can technically download in roughly 42 hours.. With all the Torrents etc that one could have and if you were properly prepared you could download a lot in that time.. but will have huge issues with mananging TB's of data (assuming you like digital libraries etc)
If at all possible do a combination of internet and OTA Signals. If you need to be served all the channels you will simply have to pay a lot for it.
So much is available through the internet and so called 'grey area' if you don't need to review a preset whatever selection as provided by your provider of Shaw or Telus.
When it comes to digital services always remember that bandwidth is meant to generate income and the provider will find a way to compress more channels in the air of providing you a better experience.
Cable has more bandwidth then the varient of VDSL, but IPTV technically uses more bandwidth for what you are likey watching because it's only showing what needs to be shown.
Cable will continue to compress and make your 1080i (or usually much less) picture which takes about 29.9 Mbit per second uncompressed likely uses only a small fraction of that in actualy bandwidth.
Clear picture per channel is never guaranteed. If you were a past or current provider of satilite digital you got a good view of what 720p was (dvd) and if you have uncompressed OTA HDTV signals in your area then you can see how good a signal can be.
On the flip side.. If you really don't care how clear things are the net is a relatively good choice. If I like a movie/tv series I get it on DVD or Blu-ray if it's available otherwise it's just more economical to go through another way.
Which brings me to internet..
Shaw really squeezes you here the current plan of 45$ doesn't give you much for that you get 10Mbit down and .512Mbit up with a cap of 125Gb.. recently shaw has upgraded the upload side to 3Mbit but you'll need to change out your modem. So if it works well we are at par with Telus.
Telus (non optik) is roughly 39$/month for 6Gbit it gets more expensive to 25Mbit for about 54$ (I'm a little unclear which is optik but I believe the 15 or 25Mbit plans are optik TV only. Optik TVas far as I can tell is required if you want the higher speed so your cost jumps to 75$ a month.
Telus has more of an edge when tocomes to upload speed, Shaw has much better download speeds as you can get up to 250Mbit if you are willing to shell out 140$ a month for it.. about 30 less if you can live within the cap of 1TB which you can technically download in roughly 42 hours.. With all the Torrents etc that one could have and if you were properly prepared you could download a lot in that time.. but will have huge issues with mananging TB's of data (assuming you like digital libraries etc)
If at all possible do a combination of internet and OTA Signals. If you need to be served all the channels you will simply have to pay a lot for it.
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