Unplug your TV! Why and how.

Have you ever wondered why you can't, for example, get just HBO (Game of Thrones), Showtime (Weeds), USA (Covert Affairs), Syfy (everything), BBC (Dr. Who), Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, Disney Channel, and Disney Jr with getting another 200 channels you don't want? It is because the "television providers" are a bunch of bullies to the consumers and content providers alike. Curious what my preferred channel lineup will run you? I did some research...

In my area FIOS would cost me $160.42 a month for two TVs, multi-room DVR service, and a total of 367 channels plus 25Mbps internet bandwidth.

If I went with Charter cable instead (also in my area) for two TVs with DVR service and 60Mbps internet it would cost me $123.95 but I only get 204 channels.

If I lived in Anaheim that is an AT&T UVerse area the same setup with 391 total channels and 18Mbps internet would cost me $107

If I lived in Palm Springs which is a Time Warner Cable area a similar package with 15Mbps internet would be $135.21

If I lived in Oakland, CA where Comcast rules a similar package with 50Mbps internet is $119.89

If I got DirecTV a similar package would be $86.99 but no internet.

So, really, for the 12 channels I want is it worth more than $100 a month? No, no, and HELLS NO.

Here is the problem though.. it is not possible to buy just the channels I want. Even if I was willing to pay $5 a month per channel no one will sell me my preferred $60 a month package because, of course, they would rather sell me a $150 a month package.

Well then, you might ask, why can I not just use HBO Go and the Disney streaming app and stream from Showtime.com to get what I want? Because the television providers have all got together and decided to tell the content providers that if they offer their content without a bundled television service then their content will be removed from the millions of subscribers of the bundled television service providers. Didn't you ever wonder why HBO Go, the Disney TV app, and even the ABC live streaming app require you to sign in to your television provider? That is why and it is pure bullying. This bullying will continue to go on as long as the television provides have millions of subscribers. The only way this will ever change is if the consumers of the content rise up and vote with their wallets by unplugging their TVs and cancelling their bundled television subscriptions.

I voted with my wallet in July of 2009 when I paid my last DirecTV bill ever for $76.99. That same month I paid Earthlink $49.21 for my DSL service. Together it cost me $126.20 for internet and television. Here we are FIVE YEARS LATER and that it still what it costs for internet and television. Prices are not going down due to competition because the competitors have all got together and agreed on the rules of the market. This is bad for consumers.

Just yesterday the news broke that HBO is going to be the first content provider to try and break the market place by selling their service without requiring a television provider:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/15/media/hbo-via-the-internet/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

And today a similar announcement from CBS!
http://www.cnet.com/news/watch-out-hbo-cbs-launches-stand-alone-web-tv-service/

This means that now is the time to unplug your TV. Cancel your cable or satellite subscription and subscribe instead to over the top (OTT) services. I will break it down for you what needs to be done and which services will give you what you need.

The first thing you should do it get yourself setup with free television. That is free as in how much television cost before the cable companies took over. This became possible when the FCC regulated all television broadcasters to switch to digital broadcast signals back in July of 2008. Go and get yourself a nice digital antenna for the roof like this one on Amazon:

Winegard HD7694P High Definition VHF/UHF Antenna

In fact this is the exact same antenna I have on my roof now and 5 years later it is one of the top rated antennas on Amazon. The next thing you need to do is go to AntennaWeb and punch in your zip code to see what direction you need to point the antenna to get the most channels. Then go and mount the thing on the roof. If you or a previous resident of your residence had satellite installed at some point you can do what I did and rip down the dish to use the same roof mount post they installed for your antenna. You can even re-use all of the in house coax cabling that your cable or satellite provider installed for you in each room of the house to carry the digital television signals to your televisions or set top boxes.

Next I highly recommend you install your own DVRs. What I did was custom built three windows PCs and installed Hauppauge TV tuner cards in them. Windows 7 ultimate or home professional versions included the windows media center application and Windows 8 offers it as a $10 add on with any version of Windows 8 that you have. One of my Windows Media Center computers is hooked up directly to the television in the bedroom and then both my and Sandy's computers can also record shows and push the files up to the primary "media server". In the front of the house we have an XBox 360 which can serve as a "Windows Media Center" extender to watch any recorded shows as well as pull the live broadcast feed over through the network. If you are an Apple guy you can do something similar with MacOS X and Apple TV boxes. If you are technology challenged then I recommend a TiVo box which are pretty affordable and the service is $14.99 a month or you can pay 500 bucks one time and it covers the lifetime of the device with no more monthly fees.

After you get your free TV then you need to decide on which OTT services you want to subscribe to. I will give a run down and brief review of each listing best first.

1. Netflix offers a good selection of movies and television programs for a starting price of $7.99 a month. I list Netflix first as the best of the best because they refuse to give in to the "Sign in with your television account number" licensing to get to premium content and they have continued to fight the big television providers in court and with lobbyists in Washington. They are also a subscription only service so the single monthly fee guarantees access to their entire content library. Because they are subscription only it limits their licensing options with the content providers and that means you don't get a lot of new releases and you don't get next day TV releases. For your favorite TV programs you have to wait until the season is over and after it has been released on DVD before it appears on the service. Netflix is also one of the first to start producing their own exclusive content like Orange Is The New Black and Turbo: FAST. Netflix needs to be supported with your wallets to give them more leverage with the providers to fight the big television providers and get access to better content by throwing around their subscriber numbers. As if all that wasn't good enough Netflix still offers the DVD by mail subscription from which you can get all the latest releases on Blu-Ray sent to you in the mail. 
2. Amazon Prime is $99 a year and offers both subscription content as well as video on demand (VOD) through Amazon Instant Video (AIV). Typically the subscription content is about as good as anything you find on Netflix and, as a bonus, your prime membership gets you free two day shipping on a lot of merchandise. Having the VOD option through AIV allows you the ability to purchase the premium content of new release movies and next day TV content. Amazon is also starting to produce their own "Amazon Originals" content like Betas and Annedroids. 
3. MGo is a VOD only service. This means there is no subscription content so no monthly fee but it gets pricey to pay for everything you want to watch, On the plus side they get all the latest new releases as soon as or even slightly before the DVD / Blu-Ray release, they have almost everything in HD and any title you purchase through them that is available on UltraViolet includes the UV rights so that means you can watch it on other services like Vudo and Flixster plus if you already have a bunch of UV content from digital copy codes in Blu-Ray and DVD discs that you purchased you can watch them on MGo. Mgo also does a fantastic job of getting next day TV content online and just starting offering a "season pass" pricing to you can pay for a whole season of new content and get access to the new episodes on the service they day after they air.
4. Hulu offers hands down the best next day TV experience. Hulu gets the new TV content online faster then anyone else and has the most of it. If  new TV shows is your thing then get the Hulu Plus subscription for $7.99 a month. I list them last because they bowed to the pressure of the television providers to make their licensing deals and if you don't provide a television service provider account you only get access to the three most recent episodes of new TV series even with the subscription and then Hulu still inserts advertisements. 

If you did decide to go with TiVo then the TiVo boxes come with apps to stream the major OTT services. If you have a gaming console they offer apps for the major OTT services as well with Sony Playstation having the best offering there. If you don't have a DVR or a gaming console or even a smart TV then I recommend you get yourself a Roku box. The Roku boxes are affordable and offer the most subscription services including my 4 recommendations. 

Now there is one big gap that I have no solution for if you unplug your TV and that is sports. With a digital antenna and a DVR you will get all of the locally broadcast sports content for free. If you are big into sports though I know that is not enough. If you want access to every game from every sport and you cannot let that go then you are going to be stuck paying for TV for a while until the backs can be broken of the big TV service providers and content providers including the professional sports leagues feel free to break loose and offer their content without requiring the television service provider account. 

How easy is it for someone to hack your windows password?

So my Dad died last week and I am visiting my Mom for the funeral and she had a printed document he had written out some time ago about where to access all of the financial records and whatnot which, for the most part, he had copies of stored on his computer. He also had everything backed up to an external hard disk which was pretty smart because he failed to tell my Mom (or she forgot) the password to log on to his computer.

So I found myself in one of the rare situations where I had a legitimate reason to hack someone's computer. I was so taken aback by how ridiculously easy it was that I thought I should post about it.

In less then a minute of googling I found myself on this very nice page that laid out all of the options for Windows password "recovery":

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/passrecovery.htm

I tried the first tool in the list:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ophcrack/?source=typ_redirect

So here I went and burned the OphCrack tool to a bootable CD and it turned out my Dad's computer had no optical drive... oops!

A couple more minutes of googling took me to another tool called Rufus:

http://rufus.akeo.ie/

Rufus allowed me to take the OphCrack CD image and burn it to my handy dandy Yoda USB stick. Yoda is now a password hacker.

Power cycle the computer, punch in a couple keystrokes to get to the BIOS to make the computer boot from USB storage, pop in Yoda, reboot and watch the show. OphCrack decoded the hashed password in the windows registry and showed it to me in under a minute and that minute included time for the Linux image now inside Yoda to boot up. I was all ready with a CD image for a command line password reset tool but I didn't need it because my Dad was not using a complicated password.

Now what if I was not doing this for a legitimate reason? What if I was someone you invited to a party at your house? Or a student you left alone in the classroom with your computer for a few minutes? The possibilities are endless. With Yoda in my pocket and physical access to a computer I can get your password in less then five minutes. This should highlight the need to be very cautious who you allow physical access to your computer. If, like most people, you use the same password for everything then I can steal your identity very easily by simply downloading all of your bookmarks and browser history onto my buddy Yoda.

With Windows 8 it is possible to use a Microsoft account instead of a local account which means your account information is stored in the cloud. Well, Jennifer Lawrence and her boobies can tell you how secure that is! Even with cloud based accounts you need to use two factor authentication to really protect your data.

All is not doom and gloom though if you take sensible precautions to protect your data from Yoda USB up there. Here are some things that everyone with sensitive data on a computer (ok, so that is actually everyone everyone) should do:

1. Never leave your computer unattended in front of people you do not know well enough to trust to hold your checkbook. If you are planning a party unplug the computer or stow it in the attic until the party is over. Definitely do not pass out drunk with your laptop open...
2. Use a complex password. If my Dad had set a complex password it would have taken OphCrack hours to figure it out. Complex passwords have no recognizable words in them and contain letters, numbers, and special characters. Here is a good site with a password generator you can use to create these passwords:
   http://www.pctools.com/guides/%20password/
3. Do not use the same password for multiple password protected websites. If someone were to gain your password because Paypal, Target, Home Depot, Sony Online Entertainment, or Adobe got hacked and they can identify you as that password holder they can easily get into all the other sites you use by trying that same password
4. The most important password to protect is your computer logon password. The next most important is your email password. Your email address is used for the username on a lot of password protected sites and if a hacker gets into your email they can change the password to lock you out of it and then proceed to issue password reset requests to get into all the other password protected sites that you use. Under no circumstances use the same password for both email and computer logon. 
5. Do not write that hard to remember complex password on a sticky note and sticky it to your monitor. Treat written down passwords the same as money.. keep them in your wallet or safe or under the mattress or frozen in a block of ice at the back of the freezer but no where near your computer.
6. Do not email or text message or instant message your password to anyone ever as those forms of communication cannot be secured adequately; anyone on the same public hotspot as you or piggy backed onto your own wireless connection can spy on them. If you must send a password electronically then do it over PGP encrypted email.
   http://lifehacker.com/180878/how-to-encrypt-your-email
7. If the site offers it, use two factor authentication. This means more then just a password is required every time you login like answering a security question, having a one-time-use code set to your phone, or a biometric reader like the fingersprint scanner in iPhone 5s / 6. If iTunes backup files stored in iCloud had been protected by two factor authentication at the time then Jennifer Lawrence's boobies would still be private. 

The 2015 Apple Watch is proof that Steve Jobs is dead.

Rest In Peace Steve Jobs.

With Steve Jobs at the helm of Apple Computer, Apple was a market innovator and led the personal computing market, setting the rules and forcing the competition to follow them. On September 9, 2014 Apple went from being a leader to being a follower.

The Apple Watch is not functionally much different then the Moto 360 or Samsung Galaxy Gear or any of the other recently introduced wearable devices. It is too big and heavy to really be a watch and as a device tethered to your phone it offers not much other then the convenience of not taking your phone out of your pocket or your bag.

I have not worn a watch since I got a pager in the mid 90s. In 1997 I even got a fancy bi-directional pager with which I could reply to messages. When I realized I could just glance at the pager to tell the time I realized I never needed to wear a watch again. My pager was, of course, replaced by a smartphone. In this day and age where a smartphone is an essential device that everyone carries, no one needs to wear a watch. People who still do wear watches mostly wear them as jewelry. As a piece of jewelry this thing is big and clunky and, well, it is, like, square, man... While it may be the nicest looking smart watch offered to day (the Moto 360 is another nice one), it looks like something from the stone ages when compared to a designer watch.

The only thing the Apple Watch brings to the market is the health related functions of monitoring your heart rate while working out. I expect this thing will cost $200 - $300 and it is not worth it for that added functionality. The Apple Watch really brings nothing to the market that is not already available from the Motorola or Samsung smart watches. This is why I say Apple has changed positions from leading the market to a market chaser.

To give some specifics, here is what I consider is wrong with the device that should have prevented it from launching:

• It has to tether to a phone. It has no built in cellular radio to operate as a standalone device. You should be able to "tether" it to a personal computer or tablet that sits at home and be able to choose to take the watch with instead of the phone or even not even own a phone at all anymore since the watch gives you mobile communications while a larger tablet, laptop, or desktop device gives you computing power. 
• You have to plug it in to charge it every night. Even with the clever mag lock charger you still have to remember to charge it every night. A new wireless charging technology is needed; something with the range of Bluetooth. I think with clever enough engineering you could even have it pull enough power to run the device and charge the battery off of a class 1 bluetooth connection of which the RF signal is harvested for the charging circuitry. Or they could have gone really radical and even integrated a solar charging technology into the touch screen layers. 
• It is missing an essential accessory that will allow you to place phone calls and listen to streaming music through the device (as a standalone untethered device). Apple just bought Beats audio! They should have spent some time creating a fantastic bluetooth connected headset with the Beats branding that every teenager would kill for and is not so gaudy that you couldn't use it in an office or a restaurant.
• It is missing the accessory that will allow you to setup an impromptu dance party or movie viewing. A bluetooth connected speaker with HDMI connection out to monitors and maybe even an optional built in 720p projector you could stash in your bag and pull out to start the party and control it all from your wrist.

Remember what the smartphone market looked like before iPhone? The best device out was a heavy Windows Mobile device that required a stylus to use (I had a few of those). Apple watched that market flounder and even see growth for several years before they stepped in with the iPhone and changed the market forever combining the smartphone, digital camera, and iPod into a single device with an intuitive touchscreen interface. Even with the iPhone Apple has decided to follow the market now and make a Phablet with the 5.5" screen on the iPhone 6 Plus. Remember the Steve Jobs keynote where he sung the praises of the 4" screen because it allowed your thumb to travel anywhere on the screen? Well, with iOS8 they added a gimmick to double tap the home button to force the data on the screen to pull down where your thumb can reach it. This also hides the bottom half of the screen until you touch something or double tap again... gimmick.

Remember what the tablet market looked like before iPad? Different tablet configurations were the talk of CES for three years running without anyone making much headway into actually getting people to buy them until Apple stepped in with the iPad and suddenly the tablet market took off like a rocket with many people opting for the much more stable iPad over a laptop.

Apple should not have entered the smart watch market this year. This Apple Watch will still bring lines outside Apple stores when it is released and anyone with a few hundred bucks to burn that already has an iPhone 5 or better that wants to look "Tech Chic" will probably still get one even though no one needs one. I estimate that the total sales of this device will never amount to more then 5% of the active iPhones. Even though this watch may sell more units then all Android based smart watches combined it will still be a flop when compared to the success of the iPhone or iPad initial launches.

Paul's Opinionated Guide to Personal Computing Device Choices 2014

I think I am going to do a post like this at least once a year, more if the industry changes significantly since the previous one. The choices of personal computing devices has changed drastically since my first personal computing device, the Commodore 64 with a 1MHz CPU and 64KB of memory. Back then it was the C64, the TRS-80, or the Apple IIe. Then it was only three real choices and now there are three different markets: Mobile, Laptop, and Desktop.

The mobile market includes both Smartphones and Tablets which all have similar functionality and all include built-in connectivity at least as an option if not a standard feature. If you are on an extremely limited budget it is possible to get by with no other device but a mobile but you will find your capabilities very limited as well with the current capabilities of mobile devices. Screen sizes vary from 4.3" (iPhone) to 10" (tablets). If you can choose only a single personal computing device and want to take it with you then look for a tablet sized device from 7" to 10". With Skype or Google voice installed on a 4G LTE connected tablet and a bluetooth handsfree device it works as well as any phone. If you are going to complement your mobile device with a laptop or desktop then start with a smartphone.

The next decision point is what mobile operating system. There are really only two choices here: iOS or Android; I don't consider Windows Mobile as an option in it's current form. iOS is the most stable and intuitive. If you are new to the mobile market or feel like you want a device that "just works" then choose iOS. With iOS you also get Apple protecting you by censoring the App store and protecting your privacy because Apple wants to sell hardware and cloud services. Android is far more customizable and without a censored App store you can find almost any app you want for your device. One final recommendation in this regard: If your only device is going to be a mobile device then pick an iPad. Android tablets are almost all in 16:9 format which is great for watching content but awful for anything else.

There are a few things to avoid in the mobile market. Do not get phablets! Phablets are phones with screen over 5" in size. The screens are too big to operate single handled, the devices are too big to fit comfortably in a pocket, and yet the screen is really too small for the things you want to do on a tablet like reading books or working on documents. Also avoid the walled garden Android devices. If you want walled garden go with Apple as they are the only ones to do it right. Do not get Amazon kindle fire or fire phone or anything else like that.

The next market is the notebook / laptop market. The laptop and desktop markets are very close to merging into a single market so consider your options carefully here. You should only be looking for a laptop if you need to take your computing power with you. Students and people who take their work home with them fit this category. Chances are that if you need a laptop you can get by without a desktop and in that case pick a more powerful desktop replacement laptop. If you need and can afford to maintain both a laptop and desktop then go for one of the new slim ultrabooks without an optical drive. Avoid netbooks and chromebooks, they really don't serve any purpose better served by a tablet. Also stay away from the "convertible" laptops that switch between laptop and tablet modes, they are too clunky and heavy to make good tablets and not powerful enough to make good laptops. When picking a laptop go brand name; manufacturing laptops is something that takes care and experience you don't get from the off brand manufacturers. I would recommend Apple, Lenovo, Asus, HP, or Dell and nothing else here. Again, think carefully and don't buy a laptop unless you have to right now; if you scroll to the bottom of the article I will explain what is coming in the next few years that is worth waiting for.

The last market is the desktop market. In most cases a laptop with a good docking station and external monitors will do just as well as a desktop. There are really only three reasons to maintain a desktop computer nowadays: gaming, personal media libraries, and video editing. Laptops do not have enough GPU power to play games well so if you are into gaming get yourself a desktop with an upgraded video card and oodles of memory. Hooking a computer up to a big screen HD TV makes for a nice way to watch all of the movies you have stored on big inexpensive SATA hard disks. Stick in a digital tuner card connected to an antenna on the roof and you have yourself a nice DVR that saves you the $100 a month cable and phone companies want to charge you for the privilege of having a hundred channels you never watch so you can get the handful of channels that you do. If you are doing any form of content creation from blogs to home movies, independent films, or music then you need the power of a desktop. Microsoft continues to struggle to maintain a stable platform but, for most things, Windows is still the way to go with most desktop computing needs. The exception to the rule is creative content creation. If you are doing heavy video, audio, or even artwork content creation then go with MacOS X, otherwise stick with Windows 8.1. Here also though hold off if you can; Windows 9 is coming out next year and looks to be very promising.

Whats coming that you might want to wait for? The personal computing markets are merging. In a few more years you will be able to maintain a single primary device that goes mobile as a tablet, docks into big monitors for a full desktop experience, and talks to wearable technology so you can leave it in your bag while walking, driving, exercising, whatever. Microsoft is very close to writing a single operating system environment that works on all devices; windows 8.1 is not quite there but Windows 9 might make it. If Windows 9 still falls short of the goal then Microsoft will be the hare and the tortoise Apple will win the race. Apple is releasing their first wearable technology later this year and it may pull them ahead in the race, we shall see. This is what to look for that will signal the change: A 10" tablet running a laptop CPU (core i5-like) with a dedicated GPU, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD, and 10 hours of battery life weighing in at 1 pound or less with an available keyboard dock (that carries it's own battery doubling the effective battery life), and an available desktop dock that can run two HD monitors. Without accessories this device should come in under the $1000 price point from a major brand. When you see that device trade in your laptops and desktops and get one. Until then, hold off if you can.

Want to know what is coming next after the merged personal computing market? Think 10 to 15 years from now (which really is not that far off). Google named their operating system "Android" for a reason. In our lifetimes we will see personal assistant robotic technology. Everyone will have a personalized robotic device that goes where they go and carries all of their data with them. These androids will be tied into the technology in your vehicle and wearable technology, they will take meeting notes for you, remind you of events, warn you when traffic is bad, let you know when your spouse is likely to meet you (wherever you usually meet), find restaurants, movie times, and the cheapest fueling station and generally assist you in all things replacing the need to swipe and click on multiple devices to find out what you need to know. Initially they will be clunky ugly things that need to be repaired frequently but after another 10 or 20 years of the market maturing they will be smooth and reliable and you can order one that looks like C3P0 or R2D2 or a tiny pink fluffy Unicorn if that is what you like.