Category: news

My perfect TV Box

“Little boxes on the console, little boxes with ethernet, little boxes on the console and they are almost just the same.  There’s the Roku, and the Tivo, there’s the Yamaha and the Etherswitch, there’s the macintosh, and the keyboard.  And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they have remotes that are all the same.”  Apologies to Malvina Reynolds and her 1962 hit. Continue reading “My perfect TV Box”

De-Comcasting: Now Internet and “Digital Starter”

I started this process at a Comcast bill $165.39 a month for a family of 5 with upgraded internet (12 Megabits/second) for $50 a month.  The rest of the bill roughly $115 a month was for ‘Digital Preferred’ Service with two HD TV’s and an HD TIVO.  Today I called Comcast and downgraded to ‘digital basic’.  I’m returning a cable modem and an HDTV receiver.  As of today,  the new bill will be $115 a month.  The final bill, I’m hoping will be about $48, when TV is fully removed.  That represents $1,408 a year.  Buys a lotta lattes. 🙂

Continue reading “De-Comcasting: Now Internet and “Digital Starter””

De-Comcasting: What’s that hanging off your house dude?

HDTV Antenna

Antenna

I bought some 1 foot 3/4 inch plumbing pipes,  2 90 degree elbows and 2 flanges, painted the mess with white paint and used concrete screws, and a masonry bit to put 8 screws in the stucco.  This will definitely hold!  I installed the antenna and pointed it in the generally correct direction. I purchased 100 feet of raw cable, and a 50 foot pre-made cable and a splitter (1 in, 2 out). Continue reading “De-Comcasting: What’s that hanging off your house dude?”