The Story of SmugMug

Ever the proud father, Chris MacAskill screens 20-year-old home movies of his sons -- Ben singing about a stegosaurus, Mark getting a mohawk -- on his laptop.

"This is the negative of working with family members," a red-faced Mark, now 26, says before retreating to his cubicle.

Meet the MacAskills, Silicon Valley's version of the Waltons: seven members of a close-knit clan, ranging in age from 23 to 63, who run SmugMug Inc., which helps families share their own Kodak moments online. They are holding their own against photography services on the Internet run by corporate giants even though they have never taken a dime from outside investors.

They started on a shoestring budget in 2002, not moving into real offices in Mountain View, Calif., until April. Before that, the MacAskills and their employees set up shop in the five-bedroom home of Chris and his wife, Toni. Engineers bunked two to a bedroom. Blow dryers and vacuums routinely blew circuit breakers. Barking yellow Labrador retrievers chased tennis balls up and down the stairs.

Toni, the SmugMug matriarch, referees family squabbles. When things get out of hand she sometimes jokes that she'll send everyone to their rooms for a time out.

The MacAskills deftly blend business and family -- a radical concept in the youth-obsessed Internet industry, which admits adults, particularly of the gray-haired variety, only reluctantly.

The company now employs 28 people -- all MacAskills, family friends and SmugMug customers they hired -- in five countries. The MacAskills have signed up more than 100,000 paying subscribers despite mounting competition from free services, in part by emphasizing their family-friendly approach. They post their own family photos and home videos on the website, spend countless hours chatting up their users in the company's online forum and send lively customer service e-mails such as "Who loves you, baby?"

They also reward customer loyalty. Two years ago, when SmugMug raised its prices, it grandfathered in all its current customers. Every year, SmugMug organizes "shootouts" for its customers: roving expeditions to national parks with expert instruction on how to get the perfect shot.

And once, as payment for photo services, the MacAskills accepted livestock.

That personal touch has won over customers, some of whom traveled from as far away as Boston to attend SmugMug's recent fifth-anniversary party, where they dressed up in colorful costumes courtesy of SmugMug and mugged for the camera. Others have been so taken with the company that they quit their jobs to work there.

" Google went to great lengths to create a dorm atmosphere," said Don MacAskill, the 30-year-old chief executive and "chief geek." "We work in earnest to create a family atmosphere."

-- Honolulu Star Advertiser, January 12, 2008 [from Cheryl's stack, yeah, I know it's now 12/30/15]

Fire TV Stick

Got my Fire TV Stick in the mail yesterday.  Couldn't resist the Black Friday price of $25.  I figured I wanted to get a backup remote for my Fire TV anyway (which is $15), so I would be paying only $10 for the Fire TV.  [Should have bought the $35 Fire tablet too.  Why?  Because it was $35!]

OK, how to open it?

There's two small tabs to pull out on the side of the box.  After that you can slide the box out from the sleeve.

Now for the dreaded remote control.  There are reports that it's really hard to open to put in/take out the batteries.  Let's see.

The box has two layers.  The top layer is the Fire TV stick and the remote.  Removing the top layer, I see the instruction manual.  Under the instruction manual is a usb cable (for plugging into the power adapter, a USB extender, the batteries, and the power adapter.

First let me see how hard it is to remove the remote cover.  First take it out of the plastic wrapper.  I assume you gotta press down and slide it off.  Not so easy.  But I did it after a few seconds.  The trick is to push down more vertically than horizontally. Knowing that, it's pretty easy.

back later...

... that evening ...  OK, let's set it up.

Unplug the Apple TV, pull out the USB cable from the TV
Put the batteries in the remote.
Plug the power adapter in the extension cord
Plug the Fire TV USB cable into the power adapter
Plug the Fire TV Stick in the HDMI port on the TV
Plug the other end of the USB cable into the Fire TV Stick

Turn on the TV
Press the [play] button to start
OK press the play button
[OK I guess the remote got recognized cause it went to the next page]
Choose your language: English (United States)
Connect to your network
CyberHiNet
Enter password: **********
Connect
Connection successful
checking for updates
successfully registered
[they already registered the device to my account]
Yes, continue as **** *****
checking network speed
goes to the intro video [modified for the Fire TV stick vs. the Fire TV]
enable / don't enable parental controls
then it goes to the familiar Fire TV interface
The Fire TV Stick interface looks the same as the Fire TV interface except for the voice search

*** [12/25/15]

Test out Hulu by watching the Goldbergs.  Didn't notice much stutter if any.  Don't know if that's the Stick or the internet connection (which finally got cleared up on Saturday after like four weeks of the phone being down).

***

Netflix works OK too.

But doesn't appear that the CBS app runs on it.  Apparently it does run on the Fire TV Stick with voice remote.  I didn't think there was any difference between the Fire TV Stick with voice remote and without voice remote.  It kind of doesn't make sense to me.  Well, maybe they'll upgrade it later?

WatchESPN runs even without authentication.  But maybe it's because I'm on Hawaiiantelcom internet.

football without cable?

For the first time since ESPN took over the college football championship and most bowl games, cord cutters will now be able to legally watch most bowl games this year. With Sling TV offering a legal option to watch 38 of this year’s 40 bowl games, cord cutters can sit back and really enjoy their college football.

Even the playoff games and national championship game will be on ESPN this year, making this the first time cord cutters have legal access to watch the college football playoffs and national championship game.

CBS will carry The Hyundai Sun Bowl national over the air for free. FOX will be carrying the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl free on Fox in the home markets for each team.

This means between Sling TV and free over-the-air television every college football bowl game, playoff, and the national championship game will be available for cord cutters to legally watch.

This is a huge turning point for cord cutters. For years sports was the number one reason people kept paying for cable even when they wanted to leave.

***

What about the NFL?  Most games are carried live over the air on Fox, CBS, or NBC.  The Monday night games are on ESPN.  The odd games out are the Thursday night games on NFL Network.  Plus that one game in Europe that was carried by Yahoo.

What about the NBA?  Most games are either on ESPN (or ABC) or TNT.  So Sling TV covers that.  The exception are the games on NBA TV.  And of course you can subscribe to NBA League Pass for the vast majority of the other games (except for the teams blacked out in your area). Here, that would mean the Lakers games, the Clippers games, and the Kings games.  The Lakers are carried on TWCSports available on Oceanic and HawaiianTelcom.  The Clippers are carried on Prime Ticket which is carried on Oceanic but not HawaiianTelcom.  The Kings games are not available in Hawaii as far as I know.  (The DirecTV sales guy at Costco told me you can watch those games on their sports package, but I don't think he knew what he was talking about.)  So you would still need cable to watch most of the Lakers and Clippers games.  I'm wondering though if you could use your Hawaiiantelcom credentials on the FoxSports app and watch the Clippers that way.

Looking up the DirecTV sports pack.  According to this, you can get Prime Ticket as well as CSN Bay Area which covers the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Giants (whose games are normally blacked out in Hawaii).  So this might (or might not) be wrong.

Windows 10

My HP laptop finally got approved for the upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10.  Here's my log of 12/9/15.

took hp laptop home
upgrade to Windows 10
start download, upgrade later 1:13 PM
immediately went to Windows update
installing upgrade 15 of 17

connect back to CyberHiNet
wth, upgrade now
starting download
goes to Windows update
checking for updates
after a while...
downloading Windows 10
checking requirements

at 4:27 p.m.  43% complete
at 5:30 p.m. 72.6% complete 2613.7 MB
at 6:55 p.m. preparing for installation

7:46  Great, we'll get the upgrade start
decline / accept
(well, I didn't come all this way to decline, so)
choose accept

preparing for the upgrade

your upgrade is ready to install
schedule it for later / start the upgrade now
start'em
restarting

configuring update for Windows 10
0% complete
do not turn off your computer  7:51 pm

come back home at midnight
Welcome to Windows 10!
Mike Ching
Next
Let's get connected
pick a network and go online to finish setting up the device
CyberHiNet

Use Express Settings

Meet Cortana
Use Cortana

New apps for the New Windows:
Photos  Microsoft Edge
Grovve Music  Movies & TV

Finalizing your settings

We've updated your PC
All your files are exactly where you left them

don't see the network icon
reboot

see airplane icon and no background

force background, no slideshow? [found it later]
having problems connecting to internet
reboot
ok better

*** 12/14/15

seems to be working OK so far

streaming search engines

[11/23/14] Hollywood’s industry body organization, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), has launched a platform designed to highlight the ease of finding and viewing content legally online.

WhereToWatch, along with a number of alternatives like CanIStreamIt, provides an easy way to find out if the movie or TV show you want to view is available to stream or purchase (download) online. Using it is easy, you can just search for a specific title or peruse by show/movie  by categories including ‘Most Popular’, ‘Coming Soon’ and ‘Now Playing’.

[the other popular one is yidio.com]

*** [9/2/15]

A couple more are Justwatch.com and Findable.TV (from the wikipedia entry streaming aggregaters, which oddly doesn't mention WhereToWatch).

*** [12/2/15]

Let me make my own chart, since I've been having a little problem finding what's where and how accurate each engine is.  The engine that I started with was canistream.it, followed by yidio.  Lately I've been using justwatch and findable.  And I guess I'll throw in wheretowatch.

My first test is Netflix, which everybody should be able to find.  The test is Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes which has been carried by Netflix for a long time but they recently dropped season 1.  Let's see if anybody noticed.

Canistream.it: doesn't show it as available on Netflix.  Fail.
yidio: still shows season 1 available on Netflix.
justwatch: shows season 1 available on Netflix
findable.tv: correctly shows season 2 available and season 1 non available.  Plus they show all the episodes availability without having to click on each individual episode.
wheretowatch doesn't even show Netflix, which eliminates it from being a serious candidate.  I guess it's telling you where you can buy the show.
So the winner here is findable.tv with 2 points.  yidio and justwatch get 1 point.  canistream.it gets zero.  And wheretowatch is not even worth mentioning now.

Let's go to Hulu.  How about The Goldberg's which now has all the seasons available.  Canistream.it doesn't show any season available.  Fail again.  Apparently the site is no longer being updated.  I wonder if it even knows about Goldfinger which was added a month or two ago?  Not available for streaming.  That eliminates canistream.it as a candidate even worth looking at.

Yidio correctly identifies The Goldbergs as well as Goldfinger.
Justwatch says 3 seasons available on hulu+ and 2 seasons on hulu.  But doesn't break down the individual episodes.  (Well if you click on the title, you get to the individual episodes.)  It finds Goldfinger on Hulu+ and Epix.  findable.tv is correct again and lists each individual episode's availability for the season without having to click further.  It finds Goldfinger as available on Hulu+ and available for rental/purchase on Amazon, Vudu, iTunes.

I'll give findable.tv a 2 and the others a 1.

Next is Crackle.  Let's see.  Beverly Hills Ninja is on.  Yidio found it.  Justwatch found it.  Findable disappointingly doesn't cover it.  How about the Crackle original: The Art of More?  Yidio finds it, but justwatch doesn't.  Apparently JustWatch doesn't find TV shows on Crackle very well.  I'll give Yidio a 2, Justwatch a 1, and Findable a 0.

Next test is HBO.  Game of Thrones is the obvious show.  On yidio, I notice the search brings up the series and the individual episodes.  Too bad I don't see any obvious order in which the episodes are listed.  Anyway it finds it.  How about a movie?  How about The Theory of Everything?  Yidio finds it on HBO Go and HBO Now.  Justwatch finds Game of Thrones on HBO Now with a link to it and a link to the episodes if you click on the series title.  They don't cover HBO Go.  It also finds Theory of Everything on HBO Now.  Findable.tv nicely lists the Game of Thrones episodes individually and find The Theory of Everything on HBO Go.  I'll give everybody 1 point here.

Next is Showtime.  Homeland is the show here.  Yidio shows it available on both Showtime and Hulu, but you need a subscription to Showtime on Hulu to watch it on Hulu.  Justwatch shows it available on showtime with a link to Showtime.com (which is different from Showtime Anytime which is offered "free" to cable subscribers).  Findable doesn't cover Showtime.  How about a movie?  Let's see.  Dragonheart.  Yidio doesn't find it.  JustWatch finds it.    So I'll give Yidio a 1, Justwatch a 2 and Findable a 0.

How about FX Now?  Fargo?  Yidio finds it on FX (for cable subscribers), but doesn't find it on Hulu.  Justwatch oddly says there's 2 season on Hulu and 1 season on Hulu+.  Findable.tv finds it on Hulu.  How about a movie?  White House Down.  Yidio sees it on Xfinity.  JustWatch shows it only available for rent or buy.  Findable also.  I kind of want to give everybody a zero here, since none of them explicitly cover the FX Now app, but I'll give everybody a 1.

Finally CBS All Access.  Supergirl.  Yidio shows it available for free on CBS, but not the episodes available on CBS All Access.  JustWatch shows it available only on Amazon.  Findable.tv shows it available for free with ads and for subs (i.e. All Access).  So I'll give yidio a 1, justwatch a 0, findable.tv a 2 here.

I forgot Amazon Prime, since it's not explicitly on my Apple TV.  iCarly.  Yidio shows the first three seasons available on Amazon Prime, but you have to scroll down and click on the episode to see if it's available.  JustWatch doesn't show it available on Amazon, let alone Amazon Prime.  Findable shows the first three seasons as availabe for Amazon Prime.  And the later seasons available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes.   Man in the High Castle?  Yidio finds it.  JustWatch finds it.  Findable.tv oddly only lists the pilot episode without showing availability.  I'll chalk that down as an anomaly.  How about a movie?  Ex Machina.  Yidio finds it.  Justwatch finds it.  Findable finds it.  I'll give everybody a 1.

To sum up, I like Findable.tv the best, especially the way it displays the TV series episodes, but it doesn't cover Crackle or Showtime.  If I want to check Crackle, I should check yidio.  And if I want to check Showtime, I should check JustWatch.  Disappointingly none of them cover everything.  And none of them really cover FX Now.  Yidio comes closest to covering everything, but is not always accurate.

Next, maybe I'll check some of the services mentioned in this article.  Hmm.  And now canistream.it seems to be working better.

Gowatchit found Dragonheart on Showtime.  But it's apparently only for movies.

[12/3/15] Set up the Roku.  It finds shows on Crackle and HBO and CBS All Access, but not Showtime.
[12/4/15] Another plus for yidio and findable, they find shows on The History Channel, but not justwatch.

              yidio justwatch findable
Netflix         1       1        2
Hulu            1       1        2
Crackle         2       1        0
HBO             1       1        1
Showtime        1       2        0
FX Now          1       1        1
CBS All Access  1       0        2
Amazon Prime    1       1        1
History Channel 1       0        1

redeeming UltraViolet and Digital Copy

After two years, I finally decided to try to redeem the ultraviolet copy of Star Trek: Into Darkness.  I probably wouldn't have bothered, but I recently purchased Furious 7 and I went around to see if I had any other movies with Digital Copy and this was one of them.  (The insert said "code may not be valid after 9/10/15" but I figured I'd try anyway.)

The insert suggested two ways to redeem the movie.  One was at paramountmovies.com.  The other was ultraviolet.flixster.com/paramount.  But for some reason, I want to paramountdigitalcopy.com/startrekintodarkness (which was the instructions for Digital Copy, not UltraViolet) where I was asked to select media type.  The choices were Apple iTunes or UltraViolet.  I selected UltraViolet which gave me four options: Paramount, Vudu, Flixster, CinemaNow.  I chose Vudu and found the section to redeem it.  And the code worked.  The movie showed up in Vudu.

The problem with choosing that option (I now know) is that if you do it that way, the movie goes into your Vudu library but not automatically in your UltraViolet library.  So now Star Trek: Into Darkness shows up in vudu, but not on Flixster.  [And I prefer the subtitles on the Flixster app on my Roku vs. the subtitles on the Vudu app.] That's my second movie on Vudu, but not UltraViolet (and Flixster).  The first one was Linsanity, but that had a code for specifically for vudu, not an UltraViolet code.  I also have a few free first TV episodes on Vudu (Player, Dr. Ken, Going Deep), that are not on Flixster as well.

I think if I had chose one of the other options, it would have gone into my UltraViolet library from which vudu could pull it in.  I don't know for sure, because when I tried to redeem it at paramount (and other places) it said code already used.

[12/2/15 pm - Wait a minute.  Checking Flixster on the Roku at my mom's place in the evening, I see Star Trek: Into Darkness is now listed.  I guess it does transfer after all, but takes a little while.  Checking Flixster on my PC, I see it there too.  How about paramountmovies.com? It's there too.  And NCIS: New Orleans pilot plays here, though for some reason, playback is unavailable on Flixster on the PC (and in fact, TV shows don't even show up on the Flixster app on the Roku).]

Pressing on, I next tried Digital Copy.  I went to iTunes on my PC to redeem it and it gave me the option to download it.  Not wanting to wait a couple of hours (or whatever) on my slow internet connection, I skipped.

Then I saw you could redeem it on your iPad (apparently without downloading).  So I went to the iTunes store on my iPad, went to movies, scrolled down and saw redeem and entered the code.  And the movie showed up in purchased.

Then I checked on my Apple TV and sure enough it's there too.  The problem is that it'll take over 2 hours to download before I can play it.  Don't know why you have to wait for it to download on the AppleTV when it plays almost immediately on the Roku.

***

OK, I see another one.  X-Men: First Class is a Blue-Ray + Digital Copy.  Also bought two years ago (Black Friday) and still unopened.  OK, I guess it's time.

It actually comes with a Digital Copy DVD.  No UltraViolet option that I can see. And there are two options.  The second option is requires a network-connected Blu-ray player which I don't have, which leaves option one.

1) insert DIGITAL COPY DISC into your Mac or PC's DVD.

2) click on TRANSFER DIGITAL COPY

you can transfer a digital copy of this movie to your computer where it can be watched or transferred to other portable media devices.

Choose iTunes below if you have an iPod or iPhone, or Windows Media Player if you have a PlaysForSure compatible portable media device.

What is PlaysForSure?  Introduced by Microsoft in 2004.  CNet wrote an obituary in 2007.

3) Click either iTunes or Windows Media Format

iTunes it is.  Click on Transfer To iTunes.

4) Follow the simple on-screen instructions then enter the the unique activation code from this insert to redeem your Digital Copy.  Once you have redeemed your Digital Copy, you can watch the movie on your computer and/or transfer it to an iTunes-or Window Media-compatible device.

iTunes is launched and I'm asked to Enter Code.  OK, type in the code and click on Redeem.

Sign in to redeem your code.

Accessing iTunes Store...

Your code has been successfully redeemed.  Your movie is now transferring.

Once the transfer is complete, you can enjoy your movie right on your computer

Oh boy, I think it's copying the whole movie from the DVD to the computer hard drive.  I guess this could take a while.

In the meantime while I'm waiting, I checked my video app on my iPad and I see both movies appear on my iPad, but I'm afraid to play it because I don't have any room to download it.

No notification that it finished transferring, but I don't see any DVD activity and the hard drive light is only lightly flickering.  So maybe it's done.  Let's try to play the movie in iTunes on the computer.

There it is, but don't see Star Trek: Into Darkness.  It plays, so I guess it worked.  I see I can even stream it via AirPlay to the AppleTV.

... In the meantime, Star Trek: Into Darkness is almost ready to play on the Apple TV.  4 minutes to go...  Make that 10 minutes.

Playing X-Men: First Class on the PC via iTunes.  At the bottom says 1 movie, 2 hours, 12 minutes, 1.79 GB.  I wonder what happens if I log on to iTunes on another computer?

And now Star Trek: Into Darkness finally starts playing on the Apple TV.  Exit out to menu.  Now see X-Men: First Class in the purchased section.  Let's try playing.  Hey it started playing rather quickly!  (Surprisingly.)  Maybe because it's not in HD like Star Trek: Into Darkness (don't know if it is or not)?  But still you would think it would take a few minutes to buffer before playing.

Playing with the subtitles, I see there are options for English (United States) and English CC.  I think the words are probably the same, but the fonts are slightly different.  I prefer the former.  There's also Auto, French, Spanish.

Hey, I see another insert where I can "access your 10 free x-men marvel digital comics"

go to marvel.com/xmenbluray

get a server error on chrome and a blank screen on firefox.

I guess this offer expired.

[12/3/15]  OK, let's try the Furious 7 again (after I exchanged it, but the DVD still didn't play in my Sony Blu-ray player).

go to universaldigitalcopy.com
enter the code
select an Ultraviolet Retailer (Universal, Flixster, Vudu, CinemaNow)
You may also add a digital version (only 1 choice which looks like iTunes to me though they don't label it).

Click Flixster this time and click Digital Version.  I thought it would be one or the other, but you can click both without turning off the other.

Continue.

Flixster may share my personal information and content redemption information with NBCUniversal Media LLC and its affiliates for marketing purposes, including sending updates and special offers.

I'll uncheck this.  Click Complete Redemption.

OK, I see it on Flixster.

Then I go back to Universalhidef.com (Flixster had opened a new tab).  I think this for the iTunes copy.

Your email address and redemption code entitle you to other exciting features coming soon from Universal Studios.  Enter them here and we'll send you a message when benefits become available.

Hey, why not?  I'll put in my email address but not my gender or birthdate.  And leave checked "Yes, sign me up for Special Updates, Sneak Peeks & Exclusive Offers from Universal Studios.

Click Redeem.

Nope, they're insisting on my gender and birthdate.  Forget it then.  Uncheck the offer.  Nah, put it in.  Click Redeem.

Complete Your Digital Redemption.  Click on Launch iTunes to open iTunes and redeem your movie.  If prompted, enter your redemption code and click redeem.  Download and enjoy your Digital Movie.

I think I might be able to just enter the code in the iTunes Store on my iPad, but I'll follow the instructions for once.

Click on "Launch iTunes".

I thought it would launch the iTunes program but it went to the website.  Let me try enter it in my iPad.

Go to iTunes Store.  Click on Movies.  Ah I see the problem, my internet went out again (only showing local).

OK, try again.  It tkes to the download iTunes page.  It says Tunes 12.3.1 for Windows 7 or later.  I wonder if Apple only supports Windows 7 and up now.

Let me launch iTunes and see what version I have.  12.1.2.27 (on Vista).

Let's see.  Click on Movies in iTunes.  And I see a link that says Redeem on the right side.  Enter your gift card or download code.  Enter code and click the Redeem button.

Would you like to download this movie now?  Download or Later.  Click Later.

Your code has been successfully redeemed.  You can enjoy your movie on your computer or on the go with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.  You can also buy or rent thousands of great movies, including the latest releases, on the iTunes Store.

OK, click My Movies.  Don't see it.  Only see X-Men First Class.
Check my iPad.  OK, I see it in Purchases along with X-Men: First Class and Star Trek: Into Darkness.
Check the AppleTV.  There it is!  Let's see how long it'll take to play..  4 hours and 15 minutes 8)

Check Vudu.  Furious 7 is there.  No waiting this time..

Oh wait, I have to go to the iTunes Store section of iTunes to see My TV Shows.  There they are.  And there's Furious 7 and Star Trek: Into Darkness.  They're in the "not in my library" section.  Maybe because I have to download them.  OK, now I see them all in the All section.  Furious 7 and Star Trek: Into Darkness have a cloud icon with a down arrow on it.  Which I assume they need to be downloaded from the cloud.   Not sure how to do that.  Well, I don't know if I would want to download an HD movie on my computer since it really doesn't have that much space on the hard drive.  Maybe on my laptop.

Lemme see.  I guess I have to click on the cloud icon.

Try that.  This movie cannot be played in HD on this computer.  Would you like to download the SD version of this movie instead?  Nah.  Cancel.  I'll just watch on the AppleTV.

Don't even know why iTunes has to download instead of just streaming.  I guess they're not as smart as Netflix.  Or maybe it's my system.  I could try take my Apple TV down to mom's or Donna's place I guess.

Hooked up my Roku.  The ultraviolet movies also show up in my mgo library.  Cool.

Zuckerberg to give away 99% of his facebook stock

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just had a baby girl named Max, and to honor the occasion he's giving away a massive portion of his wealth.

The tech leader took to the social network Tuesday to announce the birth of his first child and the formation of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which he said will "join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation."

The announcement was framed as a letter written by Zuckerberg and wife, Priscilla Chan, to their new baby girl.

"For your generation to live in a better world, there is so much more our generation can do," Zuckerberg wrote. "Today your mother and I are committing to spend our lives doing our small part to help solve these challenges."

According to the Facebook head, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will focus on "personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities."

Zuckerberg and Chan will donate nearly all of their Facebook stock to the cause.

"We will give 99% of our Facebook shares -- currently about $45 billion -- during our lives to advance this mission," he wrote. "We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others."

According to an SEC filing, Zuckerberg owns 419 million Facebook shares. At Tuesday's closing price of $107.12, Zuckerberg’s pledge to give away 99 percent of these shares to his newly formed initiative is worth $44.3 billion. Zuckerberg will keep $449 million worth of shares of the company he founded, along with a majority of Facebook's B shares, which provide voting rights in the company.

As Business Insider noted, Mark Zuckerberg signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, which meant he committed more than half of his wealth to philanthropy or charity. The Giving Pledge was started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett -- which is suitable given that Zuckerberg has said that Gates was his hero growing up.

solar battery storage

Companies are lining up to offer battery-storage options to Hawaii customers that own solar panel systems — a move regulators and clean-energy advocates are hailing as a way to help the state reach its 100 percent renewable energy goal.

The need for such energy-storing technology was sewn into different regulatory orders and utility proposals when the state Public Utilities Commission announced it would limit the number of new residential and commercial projects allowed to export solar energy to the grid, but continue to allow solar panel systems that stored excess energy in batteries. Clean-energy organizations and solar energy companies said batteries used with time-of-use rates could provide an incentive for homeowners to continue adopting rooftop solar panels, but the cost of such batteries is still out of reach for most.

“Battery storage is going to become important, especially as we move forward,” PUC Chairman Randy Iwase said. “Especially given the fact that the grid today is reaching near saturation.”

In October the PUC ended the net energy metering (NEM) program that credits solar panel owners for the excess energy their photovoltaic systems send to the grid. The PUC is replacing NEM with a program that gives new solar panel owners a slower return on their investments. New solar panel owners who choose to send their excess energy to the grid will be credited 15.07 cents per kilowatt-hour. This new program has a limit of approximately 4,000 homes.

After that limit is reached, customers still will be able to add solar panels to their houses but will not be able to send power to the grid.

The current program that credits solar owners for the excess energy they send to the grid will enable them to recoup their investment in six to eight years. A solar panel system connected to a battery has an eight- to 12-year payback period. A customer using a battery is eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit if it is used with PV panels. There is no state tax credit for batteries.

“It’s not quite ready for prime time, essentially,” said Colin Yost, principal at RevoluSun.

The list of energy companies working to provide energy storage solutions includes San Jose, Calif.-based JuiceBox Energy; San Francisco-based Sunverge Energy; Pittsburgh-based Aquion Energy; Honolulu-based Blue Planet Energy; San Mateo, Calif.-based Tesla; and Honolulu-based E-Gear LLC.

Digital HD

I picked up a copy of Furious 7 (Black Friday sale at Best Buy), partly because it had Digital HD and I wanted to see how it worked.

The back of the case said DIGITAL HD with ULTRAVIOLET.  WATCH IT ANYWHERE!  also includes  Watch on iTunes.

How does it work?

There's an insert in the case with a 12-digit code.

The first step is to go to UniversalDigitalCopy.com.  (Actually I typed this in wrong at first and went to a rogue site that warned me that I was infected by a virus.  Don't do that.)

First step is to enter code

Second step is to Select Retailer

You can select one of these four UltraViolet retailers:

Universal, Flixster, Vudu, CinemaNow

Roku supports both Flixster and Vudu, but I like Flixster better because I like the Roku interface better.  Flixster is also supported by the Fire TV, but it doesn't look like it supports captions.  So since Flixster is apparently the only supported by Fire TV, I guess I'll go with Flixster.

You also get the option to add a digital version.  I assume this is for iTunes.  I really have a bigt need for the iTunes version since I can watch it on BluRay, so maybe I'll see if I can give it to somebody else to watch on their iPad.

So I'll stop now and come back later.

***

Later that day.  Testing the Blu-Ray and DVD.  The Blu-Ray works but for some reason, the DVD doesn't play on my Sony Blu-Ray player.  It plays on my laptop and my Toshiba DVD-recorder, so the DVD is probably OK.  And the Sony Blu-Ray player does play other DVDs.  So don't know what's wrong.

*** [12/1/15]

Swapped the Furious 7 at Best Buy.  Try the new DVD.  "Cannot operate this disc" when I first put it in.  Then "Cannot playback this disc" when I try again.  So it's some kind of strange interaction between the DVD and the Sony Blu-ray player (BDP-S360).  Sorry Best Buy, hopefully they don't toss the one I exchanged.

[see this link for my experiences redeeming the Digital HD]

Li-Fi

saw this on the local news (KFVE), so I looked it up....

Expect to hear a whole lot more about Li-Fi - a wireless technology that transmits high-speed data using visible light communication (VLC) - in the coming months. With scientists achieving speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab using Li-Fi earlier this year, the potential for this technology to change everything about the way we use the Internet is huge.

And now, scientists have taken Li-Fi out of the lab for the first time, trialling it in offices and industrial environments in Tallinn, Estonia, reporting that they can achieve data transmission at 1 GB per second - that's 100 times faster than current average Wi-Fi speeds.

Li-Fi was invented by Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland back in 2011, when he demonstrated for the first time that by flickering the light from a single LED, he could transmit far more data than a cellular tower. Think back to that lab-based record of 224 gigabits per second - that's 18 movies of 1.5 GB each being downloaded every single second.

The technology uses Visible Light Communication (VLC), a medium that uses visible light between 400 and 800 terahertz (THz). It works basically like an incredibly advanced form of Morse code - just like switching a torch on and off according to a certain pattern can relay a secret message, flicking an LED on and off at extreme speeds can be used to write and transmit things in binary code. 

And while you might be worried about how all that flickering in an office environment would drive you crazy, don’t worry - we’re talking LEDs that can be switched on and off at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye.

Philips SRP5107/27 universal remote control

[11/12/15] I was doing fine with my OneForAll remote which was programmed to control the TV, the Apple TV, the Sony Blu-Ray player, and the Roku.  But then a little over a week ago, some of the buttons stopped working.  Oddly after a while, it started working again.  Then stopped working again.

I was going to get another OneForAll remote, but looked up universal remotes for Roku and came across the Philips SRP107/27.  And bought one on ebay for only $5.99.

Well it arrived today.  No batteries.  No problem, I found a set of batteries in a bag for an Oceanic remote that I didn't use (the batteries I didn't use, the remote I used).  (Actually I found two sets, but the first bag was so old that the batteries are corroded.)

Pop in the batteries.  Test if it works.  Nope, not pre-programmed for the Panasonic (I assume it's pre-programmed for a Philips TV.)

Let's set it up.  Go to page 6 of the included manual.

Press and hold the TV button for five seconds.  The red setup button at the top blinks and stays lit.

Look up the 4-digit code.  There's a quick start guide with the code 2153 for Panasonic.  Light blinks twice after keying in the code.

Press and hold the power button.  Release it as soon as TV turns off.  OK, the TV turned off.

Let's see if it works now.  OK seems to work.

Press the TV button twice.  The red light blinks twice then turns off.

Checking some of the buttons on the Philips remote.  I don't see a button for Format (which changes the aspect ratio).  And Favorite which display favorite channels.  And Sub Menu where you can setup the favorite channels.

Let's see if I can learn those buttons.

OK, let's see if I can program the Guide button as Favorite.  Page 13.  Select the desired device button (TV).  Red light blinks.  Hold down the Learn button and the button I want to learn (Guide) for five seconds.  Red light blinks and stays on.  Press and hold the Favorite button on the original remote.  The red setup light blinks twice and goes off.

Cool, that works.  Now I have to decide which buttons to use for FORMAT and sub-menu.  I think I'll use the yellow-dash button for SUB MENU and the blue-dash button for FORMAT.

[The dash button not functioning on the Philips in TV mode, so I'll learn it from the Panasonic remote.]

[I'll also map the green button on the Philips to the yellow button on the Panasonic so I can delete while editing captions.  And the red button to the green button so I can change case for captions.]

[11/14/15 - problem when manually editing the programmed channels.  Red pages up and green pages down.  But I changed those to yellow and red for editing captions.  And I changed the yellow to SUB MENU and blue for FORMAT.  So now red on the Philips pages down, but I can't page up.  No biggie.  The other problem is exiting the edit.  Pressing exit aborts the whole process instead of going to the top menu.  On the Panasonic, the Return button is used.  So I'll map the Philips Exit to the Panasonic Return.  It's in the same place on the remote anyway.  I rarely (never) use the actual exit button on the Panasonic anyway.

On the Panasonic the order of the color buttons are R, G, B, Y.  On the Philips, the order is Y, B, R, G.  Y is used for Sub Menu, B is used for Format, R is used for G (changing case), G is used for Y (deleting when editing).  Confused enough?]

[11/14/15 - on the redo, I left the Y,B,R,G buttons alone.  Mapped the L1 button as the Sub Menu button.  And the 3D button as the Format button.]

Anyway it works!  Very cool.  And easier to program than the One For All.  Now we'll see how long it lasts.  Hopefully longer than the One For All (which lasted only a year).

OK how about the Apple TV?  The quick start guide doesn't include a code for the Apple TV.  I guess I could learn it, but there's supposed to be a code somewhere.

I found a more complete manual online.  Let's see.  There's a code for Apple: 0172.

Let's use the CBL button for the Apple TV.  Press and hold until setup light blinks.  Key in 0172.  Press and hold the Power button until device switches off.  The thing is that that the Apple TV doesn't switch off, so how do I know when to release it?  Anyway I pressed the power for about a second then released.

Test it.  That didn't work.  OK.  Let's try a shorter time.  Nope, let's try the AUX button.

Pressed the power button and saw the Apple TV blink.  So there's some kind of response.  The menu button works.  Exit button does something too.  The forward and rewind buttons are the left and right.  The play button is the Select button. Where's the up and down?  Press more buttons.  The channel up and down are also the left and right.  The INFO button is also the Menu button.  The stop and pause buttons are also the Select button.  I guess that's something, but not very functional with no up and down buttons.

Let's learn the Apple TV remote then.

OK, easy enough.  Learned the Apple TV remote in CBL mode.  Only seven buttons to learn.  Up, down, left, right, select, menu, play/pause.  And most people probably don't use the play/pause as you can play/pause using the select button.  Maybe it's more useful when used with a Mac.

[11/14/15 - on the redo, I see there is a use for the play/pause button.  If you hold down the OK key at the main menu, you get the message to press the play/pause button for more options.  Then if you do that, you have the option to hide the item from the menu.]

[11/1/16 - I had to restore settings on the Apple TV since it got locked up in the Computer Settings screen when it first started up.  And I lost the SAT mode.  Funny when I learned the Apple TV remote, the long press on the Menu button doesn't jump all the out to the menu.  So I guess I'll use have the Apple TV relearn the keys again from the Philips remote.  For some reason can't learn the page forward key to skip ahead, so I'll use the record button for now.]

OK, so far so good.

Now for the hard part.  The Roku, since my original Roku remote is no longer functioning.

Let's use the AUX button.  Press for five seconds until red light blinks.  Key in code 2407.  Press power button for various amounts of time.  Don't see any response from the Roku.

OK, let's try learn it.  Put the batteries in the original Roku remote.  Still broken.  Put the batteries back in the One For All.  Still not completely working.  The buttons not working (when you press it, nothing lights up) are: TV, Guide, right.  The other keys learned fine, but it's fairly useless if you have have a non-functioning right key.

I guess I'll wait to see if the One For All spontaneously starts working again.  It did before, but I'm not holding my breath.  Either that or I'll buy a generic Roku remote.  In the meantime, I guess I can use the iPad app if I need to.

OK, let's try the Sony Blu Ray player now.  Sony code is 2679.

That worked eventually.  For some reason the DVD button didn't respond at first when trying to get into program mode.

The main thing not working is there is no audio button (which changes the language track on the DVD/Blu-Ray if there is one) on the Philips.  No biggie.  But I decided to program the mute button as the audio button.  The mute button was still working on the TV while in DVD mode, so to mute I would have to just turn down the volume or switch to TV mode and press mute.  The Sony blu-ray remote signal is now weak.  I have to put the remote close to the player and point it at the right place to make it work.  So I was pleased that the Philips was able to learn it.

[Some buttons I want to re-program.  The Info button brings up the options menu.  I'll change it to learn Display.  And I'll map the GUIDE button to the Options menu.  For some reason the Input button is mapped to the options menu.  I think I'll map it to the TV input button.  Well, that worked but is of limited value as I still have to switch to TV mode to use the arrow keys on the Input menu.  I'll map INPUT to the TIME button instead.]

[On the redo, I mapped the 3D button as the audio button since it's on the same row as the subtitle button.  Interestingly the L1/Inst Replay button works to skip back 10 seconds even though that button isn't on the original remote.  And I don't what the Exit button on the Philips does.  It keeps saying Operation Prohibited.  Maybe it's the Top Menu button? If so I think I have the MENU button as the Pop Up Menu, the GUIDE button as the Options Menu, and the Exit button as the Top Menu button.  Nope.  Testing it out on my Matrix Blu Ray playing the movie.  Then I press Top Menu on the original remote, it says operation currently prohibited.  When I press exit on the Philips, it does nothing.]

[9/14/21 - Now I notice there is a replay button on the original Sony RMT-B104A remote.  And an advance button too.  So I'll program the L1 button for Replay and the L2 button for Advance and the Prev Ch button for Audio.  For some reason, the other Philips remote (the one with 3D button) is not working when I try to program it.  I'll reset it to Sony code 2679 and see how far I get with it.  OK, now I can program the Prev Ch button to be Audio.  The L1 and 3D buttons don't do anything and can't seem to program them.  OK, I'll leave well enough along for now.  At least one of the remotes is working.]

Noticed the remote has a pretty good range as I can control the TV / players while sitting at the computer at the other end of the room.

Last would be my Toshiba DVD-recorder.  But since I'm not using it now, I guess I'll fiddle with it later.

[As you might have predicted, I couldn't resist.  Let's try the Toshiba DVD-recorder.]  Put in the batteries into the replacement Anderic RMC 10339.  The second button at the top, between the power and open/close starts blinking.  The remote is on the blink :(  When did I buy this thing?  In February.  The damn thing lasted 9 months.  Wait, it settled down and the light stop blinking.  Maybe there's some life in this baby yet.

OK, the code for Toshiba is 3021.  Nope.  The Apex TV turned off, but not the DVD recorder.  OK, finally it took.  Had to hold down the button about 40 seconds.

It mostly works.  But I don't see a button for eject.  And no setup button.  And while the Anderic is now (mostly) working, the setup button is no longer working.  And that's the main reason I bought the Anderic because I could get the other buttons working on the One For All remotes.

Let's see.  Apparently there's a one-year warranty.

Just when I was about the contact them, the setup button starts working.  WTH?  I guess I'm not complaining.

OK, quickly map the SETUP button to the Philips GUIDE button, before it is lost again.

Another oddity is that the page forward and page back buttons are mapped to forward and back.  While the rewind and fast forward buttons are mapped to skip back and skip ahead.  I'll learn to reverse that.

For some strange reason, I can't program the page back button to skip back.  But I can program it to rewind.  Strange.  How about using the channel up and channel down button?  I can program channel up to skip forward, but can't program the channel down to skip back.  Another strange quirk.

Wait, somehow I got it.  I noticed that when it didn't work, the red light would stay lit.  So maybe I was programming a macro or something?  So I saved the current setting by pressing the DVR button twice.  Then did a fresh learn.  I dunno.  As long as it's working now.

Also programmed the red button to act as the open/close button.

I remember there was actually an eject button on the Sony Blu-Ray even though it's not on the remote.  Let me see that still works on the One For All.  Nope don't see an eject on the One For All.  I think it was on that Sony remote that I gave to Donna.  (yeah)

[11/14/15 - On the redo, I mapped the (-) to eject and the 3D/Advance to skip ahead 30 seconds.  I'll leave the skip forward/back and rewind/fast forward buttons alone for now.  Couldn't leave well enough along and tried to swap the skip buttons with the rewind/fast forward buttons.  For some reason, it's refusing to learn the skip back button from the Anderic.]

[11/14/15 - Wait, I was programming the DVD button instead of the DVR button.  For some reason, I was able to learn the skip back button, but was having problems learning the skip forward button.  But after a number of tries, it finally took.  I better quit while I'm ahead.]

***

All in all, I'll give this a thumbs up as a learning remote, especially for the price.

*** [11/14/15]

Yeah, it was only a matter time, but I figured I might as well add the Apex TV to Philips remote.  After all, it has seven function buttons and I was only using five. I think I'll use the SAT button for the Apex.  No code in the quick start guide.  Look it up in the manual that I found online.  The code is 3691.

Tried it.  Help power button down for at least a minutes.  Didn't work.  Let's try the code for Apex Digital which is 0172.  Nope.  How about 3021 which was the Toshiba code but I remember it turned off the TV.  Nope.

OK let's use learn mode.  Was going OK, but for some reason couldn't learn the 1 and 3 keys.

Let's try the TV mode.  Try code 3021 (which I thought was the Apex, but was the Toshiba).  The TV turned off.  And the volume and channel buttons worked.  But not the setup and arrow keys.

Let's try code 3691 in TV mode.  That worked similarly.  Power button works.  Volume and channel works.  But not the menu or arrow keys.

Maybe it ran out of memory.  Let's try reset the remote (section 3.5 of manual).  I thought it might reset just the particular device, but apparently it reset everything.

Square one.  But at least I wrote everything down.

For now, I'll forget about the Apex TV since I hardly watch TV anyway and use the TV function for the Panasonic.

[Actually tried the CBL button from the Apex and that didn't work either.]

Redo.

*** [4/22/16]

bought another Philips remote on ebay for my mom's new TV at Aiea.  Can't really use it yet because the TV hasn't been mounted yet.  Hopefully the TV will be mounted soon so I can test it out.  Because if it doesn't work within two weeks than I'll return it.  Maybe I should take the TV home and set it up at my house.  Actually that's not a bad idea.

Anyway. I wanted to try out the remote anyway, so I tested  it on my Panasonic TV at home.  The included manual is a little different than the previous one as it actually contains the list of codes.

OK press and hold the TV button.  The light blinks.  Enter the code 2153.  OK, that seemed to work.  But volume works.  Channel up/down works.  But then the cursor pad also changes the volume and channel.instead of navigating the menu.  Strange.

Then I notice that this is not the model SRP5107/27 but SRP5107WM/17.  The remote looks virtually the same, but the 3D button at the bottom is now labelled L2.  Apparently this new remote is the older model.  Luckily this is a learning remote, so I was able to teach the keys from the old remote to the new remote.  I guess it'll be OK.

Looking further for the model number on the remote, you can check the label inside the battery case.  The old remote model is SRP5107/27 3D UP DB1 followed the number 3139 238 21262.  The new remote model is SRP5107/27 UP followed by the number 3139 238 21261.  OK I guess maybe it wasn't false advertising.  But odd that the manual has a different number.  I'm guessing it's the same electronics in the remote but maybe an older software flash.  I suppose one advantage is that I can tell apart the remotes by checking whether the third button on the bottom says 3D or L2.  Another advantage is that if one remote doesn't work, maybe the other one would since they're not 100% identical.

Whatever, it was only $5.99..

*** [5/17/16]

OK, got it to work with the Insignia Roku TV at my mom's new place. Just used the code for the Insignia TV and everything seemed to work.  Even the replay key worked, which isn't on the Insignia remote.

But decided to add the sleep button which isn't on the Philips remote, but on the Insignia remote.  Learned/programmed the red record button as the sleep button (that's what I used for my Philips remote at home for my Panasonic TV).  Also decided to program the Guide button as the Home button.  And the Menu button as the Back button since that's how they're physically arranged on the Insignia remote.  (The default was the Menu button as the Home button and the Exit button as the Back button.)  I left the exit button as the back button.

*** [9/9/16]

Brought the second Philips remote home about a month ago, but wasn't using it.  I actually took it to Gung Gung Wong's house to troubleshoot their TV remote problems.  Sure enough, their Vizio remote was partially broken.  I programmed the Philips for their Vizio TV and Go DVD/VCR player, but wound up leaving an old RCA remote instead.

Anyway, decided to use it on the Apex TV in the back.  Unlike the first remote, the Apex seemed to take fine on the first crack.

Next was the Toshiba DVD-R.  Once again, the Anderic remote was on the blink (the second light on the top row starts blinking and the remote isn't functional.  Pressing the up volume button sometimes stops it and it works for one key press).  I got thrown off because when programming it and waiting for the device to turn off, the TV turned off and I released the power button.  But what you have to do is ignore the TV and look at the DVD-recorder to see if the front display goes off.  Then you release the power button.

So that worked.  Mostly.  Still needed to learn the setup button.  And reverse the fast forward/rewind buttons with the skip forward/skip back buttons.  Luckily it was able to learn from the first Philips remote, so I wouldn't have to rely on the flaky Anderic.

Now for the Roku.  Looking at my programming efforts above, I'll just learn it from the replacement Roku remote.  OK, that went well.  Just had to learn twelve buttons: back, home, left, right, up, down, OK, instant replay, * (asterisk), back, forward, play.

And now my Anderic seems to have settled down and the setup key is working.

*** [12/25/16]

Brought home Donna and Alvin's Toshiba TV.  They were getting rid of it because the sound went out.  And got Cheryl's TV to replace it.

Hooked it up to the Sony receiver that I got from Sue (which she got from Howard) years ago.  After a little fiddling around (hooked up the Roku and the DVD-R audio to the Video and CD inputs).  It more or less works, though the sound doesn't seem completely balanced.  And I have to manually press the buttons on the Sony.

So I took home the Philips (the new one) I had taken to Aiea.  (I had brought it there to see if I could adjust the small TV that BJ was using to play his XBox games.  We had used it for the PlayStation, but the screen was zoomed so we couldn't see the bottom of the maze.  Anyway, I think it worked, but was never able to try it out because we never hooked up the Playstation to it again.)

So I programmed the Philips remote for the Toshiba TV.  The only think I customized (so far) is the sleep button which I learned from the original remote.  [OK, I have now learned the L2 button as the PIC SIZE button.]

The DVD-R button still works on the Toshiba DVD recorder.  But trying out that generic remote I bought, I see that the play button doesn't work.  Good thing I have the two Philips programmed, so I don't really need that glitchy remote (I'd say it's not very good quality).

Then I decided to see if I could program the Sony receiver.  It used to have a remote, but it stopped working years ago.  I think I tossed it because I don't see it anymore.  I put in the Sony code.  Pressed the power button and somewhat amazingly it turned off.  So now I can power on/off the Sony.  Luckily, because just before that I had trouble turning it on with the power button.  Unfortunately that's the only thing that I think it's working.  I would have liked to have the volume control work too.  But I'll take it.

I used the AUX button for the Sony receiver.  So I programmed the CBL button for the Roku.  I believe it had been used for the Apple TV.  But the Apple TV also was programmed (or learned) with the SAT button.  So the only button left unused is the HD button.

Hmm.  I wonder if I can program the Toshiba remote to control the Toshiba DVD-R player.  Maybe it works out of the box?  Apparently not, since it doesn't have DVD labelled on the Mode Select switch.  Just TV, CABLE/SAT, AUX1, AUX2.

Looking at page 23 of the Toshiba manual I downloaded, it says to use AUX2 for the DVD player. Nope, power button doesn't work.  OK, let's try put in the codes.

Hold down recall button and enter the code.  The codes for Toshiba DVD player are 000, 013, 076, 077, 078.  Nope, none of them work.  Which is odd since it's a Toshiba product.

I wonder if it works at all?  Let's try it on the Sony Blu-ray player using the Sony DVD codes.  Nope, nothing.

[12/26/16]  I like the Philips remote, but today it's giving me problems.  I'm programming the old Philips CBL button to work on the Roku (it has been on AUX).  So I learned it from the replacement Roku remote.

Then I tried to program the AUX for the Sony receiver.  It didn't take.  But I learned it from the new Philips remote.

Then I tried to program the HD button for the Toshiba TV.  That didn't work either.  I was beginning the suspect that the auto-program function is no longer working on the old Philips remote.  I tried to auto-program the TV button for the Toshiba, but that didn't take either.  Thankfully, it didn't wipe out the Panasonic TV settings.

To check if I was doing something wrong, I programmed the Toshiba TV again with the new Philips remote and it worked.

But then I tried to test the new remote on the Sony Blu-ray player.  Nothing.  OK, let's auto-program it.  And that didn't work either.  Not sure what gives.

Hmm.  Tried again and the Sony Blu-ray player went off.  So I guess it worked this time.

Then tried to program the HD button of the newer remote for the Panasonic TV.  Nope.  Then to see if the code worked, I tried programming the TV button.  Yep, that worked.

OK, now to reprogram it back to the Toshiba TV.  I better leave well enough alone -- for now..

new Star Trek series will boldly go to CBS All Access

via CordKillers 94: Just in time for its 50th anniversary, Star Trek is returning to the small screen.

Prolific producer Alex Kurtzman is developing a new take on the beloved sci-fi classic for TV, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The new Star Trek has been picked up straight to series at CBS, with the premiere slated for the network in January 2017. Subsequent episodes will air on its digital and VOD platform, CBS All Access. The premiere and all subsequent episodes will then be available in the U.S. on CBS All Access, the network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service. Star Trek marks the first original series developed specifically for CBS All Access.

Steve Jobs (the movie)

[10/8/15] Former Apple CEO John Sculley is a long-time fan of Aaron Sorkin. So when the legendary screenwriter approached him for script research on "Steve Jobs," Sculley was very happy to help.

Sorkin met with Sculley four times while making the film. The ex-CEO shared stories about Apple (AAPL, Tech30) history, his relationship with Jobs and Jobs' relationships with others.

"[Sorkin's] a brilliant screenwriter," Sculley said. "While [the dialogue] may not have been the exact words that were spoken, it represented the kind of dialogue that said 'yes, that's that person."

That includes himself, played by Jeff Daniels in the film. Sculley was very impressed with the way Daniels absorbed aspects of his personality.

"I couldn't believe how ... he actually captured how I was feeling going through some of the most intense scenes," Sculley said.

Sculley visited the set and spoke with both Daniels and Michael Fassbender, who plays Jobs. He shared favorite memories with them, including a late night in the Mac lab with both Jobs and Bill Gates. Sculley, who had recently transitioned from a top job at Pepsi, was shocked by their focus entirely on "the noble cause," as opposed to profit. Both Jobs and Gates were dedicated to the creation of the personal computer, and the possibilities it could create for workers all over the world.

Letterman on climate change

David Letterman has a new hosting gig – of sorts.

The veteran late-night comedian will in 2016 journey to India to examine how that nation is trying to bring solar power to its entire population within the next decade. It’s a far cry from rattling off the popular Top Ten Lists and Stupid Pet Tricks that were so much a part of his more than three decades of wee-hours television for CBS and NBC. But it’s a chance for Letterman to give voice to the issue of climate change on a new, albeit temporary, home: National Geographic Channel.

Letterman will join Jack Black, Ty Burrell, James Cameron, Thomas Friedman, Joshua Jackson , Aasif Mandvi, Olivia Munn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ian Somerhalder and Cecily Strong in the second season of the documentary series “Years of Living Dangerously,” which explores the issue of climate change and won a 2014 Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. The project is the first Letterman has announced since leaving “The Late Show” on CBS last May.

David Gelber and Joel Bach, the series’ producers, said they thought they noticed Letterman become more animated on “The Late Show” when discussion of climate change came to the fore, and decided to reach out to him. “You could just tell. Whenever they would have a climate discussion, he would really kind of perk up,” noted Bach, in an interview. “And it turns out he does, he cares about it a lot,” he said. “He’s definitely invested in this issue.”

new Apple TV

Apple unveiled a new connected-TV box for the first time in three years Wednesday, turning Apple TV into a modern contender against rivals that have been more responsive to consumers' growing appetite for online media.

"Our vision for TV is simple," Chief Executive Tim Cook said, speaking at an event in downtown San Francisco, where it is expected to show off new iPhones.. "We believe the future of television is apps."

It's more expensive, too. An Apple TV with 32 gigabytes of storage costs $149, and one with 64GB is $199. It will be available in October, and will be sold in more than 180 countries by the end of the year.

Apple TV is streaming media box, which hooks up to your television so you can watch Internet-delivered entertainment like Netflix and other digital media on the big living-room screen. A fresh Apple TV is necessary for the company to stay relevant against competitors, as consumer demand for online media -- and the boxes that stream it -- climbs higher than ever before.

The new Apple TV will include an App Store and a revamped remote with a trackpad and a voice-command button.

The new remote has a glass surface across the top that responds to touch. It lets viewers glide across a set of movies, or to fast-forward through a show.Another button will summon Siri, Apple's voice-command digital assistant. Siri results will search across Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime and Apple's own iTunes, but it omits direct competitor Amazon. The voice-recognition feature also lets viewers tell the Apple TV to jump ahead in a video, or look up content based on the cast, director, age rating or date.

Apple overhauled product's underlying software -- its operating system -- to make the box more like your smartphone with a big world of apps. Called tvOS, it allows Apple TV to have new kinds of media, like games and fitness programs. Apple showed off several that would be available first for Apple TV: They included video essentials like Netflix, Hulu and HBO, as well as applications new to its streaming box like game Crossy Road, the short-term rental company AirBnB, and shopping with Gilt.

In the early days of Apple TV, the company positioned its streaming media box as a "hobby," but Apple's early start in market has made it the biggest selling device of its kind. Apple has sold 25 million in its lifetime, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in March. That beats Roku's 10 million total sold as of last year.

However, Apple TV sat the sidelines for more than three years, and sales suffered. With its focus on products like iPhone and Apple Watch, Apple hasn't upgraded the Apple TV to a new generation since March 2012. Meanwhile, the amount and quality of content online exploded, and competitors like Roku, Amazon and Google were agile. Sales of Apple TV slipped as rivals introduced and updated fresher products with more features and content, according to analyst estimates.

Apple in March cut the price for Apple TV by $30 to $69. The discount suggested the company had a new version on the way, and many expected to see a new Apple TV earlier this year. The company reportedly planned to introduce a new Apple TV box alongside the unveiling of a subscription television service, but difficulty securing deals for TV channels pushed that venture back.

Content sales through Apple TV are big business. In 2013, it sold $1 billion worth of content directly off Apple TV, Cook said last April.

Since Apple's last Apple TV hardware update in March 2012, Google launched its $35 Chromecast streaming dongle, Amazon introduced its $99 Fire TV box and $39 stick, and Roku released its third $100 streaming box and its $50 streaming stick. The low price of Chromecast generated intense demand, while Amazon's Fire TV incorporated features that made Apple's device look outmoded by comparison, such as voice search and an optional gaming controller.

[$149 and $199?  Well if they add CBS and Amazon Instant Video and Fibbage, then yeah maybe.]

iPhone 6S

Apple on Wednesday debuted its newest smartphones, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, giving the devices a new pressure-sensitive display, zippier processor and more powerful camera.

"What we have to show you today is really awesome," CEO Tim Cook said onstage at Apple's presentation, held at the Bill Graham Auditorium in downtown San Francisco. "While they may look familiar, we have changed everything about these new iPhones."

This year's iPhone is Apple's off "S" year. That means Apple keeps the basic design of the device the same but adds other features to attract buyers, like the Siri digital voice assistant in the iPhone 4S and the TouchID fingerprint reader in the iPhone 5S.

A marquee feature for this year's iPhone 6S was expected to be the Force Touch technology used in the Apple Watch, a pressure-sensitive display that responds to various types of touches. The company instead unveiled 3D Touch, a feature that appears to have the same capabilities.

In another bigger change, Siri can be activated via voice for the first time, allowing a user to ask the digital assistant questions or play music by saying "Hey Siri" while washing dishes or preparing a meal. In older models, Siri can only be activated by pressing the phone's home button. The new feature helps Apple catch up to other devices, such as the Amazon Echo speaker and many Android phones, that already offer similar functions.

The new 4.7-inch 6S and 5.5-inch 6S Plus, which are the same size as last year's models, will be available for preorder starting Saturday and available Sept. 25 in the US, UK, China, France, Japan, Australia and other markets. The base-model iPhone 6S will cost $649 off-contract, following Apple's typical pricing model. Prices for the 6 and 6 Plus will be knocked down by $100.

The new phones will include Apple's new A9 chip, which the company claims is 70 percent faster at computing tasks than last year's A8 chip in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. "It delivers a big jump in performance," Apple executive Phil Schiller said onstage. "It's going to make using our phone faster and a lot more fun."

The devices also come with a new 12-megapixel iSight back-facing camera, a boost from the 8-megapixel cameras in last year's phones, and are available in four finishes: silver, gold, space gray and a new rose gold finish. Additionally, the new phones will come with faster LTE and Wi-Fi wireless connections, a faster TouchID sensor, the ability to shoot high-resolution 4K videos and the phone's screen now acts as a flash for selfie pictures.

iPad Pro

Apple's answer for slowing iPad sales: Supersize it!

That's what CEO Tim Cook announced Wednesday, unveiling a new, larger version of the tablet. Called the iPad Pro, the device features a 12.9-inch screen that's designed to be used with two hands, and the ability to run two apps side by side. The goal is to prove the iPad can be more than just a device for surfing the Web and watching videos.

Among the new technologies Apple introduced are a new thin "smart keyboard" that also acts as a cover, which the company said is wrapped in a special fabric. But Apple will also offer a new device called the Apple Pencil, a stylus designed as a more precise way of interacting with the device.

"In just five years, iPad has transformed the way we create, the way we learn and the way we work," Cook said during an event in San Francisco. The iPad Pro, he said, "is the most capable iPad we've ever created."

The iPad Pro will start at $799 with 32 gigabytes of storage, launching in November. The keyboard will cost $169 and the pencil will cost $99.

It's all part of Apple's latest effort to expand interest in the slumping tablet industry. For Apple, iPad sales, which account for about 10 percent of the company's sales, have been the one weak spot in its product line. Apple sold 10.9 million iPads in the three months ended in June. Though seemingly high, and representing nearly a quarter of all tablets sold around the world, sales had still declined 18 percent from the same time last year. That was the sixth consecutive decline for the iPad line.

Analysts say it's not just the iPad. Consumers have been holding on to their tablets longer, opting to buy bigger-screen iPhones and Mac computers instead. It's also been years since Apple has spurred demand by offering any big jumps in technology or a radically new take on its tablet. Updates to the iPad -- including a mini version first introduced in 2012 -- have seen a bump up in technical specs like processor speed, screen resolution and added memory but not much else in the way of game-changing innovation.

an ink-jet printer with lots of ink

Coming up with a simple characterization for the Epson WorkForce ET-4550 EcoTank All-in-One Printer ($499.99) is a challenge. On the one hand, it's a fairly typical office-centric multifunction printer (MFP), and a good fit for either personal use or light-duty shared use in a micro office. On the other, it's expensive for that sort of printer. But as part of the EcoTank family, it's Epson's answer to anyone who has ever complained about the marketing model that gives away the razors (read: printers) to sell the blades (read: ink). With the ET-4550$499.99 at Amazon, you pay full freight for the printer, and save lots of money on ink.

According to Epson, the ET-4550 is essentially identical to the Epson WorkForce WF-2650$78.88 at WalMart, except that it adds an Ethernet connector and—far more important—it doesn't use ink cartridges. Instead, it adds ink tanks on the side of the printer, and ships with bottles of ink, which you pour into the tanks.

Along with the nearly identical features, the two models offer similar performance. There's a big difference in price, with the ET-4550 costing about four times as much. But unless you hardly print at all, it will be a lot less expensive in the long run. The ET-4500 comes with enough ink for 11,000 monochrome pages (if you use it as a replacement for a monochrome laser), or 8,500 color pages, with both yields based on ISO/IEC standard test pages. To print the same number of pages with the Epson WF-2650, you'd have to buy more than $1,600 worth of ink cartridges. And that's not including the cost of the printer.

Sci-Fi Transportation now

In the last century, we had lots of big ideas about how people would get around in the sci-fi future. Flying cars, jetpacks, rockets all over the place. It was pretty awesome. Sadly, none of it has come to pass as of press time, and we're still stuck with the usual planes, trains, and automobiles.

Let's face it: air travel has become pretty boring. The days of jetting across the sky in luxury (and paying through the nose to do it) are long gone, replaced by airlines that cram people in like sardines and nickel and dime them for every amenity. What used to seem like the transportation of the future has lost its luster.

But if we look away from the skies, we can find that futurists are still pushing transportation forward in a variety of unique ways. In this feature, we'll zip around the globe spotlighting some amazing transportation initiatives that seem like they come from the future. From single-family subway cars to blindingly fast trains, these are the most sci-fi transportation methods you can actually ride right now.

Clippers over-the-top?

Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has turned down a $60 million-a-year offer for local TV rights and is forging ahead with a plan to start his own over-the-top streaming network, The Post has learned.

If he follows through on the plan, Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, would be the first owner of a major US sports team to deliver games direct-to-consumer via a Web-based service and not through traditional cable or satellite companies, sources said.

Clippers games are now aired to roughly 5 million Los Angeles-area homes through Fox Sports’ Prime Ticket regional sports network in a deal that runs through the 2015-16 season.

Prime Ticket currently pays the team a rights fee of $25 million a year — and offered a 140 percent increase, to $60 million, but the billionaire Ballmer turned it aside.

Prime Ticket’s exclusive negotiating window closed in June, one source said — meaning Ballmer is free to negotiate with others.

Some observers think the bombastic Ballmer is merely using the threat of forming an over-the-top network as a play to wring more mon­ey from an RSN.

But others think the plan is real.

“Steve Ballmer has not renewed his deal with Fox,” said one source close to the situation. “He’s looking at a [digital] subscription channel.”

The 59-year-old Ballmer’s tenure at Microsoft gave him direct insight into the world of live-streaming video — thanks to the success of its global Xbox gaming console.

While he may have the technological smarts to pull it off, Ballmer may find it hard to earn more than $60 million in revenue a year from a single sport streaming RSN, experts said.

The Clippers would have to sign up around 10 percent of LA’s 5 million households and get a pretty high price for the service, those people said.

“If it costs $12 per month, multiply that by 12 months in 500,000 homes, it would add up to $72 million — but then you’d have to produce the games and market the product,” said one.

And that’s if Ballmer can give fans a reason to subscribe during the five-month off-season.

If he can’t, revenue would only come to $42 million.

“Ballmer is going to want to explore his option on the tech side, but the cable model is still a pretty reliable source of revenue,” said another source familiar with the discussions. “If they go OTT [over-the-top], they’re taking an enormous risk, and they’re not the most prominent team in LA — they are second-best.”

This person believed that Fox’s offer represents a much better deal, but added it appeared Ballmer has his heart set on being a tech pioneer.

Ballmer paid $2 billion for the team in 2014 after then-owner Donald Sterling was caught on tape making racist comments. Sterling was forced by the NBA to sell the team.

At the same time, the NBA might frown on the over-the-top move if Ballmer fails to get a sizable audience.

Reached on Thursday, a Clippers spokesman said, “Steve Ballmer is exploring any and all options, including a new deal with Fox.”

Fox declined to comment.

[What's a few million to Ballmer?  Currently worth $21.6 billion according to Forbes.]