Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
ebay email
I recently tried to update my email address on ebay from hawaiiantel.net to gmail.com. Why because I'm transitioning to gmail online instead of hawaiiantel.net on Outlook Express. For one thing, they don't even make Outlook Express anymore. And I can read gmail from any computer.
So I'm changing my email address from xyz@hawaiiantel.net to xyz@gmail.com. But ebay didn't allow me to change it, saying your "eBay user id cannot be the same as your email address". Well my eBay user id isn't my email address, but it's the same prefix. In fact, it's the same prefix currently. I think I must have opened my account before they instituted this policy.
So the message is incorrect. It should say your "eBay user id cannot be changed to be the same prefix as your email address." (Even though it already is, in my case.)
Why? Apparently to decrease spammers. (But out of all my many online accounts, eBay is the only one with this annoyingly safe policy.)
But here's one workaround if you're changing to a gmail account:
If any of you use gmail or google apps, you can trick this.
for example, put yourusername+ebay@gmail.com
Google mail ignores everything after the plus, so the end result is that it goes to yourusername@gmail.com. Hehe.
Don't know if I'm going to try this yet though, since if I change it to gmail and change my mind, I can't change it back to hawaiiantel.net (or to any of my other email addresses which all have the same prefix.
***
[10/29/11] I guess another way to do it is to create another gmail account and have that account forward to your regular email. For now, I have decided to forward hawaiiantel's emails to my gmail account as I want to transition my regular email over to gmail.
So I'm changing my email address from xyz@hawaiiantel.net to xyz@gmail.com. But ebay didn't allow me to change it, saying your "eBay user id cannot be the same as your email address". Well my eBay user id isn't my email address, but it's the same prefix. In fact, it's the same prefix currently. I think I must have opened my account before they instituted this policy.
So the message is incorrect. It should say your "eBay user id cannot be changed to be the same prefix as your email address." (Even though it already is, in my case.)
Why? Apparently to decrease spammers. (But out of all my many online accounts, eBay is the only one with this annoyingly safe policy.)
But here's one workaround if you're changing to a gmail account:
If any of you use gmail or google apps, you can trick this.
for example, put yourusername+ebay@gmail.com
Google mail ignores everything after the plus, so the end result is that it goes to yourusername@gmail.com. Hehe.
Don't know if I'm going to try this yet though, since if I change it to gmail and change my mind, I can't change it back to hawaiiantel.net (or to any of my other email addresses which all have the same prefix.
***
[10/29/11] I guess another way to do it is to create another gmail account and have that account forward to your regular email. For now, I have decided to forward hawaiiantel's emails to my gmail account as I want to transition my regular email over to gmail.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Trash Inc.
Caught the end of this on CNBC. Looked pretty interesting.
Here's the description from their website.
Garbage. It's everywhere — even in the middle of the oceans — and it's pure gold for companies like Waste Management and Republic Services who dominate this $52 billion-a-year industry. From curbside collection by trucks costing $250,000 each, to per-ton tipping fees at landfills, there's money to be made at every point as more than half of the 250 million tons of trash created in the United States each year reaches its final resting place.
At a cost of $1 million per acre to construct, operate and ultimately close in an environmentally feasible method, modern landfills are technological marvels — a far cry from the town dump that still resonates in most people's perceptions. Not only do they make money for their owners, they add millions to the economic wellbeing of the towns that house them. Technologies, such as Landfill Natural Gas and Waste To Energy, are giving garbage a second life, turning trash into power sources and helping to solve mounting problems. It's particularly important in places like Hawaii, where disposal space is an issue, and in China, where land and energy are needed and trash is plentiful.
One sure thing about the garbage business: it's always picking up.
And the program is available at the website as well.
Here's the description from their website.
Garbage. It's everywhere — even in the middle of the oceans — and it's pure gold for companies like Waste Management and Republic Services who dominate this $52 billion-a-year industry. From curbside collection by trucks costing $250,000 each, to per-ton tipping fees at landfills, there's money to be made at every point as more than half of the 250 million tons of trash created in the United States each year reaches its final resting place.
At a cost of $1 million per acre to construct, operate and ultimately close in an environmentally feasible method, modern landfills are technological marvels — a far cry from the town dump that still resonates in most people's perceptions. Not only do they make money for their owners, they add millions to the economic wellbeing of the towns that house them. Technologies, such as Landfill Natural Gas and Waste To Energy, are giving garbage a second life, turning trash into power sources and helping to solve mounting problems. It's particularly important in places like Hawaii, where disposal space is an issue, and in China, where land and energy are needed and trash is plentiful.
One sure thing about the garbage business: it's always picking up.
And the program is available at the website as well.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
internet on your TV (or TV over your internet)
I've (and you) have been bombarded by Roku ads while browsing in the last couple of weeks.
I had been considering buying a laptop to hook up to my Panasonic Plasma TV, but Roku may be the cheaper way to go.
Roku is a device that allows you to access Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, and more and view the content on your TV. It's small and cheap and apparently works fairly well. However it's not the full internet (no web browser, no youtube yet). Reviews have generally been positive.
Another option is Google TV. This doesn't seem as readily available. And is available only on select Sony TVs, Sony Blu-Ray players, or via the Logitech Revue box. The Logitech Revue looks a little more clunky than the Roku but apparently allows you to access the whole internet and includes a keyboard. Here's a review. Ah, not quite everything. No Hulu. Or ABC or CBS.
Another competing device is Apple TV (see end of Roku review). Looks pretty good, but no Hulu Plus (not sure why).
[10/24/11] How about the boxee? And others!
Will these replace my subscription to my cable TV. Not for me. No ESPN is the main bugaboo. But if you just want to watch movies or TV, I could live w/o paying the $90 per month that Oceanic charges for my HD Entertainment Pack and DVR.
Maybe PlayOn will work? But apparently it streams from the internet, so it's doubtful they would stream live games. Apparently you can watch ESPN, but you have to be a Time Warner subscriber already. So what's the point?
[10/24/11] And apparently you can't watch Hulu, only Hulu Plus, on the Roku (and I assume on any of the other devices too).
[12/27/11] Tried out the Roku which was set up at Best Buy yesterday. It occassionally pauses for a significant amount of time, I assume due to internet traffic and/or buffering. But once it gets going, it's not bad. For one thing, you get free Three Stooges episodes at crackle (though I got em all now on dvd). And also kdrama (korean dramas) which are apparently normally only available as an apple app. Then I went over to Costco and saw it selling there for like 15 bucks cheaper. The Blu-Ray players are getting cheaper too. Like in the $60 range now.
[6/11/12] Here's JDoyle32's setup. He cancelled his cable in 2008.
[6/18/12] What's the difference between Roku LT and Roku HD? Not much (aside from 10 bucks).
[12/28/13] Another difference, according to erikvines, is the the LT has 256MB flash memory while the HD has 2GB. But according to wikipedia, both the LT and HD have 256 MiB.
[12/11/12] Ah, here's a difference between the Roku 2 and the older Roku boxes. The Roku 2 supports closed caption on Netflx.
[12/11/12] Ah, apparently Roku LT supports closed caption too. How about my Roku HD? maybe, since it's a "new" Roku. Nope. So there's another difference between the LT and HD.
[6/20/12] A nice review of the Roku 2 XS (which I saw at Costco for 79.99).
[10/31/12] Here's a Roku-like device (I think this was the one I saw in a Best Buy ad some months ago) called NeoTV from Netgear. One advantage: native youtube access. One disadvantage: connects only via HDMI. And currently only $39 online from Dell. Gets mixed reviews on Amazon. The Roku gets better reviews on Amazon and is the same price as from roku.com.
[11/13/12] lifehacker's guide to watching TV shows and movies on the internet (without cable)
[3/5/13] Here's another article from DailyFinance (from two years ago)
[11/28/12] Hey, gave in to the black friday frenzy and picked up a roku at Best Buy on Saturday. Good deal. It's the Roku HD, normally $59.99, but on sale for only $39.99 (plus tax).
Spent a couple of days browsing channels. And some channels are pretty quirky. It ain't live TV. There's only a few live channels. Not much in sports. It allows you to look at your facebook photos and videos on TV. No hulu, no youtube. But then I came across this channel VideoBuzz. It allows you to access your youtube videos sometimes even better than youtube. The search function brings up some playlists that I couldn't find on the youtube site (or I don't know how to find playlists on youtube). This alone probably makes this investment worthwhile as there's a lot of videos available youtube (temporarily anyway as the legality of some these are questionable). Even VideoBuzz might be of questionable legality as Google has taken away youtube access from roku before. It's kind of like a pirate NetFlix.
[12/25/12] looking up tablets, I went from this page to this page to this page to this page where I came across Aereo. What's this? It's a service in New York which allows you to watch the major network TV channels over the internet without cable or an antenna. This would seem to be the future. But they're getting hit by lawsuit after lawsuit. So maybe not.
[4/1/13] In a blow to major TV broadcasters, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that startup Aereo can continue to stream live local TV through its website and app.
Consumer groups applauded the decision because it ushers in greater flexibility in choosing TV shows without paying a hefty cable bill. However it also signals that more legal fights will likely be waged by broadcasters eager to hold on to advertising revenues and retransmission fees that cable companies pay to carry their channels.
Backed by Barry Diller's IAC Interactive, Aereo enables subscribers to stream live broadcast content from local stations - including the networks, public television and Spanish language channels - on their desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
[1/30/13] Lifehacker reviews and compares Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Boxee, WD TV Live. [The reviewer actually likes his homebrew XBMC the best.]
And a comparison between Roku and WD TV Live (which Libert has). The main advantage of WD Live is you can play media files on a usb drive. One error, this review seems to think that roku supports youtube. [and there's this report that WD is blocking youtube videos]
[8/29/13] Disney added to Apple TV lineup. Roku has that already. But I see they previously added ESPN. So that might be reason no. 2 for Apple TV. The ability to stream (AirPlay) from your ipad or itune to TV plus ESPN.
Hmm.. Chromecast can now do that too, but no ESPN yet. Not on Roku either.
[10/12/13] which streaming device is right for you?
[2/13/14] Another article comparing the Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast. [and previously posted on my What's On Roku post: Here's a smackdown between the Chromecast, Roku 3, Apple TV. Notable is that Netflix takes longer to load on the Apple TV.]
I had been considering buying a laptop to hook up to my Panasonic Plasma TV, but Roku may be the cheaper way to go.
Roku is a device that allows you to access Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, and more and view the content on your TV. It's small and cheap and apparently works fairly well. However it's not the full internet (no web browser, no youtube yet). Reviews have generally been positive.
Another option is Google TV. This doesn't seem as readily available. And is available only on select Sony TVs, Sony Blu-Ray players, or via the Logitech Revue box. The Logitech Revue looks a little more clunky than the Roku but apparently allows you to access the whole internet and includes a keyboard. Here's a review. Ah, not quite everything. No Hulu. Or ABC or CBS.
Another competing device is Apple TV (see end of Roku review). Looks pretty good, but no Hulu Plus (not sure why).
[10/24/11] How about the boxee? And others!
Will these replace my subscription to my cable TV. Not for me. No ESPN is the main bugaboo. But if you just want to watch movies or TV, I could live w/o paying the $90 per month that Oceanic charges for my HD Entertainment Pack and DVR.
Maybe PlayOn will work? But apparently it streams from the internet, so it's doubtful they would stream live games. Apparently you can watch ESPN, but you have to be a Time Warner subscriber already. So what's the point?
[10/24/11] And apparently you can't watch Hulu, only Hulu Plus, on the Roku (and I assume on any of the other devices too).
[12/27/11] Tried out the Roku which was set up at Best Buy yesterday. It occassionally pauses for a significant amount of time, I assume due to internet traffic and/or buffering. But once it gets going, it's not bad. For one thing, you get free Three Stooges episodes at crackle (though I got em all now on dvd). And also kdrama (korean dramas) which are apparently normally only available as an apple app. Then I went over to Costco and saw it selling there for like 15 bucks cheaper. The Blu-Ray players are getting cheaper too. Like in the $60 range now.
[6/11/12] Here's JDoyle32's setup. He cancelled his cable in 2008.
[6/18/12] What's the difference between Roku LT and Roku HD? Not much (aside from 10 bucks).
[12/28/13] Another difference, according to erikvines, is the the LT has 256MB flash memory while the HD has 2GB. But according to wikipedia, both the LT and HD have 256 MiB.
[12/11/12] Ah, here's a difference between the Roku 2 and the older Roku boxes. The Roku 2 supports closed caption on Netflx.
[12/11/12] Ah, apparently Roku LT supports closed caption too. How about my Roku HD? maybe, since it's a "new" Roku. Nope. So there's another difference between the LT and HD.
[6/20/12] A nice review of the Roku 2 XS (which I saw at Costco for 79.99).
[10/31/12] Here's a Roku-like device (I think this was the one I saw in a Best Buy ad some months ago) called NeoTV from Netgear. One advantage: native youtube access. One disadvantage: connects only via HDMI. And currently only $39 online from Dell. Gets mixed reviews on Amazon. The Roku gets better reviews on Amazon and is the same price as from roku.com.
[11/13/12] lifehacker's guide to watching TV shows and movies on the internet (without cable)
[3/5/13] Here's another article from DailyFinance (from two years ago)
[11/28/12] Hey, gave in to the black friday frenzy and picked up a roku at Best Buy on Saturday. Good deal. It's the Roku HD, normally $59.99, but on sale for only $39.99 (plus tax).
Spent a couple of days browsing channels. And some channels are pretty quirky. It ain't live TV. There's only a few live channels. Not much in sports. It allows you to look at your facebook photos and videos on TV. No hulu, no youtube. But then I came across this channel VideoBuzz. It allows you to access your youtube videos sometimes even better than youtube. The search function brings up some playlists that I couldn't find on the youtube site (or I don't know how to find playlists on youtube). This alone probably makes this investment worthwhile as there's a lot of videos available youtube (temporarily anyway as the legality of some these are questionable). Even VideoBuzz might be of questionable legality as Google has taken away youtube access from roku before. It's kind of like a pirate NetFlix.
[12/25/12] looking up tablets, I went from this page to this page to this page to this page where I came across Aereo. What's this? It's a service in New York which allows you to watch the major network TV channels over the internet without cable or an antenna. This would seem to be the future. But they're getting hit by lawsuit after lawsuit. So maybe not.
[4/1/13] In a blow to major TV broadcasters, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that startup Aereo can continue to stream live local TV through its website and app.
Consumer groups applauded the decision because it ushers in greater flexibility in choosing TV shows without paying a hefty cable bill. However it also signals that more legal fights will likely be waged by broadcasters eager to hold on to advertising revenues and retransmission fees that cable companies pay to carry their channels.
Backed by Barry Diller's IAC Interactive, Aereo enables subscribers to stream live broadcast content from local stations - including the networks, public television and Spanish language channels - on their desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
[1/30/13] Lifehacker reviews and compares Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Boxee, WD TV Live. [The reviewer actually likes his homebrew XBMC the best.]
And a comparison between Roku and WD TV Live (which Libert has). The main advantage of WD Live is you can play media files on a usb drive. One error, this review seems to think that roku supports youtube. [and there's this report that WD is blocking youtube videos]
[8/29/13] Disney added to Apple TV lineup. Roku has that already. But I see they previously added ESPN. So that might be reason no. 2 for Apple TV. The ability to stream (AirPlay) from your ipad or itune to TV plus ESPN.
Hmm.. Chromecast can now do that too, but no ESPN yet. Not on Roku either.
[10/12/13] which streaming device is right for you?
[2/13/14] Another article comparing the Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast. [and previously posted on my What's On Roku post: Here's a smackdown between the Chromecast, Roku 3, Apple TV. Notable is that Netflix takes longer to load on the Apple TV.]
Thursday, October 13, 2011
hiding a page from google
I have some webpages on htohananet.com that I want to modify or remove, but hawaiiantel cut off my access to it a couple of years ago without telling me (well it was someplace on their website, but who looks there? I found out only after the fact.)
Anyway, hawaiiantel now says they no longer have access to those pages. And what's worse, couldn't direct me to anybody who does.
Anyway, the site has now been spidered by google. And google effectively says virtually anything on the web is up for grabs (except for confidential information like social security numbers).
Well, to prevent this from happening again, I want to prevent the search engines from finding some webpages when I upload them to another site.
And here's a page that tells me how.
From what I gather, all you have to do is create a robots.txt file with the following commands:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
Alternatively, you can insert this meta tag in the HEAD section of the page
***
Here's google's instructions.
Anyway, hawaiiantel now says they no longer have access to those pages. And what's worse, couldn't direct me to anybody who does.
Anyway, the site has now been spidered by google. And google effectively says virtually anything on the web is up for grabs (except for confidential information like social security numbers).
Well, to prevent this from happening again, I want to prevent the search engines from finding some webpages when I upload them to another site.
And here's a page that tells me how.
From what I gather, all you have to do is create a robots.txt file with the following commands:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
Alternatively, you can insert this meta tag in the HEAD section of the page
***
Here's google's instructions.
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