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]
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
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.
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.
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.
Monday, December 14, 2015
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
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
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
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.
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
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"
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.
[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.
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
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.
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