Netflix will allow customers to download some shows and movies to
their devices for offline viewing, fulfilling a long-standing request
from users for easier access to their favorite video content.
The
streaming-video provider said Wednesday that hit shows such as “Orange
Is the New Black,” “Narcos” and “The Crown” will be among the first
series that customers can download. The feature is available now as an
update to the Netflix app on phones and tablets powered by Android and
iOS, the company said.
Only some types of content will support
downloads at first, but more will be added in the future. And all
Netflix users worldwide can take advantage of the new capability,
regardless of what plan they have.
***
Hey, you can download The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Monday, November 21, 2016
dementia on the decline
A
new study finds that the prevalence of dementia has fallen sharply in
recent years, most likely as a result of Americans' rising educational
levels and better heart health, which are both closely related to brain
health.
Dementia rates in
people over age 65 fell from 11.6 percent in 2000 to 8.8 percent in
2012, a decline of 24 percent, according to a study of more than 21,000
people across the country published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
"It's
definitely good news," said Dr. Kenneth Langa, a professor of internal
medicine at the University of Michigan and a coauthor of the new study.
"Even without a cure for Alzheimer's disease or a new medication, there
are things that we can do socially and medically and behaviorally that
can significantly reduce the risk."
While advocates for people with dementia welcomed the news, they noted
that Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory loss remain a serious
burden for the nation and the world. Up to five million Americans
today suffer from dementia, a number that is expected to triple by 2050,
as people live longer and the elderly population increases.
Although researchers can't definitively explain why dementia rates are
decreasing, Langa said doctors may be doing a better job controlling
high blood pressure and diabetes, which can both boost the risk of
age-related memory problems. High blood pressure and diabetes both
increase the risk of strokes, which kill brain cells, increasing the
risk of vascular dementia.
"We've been saying now for several years that what's good for your heart
is good for your head," Fargo said. "There are several things you can
do to reduce your risk for dementia."
Authors of the study found that senior
citizens today are better educated than even half a generation ago. The
population studied in 2012 stayed in school 13 years, while the seniors
studied in 2000 had about 12 years of education, according to the study.
That's
significant, because many studies have found a strong link between
higher educational levels and lower risk of disease, including dementia,
Lang said. The reasons are likely to be complex. People with more
education tend to earn more money and have better access to health care.
They're less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise and less likely
to be overweight. People with more education also may live in safer
neighborhoods and have less stress.
People
who are better educated may have more intellectually stimulating jobs
and hobbies that help exercise their brains, Lang said.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
TWC TV
[11/22/16] KGMB is now showing KGMB (CBS). Although when I first accessed the app today, it showed the major network channels missing. Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC were missing, but KFVE, KHET, CW were there.
[11/15/16] OK, now I see CW is on. It's on channel 1093. But oddly KGMB (channel 7, 87, 1007) is showing NBCSN instead. Same on my iPad. Meanwhile NBCSN (1210) is erroring out. OK, a work in progress. And now I see ESPN2 is on Channel 1224 (and 224).
[11/12/16] Checking out the TWC TV app on my mom's Roku TV in Aiea. Since they have both TV and internet service from Oceanic, they had a lot of channels available on the app. But notably they lacked the local network channels as well as OCSports and OC16.
But today I notice Oceanic has expanded the channels carried. They now carry the local network channels live (KHON, KFVE, KITV, KGMB, KHNL, KHET) as well as OCSports and OC16. The notable omissions are The CW and ESPN2. They do have the NFL Network, but not NFL Redzone. However I can catch those channels on the separate Roku apps (though admittedly NFL not supported by Time Warner Cable last I checked). They even have KBFD, KIKU, KWHE, MeTV (126) and Antenna TV (541).
Anyway, with the addition of these channels, this pretty much takes away my desire of hooking up direct cable or an antenna to her Roku TV.
I'm noticing the "reception" of the local (and other) channels isn't always that great. Sometimes I can't catch the channels or the channel "dies" or the video is grainy. But it usually works.
[7/20/12] signed up for twctv. supposedly you can watch TV on your computer or ipad or whatever device.
Pretty neat. I can get the guide and change the channel from my computer. But live TV isn't working. I wonder if it'll work in the morning. Or if that feature isn't implemented yet?
... looking ... apparently for live TV to work you have to have Time Warner cable for both TV and internet. And you must be connected to your home internet. Since, I'm on Oceanic cable and not hawaiiantelnet dsl, apparently I'm out of luck. Would have been neat to be able to watch my TV over any internet connection. But I guess not.
Mysti Amber writes: Tells me I cannot watch because I am not connected to my network. So how do i connect my box to my wireless network.. The Timewarner rep said I need Time warner internet. Seriously? I am not going to buy their internet just so I can watch tv on my laptop and I can only watch it AT HOME? Are you serious? I was going to figure out how to get it going but if I can't watch it when I am away from home then why bother. I can just go sit in front of the tv. FAIL
I see it states that you can "watch live programming on your computer within your own home". In other words, not outside your home.
I guess On Demand is theoretically better than just mindless watching whatever happens to be on live anyway..
***
[1/9/12] Now I see that TWC is coming to Roku. Apparently it'll be the same deal. It looks to me that you'll have to be a subscriber both to Time Warner cable and Time Warner Road Runner. And be connected to your own Road Runner service. So won't do me any good.
[6/13/15] TWC is much better on the iPad. You can watch a number of live channels, On Demand shows and movies. And you don't have to be on your Oceanic internet network, though you get access to fewer channels if you are not.
[11/15/16] OK, now I see CW is on. It's on channel 1093. But oddly KGMB (channel 7, 87, 1007) is showing NBCSN instead. Same on my iPad. Meanwhile NBCSN (1210) is erroring out. OK, a work in progress. And now I see ESPN2 is on Channel 1224 (and 224).
[11/12/16] Checking out the TWC TV app on my mom's Roku TV in Aiea. Since they have both TV and internet service from Oceanic, they had a lot of channels available on the app. But notably they lacked the local network channels as well as OCSports and OC16.
But today I notice Oceanic has expanded the channels carried. They now carry the local network channels live (KHON, KFVE, KITV, KGMB, KHNL, KHET) as well as OCSports and OC16. The notable omissions are The CW and ESPN2. They do have the NFL Network, but not NFL Redzone. However I can catch those channels on the separate Roku apps (though admittedly NFL not supported by Time Warner Cable last I checked). They even have KBFD, KIKU, KWHE, MeTV (126) and Antenna TV (541).
Anyway, with the addition of these channels, this pretty much takes away my desire of hooking up direct cable or an antenna to her Roku TV.
I'm noticing the "reception" of the local (and other) channels isn't always that great. Sometimes I can't catch the channels or the channel "dies" or the video is grainy. But it usually works.
[7/20/12] signed up for twctv. supposedly you can watch TV on your computer or ipad or whatever device.
Pretty neat. I can get the guide and change the channel from my computer. But live TV isn't working. I wonder if it'll work in the morning. Or if that feature isn't implemented yet?
... looking ... apparently for live TV to work you have to have Time Warner cable for both TV and internet. And you must be connected to your home internet. Since, I'm on Oceanic cable and not hawaiiantelnet dsl, apparently I'm out of luck. Would have been neat to be able to watch my TV over any internet connection. But I guess not.
Mysti Amber writes: Tells me I cannot watch because I am not connected to my network. So how do i connect my box to my wireless network.. The Timewarner rep said I need Time warner internet. Seriously? I am not going to buy their internet just so I can watch tv on my laptop and I can only watch it AT HOME? Are you serious? I was going to figure out how to get it going but if I can't watch it when I am away from home then why bother. I can just go sit in front of the tv. FAIL
I see it states that you can "watch live programming on your computer within your own home". In other words, not outside your home.
I guess On Demand is theoretically better than just mindless watching whatever happens to be on live anyway..
***
[1/9/12] Now I see that TWC is coming to Roku. Apparently it'll be the same deal. It looks to me that you'll have to be a subscriber both to Time Warner cable and Time Warner Road Runner. And be connected to your own Road Runner service. So won't do me any good.
[6/13/15] TWC is much better on the iPad. You can watch a number of live channels, On Demand shows and movies. And you don't have to be on your Oceanic internet network, though you get access to fewer channels if you are not.
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
Prime Reading
A new feature for Amazon Prime members (noticed from this article). Look it up.
This service is accessible on all devices running the Kindle app,
rendering it distinct from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which
offers Kindle and Fire owners one free e-book rental per month. Prime
members will still have access to Kindle First, the program offering
members one free new-release prior to its publication date.
While a useful addition, the new perk likely won't bring in droves of new members the same way as other popular services, such as Prime's unlimited, two-day shipping or the Prime Day shopping holiday.
However, all the additional reading sparked by Prime Reading could help drive more sales of e-books, a market Amazon helped birth and still dominates. Also, Prime Reading may serve as a gateway to get more of Amazon's loyalest customers to sign up for Kindle Unlimited, Amazon's $10 monthly reading service that includes over 1 million books and thousands of audiobooks. Using a similar tactic, Amazon last month introduced a slimmed-down, free-for-Prime version of its paid audiobook services called Audible Channels. A full Audible membership costs $14.95 a month.
In addition to Prime Reading, Amazon will continue to provide the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. That Prime service lets people borrow one e-book a month from a much wider selection of hundreds of thousands of titles. Unlike Prime Reading -- which can be used with Amazon, iOS and Android devices -- the lending library is only available on Kindle and Fire devices.
***
OK, let's try it out on my Fire Tablet.
Go to Books. Select Store. Select NEW! Prime Reading.
There are several categories.
New & Notable: 15 titles.
Current Magazines: "Every month we choose a selection of top magazines for you to borrow as part of your Prime membership." There's some good stuff here, such as Smithsonian Magazine, New York Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Slam, Money, House Beautiful, Real Simple, The Atlantic, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, The New Yorker. It remains to be seen how many of these will be offered next month. I chose to try Money Magazine, but found it a little hard to read on my tablet. My eyes ain't that good any more :(
Science Fiction & Fantasy: 96 titles including Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.
Nonfiction: 432 titles, including The Millionaire Next Door and Life Hacks. I chose Habit Stacking. Do Less sounds interesting. Let's try that one too.
Mystery & Thriller: 173 titles.
Romance: 163 titles.
Comics & Graphic Novels: 21 titles. Including The Complete Peanuts Vol 1: 1950-1952, and 14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box: A Dilbert Book. OK let's try the Dilbert.
Business & Money: 15 titles. The Million Next Door and Habit Stacking are categories here.
Children's Books: 73 titles. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone is listed here.
Teen & Young Adult: 55 titles.
Kindle Singles & Singles Classics: 23 titles. Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma might be interesting.
Interestingly, when you open up the book the first time, it doesn't start at the front cover. But rather at the introduction.
You can't zoom in when reading the books, so you're stuck with the font size. However, you can zoom when reading magazines. I guess it's big enough for me to read with my freebie reading glasses, but it's a little blurry.
Now that I'm looking at the Dilbert book, the strips appear tiny when they first appear. Tap on them and they become a little bigger. Double-tap on a strip and it appears on it's own screen. From there you can zoom in to read it.
Exit out and try to read another book. My tablet locked up with a black screen. :(
Power off. Turn back on. OK, seems to work now.
Starting this month, Amazon Prime memberships have a new feature: Prime Reading. Under this program, the $99 Prime subscription now includes free access to over one-thousand e-books, comics, and magazines. The content on offer will rotate, hopefully encouraging subscribers to read more and eventually purchase additional e-books.
While a useful addition, the new perk likely won't bring in droves of new members the same way as other popular services, such as Prime's unlimited, two-day shipping or the Prime Day shopping holiday.
However, all the additional reading sparked by Prime Reading could help drive more sales of e-books, a market Amazon helped birth and still dominates. Also, Prime Reading may serve as a gateway to get more of Amazon's loyalest customers to sign up for Kindle Unlimited, Amazon's $10 monthly reading service that includes over 1 million books and thousands of audiobooks. Using a similar tactic, Amazon last month introduced a slimmed-down, free-for-Prime version of its paid audiobook services called Audible Channels. A full Audible membership costs $14.95 a month.
In addition to Prime Reading, Amazon will continue to provide the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. That Prime service lets people borrow one e-book a month from a much wider selection of hundreds of thousands of titles. Unlike Prime Reading -- which can be used with Amazon, iOS and Android devices -- the lending library is only available on Kindle and Fire devices.
***
OK, let's try it out on my Fire Tablet.
Go to Books. Select Store. Select NEW! Prime Reading.
There are several categories.
New & Notable: 15 titles.
Current Magazines: "Every month we choose a selection of top magazines for you to borrow as part of your Prime membership." There's some good stuff here, such as Smithsonian Magazine, New York Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Slam, Money, House Beautiful, Real Simple, The Atlantic, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, The New Yorker. It remains to be seen how many of these will be offered next month. I chose to try Money Magazine, but found it a little hard to read on my tablet. My eyes ain't that good any more :(
Science Fiction & Fantasy: 96 titles including Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.
Nonfiction: 432 titles, including The Millionaire Next Door and Life Hacks. I chose Habit Stacking. Do Less sounds interesting. Let's try that one too.
Mystery & Thriller: 173 titles.
Romance: 163 titles.
Comics & Graphic Novels: 21 titles. Including The Complete Peanuts Vol 1: 1950-1952, and 14 Years of Loyal Service in a Fabric-Covered Box: A Dilbert Book. OK let's try the Dilbert.
Business & Money: 15 titles. The Million Next Door and Habit Stacking are categories here.
Children's Books: 73 titles. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone is listed here.
Teen & Young Adult: 55 titles.
Kindle Singles & Singles Classics: 23 titles. Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma might be interesting.
Interestingly, when you open up the book the first time, it doesn't start at the front cover. But rather at the introduction.
You can't zoom in when reading the books, so you're stuck with the font size. However, you can zoom when reading magazines. I guess it's big enough for me to read with my freebie reading glasses, but it's a little blurry.
Now that I'm looking at the Dilbert book, the strips appear tiny when they first appear. Tap on them and they become a little bigger. Double-tap on a strip and it appears on it's own screen. From there you can zoom in to read it.
Exit out and try to read another book. My tablet locked up with a black screen. :(
Power off. Turn back on. OK, seems to work now.
Tuesday, November 01, 2016
new Hulu streaming service
Video website Hulu on Tuesday announced deals to add programming from
Twenty-first Century Fox and Walt Disney Co to a streaming TV service
that it plans to offer in early 2017.
Disney and Fox, as well as Comcast Corp and Time Warner Inc, own stakes in Hulu.
Hulu's live and on-demand streaming video service will include Fox's entertainment, news, sports and non-fiction content, along with video from Disney's channels including ABC and ESPN, it said in a statement.
Time Warner said in August that it would pay $583 million to buy a 10 percent stake in Hulu and that its Turner networks, including TBS, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies, would be available on the new service.
"With these two new deals in place, and additional partners to come, Hulu will soon give TV fans of all ages live and on-demand access to their favorite programs in a whole new, more flexible, highly personalized way," Hulu Chief Executive Officer Mike Hopkins said in the company's statement.
***
The new live TV streaming service, which will cost about $40 a month, resembles a (not so) skinny bundle. It offers consumers an alternative to cable with no set-up or installation and is seen by Hulu as a complement to its current ad-supported and ad-free subscription models.
Live TV, particularly sporting events, seems to be one of the most common reasons people stick with cable, which makes Hulu’s announcement–specifically its implications for ESPN and Fox Sports–all the more compelling to potential subscribers (and more expensive for Hulu).
Fox and Disney each own about 30% of Hulu, which partly explains the deal, as they are betting on the future of the platform, rather than traditional cable.
And for Hulu, these additions provide ammunition against competitors Netflix and Amazon, which may boast more original content, but have not yet entered the live-streaming space–yet.
***
Well, don't both Sling and Playstation Vue already offer ESPN and Fox sports? This doesn't sound that much different.
Disney and Fox, as well as Comcast Corp and Time Warner Inc, own stakes in Hulu.
Hulu's live and on-demand streaming video service will include Fox's entertainment, news, sports and non-fiction content, along with video from Disney's channels including ABC and ESPN, it said in a statement.
Time Warner said in August that it would pay $583 million to buy a 10 percent stake in Hulu and that its Turner networks, including TBS, Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies, would be available on the new service.
"With these two new deals in place, and additional partners to come, Hulu will soon give TV fans of all ages live and on-demand access to their favorite programs in a whole new, more flexible, highly personalized way," Hulu Chief Executive Officer Mike Hopkins said in the company's statement.
***
The new live TV streaming service, which will cost about $40 a month, resembles a (not so) skinny bundle. It offers consumers an alternative to cable with no set-up or installation and is seen by Hulu as a complement to its current ad-supported and ad-free subscription models.
Live TV, particularly sporting events, seems to be one of the most common reasons people stick with cable, which makes Hulu’s announcement–specifically its implications for ESPN and Fox Sports–all the more compelling to potential subscribers (and more expensive for Hulu).
Fox and Disney each own about 30% of Hulu, which partly explains the deal, as they are betting on the future of the platform, rather than traditional cable.
And for Hulu, these additions provide ammunition against competitors Netflix and Amazon, which may boast more original content, but have not yet entered the live-streaming space–yet.
***
Well, don't both Sling and Playstation Vue already offer ESPN and Fox sports? This doesn't sound that much different.
Firefox locking up? Try this.
Last week, I ran into a problem with Firefox locking up at a particular place on a particular website (if you must know, I was looking up MOAT on Morningstar.com). It worked OK on Chrome.
Went to task manager (I'm using Vista) and noticed the plug-in container running. I think when I end-tasked it, Firefox unlocked up. [Don't really remember, but I assume that's what I did.]
Looking up the problem, it appeared that the problem was Adobe Flash locking up.
So I checked the add-ons and decided to enable uBlock Origin. That seemed to help as the website didn't lock up any more, though uBlock doesn't really affect Flash. Whatever it worked.
And while I was at it, I decided to change Shockwave Flash from Always Activate to Ask to Activate.
And now Firefox has been running faster with less lockups.
There are sometimes though, when you might want to activate Flash. For example, some webpage display videos using Flash. If a webpage is trying to use Flash, there will be a prompt asking whether you want to allow the site to run Adobe Flash. You can either Continue Blocking or Allow. If you Allow, you can choose between Allow Now and Allow and Remember. I generally don't allow it unless I see a video that I might want to watch.
Went to task manager (I'm using Vista) and noticed the plug-in container running. I think when I end-tasked it, Firefox unlocked up. [Don't really remember, but I assume that's what I did.]
Looking up the problem, it appeared that the problem was Adobe Flash locking up.
So I checked the add-ons and decided to enable uBlock Origin. That seemed to help as the website didn't lock up any more, though uBlock doesn't really affect Flash. Whatever it worked.
And while I was at it, I decided to change Shockwave Flash from Always Activate to Ask to Activate.
And now Firefox has been running faster with less lockups.
There are sometimes though, when you might want to activate Flash. For example, some webpage display videos using Flash. If a webpage is trying to use Flash, there will be a prompt asking whether you want to allow the site to run Adobe Flash. You can either Continue Blocking or Allow. If you Allow, you can choose between Allow Now and Allow and Remember. I generally don't allow it unless I see a video that I might want to watch.
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