Some things to consider before cutting the Cable Cord

Cutting the Cord is the new thing these days. So much so that Cable Companies are actually paying attention. You can find a lot of good articles about how to do it here and here and here.

But there are some things to keep in mind before you ditch cable. Essentially it boils down to what are you trying to accomplish?

Maybe you want to be a purist and just have a regular old TV with local OTA stations. Get yourself a good OTA HD antenna and you are good to go as long as you live in an urban area with good line of sight television stations.  Or you could just get rid of your TV and do things like read Proust in the original French and then interpreting it into postmodern dance.

Most people want the benefits of cable without the high costs. Here’s the thing. you still need an internet connection and a good one at that.

In 2015, the FCC redefined what constitutes “broadband” speed in the US as 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download speeds, up from 4 Mbps, which was the standard since 2010…. In the FCC’s 2016 Broadband Progress Report, it said 34 million US citizens (10 percent) lack access to such speeds; 23 million of those people are in rural areas.– PC Mag.com

We have Comcast, also known as Satan’s Overachieving Sibling, for our internet.  Like most (all) cable companies, Comcast doesn’t separate their internet package from their basic bundle, so we get all the OTA channels and other lame stations no one watches.   Before we had cable, I simply connected an old PC to our TV and watched a lot of stuff online.  I was using an older technology but today most laptops come with at least one HDMI cable and if you have a new HDTV, you are in business.

However, most people want a Living Room Theatre-like experience without getting too techie.  You need a some type of Media Streaming device, i.e. the hardware.  There’s Roku, AppleTV, Chromcast, Amazon Fire TV, (others I’m missing).  You can also buy a SmartTV but these aren’t the panacea they promised.  For one thing, as the model gets older, the supported apps diminish.  And some  SmartTVs don’t play nice (I’m looking at you Samsung) and some media streamers are locked out.  For instance, for the longest time I couldn’t get HBO Go on my Roku, even though I could get HBO on our cable and on my SmartTV.  Though Samsung and Sling swear there exist Samsung TVs out that that it will work, I cannot get SlingTV on my specific model.

The streaming hub is just one part though.  Most come with some free channels but again, just like with cable, you get what you pay for.  You’re not gonna be able to watch Game of Thrones, Walking Dead or The Hunger Game movies for free until you add Subscription Service  (read: paid) like SlingTV, Netfix, Hulu, etc.  Some of these have free and pay options and again, the free stuff is very limited.

Some linkage for your research:

• Pros and Cons of Cutting Cable
• Ultimate Cord Cutter’s Guide
• How to Watch All TV without a Cable Bill
• How to get rid of Cable

 

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With one month to go, 2016 worse Year of the Decade

What to make of 2016.  It started with Bowie who grabbed Glenn Frey in order to catch a ride to a party at Vanity’s palace in the sky.  But it wasn’t so much the celebrity deaths that got us.  No it was the election fatigue.  The U.S. Presidential campaign seems to start earlier and earlier each cycle and frankly it is exhausting.  I honestly believe we need to switch to a Hunger Games format and just be done with it.

And a good majority of Americans have found themselves upset at the results of an Electoral College that merely did it’s job as outlined in The Constitution.  And then the slow decent into Dante’s Many Circles of Hell has begun.

I am stuck in a post-election haze of despair–sometimes depressed, sometimes embarassed, often nauseated and, and frequently terrified.  And I’m a straight cis white old male who isn’t too bad off!

Trump is such a base, horrible human being, and he has, in my view, such shallow ideas about pretty much everything that I am truly sickened by the idea that people I went to school with have chosen him.

They didn’t vote for racism! They voted to make America great again!

“If Trump’s administration indulges in the racism, sexism and religious and other bigotries that Trump and his people have already promised to engage in, we can assume it’s because his voters are just fine with that racism, sexism and religious and other bigotries — even if they claim to have voted for him for other reasons entirely. After all, Trump didn’t hide these things about himself, or try to sneak these plans in by a side door. They were in full view this entire time. If you vote for a bigot who has bigoted plans, you need to be aware of what that says about you, and your complicity in those plans.”  — John Salzi.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

 

Free Fun Friday is where I like to feature a video that has gone viral or is otherwise interesting. It started as a way to make a quick blog entry so that I wouldn’t go too long between post for my readers. Now it’s sort of evolved as a way to stretch my writing muscles and flex my creativity neural pathways.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you will comment below. Here’s the part where I beg for stuff because we get paid in likes, shares, re-tweets and feedback. Please also do any and all of the following:

Follow Mysteries of Life on Twitter (@MysteriesOLife), Facebook or subscribe via email.