A Practical Guide to Canceling XM Radio
Depending on what my mood was when you asked, I’d have told you that this blogs domain name came about during the time when I was a dual cable and satellite TV subscriber, or from the time when I was a dual subscriber to Sirius and XM. Regardless of which story I tell at what time, when I subscribed to XM back in 2005 I thought that I would be a subscriber for life. Then Sirius bought them out.
I’ve been totally disappointed in the music available on XM since the day that Fred, Ethel and Lucy went away after the merger. I supplemented my XM subscription with Pandora while I waited for news about what Satellite Radio 2.0 would look like, but my frustration with XM has only grown over the last two years. When I knew that 2.0 was a letdown for me, I got very serious about finding a way out of my XM subscription. Follow along as I lay out the services and applications that I chose to replace XM.
My requirements seem simple, but finding an all-in-one solution to my problem isn’t possible. I listen to lots of music, sports talk and, at times, news. I’ve never listened to Howard Stern or Opie and Anthony as it’s just not my thing. Likewise, I had no use for all of the political talk on XM. I have my own political beliefs and I’ve never felt the need to commiserate with someone that believes what I do, nor listen to mindless bitching by those that don’t.
Music, sports and a little news. That’s what I want. Here’s how I got it.
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A Multi Dwelling Unit (MDU) DirecTV horror story
My son graduated from college, got his first real (great) job and moved in to one of the hottest properties in our area. That’s the good part of the story.
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Of course Android will survive the patent mess.
I just love reading the missives surrounding the whole Android patent mess that Google not only allowed to happen, but they seemingly encouraged. There were a lot of things that Google could have done to prevent this mess from being such an issue, they just didn’t.
Way back in 2005 when Google bought Android they could have dedicated a floor in the Android building to patent lawyers. You know, the kind that put a unique spin on the plainly obvious and file for a patent. They didn’t. They could have bought up some IP from trolls, small companies and other inventors. They didn’t. Hell, they could have licensed patents from others. Again, they didn’t. There was also the route that they took; do absolutely nothing.
For sure, Google’s inattention to Android IP issues created a mine field for device manufacturers. HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Barnes & Noble and even Google themselves are all being sued, being threatened with a lawsuit or have already entered into various licensing agreements with the likes of Microsoft and others to cover the Android technology in the phones that they sell. As an Android user do I like the fact that the vendors surrounding my phone OS of choice have to pay royalties to the likes of Microsoft to sell me my phone? No, I don’t like it. In fact, I hate it, but patent royalties have absolutely no impact on my life, my daily usage of my phone or my investments, so I ignore it.
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HBO and Showtime need to cut the cord too
Both of my kids went away for college and like a lot of dorm dwellers they did without some pay TV luxuries provided at home. Both survived their torment by recording things to the DVR’s at home and having marathon TV sessions on their next trip home, but why should they have to? Why can’t HBO, Showtime and other pay TV networks break free from cable and satellite?
Dorm room cable offers kids the basics of TV entertainment, but mostly in SD at the college that my kids both chose. Would parents, or students themselves find enough value in HBO or Showtime to pay a subscription fee to get them? Let me tell you, I would and I’m sure that I’m not alone. Offer me a $10 add-on to my subscription and I’d pay that to allow my daughter to have her own one stream at a time HBO Go account. Same for Showtime Anytime. Give me options that are convenient for me and I’ll bite, even if it comes with a price.
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Apple vs Google, the cloud showdown
Apple’s recently announced iCloud service is a clear response to the loosely organized but very widely used Google cloud assortment. If you look, Apple seems to have all of the major Google bases covered. There’s mail, calendar, contacts, documents and music to go along with App Store and iTunes Music Store history.
It’s a well rounded product from what can be seen and used today, and it was very convenient to download all of the iTunes purchases that I had mistakenly deleted over the years. But is it just a Google vs Apple, head-to-head thing? Oh no, don’t confuse it for that. The cloud is a shared vision between the two companies, but the approach and intent couldn’t be more opposite.
Read the rest of this entry »
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So Verizon is switching to tiered data
It took me almost a month to set up my Wi-Fi access when I got my Thunderbolt. I get the fauxG speeds at my house, so I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to get it done. In that first month of usage I used nearly 4GB of data on my phone. In the 2 months since I added my Wi-Fi network I’ve used less than 1GB on the fast fauxG pipes each month.
Well, I’m all done saving Verizon’s bandwidth.
I’ve gone over 5GB of data a few times with VZW and never gotten a charge or a warning, but I always used Wi-Fi because of the speed difference over 3G. Travel usually gets me, but I never wanted to be a bandwidth hog, until now.
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Watch the Google I/O 2011 keynote in 720p goodness
The live stream was in 480p and was hard to watch. The YouTube upload has a 720p HD option an it looks quite a lot better.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxzucwjFEEs']
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Google I/O Coverage
All of my stories, as well as quite a few others can be found at Androidheadlines.com
A lot of big news today.
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I’m so ready for a ChromeOS Netbook
I wasn’t chosen to get a ChromeOS Netbook, though I wanted one badly. Instead, Google chose to send them to no fewer than nine people that I found in my area that promptly put them up for sale on Craigslist. Me? The one that wanted to actually use it? No. Nine who wanted to sell them on Craigslist for a profit? Sure, those guys got one.
There. I’m over it now.
In the absence of a proper ChromeBook I’ve been using my white MacBook like a ChromeOS netbook. As much as possible I’ve used only web based services in Chrome and I really like my results. I’ve transformed my work, and a good bit of my life to cloud only.
I’ve got GB’s worth of music on Amazon Cloud Drive (until Google gets it in gear), all of my documents and spreadsheets are in Google Docs and I’ve gone back to using Gmail only in the browser. I’m even using Picnik for my light image editing. In every way possible I’ve replaced my Macbook Pro and Ubuntu desktop work with a ChromeOS like experience in my MacBook.
In short, I’m ready to roll. I really like the way that things are working for me, and the bare bones features in Google Docs have actually made me more productive. I didn’t get in on the ChromeOS netbook giveaway but I will buy one as soon as they come out. I would also do the monthly fee if Google goes that route as rumored.
There are things that just wouldn’t work for me on a ChromeOS Netbook, but so many things that would. I’m a buyer.
I just hope it has a light up, colored Google logo on the back of the screen. That would be cool.
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If Michael Dell farted would it leave a Dell Streak in his shorts?
I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to Michael Dell and Dell computers. I will admit that I have a deep hatred for all things Dell and it was owning a Dell computer that turned me to building my own computers. I hate Dell. There.
Mike Dell, the same Mike Dell who in 1997 famously said in answer to a question from C|Net about what he would do if he were running Apple:
“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,” Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.
That Mike Dell. He’s at it again when it comes to taking swipes at Apple. He had this to say to the Wall Street Journal:
Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But again, if you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, “What is that?” And now there are more Android phones than iPhones. I don’t see any reason why the same won’t occur with Android tablets.
Now, you know, it’s not the thought behind his quote that I take issue with, it’s the idea that Michael Dell said it. Nothing that Dell has done with Android has been worth a mention. Their past Android based devices haven’t been received very well and their upcoming 10″ model doesn’t give me the tingles either.
Dell has been shipping what to me are shit computers, laptops and now tablets for a really long time, but that isn’t stopping Michael Dell from stating that Android devices will out ship iPads soon-ish. He’s likely right, based on the number of devices that are or will soon be available Android tablets will likely out ship iPads in the not-so-distant future. You’re just not going to find Dell tablets anywhere near the top of the Android sales leader chart.
Mike, leave the trash talking to the CEO’s of companies that are actually in the game.
