Year: 2017

OPINION: Why cable cutting is NOT a good idea – just not yet

Dan Uff May 25, 2017 1

If you read 98% of the articles abut getting rid of cable and going all streaming to save money, they make it seem that it is the thing to do, and that cable systems should be worried about their business, or are even predicting their demise in a few years.

Well, I don't mean to be the caller of bad news, but don't call your cable company just yet. Here's why:

While it is true that cable companies are hiking their prices and are giving you less offerings, you're still getting a deal with the number of channels and offerings that a cable company is giving you.

For example, lets say that you're paying an average of $300.00 per month for cable TV and Internet. Now lets compare that to an Internet TV service like DirecTVNow. The maximum channel package is around $70.00 a month. You get all of the channels that they offer, except the local CBS affiliate and some other ones such as the Pop TV Network.

Now if you want CBS, you'll have to pay for the All Access feature for $5.99 a month. That takes you to around $76.00/Month, plus what ever you're paying to have speedy access to the Internet, let's say $40.00/month for the cheapest (and most of the time slowest) Internet access. You're already at around $115.99 / Month.

You'll then find that when you're watching streaming TV, other members of the family are also on the Internet either downloading music, watching videos, etc. That will cut into the WiFi access and it starts to affect YOUR TV viewing - unless you have the highest Internet access available - which could be around $70.00/Month.

So, lets really break it down:

Streaming Only:

DirectTVNow - $70.00 / Month (May or may not include all local channels or net affiliates).
CBS Access - $5.99 / Month.
Internet Access (highest speed) - $70.00 / Month.
Add HBO and/or Showtime / $5.99 /Month.
Grand Total: $150.00 / Month.
Grand Total: $1,800.00 / Year.

Cable TV Only:

284 + Cable Channels (includes local channels in most areas).
155 MBPs Internet Access.
Grand Total: $80.00 / Month.
Grand Total: $92.00 / Year.

Now, of course, I'm not adding the additional fees that your cable company may charge you to rent equipment and for any FCC payments and such - that varies from company to company. But in my option, it would still be cheaper for you to stay with cable - at least for now.

What do you think? Am I wrong? Comment below!

Note:

Charges are based on basic cable service before additional fees.
Charges taken from RCN.COM (Washington, DC area) basic cable pricing chart.

Microsoft Introduces a new Surface Pro

Dan Uff May 23, 2017 0

At a press event in Shanghai, Microsoft unveiled the 5th generation Surface Pro.

The new Surface uses a 12.3-inch PixelSense touch display rated at 267 pixels per inch, offering 50 percent more pixels than Apple's current 12-inch Retina MacBook, Microsoft claimed. Owners can even switch between sRGB and an "enhanced" color mode powered by technology called the PixelSense Accelerator.

The tablet comes in configurations with Intel Core m3, i5, or i7 processors, its i5 allegedly the first ever with fanless architecture. Performance-wise, the product is said to be up to 1.7 times faster than Apple's existing iPad Pros.

The company is also promising battery life up to 13.5 hours, 50 percent more than the Surface Pro 4, and 35 percent more than an iPad Pro. Apple has long stuck to a 10-hour target for Wi-Fi equipped iPads —cellular Pros last up to 9 hours. Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pros also last up to 10 hours.

For touch controls Microsoft is offering compatibility with the Surface Dial, as well as an upgraded Surface Pen. The latter accessory has four times the pressure sensitivity of the original Pen, only 21 milliseconds of latency, and new tilt functions mirroring those on the Apple Pencil.

For more information about the new Surface Pro, click here.

Apple launches new Switch Media Attack against Android

Dan Uff May 22, 2017 0

Apple has just launched new Switch attack on Google’s Android via a new section of Apple.com.

The first thing visitors see is: “Life is easier on iPhone. And that starts as soon as you turn it on.”

Apple then begins asking – and answering – questions that any refugee from the Land of Fragmentation and Malware would naturally have:

Will it be easy to switch to iPhone?
Yes, it will. There’s no need to save your stuff elsewhere before switching from Android. Just download the Move to iOS app from the Google Play Store and it securely transfers your content for you. That means things like your photos, videos, contacts, calendars, mail accounts, message history, and free apps — including Google Apps. And you can trade in your old smartphone, if eligible, for credit toward your new iPhone.

Is the camera as good as they say?
More pictures are taken on iPhone than any other camera in the world. We design the hardware and software together using second-to-none technology, so you can shoot amazing photos and videos in modes like Slo-Mo, Portrait, Time-Lapse, and more. iPhone also has cool features like Memories, which automatically compiles your favorite moments into a movie.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

High-Tech Spoon for Persons with Cerebral Palsy

Dan Uff May 22, 2017 1

(DailyDemocrat.com): OAKLAND >> A comfortable dinner for Tyrone Cobb involves a towel and the floor of his parents’ home. The 40-year-old with cerebral palsy stretches out on his stomach to eat many of his meals.

He’s accustomed to eating finger foods — pizza, corn dogs, chips. When he eats out with his family, assistance is needed. All the soft-spoken poet wants is to eat at the table on Thanksgiving with relatives.

The wishbone is his to win this year.

On Friday, the Union City resident became one of the first to get the Liftware Level, a utensil designed by Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences, to make meals more enjoyable for people with limited hand and arm mobility.

The tech company surprised Cobb with the spoon during lunchtime at Ability Now, a center at 4500 Lincoln Ave. that serves people with cerebral palsy, where Cobb and others served as testers for the product.

He was wondering why he was asked to wait to eat a stew of rice, beans and meat. Twenty four of the devices were donated anonymously to Ability Now.

“At first, I thought I was just a tester for the spoon,” Cobb said. “I didn’t know I was going to get one.”

Its design is sleek. Think electric toothbrush battery meets smartphone technology. Inside, the same sensors used to orient smartphones talk to a tiny computer. The fast-moving conversation figures out the movement of the hand to keep the utensil level at all times.

Cobb ate his stew spill free.

“It’s almost impossible to spill,” said Anupam Pathak, a technical leader at Google who helped develop the product, later adding, “it is able to calculate (movements) thousands of times per second.”

The idea came about when Maureen DeCost, marketing and communications director at Ability Now, said she saw another utensil, Liftware, designed by Verily for people with hand tremors. So she emailed Google. “To my utter shock, they emailed me back,” DeCost said.

A team of developers from South San Francisco’s Verily, a life sciences-based research organization, were soon working on a prototype and talking with Cobb and others with cerebral palsy about how they eat and what they needed. Cobb volunteered to test the prototype and on Friday joked he had wanted one for Christmas.

Verily, which introduced the Liftware Level in December, is selling the $195 utensil on its website. The device allows users to remove the head of the spoon and stick a fork in it. Pathak said the company is exploring other uses for the device.

For now, the 24 donated will be a big help to Ability Now. Formerly known as the Cerebral Palsy Center of the East Bay, the facility opened in 1956 for children with disabilities and later became an adult program once disabled children began attending public schools. The center offers everything from a computer lab, small- business center and wellness program to adaptive yoga and acupuncture. Many classes have waiting lists.

“We seem to be the biggest and best secret in Oakland and the East Bay,” DeCost said during a tour of the facility on Friday, which ended with the presentation of the high-tech spoons.

First with Liftware and now with Liftware Level, Pathak looks on as families watch loved ones feed themselves, sometimes for the first time in their life.

“These are people in their 20s,” he said. “They have tears in their eyes. It’s a really emotional thing to see.”

Cobb said he doesn’t mind eating on the floor or in his wheelchair but was smiling Friday, clutching his new spoon in his right hand.

“It doesn’t just help us,” he said. “It helps people understand we are people, too.”