Last night I removed Firefox from my computer. It was my one and only browser for years and years. I loved the personalization you could do. Most of the add-ons I had were security related. Things like No Script, Ad Block Plus & Cookie Monster. Not to mention WOT.
But since version 29, the browser has become unusable. I have no idea what the people writing the code have done, but they have ruined it. How am I supposed to use a browser that crashes within a minute of opening? This never happened before. I go all the way back to Firefox 2. At the time I was using a slow XP machine with only 64 GB of storage & 128 MB of RAM. My current machine runs Windows 7 SP 1, has 640 GB of storage & 4 GB of RAM. I also have double the speed of my previous machine & get double the speed from my ISP. So that's not the problem.
So a few months ago I was forced to install Chrome. If I could, I would continue to use Firefox because it's just a better experience, & I like that Firefox has a sidebar. But I can't use it because of its crashing problems. Again yesterday was one of the few times I had opened it in the last month, & within a minute it crashed. Meanwhile I still use Thunderbird, which has no issues. Want to know why? Mozilla stopped developing it a while back, so they weren't able to ruin it. Just amazing.
Maybe some outside group can create a usable fork that works. I suspect Mozilla wouldn't like that because everyone would move over to that. You know, like how everone moved from Open Office to Libre Office.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
John Oliver on Net Neutrality
For those of you who have heard about Net Neutrality but are not actually sure what it means or why it's a big deal, I would suggest you watch HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
This was a 13 minute description of what the cable companies are trying to do. Yes, it's a comedy show, & there were plenty of laughs in the segment, but Oliver, a former Daily Show "correspondent" gives the best and most complete explanation out there. Shame on CNN & all the other networks for ceding the job of providing information to a comedy show on a premium channel.
Here's the good news- the entire segment is on YouTube. All you have to do is go on YouTube & type in Last Week Tonight & all videos will show up. I highly recommend it.
This was a 13 minute description of what the cable companies are trying to do. Yes, it's a comedy show, & there were plenty of laughs in the segment, but Oliver, a former Daily Show "correspondent" gives the best and most complete explanation out there. Shame on CNN & all the other networks for ceding the job of providing information to a comedy show on a premium channel.
Here's the good news- the entire segment is on YouTube. All you have to do is go on YouTube & type in Last Week Tonight & all videos will show up. I highly recommend it.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Why Netflix Can't Stream Some Shows
The technology term of the year is "cord cutting". This is a referral to getting rid of cable & watching everything online, as if the system is easier than using Comcast or Directv.
It's not a perfect system because of the contracts studios & networks will make with various online partners. For instance: Hulu puts up shows 7 days after broadcast per the wishes of the networks. This isn't for all shows, but does apply to some. You also can't go back more than a few episodes. CBS puts up everything the next day, but the player is horrid & freezes up to the point that it's unwatchable.
Some websites ask for proof that you are a paying customer of a cable or satellite subscription. This defeats the purpose of watching online & the only reason for the existence is if you were out when the show was broadcast & this is the only way of seeing the episode. HBOGo does this, but in that case it is a premium channel afterall. However it is pretty well acknowledged that lots of subscribers are giving their passwords to non subscriber friends & relatives. That would explain Game of Thrones having the viewership of NCIS. HBO doesn't appear to mind, because it gives the show a buzz it wouldn't have otherwise.
The other problem is exclusive agreements. Take for instance the FX series Justified. Netflix doesn't stream this show. Not back episodes, nothing. You have to rent the season DVD's. So for people who aren't renting DVD's, you're out of luck. Now Netflix does stream Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter & other shows of that type. But Justified is only available for streaming on Amazon Prime. So you would have to not only pay $8 a month to Netflix but another $99 a year to Amazon for the privilege.
This is where the supposed future of viewing gives way to the reality of the present. The networks & the studios will always do what is in their supposed best interest. Regardless what you or I think, or podcast hosts like Brian Brushwood, this isn't going to change anytime soon.
It's not a perfect system because of the contracts studios & networks will make with various online partners. For instance: Hulu puts up shows 7 days after broadcast per the wishes of the networks. This isn't for all shows, but does apply to some. You also can't go back more than a few episodes. CBS puts up everything the next day, but the player is horrid & freezes up to the point that it's unwatchable.
Some websites ask for proof that you are a paying customer of a cable or satellite subscription. This defeats the purpose of watching online & the only reason for the existence is if you were out when the show was broadcast & this is the only way of seeing the episode. HBOGo does this, but in that case it is a premium channel afterall. However it is pretty well acknowledged that lots of subscribers are giving their passwords to non subscriber friends & relatives. That would explain Game of Thrones having the viewership of NCIS. HBO doesn't appear to mind, because it gives the show a buzz it wouldn't have otherwise.
The other problem is exclusive agreements. Take for instance the FX series Justified. Netflix doesn't stream this show. Not back episodes, nothing. You have to rent the season DVD's. So for people who aren't renting DVD's, you're out of luck. Now Netflix does stream Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter & other shows of that type. But Justified is only available for streaming on Amazon Prime. So you would have to not only pay $8 a month to Netflix but another $99 a year to Amazon for the privilege.
This is where the supposed future of viewing gives way to the reality of the present. The networks & the studios will always do what is in their supposed best interest. Regardless what you or I think, or podcast hosts like Brian Brushwood, this isn't going to change anytime soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)