Month: June 2015

PlayStation Vue

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

PlayStation-Vue

I am very interested in a new feature that PlayStation has to offer called PlayStation Vue. It’s a new live streaming service on your PlayStation device that allows you to watch TV at a cheaper rate than cable.

This is what we have at our house. We have a bundle with Bright House with TV, Internet and Phone. I know that our cable internet is around $15 a month and our phone isn’t too much more expensive than that. Including the cable box in the living room which is $8 a month and the DVR cable box in my bedroom which is also $8 a month, our cable comes to $130 a month.  That’s a bit much for cable, but that’s how it is. They charge more for HDTV and we had to have certain packages because we have HDTV’s in both rooms.

With PlayStation Vue, I would have to use my PlayStation 4 to watch TV, which isn’t a bad thing because I use my PS4 all day long anyway with game play and watching Netflix and Hulu Plus, so to have another service keeping my PS4 running is convenient considering I have to grab the TV remote control to change from HDMI 1 for the PS4 to HDMI 2 for the cable. I wouldn’t have to go through that if I had PlayStation Vue.

They have a DVR function so that you can record ALL of your shows with NO conflicts, and you don’t have to worry about it recording on your PlayStation, it stays in the cloud for up to 28 days. As it is right now, if I want to record something, fine, I get to watch it when I want to, but my partner doesn’t have that option since he has a regular cable box. If he wants to record something, he has to watch it in my room.

My concern with switching from cable to PlayStation Vue is that we have 2 TV’s, and only 1 PS4. PlayStation has another device called PlayStation TV which allows you to play PlayStation Vita games with a PS3 controller, but PlayStation Vue is not available for that. If my partner wants to watch TV, he would have to use his iPad since there is an iPad app, but he wouldn’t be able to watch it on his TV. He has a Google Chromecast, but I’m not sure if that works with his iPad since we haven’t hooked it up yet. And even if it does work, will it work with PlayStation Vue? Also, would he be able to use his iPad while PlayStation Vue is streaming on his TV? Questions! Concerns!

If we were to switch from cable to PlayStation Vue, we would be saving $60 a month, that is if I chose the Elite package, which I would considering Logo isn’t available on the other 2 packages. They mention at E3 that you would be able to choose which channels you want, so if that is true then I would consider their less expensive Access or Core packages. Money is always tight, and I hate spending so much money on cable that I very rarely even watch. I don’t NOT watch TV, in fact, I have a huge list of shows that I watch, but I don’t watch TV all day long. It also concerns me that they don’t have every channel that is available, like for example where is ABC? And how will I watch Salem without WGN? What about The CW? Most of my shows are on The CW.

This new service is only available in certain zip codes anyway, and we are not in any of those zip codes since we are in Bakersfield, CA, but I’m sure the day will come when we will be able to use this service. I’m sure by then those channels MAY become available, but who knows for sure.

I told my partner about this new service and he just looked at me, like don’t even think about it lol. We were going to go cable free several years ago when we bought 2 Roku boxes, but realized there was no live TV, so if he wanted to watch his live news shows, he would be out of luck. They also didn’t have every episode of his news channel, they only had clips. He doesn’t want clips, he wants to watch entire episodes, and preferably live. Well, with PlayStation Vue he can see live TV, but he just doesn’t want to take the leap because it is too complicated, and he prefers things that are easy. And again, he doesn’t have a PlayStation, nor does he want to have to stream live TV from his iPad to the Google Chromecast, if that would even work. If it doesn’t work, then he doesn’t want to have to watch TV from his iPad and not be able to do anything else with it. It’s just too much of a hassle for him, and I understand. But perhaps if they made it available on PlayStation TV, and gave him a remote control instead of a PS3 controller, then he may consider it, but until then, he just wants to keep things simple.

So, I’m excited about it, but him not so much. But I think this is something that would be easier for someone who lives alone with 1 TV anyway. Unless every TV in the house has a PlayStation, this isn’t going to work for couples or a family unless they can make this service available on the PlayStation TV, which if you think about it is probably the best device for PlayStation Vue. I don’t know, tell me what you think in the comments.

Why does FreedomPop creates a new account when you order a new phone?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

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Before I say one word, I would just like to make a disclaimer that I am in no way shape or form bashing FreedomPop or any of their employees. I just want to make that clear before I get hundreds, oh wait, no one reads my blog, maybe 1 or 2 people. Carry on.

A couple of days ago I bricked my phone. I know, I’m an idiot, I’ll own that. I bought a jig from eBay to unbrick it, but it didn’t work so we went to a cell phone repair place and they told me they don’t do that kind of work. If my phone was run over by a car maybe, but if I did something to the operating system then that’s my problem, not theirs. I probably would’ve been better off if I had just run it over.

Yesterday I called FreedomPop to let them know that I broke my phone and I wanted to buy a new one. The sales girl was really nice and very helpful. She asked for a 2nd email address, which I found a bit odd, but I didn’t question it. After the call was done and she had ordered me a new phone, I verified it with the Bank of America website that my order was in fact placed, I sat patiently waiting for a bunch of emails from FreedomPop to come to me. I waited and waited the whole day until last night when it occurred to me that maybe I should check the 2nd email address that she asked me for. Sure enough 3 emails waiting for me from FreedomPop. Instead of adding a new phone to my current account, she created a new account for me and didn’t even suggest to me that perhaps I should close the other account. I mean, it would stand to reason that I wouldn’t get charged every month for a phone that won’t turn on, right?

Today when we came home from the doctor’s office I decided to call FreedomPop and ask them what the delio is with that new account and what I am going to do with the 2nd account. The girl, who sounded very similar to the girl from yesterday, but from another department was very helpful and she understood what I was telling her, but kind of not really. She said so let me get this straight, you want to close the account for your phone that doesn’t work? Uh yeah… I mean, if you’ve already created a whole new account for me, why would I keep a 2nd account? I also had $30 in that first account that I wouldn’t be getting back if I didn’t close the account.

I just think it’s a bit odd that they would think it was odd that I wanted to continue being charged a monthly fee for an account that I can’t use because the phone won’t turn on. I mean, if I ever decided to build a brick wall, my phone would be in that wall because it’s essentially a brick. It’s a $99 paperweight. Why would I pay a $30 monthly fee for a paperweight? It doesn’t make sense.

Anyway, I am happy to report that she finally understood what I was asking and she refunded me the $30 that was sitting in that account, that should help to pay for my new phone. She also cancelled my old account and I got the verification email. Now I can move on with my life again lol.

The Jig is Up

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

jig

I got my Jig today to fix my bricked Samsung Galaxy S3 phone, and it didn’t work. My phone is still bricked and there is nothing I can do to fix it. We went to a cell phone repair place, but they don’t fix operating system or software problems, they fix hardware problems, like if you dropped your phone and the glass broke or whatever.

Since I have no other alternative to getting my phone fixed, I decided to just call FreedomPop and tell them what happened and that I need a new phone. They connected me with the sales dept who sold me a new phone for $169 plus shipping and tax and it ended up being $200. The refurbished one I bought from NoMoreRack was only $100 with free shipping, but this one is (hopefully) brand new, so I won’t (hopefully) have the same issues with tweeting pictures or having issues installing apps. They didn’t say when my new phone would arrive, but I have an order number, so I guess I can call. She took down my email address and an alternative email address, so perhaps I will get an email soon with the tracking number.

I am pissed off at myself, but at the same time I’m kind of glad this happened because if this phone has been giving me problems, why should I have to keep using it? I’m sure most people don’t put up with the little things, like not being able to tweet pictures, or installing apps that won’t install any actual files. And why should I have to put up with that if I’m paying for the phone and the service?

Anyway, I’ll be glad when it arrives. I’ll have a new phone number, but when the new phone comes I can call them and request them to transfer my old number onto the new phone. I say old as if I’ve had it for years, but truthfully I’ve only had that number for a few months since I bought it. I’ve already had 1 phone number change this year, I don’t want to have to tell everyone the number changed yet again. It’s annoying lol.

I bricked my phone

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

I did a very stupid thing tonight. I bricked my phone. I know, shame on me. I deserve everything I got from it lol.

What happened was, I bought my phone from NoMoreRack a couple of months ago for $99. It’s a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone and it was refurbished. I was having issues with it not allowing me to do certain things, and I found out that it wasn’t allowing me to do certain things because when it installs apps, it doesn’t install them properly. I tried installing Terraria and it works just fine on my Nook, but not on my phone. I went into the files and saw that the folder wasn’t even there for it. It had installed 1 file in a folder called obb, but it didn’t install the rest of the files in the data folder. I zipped the files up on my Nook and put the zip file on OneDrive and downloaded it and unzipped it and it wouldn’t unzip it. I used File Manager and went into the root settings for rooted devices only and checked the root explorer and checked change system folders and then unzipped it on my SD card, then copied the files from my SD card over to the data folder and it worked, and suddenly I was able to play Terraria on my phone.

So here is what has brought me to this point. A couple of days ago I got a notice that it had downloaded the file for my phone upgrade, it’s actually my root upgrade which is called Philz Touch 6. I went into the root by turning off the phone, then turning it back on while holding the power, home and volume up keys all at the same time, then letting go of the power button when I saw the blue text, then letting go of the home and the volume up button when I saw the little android guy. I noticed that the root is an old old old file, like from 2012 or 2013 or whatever. I figured if it is trying to install the latest version, but it can’t because it refuses to install the files, then perhaps I can do it manually like I did with Terraria. Cause you know, things like that always work out lol. The upgrade went off without a hitch, except for when I went to reboot the phone and it wouldn’t turn back on.

Naturally when something like this happens you go to the message boards and you go to the phones website and yadda yadda. I went to the phones website thinking I’ll just go ahead and buy the same phone from them, but they didn’t give me the option. In fact, I couldn’t find any way for me to even buy a new phone even as an upgrade. I had to email them to tell them that it wanted me to install an upgrade to the phone, and I did, and now it won’t turn on.

jigI continued doing more researched and found a video on YouTube of a guy who had a similar situation that resulted with a bricked phone. He bought something called a Jig on ebay and in the video he plugged the jig in and it turned the phone on into download mode. He made a 2nd video, but I haven’t seen it yet. I was so impressed that I went to ebay where he said he bought his and I bought one too. It’s just a little thing that plugs in where you charge your phone and it was only $5.59 including the shipping, and it is coming from Santa Ana which is basically in Los Angeles. The estimated delivery is Monday, but I’ve gotten things next day from Santa Ana, so I’m keeping my eyes crossed that it comes sooner. If it works, great, if it doesn’t, well, at least it wasn’t $20 or $100.

I’d be curious how it’s supposed to work though. I mean, the phone bricked when I went to reboot after installing the root. Won’t it do the same thing? One of the message boards said to install Samsung Kies and that would fix things, even in what I would call dos mode, but it’s like root mode. It is supposed to check your phone to make sure it has the correct firmware installed, so if I can get it on in download mode, then perhaps I can plug it in to the computer and it will undo what I did and fix whatever the problem is. I sure hope so, because I honestly can’t afford to put another $200 on my credit card. Maybe in 6 months, but not right now.

And of course I will be back here when this jig arrives so I can update you on my progress, so stay tuned…

Windows 10 for FREE

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

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It took me 15 years to decide to upgrade from Windows XP, and I only made the decision because I was forced by Microsoft to buy the latest operating system, or allow my computer to be infected with thousands of parasitic viruses that would probably eat away at every microscopic section of my motherboard and all my other hardware which would then force me to have to buy a new computer. I decided I was due for a new operating system anyway, so I figured what the hell, I’ll buy Windows 8.1 full install. I didn’t buy the upgrade because I didn’t want to have to install Windows XP then upgrade to 8.1 every time I reformatted or had to buy a new hard drive.  I figure if I’m going to install an operating system, I’d rather install the one I’m going to use immediately and for a long time instead of having to go through 2 installations, which could take an hour each.

The start window for 8.1 looks awesome to me. Everyone said I would hate it, because they assumed I refused to upgrade because I hated the 8.1 start window, but that simply isn’t true. I’m cheap as hell. No seriously, I’m living on a low income disabled budget, which has absolutely no budget for a new $100 operating system. It just so happened that I had a bulk sale for tassels, and that was what helped me buy Windows. See, that’s why I have a Etsy shop. If I need to buy something, I can count on people to buy keychains or earrings if I beg them to lol. My sales are usually nothing every month, so those occasional sales are awesome.

The Start window for Windows 10 looks a lot smaller, to say the least lol. I quite enjoy the 8.1 Start window because when I’m watching TV, it is a dark enough screen that it doesn’t bother me when I’m watching my shows. If the screen is bright from Facebook or if I have a bright desktop image, then it hurts my eyes to look at the TV and have the bright computer screen in the corner of my eye. I hope they have given us an option to choose this smaller window, or a full screen start window. If the image above is our only option, well, then I guess I’ll have to just deal with it.

As with all new operating systems you want to give it a few months before installing just because you may have to live without your printer or your webcam or any other external hardware you might have if they were sitting on their thumbs when they should’ve been making new drivers. There is also a chance that your favorite MMORPG isn’t compatible. You might have to miss raiding for quite a while. Of course I would find out if they have support for Windows 10 before installing it because they may have a version specifically for Windows 10 all ready to go.

I love new things only because I get bored easily, but I’m quite content with what I have for now. I say I will wait to make sure everything works, but I’m sure there won’t be too many issues. I have a Microsoft webcam and a Kodak Printer, which I’m sure will be ready long before Windows 10 is downloaded. I’m sure my keyboard and mouse work since I trust Logitec will have it ready to go. I don’t usually have to worry since they are plug and play.

So if you are one of those people who panic at the thought of something new, take a chill pill and give it time, but don’t miss out on reserving your FREE copy of Windows 10. They are giving you something for free, so take advantage of it while you can. You don’t have to install it immediately, I’m sure you can burn the installation files onto a cd or dvd and install it when you are ready. If you have panic attacks at the thought of issues, then just check to see how other people are dealing with them before you take the leap.

I actually look forward to the new Windows 10 that I just may buy a bigger hard drive and start over from scratch so I have a FAST new experience. We will see in another 7 weeks.

Induction Cookware ORDEAL

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

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OMG Is it really that difficult for a sales person to sell cookware? Why don’t they have a section SPECIFICALLY for induction cookware? Why do we have to go through the whole magnet test with every pot and pan they sell before we can decide that a set works instead of just saying hey look, it’s the Induction section?

Okay so this is what happened. My partner told me that he spoke with someone at Macy’s who said a full set of pots and pans from T-fal were $99. It comes with a bunch of things including the utensils. But, he decided that he wanted to go to Sears first. He doesn’t want me to cook with regular stainless steel because he’s afraid the food will stick to the pot or pan and I’ll do nothing but bitch about having to clean stuck food. Um… not once has this conversation ever happened in the 21 years we’ve been together lol. We have pots that aren’t non stick that I’ve never had an issue with and never bitched about cleaning, so I honestly don’t know where that is coming from. But I digress. Sears wasn’t really sure which ones would work, so I said why don’t we go to Macy’s and see what their T-fal set looks like.

carols-cookie-boy-part-2-walking-deadWe went over to Macy’s and had to basically power walk over there because the mall seemed like they were closing every store, and it was only 6pm. We got there, went up to the 3rd floor and the lady there didn’t seem to know what she was doing. Oh and by the way, if you are a Walking Dead fan you will appreciate this. The woman in the cookware section looked almost identical to Carol. All I was thinking was no Carol, I won’t tell anyone. Can I have a cookie now? Anyway, she went to the computer and said they didn’t have anything for induction that was non stick and that she would have to order it.

We went back to Sears and bought the one set that the woman recommended to us (below) only because a magnet stuck to the bottom of 1 of the pans they had on display that she tested. However, when we came home I opened the box and pulled 1 pan out and tested it and it did not work. Dammit! I really wanted this one particular set because look what you get. You get a black ceramic cup that holds the utensils, and you get like 7 utensils too. It also comes with 5 glass bowls with plastic lids and a random cookie sheet lol. The 25 piece mega cookware set was $89 and so was the 7 piece NuWave set, but at least the NuWave set works.

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20150601_030646So if you are in the market for induction cookware, make sure it has this logo on the box. If you don’t see that logo, chances are it’s not going to work. Don’t waste your time running around from store to store looking for something and buying it only to come home and find out that it doesn’t work. We ended up buying the NuWave at Walmart. I hate going there, but it was literally our last choice. They were the only place out of all the places we looked that had it. Although, we didn’t go to Target, but I also didn’t see it on their website.