Watching The Simpsons

Over the years, I've seen many episodes of The Simpsons. I remember first watching the characters when they were shorts/bumpers featured within The Tracey Ullman Show during its first couple of seasons. I don't remember watching it when it first became its own thing, but I may have. I did see many episodes over the next 30+ years, but never watched it regularly.

Now, there is the opportunity for me to catch up on all the episodes. And get paid in the process.

Platin Casino, a company with a UK Website and a Maltese incorporation, is offering to pay people to watch the show.

I'm wondering if I should try this. I'd have to allot 35½ hours a week to do this. If I spent 12 hours each on Saturday and Sunday, that would mean I'd still need to spend around 2½ hours each night, if I kept my day job.

This sounds more like something a person without a job would do.

Maybe more companies will start doing this. Then I could get paid for what I do. My Streaming Life and my real life would finally become one!

Watching NHL games

I covered this a month ago, but it's worth bringing up again, since the season is underway.

NHL games are being carries on Disney/ESPN and Turner Sports this season. Most of the games this week are on ESPN+, which is a $7 standalone service. Of the 45 games this week, two are on TNT, four are on NHL Network, one is on ESPN, four are on Hulu, 38 are on ESPN+. That doesn't add up, but it's okay. The three Hulu games are also on ESPN+, so the math is correct.

Last month, I said that you needed ESPN+ and one of these services to watch NHL games:

• Sling TV Orange ($35/month)
• YouTube TV ($65/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($65/month)
• DirecTV Stream ($70/month)

That is not correct. I didn't take into consideration that some games were only on NHL Network. Only two of those services carry NHL Network: Sling TV and DirecTV Stream. With Sling TV, you have to add the Sports Extra to the Orange package. With DirecTV Stream, you have to upgrade to the Ultimate plan, which is $95/month.

To watch all NHL games, you need ESPN+ and one of these services:

• Sling TV Orange with Sports Extra ($46/month)
• DirecTV Stream Ultimate ($95/month)

That means to watch all the NHL games streaming this year, it will cost you at least $53/month (that's $46 for Sling TV Orange with Sports Extra, and $7 for ESPN+).

I expect this is the final, and finally correct, answer for how to watch NHL games streaming. If I have to correct it, I will, but I think this is actually it. Until the playoffs.

If you're wanting hock in your Streaming Life, you know know your opttions.

Who benefits from a 12-team playoff?

This is a streaming topic because I watch college football via streaming. All of the games by all of the teams mentioned are available to watch via streaming.

Before the Southeastern Conference expanded to add Oklahoma and Texas to the fold, there was movement to expand the College Football Playoffs from the current 4-team setup to 12 teams. After the announcement of the move by the two schools, movement to expand the playoffs ground to a halt. Most talking sports heads said that the other conferences thought a 12-team expansion would benefit the SEC. I disagree. And the numbers by the sports talking heads back me up.

First, under the current setup, the SEC is the only conference that has had multiple teams in the same year, when #3 Georgia and #4 Alabama made it, won their semifinal games, and played for the championship. If you count Notre Dame as an ACC team in 2020, then the ACC had two teams that both lost their semifinal games.

ESPN has an article listing where things stand midway through the season. It shows who would be the likely playoff teams right now under the current 4-team setup and under the proposed 12-team setup.

Currently, the Allstate Playoff Predictor has:

1. Georgia
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. Cincinnati

Those would be the four teams in the playoffs, meaning two from the SEC. That's under the current setup, and has happened before, when Georgia and Alabama ended up playing for the title after the 2017 season.

But expanded to twelve teams, you have:

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Michigan
5. Cincinnati
6. Ohio State
7. Iowa
8. Michigan State
9. Notre Dame
10. Pittsburgh
11. Penn State
12. Coastal Carolina

That means two from the SEC; one each from the Big 12, ACC, American, and Sun Belt; one independent; and five from the Big Ten. Not much of a bump for the SEC, going from two teams to ... two teams. The Big Ten goes from none to five.

Maybe the Alliance has the wrong conference as their target?

Watching the WNBA Finals

I've not been watching the WNBA finals. I don't follow the sport. That's causing me to kick myself because of my bad timing. You see, even though I don't follow the sport, I should be posting how to watch the games for those who are fans of the sport. I've done this for some racing events, golf, and other sports I don't watch. So, why not the WNBA? Exactly. Why not? I should have. I totally missed that the finals were underway.

The series between Chicago and Phoenix is tied at one game apiece. It's a best of five series, so there are at least two more games, possibly three.

Game 3 is tonight on ESPN2.

Game 4 is Sunday afternoon on ESPN.

If a Game 5 is required, it will be Tuesday night on ESPN2.

So, for fans of the game, how do you watch without cable? You need a live streaming service that carries ESPN.

Of the eight major cable alternatives, Philo and Frndly.TV won't do, as they don't carry sports. But the other six do offer ESPN in their package.

• Sling Orange ($35) or Sling Orange+Blue ($50)
• Vidgo ($55)
• Hulu+Live TV ($65)
• YouTube TV ($65)
• Fubo ($65)
• DirecTV Stream ($70)

Some people think that ESPN+ gets you ESPN content. It gets you some, but it's mostly a supplement to ESPN, although ESPN isn't required to get ESPN+. However, it won't do you any good for watching WNBA games, since those are on the two big channels, ESPN and ESPN2. I say this a lot, but a lot of people still don't get it: ESPN+ subscription does not get you the standard ESPN service.

All of the services listed above will get you ESPN and ESPN2. They will also get you a lot more than those channels, so if you want a live streaming service, you may want to consider that. Or not.

While some services offer a free trial, not alldo:

• Sling TV and Vidgo offer the first month for $10, but no free trial.
• Hulu+Live TV offers a 7-day free trial, then a $10 discount for three months.
• YouTube TV offers $10 off for six months, but no free trial.
• Fubo TV offers a 7-day free trial.
• DirecTV Stream offers no free trial nor a discount.

If want some some WNBA action in your Streaming Life, any of these services will fill the bill.

More Plex server plans thwarted

I've been running a Plex server for some time. I recently purchased a new computer to function as the Plex server, but had some issues copying my content over.

My hard drive couldn't be read by the new device. It recognized the drive was there, but wasn't reading it. Rather than troubleshoot it and risk losing data if I made an error in the process -- who wants to lose nearly 8 TB of data, after all -- I simply pulled out my USB hard drive docking station and connected it.

When it wouldn't read it either, I was very concerned. Had I already damaged my media drive? Had I lost 8 TB of moves and TV shows?

Well, no, I hadn't, as it turns out. When I put the drive back in the old computer, it read it just fine. So, was my hard drive docking station bad? I hadn't used it in some time. I had taken it with me on several service calls, so it was jostled about for months but never used. Maybe it had been damaged. Perhaps it was bad. So, even though I don't use one a lot, when I need one, I need one. So I ordered a new one, and it was supposed to arrive earlier this week. It didn't.

Two days ago, it was due. The post office was delivering, so when I got the notice on my phone that it was delivered, I went to the mailbox. No package. Researching that, I found that the post office Website says that if it is marked as delivered, but isn't there, you shouldn't worry about it. Really.

In rare cases, package may show as 'delivered' but could take additional 24 hours.

Yes, they accept that their employees will mark an item as delivered, but not deliver it. And they're okay with that. But after a day or so, they'll listen to what you have to say.

If it has been over 24 hours from the 'delivered' status, to save time a  service request may be sent by email to your local Post Office™ facility for follow-up. You will receive a confirmation number and a contact within 2-3 business days.

That's right. They'll mark an item as delivered, not deliver it, but you can't ask about it for over a day. But after that additional delay, you can email them. Within 2 or 3 business days, they'll let you know they got your email.

So, if say, Monday, you expected a package, and it was marked as delivered, but you didn't get it, don't bother them until Tuesday. Then, you can send them an email. By Thursday or Friday, you'll get confirmation that your email was received.

This happened to me before, a year or so ago, and I did speak with the fellow who said he was in charge at the local post office. He told me he would call me back and let me know the results.

How long before he called me back? Well, as I said, it's been over a year. That delivery issue was settled outside of post office help, since there was no post office help.

So, I'm now in that situation. And that's unexpected. The regular letter carrier that serves my location is not the problem. She's done this job for some time, and is very conscientious about her work. She's good. And she didn't do the delivery, as I've found out. Had she been doing the delivery that day, it would have arrived. I'm convinced of that. Whoever filled in for her that day simply marked the package as delivered, and didn't deliver it.

So, I'm having to deal with copying my Plex content without a direct connection.

I mapped a drive to the old computer and began copying some content over. That was intended to be a test, just to confirm it worked. And it worked well, to a large degree.

The movies I copied showed up as expected. Better as expected, in fact. The data that Plex found, including the posters and movie data, was much improved over the older computer's data. I was very happy with that.

The test copy worked well enough for the basic moves, that I could copy a few hundred at a time and would probably be good.

It's been a lot more trouble than I expected, but when I get the hard drive docking station -- it will either show up or be replaced due to being lost in shipping -- it may be an easier and quicker process. That would be a welcome relief.

The updated movie information will be good. But the better computer for the behind the scenes work -- ripping moves I've purchased so they can be added to my Plex library -- will be a better process. It's just that I didn't really expect this much work to make it happen. I hope it's worth it. My Streaming Life better improve from this much work. (It won't.)

Do you like scary movies?

I think I'm a fan of horror movies. The reason I say "I think" rather than "I am" is that different people have different ideas of what a horror movie is. To me, many movies that are called horror movies are simply gore fests. Yes, that's horrible, but is it a true horror movie? It depends on what you think.

Maybe I'm a fan of some types of horror films. Even then, it's not all that clear. For example, I really like the movie "The Thing" by John Carpenter. Is it a science fiction movie or a horror movie? Yes. Yes it is.

It crosses genre. The 1951 Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks film "The Thing from Another World," also based on the John W. Campbell story "Who Goes There?" is more science fiction than horror. Carpenter's is more horror than science fiction.

"Friday the 13th" (1980) is a horror film. Yes, it has some gore, as does "The Thing," but it's more about the story. And there is one. Plus, the killer -- SPOILERS -- isn't Jason. There's no doubt "Friday the 13th" is a horror film. And while it does have some gore, it's not like the sequels, which seem to me to be primarily gore movies.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying those other films aren't horror films. I'm saying those aren't the kind of horror films I like.

If the fact that I've mentioned moves that are older makes you think that I like older films, you'd be right. But I do like some horror films that are even older. Yes, I'm talking "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi, "Frankenstein" with Boris Karloff as the Monster, "The Mummy" with Karloff, and others from that era. Let's go back even longer and throw in the F. W. Murnau film "Nosferatu" and the Lon Chaney film "Phantom of the Opera" for good measure.

If you like classic horror films, like I do, then you'll be happy to know that many of them are available for streaming during this month, the month that ends with Hallowe'en.

• "Nosferatu" (1922) is available free on Tubi and Plex.
• "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) is free on Plex.
• "Dracula" (1931) is available on Peacock, as you would expect, since it's a Universal classic horror film.
• "Frankenstein" (1931) isn't isn't free, but can be rented or purchased. However, "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) is on Peacock TV.
• "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1932) is free on Vudu and The Roku Channel.
• "The Mummy" (1932) is free on Tubi and Peacock TV.
• "The Invisible Man" (1933) is free on Peacock TV.
• "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) is on Peacock TV.
• "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) is on Prime Video and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) is on Pluto TV.
• "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957) is free on Peacock TV.
• "The Blob" (1958) is free on Plex and Crackle, and included with HBO Max subscription. "The Blob" (1988) is free on Peacock TV.
• "Friday the 13th" (1980) is on Peacock TV.
• "The Fly" (1958) is free on Peacock TV, while "The Fly" (1986) isn't free, but can be rented or purchased.
• "The Thing from Another World" (1951) is free from Vudu, and "The Thing" (1982) is on Starz with subscription.

Of course we can't forget "Halloween" (1978) which is free on Redbox and The Roku Channel.

Some classics that are not free include:

• "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931).
• "The Black Cat" (1934).
• "The Wolf Man" (1941).
• "House of Wax" (1953).

These can all be rented or purchased.

Of course, this just scratches the surface of available horror movies. I focused on the ones I like, but left off several that aren't available for streaming.

If you're a fan of horror movies, perhaps this list will help. Or you can always search your favorite streaming services, or streaming platform, and find the movies you want that are available. Maybe some of yours will be free. Free is good. I like to have more free stuff in my Streaming Life.

Problems with new Plex server

I upgraded my Windows machine recently. Well, I tried to. It's complicated.

When I decided to change my local streaming server from iTunes to Plex, I used a Windows device. It was a rather robust Windows machine that was more than capable of handling the job. But, it wasn't a new machine. It was a few years old. It's seven years old now, and while it's more than capable as a Plex server, it has some drawbacks when it comes to doing other stuff. When I sat down and thought about all the things I needed to do, I decided to get a new computer. So, I did.

The problems began immediately. The device experienced high disk usage. Windows Task Manager showed 100% disk usage. That caused the device to be sluggish, which was the exact opposite of what I wanted. I was less than thrilled. I began researching all the different causes for this, with me wondering if I had a lemon, or if I had erred somewhere in the initial setup. Then, a huge coincidence happened.

In my day job, I do tech support for a local agency. They purchased some new computers recently, and one of my tasks was to set it up. As it turned out, two of the devices purchased were the very same brand and model I had purchased. And they too experienced the high disk drive usage, performing poorly in the process.

That actually became an opportunity. I had a personal computer issue that was driving me nuts. But then work had the very same issue. I could work the issue while at work, because I needed to work the issue for work, and perhaps find the cause and develop a solution. I could also work the issue at home, and anything I learned, apply to work. Finally, I stumbled across information about Killer Network Service. It's supposed to help network performance. Maybe it does. But for the first several hours after it starts running for a user, it slows the machine down to a crawl.

For home use, it's not quite as big of a deal, as I'm the only user. Once it settled down, it didn't act all sluggish. But at work, that was another story. When a new user logs on to the computer on the domain -- they use shared computers -- the whole mess starts over. And, when Windows sends an update that causes setup to repeat or partially repeat, I don't want the users to have do deal with that.

So, I killed Killer. Removed it. Everything seems to be working fine now. But there was another issue on my personal computer.

When I put the 10 TB hard drive into the machine, it wouldn't read it. That was scary, as I was concerned that the new computer, or a poor physical install on my part, had fried it. But that wasn't the case. The hard drive was fine.

So, no easy transfer of data from one drive to another. Oh, did I mention I had a new 14 TB drive in the new computer? No? Well, I did. So all the files needed to be moved over.

Installing the old data hard drive didn't work, so I broke out my USB drive docking station to connect it that way. No luck. The device seemed to acknowledge that something was connected, but it couldn't find the drive enough to read it. I had to use some utilities to confirm it was seeing it, just that it didn't recognize it.

Was my docking station bad? I don't know. But I ordered a new one just in case. It's arriving today, and I'll find out soon enough.

If it's not the docking station, my next task is to put the old computer back together, add it to the network, map some drives across the network, and do the data transfer that way.

My Streaming Life should be a lot easier. I suppose it's my own fault.