What I hate about Fire TV

You know those people that always seem to find something wrong with everything? People that aren't happy no matter what? That seem to thrive on being difficult? That seems like me when it comes to Amazon's Fire TV.

Don't get me wrong. I like some things about Fire TV, but there are some things it does that really irritate me.

By default, videos start playing if I stop on them for a few seconds. I don't want to see or hear a video playing unless I tell it to play. Sure, I can go to the settings and turn that off, and I do. But it only applies to standard videos. When there's a sponsored video, it plays if you stay on it for more than one second. I timed it. It was easy to time. One Mississippi, t--- dammit!

Maybe I shouldn't get so worked up about stuff playing when I don't want it to. But I don't want it to.

Remember those Websites that you would go to and they'd start playing some sound? Yeah, they still exist. News sites are notorious for playing a video when you just want to read the story. I hate those. And Fire TV does that same thing.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K -- I haven't tried the new "Max" version yet -- works great. It's responsive, and is easy to you. But Amazon insists on playing videos when I don't want them to. I will not put up with that. And that's why Fire TV will never be my streaming device of choice.

I still use the Fire TV device for Tablo Connect, but for nothing else. I tried. The autoplaying of videos -- and the inability to stop it for sponsored videos -- keeps the Fire TV device relegated to a special purpose only status in my Streaming Life.

Tablo Connect update

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about Tablo Connect. Briefly, it's a feature with Tablo that lets you watch your Tablo content from a different network.

Tablo, is of course, an over the air (OTA) antenna DVR that also makes your antenna and DVR be viewed anywhere on your network with a compatible device. And the compatible devices are Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Google/Android TV devices, so that means most streaming setups.

Tablo Connect works on three of those four platforms. Roku doesn't support Tablo Connect, or Tablo Connect doesn't support Roku. Either way, you can use Tablo with Roku, but only on the same network.

Tablo Connect lets me use my Fire TV, Apple TV, or Chromecast/Google TV devices on other networks. That means the antenna I put up at one house, I can watch it at another house with Fire TV, Apple TV, or Chromecast/Google TV.

I was using my Chromecast for it, but I've not been happy with the device lately. The Chromecast has had occasional issues with watching TV via Tablo Connect as well. Well, I pulled out my Fire TV Stick 4K and made sure it was set up for Tablo Connect. I watched the World Series from Fox local channel from my house, using the antenna that is at my mother's house (where I put up the antenna some months back).

The reception and experience has been good. The picture is great, and there is only occasional buffering. I think it's the network, not the stick. It's not stuttering, just maybe once every 20-30 minutes taking a few seconds, 1-3 seconds at most, then pick up with the stream.

I will likely box up the Chromecast/Google TV and have the Fire TV Stick 4K as my secondary device. Or primary if I'm watching TV antenna.

I'm a little disappointed with my Chromecast, but very happy with my Fire TV Stick 4K. And I'm very very happy with Tablo Connect. I still wish the Out Of Home Streaming feature of Tablo was  was available on Roku, but I have Fire TV to have that feature as a part of my Streaming Life.

Waiting to retire the old Plex server

I recently mentioned that I was upgrading my Plex server with a newer, faster computer and a larger hard drive. And, I've mentioned some of the issues I've encountered along the way. None of the issues were directly related to Plex itself. That's been easy. It's the delay in delivery of components, issues with copying files, and of course, issues with the bloatware that companies (Dell, in this instance) put on computers.

Problems? Yes, but there were also solutions, so things progressed along. I got all of my movie files moved over and loaded into Plex. I got my short film files moved over and loaded into Plex. And I have my TV show files moved over and some of them loaded into Plex, but there are sill some more of those to go. And my music files need to move over. Oh, and music videos.

Movies are done. Well, mostly done. I have the movies, but not the collections. You see, I have a lot of my films in collections, such as Best Picture Oscar films all in one collection, AFI Top 100, Hitchcock films, Disney films, James Bond films, and so on. Having the old Plex for finishing that off is helpful.

I also have several playlists set up. For example, I have all of the original uncut versions of the movies that were riffed by Mystery Science Theater 3000, except for two. I don't know why I've done this, other than it seemed like something I would try to do. I have 13 playlists: one for the KTMA season, ten for the Comedy Channel/Comedy Central/Sci-Fi Channel seasons, and two for the Netflix seasons. The movies are in riffed order, and I've never watched them from the playlist. But, I'll probably still set those up, just to say I have them.

I have the TV shows that I had on the old Plex, but as I mentioned some days ago, I never finished setting up Doctor Who, although I have all of the video files of the shows. I don't really need the old Plex server running for that, as I'm actually ahead of it on this task.

Music is an area where I'm not really sure. I thought that downloading again from iTunes then converting to MP3 would be easy enough, but I'm not seeing all of my purchases and iTunes Match content. I need to look into that more. And this may be the overriding reason for keeping the old Plex server around. Some of the music I have are songs purchased through iTunes. I don't always have the CD. For those I have on CD, it's not an issue. But for those where it's an iTunes match, I'd rather not break out the CD if I don't have to. But, I'll do what I have to do. The easiest way would be to pull from the old server.

Since I already had to set up the old server again in order to pull the files across the network, I'll just leave it there until I have everything finished on the new Plex server.

No, my Streaming Life shouldn't be this complicated, but these are complications I created, so I'll just deal with them. When I'm done, my Streaming Life will be better. Or that's what I keep telling myself.

SiriusXM changes

I got my first XM radio in a car I bought in 2006. In 2008, XM merged with Sirius to form SiriusXM radio.

What's this got to do with streaming? Well, many SiriusXM packages include streaming capabilities, not just from a phone, but from streaming devices including the big four -- Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast/Google TV, and Fire TV -- as well as certain other smart TV systems -- LG & Samsung. And, yes, I have it on my Roku device and will listen from time to time. SiriusXM is a streaming option for listening to music.

What brought this up is that I heard one of the station I listen to mention they were moving to another channel. I was listening to 60s on 6, and the said they were moving to channel 73 and changing the name to 60s Gold. The name change makes sense, since they were no longer on channel 6. But there was something else that was a concern to me. I will often listen to channel 74, 40s Junction. Where was it going? Or was it going away? I had questions. I wanted answers.

A look at the SiriusXM Website didn't mention anything. Searching the Internet only turned up one article on Radio & Television Business Report:

... (The) biggest move will see the 50s tunes rebranded as "50s Gold," taking Channel 72. The 60s, with veteran hosts "Shotgun" Tom Kelly and Pat St. John alongside Dave Hoeffel as air personalities, will be branded as "60s Gold," taking Channel 73.

The "70s on 7" remains on Channel 7; corresponding decade-specific channels remain on Channels 8-11.

That told me pretty much what I already knew. But the same article did have the answer I was after.

Meanwhile, a flurry of channel shifts are set to occur, as follows:

• The Pulse: Ch. 5 (formerly 15)
• The Coffee House: Ch. 6 (formerly 14)
• Siriusly Sinatra: Ch. 70 (formerly 71)
• 40s Junction: Ch. 71 (formerly 73)
• On Broadway: Ch. 77 (formerly 72)
• Kidz Bop: Ch. 79 (formerly 77)

That was good news for me, as I will get to keep the channel I was worried about.

Channel 70 was open, as The Billy Joel Channel and SiriusXM Live, both of which have recently occupied the channel, are going to online only. Channel 79 was also open. Everything else was a shifting around of channels. I couldn't find out what's going in to 14 and 15, which come open with the moves.

SiriusXM says your radios will automatically follow the channels, and if so, great. If not, well I'll be able to find what I'm looking for. If it becomes too much of a hassle, my subscription is up in November, and I'll remove the channel from my Streaming Life. And my car.

The problem with Chromecast

While Roku is my primary streaming device, I have a fondness for the Chromecast with Google TV (I'll call it "Chromecast" from now on, even though the device actually called "Chromecast" is a lesser device).

Recently, I added the Tablo Connect feature to my home by syncing my Chromecast to the TV antenna I put up at my mother's house. In cast you don't recall, that's the feature that allows me to watch TV from that antenna on another network. I'm watching TV at my house from an antenna at a different house.

Anyway, I've been using the Chromecast a bit more as a result. If you remember, Roku doesn't support Tablo Connect, or Tablo Connect doesn't support Roku. Either way, I can't use it on Roku. Tablo works with Roku, just not the Tablo Connect feature.

Oh, and, since I've been using Chromecast more, I've used Roku less. And, the other day, I wanted to look at the updated Popcornflix app. On Roku, it was a quick and easy setup. But, with Chromecast, there was an issue. It wouldn't load on my Chromecast device.

Oh, yes, Popcornflix is compatible with Chromecast, but I had too many apps on my device. It indicated I needed to remove an app to add Popcornflix. I removed a couple than added Popcornflix. But I really didn't like having to do that.

I've been spoiled by Roku. Roku doesn't have a lot of on-board storage, but it doesn't really matter. If you run out of space on a Roku, it will remove the oldest app, in terms of how long ago you last used it, and load the new one. It will actually start with the oldest apps and remove as many as necessary until there is enough space for the new app. The old app(s) still shows on the device, and all devices, and if you go to launch it, it will load, removing what is now the oldest, if necessary. It's all behind the scenes. You can only tell it's doing it if you launch and app and you see the download counter.

But that's now how Chromecast works. It works like your Android phone does. You have to remove apps yourself if you need space. And that makes sense, since Chromecast is running Google/Android operating system.

This was an irritant. If it will be a long term bother, I don't know. After all, there are several apps I don't regularly use, so removing them isn't a big deal. But then again, I don't really use Popcornflix. I wanted to give it a try and see what I thought. But, while trying to load it, I had to switch gears and do some cleanup on the device. I didn't have to do that with Roku.

I'm not about to chunk the Chromecast by any means. But I am looking around trying to remember where I put the Fire TV Stick 4K device. It may be a better option for having Tablo Connect in my Streaming Life.