Have I left Team Roku?

Over a month ago, I decided I would use Chromecast more. At the time, I said that I wasn't as familiar with the Google TV interface as I was with Apple TV, Fire TV, and of course, Roku. I had used the other platforms a lot more, because of my personal preferences, and family members' preferences:

This has come at the expense of my familiarity with Android/Google TV and Apple TV. I'm not comfortable with that. Beginning this weekend, I'm going to start using more Android/Google TV. Chromecast will be the the primary device I use. I have Chromecast attached to all my TVs already, so it'll be a matter of setting out the Chromecast remote in place of the Roku remote.

For the last five, nearly six weeks, I have been using Chromecast. I wanted to re-familiarize myself with it, and I've pretty much done that. So, why am I still using it?

Well, there was the whole issue of a new one I had purchased not working properly. It started when I bought a new Chromecast 4K model. I had an lesser model, the newer but lesser HD version. I wanted a better device, so I got one but it had problems. Some differences with the interface compared to Roku (what I was used to) made it difficult to determine the extent of the problem.

I exchanged the device, getting one of the same color (they come in three colors). The fact that two different ones of that color didn't work, but my original white one did was confusing. I got one of the other color (my original was white, the new that had problems were both blue, and the latest replacement was pink). The pink one worked.

All that took over five weeks, and I can say that I'm pretty familiar with the Chromecast interface. And I'm still using it for some reason. I haven't returned to my Roku yet. And that surprises me.

My Streaming Life has revolved around Roku yet. But, for the first time, I've not been in a hurry to return to Roku. The Chromecast interface works quite well, and I'm quite comfortable with it. Plus I've got one other bit of testing I want to do. I wonder if I'm actually coming up with reasons to keep using the interface.

The pink one works

I had issues with my new Chromecast 4K device recently. Well, actually it was an attempt to add a new Chromecast device.

I've had Chromecast 4K devices, but when the HD version came out, I bought one to go on an HD TV. When I replaced the HD TV with a UHD/4K device, I didn't immediately put a 4K device on it. But recently I decided to do just that.

My older Chromecast 4K device was the standard white color, but I decided I'd get one of the other colors for my new one. I had two others to choose, besides white: light blue ("Sky" was what Google calls it) and pink ("Sunrise" is what Google calls it).

I bought a blue one, and it had problems with the direction buttons. I wasn't sure if it was the remote or the device, but after swapping remotes with another Chromecast that had no issues, I ruled out the remote as the problem.

This happened twice. I returned the blue Chromecast 4K device and got another one that happened the same problem.

I made another replacement, but got the pink ("Sunrise") one instead. It works just fine.

This makes me wonder what it is about the blue ones. Two different blue ones had an issue with the direction buttons, but the white and pink ones have had no issues at all.

My Streaming Life usually makes a lot of sense. Google is making me confused.

Stopping Microsoft from spying on your Windows computer

Is it possible to stop Microsoft from harvesting all of your data? Yes, it is.

One way is to move to Mac, Chrome OS, or Linux. Of course, Mac simply means Apple will harvest your data. Chrome OS means Google will host your data. But you can also keep using Windows if you like, but it takes some work.

Britec has a video on how to block certain Microsoft services on your Windows computer. It's an interesting video:

[YouTube]

This is sort of how Pi-Hole works on a network basis. The files used by Pi-Hole are exactly like the Windows Hosts file. That's the standard used by operating systems and domain name services. If an items appears in your Hosts file, that information will be used, rather than the actual information that is hosted by a domain name server.

If privacy is a concern, and you feel technically capable of doing this, then this video might be helpful. And, if it breaks everything, you can delete it. An empty HOSTS file won't harm your system. In fact, the default Windows HOSTS file is effectively empty, since all the lines begins with the # character, meaining the line is skipped. It's effectively empty.

My Streaming Life stays private because I use a Pi-Hole setup on my network. But, if you are only concerned about certain data being sent from your computer to Microsoft, this method might fill the bill.

Watching College Football in 2023: Week 9

Week 9 of college football for 2023 is underway. There are 54 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this week, with seven already played (two Tuesday, two Wednesday, two Thursday night, and one last night).

Today, there are 47 games scheduled. There are two games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other:

• Oregon (8) at Utah (13)
• Duke (20) at Louisville (18)

Michigan (2), Alabama (9), LSU (15), and Missouri (16) all have open weekends. The rest of the Top 25 all play unranked teams.

Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big Ten Network
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• CW
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• SEC Network

Note: No games are on Longhorn Network or Peacock this week.

Between this weekend's games and next Saturday, there are eight games involving Division 1-A/FBS teams, none involving ranked teams (at least, none by this week’s poll). Those games will be broadcast on:

• CBS Sports Network
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU

It’s possible that before the season ends, there may even be another network or two that carries games, but these are the ones that are confirmed as the season begins. Here's how to get all the networks:

ABC

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (8 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

ACC Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Big Ten Network

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

CBS

• Antenna (free)
• Paramount Plus (Premium) $12/month
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

CBS Sports Network

• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Ultimate) ($139/month)

CW

• Antenna (free)
• Not available streaming.

ESPN, ESPN2

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

ESPN+

• ESPN+ (standalone) ($10/month)
• Disney Bundle ($15/month)

ESPNU

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro + Fubo Extra) ($83/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Fox

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (18 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

Fox Sports 1

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

Longhorn Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

NBC

• Antenna (free)
• Peacock (Plus) ($12/month)
• Sling TV (11 markets only) ($45/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($80/month)

NFL Network

• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

Pac 12 Network

• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)

Peacock

• Peacock is its own service, and can be used to watch NBC live programming with the $12/month plan.

SEC Network

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($114/month)

That's this week in Division 1-A/FBS college football, and covers all the networks -- so far -- that are carrying college football games in 2023. My Streaming Life focuses on college football during this time of year.

Spending less on cord cutting

It seems odd to me, but I'm constantly trying to find ways to spend less on cord cutting. Why is this odd? Well, I cut the cord originally to save money, and for some reason, I end up spending more than I should anyway.

Part of the reason is I try to stay on top of things, and become familiar with processes, so I do subscribe to services on occasion. I don't generally do live streaming cable replacement services such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, and the like. Standard Hulu is more my speed, not Hulu+Live TV. For $7/month I can watch what I want, and the $77/month for Hulu+Live TV is overkill.

However, I do subscribe to some services. Most of the time, it's not for me, but for family members. We end up not watching the services anyway, so it is often a waste of money. That's not to blame the family member, because I'm the one actually making the decision. I'll subscribe to give a chance to see if the service is worthwhile. Most of the time, it isn't.

However, I do some services for me. Frndly TV is one of those. It's $9/month (they do have a $7 plan, by the way) and worth it. I don't watch it a lot, but I do watch it enough to keep the service.

Amazon Prime Video is included with Amazon Prime, and I really hate paying so much for that. I'd keep the Prime service if there was a tier that did not include Prime Video.

I don't do Netflix, as I dropped it a while back.

Paramount Plus is included with Walmart Plus.

Peacock TV is a bonus from my Xfinity Internet service (I'm at a tier where I can get Peacock TV still).

And that's enough. I want to cut more, mostly because the prices keep going up -- looking at you Amazon. My Streaming Life costs more than I like, but it's still a lot cheaper than cable.

Well, that network replacement took an unexpected turn

I mentioned the other day that I finally replaced my temporary network. I mean, 14 months is temporary, right? Right?

Well, that setup didn't last long, and I don't know why. Something odd happened, and I'm now keeping an eye on things.

The other day, the power went out. A large power outage hit a large section of town, and my house was impacted. The outage lasted over nearly two hours, which is pretty unusual. Georgia Power doesn't often have outages that long. Even an outage of minutes in length is unusual, making the hour-plus outage very unusual.

The outage of that length also meant that all of my network shut down. While this seems obvious, the fact is that it is rare that my network shuts down. I have uninterruptible power supplies on my network, meaning the occasional power blip, though rare, does not impact my network at all. The long outage meant that the battery backup died and my network went down.

When it comes back up, there should be no issue. However, something happened, and I don't know what that something was. The network came back on, but the network didn't come back up.

I ended up having to do a factory reset of the network, meaning I had to set it all up again.

I used to have the older version of the Google network devices, and never had such a problem. This, however, was a problem, and it took me a couple of hours of troubleshooting before I was able to determine that a full factory reset was the solution.

That isn't good, and I don't want that to be the thing I have to do a lot. Or a little. I don't want to do it at all.

My Streaming Life depends on a reliable network. Everyone's does. I really don't want to have to go through that again.

Looking back on cord cutting

It was about this time in 2009 that I began to seriously consider cutting the cord. I didn't, not until a little over a year later, in January 2011 that I actually cut cable, but around this time in 2009, I was seriously looking into it.

I had visited my son and he was watching ESPN SportsCenter on his Xbox. I was intrigued. I had heard about streaming TV, but I didn't know anyone who did it -- at least, I didn't think I knew anyone that did it -- until I found out my son was doing it.

Seeing it in operation made it less of an unknown for me. I dove in and tried to find out everything I could about it.

Keep in mind that there was no live streaming service such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, or the like. TV entertainment was on-demand. Live sports, if it wasn't on ESPN, was non-existent.

Forgetting about live sports for a minute, I was fine with on-demand TV. I had used a TiVo since early 2006, and recorded everything anyway. I was watching stuff hours after it aired on cable. Sounds like Hulu, right? Yeah, it was really no change for me. Except for sports, which we're not talking about at the moment.

Once I understood what the experience would be like, I was ready to see if it was what I wanted to do. Hulu would be the same as a DVR, as far as I was concerned. And stuff that wasn't on Hulu, I could afford to purchase. Maybe.

I went into my TiVo recording schedule and looked at everything I has set to record. I put all that in a spreadsheet, and then looked at the different ways of watching it. Essentially, my options were Hulu streaming, iTunes purchase or Amazon purchase.

After adding up the cost of the shows from the available services, I determined that it would not save me money to streaming. A year later, I ran the numbers again, and I would have saved money. So, I cut the cord.

My Streaming Life began on January 11, 2011, and I've enjoyed it every day since.