A new Star Trek in 2017 – Oh boy!

via A new Star Trek series will premiere in 2017 | The Verge. CBS targets the new $5.99 a month “CBS All Access” at the world’s Trekkies, Trekkers, Trek Fans, Tribbles, and Hobbits. One hopes their aim and technology is better than that of Lieutenant Worf and Security Officer Tasha Yar…

Geordie LaForge:  “Data, is my visor malfunctioning? What the heck are they shooting at?”

Mr. Data:  “I have yet to determine that. They appear to be looking in one direction, but pointing their phasers elsewhere.”

Geordie LaForge:  “Who taught Tasha how to shoot? She’s holding that phaser like an umbrella!”

Mr. Data:  “Yet, the beam is somehow deflected downward near Worf’s.”

It’s not as if there isn’t a huge backlog of Star Trek Media available if you look, but for something new you’ll have to subscribe to yet another streaming service!!

A Plague of “C” – Colbert, Comcast, Commercials, and Cord Cutting

Can counting Colbert commercials create cord cutters? In my case it could .

Colbert is not the “Report” any more, but he is still Stephen! I couldn’t catch the live broadcast of his first “The Late Show”—so I caught it on Comcast’s convenient “On Demand”. BUT I didn’t discern that Comcast’s On Demand arrangement with CBS is that you get THE WHOLE SHOW—including all the original commercial content. Whether you want it or not.

I’m saying, THERE IS NO FAST FORWARD OPTION.

Which might be okay if it were just Colbert’s funny product placement commercials. But no, nation, there are many, many more advertisements than that.

In fact, the show starts with just a few ads during “breaks”, and then piles them on without mercy later, as you anticipate the main event (this show featured an appearance by Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush).

Remember, FAST FORWARD IS DISABLED.

“On Demand” in this case gives you “Time Shifting”, but you still have to figure out how to deal with all those time-wasting, loud, obnoxious, and sometimes very strange commercials.

Those Commercials: CBS thinks Colbert has a big following of “Snake People” (the generation formerly known as “Millennials”). I guess. Because there are ads for Xbox games, and ads featuring YouTube celebrities, and references that only a YouTube celebrity or YouTube celebrity fan would understand. I don’t know, is that even what they were? Maybe I got it all wrong. But that’s the point. What is the ad selling? I don’t know. Who’s on first? YaHoo. No, YouTube. I don’t so much care if they’re short, or weird, or appeal to millennials, but nineteen-in-a-row? In the pre-Bush break, I counted nineteen different ads in a row—before I crawled out of the room on my hands and knees to get away. Nineteen!! It’s the death of a thousand cuts, or nineteen, and it is torture!.

Cord Cutting “Colbert” – No, Comcast. No, CBS, being forced to watch all the commercials at a later date, is not this customer’s idea of “time shifting”. I demand “On Demand” with Fast Forward. Please. I want my commercial free TV. Or I will seriously time shift myself to some alternative. And thank you for the INTERNET, Al Gore, because I still have some choices. I can watch it on iTunes, right? Hm no. HULU? Well no. NetFlix…not there. Okay, heck!  How about on the CBS.com web site? Sort of. Five Free Episodes! With commercials. And whoops, click on the ad and you end up on the SPONSOR’S web page. That may be innovation, but I don’t call it an improvement. HELP! Thanks Al Gore, that was NOT what I wanted from the Internet.

Cord Cutting “Mr. Robot” – how it should work. The strange, dark, and somewhat popular show, “Mr. Robot” from USA Network is also available on Comcast “On Demand”, also with restrictions on the show. Just like those with CBS. You get The WHOLE SHOW, and all the commercials, and there is NO FAST FORWARD, and the longer you watch the show, the longer and more full of ads are the commercial breaks. Again we say, “Comcast, I demand ‘On Demand’ with Fast Forward!” Again I go to iTunes. And there is “Mr. Robot”! HOORAY. I will now PAY to see “Mr. Robot” when I want, on the device I want, in HD (if I want), with NO COMMERCIALS, and I can even Fast Forward. Thank you Al Gore; thank you Apple.

Oh please @StephenAtHome can I have The Late Show this way? Without the ads?? I’ll pay, I’ll PAY!!

PS: Mr. Robot is on Amazon too.

Why shouldn’t Comcast merge?

Comcast Recruits Its Beneficiaries to Lobby for Time Warner Deal – NYTimes.com.

It’s capitalism. It’s America. Comcast is a successful creative company. Why shouldn’t Comcast be allowed to merge with Time-Warner Cable?

TechWite tells you why.

One of Comcast’s arguments for the merger is that the two companies operate in different geographies and so the merger will not harm competition. But as many consumers know, in the regions dominated by Comcast or Time-Warner Cable, satellite or DSL may be available, but these are not comparable to broadband in terms of speed, convenience, or reliability—and there are few or no other choices for high speed Internet. The unspoken part of this statement is, “…it won’t hurt competition, because there already is no competition.” Merging two regional monopolies creates one bigger monopoly, not competition.

Globally, Americans pay more for slower Internet access than most other developed countries because cable company investment in infrastructure has declined since its peak in 2001. If the two companies consolidate their captive customer bases, will they have any more motivation to improve performance, or lower prices?

Then there’s the list of Comcast customer objections based on first-hand experiences:

• A history of terrible customer service.
• Deceptive (if not downright dishonest) advertising.
• A history of “throttling” Internet usage, for users with supposed “unlimited” access.
• Pricing that requires re-negotiation and aggravating conversations every 3-6-12 months to prevent your rate from automatically going up,up, up.
• “Packages” that prevent you from getting what you want – such as high speed internet, only, at a reasonable monthly price, and insist on selling you what you don’t want: an HBO or Starz package, telephone service, cable channels.
• Using the WiFi router in your home, that you “rent”, as an “Xfinity WiFi” hotspot with access for other Xfinity subscribers, and advertising this as a benefit provided by Comcast (below). (And inserting advertisements into your browser when you use “Xfinity WiFi”.)

Why shouldn’t Comcast merge with Time-Warner Cable? This is easy. This is simple. This is awesome. Do you want this company to have more control of your Internet?

– TW

Major ISPs accused of deliberately throttling traffic | The Verge

Major ISPs accused of deliberately throttling traffic | The Verge.

Coming soon, a few reasons why Comcast should not be allowed to merge and further consolidate its domination of the Internet. This article is one reason. Your bill from Adfinity is another.

Unpredictable Issue #83

Unpredictable Issue#83.  That’s right, I’m re-discovering old content. From the end of 2000 to 2007, I wrote 83 issues of my newsletter “for Macintosh” and eventually also “iPod” users. Those were the days my friend. The final days of Microsoft’s Monopoly Game, the Return of the Steve, Windows Ex Pee, and the introduction of Oh Ess Ten. The Eunuchs took over Apple and forgot a Whole Lot about what makes a good user interface. Features that were GFD (Good for Demos) and interface options that were TOTE (Too Obvious to Explain). It was the era of the Geek Speak Review, when for a short time, I offered to work at Apple as the EVIP of DRAT.  Times haven’t changed much, we’ve got the FCC giving away the Internet, and Comcast buying it, the iOS team re-learning what works and what doesn’t, and everybody lost in the cloud. LIfe is good, and Tech is worth Witing about!

Screen Junk from Xfinity

Yes! The Xfinity WiFi hotspot comes with an added bonus! A popup Ad on your browser!

That’s right, that convenient WiFi hotspot, so kindly provided by Comcast when someone paid to get Internet access in their home or business, now comes with popup ads! That you didn’t ask for! In your web browser. No matter what page you are on!! Does “block pop-ups” block these little puppies? In Safari on Macintosh, the answer would be, “No”.