Today is my first day living as a cable cutter. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about taking the cable cutting challenge. The goal is to live off of OTA TV, Netflix, and Hulu for a year. There may be a couple other odd and end services mixed in, but the point is to watch TV for less than $30/mo. So far, I'm at $18/mo with Hulu and Netflix. I plan to probably add MLBtv next year. That will be around $120 for the season, but probably will only add $10 to my average monthly bill. I'm good with that, for now. That's still under the $30 mark.
My kids like some shows we won't be able to access through our TV, like Regular Show and Adventure Time on the Cartoon Network. Most of the episodes are available through the website, though and we can watch those on a computer. I'm not getting a DVR of any kind right now, like Tivo or something similar. I don't have the need.
Sunday is my first football season without Cable or Satellite. The good news is that since they have always been on Fox and CBS, they will still be there. And I can watch some football this Sunday. Last week I was able to pickup the network games, so I have no doubt it will be the same this week.
Good bye, DirecTV. I see you have some awesome packages on your site and are even including NFL Sunday Ticket for free! It's for new customers only, though, because I asked about lowering my bill. I'm as low as I can go at $70+/mo, while new customers get a deal that's almost half that cost and with more channels than I have. Are you offering the super special deals, because people are abandoning ship and realizing they can get along without you? Hmmm.... I know you will never admit it, even if it's true. I wonder what the landscape will look like in 5 years.
An Update: I just got a call from someone high up in Customer Service at DirecTV. They were verifying that I wanted to cancel my service and asked why? I explained it was a cost issue. They were willing to increase my channel package and cut my current payment by at least half! What a deal! I was already at the lowest package and they were going to bump me up and cut my cost by half. That would have put me at about $40/mo. It's a great deal, but still not $20/mo. I declined the offer. I'm sure I would have had to sign another 2 year contract and lose the cost benefits over that time and eventually climb back up to the current payment levels. I'm not playing that game anymore.
Out of all the times I called before to work with DirecTV, why do I have to go through the process to cancel my service to get attention from them? Why do they have to be faced with the prospect of a customer committing to dropping service. When I commit to doing something like that, I've made up my mind and I'm done. It would take a lot to get me to change my mind. Even if I do, I probably wouldn't be going back to that company because they let the relationship sour to the point of termination.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
One Week Left to Live with DirecTV
This coming week is my last week on DirecTV. I will be cutting the cord this week. No cable or satellite service for one year is the challenge. In preparation I have purchased a Western Digital Live TV media player and a Mohu Leaf HD Antenna to receive OTA TV channels. I have done testing with each of those with good success. Sunday, I watched some football using my Mohu Leaf and the signal was flawless.
This weekend I will have some work to do. I am cleaning up wires and moving some equipment around the house. Since the DirecTV box will be moved out the Cable modem and wireless router are getting moved to the front of the house and new cable management is being put in.
I am excited about taking on the cable cutter challenge. I'm also somewhat apprehensive as I have not been without cable or satellite TV service since sometime around 1996. I haven't been without a DVR for at least 8 years. It's been a dependent relationship that I choose to longer be a participant. The biggest complaints could potentially come from the kids. They've never known TV without a DVR. They think everyone can pause and rewind live TV. I'm about take my kids to the stone age with a 46-inch HD TV, high speed Internet, laptops in the house with Netflix, a couple hundred DVD movies available on demand from the network movie library, and no ability to pause or rewind live TV. Poor things. They're going to have such a rough time with this.
This weekend I will have some work to do. I am cleaning up wires and moving some equipment around the house. Since the DirecTV box will be moved out the Cable modem and wireless router are getting moved to the front of the house and new cable management is being put in.
I am excited about taking on the cable cutter challenge. I'm also somewhat apprehensive as I have not been without cable or satellite TV service since sometime around 1996. I haven't been without a DVR for at least 8 years. It's been a dependent relationship that I choose to longer be a participant. The biggest complaints could potentially come from the kids. They've never known TV without a DVR. They think everyone can pause and rewind live TV. I'm about take my kids to the stone age with a 46-inch HD TV, high speed Internet, laptops in the house with Netflix, a couple hundred DVD movies available on demand from the network movie library, and no ability to pause or rewind live TV. Poor things. They're going to have such a rough time with this.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Update Outlook Safe Sender List via GPO
I had a client with the need to update the Outlook Safe Sender list in Outlook's Junk Email settings across about 100 end users. The list had only a couple of addresses and we did not want to overwrite whatever list was already in place for each end user. They have an Active Directory environment and have a couple of sites. They also use Outlook 2007 and 2010. So the question became, how can this be done through Group Policy? Do we have to run an MSP package or can we just use Administrative templates to set the information?
I found the Office 2007 and Office 2010 Administrative GPOs on Microsoft's site. I downloaded them and placed them in the correct location. These GPOs are for Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 Active Directory environments. Don't forget to copy the ADML files in, too. You will get errors when attempting to modify a GPO with the Office ADMX Administrative templates.
I made the appropraite changes in the Outlook GPO. The Junk Mail filter is located under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office Outlook (version here) > Tools | Options > Preferences > Junk E-mail. I enabled the list setting and pointed to the location of the list and allowed the list to be updated, instead of overwritten, among a few other options. I attempted to have the GPO push to my test computers and only a couple of the settings took effect. The list did not take effect. I researched the issue and found this is a common problem.
I found this Technet thread -
I found the Office 2007 and Office 2010 Administrative GPOs on Microsoft's site. I downloaded them and placed them in the correct location. These GPOs are for Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 Active Directory environments. Don't forget to copy the ADML files in, too. You will get errors when attempting to modify a GPO with the Office ADMX Administrative templates.
I made the appropraite changes in the Outlook GPO. The Junk Mail filter is located under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office Outlook (version here) > Tools | Options > Preferences > Junk E-mail. I enabled the list setting and pointed to the location of the list and allowed the list to be updated, instead of overwritten, among a few other options. I attempted to have the GPO push to my test computers and only a couple of the settings took effect. The list did not take effect. I researched the issue and found this is a common problem.
I found this Technet thread -
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/sr-Latn-CS/outlook/thread/0ddcf321-9158-4078-ac83-45b33ef98266 - and discovered my problem. The registry keys were not getting created through the GPO and therefore, no list was being applied. I created the keys using the Group Policy Preferences for the user and successfully pushed the list to the test computers.
The following registry keys are required for Outlook Safe Sender lists to be populated inside:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\14.0\outlook\options\mail
"JunkMailImportAppend" DWORD = 1 NOTE: This is DWORD value. “1” is for Appending. “0” is for Overwrite.
"JunkMailSafeSendersFile" SZ = "C:\SafeSenders.txt" NOTE: String value is set to filepath of txt file
“JunkMailImportLists" DWORD = 1 NOTE: 1 = Enabled 0 = Disabled
"JunkMailImportAppend" DWORD = 1 NOTE: This is DWORD value. “1” is for Appending. “0” is for Overwrite.
"JunkMailSafeSendersFile" SZ = "C:\SafeSenders.txt" NOTE: String value is set to filepath of txt file
“JunkMailImportLists" DWORD = 1 NOTE: 1 = Enabled 0 = Disabled
Upon import of the list the JunkMailImportLists value will automatically change to 0. If this registry entry is set to 1 from Group Policy it will continue to import the list at each logon. Rest assured, it will not create duplicate addresses for each subsequent logon. If you are using Outlook 2007, simply replace the 14.0 with 12.0 in the registry path. The same values work for Office 2007
I used the option to append to the current list so that if anyone has a specific sender in their list, my imports won't affect their individual settings. This is important to note, as some end users can create a rather long list of acceptable safe senders, especially if they subscribe to mailing lists. Many times these can get caught in Outlook's Junk Mail. Overwriting that list may cause more headaches. The best to avoid that pitfall is understanding the needs of the end users affected by the anticipated changes.
The other option available mentioned in the thread is to update the Exchange Server with a few cmdlets. My customer uses a hosted Exchange environment, so this was not an option for us. Implementing the registry settings was simple enough and can be maintained easily.
Credit goes to Jahawk at Microsoft for showing this information in the Technet thread.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The Mohu Leaf HD Antenna Review
Here I am one week before my anticipated date to cut the cable. I just received my Mohu Leaf HD antenna in the mail today. It came super quick with free shipping from Amazon. This is an antenna that is only available online through Amazon and the Mohu store directly. I could not find it any brick and mortar stores, nor their online stores. I compared it to other antennas on the market and found this one to be the best price for the features and results.
I ordered it over the Labor Day weekend and it arrived at my door step only 3 business days later. Considering I wasn't expecting it until about a week later, it's arrival was a pleasant surprise. I immediately unboxed the antenna. I found the packaging very simple to get through. The quick guide was right there on top. If you've never setup an antenna on a TV is might be worth reviewing. Even if you dealt with rabbit ears, this is a little different. You don't need to have junior stand in the corner holding a piece of foil touching the antenna to get a decent signal.
At first glance I felt like I overpaid for it. The antenna looks like black and white laminated construction paper with a clip holder and a wire. Albeit, the actual antenna was not flimsy. It was pretty rigid with a slight bit a flex. Don't bed it, though. I couldn't believe something so simple looking is one of the highest rated antennas on the market. I pressed forward not letting the looks deceive me.
I hooked up the antenna and just placed on the wall and initiated a channel scan. I have a white brick wall, so I placed the white side out. The instructions say it doesn't matter which side is out. As my channel scan ran I watched how many channels were discovered. I was shocked at the results. According to the FCC HD TV reception map, I should be able to get 18 channels. The Mohu Leaf HD antenna brought in 81 channels! Several of those channels were Spanish and will not be staying in my favorites list. Except for maybe the Spanish soap opera channel. Those shows get pretty hot!
I noticed some of the channels were a better picture than what I get through my DirecTV. I talked about this in my Taking the Cable Cutter Challenge post. I am excited to see that people were right and that I got to experience it, too. I went through all of the channels that were discovered and found that about half of them will be worth keeping. Most of those are in HD. I found some treasures, too. There were a few channels broadcasting older shows I remember from my younger days, like The Ropers. There was another channel showing TV shows from the 50s, too.
Between the channels I get on my Mohu Leaf HD antenna, my Western Digital TV Live box, Hulu, Netflix, and an MLBtv subscription I am set to cut the cable. My monthly bill will go from about $95/mo before discounts, to around $12/mo. I am not including Netflix as I would have Netflix regardless of having a cable or satellite provider. Talk about savings! The only drawback is football. I won't be able to watch Monday Night Football, and I may not always be able to catch the Cowboys play. I won't pay $350 for the season to watch them, either. That's more than I care to pay to watch a few games. I'd rather save up my pennies from my savings and go catch a game live at Jerry Land, aka Cowboys Stadium.
The Mohu Leaf HD antenna brought it in way more channels than I knew were out there. It's very lightweight and easy to install. It came with some hook and loop tape circles to hang the antenna anywhere I want. The cable length is about 6 feet, but is easily extended with a coax extension cable. The video quality is in full HD and the audio was crystal clear through the TV. It brought in a ton more channels than I had anticipated. It has a range of up to about 35 miles. I live within 10 miles of nearly all of our broadcast antennas. For those that live further outside a metropolitan area, there is the Mohu Leaf Plus HD antenna. It has a built in amplifier that can be powered by a USB port on the TV. The Mohu Leaf HD antenna is a very reasonably priced antenna at less than $40. The Mohu Leaf Plus HD antenna is about $75. If you're way out in the suburbs go with the Mohu Leaf Plus.
I ordered it over the Labor Day weekend and it arrived at my door step only 3 business days later. Considering I wasn't expecting it until about a week later, it's arrival was a pleasant surprise. I immediately unboxed the antenna. I found the packaging very simple to get through. The quick guide was right there on top. If you've never setup an antenna on a TV is might be worth reviewing. Even if you dealt with rabbit ears, this is a little different. You don't need to have junior stand in the corner holding a piece of foil touching the antenna to get a decent signal.
At first glance I felt like I overpaid for it. The antenna looks like black and white laminated construction paper with a clip holder and a wire. Albeit, the actual antenna was not flimsy. It was pretty rigid with a slight bit a flex. Don't bed it, though. I couldn't believe something so simple looking is one of the highest rated antennas on the market. I pressed forward not letting the looks deceive me.
I hooked up the antenna and just placed on the wall and initiated a channel scan. I have a white brick wall, so I placed the white side out. The instructions say it doesn't matter which side is out. As my channel scan ran I watched how many channels were discovered. I was shocked at the results. According to the FCC HD TV reception map, I should be able to get 18 channels. The Mohu Leaf HD antenna brought in 81 channels! Several of those channels were Spanish and will not be staying in my favorites list. Except for maybe the Spanish soap opera channel. Those shows get pretty hot!
I noticed some of the channels were a better picture than what I get through my DirecTV. I talked about this in my Taking the Cable Cutter Challenge post. I am excited to see that people were right and that I got to experience it, too. I went through all of the channels that were discovered and found that about half of them will be worth keeping. Most of those are in HD. I found some treasures, too. There were a few channels broadcasting older shows I remember from my younger days, like The Ropers. There was another channel showing TV shows from the 50s, too.
Between the channels I get on my Mohu Leaf HD antenna, my Western Digital TV Live box, Hulu, Netflix, and an MLBtv subscription I am set to cut the cable. My monthly bill will go from about $95/mo before discounts, to around $12/mo. I am not including Netflix as I would have Netflix regardless of having a cable or satellite provider. Talk about savings! The only drawback is football. I won't be able to watch Monday Night Football, and I may not always be able to catch the Cowboys play. I won't pay $350 for the season to watch them, either. That's more than I care to pay to watch a few games. I'd rather save up my pennies from my savings and go catch a game live at Jerry Land, aka Cowboys Stadium.
The Mohu Leaf HD antenna brought it in way more channels than I knew were out there. It's very lightweight and easy to install. It came with some hook and loop tape circles to hang the antenna anywhere I want. The cable length is about 6 feet, but is easily extended with a coax extension cable. The video quality is in full HD and the audio was crystal clear through the TV. It brought in a ton more channels than I had anticipated. It has a range of up to about 35 miles. I live within 10 miles of nearly all of our broadcast antennas. For those that live further outside a metropolitan area, there is the Mohu Leaf Plus HD antenna. It has a built in amplifier that can be powered by a USB port on the TV. The Mohu Leaf HD antenna is a very reasonably priced antenna at less than $40. The Mohu Leaf Plus HD antenna is about $75. If you're way out in the suburbs go with the Mohu Leaf Plus.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Review of the Western Digital TV Live Media Player
As part of my Cable Cutting Challenge I bought a media player to replace my comptuer running Windows Media Center. I looked at quite a few and landed on the Western Digital Live TV. I compared this to several options inluding, Apple TV, the Roku, Popcorn Hour, and a few others. I chose the Western Digital based on a few factors including cost, features, size, and reviews by others.
The media plyer I chose had to have some specific features. It had to be a small foot print. It had to be able to work with my Logitech Harmony remote control. It had to support a USB attached drive, It had to do Netflix and Hulu Plus. It had to be able to play my movie library from the USB drive as extracted from the DVD. And finally, it had to be less than $200. Most of the media players out there meet most of these features. Some do not support locally attached USB drives, others are more than $200, and some didn't support both Netflix and Hulu Plus.
I know everyone raves about the Apple TV media player, but it does not support locally attached media. I could have gone with a Mac Mini, but that was more than $200. The Pop Corn Hour media players are great and have an eco system all their own for apps and configurability, but it was over the $200 mark for hat I wanted. Finally, the Western Digital TV Live fit the bill for all of the features needed. The one downside is it does not know how to play Blu-Ray ISO files properly. The issue is that it cannot deconstruct them properly to play.
Unboxing the Western Digital TV Live was pretty easy. It was neatly packed in its box with some piano black accents on the top and front. The device was about 5 inches squared bu about 1.5 inches tall. It was very compact. The power cord and basic instruction manual were included. The full manual is available online only, but is an easy download. The only reason you need it is to confugre the advanced settings in the device and to answer questions of what certain advanced settings do.
The device has an HDMI, Optical, USB, and power port in the back. The front has a USB port and power indicator light. The light is an LED white light instead of the typical blue I have seen on Western Digital devices of the past. It's not overbearing and is a subtle status indicator for drive scanning activity with a steady blink when reading drive contents.
I had some initial trouble getting my Lacie drive work with the Western Digital TV Live. The status light would blink for several minutes and then it would become nearly unresponsive to remote control commands. After performing some troubleshooting and reading the full manual for connecting drive I determined the USB connector on the Lacie drive holder was bad. I bought a new drive holder, placed the hard drive in it problem solved. The status light blinked for about 1 minute and then my entire movie library was available.
The one thing I have to complain about is the source for dvdid.xml files the Western Digital TV Live uses. The dvdid.xml file displays a picture and synopsis information for movies. It has a GUID in the file that pulls this information from an Internet based database. Unfortunately, barely half of my movies are showing this information, when I had about 98% coverage from Windows Media Center. I can only add new loaclized sources for picutre and synopsis conent. I need to research this more to see what else can be done here.
I have been watching things on Netflix and Hulu. The picture qaulity is actually better than watching it on my DirecTV. I have noticed pixleation coming through DirecTV on HD content, whereas on Netflix and Hulu it's been raw HD content. It's a noticeable difference. We had a DirecTV technician come out for service on our dish on the roof and he saw what we were watching and asked how it was comgin through without the dish in place. We told him about the Western Digital TV Live and even he was impressed with the picture. He said he had never seen a show look that clear before on DirecTV! I'd say that speaks a lot to the picture value.
We have owned the Western Digital TV Live now for about 3 weeks. It's been solid. I've had to change some configuration settings to get the best experience I can get. I use HDMI for video and optical for the audio. I have found this works best for all content. My Logitech Harmony remote can control the device fantastically! The USB attached hard drive has been flawless in playing most of my content. The only content it has not played well are the Blu-Ray ISOs. There is apparently work around for this that involves extracting the ISO and recompiling in a different format that puts all of the playable sections in order. Since the Western Digital TV Live cannot do this on its own, the ISO does not play well. The wireless connectivity has been operating perfectly. It picks up my signal from about 70 linear feet away through several walls. I have not had any Internet based content pause, drop, or buffer on me due to my wireless signal.
The navigation is pretyy simple with arrows on the remote used to mive from selection to selection. An OK button selects the item and takes you there. I needed to program my userid and password for each of the services I access. Don't worry, though, it saves that information for the next time it is accessed, even if I unplug the device. Updating it also pretty simple. I was ntoified of new firmware update after getting connected to the Internet. It was a major update as it completely changed the look and feel of the online services menu options. It also added new services that were not available at the time of initial setup, like MLB TV. I don't subscribe, but it was nice to see this option. Since it's so late in the year, it's not worth the $99 annual fee. I may do it for next season, though.
If you are looking for a media player to fulfill the needs I have outlined above, then give the Western Digital Live TV a try. It's easy to setup, navigate and even update. It automatically checks for new firmware updates. Western Digital also has a user forum that is regularly patrolled by technicians offering assistance and tracking potential bugs to resolve in future releases. It's a good thing when the manufacture regularly tracks input from end users and incorporates suggestions and bug fixes into their future releases. This process is usually not so visible through other manufacturers.
The next update will include how my new HD antenna will pick up channels around here. I'm no more than 12 miles from the farthest broadcasting station so I epxect to get everything in my region. Stay tuned as I continue to edge closer to my deadline for initiating the Cable Cutting Challenge.
The media plyer I chose had to have some specific features. It had to be a small foot print. It had to be able to work with my Logitech Harmony remote control. It had to support a USB attached drive, It had to do Netflix and Hulu Plus. It had to be able to play my movie library from the USB drive as extracted from the DVD. And finally, it had to be less than $200. Most of the media players out there meet most of these features. Some do not support locally attached USB drives, others are more than $200, and some didn't support both Netflix and Hulu Plus.
I know everyone raves about the Apple TV media player, but it does not support locally attached media. I could have gone with a Mac Mini, but that was more than $200. The Pop Corn Hour media players are great and have an eco system all their own for apps and configurability, but it was over the $200 mark for hat I wanted. Finally, the Western Digital TV Live fit the bill for all of the features needed. The one downside is it does not know how to play Blu-Ray ISO files properly. The issue is that it cannot deconstruct them properly to play.
Unboxing the Western Digital TV Live was pretty easy. It was neatly packed in its box with some piano black accents on the top and front. The device was about 5 inches squared bu about 1.5 inches tall. It was very compact. The power cord and basic instruction manual were included. The full manual is available online only, but is an easy download. The only reason you need it is to confugre the advanced settings in the device and to answer questions of what certain advanced settings do.
The device has an HDMI, Optical, USB, and power port in the back. The front has a USB port and power indicator light. The light is an LED white light instead of the typical blue I have seen on Western Digital devices of the past. It's not overbearing and is a subtle status indicator for drive scanning activity with a steady blink when reading drive contents.
I had some initial trouble getting my Lacie drive work with the Western Digital TV Live. The status light would blink for several minutes and then it would become nearly unresponsive to remote control commands. After performing some troubleshooting and reading the full manual for connecting drive I determined the USB connector on the Lacie drive holder was bad. I bought a new drive holder, placed the hard drive in it problem solved. The status light blinked for about 1 minute and then my entire movie library was available.
The one thing I have to complain about is the source for dvdid.xml files the Western Digital TV Live uses. The dvdid.xml file displays a picture and synopsis information for movies. It has a GUID in the file that pulls this information from an Internet based database. Unfortunately, barely half of my movies are showing this information, when I had about 98% coverage from Windows Media Center. I can only add new loaclized sources for picutre and synopsis conent. I need to research this more to see what else can be done here.
I have been watching things on Netflix and Hulu. The picture qaulity is actually better than watching it on my DirecTV. I have noticed pixleation coming through DirecTV on HD content, whereas on Netflix and Hulu it's been raw HD content. It's a noticeable difference. We had a DirecTV technician come out for service on our dish on the roof and he saw what we were watching and asked how it was comgin through without the dish in place. We told him about the Western Digital TV Live and even he was impressed with the picture. He said he had never seen a show look that clear before on DirecTV! I'd say that speaks a lot to the picture value.
We have owned the Western Digital TV Live now for about 3 weeks. It's been solid. I've had to change some configuration settings to get the best experience I can get. I use HDMI for video and optical for the audio. I have found this works best for all content. My Logitech Harmony remote can control the device fantastically! The USB attached hard drive has been flawless in playing most of my content. The only content it has not played well are the Blu-Ray ISOs. There is apparently work around for this that involves extracting the ISO and recompiling in a different format that puts all of the playable sections in order. Since the Western Digital TV Live cannot do this on its own, the ISO does not play well. The wireless connectivity has been operating perfectly. It picks up my signal from about 70 linear feet away through several walls. I have not had any Internet based content pause, drop, or buffer on me due to my wireless signal.
The navigation is pretyy simple with arrows on the remote used to mive from selection to selection. An OK button selects the item and takes you there. I needed to program my userid and password for each of the services I access. Don't worry, though, it saves that information for the next time it is accessed, even if I unplug the device. Updating it also pretty simple. I was ntoified of new firmware update after getting connected to the Internet. It was a major update as it completely changed the look and feel of the online services menu options. It also added new services that were not available at the time of initial setup, like MLB TV. I don't subscribe, but it was nice to see this option. Since it's so late in the year, it's not worth the $99 annual fee. I may do it for next season, though.
If you are looking for a media player to fulfill the needs I have outlined above, then give the Western Digital Live TV a try. It's easy to setup, navigate and even update. It automatically checks for new firmware updates. Western Digital also has a user forum that is regularly patrolled by technicians offering assistance and tracking potential bugs to resolve in future releases. It's a good thing when the manufacture regularly tracks input from end users and incorporates suggestions and bug fixes into their future releases. This process is usually not so visible through other manufacturers.
The next update will include how my new HD antenna will pick up channels around here. I'm no more than 12 miles from the farthest broadcasting station so I epxect to get everything in my region. Stay tuned as I continue to edge closer to my deadline for initiating the Cable Cutting Challenge.
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