Keefer Madness

Samsung TV Capacitor Settlement Notice

// March 11th, 2012 // No Comments » // Tech, TV Talk

So happy I was surfing Engadget’s RSS feed this evening before bed.

For quite awhile now, our 42″ Samsung LCD takes a long time to power on. It clicks every couple seconds and eventually comes on. After Googling it to find out what possibly could be going on, I quickly found others with the same problem, including some pictures of the problematic innards of the Samsung sets.

Turns out Samsung used some crappy capacitors in some of their sets. Visual inspection of these capacitors often shows a visible swelling of the components. While the parts to change out are cheap and readily available, until recently, Samsung wasn’t footing the bill to do it. According to the link below, they’re now acknowledging the problem now after being hit with a class action lawsuit.

I’m now chatting with a very polite Samsung rep to see about getting ours fixed. Will update after I’ve got more info, but feel pretty confident that our TV is going to be covered (it’s the first model number in the list of affected sets and it’s definitely exhibiting the symptoms).

I just hope we get it taken care of before the TV goes further south.

I’m also hopeful I don’t have to solder in capacitors myself.

Only wish the same outcome were in the process for my third red-ringed Xbox 360.

Samsung TV Capacitor Settlement Notice

Bye Bye to Time Warner Cable (Again)

// February 3rd, 2012 // 2 Comments » // Personal Crap, TV Talk

So starting next week, we’ll be canceling Time Warner Cable again. They keep inching up their rates, their DVRs are complete and utter crap and overall I’m not a fan. I always liked being with DirecTV, and we’re going back there. They have a deal right now that discounts their packages for the first two years and you don’t have to buy equipment. The disadvantages of DirecTV — including the upfront costs aren’t there right now. So why not throw our monthly entertainment budget towards DirecTV, instead of to Time Warner?

I’ve never used a DirecTV DVR (other than those that ran the TiVo software), but they can’t be worse than the clunky crap that Time Warner’s running.

Sadly, we’ll still be giving Time Warner money for our Internet connection. For now, that’s our best option at home. At least we’re diverting our TV services away from DirecTV. I’m excited for the change, and definitely won’t shed a tear at turning in our TWC equipment in a little over a week.

Roku’s Tiny HDMI “Streaming Stick” to Bring Netflix, Hulu to Smart TVs

// January 4th, 2012 // No Comments » // Internet / Web, Tech, TV Talk

This sounds like a pretty [little] cool concept: a little memory stick that plugs into Smart TV’s HDMI ports to allow video streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Sadly, it won’t work with any old HDMI port. It’s got to be one that supports Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL).

The more I think of it, other than having small size, how’s this better than a normal Roku box or the already pretty small Apple TV 2.0? Sure, a memory-stick sized streaming device would eliminate a set of cords (a power and an HDMI), but other than that, not sure what its appeal or audience will be.

Roku’s Tiny HDMI “Streaming Stick” to Bring Netflix, Hulu to Smart TVs

DirecTV/TiVo (AKA DirecTiVo) HD DVR: Coming Thursday?

// December 7th, 2011 // No Comments » // TiVo Bytes, TV Talk

Hmmm, the old 250 unit on DirecTV was great. When they abanoned Tivo on DirecTV is when we switched to cable.

If it’s true that there’s another TiVo-branded DVR on its way to DirecTV, we may go back to DirecTV here in the Keefer household, though I’m over my early adopter syndrome. We will wait for this thing to be out on the market, thoroughly tested, a few software updates applied and reviews to be available.

Regardless, glad to hear TiVo is soon to be part of the satellite giant again.

DIRECTV/TiVo HD DVR: Coming Thursday?

Why We've Come Crawling Back to Cable

// May 10th, 2011 // No Comments » // Personal Crap, Tech, TiVo Bytes, TV Talk

Today marks the first time in nearly a decade where I didn’t have at least one TiVo active in the house. Last Sunday, we re-subscribed to the more-than-basic cable — back to Time Warner’s digital cable tier. While the cost savings of just paying for the basic level of cable were great, we came crawling back for a number of reasons:
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Time Warner and Networks Face Off Over Tablet App

// March 28th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, iPad, Tech, TV Talk

While I’ve yet to get the iPad app to work here in the Keefer household, I applaud those that have. We’re stuck in authentication hell. Time Warner requires a signup, and supposedly they’re upgrading their online systems and we’ve yet to be able to create an account to try out the app. Plus, with us only having basic cable, we’re probably not eligible to utilize it.

Regardless, props to Time Warner for making this app, and going toe to toe with content providers.

TWC & Networks Face Off Over Table App

Final Jeopardy! and the Future of Watson

// February 18th, 2011 // No Comments » // Computers, Software, Tech, TV Talk

The geek in me really dug the concept of the first part of this week’s Jeopardy competition — Man versus machine. IBM created Watson to play Jeopardy. The ten minute video below gives a great post-mortem on the project’s public test. Very cool stuff, and IBM did a great job with both the whole Watson system, but also its public face and promotion.

The article below talks about that public face and all the visuals. It’s amazing the nuances that went into it, not to take anything away at all from the actual achievement in the technology and processing behind the scenes.

Joshua Davis Creates the Face of Watson, IBM’s Jeopardy Supercomputer

Cutting the Cable

// December 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // HDTV Bits, TV Talk

More and more people I know are saying bye bye to cable. Between their rising rates, and their crappy service, the Keefer household too keeps teetering on the thought of sticking with Time Warner’s RoadRunner high speed Internet, but pulling the plug on cable. I’m tempted to just use rabbit ears, or something similar to get the local networks in their full uncompressed high definition glory, but sports and a few cable shows on the Food Network, History Channel and Discovery keep me second guessing. Anyone have any thoughts, solutions, etc?

I guess as a trial, maybe we should try an indoor HD antenna upstairs to see what reception is like. The HD TiVo (or our dual tuner SD TiVo) would continue to work without being tethered to cable. Maybe we should give it a trial run in 2011?

YouTube Leanback Officially Launches With Google TV

// October 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech, TV Talk

Love this minimalist user interface for accessing YouTube on Google TV devices mdash; YouTube Leanback. It maximizes the viewing area, while still being functional enough for navigating videos. Props to Google, who isn’t always known for making their UIs pretty. I’d love to give this a spin.

YouTube Leanback Officially Launches With Google TV

Time Warner Rolling Out More HD Channels

// October 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // HDTV Bits, Local (Raleigh Durham), TV Talk

Sweet — ore HDTV goodness to Time Warner Cable subscribers here in Central North Carolina. The channels will be rolled out on two dates during November 2010:
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