technology – procrastinationchronicles.com

an apple a day

November 7, 2024 No Comments

My dad just got a new phone and with that comes 3 months free of Apple TV+. So what to watch? I don’t consistently get Apple but I have and might get it again for some catch-up. These are the shows I recommend.

The Afterparty – This was a fun take on the murder mystery, each season having a new death and some new and old cast.
Bad Sisters – This odd series about a group of 5 Irish sisters and the death of one of their husbands, who did it? Surprised and cautious about a second-season hitting.
Mythic Quest – A video gaming company that brings out the worst behavior and best comedy led by Rob McElhenney (of Sunny in Philadelphia and Welcome to Wrexham).
Severance – This odd sci-fi/dark comedy shows us the split lives of workers who agree to not remember their lives outside of work (and vice versa) and it just works and I’m excited to see where it goes next.
Shrinking – I may be influenced as I jammed through the whole first season with Covid but this was my fave show last year, a psychologist played by Jason Segel tries some interesting approaches but it’s his engagement with the rest of the cast including Harrison Ford at his funniest that makes it, second season rolling out now.
Ted Lasso – This might have put Apple TV on the map, it’s a very sweet and funny show about a US Coach taking over an English football team, and rumor has it we might see more.

What else do we not want to miss?

technology, tv

time to cut the cord

April 13, 2024 No Comments

I have had “deal with tv” on my list of things to do for ages. I knew I was paying too much for cable, but I’m a tv gal so it seemed ok that I was prioritizing tv. But these days with all the streaming options it also seemed like there had to be something better. And I am already paying for Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. And Max. But as soon as I started to Google “tv options” I became overwhelmed and put it off.

So I finally started taking some action. I’ve been using a Tivo as my DVR with cable. So I pulled up my list of season passes and looked at what networks I really watched. And then I started to look at where I could get the various options. FX/FXX is easy because it’s always on Hulu. I could add Paramount+ and Peacock to get NBC and CBS. And was ABC also playing on Hulu?

I felt myself starting to freeze up again.

So I checked Hulu Live to see what coverage they had and basically, it was everything except AMC. I have been enjoying but figured I could AMC+ at some point if it was a dealbreaker for the next season of Dark Winds for example. Then I checked YouTube and decided since I already had Hulu I wasn’t going to go down that rabbit hole.

I didn’t love the idea of getting everything on streaming. There have been times when for example the internet goes out and I’ve been able to watch regular tv. It has been relatively infrequently. The other thing that I love is the ease of pausing and rewinding or fast-forwarding on regular DVR shows, and the fact that you can actually pause the screen and see what’s there. These didn’t seem like deal-breakers.

So it’s happened. I’ve added all my season passes to be recorded and there’s an option to go to my stuff and find recorded programs. So far it seems to work which I guess is what one wants. I am not as comfortable with the interface. I don’t see for example how to display what shows are upcoming to be recorded. We’ll see. And I now get Disney+ so I’ll be poking around there.

I know that I can always go back to cable if I hate it. And I’d be more appreciative if that was the case.

Next, I’m not sure I need my TiVo anymore but that’s an emotional decision I can put off for another day. I will add it to my list.

Do you still have cable? If not how are you getting tv these days?

movies, technology

where’s my seat?

May 7, 2023 No Comments

You probably know I’m a big movie fan. I grew up going to the movies and have kept the tradition alive. Fun to go with friends but also nothing better than hitting a matinee on a weekday by myself. So when the pandemic hit that tradition took a hiatus. I remember my last movie was Knives Out, not a bad movie to remember.

So not to let the pandemic take me down, I embraced streaming. Even more movies were being released on streaming. So I made it a point if I didn’t have other plans on a Saturday night to pick a movie. It made the weekend a little different. And I have enjoyed keeping that tradition up for what has turned into years.

I’d been planning to go back to the movie theater. But either there was nothing out. Or the Covid numbers got really high again. Or I just couldn’t quite fit the timing of a three-hour movie in. But yesterday I went to the movies. In the theater! We saw John Wick 4. I specifically picked a movie that I felt would benefit from the big screen. Lots of action. Kind of dark (visually and not just in tone).

Now John Wick is in fact a full three hours. So we found a time. Ordered our assigned seats ahead of time. It’s been so long that I’m really not sure whether you can just walk in these days. Bought some popcorn and settled in for a flick. Overall it was a fun movie and a good experience. But after so many Saturdays of sitting on my sofa, it makes sense that there would be some pros and cons.

Pro – You get to see movies as they come out, as a part of the cultural conversation.
Con – It is more expensive, we did matinees so it was about $15 a ticket which technically is less than an early rental which would be around $20 but if there were two of us that would be $10 each, and honestly there are so many ways to watch movies I don’t often pay to stream and if I do it’s a much lesser amount (the con of that is often I wait).
Pro – You do get more focus and drama by watching it in the theater.
Con – For a three-hour movie I don’t mind being able to pause to go to the bathroom (I also specifically didn’t drink extra water before I went), sitting in even the cushy reclined seats can get uncomfortable, and I think we got up before an after-credits scene.
Pro – The visuals are definitely better on a big screen, movies can be so visually dark with all of those fight scenes and keeping track of who is who it really just works better.
Con – I have gotten used to subtitles (which I use on probably everything except comedies and live shows) and when Lawrence Fishburn first enters (no spoilers) I honestly missed what he was saying.
Pro – Movie theater snacks just feel more special, grabbing that bag of popcorn was good.
Con – The popcorn actually wasn’t as good as I remember it and you know at home I can have whatever snacks I want.
Pro – I missed previews, it was fun to see the snippets for all the other movies.
Con – The length of time just gets ridiculous, so first I had to find a window where I could do a three-hour movie, and then I need to account for transportation and time to get snacks and sit through previews, it’s a lot.
Pro – I want to be able to support movies and theaters.
Con – I mean Covid is still a thing and so sitting in a theater with others could be, and could become, more of an issue.

So for me, I think it won’t be all or nothing. Seeing certain movies in the theater (Fast X!) and having those special occasions still feels super fun. But I am glad to have the option to flip through the latest selections in the comfort of my own home.

And John Wick btw was what one would expect, lots and lots and lots of fighting and some moments of humor. Three hours felt a little long but as they went through a few serious things in his journey it felt pretty engaging.

What’s your take on going back to theaters and have you seen anything good?

technology, tv

HBO has landed!

January 17, 2023 No Comments

I finally got HBO. Technically HBO Max. With this statement there seem to be two responses. 1) Really you didn’t have HBO? 2) It’s about $%^& time.

Clearly, my fine pchron readers know I’m a big fan of tv. So why didn’t I have HBO, the home to some of the greatest tv?

It was a little bit about money but it was mostly the principle of the thing. I pay for cable, not the premium channel version obviously but the version below that. And it is not cheap. And I pay for Netflix. And I pay for Hulu. And I pay for Amazon Prime.

Now I actually first threw down for Amazon Prime because they had a backlog of shows from HBO. The Wire, you bet! So I had done a basic pass over all the old greats. And I think I watched some things live with various friends and family.

But there was still so much TV to watch. I constantly have a backlog of tv. And so I didn’t need more shows. I didn’t want to get hooked on even more shows. I had already started dabbling with having a streaming option for a bit to watch shows and then cancel it. AppleTV and Paramount+ filled the gap on a few things. But I felt like if I got HBO it would be hard to cancel and just dip back in for a few things.

And to be honest I am planning to do some research into tv options. I think with everything I pay for it’s somewhat duplicative and probably too expensive. So maybe I’ll switch to Hulu Live or YouTube TV or whatever. And whenever I got around to that I was going to reevaluate everything.

Well, that ‘whenever’ has dragged on for a while.

And Saturday I sat down to watch a movie and really didn’t want to watch anything available. I’m trying to catch up on some of the ‘best of 2022.’ And I used to go to the movies a good amount. But since the pandemic, I’ve never quite gotten back to the in-person theater. I’m not saying I’m done for good but I definitely have moved to more streaming. And last year even paid for a few flicks.

So getting HBOMax doesn’t seem like that big of an investment. Done.

So I’m starting with the more current options. Saturday night I watched The Banshees of Inisherin (odd but good) and The Menu (a sweet and savory sendup). And have started in on The White Lotus and Barry. So far it’s worth the investment.

I’ll also get to catch additional seasons of a few shows that moved to HBO Max like The Other Two, Search Party, and Harley Quinn (this might have just been a tease on non-HBO).

What should I watch next?

technology

phone-dependency

June 20, 2014 No Comments

The old lady in me occasionally utters phrases that make me cringe, but I don’t know what we did before smart phones? With two near-death phone experiences this month the phone finally was put to rest. And a day and a half of no texts, no calls (I guess I should figure out what my voice-mail password is before it dies again), no Uber, no bus prediction, no maps, no music…

And then, decisions, decision… I was kind of waiting for the iPhone 6 but who knows for sure when that’s coming and whether the enhancement is worth it. Throwing caution to the wind I went 5s (in gold) and then with the swipe of a credit card (and a new industrial case to protect from dropping) I was back in business.

Lessons learned, you know how they say to back things up, well ya. Fortunately I had backed up after the last near-death experience so I just seem to have lost latest interactions (for the three people who text me on a regular basis this apology applies to you for anything ignored). The only other trick? Passwords. Between my five email accounts and my various apps apparently it helps to know what those are.

So next tech pursuit, password manager?

lifestyle, technology

cooking with…

July 16, 2013 4 Comments

I’m not known amongst my friends and family as a big cooker, but we do try to do family dinners more Sundays than not, so my sister and I tend to swap on cooking duties. Since we’re often not cooking in our own homes we’ve gotten in the habit of bringing recipes back and forth which can create a challenge with shopping and just keeping track of printouts.

I decided that getting recipes online was the best next step. At the start of my evaluation I wasn’t sure what my criteria was but as I looked at the myriad of options I started tracking it all down.

Ease of recipe input – Trumping all, I want to be able to cut and paste ingredients and directions in one big lump rather than individual fields for quantity/item for each, an extra perk is if the program can automatically import based on common recipe sites/formats; I would like to be able to edit the info input as well as add misc. notes; I don’t want there to be mandatory fields that I don’t want to use.
Categorization or tagging – I want to be able to search based not only by ingredient or kind of meal (main, side, etc.) but I also want to be able to search based on whether the recipe is one that is mine (vs. say sis’s) and whether I’ve cooked it or not.
Web based – I wanted something that I wouldn’t have to own specific software or an app to view on a particular computer or be a mac specific thang.
Public – Ideally I was interested in something that I could share my recipes with others.

The other nice to have would be a specific printing format, while things I don’t care so much about are an existing database of recipes and the ability to meal plan and do shopping.

After registering for a myriad of free sites and trying them out, it turns out I’m almost final on going with One tsp. They were the easiest to input and with a menu bar addition it “clip”s recipes. You can have up to 150 recipes and for $5/yr unlimited. The things it lacks are the public aspect, which isn’t that big of a deal (you can email your recipes to others), and the nice printing format (though of course the web page view is printable).

I’ve got a start with eleven recipes that I’ve used, input with a combination of clipped, cut & pasted from digital format, and typed from a hard copy. So far so good. Have you gone digital? Any thoughts or reccos?

technology

name that tune…

December 20, 2012 No Comments

itunes My days of avid music collecting ended somewhere around high school. Although I didn’t stop wanting to have something good to listen to my cds started rolling in less and less. And then with the transition to digital tunes I finally made the move, downloaded, and started purchasing via iTunes. Along the way either radio stations got less good, or I just couldn’t find something that worked for me I still felt like I was missing an intro to new tunes.

And with a couple of new services I’m wondering if it’s time to make another move:

iTunes – I have an iPod and an iPhone and on each of these lives a bounty of playlists, music I’ve downloaded from my very own, music I’ve purchased, I like the ability to purchase individual songs and search related, and I like the fact that I own the music and can take it with me.
Pandora – Along came this little item that could create a radio station based on the music I was listening to and introducing new tunes; new tunes, why that’s just what I was missing, but like radio although I can skip songs, I don’t always dig what it’s throwing down, I can’t play music from my collection, and even with the no ads upgrade ($3.99/mo or $36/yr) it depends on a connection so no offline.
Spotify – The latest to my plate, I like the fact that I can listen to both my own personal music as well as a pretty good availability on music I can pull into a playlist for free; it’s a great way to sample new bands I’m not on board with yet, and listen to playlists created by others, $4.99/mo for no ads, and $9.99/mo for all devices and offline (not sure of the limits on this), plus rumor has it they’re increasing the radio type options, so perhaps this is where to go next.

For now I’m staying tuned to the constant evolution and who will be the breakout technology. Did I mention that I find monthly fees infuriating? So what’s a gal to do?

technology

there’s an app for that…

July 12, 2012 No Comments

Someone I know has just made the big switch to the iPhone, which of course led to the ‘what apps do you use’ conversation. I’m not a huge app person, but I’ve downloaded a smattering that I don’t use and a few that I do. In addition to standard email, web, phone, camera, clock, and text functions here’s where I spend my time:

System Options:

Calendar, Notes, Contacts – Sync with my Outlook so all my info is at my fingertips.
ITunes – I’m dabbling with Pandora and Spotify but on the phone this is still my go to for tunes.
Maps – Who doesn’t want to know where they are and how to get places?
Weather – Who doesn’t need a weather report?

Social Networking:

Twitter and Facebook – These are great time killers when you’re stuck somewhere or desperately need to tell people what you’re up to, right now.

Entertainment:

Fandango – Movie times with reviews and all that.
IMDB – Having a conversation that starts with something like ‘you know that guy who was in that movie,’ look it up.
TV Guide/Comcast – On occasion I haven’t memorized the TV schedule and for some reason need to check it, haven’t developed a preference to one or the other of these.
Yelp – Love the search where I’m at option on this.

Transportation:*

Routsey/Transporter – I recently tried using Transporter when Routsey had times wrong for muni but I think it’s just muni, so I’m back to Routsey for quick checks on next bus, train, bart.
Taxi Magic – Want to call a cab?
Uber – Want to pay a little bit more for a car that will actually show?

Functional Stuff:

Dictionary.com – I swear they don’t always have a lot of words but sometimes the easiest lookup.
Evernote – I’m pondering greater embracing of this system, love the possibilities but still have some stuff on straight up Notes.

Misc:

All Text Picture/ASCII TextPics – A friend of mine got into texting ascii pics so I had to return.
Groupon/LivingSocial – I do occasionally purchase these so having this on my phone is user friendly when I want to redeem.
Lotto – When I remember that I have a lotto ticket in my wallet that I haven’t checked I need to check it immediately.
Mustache – My first received recommendation, pick a stache and hold up to your face for fun filled talking.
RL Classic – I occasionally need to view a bar code, but you know, almost never.

There are a myriad of apps that I have downloaded for one reason or another but don’t actually use… What apps am I missing? Tell us in comments what apps you can’t live without.

*My transportation stuff is SF focused but I’m sure there’s local action for each locale.