The Lance J. Technoweb

I've transitioned to Comcast NOW, a lower speed, lower cost alternative.  The kids have grown up and moved out.  I'm spending much more of my time traveling.  I don't need the high speeds at home like I used to. This transition promises to save me $240 dollars a year versus my old "discounted" plan. Xfinity to Comcast Now transitioning process I went to the Xfinity store and told them I was cancelling two weeks out.  This isn't weird - people move all the time, so they do have a process for cancelling at a future ("move-out") date. Later the same day, I was able to go to the Comcast website and order the NOW modem for the new service. Note that Comcast didn't let me do this until I had a future cancel order in place.  Three days later, the modem arrived via FedEx. The cancel date came and went - Xfinity seems to have a grace period, so the old modem wasn't unceremoniously yanked out of service at midnight.  This made the transition smooth.  ...

There are a lot of cable modems on the market, and many are compatible with Xfinity service. However, that doesn't mean that every modem is perfect. My basic requirements are: Currently certified by my ISP.  Buying a cable modem that isn't currently certified is simply unlikely to work. Capable of supporting needed service speeds.  Buying a cable modem which cannot deliver the service needed is going to be an immediate bottlebeck.  Buying a cable modem which is far more capable that the service speed is likely a waste of money, No built-in WiFi capability or Telephone line capability.  A personally-owned WiFi router is likely a better choice than an all-in-one unit that will need to be positioned exactly where the cable is within the house.  Don't over-buy.  Cable modems do not last forever.  Manufacturers abandon support, and cable modems aren't infinitely durable due to things like lightning strikes and being powered on for years at a time. So what ...

I've been dealing with Apple computer gear for a long time, as have my friends and family. Here is a list of the old gear that me and/or my friends have in active service.   Note that this gear is in real service, and isn't treated as museum pieces or as part of a retro-computing hobby. 2008: Apple Airport Express, draft-N, first generation 2009: Apple MacBook, late 2009 (utility use only) 2010: Apple iPod nano, 6th generation 2013: Apple Airport Extreme AC 2015: Apple TV HD (4th generation) The big winner here is the Airport Express, which is modern enough to do its job, and it just keeps on going.  The device that my friend runs has been in operation for more than 125000 hours.  It received its most recent firmware update on 28 August 2018, 10+ years after its initial release. In terms of security: it has no open, unpatched CVE vulnerability reports.  Many generations of other routers have come and go while this one keeps going.

 I just installed a Ring doorbell the other day, and in perusing the website I read this gem: "security updates until at least four years after the device is last available for purchase"  Four years is all Ring promises for a brand new device?  This isn't 2007.  It's a mass market doorbell and a camera, something expected to be safely used for years, if not decades.  Even my home router has a longer promised life, and that's saying something. Ring management must be embarrassed by their ineptness.  They're idiots, and clearly the only way they know how to make a buck is not through great ideas and great implementations, but through planned obsolescence and customer abuse.  

After 90 years, traditional US television broadcasting is fading fast. ATSC 3.0, the newest US TV broadcasting standard, looks great on its face: modern, efficient, and flexible.  But there are growing problems, a tired plot that has been repeating over and over for all US broadcasters: Very poor content.  Broadcast TV is loaded with very low-value content.  Why watch broadcast TV if the programming is abysmal?  Yes, there are some excellent programs, but that's about 1%. High ad frequency.  Broadcast TV has a huge and growing volume of advertising. Why watch broadcast TV if the ads are so amazingly annoying, and when all of them feel like money scams? QVC may be profitable, but is it a significant value to the public? High cost.  The broadcast industry is working to make the tuner in your brand new TV obsolete in just a few years. Why buy a new TV today if it is just going to be obsolete in a couple of years? Blocking.  The broadcast industry is acti...

I purchased my Apple TV on its release day, in October 2015.  It continues to serve me perfectly, after nearly 10 years of active use. Although it is decidedly not the newest model of Apple TV, it does 100% of the things I want it to do without any issues.  Sure, I'd love a more modern SoC, gigabit Ethernet, Thread support, 4k video support, etc, but honestly I am not missing any of those features, so "upgrading" it today would be a waste of money.  I did sell the original Siri remote in 2023 and upgrade to the 3rd generation (USB-C) Siri remote. The original Siri remote was working great, but I figured after 7.5 years of use, it was time to get a new remote with a new battery.  I will likely upgrade my Apple TV in the future, but I can't predict when that will be.   Due to a quirk of its release strategy, this Apple TV was discontinued in late 2022, and so it is likely to be supported for several more years. A new device would have to be a leap ahead, because m...

I ended up buying a 2013 Honda CRV and decided to replace the stock radio/CD player with an upgraded unit.  This was far easier and cheaper than I imagined, but the hardest part was selecting a unit to buy  This article covers how I made my choice.   The basic form factor for my CRV head unit Selecting a Unit The Car I have a 2013 CR/V, which is the same series of all of the CR/Vs from model year 2012 through 2016. Therefore it was important to find a radio unit that fits this model. The CRV has steering wheel radio controls, and I wanted to use them.  This uses a technology called CAN-Bus, which is kind of like USB for cars.  Therefore, a CAN-Bus capability would be able to leverage all these steering wheel features.  In addition, the CRV has a backup camera that would be nice to tie into. And of course I wanted to leverage the existing speakers and USB port. Form Factor I wanted a unit that had a big display, and I wanted a unit that was easy to purchas...