As a Longtime Subscriber, This Is My Favorite YouTube TV Upgrade Yet

Over the years, I've accumulated more streaming subscriptions than I care to admit.

Like many sports fans, I've been a YouTube TV subscriber for quite a while. It's become our primary way of watching television, and I honestly can't imagine going back to traditional cable. Between the unlimited DVR and the ability to watch from just about anywhere, it works well for how Carrie and I consume television.

At the same time, I've also subscribed to ESPN Unlimited.

The reason was simple. Some of the college sporting events and other programming I wanted to watch weren't available through the traditional ESPN channels included with YouTube TV. If I wanted access to everything, I needed both services.

For years, I just accepted that as the cost of being a sports fan.

Recently, however, ESPN announced that ESPN Unlimited content is expected to become available through YouTube TV. The integration hasn't happened yet, but it's coming soon, and I'm surprisingly excited about it.

Part of that excitement is financial.

Once the integration is complete, I won't need to maintain a separate ESPN Unlimited subscription. Any time I can eliminate a monthly bill while still getting the content I want, that's a good thing.

Streaming was supposed to simplify television. Instead, it sometimes feels like we've recreated cable with a dozen separate subscriptions. Every opportunity to consolidate services feels like a step in the right direction.

But the savings aren't actually the feature I'm most looking forward to.

The real benefit is the DVR.

One of my favorite features of YouTube TV has always been the unlimited cloud DVR. If there's a football game, basketball game, or television show I want to watch, I simply add it to my library and watch it later.

ESPN Unlimited content hasn't worked that way.

If an event was exclusive to ESPN Unlimited, I generally had to watch it through the ESPN app or find it later if a replay was available. Once the YouTube TV integration arrives, I'll be able to record those events just like anything else on the platform.

For someone who follows college sports, that's a pretty significant improvement.

Not every game starts at a convenient time. Some overlap with other games. Sometimes life gets in the way. Having the ability to record an ESPN Unlimited event and watch it later fits perfectly with how I already use YouTube TV.

It's one of those technology improvements that isn't flashy, but it makes life easier.

And honestly, those are usually my favorite kinds of improvements.

We'll see exactly how the integration works once it launches, but from where I sit, it's a win. I save money, I get a more streamlined viewing experience, and I gain DVR functionality for content that previously lived outside the YouTube TV ecosystem.

That's a pretty good combination.

Until next time, have a great rest of your Sunday and a wonderful week!

iPhone 5 Shutting Down Problems

I started noticing it after I went to iOS 7.0.2 and now that I am at 7.0.3 I definitely notice it.  I have gone through the suggested fixes too with no luck.  Posting this to see if others are having issues.  I know I have read plenty of forum posts with people having the issue, but figured I would post something on my blog about it too.

My iPhone 5 with iOS 7.0.3 will shut down anywhere from 23% down.  I did not have this problem prior to just a few weeks ago.  My iPhone 5 is exactly a year old.  No problems with battery at all until recently.  I did notice that when it shuts down early I can usually turn it back on by pressing the top button a few times.  In fact, if I go through a sequence of pressing the top button ten times and then pressing and holding it would turn on almost every time.  Odd!  When the phone would turn back on, the battery level would be at whatever it left off at (i.e. 23% on down).

If after going through the power on sequence it would turn back on, I did try running out the battery by going through this until there was nothing left.  Went through batter recalibration and still the same problem.  I did notice that if after it powered down if I put the phone in airplane mode, it would not shut down on its own.  I could run it all the way down to 1% without any problems.  I did close out all programs, turn off wifi, etc, but if it was not in airplane mode it would continue to shut down.

Personally, I believe this is a iOS 7.x.x issue and not a problem with my phone.  Especially considering the number of people reporting this problem in Apple discussions and other forums.  I sent a tweet to @9to5mac to see if they had these problems reported to them or if they knew anything about the iOS issue causing the problem.  So far, nothing back from them, but I am sure thinking it is a issue with the iOS.

I am curious to know if those still running iOS 7.0 are experiencing this problem.  What about those running 7.0.2 and then finally 7.0.3?  Granted, some of the results might be varied by those having battery issues, but I do not believe the issues I and others are experiencing are batter problems.

After Google Reader Left... My Recommendations

I admit that I was one of those that was upset that Google Reader was terminated by Google. I had used Google Reader since it was first introduced. I used it from any web browser and I had even purchased iOS apps to be able to view the feeds without advertisements.  So, of course I was disappointed when Google announced earlier this year that it would discontinue Google Reader as of July 2013.

As it approached the date to discontinue Google Reader, I started looking for other options.  I did the usual of doing searches to find out what others recommended.  I tried out a few and finally settled on two that I would import my feeds to and begin using.  Both of which were web based and could also be accessed via a app on my iPhone.

The first site I tried was Feedly (http://www.feedly.com/). This was one of those sites that was recommended from other sites.  Feedly was preparing for the influx of Google Reader users that would have to find another option to read their feeds.  The other site I tried was the Digg Reader (http://www.digg.com/).  Unlike Feedly that had been around for a while, Digg had not been in the feed game before Google Reader announced they would discontinue their service.  Digg has been around for years as a way to recommend articles, web sites, etc. to others via a social medium.  When Google announced they would discontinue their service, Digg stepped up to build a rss news feed from scratch.

So, I tried both of these for a few weeks.  Both allowed access from a web site and both did have iOS apps (as well as other phone types) for accessing the news.  In the end, I ended up using Feedly as my daily source for news.  It is fast and I can easily share news via Twitter or Facebook.

A friend and I had a discussion about this and he decided to go with one where he pays for the service.  I went the free route simply because it was there and I do not see a need to pay for something that is free.  As he indicated, it is only a matter of time before Feedly, Digg, and others start introducing advertising on their sites.  Google did advertising on their site when accessing through a web browser, but that did not deter me from accessing their site to view the feeds.

If you are looking for a easy to use service for reading your daily news, I recommend checking out Feedly. Happy news reading....

Windows 7 Problem After Failed Hard Drive... Problem Resolved!

I had a hard drive failure on my Dell Windows 7 system back at the end of November.  I ended up purchasing a new drive and copying the drive to it.  Everything appeared to work without any problems.  Updates were working and overall the system seemed to be working correctly.  I thought the problem was resolved and everything was going to work correctly.

Starting a few weeks into January, I started noticing problems with Windows 7 not being able to get Windows updates.  It would display a error message that "Windows update can not currently check for updates, because the service is not currently running".  I checked to confirm the service was running and could not get it check for updates.  I even tried clearing out the directory where updates are stored to see if perhaps it was corrupted, but the updates still would not run.  This was true for Microsoft Security Essentials as well and it had not received updated since the last week of December.

I tried various things to try and resolve the problem.  Going into the middle of last week I was planning on reformatting and installing Windows 7.  Not a huge problem in itself, but I did not look forward to getting all of my music off or the various programs I use re-installed.  I spent the rest of last week preparing to do the re-installation this weekend.  Backing up files, locating installation disks, etc.

Saturday morning I was ready to do the installation and decided to do one last search to see if I could find a solution for the problem of why Windows Updates would not work.  I found a article that spoke about having a old, outdated, or not installed Intel Rapid Storage Technology causing the problem I was seeing.  I decided to give it a try, so I downloaded the program.  The system rebooted and when it came back up, I found that I could at least get into the Windows Update section now on my computer without the error.  The system starting checking for updates and since I had removed all previous history of the updates, there were a lot to download.  It was working again and all because when I re-imaged to another drive the Intel Rapid Storage Technology had to be re-installed.

Everything is working again and I do not need to install Windows 7 again.  I made sure that Microsoft Security Essentials was running too and that it would update.  I promptly ran a full scan on the computer and found a few trojans that had gotten through when apparently I was unable to check or do Windows Updates.

As of today, the computer appears to be running smooth with Windows Updates running correctly and no errors showing up in the logs.  Ah, it is good to have my computer back and working properly.  I would provide a link back to the file I downloaded to correct the problem, but I cannot find it in my history.  If you are having a similar problem, I would suggest searching for the Intel Rapid Storage program.