Thursday, February 09, 2012

Error...Error...

I admit it, I use iTunes. I know it's a resource hog, but I like it. Yes, I use Windows more than Mac but I keep up with both OS's and computers. iTunes have recently been giving me some headaches. Namely when I try to burn music to CD. It just spins up the disk and won't actually burn anything. The last time this happened I blamed the drive and rightfully so (other burn tests from Windows proved the drive didn't work). This time was different.
This time I had burned in iTunes less than a month ago so I knew it worked. This time I got an error message (which is a whole different blog about how for the most part without searching, error messages are useless). Thanks to the Internet I saw a lot of people got this same error. Apple error 4000. The fix for me was simple. When you're about to burn a playlist in iTunes 10 it brings up a preferences box. In that box there is a check box next to Use CD Text. Do not click that check box. I promise you will regret it. In my case with that checked my CD burner just starts spinning and won't stop even when I restart the computer. It requires a full shutdown to make it stop.I should note that I am using Windows 7 and that online I've seen complaints about this error and issue back to Windows XP.
Now I realize that most don't even know what CD Text is, but it's a feature that one of my stereos has and I would like to utilize it. I have no clue why it doesn't work but if it's causing so many errors why doesn't Apple just remove it? Unless of course it's a Mac only option in which case, why is it on the Windows version at all. Like I said the fix is pretty easy (once you get so frustrated manually shutting down your computer you accept facts you don't like, I promise you). Note as well that there are some complaining that even this fix doesn't work for them. I would avoid doing something like a registry clean, a vast majority of those are useless and do far more harm than good. Reinstall iTunes (just reuse the last version you downloaded or download a new version) and uninstall (then reboot to automatically re-install) your burner (this can be done by the following method, Device Manager (however you want to get there)>DVD/CD ROM Drives>(drive)>uninstall>reboot (when finished) and hopefully that will make life better for you.
Since I know I have like 2 readers it seems odd to ask a question like this but I'm going to anyways. First, how much time do you spend fighting with your computer? Second, where do you go when you want it fixed? Finally, what drives you crazy about computers and/or technology in general? I know it's a little extra to comment on my blog because of the moderation but I would appreciate you taking the time. Thanks!

Saturday, February 04, 2012

NBC/Universal (Again)!

I've said it before. I'm going to say it again. NBC Sports and their partners are terrible. They are at best a rip off and at worst a greedy money hungry ogre of a network system. Now what's got me all upset this time you might ask (in case you're new to the party, I've complained about NBC Sports in the past both here and here)? Well, let's start with their takeover of Versus Network. Yes, I understand that NBC owns a large portion of Comcast that owns a large portion of Versus, but really NBC, you have to change the name of the network to represent how supposedly great you are (It's now called NBC Sports Network by the way). NBC's hockey coverage has improved, mostly because they carry more games, unfortunately over half the country can't watch them BECAUSE THEY ARE ONLY AVAILABLE ON CABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again someone please tell me, how does that even make sense? This blog isn't about that however, it's about another channel that NBC at least partially owns called Universal Sports. Since the inception of digial TV there has been a channel on my antenna based TV called Universal Sports. As of the first of the year, it is off the air. Why? The simple answer, because they switched to cable only. Why would they do that? Well, according to the channels own website "Sports content is expensive and in order to sustain our network long term, it is imperative that we switch to the business model of a cable, satellite and telco offering so we can continue to provide the world class programming our fans have been accustomed to." You can read said quote here. This is the epitome of arrogance. Since 2008 Universal Sports has been available for free. Now, 4 years later, it's not only not free, it's also only available on one satellite provider (currently only DirecTV subscribers have access to the channel). Now I will say that there is a way to still watch the channel online, however, details about how to do that are very hard to find. Specific events have prices but you can't tell if that is for that event or for more. $8 for a few days of skiing coverage just isn't worth it to me, and I don't think I'm alone in that opinion. I think that Universal Sports wasn't as successful as the parent company had hoped in the 3+ years it was on broadcast TV. This is probably because it rarely carried live events and didn't carry any sports that are considered mainstream in the United States (home of sports like cycling, rugby and skiing, not exactly big events in the USA). I think it might have been a better idea to completely shutter the channel rather than change the model and frustrate those of us who had been watching it for free for a long time.
However, this seems to be what everyone is doing now. Nickle and diming seems to be the norm. Have Netflix for watching movies? Well, a bunch of companies don't like them, so you have to either wait for disks that may never come or pay Hulu or Amazon Prime or something similar to get the content you want. Look at the airlines. I would rather pay an extra $20 on every ticket I buy than pay a stupid bag fee at the airport or when I check in online. What about cell phones? Data plans used to be unlimited. Now, only Sprint has unlimited data and even they admit they cut down your speed when you hit a certain usage level. Everyone else, data limits and if you go over, you have to pay. Don't get me wrong, companies have people to pay and products to produce and that costs money, but does it really cost as much as they put on the consumer. The classic example of this is text messaging. Because of the way messages work, they cost the cell companies about 1/1000th of a cent (depending on who you read this number varies, my source is here). Yet the average user is paying $20 a month and definitely not sending and receiving 200,000 messages. I pay $30 a month for 5 lines and between all of us I don't think we've gone over 6,000 messages. Believe me, I don't like paying it but it's basically become a necessity to me at this point. I could go on, but I think I've made my point.
In the end, I'll keep watching NBC Sports, because I don't have another choice right now. I'll pay the bag fees, because again, what option is there (Southwest is the only airline that doesn't charge and they don't always go where I want to be). I'll eventually pay for a cell phone data plan, just as soon as I have a job and can afford the iPhone I've been wanting for years. And yes, I'll probably someday get cable just so I can watch my Edmonton Oilers play some hockey, okay, that and I really like Discovery channel. As always, thank you for taking a few minutes out of your busy life to read this. Feel free to leave a comment, although please remember that all comments are screened by me before they are posted.