Verizon FiOS and Netflix are playing nice together!

Posted on by chris

I upgraded my HTPC from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1 to try and get access to the Netflix app that is part of Windows 8 to get some 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound. I also decided to try out Storage Spaces for some parity/redundancy of my media collection but that’s for a different post. The good news for this post is that Netflix and Windows 8 are now playing nicely together, within 30 seconds HD streams are coming through to my home without a VPN required. Works across my PS3, Windows 8 App, and Firefox on a Windows 7 box. Hopefully they’ll continue to play nice together.

It looks like the deal Netflix made with Verizon has been implemented, but hopefully the FCC will enforce some rules so that peering agreements for last-mile ISPs don’t get bogged down so ISPs like Verizon can extract money from web companies to deliver content (i.e. internet fast lanes).

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New server, new theme

Posted on by chris

I’ve moved this site to a new server. I doubt many of you have noticed the downtime but it should be quicker and speedier. I’ve also updated the theme to the new wordpress one and it it stunning. I really enjoy it and will be posting new things frequently, I promise.

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It’s a scary dangerous world we live in

Posted on by chris

And its not the people on the street that you need to be afraid of, it’s our own government: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/10/lavabit_unsealed/

More fallout from Edward Snowden’s revelations at the NSA, basically the government required the founder of lavabit to hand over all the keys to his user’s data. The order that was given to him could not be discussed in public and is worded in such a way that makes it a felony to mention or provide the letter to anyone. These are national security letters. But rather than providing these keys to his users data, he shut down his business. It’s dangerous to think that other companies have been compelled to provide the same keys and cannot talk about it publically in any way shape or form. Luckily this man has stood up and we know what the government asked. Now we can’t trust any US corporation to secure our data for us. This means the NSA has access to our bank accounts, our e-mails, and everything that is and isn’t secured with keys in the United States. And nobody can talk about it.

All it takes is one rogue NSA agent to provide the private information of a congressman, president, or supreme court judge that is captured with this program and the NSA will probably be shut down. But until that happens everyone one of us in the world that isn’t part of that class of persons must live in fear of our government reading our personal communications. So we must keep that in mind as we use the internet in this digital age.

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Coffee Fails

Posted on by chris

Just thought I’d share a bit of my absent mindedness with coffee in the morning. Yesterday I poured water in my coffee grinder and today I didn’t have the grinder assembled properly so I had to clean out beans from where they didn’t belong. I must dislike coffee grinders.

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Paneer (Indian Cheese)

Posted on by chris

I’m addicted to Sag Paneer from a local Indian place called Bollywood #3 in Westlake, CA. Today I decided to try my hand at making paneer that I’ll eventually use to make some Sag Panneer at home. I followed these general guidelines in the video below. I ended up using:

  • 1/4 cup of lemon juice
  • 1.75 Liters of Organic Whole Milk
  • A clean 100% cotton towel.

I brought the milk to a boil and added the lemon juice. Remember to stir often! I didn’t any burnt some of the milk that I ended up picking out. So when it starts to boil and you add the lemon juice immediately kill the heat. You should start to see the curds separate from the whey. After a couple of minutes of being fascinated with this I strained the curds through the cotton towel and poured some water to get rid of some of the lemon juice and whey. I then wrapped it up and squeezed out some of the milk. The next step is to twist the towel and then weigh down with something heavy so the curds start to stick together. Pretty simple! I’ll try again with vinegar and some muslin cloth. I’ll also post up my experience and recipe for the sag paneer when I try it tomorrow.

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Tree of Life

Posted on by chris

Want to test your home theater? I recommend you check out Tree of Life for some of the amazing visuals and sound. Your room should be shaking during the creation scenes and your eyes should pop out when you see the trees. Just trust me and check it out on Netflix.

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Tests of Home Theater

Posted on by chris

I’m lucky enough to have a sweet home theater in my living room. I opted for this instead of dropping 1k on a 60+” tv, I saved up and got a deal on a 1080p projector and now have a 102″ televsiion. I love it, its absolutely great. I have some in-wall speakers I still need to mount but decided instead to at least try to get my 5.1 working. I had a set of Bose Model 141s from my computer that weren’t being utilized at the moment and hooked them up. I also grabbed The Avengers blu-ray from Netflix and decided to watch it. Let me just tell you this is an awesome setup. I had my stereo set to 0db for a test during the opening scene with Loki appearing and let me tell you, it was an experience. I almost forgot for a second that I was at home it was so loud and engaging like in a theater. No complaints from the neighbors (yet). Next up, I wonder if I can fully utilize 2 extra channels for true 7.1…

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