March 04, 2008

Comcast DVR Box Continues To Annoy

If you're, uhm, fortunate enough to have a DVR box from Comcast, you've probably experienced some problems with it. If you've had one for a while like me, you're actually happy with it right now; previous boxes of mine used to die every few weeks, and the old firmware barely worked. Box #7 has worked fairly well so far, but I still am kind of in constant worry it will break again.

It's also slow and stalls and requires a power cycle every other week or so. And there's no group delete and there are these annoying "messages" that pop up and, okay, maybe I don't like the DVR all that much. I suppose the honeymoon over the fixes Comcast did make is over.

Chris Albrecht wrote about another problem: Some networks don't send the data for 'new' or 'repeat' episodes, so the DVR treats everything as new. Comcast says it's fixed; Albrecht says it's not for him. (Not fixed for me, either!) He has also written about key queuing, where the Comcast DVR stalls and then inputs all the button presses one after another.

All of this remains unfixed. Meanwhile, you can buy Slowskys merchandise. (Note to Brian Roberts: If I ever make it big, I'm more than happy to sell out and make commercials for you.)

Dear Comcast, Why is My DVR So Dumb? [NewTeeVee]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:10 PM | Comments (4)

July 05, 2007

TV Viewers Demand Access To Fireworks Displays

Okay, so it was raining, and everybody thought the fireworks were cancelled, and it turns out the fireworks actually weren't cancelled, and so nobody saw the fireworks. Shitty, but alas, nothing anybody can do about it now, and who wanted to sit out in the rain at 11:30 to watch fireworks anyway? End of story, I suppose.

Of course not. The big story on CBS 3 right now is, of course, the "fireworks fiasco," which is a major fiasco for CBS 3 because 6 ABC broadcasts them, not CBS 3. (It's also the lead story on NBC 10's website.)

After the Hall & Oates concert ended, the police repeatedly broadcast announcements saying, in effect, the fireworks were canceled. As in, the announcement went something like, "The fireworks have been canceled." But, whoops!

A spokesman for the Philadelphia Mayor's office contends the city did not cancel the show. Joe Grace said they told spectators to leave the parkway for public safety reasons, but "they were never cancelled." Grace said because of localized flooding and lightning, they decided the show would go on for the television viewing audience only.

Uhh, what? What the hell is the point of watching fireworks on television? Who watches fireworks on television? Damn you, 6 ABC! If you're home at 11 on a holiday night, you probably have work the next day and are probably already asleep. Ooh, let me stay up to watch the fireworks on my 13-inch bedroom television!

Once again, Philadelphia proves it can't do anything right. I'm surprised after the Declaration of Independence was written, John Hancock didn't spell his name wrong while singing it and then accidentally chuck it into the Delaware.

Update, 3:48 p.m.: I think a shortened version of this post is in order. Here we go: After Hall & Oates, the fireworks were postponed. The cops said it, 6 ABC said it, everyone heard it. Somebody (Sunoco or 6 ABC or John Street or The Pope or whoever) then made the decision the fireworks should go on, and so after everyone had cleared out the fireworks went on anyway.

Fireworks Fiasco: Off, On, Off? [CBS 3]
Philly Fireworks Go Off Despite Cancellation [NBC 10]

Posted by D-Mac at 01:51 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)