I have had FiOS for a month or so and I am finally getting used to things. I had some frustrations with the guide, but overall I like the service. When I got home last night and flipped on the TV, everything changed.
Verizon must have been hard at work at updating the guide to their FiOS tv. There has been some major rethinking in the UI and Design of the system. The guide is now full of information. It may be a little overwhelming at first, but I think I might get used to it fairly quick. In the center of the guide, there is a magnified listing of the current channel. While moving up and down the channel listings, the next or previous channel will become magnified. See the screen shot below as an example.
Another big addition to the guide is the ability to page up and down. I know, every other cable box in the world does that, but for some reason FiOS never did. This was a real pain in the ass.
The FiOS main menu has changed too. The menu sections are now represented by icons and are clearly labeled. The menu just seems to flow a little better. Below is a screen shot of the main menu.
Another major change is in the Video On Demand section. This section has more of an Apple Front Row or Windows Media album view feel. FiOS now displays the cover of the DVD for browsing. This is much more intriguing the just having the name of the movies in a list. Below is a screen shot of the On Demand menu.
Verizon FiOS just stepped up their game, so what are you going to do now Comcast? I want some heated competition in this space. Now that Apple is attacking the On Demand space with iTunes Movies and Apple TV, there is going to be some fun soon. If only the shows on TV got better, then we would be talking.
Posted on: January 17th, 2008
I’m about to brew my first Double IPA and want it to be perfect. I have been reading a ton of different info on brewing lately and I think I learned a great deal since my last brew. Over on my basement brewing blog, I just posted an article on yeast starters. For some reason I have become fond of yeast and plan on trying to grow some for personal stock and eventually get away from having to buy any.
Posted on: January 12th, 2008
Yesterday afternoon I received a knock on the door from a Verizon FiOS representative. I have been curious on some of their deals and how it would affect my bill, but I haven’t acted on anything as of then. I have seen the commercials for FiOS and have a couple neighbors who made the switch. My neighbors couldn’t be happier.
The Verizon rep went over my Comcast and Verizon bills and broke it down to show me that I will be saving over $80 a month. Not only will I be saving, I will get a much faster internet connection and more HD programing. And to top it all off, I will be receiving a free 19” LCD High Definition Television.
I’m not a Verizon fan boy, but I love that I now have a choice for cable TV. I definitely don’t like Comcast since they are now stifling bandwidth and blocking some applications protocols on their paying customers high speed internet connections. Verizon may one day do the same, but since they are the under-dogs, they are opened up and going full throttle.
To me it is a no brainer. I made the switch. I am saving lots of money, getting a free HDTV, and will be receiving a faster, less restrictive internet connection. I get it installed at the beginning of December. So bye bye Comcast and hello FiOS.
Posted on: November 25th, 2007
Over the last year I have fermented 2 wines. One was a Cabernet Sauvignon and the other was an Argentinean Malbec. The Malbec came out a lot better than the Cabernet did, in my honest opinion. I just used better ingredients and a better grape stock. I love wine, but I was looking for another hobby. A hobby that didn’t take a year or do finish. I decided to start Basement Brewing some microbrews.
I started a blog on Blogger about the basement brewing process. This is where I will be posting all my experiments with recipes, brewing ideas, and basement brewing equipment. Jump on over and read about my first concoction, a Dunkelweizen. Yumm.
Posted on: November 20th, 2007
The conference has posted some video of some of the speaches. Just follow the URL below.
http://web2summit.blip.tv/posts?view=archive
Posted on: October 19th, 2007
Posted on: October 19th, 2007
Dash Navigation is a GPS device that interconnects with Yahoo over a wireless connection. The device can be personalized through a web interface. The device also transmits to and from the device to help gather traffic conditions. It sync’s to Upcoming.org and will allow you to integrate upcoming events and direction into the device. It also syncs to Zillow.com. Someone can pull up to a house and hit the zillow button and find out how much the house is worth and all the Zillow info. This is great when looking for open houses. Man these guys keep going. It syncs with craigslist to look for open houses and even garage sales. I think I want one of these.
Posted on: October 19th, 2007
Jane outlined why virtual worlds are so popular. She stated that people on virtual worlds all start out on a level playing ground. It is easier to make friends and find things to do because the community all shares the same excitement. Some people have miserable lives and this is their chance to start over. In a virtual reality world, we all can be super heros.
Posted on: October 19th, 2007
Mr Venter is one of the leaders of Gnome research and was one of the first people to have their complete gnome’s decoded and posted on the internet. It was a huge discussion that was slightly over my head. I am still figuring out how this goes with theme of Web 2.0. No one from Apple is here, couldn’t they have gotten Steve Jobs. Apple is empowering web 2.0 and allowing people to hit it up everywhere. Nothing against Mr Venter, I just don’t get this decision.
Posted on: October 19th, 2007
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