I should probably store up all these posts to spatter them about on days I can’t think of anything to write.. but anyways.

I called up Time Warner to cancel my Digital Cable subscription today.  When asked about why I told them that I switched to Verizon Fios, and to the guys credit he didn’t belittle the competition.  He did however try to soft-sell me back into the home court throughout the conversation of settling my last bill.  So I thought I’d post some geekily posts on the winners and losers in this competition.  And to TimeWarner’s credit they don’t seem to be standing still like Comcast (the company they bought) and I relish the idea of real competition in my neighborhood for cable television, it is good for my expenses and good for the consumer at large, regardless of who you get televisoin from.

Expense: Winner – Verizon

This is to be expected, because Verizon is trying to get onto Time Warner’s turf.  But the simple heads up cost, undercuts TimeWarner’s by half.  Something that Time Warner acknowledges, because when I told them I was switching, and part was by cost, the first response was, can we make a deal.  So if you are a TW subscriber, call em up and see what kind of deal they are willing to make.

Signal Quality / Technology: Winner – Verizon

Hands down, no question Verizon has the better picture.  Time Warner is dealing with legacy stuff, and the old Comcast plant is two-cable (A side/B side) stuff that is a mess to work with and install.  Verizon is one strand from the demark to the cable splitter.  Both are going to a full digitial technology that will require a set-top box except for a few channels, so either way expect to pay the rental for a STB regardless of provider.  Both use the same Motorola STB for the DVR, but Verizon’s OS is better, the channel guide is logically arranged, and the DVR settings make it easy to set up recordings and ‘subscribe’ to a series of shows.  The ability to share recordings with other STBs in the house (a premium add-on, but with standard half-price the add-ons are affordable) is also a bonus.  The DVR has a 160GB drive, and can record two HD channels at once.  The TW box I’m returning is a lot smaller and can only handle one HD channel at best.  Also if you start recording a show that you are already watching, the Verizon DVR will add whatever is in the buffer to the recorded show.  TW’s DVR would just dump the buffer and record from the point that the record button  is pressed.
Remotes: Winner -Time Warner

The one thing I can’t do with Verizon is a 30-second advance, and it is largely because the remote they provide isn’t programmable.  The TW remote (the silver one) is programmable, and the TW Motolora (I think it is a Microsoft operating system) had a hook for a 30 second skip, which made flipping through the commercials a snap.  Verizon is limited to a FF and a REW for DVR functions.  A nice semi-feature is that once you stop FFwding it backs up a bit, so you don’t have to worry if you over estimate a bit.  Lack of programming also locks you into whatever the remote code for your other devices are, and you can’t add another button (for me it is my TVs aspect button) to the remote, so I have to keep my legacy remote around.

Hands down, at the moment, Verizon wins.  The only niggling detail is the 30-sec skip, which isn’t even provided stock by TW, and takes some digging and remote control programming to enable.  So TW has some catching up to do in my neighborhood.

Don’t shed too many tears, Verizon’s FIOS footprint is really really small when you compare it to TimeWarner’s footprint.  So a little competition in this neck of the woods, could bring other capabilities to other TW neighborhoods that don’t have Verizon breathing down their neck.
I have to eat a bit of crow to be in Verizon’s camp, since their DSL in my neighborhoor was so horrilbe, and I dumped their POTS service too, and went to AT&T Digital Phone.  I’m now a happy Vonage phone user, so don’t pay for POTS, and Verizon handles my internet and TV wonderfully over fiber.  So this whole competition and market forces work in the telcom industry.

Potential SPOILERS in the extended section.. don’t read if you don’t want to be potentially spoiled.

Okay, so the buzz is someone gets offed tonight on Lost and it will be a SHOCKER. Leave a comment with your guess if you want to. My guess is Eko, my reasons are below the fold.

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Not a full recap, just comments, observations.

When Benry came in to get Juliet and tell her about Colleen getting shot, did he says, “The Sub is back?” The Sub, as in submarine? Or sub as in sub-group? Thoughts?

Didn’t learn much about anyone, we knew Sawyer could dupe and be duped. We knew Henry was a lying sack of manure. We knew that Sawyer gets beaten up … a lot…

So What’s New?

We got a glimpse of the island from the nearby island where Jack, Sawyer and Kate are being held. So the zoo is an another island, and if the zoo is where they kept the polar bears, then how did the polar bears get to the other island If the Others illylic town on the new island, or the main island? Ethan and Goodwin were able to ‘run to the beach in about an hour’, so I think they live on the main island, and are currently in the zoo research wing. Perhaps there was a land bridge across the two, and Dharma sunk it for research programs.

Kate, didn’t leave Sawyer alone… why? She’s been known to take care of herself, and she could have gotten back to the main camp (well maybe not given they are on another island…)

AHA — The SUB!

Okay… they do have a sub to move back and forth from main island to ‘the zoo’. They covered their captives head on the dock, before they moved them to their cages/tanks. They raided the sailboat, from the water side not the peir side (thought it was a continuity error before). They let Hurley go before thy hooded the rest of the captives. So I think the submarine actually !!!!! makes sense.
UPDATE: Added Screecaps, click to embiggen.
This is how the boat was docked on the pier, the bow facing the beach, port side to the open sea.


This is when the Others came aboard the Elizabeth. Note the port side of the boat is boarded, as the sail is tending to the stern. You can make out two sets of handrails, one for the sailbaot, and one from the SUB!
Okay, back to Kate. I think she’s been turned, and her role was to help turn Sawyer, then they’ll both battle Jack. The Other borg will assimilate them.

Desmond has some pre-cog, he wanted to move Claire’s tent, to avoid the lightening strike, then ruined Hurley’s radio antenna using it as a lightening rod… If you can’t move one, move the other. It’ll be interesting to see what they develop from that new power. I wonder if he’ll be able to contact Hiro Nakamora and have him call in the help in the big battle with the Others…

Okay.. That’s all I got… What are you’re theories?

My anticipation pre-show: 9

My feelings about it post show: meh 6.

Some other people thought is was great.

I was all excited because we get to see what happened to Locke, and Eko, and Desmond post hatch ‘incident’. Opening, bright light, Locke’s eye. The dude had the wickedest scar from the crash, with the vertical slice down the center, made him look like a comic book hero/guru person thing. He’s on his back in a grass clearing. He hears Desmond run by in his flash-the-island quest, but can’t say, DUDE? Where are your pants?

Click on to read the rest.

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