44546837
submission
AlphaWolf_HK writes:
In what I see as a refreshing change, T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier in the USA, has made sweeping changes to its service, with its CEO saying: "Here's the deal: If we suck this month, go somewhere else. If we're good, stay with us." after quietly ending contract plans last weekend. As part of that change, the new base plan will include unlimited access, including voice, text, and data. Data will be restricted to edge speeds after 500GB with no overage costs, but can be upgraded to 2.5GB for $10, or unlimited for $20. Portable wifi hotspot usage is also unrestricted for no additional cost. In addition, LTE services just went live in 8 markets. As is already standard practice with t-mobile, you are free to bring your own device. However, customers won't be fronting the full cost of the phone with unsubsidized plans. Unlike in the past, they'll know exactly what they're paying for the phone by means of interest free installments, and paying off the phone is an option at any time. Oh, and they're also offering the iphone 5 next month for $650. Or, you can do as I did and drop a cool $300 on a Nexus 4 directly from google, which unofficially works with t-mobiles LTE.
43870333
submission
AlphaWolf_HK writes:
I own an HDHomeRun Prime tuner, and unfortunately I live in an area where the cable provider (Cox) blanket flags all channels to be copy restricted. Most cable providers don't do this, and in fact Cox only does this in certain areas. I've managed to talk to some people within Cox who say that even though those in charge of one area turn the flag on, and those in charge of another area turn it off, both say they are following corporate policy. The FCC won't help on this matter, in spite of the fact that I am fairly certain (but can't prove) that Cox simply wants to charge me a $20 a month premium for using their in-house DVR's. In any case, I'm tired of using Windows Media Center due to bugs and other problems, but since the channels are flagged it is the only option. Satellite is of course not an option at all (no cablecard or similar standard.) I've already begun moving most of my content watching to XBMC in the form of using sickbeard and couchpotato, both of which do an amazing job even with torrents now that usenet has been getting hit pretty hard. To match this, I've already dropped my cable tier to the lowest possible for some basic digital channels that people in my household still watch and aren't available over torrents (e.g. CNN, fox news — yes, we like all perspectives) but ideally I'd like to cut the cord completely as the service is otherwise useless. (Note: I was and still am willing to pay for cable and otherwise wouldn't be using torrents, but I refuse to use their scientific atlanta DVR's or windows media center, both of which are terrible, and I'm done with tivo for similar reasons.) That said, are there any options for obtaining this content without physically moving to comcast territory where they don't do this? Or perhaps any workarounds for the CCI flag? Ideally anything that allows XBMC with digital content and no transcoding.
40522827
submission
AlphaWolf_HK writes:
Newzbin2, one of the most recognized index sites for usenet, has closed for good:
It is with regret that we announce the closure of Newzbin2. A combination of several factors has made this the only option. For a long time we have struggled with poor indexing of Usenet, poor numbers of reports caused by the majority of our editors dropping out & no-one replacing them. Our servers have been unstable and crashing on a regular basis meaning the NZBs & NFOs are unavailable for long periods and we don't have the money to replace them. To make things worse all our payment providers dropped out or started running scared. The MPA sued Paypal and are going at our innocent payment provider Kthxbai Ltd in the UK. Our other payment provider has understandably lost their nerve. Result? We have no more payment providers to offer & no realistic means of taking money (no, Bitcoin isn't credible as it's just too hard for 90% of people).
38483803
submission
AlphaWolf_HK writes:
Ars Technica has a story about a 52 year old man who was arrested and sentenced to three years in jail for shining a high powered green laser at a helicopter along with an interesting video showing how he was tracked down. The FBI says that laser strikes are becoming epidemic, saying that they expect to see reports of 3,700 of them this year.
