Daily Archives: June 8, 2017

VidAngel vs. Disney – Federal Appeals Court

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This morning I watched the oral arguments made by both Vid Angel and Disney in the federal appeals court. It’s available online for anyone who’s interested (in fact I’ll embed here on my blog):

For anyone not familiar with Vid Angel or the current situation here is a quick summary: Vid Angel is a filtering company that allows customers to purchase movies and stream edited versions to their homes. Disney, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 20th Century Fox Film Corporation and Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC are suing Vid Angel claiming that their filtering / streaming service violates copyright laws. Back in December of 2016 an injunction was filed against Vid Angel (and later upheld), effectively shutting down their service. Today was an opportunity for Vid Angel to argue against the injunction in court.

While I enjoy most of what the aforementioned entertainment companies offers (i.e. characters, parks, merchandise, etc) and understand the value of IP, I would really like to see the current injunction lifted. I think the issue of copyright here (especially in relation to the Family Movie Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is extremely complex and needs the full focus of the courts to be understood. In between now and when that court battle is actually decided I believe that Vid Angel should be allowed to operate. I strongly believe they provide a needed service, I don’t believe there is financial harm being done to the studios* and I believe the studios aren’t being fair to the end consumer.

* For those who think Vid Angel needs to get streaming licenses I make the counterpoint that what Vid Angel does is essentially a streaming version of Redbox (not illegal). However, Redbox has an agreement to delay some releases, which I think is an acceptable compromise. I will also point out that Vid Angel attempted to obtain streaming licenses and was rebuffed. I, and many others, would happily pay more for the ability to watch licensed edited movies, but if studios disallow filtering companies from obtaining those licenses then…

Based on the arguments I saw I would guess that the injunction will stay in place, in some form or another. As I already mentioned the law on copyright is difficult to interpret, (and also of note much of it was created prior to digital streaming technology). What makes me the most upset is that movie studios pretend that they are not violating our right to censor content we have purchased. It’s like throwing someone in a trunk, dumping the trunk in a lake and telling the person in the trunk they “are free to do whatever they want.” I want, no I have, the right to censor what I watch. Vid Angel provides the technology to enable that right to be realized and I genuinely hope the courts can see that there’s no viable alternative.

Vid Angel just announced there’s some “Good News” coming June 13th, at 7pm. Fingers crossed, but I’m guessing it won’t be anything too dramatic.

BONUS: Sony Pictures recently announced that they are offering cleaner version of some their movies. Predictably some directors objected- “directors” like Seth Rogen. Leave it to people in Hollywood to try force their morally bankruptcy perspective on everyone. Thanks for being  a dick, Seth.  If Hollywood wants to make crass garage that’s their right. If I want to edit their crass garbage that’s my right. At least Sony recognizes not everyone watching movies is a degenerate (exaggerated for effect, obviously). FYI:  anyone who says “Just don’t watch those movies” absolutely misses the point.

Rainbird ESP-Me Wifi Sprinkler Control – Mini Review

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I have been visiting with a friend who’s doing a major yard overhaul. One change he’s planning to make is to move his sprinkler system to a wireless setup so that watering can be controlled via a phone application. That sounded pretty good to me so I did some research to determine what I’d need to make a similar migration.

It turns out that I didn’t need much! I have Rainbird ESP-Me controller that was installed a couple of years ago when we put in our yard. I noticed that Rainbird offered a wireless module for this controller, however my particular unit was not compatible, due to it’s age. At first I priced out a new controller with the wifi module, but eventually I discovered that I only needed a new control panel (not the actual box with the station controllers).

A quick google search led me to YardOutlet.com. They offered a bundle package with the control panel and wifi module for about $130 with free shipping. They are located in Ogden Utah which seemed like a nice plus. I ordered Monday and, incredibly, I had my package on Tuesday. Whaaat? Everything came well packed and as advertised. Well done, Yard Outlet!

Replacing the panel was incredibly simple. All you have to do is unplug the harness, pop off the old control panel, put on the new one and plug it back in (I think I spent about a minute doing this). I reprogrammed my sprinklers from the panel and then set about linking the sprinkler controller with the Rainbird App.

Initially I had a little difficulty getting things to connect properly. I think part of that, in my case, was because the wifi in my garage is terrible (something I am working on fixing today). The Rainbird wifi module initially creates its own hotspot  and then, from the app, you move the module to your home network. Obviously at that point your phone needs to switch networks too and mine hadn’t which is probably another reason I got the error below. After a few tries everything seemed to be working and I was ready to try out the app.

After perusing the app my impressions are quite positive. It gives you all the same accessibility as the physical control panel. After you make adjustments you save them and the new program is written to your control box. Everything is fairly intuitive and you can even opt to have the app make watering adjustments based on the weather. The app control worked well on my wifi networks and via my cellular service (one thing to note- you can’t switch from a wifi network to LTE while you run the the Rainbird application- you have to close and restart the app for it to work properly).

Below is a quick demonstration of starting and stopping the sprinklers via the Rainbird application (complete with a silly kid in the background). Being able to control the sprinkler zones from my phone will make it infinitely easier to do testing and make repairs.

Overall, I think this is a very solid wifi sprinkler control set up, especially give how inexpensive it is. I’d give it my recommendation.

Overall: 8.5/10

BONUS: A friend pointed out that this system may be eligible for a rebate. It looks like by adding a rain sensor I could get up to 50% back for my purchase. I might just do that…

http://rebates.cuwcd.com/
https://www.rainbird.com/documents/turf/bro_ESP-Me_WiFi_en.pdf

BONUS 2: The RainBird app spends quite awhile getting the schedule and setting information when each connects to the sprinkler box. Originally I had thought this was because I had connected the unit to to a network with very low signal strength. I rearranged things and then connected the ESP-Me to a much better network. Sadly, the app’s load time was the same. I’m docking a half point for that.

Bose QuietControl 3.0 Mini Review

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The absence of the earphone jack on my new iPhone 7 has been troublesome. For whatever reason I have earphones / headphones in various parts of the house and frequently switch between them. In lieu of buying 6 “lightning to 3.5mm jack” adapters I decided to try and find a pair of good Bluetooth headphones. I was sick of cords anyway so I figured this would the perfect opportunity for a change.

I tried a couple less expensive brands like this set from Senso. The drivers in the Senso (and comparable $30 models) was miserably underpowered. Still, they sounded okay and they fit on my ears quite well. The deal breaker was that they lost their connection with the phone when I went outside (intermittently, but frequently).

Eventually, almost in desperation, I picked up a set of the Bose QuietControl 3.0 ear buds. I have a couple other pairs of Bose headphones that I really like so I figured I had nothing to lose. Well, except some money- the QuietControls are pricey, running around $300. To their credit, they have a profusion of features, some not present in other Bluetooth models.

For starters the battery is situated in a comfortable neck band, as opposed to being in the actual ear piece. In addition to increasing the battery life this makes the portion that sits in your ear much more comfortable (the earpiece also has Bose’s “stay hear” fitting which is very effective). The on and off button is situated in this neck band. Syncing with your device is very simple and pressing the button multiple times lets’s you cycle through up to three connected devices (I use it with my phone and laptop). In my opinion the best feature is the noise cancelling technology. While not perfect, it’s effective enough at muting background noises that I was able to mow the lawn while listening to an audio book. There are several levels of noise-cancelling- I think I would have opted for on/off as cycling through 10 levels (or whatever) is cumbersome. In addition to noise cancelling controls, there are the standard volume and pause buttons as well as a microphone for calls.

Audio quality is excellent. Compared to the other models I used the QuietComfort’s sound is deep and full of detail (excellent base, considering this is really a set of ear buds). Drop out is minimal and I have used the headphones mowing, biking, running and shopping with very few problems.

The QuietComforts are not perfect, by an means. Here are my gripes:

  • When you turn your head left and right sometimes the earphones can actually get pulled out.
  • The neck band will periodically rotate and become uncomfortable (it’s very easy to readjust it).
  • When the noise cancelling feature is turned down the headphones almost seem to amplify ambient sounds and there is a strong “white noise’ present in the phones.
  • Even the QC’s Bluetooth occasionally cuts out.
  • A little more expensive that I think they should be.
  • The built in microphone seems to do a poor job filtering out background sound.

And here’s what I like:

  • Battery life is very solid and the charge quickly.
  • Neck band is comfortable and allows for smaller more comfortable ear buds.
  • Noise cancelling feature is a welcome benefit.
  • Audio quality is excellent.
  • Good solid construction.
  • Pairing is effective and the connection is generally very solid.

With all that being said it’s probably not clear where I stand on the QuietComfort 3.0 line. You might even be thinking that I don’t like them all that much. But such is not the case. Despite a few limitations (negative quirks) these have become my go-to headphones. I typically have them on all day and they have literally replaced every other set that I own. I would recommend them to anyone who’d looking for a pair of solid Bluetooth ear buds and who’s willing to settle for very good, but not great.

Overall Initial Impression Score: 7.5/10

I’ll follow this us with a long term usability score  after I’ve used the headphones for a few months.