Futurelawyer

CES 2021 - It's All Virtual, But Gadgets Galore.

There aren't thousands of geeks roaming Las Vegas this week, as CES has gone virtual. But, since I haven't attended in a while, I have been doing the virtual gadget tour online anyway. This Samsung TV was introduced last year, and I will try to find some interesting stuff to show you this year as well. But, for the prize for TV I most want in my house, the Sero TV gets the nod. It is essentially designed to accept broadcast from your phone, and automatically rotates to vertical mode for viewing texts, emails and other content. Then, it rotates horizontally, to accept content like movies and TV. Awesome. 

The FutureLawyer Prepares To Watch The NFL Playoffs On TV.

When I said my hearing was selective, I knew that you would want to see a practical example. 

"O.K. Google...Change To NFL RedZone"

The History Of The Television Remote Control. While I was watching football yesterday, I was switching back and forth between CBS, Fox, and the NFL Network Red Zone channels. I was comfortably ensconced in my recliner, cigar in one hand, and TV remote control in the other. As I lazily pushed buttons on the remote to switch channels during the commercials, it occurred to me I was still not using my tech to its maximum potential. My set would respond to my voice, using Google Assistant, and could tell it what to do. But, I decided that I am old school, and enjoyed the physical pushing of buttons on a remote. It feels like control. And, as everyone knows, we have little control over very much these days. Then, it occurred to me to flash back to my youth, when we watched Roy Rogers, and Mickey Mouse Club, and the Lone Ranger on tiny black and white console TVs. If we wanted to change channels we had to get up off the floor and walk to the set, turning a big plastic knob that clicked each channel into place. The only saving grace was that there were only 3 channels, so channel surfing was not a challenge. Then, in 1955, a TV executive gave a task to his engineers. He hated listening to the sound on commercials, and wanted them to invent a device that would mute the sound from his chair. Voila, the TV remote control was born. I wonder if we will live to see the day when we control our TV watching with our minds.

Baby Yoda Visits The FutureLawyer.

Looking For Intelligence In The Universe.

Watching the news, reading newspapers, looking for intelligence in the universe, I always think of Clara Peller. Why do we spend our lives discussing and pondering useless things? We certainly don't have that much time. 

 

TMobile Launches TVision, And It Is A GameChanger.

TVision. My favorite cell phone carrier just got a lot better. Cable TV without wires has come to my phones and tablets. A super sports charged subscription is $60 a month added to my already inexpensive cell phone bill, and I can stream high quality channels to all my devices. I also installed it for Diane, since we can have three simultaneous streams going. With my regular cable from Spectrum, there is always lag and glitches, and I can't get NFL RedZone, which I watch religiously on Sundays. Now, with TVision, I have RedZone anytime I am away from the home big screen. Since TVision uses my regular TMobile subscription, my 5G phone gets great speed and reception. The channel list is comparable to cable subscriptions costing twice as much. TMobile will be selling settop boxes to connect to TVs, which may cause me to cancel cable entirely. I will reserve judgment on that, since I like separating services between vendors. Check it out. You won't be unhappy.

Hey, Mr. Lone Ranger, You're Wearing The Mask Wrong.

Nobody in my class objected to masks. In fact, a mask, a white hat, and a six shooter were our Xmas gift Holy Grail. 

Broadcast TV Is Dead. Long Live Internet TV. Plex Is Here.

Plex TV. Well, the end is near. For $4.99 a month, the Plex apps provide 80+ channels of live TV, plus movies, and doubles as a media server for the user. But, the killer feature, that will bring you peace, tranquility and happiness in these troubled times, is the Bob Ross channel. Bob Ross, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bob Ross when you're awake. Bob Ross when you're sleeping. All is going to be right with the world.

Use Your Lunch Hour Wisely...Get Marquee TV

Marquee TV. For less money than I spent to see a live performance of the Bolshoi Ballet at my local movie theater pre Covid 19, I now have access to hundreds of the best live performances in every genre of performance art from around the world for two whole years. $4.99 a month buys access to more theater than you could watch in a lifetime. Yesterday, at work, I spent my lunch hour watching Act I of the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Julius Caesar". For aging ears, the subtitles made the performance even better than being there live. Don't tell Marquee; but, this service is worth a lot more money. Shakespeare paints Caesar as a Stoic, and the play has more memorable quotes than any other:

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.”
― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

If death be my necessary end, I choose to spend some of my time with Shakespeare on Marquee TV.

 

So Much Shakespeare...So Little Time

Marquee TV. Yesterday, I posted about the access to Royal Shakespeare Company plays on Marquee TV. This is the company that was putting live performances on the big screen of your local theater. We saw the Bolshoi that way last year. But, when our trip to the U.K. got cancelled by Covid-19, I had despaired of ever getting back to Stratford on Avon to see Shakespeare in the Globe. Through the magic of the Internet, however, I now have access to every performance of the RSC on my home screens. I started Lear last night, and I was blown away by the immediacy of the filming. The next best thing to being there. For a measly $4.95 a month, I not only have access to Shakespeare live; but, many other performances of just about every category of entertainment filmed live around the world.