Netflix vs Hulu+

I recently came across this short post by Brad Gessler, describing why he likes Hulu+ over Netflix.

"The problem with Netflix is that lack of regularly published content. I could subscribe to Netflix streaming services once every six months, watch all of the new stuff for a month, drop the subscription, and not miss a beat."

This ties into my recent post about streaming services vs cable TV. In that post, I talked about how I'm subscribed to both Netflix and Hulu+, but didn't really discuss why, so here goes.

I don't actually see either service as being better than the other, because they serve different purposes for me. Hulu+ is fantastic for watching up-to-date episodes of my favorite TV series, while Netflix is better for watching movies, especially documentaries. I'm pretty sure I've watched more documentaries as a Netflix user than I have for the rest of my life combined. Same goes for indie films.

With Hulu+, although they are very good about having the most recent episodes of a given show, their shows often don't go all the way back to season one. It's not uncommon to come across a show that only starts at season three or something similar. In most cases, those same shows happen to be on Netflix and do go back to season one, so I can typically make it as far as Netflix allows and then switch over to Hulu+ to watch the rest and get caught up. It's a messy system but it works.

Both services have the more popular kids shows, but this is definitely an area where Netflix excels, due to its "Just For Kids" section. Whenever we boot Netflix up on the PS3 to put a show on for Brendon (Blue's Clues, Super Why, etc) we can immediately switch over to the kids section and know that if he somehow gets his hands on the controller, he's not going to suddenly find himself watching a violent action movie.

The point of all this is to say that I see the services as supplemental to one another, not conflicting. They both have their pros and cons.

If Netflix could get the kinds of TV content deals that Hulu+ has, or if Hulu+ got rid of its interstitial ads and added all the older content Netflix carries, then I could see switching wholly to one service. Until then, I'm happy to keep both around. Even combined, they still don't cost as much as a cable TV package so I'm happy.

Tools and Toys

A couple days ago, Shawn Blanc emailed me out of the blue to ask if I'd like to become the third writer for his other popular site Tools and Toys, alongside himself and Stephen Hackett.

I've been a big fan of both of these guys' work for quite some time now, so needless to say I jumped at the chance to work with them. I'm honestly a little amazed that I would even be given such an opportunity. I mean, they're both extremely nice people and all but I can't help but feel a certain level of anxiety about meeting their standards. Still, I'm really looking forward to the work and I'm already learning a lot about the way I write.

Just to be clear, I don't have a permanent position there just yet. This is simply a trial period, and if a month from now Shawn still thinks I'm a good fit for the site, then I'll get to stick around. My first post went live today, if you want to check it out.

Useful Chrome Add-Ons

Most web nerds like myself have their favorite browser and accompanying add-ons. My favorite browser at the moment is Chrome, although I was once an avid Firefox fan.

These are a few of the Chrome add-ons that I love but haven't seen much mention of elsewhere for whatever reason. My hope is that readers will find at least one neat thing on this list they haven't seen before.

Google Dictionary →

As someone who reads a lot of blog posts and articles on the internet, I frequently come across words I haven't seen before, or I've forgotten the definition of. With this extension, I can simply double-click a word and a popup bubble will appear with the definition inside.

If used on a person's name, it will attempt to display a text excerpt from that person's Wikipedia page. You can also hold down the CTRL key, highlight a multi-word (or hypenated) phrase, release the CTRL key, and most of the time get a decent result. I use this add-on ALL the time.

Footnotify →

Footnotes on the internet are typically implemented poorly. Most of the time, clicking on one takes you out of the reading experience by jumping you down to the bottom of the article and making you click to jump back to where you were reading, likely at a different scroll position than where you came from. Footnotify aims to make this experience better.

Click on a footnote link, and the webpage fades into the background as the footnote pops up in its own bubble. Simply click outside of this bubble to dismiss the footnote and resume reading exactly where you left off. Works on almost every footnote I've ever tried it on, with very rare exceptions.

Hover Zoom →

Sometimes web images are presented as tiny thumbnails that must be clicked or opened in a new tab to be seen at full size. With Hover Zoom, you can simply hover over an image and its full-size version will appear. I will say that it can be annoying on certain webpages — for example, I find it irritating when browsing Amazon, Flickr, and Facebook — but you have the option of "whitelisting" sites so that Hover Zoom won't work there.

Go Extensions →

I tend to visit my add-ons page a lot, and this extension makes it super easy. Rather than clicking the hamburger button (≡), going to Tools, and clicking "Extensions" I can just click a single toolbar button. Anything that saves me a couple actions on a frequent basis is great in my book. Seems like a small thing but it adds up.

WhatFont →

It used to be that when I came across a nice typeface and wanted to know what it was, I'd have to right-click a word, choose "Inspect Element," and then scan through the CSS styles to find the name buried within all sorts of other text. Now I simply activate WhatFont, hover over a word, and it pops up a bubble telling me what the typeface is.

I can also click a word to get even more information, such as the line height, its color hex code, and even what web service is serving the font. It supports Typekit and Google fonts, which are probably the most common font sources I come across these days.

'Designing a Responsive, Retina-Friendly Site'

"If you need to use something like Readability or Safari Reader to read my articles, I've failed as a designer."

Paul Stamatiou details the process that led to his current blog design, explaining the reasons behind every decision and iteration. I love these kinds of behind-the-scenes looks at how a great product comes together.

I'm particularly fond of the post archive page Paul has put together, it's very reminiscent of Facebook's timeline feature.

Netflix Super HD

Netflix's new HD video delivery service, included for free with any Netflix membership.

It's only available for certain ISPs (not mine, currently) and devices (PS3, yes!), but it sounds very interesting nonetheless.

'Becoming Batman'

Sergio DeLaGuera on dressing the part:

"When we put on that suit-and-tie for our day job, our brain kicks into work mode. We start thinking about how to do our job because our brain expects us to start doing it. Work-at-home professions can lose that separation of selves by being dressed in the same outfit for both work and leisure."

Cleartones

After Patrick Rhone linked to Cleartones over at Minimal Mac this morning, I realized that I have somehow never mentioned them here on Unretrofied. I aim to rectify that right now.

Cleartones is a set of beautiful, minimal ringtones and alert tones for iPhone and Android that were created by sound designer Hugo Verweij, who also runs the wonderful Everyday Listening blog.

I've purchased both the original and "organic" sets, and just before Christmas, Hugo was nice enough to release six extra tones recorded by a concert harpist, exclusively for existing Cleartones customers as a thank-you gift.

The pricing works this way:

• $10 for the ringtones pack from either set.
• $10 for the alert tones pack from either set.
• $17 for the ringtones and alert tones combo pack from either set.
• $30 for the entire collection of tones from both sets.

Alternatively, you can "pay with a tweet" for either set to receive two ringtones and two notification tones. This is a brilliant move on Hugo's part, allowing you to try out the product in exchange for a little free advertising.

I highly recommend these tones, and hope you'll check them out. I'm sure you'll like them too.

French ISP Attempts to Block Google Ads

Xavier Niel, founder of the French ISP Free, recently challenged Google by sending out an ad-blocking update to the DSL modems of all Free customers. Apparently, they want Google to assume some responsibility for the enormous amount of traffic being sent over ISP networks:

"But he has often complained that Google’s content, which includes the ever expanding YouTube video library, occupies too much of his network’s bandwidth, or carrying capacity. “The pipelines between Google and us are full at certain hours, and no one wants to take responsibility for adding capacity,” he said during an interview last year with the newsmagazine Nouvel Observateur. “It’s a classic problem that happens everywhere, but especially with Google.”

It didn't take long for the French government to respond to this tactic though, and they have ordered Free to cease their ad-blocking.

While it's entertaining to watch giant tech companies fight it out on the public stage, this story does raise some valid questions about who is paying for bandwidth infrastructure. It's a little early on for me to take sides on this issue, but there are clearly some lines that need defining.

Should high-traffic companies like Google be forced to help internet providers shoulder the burden of that traffic? If so, how much traffic is considered too much, and at what point should an ISP expect to be compensated by the "offending" company?

There's also a concern of net neutrality in all of this. Should ISPs make decisions like this on behalf of their customers, no matter how noble it may seem? This is one question I would personally answer with a resounding "No." Some people feed their families with ad revenue, and if I'm going to be doing any ad-blocking or whitelisting, I want it to be on my own terms, for my own reasons, not those of my ISP.

Either way, it should be interesting to see what comes of this chain of events.

Yahoo Mail Users Hacked

Yesterday, The Next Web reported that many Yahoo Mail users' accounts had been exploited by a lone hacker. My wife's Yahoo account seemed to have been affected by this hack, as she could no longer access her email from her iPhone, where the password has been stored and untouched for quite some time.

We managed to get her password reset via an external email account and everything is now back to normal, but it serves as a reminder to be careful when dealing with email. You never know when your account will be targeted.

Head over to The Next Web for the full story, including an update about the security hole being patched by Yahoo.

'The Brief' Switching to a Membership Model

Richard Dunlop-Walters, editor of The Brief (as well as The Feature) is converting The Brief from an ad-supported model to one funded by membership subscriptions.

The Brief provides a fantastic service by summarizing each day's most important tech news stories in an easily-parsable manner, giving you the meat of every story and telling you why it matters. I've been a fan since it released and will be more than happy to become a member to support its continuation.

The cost of a subscription to The Brief is the same as my own membership model for Unretrofied: $3/month or $30/year. I happily recommend signing up and supporting Richard's endeavours.

'Sober Reminder'

Marco Arment:

"Tucked away under the pile of everything else in life, I always planned to visit Allegheny, stop into Cup’s office, and say hello. Tell him how much I appreciated what he taught me. Show him what I’ve done since then. But it never happened, because I never got around to making that trip. It’s a sobering reminder that it’s never too early to show your appreciation for what someone has taught you."

A Lesser Photographer

I've recently been enthralled by the work of photographer CJ Chilvers, who runs the blog A Lesser Photographer. His minimal approach to photography is one of thoughtfulness and creativity, rather than focusing on expensive gear or "professional" methods.

His blog is full of fantastic posts, but I recommend starting with the A Lesser Photographer Manifesto, which is a free-to-read PDF ebook (look at me staying on-topic today!) that encapsulates his views on photography.

A couple of choice quotes:

"Every new, professional grade camera aims to remove the photographer another step from the mechanical processes of the camera to “focus on the image.”

This has the opposite effect.

Creativity is always enhanced by a constraint. This is true in filmmaking, music, painting, writing and even photography.

How many times has one of your favorite bands, whose best album was produced in days using half-borrowed equipment, gone on to spend a year in the studio on their next album, only to produce a mediocre (at best) result?

How many times has a talented filmmaker been given unlimited funds and technical possibilities only to produce a Jar Jar Binks?

A lesser camera makes you think. Thought is better than automation in art. Automation leads to commoditization. Your art becomes easily replaceable or worse, forgettable."

and

"For years, photographers have been wisely imploring writers to learn to create compelling images to enhance their storytelling. The same argument must be made in reverse. Photographers must learn to write to enhance their storytelling, or find a writer to collaborate with. The two skills are inescapably linked now.

This is why it makes no sense for a photographer, with no professional mandate, to keep a portfolio section on their website. Viewers would be better served, and in turn photographers would be better served, by telling stories. Those stories are better served with great writing. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the worth of a great story is incalculable."

CJ has inspired me to reflect on my own approach to photography and I recommend checking out his work. Be sure to subscribe.

Printed Books vs eBooks

A couple days ago, J.D. Bentley discussed his reasoning behind any purchase of an ebook over a printed copy. He prefers ebooks when they are:

1. Cheaper
2. Not dependent on layout
3. Not available as a printed artifact

I hadn't ever really put much thought into my ebook purchasing habits before reading his piece, but I've since concluded that he and I think alike in this respect.

Most of the books I buy are text-only, and as a result, most books I purchase are ebooks. They're convenient, nearly always cheaper, and they save me from feeling bad about needlessly wasting paper when I have devices perfectly capable of displaying simple blocks of text.

Of course, there are also books that I find worth owning hard copies of, something J.D. touches on:

"This also touches on the third point about printed artifacts, which is to say, books worth looking at. I appreciate beautiful printed books, well-designed physical objects."

Couldn't agree more. I love the look and feel of a well-designed book, and most of the time I'll opt to spend the few extra bucks in order to have one on my shelf. What can I say, I enjoy bookshelf porn.

It's not always about beauty for me, though. I also enjoy owning physical copies of books closer to my heart, especially ones I grew up with such as Ender's Game, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Wheel of Time series, and the Harry Potter series. These are the kinds of things I'd like to pass down to my son whenever he's old enough to appreciate them.

The way J.D. and I differ is that I typically don't take layout into account when purchasing a book the way he does. I've yet to come across any ebooks that have presented problems for me in terms of format, and if I think format will be an issue, I attempt to obtain a PDF copy so that the original layout is preserved.

Obvious exclusions from this rule are books full of artwork, such as graphic novels or collections of an artist's work. I always opt for physical copies of that sort of thing.

The only real problem with my current setup is that I haven't settled on where I want to keep my ebooks. On my iPhone, my ebook library is pretty evenly split between Kindle.app and iBooks.app, leading me to often forget where a particular book is saved.

I'd rather keep everything in one place, but switching wholly to either app will require re-purchasing some books and I haven't wanted to make that leap just yet. Someday, though.

'Keeping Safari a Secret'

Interesting story by Don Melton, former Engineering Director of Internet Technologies at Apple:

"Not only was I tasked by Scott Forstall with building a browser and building a team to build that browser, I had to keep the whole damn project a secret. Which, by the way, really complicated the shit out of hiring most of the original team since I couldn’t tell them what they were working on until they took the job. Talk about your management challenges."

via The Loop

Google is Forcing Google+ Integration

The Wall Street Journal, in a revealing piece:

"The result is that people who create an account to use Gmail, YouTube and other Google services—including the Zagat restaurant-review website—are also being set up with public Google+ pages that can be viewed by anyone online."

and

"In recent months, Google has pressed ahead with other forms of integration. This past fall, for instance, Google began requiring people who want to post their reviews of restaurants or other businesses to use their Google+ profiles to do so."

What? Google is desperately trying to sneak their way into people's lives whether they like it or not? Imagine my surprise!

I actually learned about this forced Google+ integration the hard way about a week ago, when I attempted to get rid of my account. I wasn't using it for anything, and the information listed there felt dated anyway, so why bother keeping it around? They even have a handy page for easily deleting the profile (they interestingly call it "downgrading").

After deleting Google+ from my account, I noticed that I could no longer add YouTube videos to my favorites. I was forced to re-"upgrade" to having a Google+ profile in order to regain that functionality. Had I done nothing, I'm sure I would have noticed other aspects of my Google account behaving erratically, but I went ahead and recreated the Google+ profile to save the hassle of finding out.

This kind of behavior leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I shouldn't have to be part of a social service I don't use, just to gain basic functionality on another site the company owns. What is Google even trying to accomplish here? A bigger share of a market where nobody uses their product except as a means to an unrelated end?

I think Marco Arment puts it best:

"But Google’s increasingly desperate push to cram Google+ down everyone’s throats hasn’t made Google+ any more relevant."

Work Ethic and Inspiration

"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper." — E.B. White

Imagine a dusty old attic. This attic is full of boxes, old toys, photo albums, and other artifacts of the past, but in the center of the attic sits the most interesting item of all: a canvas covered by smears of different-colored paints. You see, this is no ordinary paint. It moves. The smears constantly shift, the colors seeming to dance as they blend here and separate there, never quite in the same way twice.

Underneath all of this commotion, at all times there is a painting waiting to be revealed. As the colors shift, the painting in turn continually becomes something else, but each reveal turns out to be beautiful. The canvas appears flat, and yet the artist can dip their hand into the pool of colors, grasping around as they attempt to forcefully extract the painting and present it to the world.

Sometimes the painting will patiently wait as the artist struggles, possibly in vain, but there are rare occasions when the painting grows impatient, bursting forth from the canvas and slapping the artist in the face to leave a colorful palm print behind.

This is what inspiration feels like to me.

As a writer, my mind (the attic) is usually filled with disjointed ideas, vague images, incomplete sentences (the canvas). Each time I sit down to write, my goal is to reach into the canvas and pull out something great. To take the mess and mold it into something I can be proud of. To draw out a line of thought I might not have conceived of otherwise, had I not made that first effort to simply start.

It should go without saying that I fail a lot of the time, everyone does, but I keep trying anyway and I encourage you to do so as well. That's part of the fun. It's also a necessary practice for any writer.

Unless your superpower is 'Having An Ah-Ha Moment Every Time You Write', you're going to sometimes struggle with your writing just like everyone else, including me. And that's okay! The most important thing you can do is find a comfortable place and simply start writing. Doesn't matter what you write at first, whether it's a bunch of stream-of-consciousness nonsense or the first chapter of your next great novel, the process is the most important thing.

Don't wait for inspiration to strike. It may never happen, and you'll have produced nothing. But if you force yourself to do the work, to make that struggle against all odds, that's where greatness comes from.

I'll leave you with this fantastic quote by composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky:

"There is no doubt that even the greatest musical geniuses have sometimes worked without inspiration. This guest does not always respond to the first invitation. We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavouring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination."

End-of-the-year Post Roundup

2012 was an undeniably big year, both for myself and for Unretrofied.

I became a father (technically Brendon was born near the end of 2011, but 2012 was the true journey). I redesigned this site twice. I made efforts to become a part of the same community of independent creators that I've looked up to for years. I started taking my writing more seriously and made a commitment to becoming a full-time writer (friendly reminder to check out the Unretrofied membership if you haven't already; there will be some neat goodies for members coming in 2013).

But this is all stuff I've already covered. So instead of blathering on about my year again, and for your reading pleasure, I've decided to gather up other peoples' articles I've been enjoying today. Some are about the past year, some look ahead to 2013, but all are wonderful.

Without futher ado...

Michael Schechter lists the people who influenced him in 2012 (a list that happens to mostly overlap with my own):

"This year, I didn’t try to learn from afar. I worked hard to get up close. I attempted (often in vain) to play at their level. To be their peer and, in many cases, to be their friend.

This year, I didn’t just spend time on the Internet, I invested in the people who work there and attempted to work along side them."

Jeffrey Inscho lists some ways he'd like to better himself, but not necessarily because it's a new year:

"I struggle to understand the concept of the New Year’s Resolution. Every year, millions of people select an arbitrary date to start obsessively modifying lifelong behaviors and habits. They hedge their bets on a metaphorical flip of a switch and hope the current of willpower remains flowing in the face of temptation, vices and history.

Speaking from experience, it seems the game is rigged and the whole premise is setting us up for failure."

Patrick Rhone learned a lot this year, and also makes a prediction:

"Bonus prediction: That 2013 will be the year of opt-out. That disconnection will become hipster cool. More and more people will be replacing smart phones with dumb ones, digital with analog, social with solitude, sharing with journaling, etc."

J.D. Bentley has a hazy recollection of the past few years, but some events stick out more than others for him:

"Aside from these events, 2012 is the year I started being delighted by the discovery of new words. I especially like coming across a word with such a specific definition that I’m surprised it even exists. Some of my recent favorites are anomie, perspicacity and aesthete. I also started writing whatnot appropriately, as a single word rather than two."

Shawn Blanc recounts the changes and successes in his life this year:

"This year I recorded 156 episodes of Shawn Today. Among my favorites were the week-long coffee-gear video series, the new “Ask Shawn Today” series, and the oodles of shows talking and musing about diligence and focus. Believe it or not, I’ve heard from many who claim they’ve listened to every single episode. Amazing. I haven’t even listened to every episode, and I was there when they were recorded."

Jim Dalrymple discusses how well things have been going for The Loop and makes this promise:

"I have some things planned for 2013 to make The Loop even better for the readers. However, one thing that will not change is the honesty with which we deliver our opinions on the news. I also have no plans to change the main design of the site, unless it is something that enhances the site for readers."

Gabe Weatherhead remembers every single minute of 2012 and how each was spent:

"So let's say I got 162,509 pretty good minutes out of 2012 — 3.71 months of usable, enjoyable, life enriching time in 2012. I spent 3.71 months cuddling, playing, coloring, dancing, tickling, running, hiding, singing, laughing, pretending and generally loving in 2012. I call that a win. Not a wasted minute whatsoever in my book. Life is what we do in the time between and I had a great few minutes in 2012. The best."

Dave Caolo takes you through a photo trip of his year, ending on a sweet note:

"...and lastly thanked my lucky stars for every single moment. On New Year’s Eve it’s appropriate to think about time. We’re all issued a finite amount. As such, it’s the most precious thing we have. Time. May you enjoy yours."

There you have it. I hope everyone has a safe, pleasant New Year's Eve. As for me, I'm going to enjoy a quiet evening at home with the family as usual.

Thanks to all of my readers for making this year so special. See you guys next year! (har har)

iOS Tip: Adding Bookmarklets

If you're like me, you've built up a nice little collection of bookmarklets in your desktop web browser of choice (mine being Google Chrome). For those that don't already know, bookmarklets are essentially bookmarks made up of JavaScript that perform special actions when clicked, rather than taking you to a website.

Some examples of bookmarklets I use:

• Several Instapaper bookmarklets, such as the one that reformats webpages in text-only form and even tries to compile all 'pages' of an article into a single readable page. I also have bookmarklets for each of the various Instapaper folders I've set up, allowing me to immediately save a webpage to its appropriate place and saving me the trouble of organzing my queue later.
• The Amazon Affiliate Link bookmarklet created by Justin Blanton. If clicked on any Amazon item page, it converts the URL to an affiliate link right there in the address bar, making it easy to copy/paste elsewhere.
• Paul Ford's fantastic new SavePublishing bookmarklet. Click this on any article and it will find the "tweetable" sentences, highlighting them in red and showing you a character-count on hover-over. Click the sentence of your choice and it will take you to a Compose Tweet screen with the quoted sentence followed by the article's URL. Very nifty for sharing articles easily.

While adding these bookmarklets to your desktop browser is a simple process—typically done by dragging a bookmarklet link from a webpage to the bookmarks bar—adding them to your iOS device is a bit more convoluted.

The easiest method is to simply sync bookmarks and bookmarklets via Safari and iCloud, but let's say you don't have that set up, or maybe you've come across a neat-sounding bookmarklet while on the go and you want to check it out without having to access your desktop/laptop first. These steps should help you out.

Note: The thing to keep in mind is that you need easy access to the JavaScript code for copying/pasting purposes. You can't simply tap-and-hold a bookmarklet link in Mobile Safari to access the code (the only option you get is 'Open' which doesn't help), so the bookmarklet creator needs to provide the code in plain text form so you can copy it. Some do, some don't.

To get started, open Mobile Safari to any webpage at all and tap the Share button on the bottom toolbar. Choose Bookmark from the list and then Save. There's no point trying to modify anything about this bookmark yet because it doesn't allow you to change the URL address until later.

Once you've got that dummy bookmark saved, go copy the code for the bookmarklet you're trying to create. As an example, here's the code for the Instapaper text formatter I mentioned above:

javascript:function iptxt(){var d=document;try{if(!d.body)throw(0);window.location='http://www.instapaper.com/text?u='+encodeURIComponent(d.location.href);}catch(e){alert('Please wait until the page has loaded.');}}iptxt();void(0)

Open your bookmarks list and tap the Edit button, then tap the dummy bookmark you created earlier. Remove the existing URL from the second line and paste the bookmarklet code there instead. It should look something like this:

From here, you can feel free to rename the bookmarklet as desired or place it in a folder of your choosing. Whenever you're finished, tap Done on the keyboard first, then again on the bookmarks list when it takes you back there.

Now you've got a fully functional bookmarklet waiting to be used. If you want to try out the one I used in this example, go to any webpage (for best results, find a long article surrounded by clutter), then simply tap the bookmarklet from your bookmarks list and be amazed.

There are lots of great bookmarklets out there, now it's up to you to find them and put them to good use. Hopefully this little article helps you with that.

'Thirty'

Ben Brooks has turned 30, so he's listed 30 things he thinks he knows.

My favorite:

20. "Don’t give a shit about what people think of your honest opinion. If you think Android is better than iOS, Windows better than Mac, and Nikon better than Canon — so be it. You’d be wrong, but at least you’re standing for what you believe in, and that’s more important."

'TV is Broken'

Patrick Rhone, in one of my favorite tech pieces from 2012:

"Then, a commercial for The Secret World of Arrietty comes on.

“This! I want to watch this!”, Beatrix exclaims.

“We can’t honey. It’s not out yet. It’s just a commercial.”, I say. She seems more confused so I try an analogy.

“You know when we go to a movie theater, and they show you previews of movies that are not out yet before the real movie? It’s like that.”

“Oh.”, she resigns. Not sure she gets this but I think the television executives and I have finally worn down her curious resolve."

Like Patrick, we don't have cable TV at our house. Instead, we use a combination of Netflix Instant, Hulu Plus, and even Amazon Instant Video for the occasional rental. All of this is streamed through our PS3 and is relatively easy to deal with. It's certainly convenient, anyway.

Because of this setup, the only times we ever see commercials at home are when we're using the Hulu Plus service. If I could pay a few more bucks a month to get rid of those commercials too, I would do it in an instant. Not only for myself, but for Brendon. If he can grow up hardly ever seeing a TV commercial, I'd consider that a parenting success.

When visiting relatives from either side of our family, there tends to be a TV consantly on whether anybody's watching it or not, providing background noise at all times. Don't ask me why, that's just how it is. If I ever happen to glance at the TV during a commercial break, I'm always astounded and annoyed by the sheer bottom-of-the-barrel stupidity being shoved into my eyeballs. I honestly have no idea why or how people put up with it.

By contrast, our experience at home is like living in another, better world. Custom queues full of content that we have chosen for ourselves. Fantastic recommendation engines suggesting great content that we might not have otherwise found, almost like hearing about something cool via trusted word-of-mouth (which I believe to be the best kind of advertising). Convenient access to just about anything we'd ever be interested in watching. No need or temptation to flip through hundreds of pointless channels, hoping something decent will be on somewhere.

I've tried to sell my parents on such a setup, but alas, they cling to their old ways. Mom still likes to watch her evening reality shows and Dad has never minded the process of flipping channels a bunch until he finds something good. Both of them are inextricably hooked on the Food Network, which is always the most likely thing I'll see on their TV as soon as I walk in the door.

If that's what works for them, then that's great. As for me, I can't justify spending so much more money on a huge cable/satellite package that not only offers ~1000% more channels than I'm interested in, but is somehow still less convenient and can't even bother to advertise products in a way that doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out.

No, I think I'll keep on living in the future. It's more comfortable here.