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Our New Host: TrafficPlanet Hosting

A few months ago I switched webhosting providers. My main complaint with my super old host (MDDHOSTING), was the page loading speed, and first byte. The page loading was so slow that it could take 5 seconds sometimes, if not longer for the page to load. Which is one of my pet peeves with websites. When I click a link, I want the page to load. This isn't 1997 and dialup. I knew I had to get out of shared hosting, but the problem is - lets be honest, the only visitors that ever came to my sites were me, myself, and I. So it didn't make much sense to pay double or triple digits a month for hosting. I looked into premium wordpress hosts such as WPEngine, which promised super fast speed, and great uptime, but wow they are so over priced.  I simply couldn't justify paying that much a month for ONE SINGLE WEBSITE, that only I visited,  no matter how fast the pages load. I read many reviews last time and settled with GeekStorage, which seemed to be a very good host. Many good reviews, and all the pages I visited that they hosted were snappy. I signed up, paid for a year of hosting, and everything has been good enough. However, the past week they seemed to be running very slow. I realized this is going to be the norm with shared hosting. There are going to be many down times, and many slow times. If I ever want Grunch to be successful, I need the pages to be snappy. Time to get serious. Before I begun my journey to find another host, I tried optimizing the website. I tried many cache systems, and other optimization techniques, but none really improved the page loading speed, at least not by much. I came to the conclusion that I have to go with a much pricey premium host. Since Grunch is powered by wordpress, as is nearly all my sites anymore, I would prefer a host that prioritizes wordpress. So, The Search begun for another host, and actually considered going with WPEngine, I found a coupon that would allow me to have my site hosted by them for 3 months with their lowest plan, for only $4 a month, instead of their normal $29 fee. $4 Isn't bad for a rest run. But, It'd only allow me to host one site. [caption id="attachment_2477" align="alignleft" width="300"] SiteGround Setup Fee[/caption] I also came across SiteGround, which is another premium wordpress host, with many positive reviews. Their prices seemed decent, and you could host multiple sites on their top two plans. As I was signing up, I noticed that you'd either have to pay annually, or pay montly. I only wanted to test the hosting, and not commit for a year, so  I chose monthly. Then they added a $25 set up fee, which is waived if you pay annually. Forget that! Would be an expensive test run due to a silly fee. So, I passed them up. My found out my friend has a years worth of hosting with them that he just paid for. I'm sure he'll have some comments on their hosting quality in the future. All the rest of the Premium Wordpress hosts I found were all way over priced. triple to quadruple digits - For get that. Now I was back to WP Engine. For  $4 with a coupon, I could test one site, and if I liked it, then i could pay even more and more for my other sites. I started to dig into more on them, and found alot of red flags. Many, upon Many reviews were starting that their hosting quality, speed, and support have gone down hill. Also they seem to sneakily charge extra for over usages. Which really scared me away. Upon my research, i found many ex WP Engine customers who are now using a newer host called "TrafficPlanet Hosting", which is a bit of a weird name. The reviews said that these guys have their shit in gear, and know exactly what they are doing. TrafficPlanet Hosting claims to have super fast servers, especially for Wordpress. Which they certainly did not lie about, the reviews were written TrafficPlanet Hosted websites, buy actually customers, and man they were blazing fast. I was actually shocked by how fast they were. I found this old forum post from the founded of TrafficPlanet, and he really sounds like he knows what he's talking about, and makes what he considers quality hosting clear. I was impressed. I don't really know what a "moneymaking website" is, which he refers to several times, I guess they're just websites, with random info that have alot of ads and affiliate links, which make money?... [caption id="attachment_2483" align="alignright" width="289"] TrafficPlanetPlans[/caption] I navigated to the TrafficPlanet Hosting website, and started to look at their plans, and was surprised. They prices really aren't that high for what they offer. The smallest basic plan offers the following: Host up to 5 websites/domains. Free site Migration, and in depth video Tutorials One Click Wordpress install 50GB of Bandwidth a Month 10gb of Storage Daily Backups SSD Drives and Cache Tier 1 Connectivity Promised Blazing Fast Speed 24 hour tech support (email, text, chat only, no phone) NO SET UP FEES! Cost just $24.99 per month. WOW! I thought about it for like 5 minutes, and then signed up. Nearly instantly I got my account info which included username, password, control panel login, FTP and Mysql info.  So I went from signing up, paying, and uploading my site in less than a 5 minute period. [caption id="attachment_2485" align="alignleft" width="300"] TrafficPlanet Control Panel[/caption] They don't have a fully featured cPanel like most shared hosts, and you don't have access to many of the features that you would get in cPanel, but if you need something advanced done, you can simply email their support, which turns out to be super fast, and quick to reply, and they'll try to make the changes to the server for you. I needed help changing the MX records on Grunch.com since we use Zoho, instead of server email, and they replied within 10 minutes and applied the changes. Fastest support I ever witnessed. [caption id="attachment_2486" align="alignright" width="300"] TrafficPlanet Database maanager[/caption] You have full access the server space via FTP, you have access to your mySQL databases via PHPMYADMIN, so its not all too limited. My ISP uses OpenDNS, so I was able to easily and quickly change the NameServers my domain pointed to, and refresh the OpenDNS Cache (Google DNS now has a similar function), and was able to navigate my freshly hosted TrafficPlanet website, and wow, its fast! Grunch is running faster than I've ever seen, and without a single ounce of optimization on my end (wow), and its just great. I am planning on doing some optimization to even increase the speed and performance even more. The only con so far is submitting new posts to wordpress seems to take 5+ seconds, which is kinda odd. Could be a plugin issue or server side caching, or something. I'll look into that. I haven't been able to run the site through page speed tests due to the DNS still propagating and many of those services are still seeing the old site. I'll update this article with info on that as soon as I can. Even though I'm paying much more than the usually price of shared hosting, the price is really justified, and I can't see myself going back. The math shows that I'm paying about $0.83 a day to have my site hosted on TrafficPlanet, so it's really not that bad. [caption id="attachment_2492" align="alignleft" width="300"] TrafficPlanet Bandwidth[/caption] Also, the speed, quality, support is amazing, that I'm shocked that the prices are as low as they are. I am actually thinking about upgrading to the next highest plan (Professional), for $49.99, which doubles the storage and bandwidth, and also lets you host up to 15 sites, so I can host my photography site with them and not have to worry as much about bandwidth. If you're looking for a new host that has quality, speed, up time, and amazing staff, I suggest going with TrafficPlanet. Try them out for a month at least, I don't think you'll regret it. Sure, its pricier than shared hosting, but you really get what you pay for, and more. https://trafficplanethosting.com/
Josh

Working on New Logo

I am working on a new logo, that is much cleaner, and attractive than the old. I have found that a live production environment helps me design, which means apply all the updates, live with it, and update it as I notice more changes, and improvements that can be made. Comparison of old logo, and the new updated one: [caption id="attachment_2329" align="alignleft" width="300"] Old Logo[/caption]       [caption id="attachment_2450" align="alignleft" width="300"] New Logo[/caption]       If you have any suggestions, please comment.
Josh

Tech Armor HD Clear Ballistic Glass Screen Protector for iPhone 6 Plus

Update - September, 24 2015 - Got Warrant Replacement, click to read. I wrote a review a month or so back on the Zagg Invisible Shield Glass Screen Protector, which over all I gave a low rating due to it cracking on application, and over all price vs quality. [caption id="attachment_2417" align="alignleft" width="225"] Tech Armor Package[/caption] For a while I've been debating between the Zagg InvisibleShield protector, and the Tech Armor one on Amazon. I assumed the Tech Armor would be of cheap low, quality due to its low price tag, the Zagg InvisibleShield would be of high quality due to its high price tag. As it turns out, I was completely wrong! I could pay $5 and have my Zagg InvisibleShield replaced with the "lifetime warranty" that it came with - which I may due just to review the process and see if they even follow through, or screw me and charge me full price again, or buy the Tech Armor protector for $10, and be done with it. I ordered the Tech Armor HD Clear Ballistic Glass Screen Protector on Amazon on July 5th, for $7.95 plus $2.99 Standard shipping which totaled $10.94, and received it on July 9th, which only took 4 days via USPS. The package came in a nice branded package, and within that package was my order invoice, along with the Tech Armor retail box with the product inside of that. [caption id="attachment_2418" align="alignright" width="300"] Tech Armor Retail Package[/caption] Unlike the InvisibleShield, the Tech Armor protector game with many tools to help apply the screen properly, such as full instructions, which also linked to an Online Video if anyone needed more help, a cleaning cloth, alcohol wipe, hard plastic thing to help get bubbles out, and some sticky dust remover tape?. The tape actually was the most helpful. Such a simple idea, no idea why Zagg doesn't provide them with the InvisibleShield. [caption id="attachment_2419" align="alignleft" width="265"] Tech Armor Protector[/caption] The Protector applied without a single issue. I actually placed it on wrong and the positioning was out of place, but unlike the InvisibleShield, I was able to easily take it back off and replace it. It doesn't seem to instantly stick the way the InvisibleShield does. It's actually quite magical looking when it finally sticks because you basically touch it with your finger firmly in the middle and you can see the air between the protector and screen get squeezed out all by itself. Than wallah! Its applied. Applying the Tech Armor was completely effortless, other than cleaning the phones screen. [caption id="attachment_2420" align="alignright" width="300"] Tech Armor Contents[/caption] It's hard to compare the quality of the Tech Armor, and the InvisibleShield. They are both crystal clear smooth displays with rounded edges. The Tech Armor Glass feels a bit thicker, I can feel it it around my thumb when I push the home button, but its not much thicker. I can't actually find the dimensions online for it though. It's not a bad thing that its thicker, because unlike the super thing InvisibleShield, the Tech Armor glass didn't crack when during the application process. [g1_quote author_image="http://www.grunch.com/legacy/uploads/2015/07/ta_logo_white.png" g1_quote author_name="Tech Armor" author_url="http://www.techarmor.com/warranties-replacements-refunds" author_description_format="%link%" align="center" size="s" style="solid" template="01"] Replacements As screen protectors can be challenging to install, even for the best of us, we again offer the best warranty in the business. We will replace screen protectors that are messed up during the installation process, or are damaged in use, FREE of Charge. At our discretion we will even offer to pay the freight to get the replacements to you. We want your device protected, the Tech Armor way. [/g1_quote] [caption id="attachment_2416" align="alignright" width="300"] iPhone 6 Tech Armor Protector[/caption] The Tech Armor warranty is even better, like Zagg, Tech Armor offers a Lifetime warranty, but unlike Zagg, Tech Armor doesn't charge a dime, and there doesn't seem to be a sneaky process to recharge you full price for the product. For less than $10, this is a no brainer.  With Zagg you just over pay for no good reason and get sub par quality, Skip the Zagg over priced garbage, and go with Tech Armor. You will not regret it. Update: September 24, 2015 - Last week I noticed the screen protector got shattered on an edge. Not sure how though. On Monday the 21st I went to Tech Armor's warrant replacement page, filled out the info, and submitted the form. On Thursday I received the replacement in the mail. WOW! The replacement wasn't just a screen, it was the full retail product in the full retail box just as I had gotten originally. This is seriously amazing! There were no costs with the replacement. Simply submit the form, that's it. Didn't have to prove to them that it's broken as you do with Zagg. I'm actually shocked by how easy this was. Amazing company. Update October 10th, 2015 - AMAZING! The replacement screen got messed up when I tried to apply it. I went to order another one, but decided to see if the warranty would cover it again, and today I got another replacement. CRAZY! In a good way. The next one I will pay for. This company is truly amazing. [rwp-review id="0"]
Josh

New Site Layout/Theme

I've begun work setting up a new theme for the site. Unlike our previous theme, this new should should allow us to be more flexible with the content, and also add new features to the site. I have the main page working and usable for the time being, the article pages still need much work, but they're readable at the moment as well. Here is a comparison of the old theme and the new: Home layout: As you can see, the new home page takes up less space, while showing more content. Also it does not display repetitive content. Article layout: I think some aspects of the older article layouts were better, but I'll work on making the new one even better. Alot of thought has to go into the sidebar widgets we use. I don't want to use the same widgets most sites use, but I also don't want to have no info displayed on the side. We'll figure out out. More updates to come!  
Josh

Forget Battlefield, Call of Duty... Insurgency is where it's at.

[caption id="attachment_2281" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Insurgency[/caption] Forget Battlefield, especially forget Call Of Duty... I'm Addicted to Insurgency. First let me explain what I believe Insurgency is: Insurgency is a real time paced Multiplayer Tactical Shooter game based in Iraq. You're either the Security Forces (USA), or the Insurgents. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Battlefield fan.... when it works. But lately Battlefield 4 just doesn't work for me. I can join a game only to lag out and be kicked within minutes. I have no idea as into why this is happening, but I think it's from a recent patch that was released in the past few months. It really makes the game unplayable for me because I can be doing a good job in the game, and then I lose "connection to the server", even though my internet is fine, and I don't have this issue with any other game, nor any drops in my internet. I bought Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare thinking it'd be better than the past few COD titles since it was made buy a different studio (I think?), but nope, more of the same-o. But now you can jump high. I never really liked the fast paced run and gun that is all of major recent COD Titles. I first played the Insurgency game back in like 2005?2007? when it was a mod for half life 2, and even then it was a great realistic paced game. They had trouble within the development team around that time, which put the game on hiatus for almost a decade, until last year when It was released as a full game on Steam, with much improved graphics, and gameplay. Plus, the best thing, it's only $15! I bought it around the time it was released, but had never gotten around to playing it. Battlefield worked okay at the time So I just continued playing it. However with the trouble I've been having with battlefield, I decided to load up Insurgency and give it a go, and wow! I wish I had been playing it for a long while now. [caption id="attachment_2265" align="alignleft" width="300"] Teammate drops in front of me with bullets flying.. now i'm alone.[/caption] The game is no where near a run and gun game like COD, or even like Battlefield. It's realistically paced, and if you stick your head out at the wrong time, or try to run across a road without cover, you most likely will be shot and killed by the enemy. You have to be realistic, keep your eyes open, and think about what you're doing, just as I assume you would in real life. It's actually very stressful to see your teammates drop and die around you, even seeing the enemy dead on the ground can trigger a nerve. You will not be able to be shot 10 times and still run around. If you get hit even once in a critical area, you're dead. Same with killing enemies, you won't have to unload clips into them for them to drop, one or two aimed shots will take them out. And be wise with your ammo, I think depending on your kit, you can get from 3 to 6 magazines. At first I thought everyone was limited to 3, but earlier I had 6, so who knows. It's taking me a while to change my way of thinking. I'm used to Battlefield where you can pretty much run around, which isn't as fast paced and run and gun as COD games, but its still not very realistic. I really like how this game actually has SERVERS. Unlike Call Of Duty, Titan fall, an d some other games matchmaking where a player is a laggy host of the game, this game has a static steady servers that the game is hosted on. Another good thing about actual servers is that you can join the same server, with the settings you prefer, and easily join your friends. I've always found playing hosting to be crap. [caption id="attachment_2268" align="alignright" width="300"] Insurgency Insurgent Kit Modify[/caption] The loadout and kit selection confused me at first. Unlike COD and Battlefield, you don't unlock weapons, which you can keep and equip as you go. Instead, every player starts out a certain amount of points, which you have to use to set up your gun. Weapon sights take a certain amount of points each, other addons such as foregrip, tracer bullets, etc also take points. Armor is the same. You have to make a decision on your gear. You can have a red dot sight, or foregrip, Can have more powerful bullets, or no frag grenade. *Edit, I suppose I still don't fully understand the loadout and how you get unlocks. I seem to get more points for games as I play and do well. Not many, but some. I notice that I can eventually add another addon to the gun. But these reset each game i believe. [caption id="attachment_2270" align="alignleft" width="300"] Graphics aren't that bad.[/caption] Some people might be turned off by the graphics. They aren't as sexy and shiny as Battlefield or Call Of Duty, but they're nice. I believe the game is built on the older Source engine, but I think they did a good job with what they had. Graphics aren't a big requirement really with many games, when the gameplay is good, you barely notice the graphics. Don't get me wrong though, the game does look nice, but you can tell its on the older Source Engine. I get a constant 60fps on max all settings with my EVGA GTX 770 4gb, which is also a plus. Since it is an older engine, you really don't need the most recent powerhouse Graphics Cards. The newer updated Source engine is about to be released, I hope they upgrade the game to this engine. [caption id="attachment_2276" align="alignright" width="300"] Insurgency Night Time Battle[/caption] The maps are beautifully designed, and each much has its own atmosphere, such as the cold snowy maps, and the hot desert makes really make you feel like you are there. The maps are small compared to other games, but they don't feel super tiny. Best of all,  Insurgency has NIGHT TIME MAPS! The nighttime maps are nearly pitch black besides where there are street lights and other ambient lights. You can equip night vision, but they really only help so much. The game modes are awesome. I usually play Push, or Ambush which seem to be points you have to capture to push the other enemy back, when  you have all the checkpoints/flags you win. VIP is fun as well where you have to escort a VIP to an extraction zone. As I said, the game is only $15 on steam, has regular updates, and very active devs. The game is super amounts of fun. But remember to not give up so easily. You have to  adapt to the game, especially if you're coming from a run and gun game such as Call of Duty. More info: http://www.playinsurgency.com/ Steam Link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/222880/      
Josh

Lego Worlds - First Impressions - GamePlay

I decided to give the new Lego Worlds game a try. Lego Worlds is a new early access open sandbox game very similar to Minecraft, only with LEGOS. Definition from the sales page: I must say, I do really like it, The graphics are nice, the sounds are cool, controls are easy (other than the camera control), and over all isn't very buggy for an early access title. It could run better though. Alot of people with less powerful machines than I are complaining about low FPS, but mine stays high unless I'm flying around. [caption id="attachment_2246" align="alignleft" width="300"] One of the last times I had all my legos out, who wants to pick all that up?[/caption] It really puts me back in the days when I'd sit alone in my room with my legos and just build stuff. I would say my 9 year old self, but I messed with legos late into my late teens, until eventually I became too lazy to get them out due to having to pick them all up again when I was done. I haven't gotten to the building part of the game. I messed with it a bit in the video, but that's it. So, I can't really comment on that, but the exploration and breaking stuff is pretty fun. The only thing this game really lacks is multiplayer. There is alot of AI in the game, but no other human players. I'm not sure if they'll add that at some point or not. Also I HATE the third person view, which always makes a building game more ridiculously hard to build anything. AHH! Currently the game is $15 USD on Steam, and worth every penny! http://store.steampowered.com/app/332310/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqLcnwtLsTk
Josh

Burstfire Alpha GamePlay

Made a litttle gameplay video of this new upcoming PC title called "BurstFire". The game is pretty much 5v5 slow paced tactical gameplay. I think it's supposed to be similar to the old SWAT games. Right now the game is in alpha, but is still very fun. Not very many bugs, i actually havent ran into any playing. Everything works well, controls are nice and feel fluid. This game wont be free2play, play2win, it wont have priced extensions, everyone will pay once and have access to everything.  At its current state, I could see playing $20-30. Even though i enjoyed it much more than the $60 games i've bought and played once such as COD Advanced Warfare. Even though the atmosphere, environment, and graphics are pretty simple in the game, I still enjoying it much more than I've enjoyed other games such as Call of Duty Advanced Warfare, or Titanfall. Anyone can play the alpha, which I think ends on June 25th, so 6 more days left. Here is the email i received late last week Visit our Private Forums for general feedback and bug reporting.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyKj8LAqW0U
Josh

QuadLock Case and Bike Mount Review

As for iPhone 6 Plus cases and bicycle mounts, the options seem very limited. I found many which just consist of a bag, or a weird universal mounts and seem to just grab the phone. The only real two options I had were between the QuadLock iPhone 6 Plus kit from Annex products($84.95), or the iPhone 6 Plus case and mount from StudioProper ($79.95 case plus mount). the StudioProper mount and case look better, BUT, it's a magnetic case, and mount, and they recommended it for city cycling flat road cycling only. I live out in the country surrounded by Dirt Rock Country Roads, so I need a sturdy mount that will hold my phone firmly as i ride over bumpy rocks. The Quadlock case and mount say they will hold firmly no matter what. The case and mount are made out of a strong plastic, which interlocks and clips with eachother, so I decided to go with it. Sadly, the Quadlock case and mount for the iPhone 6 Plus were not out yet, or delayed due to lack of units til sometime early this year, so I wasn't able to get the kit as soon as I would have liked. Plus I don't cycle much during winter seasons. However, Spring time is here, Summer is coming, and I'm starting to cycle again. So, I decided to go ahead and purchase the mount and the case. I'm one of the people who like to track my rides using my favorite app (cyclemeter), which auto backs up to Strava. Having the phone visible at all times helps this process, and also helps if I have calls or texts that I need to stop and reply to. I never listen to music or anything else while cycling.  Plus, with a $1k+ phone, you really don't want to be taking the phone in and out of your pocket constant. A strong durable mount is the best option. The Quadlock iPhone 6 Plus kit comes with the following: 1 x Quad Lock Case 1 x Quad Lock Poncho 1 x Quad Lock Bike Mount PRO 2 x EPDM mounting o-rings (small) 2 x EPDM mounting o-rings (large) 2 x Nylon zipties Honestly, the only thing I didn't like about ordering the Quadlock case was the shipping. Expensive, and slow for whats available. You have 3 options, Which are all pretty much the same slowness: Free Shipping - Ground Service Free DHL Global Mail Lightweight Parcel (3 to 8 business days) $6.54 USD USPS Priority Mail Express (1 business day) $33.67 USD [caption id="attachment_2165" align="alignleft" width="300"] USPS Shipping QuadLock[/caption] Disclaimer: I'm very impatient, I'd rather pay super extra for overnight shipping, or just pay more for the same item in the local stores. So unless you want to wait a week or two, you'll have to pay the hefty fee of $33.67 to get it within a few days. I decided on Free, No way was i going to over pay for shipping, and DHL rarely comes out here, I've never used them before, so I didn't want to use that option. Turns out FREE still uses "DHL Global Mail Lightweight Parcel", as the email states, which confused me because in the same email was a functioning USPS tracking link and number, weird. Turns out that DHL handles picking up the package or something? And then hands it off to USPS for delivery? I don't know. Processing was pretty fast, I believe I got a fulfilled email later on that night,  along with shipping notification, and that's where the entire process went dead for about a week. I ordered on May 5th,  Got the tracking link on May 5th, packaged shipped may 6th, and then no updates til May 12th when it arrived at my local USPS sorting center, and was in my MailBox by the 13th. Maybe I'm just spoiled. I suppose a week shipping time isn't that bad. [caption id="attachment_2168" align="alignright" width="300"] Quadlock Shipping Box[/caption] The case came in a pretty sturdy box, I mean average shipping brown box, which fit nicely into my normal sized mailbox, even though I had to struggle to remove it. Within the box was some paper wrap, and a beautiful nice Quadlock Retail Package nicely wrapped in plastic, just as you'd expect it to be when purchased from a store. Which alone impressed me. I assumed Annex (the company who produces the Quadlock Line) was an internet company, but turns out they are pretty successful in Australia, Europe, and perhaps even in the States now. [caption id="attachment_2171" align="alignleft" width="300"] QuadLock Package Contents[/caption] The case, the poncho, and the mounts all seem of high quality, and I am very satisfied with them. The case felt very solid and heavy duty, while not being thick or heavy. It wrapped my phone very snuggly. The only thing I don't like about the case is it leaves the ports open, my old case had a flap that would cover these up keeping dust and lent out. Not a big issue I suppose. The mount attached to my bike just fine, and seemed sturdy. The the case attached to the mount easy and was very sturdy and firm in place. I live out in the country, which means I have to ride done many rocky dirt country roads til I hit pavement, which means I need the mount to be firm and not allow for my phone to drop off, and the QuadLock case exceeds in this area. The only thing about the mount I do not like is it seems to slide sideways on the bar on my bike. This could be due to me not tightening it enough, or my bar is not the ride size, or I need to put some material under the mount to provide more friction. I originally only tightened the straps with my fingers, a pair of plyers should allow me to tight them even more. I'll tighten it the next time I ride and see if that helps, and update this review. [caption id="attachment_2178" align="alignleft" width="300"] Phone Mount on bike[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_2176" align="alignright" width="300"] Quadlock Mount on bike[/caption]
I am very pleased with my decision to go with the Quadlock kit, and would recommend it to anyone for any sport or high activity. They sell running, driving, and all sorts of kits for several different models and makes of phones. I currently have a heart rate monitor from them being shipped to me, which should arrive any day now. I'll review that later. Buy: http://www.quadlockcase.com/products/bike-kit-iphone-6-plus [rwp-review id="0"]
Josh

My new TV/Movie Endeavor

This isn't really a review, but just a blab. I'll write a review in the future for each of the devices I speak about in this rambling post, such as the Roku, the Tv, Netflix, etc. It's been many many years since I've owned a TV of my own, or even had live tv access. For the past nearly a decade I've just downloaded shows and movies onto my computer, and watched them all on it.  I live out in the country where I don't have access to any live TV such as cable, and satellite is too expensive with their contracts and such. I'm no where near being a TV/Home Theater expert, so I am learning now as I go. This year Dish Network announced Sling TV (read my rambling review here, new one coming soon), and let me relive what its like to have live Streaming TV. The problem with doing it the way I was which was just downloading tv shows, is that I never find any new shows to watch, and i end up watching the same shows over and over on repeat. Live TV not only allows me to discover live tv, but it also allows me to have new background noise playing, ha. I also want to get into watching movies at least once a week again. I used to watch movies ALL THE TIME when I was a kid, and I do miss it. The first thing I needed to do was get a TV.  I wanted a decent sized tv to immerse me into the movie. With my computer monitor, even though its a large 27" I had to sit close for it to even fill most of my vision. This was okay for the most part since it was only a couple of feet from by bed, but still not super immersive. Walmart had a bunch of TV's on sale. They had some Samsung 55" for $800 or so, but as I was doing researched on them (im one of those people that stand in the middle of the isle forever researching the potential purchases on my phone), and it turns out the TV was the 2012 model, What the heck? I know from my previous employment at Walmart that alot of the TV's are lower end models, so I make sure to research this to make sure the TV is top notch. Don't get me started on the blasphemys they sell on Black Friday. I always thought my expensive TV purchased would be a Samsung, whom seems to make the best quality TV's, with that said, I'm not completely against Vizio's. Vizio has came a very long way since they first came out with their budget TVs a decade ago. Their quality for price seems to be the best value you can get anymore. [caption id="attachment_2141" align="alignleft" width="300"] Vizio m60-c3[/caption] Since the 2012 model was still $800+, I figured I might as well pay more for a new generation model. I started looking at the TV's on the wall, and there it was. I saw the 2015 model Vizio 60" 4k LED TV (model m60-c3). Never crossed my mind to get a TV this large, but Oh my heck! The screen this thing had was BEAUTIFUL. Bright, Crisp, Clear, and just simply stunning. Standing less than 5feet a way, you could not see a single pixel on this thing.  HOLY MY GOD HECK! I've never seen a TV before that I wanted so bad. A 60" Is much more than I was looking for, but dang it, this thing would be so immersive, and also the picture was so beautiful. I could hook this up to my computer, and the 4k resolution would allow me to actually use it from a few feet away, if I wished. I stood there looking at it for about 30 minutes before I talked myself out of getting it. The price tag of $1,398 was a bit too much for me to invest in a  TV at the moment. I couldn't get the TV out of my mind after I left the store. I went home to research the model some more, mostly good reviews. It's hard to be trustful of reviews anymore, but overall they highly praised the TV. Walmart has been sending me financing offer info for the past year or so since I've head the Walmart CreditCard. The financing offer says on purchases upwards for $599 I'd have 24 months to pay it off without any interest being added. I never even thought about using this deal before, but I couldn't get this Tv off my mind. So, I started doing the math. For this TV, plus tax which came to around $1,500, I'd only have to pay around $63 a month to have this TV paid off in full by the end of the two year mark. Now I hate being in debt, or racking up things on credit cards, but I do love these financing offers. They really help make life and working every day worth living. Can buy nice things, and not feel it really at all. Or at least this is what I tell myself when I'm inlove with a pricey TV. I know you can probably get the TV cheaper online, but I prefer buying expensive things like this at real stores, so I can easily return/exchange the TV if it has an issue, and over all save more in the long run with price and convenience. Anyways, a few hours after I left walmart, I decided to go back and get the TV. The heck with it. I work every day, I deserve a nice TV dang it! As I arrived at walmart, and back in front of the 60" Tv, I looked at it for 30 more minutes trying to talk myself out of it. I knew this was going to be an expensive purchase. Not only would I have to buy the TV, I need some sort of sound system for it. I know TV Speakers aren't that great, and I'm going for a semi-immersive feeling. I also discovered that Sling doesn't have an APP for the Vizio TV's yet (they suggested to me on Facebook they are working on it), which means I'd have to buy a media Streaming device as well. My sister recently purchased a Chromecast streaming stick, but that thing doesn't have a remote, besides the app remote you can install on your phone. By the time I can load the app on my phone and turn the channel, i could easily walk to the TV and change it (I know these devices don't have buttons on them, more of an expression). The Roku Streaming Stick was only $49, the Roku 2 was $69, and the Roku 3 was $99, these are the in store Walmart prices. You can save alot of money if you don't mind ordering online and waiting for them to come. Personally I'd rather pay $20 or so extra for instant gratification. Since I only needed  the streaming device for Sling since the Vizio TV had Netflix and everything else built into it, I decided to go with the cheapest option, the Roku Streaming Stick. Unlike the Chromecast stick, the Roku variant actually comes with a physical remote. ** I know I could just hook this TV to my computer via HDMI, and run the desktop Sling program, but I'd really prefer the TV run independently from my computer for now. I looked at home theater systems, the good ones seemed to be in the $250+ price ranges, and came with a built in BluRay player. I don't care for BluRay. I don't seem myself ever again going and buying pshycial discs to watch movies on. I know the BluRay portion added alot to the price. I decided to pass on the selection of home theater systems this store offered. I checked out some Sound bars. The new Sound bars seem to be of high quality, and come with 5.1 speakers, and sub woofer. I always had the impression that sound bars were pretty much for when the speakers in your TV go out, but now they seem to be the real home theater deal. I figured I'd skip the soundbar for now as well, and research some more, and save up some cash, I'd rather pay with cash then rack up more debt. I'm leaning towards the VIZIO S4251W-B4 that retails for $298 at walmart. Edit: June 2 - I went to the local walmart and bought the VIZIO SB3851-C0 38" 5.1 Sound Bar System. They didn't have the previous one I wanted in stock online, or in any stores, so this is the next best one, which retails for $248. It sounds alright, not too sure just yet if I'm happy with it. So far I've only watched some TV and listened to some music, which was meh, later on after work I'll watch a movie. I had the Walmart worker guy get the TV from me in the back, scanned the 24 month financing voucher, paid with my Walmart CreditCard, and I was on my way. For the rest of the night I rearranging my room. My room is full of workout benches, and a large queen size bed. There was no way that this thing was going to fit in my room. I had to move the room around, get rid of the Queen Size bed (its only me, the dang thing is soft, but not needed), got my twin mattress back, and wallah! Nice HUGE TV taking up nearly half my wall. Man oh man, this tv is nice! I started hooking up the Roku streaming stick, and noticed the dang thing does not fit in the HDMI ports in the back. The stick is just too long, and it doesn't fit within the inner bevel space  for the hookups. I was able to put it on the side 4k 30hrtz HDMI port (the tv comes with two 4k ports, one 30hrz and the other 60hrz). Probably the best spot for it anyways in case I stream some 4k content from Roku. But I suggest if you get this tv to get some sort of HDMI Extender cable, I'm sure they make them. So you can plug that it into the back, and then hook the Roku stick to it. Loaded the Roku, selected Sing Tv, Logged in, watched my live Sling TV on this massive 60"er! The bad thing about this Roku Streaming Stick is that half the time it doesn't seem to respond at all. Just freezes, and is very slow to even change the channel. This morning I took the Roku Streaming Stick back to the store, and exchanged it plus paid the difference, and just got the Roku 3, and wow, this thing is speedy fast. Much worth the extra money. Weird thing is, the Roku 3 seems to have a much more crisp clear/HD like interface, or perhaps the streaming stick I got was just a faulty unit. The sound quality is light, meh its okay, It's what you'd expect from a TV, and will do it's job for now, but a sound system is a must! Sling doesn't have 4k content, not even sure if it has HD content, but it didn't look too bad. [caption id="attachment_2148" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dexter playing in 4k Via Netflix. I know i'm using TV tray Stands for the TV, i'm not a fancy finicky guy, with furniture, but I plan on getting a real stand eventually, ha.[/caption] I've read that Netflix has 4k content, using the APP in the Tv, not the Roku, I logged into my dads Netflix account  (I didn't have an account at the time), and it looked alright.  After researching this a bit, I realized you had to pay more for Ultra HD Content on Netflix, and my dad only had the normal basic plan. I signed up for my own account, and now am on the 30 day trial (you can get the 30 trial instead of 7 day, but going through the signup process, and then not completing the payment. A few hours later Netflix will email you with a 30 day trial offer). The HD content does look nice, but I haven't explored it alot yet. But it is beautiful. I'm going to have to get used to seeing every pore, blemish, spot on the actors face though. [caption id="attachment_2156" align="alignright" width="300"] Dexter skin[/caption] I never cared much for youtube. I didn't know people actually used Youtube and watched it as they would a real TV channel, but ever since getting this TV, I have changed my view. The built in YouTube app is beautiful, and easy to navigate. I must've spent more time watching HD youtube content then I have watching Sling or NetFlix. I hooked the TV up to my PC via HDMI, and wow, it is beautiful. The resolution is so dang high. I have a EVGA Geforce GTX 770 4gb, so, it can support the 4k resolution just fine for normal usage, and minor gaming. Minecraft loads up just fine, and looks beautiful on this TV. Battlefield 3 and 4 don't perform so well, and I don't want to turn down the setting son them, my ultra wide computer monitor will due just fine for now playing this games, but I do plan on upgrading my cards in the future. Many suggest SLI 2 GTX cards to get the best gameplay. I might just get another 770 and see how that goes, they should be much cheaper now than when I bought them. I know I probably can't afford 2x any newer gen cards. So far I am extremely happy with my choice in getting this TV. If you're looking for a newer gen 4k TV for a good price, I suggest getting this TV. Another cool thing about this TV is the remote. It has a full sized illuminated [caption id="attachment_2154" align="alignright" width="300"] Vizio Remote[/caption] keyboard on the back of it, and also doesn't require those infrared or whatever sensors like my last tube TV did back in the 90s early 00s., which is new and nice to me. I look forward to finding out about new movies, TV shows, and devices to further expand my experience. I'll write an actual review in the future on each of these devices and services after I use them a bit more, but for now, THIS TV IS AWESOME. Skip the Roku Streaming stick and just get either the Roku 2 or 3. Any info, feedback, suggestions will be greatly appreciated, especially regarding SoundBars, and such.
Josh

Facebook Messenger App - Desktop

"Messenger for Desktop
A simple & beautiful app for Facebook Messenger. Chat without distractions on any OS."
OS X, Windows & Linux
[caption id="attachment_2130" align="alignleft" width="300"] Facebook Messenger Desktop[/caption] The days of leaving your desktop browser window open so you can use facebook chat are over! Someone has released a version of facebook messenger for Desktop (github). which means just like the olden days with messenger apps, you have it in your tasktray, and can chat, receiving notifications, all that goodness from your desktop. The program is very cleanly done, I actually thought Facebook made it themselves, and is very stable. The program doesn't require you to grab permission from facebook to log in either. Is the desktop app even still useful? I don't know, I know most people use facebook from their mobile devices now, but for people like me who still use a desktop computer for pretty much everything, its really handy to have the messenger on 24/7, without needing to leave Firefox open. Also it's very annoying to constantly pick the phone up to check messages when you're on the computer. So far, It seems to have all the features the mobile apps do, such as picture sharing, emoticons (i know they have a new name for these but i don't remember it, nor use them, lacking my hipsterness). and seems to run smooth. [caption id="attachment_2193" align="alignright" width="300"] Messenger Contact List[/caption] The contact/online list is hard to find. In order to find it you must click the "create new message" icon, and then click in the search box. After that the contact list will load below it, which is weird functionality, but hey, i didn't think they included that common sense feature since it was so hard to find. But its there! The website claims that you can record voice messages (I use these often on the mobile app to sing and annoy people), but I don't see the option anywhere to record voice clips. Problem i've had years ago with programs such as Trillian is it'd disconnect alot when trying to use Facebook Messenger, and also some of the messages didn't go through. This was years ago though, and all that could be resolved by now. Anyways, Facebook Messenger for Desktop (Windows, OS X, Linux) is available, and working great. Head on over to http://messengerfordesktop.com to grab it!
Josh

Zagg InvisibleShield Glass

[caption id="attachment_2113" align="alignleft" width="300"] InvisibleShield Glass[/caption] I finally received my QuadLock case and bike mounting kit from Annex (i'll review that soon), but unlike the case it was replacing, the QuadLock case did not come with a a built in screen protector. So the search for a screen protector has started. I hate the thin plastic screen protectors because they're hard to get on, nearly impossible to get the air bubbles and dust out, and just don't look very good. I actually spent $30 on the Zagg HDR screen protector film thing a few months ago, which I ended up just wadding up and trashing a few minutes later after purchasing due to being unable to get the bubbles and dust out. The dang thing was pretty much a dust magnet, perhaps due to static. I actually bought it thinking it was the glass one. I didn't try to get a refund, or a replacement, nor was upset with Zagg over this. It was my fault I didn't apply it right. Man I hate the film screen protector things! (do we call them thin plastic, or film or?). The iPhone 6 Plus screen is probably hard enough to resist most scratches, but I just don't feel right about not having a screen protector. I never did use one on my iPhone 5, and it ended up getting slight scratches that you can only see from the side, which wasn't a big deal, but still. I could've ordered the Zagg InvisibleShield Glass protector online for $10-15 cheaper, but I hate waiting for packages in the mail, and wanted one as soon as possible, so I went to bestbuy to buy one where they retail for $39.99, plus tax which totaled $42.85. I didn't want to repeat the mistake I made with the thin plastic film ones (man i hate those things). So I made sure to keep all the dust away. I was surprised by how bendable the glass protector was, was almost like plastic very easy to bend, but I figured this was due to its thinness. I tried to not bend it too much because I knew it was glass, and would instantly snap. The protector applied to the phone pretty quickly, and sticks well. However,  the bottom left corner would not stick no matter what I did, which left a big air bubble looking section. Once you put this one, you cannot take them off it seems. Some say you can take them off, watch them, and reapply them. Nope. Be sure to apply it correctly the first time! You get once chance to apply this properly, a $40 chance! Lose your self in that moment (cue Eminem). Yeah, this is serious. I suggest playing the song while attempting the APPLY for best affect. There were air bubbles, but you can easily use your finger to push them to the edge and then out. Most of them work their own way out though while the glass sticks itself to the iPhone's glass screen. [caption id="attachment_2109" align="alignleft" width="300"] Cracked while applying[/caption] The bottom left corner cracked and shattered As I was trying to get it to stick. AHH! I didn't apply very much pressure at all, more of a rubbing to try to get it to stick, using the same amount of pressure I used to push out the bubbles. There was no dust or anything under the corner, it simply just wouldn't stick. The cracks don't affect the screen bottom right, below the actual working screen area. This annoyed me to a great extent, because this glass protector WAS NOT CHEAP! $40, and it snaps so easily while  simply and gently applying it??! Even though This all happened while I was in the BestBuy parking lot, I assumed they wouldn't let me replace it, because its more of a manufacturer thing, so I went online to look at Zagg's warranty policy. The packaging says it comes with a life time warranty and replacement program. I was looking online, and it said that I'd have to pay the $5 shipping, and then after I got the replacement, I'd have to send back the broken one, which doesn't make sense. They say this is for proof of purchase, but I have my receipt right here, can't I just email that to them? The website states that if they don't receive your old broken parts, they charge you the full price again to the credit card you used to make the $5 shipping fee, which is crazy. I have my proof of purcahse right here! HELLO?!? Several people reported online in reviews and forum posts that they were charged the full price again, even though they sent back the broken parts. So this has me very weary about even sending mine back, I already regret buying it the first time, would hate to do it again, and as I previous said, the cracks are below the actual working screen area, so I wasn't in too much of a rust. [caption id="attachment_2110" align="alignright" width="300"] Crack from drop[/caption] Sadly, Last night I set my phone on a chair, and some how it slid off, and fell 1-2ft onto a hard floor, and the protector shattered right down the middle.  I'm thinking it hit a part of the lower chair as it feel because there is a impact spot. These things shatter EASILY!. Now, I'm debating going on Amazon, and just buying a $10 Tech armor glass protector. My dad has had one on his phone since day one (at least 6 months), and has dropped it several times without the protector shattering. He actually liked it so much that he bought one of his phone, his wives, and the younger kids. Even though mine snapped putting it on, I was still able to use the phone, and I must say, wow! Glass is the way to go. The InvisibleShield didn't negatively affect the screen at all. Was crystal clear and felt really good on the fingers. You actually wouldn't even be able to tell the phone even had a protector on, if it wasn't for the borders of the protector, oh yeah, and the cracks from when you applied. :| This screen protector will be great for you, and be well worth the money if you can apply it to your phone  successfully without it snapping in half. It should also last a long while if you avoid dropping your phone from any heights above 3 inches. If you're looking into getting a glass screen protector, I can't vouch for the cheaper Tech Armors yet, since I haven't gotten one yet, but I'd avoid getting the InvisibleShield. Mainly because of the price, and the possible tricky return process. Really isn't worth the potential trouble. I'll update this review when I get the Tech Armor, or just make a whole new review for that along.   [caption id="attachment_2391" align="alignleft" width="300"] Invisible Shield Shattered[/caption] *Update - July 6 2015 I've been using this screen protector cracked for the past month. Worked alright. However the other day I dropped my phone onto the edge of a curve, and the protector completely shattered, while staying stuck together, so there was easy removal. To give the shield credit, my screen remained undamaged. WOOT HOOT. I ordered the $10 Tech Armor Glass Screen Protector from Amazon yesterday (still in preparing for shipment at the moment), so we'll see if this one is much worth the price over the invisibleshield. If it doesn't crack during installation then it already is. I plan on testing Zagg's warranty replacement plan soon. So i'll have updates on that as well. Will update then. Update July 10th: Read the Tech Armor review here.  
Josh

Site updates, and new host

Grunch isn't dead! I know I haven't posted much new content lately, but i've been trying! Or at least thinking about it posting something! I've written several articles within the past few months, but just haven't completed and/or posted them. I'll work on getting some written up AND POSTED this week. It's just my head goes blank while writing them, ha. So, there are several changes to the site lately. First, we got a new host and moved to a new server. I actually started writing an article about the hosts, but I suppose I can just scrap that article and include the info in here. Our old host MDDHosting was way too slow with loading pages, and that's something I really can't stand. Grunch isn't active enough yet to justify paying to a dedicated server or managed wordpress hosting solution, which can cost upwards for $30+ a month. Maybe some day. [caption id="attachment_2076" align="alignleft" width="300"] geekstorage[/caption] The new host is GeekStorage. As you can see, the pages load much faster now, maybe not instant sometimes, but its good enough for now at least. What made me decide to use them was looking at current user reviews and their sites, along with the temporary 50% off for life coupon ( HT50OFF) deal that is currently going on for a limited time. I am very happy with them. [caption id="attachment_2074" align="alignright" width="300"] Disqus[/caption] I have also switched the commenting system to Disqus. Prior to this change we were using the commenting system that came with Jetpack by wordpress, which was nice, but alot of people seem to use Disqus now, so to make the site more user friendly I have made this change. Like Jetpack, Disqus lets users login via facebook and other social networking services to post comments. I have imported all the old comments into the new Disqus system. We need more content! If you are an up and coming writer and want to place to write about pretty much whatever, contact me! We don't make money here yet, but maybe some day. You'll have a platform for you to publish  your writings and opinions! Contact me if you're interested. I plan on having a health, tech, gaming, lifestyle, etc all types of sections here, and the great thing is we run our selves, so we have no weird censor that many sites will have, besides the common sense illegal things. Stay tuned! More updates coming soon.
Josh

SteamDealz.com - Review

[caption id="attachment_1975" align="alignleft" width="300"] SteamDealz[/caption] I came across this website tonight while surfing G2A. The is called SteamDealz, and the idea is interesting: pay $2.33 and be part of a lottery, which allows you to pay for a random key to game that you can activate on Steam. You have a chance at winning a very expensive AAA Title game, or a cheap crap Indie game. I went to their site to see if they were legit, which looked nicely and professionally done. The site is littered with AAA Titles such as Far Cry 4,  Dark Souls 2, Batman, etc. in the background, which floods your head with the idea that you could very well win one of these games for only $2.33! The text that states "2$ for EPIC Games" on the center of the page doesn't turn you away either. [caption id="attachment_1977" align="alignright" width="300"] Steamdealz waiting[/caption] I decided to give it ago, why not? It's only $2.33 .  So, I went ahead and paid, and 5 suspenseful minutes later I received a random key to activate a game on steam. The suspense was kinda exciting as I entered the key into Steam. Few mini seconds later, wallah! Some Puzzle game!  Pixel Puzzles: Japan :| Dud. The game is listed for $6.99 on steam. I thought, "well I can't really judge them based on one try", so I repeated the process, paid again, and this 2nd time it appears I received a slightly better game, Chaos Domain, Valued $9.99 on Steam, but still not one I'd actually buy. Neither of the two games I allowed to be installed. I put an end to my crazy gambling antics, I didn't really want to waste any more money today, $6 was enough (they charged .48 for paypal processing) to waste for now. I know that they can't possibly spit out actual good games each time, and need to make a profit over all. I didn't actually order through SteamDealz, but rather through G2a, which gives some protection if the key is a dud. Once the key is generated the site with automatically ask you if the key is good and working. Even if you don't go through G2a, you can email SteamDealz and from what I've seen on forums and such is that they'll actually help you out, replace your key and such. I've witnessed them doing this several times with keys that were valued well below the $2 value that they promised. The only real thing I didn't like about this whole process is they don't seem to tell you which game the key is for before you go to activate it. So what if its a key to a game you already own? I'm not sure if steam will reject activation due to already having the game in your Steam Library. One of the admins stated that "sometimes our suppliers don't list the game name's for all keys", or whatever that means, so they have no idea which games are going to be randomly picked either. I did some googling, and it doesn't seem that too many people receive any actual nice keys that they advertise, but it is what it is. If you have a few bucks to waste, try it out. It is legit, worked both times for me, even though I wasn't one of the super lucky people who got GTA V! (already bought it anyways :P ), maybe you can be! Site: www.SteamDealz.com Purchase from G2A: https://www.g2a.com/1-random-steam-cd-key.html If you purchase from G2A, remember to uncheck the shield button to save money!  Disclaimer: Grunch is not affiliated, connected, endorsed, or anything in anyway with G2a or SteamDealz. Use this info and their sites, possibly waste your money at your own risk.
Josh

Site Rebranding - Grunch!

I admit it, i have no idea of what a Grunch is. Googling it comes up with a nerdy female issue, or an albino hairy midget, Opps sorry i mean dwaf.. dammit i mean little person. (how come little person sounds more offensive, but its okay? TEEHEE). Anyways, Today I acquired the domain Grunch.com, which is old as a beavers rectum. I admit i maybe over paid for it, but i was zombing due to lack of sleep, and for some reason it sounded good at the time. I kinda like the way Grunch sounds anyways, It's weird at first, but then its even cool to vocally say. ggrrrrUUUNCH! I decided to ditch the Retyper name. I like it, i mean it has its good qualities, but i wanted more of a brandible catchy name, that could be applied to everything we do. I bought Mistold.com because i thought it sounded good, but then I assumed people would just think we were always lying. Came across Grunch and decided to go for it. If it doesn't work out, can just another domain, and resell this one. Might get a few hundred less than i paid, but meh is meh. I have started work on a new logo. It's simple right now, but I kinda like the simple look to it. Here is what i have so far: [gallery type="rectangular" ids="1913"] I don't know what I'm going for on the far right of the text, but I wanted to put something there. As with the text at the bottom. Those are mostly fillers. Anyone have any ideas? Anyways. here's the the future.
Josh

Sling TV *Updated*

Update: March 28 2015 - Read at bottom. I was very excited when Dish Tv announced  Sling TV, which is their, and the only real answer to people who want to watch LIVE TV, and don't want an expensive cable or satellite contract, or who are like me and just don't have access to the options for various reasons. I live out in the country, miles and miles away from any town, so cable TV isn't an option for me. Satellite is too expensive, and I dislike 2 year contract agreements which are required for satellite TV. Free Over The Air tv is also another option I don't have. I live too far away from any TV Towers that it'd be way too expensive to get a reliable signal out here. I always preferred Live TV. There is something special about having random shows playing. Not only does it provide awesome background noise, but it also lets you find new shows and such. Also I love watching live news, so CNN is an awesome option to have. My previous set up was I'd download seasons upon seasons of TV shows, and I'd play them in shuffle mode, which would simulate live tv since most of the channels are old reruns hours after hours anyways. Which is why I was super happy when I first heard of Sling Tv several months ago. At first, Sling Tv was nice. I very much enjoyed having live TV again. However, within a month it got very old. The same select channels reairing the same thing over and over again. The Desktop App is actually pretty nice, and the IOS App is pretty much Identical. They both work the same and are pretty simple and easy to navigate. I have had no problems with the apps themselves. They do as they are designed. All the video streams seem very High Definition Quality. The videos look sharp and clear on my High Resolution monitors and iPhone 6 Plus. The shows only buffer for a second or two before popping up in HD, which is a drawback from satelite and Cable, but isn't a real issue at all. There is a big problem with Sling Tv especially with CNN (CNN is the only channel I leave up for hours of the time because its the only channel to ever have new content it seems), Sometimes after watching for as little as 30 minutes, the Audio and video becomes out of sync, and then actually starts skipping around stutter, before it just freezes. This is very annoying because the only way to fix it is to change the channel, or close and reopen the App. Sure, this isn't much of a problem if you're watching VIA an entertainment box such as Ruku, and have a remote to easily do this, but my entertainment setup consists of my computer that has two large monitors. I use the main monitor for computer work, and the second for media watching. There is no remote, other than some IOS apps I have that control my mouse and such, so it's a huge headache just to simply change the channel due to bugs, or close and reopen Sling APP. Perhaps this won't be a huge problem for most people. Both the iOS, and Desktop apps have controls for rewind and such, which seem to not work with any of the channels I tested them all. It's not really functionality I care about, so its not a huge deal. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="1866,1867,1868"] My entire problem with Sling TV is just there is never anything to watch. With the limited amount of channels, you'll quickly be watching reruns over and over, unless you like watching CNN 24/7. This certainly isn't worth the $20-30 monthly fee, unless you prefer watching the same shows over and over. So far HLN is my favorite offering, surprisingly, mainly due to Forensic Files, which seems to air 20 hours out of the day, and the problem with Forensic Files is they only made like 20 Episodes it seems because you'll often be watching the same ones every other day. Morning Express with Robin Meade on HLN is actually pretty good news show and entertaining. I usually don't care for these types of shows, the hosts/anchors always seem weird and fake, but this lady seems to have a great personality, and the show is surprisingly nice and entertaining to watch. I should point out that HLN isn't including in the normal $20 package. You'll have to pay $5 extra for the News Package. My subscription is up to be renewed for another month within the week. I'm seriously debating just cancelling it. While I like being able to watch some TV whenever (which i deeply miss from the old Cable TV days), there just isn't enough value in Sling tv due to lack of actual content, which I do understand is an issue with TV over all - So many channels and nothing to watch. Sling doesn't fix this issue. What would make Sling TV more valuable for me is more channels, such as a Learning/Educational Addon that consists of Discovery Channel, TLC, National Geographic, History, etc. Which would be a dream come true. It's just currently, I don't care for constant old reruns of Friends, Forensic Files, Charmed, and Married with Children. Alot of people seem to be put off by the fact that you can only stream one Sling subscription per device, and not multiple devices simultaneously. Meaning you can either watch Sling on your phone, Ruku, or computer, not all 3 at the same time. I know more valuable content will be added in the future. AMC is soon to be added to the selection. So it's only a matter of time for other channels. The great thing about Sling is you can cancel, and resubscribe any time you like. Right now I can Sling being most valuable for people with kids, or huge sports junkies. Kids can watch Cartoon Network, Disney Channel all they want for a low price, and Sports Junkies have their ESPN Fix. Tips, Links, and Extra Misc Info:
Learn more and subscribe to Sling: https://www.sling.com/ If you have a set up like I do (desktop, IOS, etc), I suggest using Remote Mouse app to control your mouse  from your couch, bed, or however and where ever you are. I believe Remote Mouse is a paid app, but you can often find it here for free. I personally found it worth the few bucks. There are also several free alternatives that work well.
  Update: March 28 2015 - Since I wrote this article, Sling has added several more channels, such as more news channels, AMC, Tru TV, and most importantly History Channel and History 2. Now I am very happy with Sling. Much more content, much more to watch. History channels are especially cool because you can go back and watch anything that has aired in the past 3 days, and pause the live TV. I will create a review soon to reflect this change. Sling is well worth the money now.    
Josh

Free CrashPlan Family Unlimited - Deal!

CrashPlan has a fantastic deal for you all to take advantage of. Starting now, til the 12th of January you can sign up to receive 1 year subscription to the CrashPlan Family unlimited plan, Which is normally $149.99. Which will allow you to backup up to 10 computers to the cloud. Starting on the 13th, they'll start emailing out redeeming codes to those who have signed up, which will allow you to download the program and activate your one years worth of service. I personally have been using CrashPlan Individual Plan for the past year, and I'm loving it, and I'll continue to do so, and renew my subscription once it expires. I 100% recommend this service for anyone who is looking for an online backup service. Terms and Conditions This is a 1 to 10 computer 1-year license, for home use; after one year, you can opt to continue with CrashPlan's Unlimited plan or use CrashPlan Free which gives you local backing up features but not online storage You get free upgrades for one year You get free tech support for one year You must register to get your CrashPlan Family Unlimited account before this offer has ended May not be resold No refunds and exchanges; if you are having trouble activating or registering, please ask for help This offer was originally posted at Shareware On Sale, but after you provide them with your email, they merely send you this link http://essentials.code42.com/SW_2014_12_29_YearInReview_EmailBlast_Backup-Request.html, so using this link you should be able to  avoid giving them your email address. Enjoy!
Josh

Free - Bitdefender Total Security 2015 (limited time)

Just found this link, and there seems to be a day left on the giveaway. Free 1-Year License Bitdefender Total Security 2015 (100% discount) Normally $69.95 Sale (givaway) ends in 1 day 21 hrs 43 mins - Seems this giveaway is still going. The counter on original site has been added to multiple times. Only drawback is the page is in German, or something. but it was easie for me to figure out, just put your email in the obvious box and do the capatcha (original link i got the offer from, but may be skippable by going to direct link below) http://sharewareonsale.com/s/bitdefender-total-security-giveaway-sale Direct Link (should work) http://www.bitdefender.de/media/html/chip2015/ The page is in German, but the key can be used on the English version. The link in the bitdefender email will be for for the German version, but the following links should work for english version. English Version links: English Version links: Download 1: (32-bit) Bitdefender Total Security 2015 http://download.bitdefender.com/windows/desktop/t_security/2015/en-us/bitdefender_ts_18_32b.exe Download 2: (64-bit) Bitdefender Total Security 2015 http://download.bitdefender.com/windows/desktop/t_security/2015/en-us/bitdefender_ts_18_64b.exe [caption id="attachment_495" align="alignleft" width="300"] BitDefender[/caption] I got my email with key a sec after i submitted it. Turns out my license i got a few months ago from the last giveaway was still valid (was from a 6 month free offer), and this extended it.
Josh

Don't mind 16gb? get iPhone 6 and Plus from walmart straight talk fast!

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignnone" width="300"] Walmart iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus[/caption] If you don't mind the 16gb models of either the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, you can get one fast from Walmart! They are only limited to 16gb. I'm not sure if they'll get the larger sizes in the future. On their website they are offering all the colors of both the iPhone 6 and Plus, all in 16gb, and today they all have the option of picking up in store on October 28th, which is a few days from now. The past models of the iPhone from straighttalk have been unlocked models, so these ones should be as well, but I'm not sure of the exact models. Of Course since StraightTalk is a prepaid service, you have to buy the phone out right, but don't worry! You can get financing through walmart's MasterCard, which will give you 6 months to a year to pay the phone off, which isn't bad. I actually have this card. They give $5 for every $500 you spend, which isn't much, but its something. So at the end of the month I save $5 when I used the card to pay off my bills. Money for nothing really. I don't see why this phone wont work with any of the major carriers. Just as the unlocked no contract tmobile version does. Home shipping for the 16gb Plus Space Gray: [caption id="attachment_386" align="alignnone" width="300"] Dates for home Delivery.[/caption] In Store Pickup (site to store): [caption id="attachment_387" align="alignnone" width="300"] Walmart in store pick up dates[/caption] Now these estimates are for Kansas. But walmart's warehouses are national, and each model of the phones is AVAILABLE. http://www.walmart.com/browse/1105910_1127173?sort=new Just a heads up for someone who wants the phone quicker than the 3-4 week wait from buying from Apple, Especially the plus model, and doesn't need the large file sizes.
Josh

Working on new layout

If you hapepned to randomly wonder upon this site, you have obvious noticed there is a large amount of gibberish on it, along with some actual articles. Alot of the current content is dummy filler content, so we can see what the site layout looks like as we work on it. As soon as we get things going, we'll add actual content, and it should start looking much nicer. Do you like to write? Contact us! We need writers. If you want a place to write/blog about anything and whatever, get ahold of us. This can be your platform. That's it for now, just wanted to give a heads up.
Josh

OCAOPR Anonymous! iPhone 6

Last Retyped: October 31th, 2014 - 8:24 am. - Phone finally here! Hello! My name is Josh. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Apple Order Page Refreshing, It's a condition I've had for a few days now. No matter what I'm doing, I want to check the Apple order page, and hit refresh, sometimes I even hit refresh several times within the time span of 30 seconds. Even when I'm laying in bed, I load the page on my iPhone 5, and hit refresh every other minute. All I can think about is refreshing this page. I keep hitting the refresh button trying to get my fix, but its never enough! I am never satisfied. I am chasing the ultimate dragon that seemingly can never be caught! I just keep wanting to do it more and more! Kidding, but serious! For the past few days I've been constantly checking the Apple Order page, trying to see if there is any update on my iPhone 6 Plus order, and so far nothing! Makes me wonder what the delay is? They could produce over 500,000 iPhone 5s's a day, and that was over a year ago, so you'd think they would be even more efficient now, and producing more iPhones. A theory that I have is that maybe there was some type of stucturer issue with the original Plus, which was causing some slight bending on some models of the Plus, and they were simply secretly fixing and reinforcing the case before they sent more out. Just an idea, which is honestly fine with me if they are. Seems that more people are receiving their Plus's now as well. [caption id="attachment_105" align="aligncenter" width="973"] Order Page - Processing[/caption] I'm not a major Apple fan, I've had Macbooks (white), and a Sexy looking Macbook pro, but couldn't really stand the hardware (case was nice though), or OS X much, but Apple does something so right with iOS, and the iPhone. I really Just like the iphone. after having many Android devices that seemed to randomly become buggy, and just too annoying to use, such as Random shut offs when tracking my cycle routes vs GPS, or the onscreen keyboard not working or responding, crappy battery life, and other random issues, my iPhones always just WORKED. Without giving me much hassle or major problems, while looking incredibly sexy at the same time. I ordered the iPhone 6 Plus 128gb Space Grey.  Unlocked T-Mobile. I used the Apple Financing, which is just another damn Credit Card, but you can use the credit now to get the phone, and have up to a year to pay it off, which in the end will still be way cheaper than signing a 2 year contract. I originally ordered the 64GB version, but ove rall it was less than $100 cheaper, and if I'm going to invest a $Grand into a phone, I might as well get the model i'll least regret. My current iPhone 5 is 32gb, and I hardly even use the space on it, but this could change on the iPhone 6 Plus for watching videos on its more useful screen. So, I cancelled the 64gb order and ordered the 128gb instead. The great thing about the Unlocked T-Mobile version is, it's simply unlocked. Meaning, it really has no ties whatsoever to T-Mobile. You can use it on both CDMA or GSM. I use StraightTalk on Verizon's CDMA network. I was worried I was going to have to wait for the unlocked Verizon Model, or StraightTalk to come out with their own version, then i decided to go ahead and try StraightTalks GSM, which uses T-Mobile and AT&T's towers. I live out in the country so my signal is spotty on Verizon, but never used At&t out here. The Coverage Maps say i should have good signal, but who knows. But it turns out that this phone should work just fine on StraightTalks CDMA. Guess we'll find out. The things that i'm really looking forward to in the iPhone 6 Plus are: Screen Size: My only major complaint ever about the iPhone is the horrible tiny screen. I'm not a tall guy, around 5'8-5'9, but I can barely type on the iPhone due to the screen and buttons being so small. Battery life: I've read that the iPhone 6 plus  holds a much larger battery thanks to its size, so on a normal charge it can last all day, if not a day and a half. My current iPhone 5 can barely last a few hours of actual usage. Accessories: There doesn't seem to be far too many accessories out there for the iPhone 6 yet. Such as durable cases, bicycle mounts, etc. [caption id="attachment_102" align="alignleft" width="263"] I-Blason Armor Box[/caption] I have found a beautiful case from Quad Lock, which you can get a nice bicycle mount for, among others. Sadly though this case isn't available, and after contacting the company they stated it wont be available for a couple more months. I will for sure buy this once its available. I also prefer the sleek, thin cases. I ended up ordering one of these, well two since they sent me to, i'll have to return the other: Armorbox Dual Layer Hybrid Protective Case. So far this case seems to be the best looking and more durable that I have found that's available. Due to all my cycling and such, I wanted to have a case on day one (whenever I do finally get my phone :P ). It was $19.99, but it seems they have upped their price to $24.99. Link: I-Blason. [caption id="attachment_157" align="alignright" width="300"] Too Big? The ArmorBox Case for the iPhone 6 plus with my iPhone 5 inside of it.[/caption] Update: 10-5-14 I got the ArmorBox case a few days ago, but it has me very wary about the size of the Plus. I can barely even hold or grip the case with one hand. Not sure if the weight of the phone being in it would help or not. Maybe it will be too big, but that's okay. The normal 6 isn't really that exciting to me. I mean the size might be perfect, but its GO BIG OR NOTHING! :P My order is still "processing". Sad thing is, I could cancel the order, and reorder the normal iPhone 6 and have it in my hands within a week, but meh, I'd rather wait for the Plus. Hopefully it comes before Halloween... Or Thanksgiving... The case itself is pretty nice, and the back is solid. The front isn't as gellie as it appears in their picture. it's actually a hard plastic. I'll write a proper review on it when I actually get the phone and can form an opinion on how it works and fits with the phone. Update: October 23, 2014 - Phone finally shipped! It's been a long, long stressful wait, but my iPhone 6 Plus order has finally shipped, not without my heart stopping for a few minutes yesterday. [caption id="attachment_372" align="alignleft" width="300"] Could not be completed[/caption] Yesterday after waking up from an prework afternoon nap (I'm an old man), this email popped up stating that my order could not be completed. WTF? the first words in bold made me think that all hope was lost. After waiting nearly a month, and then to get this? No way was I going to wait another month! Force Apple to take my $1,000? So, I quickly checked my credit card. Why would it deny my charge? It's the financing deal I got with Apple, and it added the new credit card to the order and everything automatically. I assumed that maybe the card wasn't activated. I created an an online account for the card assumed that would activate it, and besides, since it was part of the offer from Apple and added automatically as the payment source, wouldn't it just work? I hadn't used the card for any other purchases, so didn't know that it wouldn't work. [caption id="attachment_374" align="alignright" width="300"] iPhone 6 Plus Shipped![/caption] I found the activation number for the card and fully activated it, then I edited the credit card info on Apple.com, and it said it changed and submitted successfully. But the order still didn't change from processing. I didn't want to have to order get completely cancelled, or delayed even more, so I called Apple to make sure everything was okay. The lady on the phone said that it shows the order went through just fine and is Preparing To Ship stage. Thankfully. After an hour or so the order switched to "Preparing to Ship", and the card was charged. Which ends the 25 days of "Processing Order". Just a few minutes ago the order switched to "Shipped", and I have a UPS tracking code, with an expected delivery of October 29th, which is less than a week from now, and 2 days into the original expected delivery dates of Oct 28 - Nov 4th. Feels so great to finally have some movement with this iPhone order. Less than a week to go! [caption id="attachment_416" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sitting in Korea[/caption] Update: October 29, 2014 - Delays I'm very annoyed right now. My phone has been sitting in Korea since last Friday, which 5 days now, and hasn't budged. If it ships today, then maybe i'll get it tomorrow, if not I may, if i'm lucky, get it on the date given by Apple which is October 31st. I suppose its my fault for getting my hopes up thinking that the UPS date was correct, and looking at other people's orders on the Mac Forum who've gotten their phones earlier and on the Estimated UPS date. All I know right now is that this Apple order has been so stressful, and I'm not very happy about it... Not sure if i'll order any Apple product again anywhere near its released date. Update: October 29, 2014 - 10:41am [caption id="attachment_418" align="alignright" width="300"] Departed Korea[/caption] My phone has finally left Korea after sitting there for no good reason for 5 days. I don't want to get my hopes up, but people who were in the exact same situation and nearly identical tracking updates yesterday, have their phones out for delivery for them today. So Maybe i'll get lucky tomorrow? Who knows. Not getting my hopes up anymore, but it'll be nice. Update: October 30, 2014 - 8:24am [caption id="attachment_423" align="alignleft" width="220"] iPhone out for delivery... Finally![/caption] My Phone is finally out for delivery. After nearly a week of month of waiting, and alot of time sitting in Korea in a warehouse. I must say though it's pretty incredible that at this time yesterday my Phone was still sitting on a pallet in Korea, and is now here miles from me. I just hope that I can hear the UPS guy when he shows up, so he doesn't leave with the phones still with him. Apple requires a signature on all iphones. We'll see we'll see. Update: October 31, 2014 - 8:24am https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slmolAsIIAU Phone is here! The Phone arrived yesterday around 10AM via UPS. So the wait is over! [caption id="attachment_426" align="alignright" width="252"] Hello iPhone[/caption] It took over a month (31days for the phone to get here. And i must say... THE DAMN THING IS BEAUTIFUL! I'm happy over all. So, Now I must end this post for good. I'll link to a new post about the iPhone 6 and other issues soon.
Josh

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