Goodbye Charter!

I ditched Charter cable this summer. It all started about a week or two after the lightning hit the line. Oh and I did manage to get a brand new Wii and my Guitar Hero disc back. Anyway, we did not file the claim so we bought two 19" Samsung HDTVs. Then we went off looking for a DVD/VCR player. So we buy a nice Sony player to replace the old burnt one but then as we are driving home the box is sitting on my lap and it says "tuner not included" and I start to think... how does this record, I mean this has no built in tuner? Then it hits me, how is this thing going to record picture and sound it doesn't want a cable line/antenna, only video/audio output jacks? Now the adventure starts. We only had basic cable at the time so my dad and I call Charter to see how much their digital package is because my friends have a digital converter boxes and I know for sure it has a video/audio outputs on the back. I can't remember the exact price but it was outrageous how much they were asking for just one tv something like $130/month. So Time Warner is not available here and were not getting a DISH on our house so we look at AT&T U-verse.. and we are like hey, this is only $109/month including internet and tv with HD technology (1080i res) for all for four tvs! After checking the availability (which was available) we called AT&T to setup a installation date and then we hit a problem. We currently have ADSL with Milwaukee PC and it is not compatible with AT&T U-verse which is VDSL so in order to order AT&T U-verse we had to cancel our contract with Milwaukee PC's ADSL which generally takes one week. After the week had past we called AT&T again and we could finally order it and a AT&T technician would come to our house to setup U-verse in about a week. So after another week had past, the AT&T technician had come and setup I won't go into that many details, for this post is already to long. But basicly U-verse is IPTV which is part of Microsoft Mediaroom, that means it all has to get connected to the "brain" which would be the gateway. Usually its placed by a the main computer or in the basement somewhere. The Motorola DVR which is included with AT&T U-verse U200 package (with charter you need to pay extra) requires Cat-5 cabling (ethernet) connection and the rest of the Motorola boxes are connected to your existing coaxial cabling both leading back to the gateway. Then, from the Motorola box its connected to your TV via HDMI, S-Video, etc. So anway, thats AT&T U-verse in a nutshell, we have had it for about 3 months now and I'm still loving it, no problems. A++ to you AT&T! I highly recommended getting it if its available in your area.

Pwnt By Facebook

Over the past week I've had some problems with my account on Facebook, a social utility that connects you with the people around you. My account has been "disabled" because I haven't "affiliated with my high school network within sixty days". But I am homeschooled so I can't join a high school network, there is no "Homeschooler" option of course, that would be to easy right? So I contacted Facebook about the problem I'm having (along with alot of other homeschoolers) and they respond with this automated message:

Unfortunately, your account has been disabled because Facebook does not support currently most homeschool networks. Our high school networks are based around a model of community verification. Because of their size, homeschools are inherently hard to prove an affiliation with. If your homeschool program provides an email address to its students, however, please let us know, and we will investigate the possibility of adding it as a network. These email domains are an alternative way for us to verify an affiliation with a school. You will need to email us from this school affiliated address and tell us the name and location of the homeschool. I'm sorry if our policies on this matter present any inconvenience. In the future, we will consider new ways to integrate homeschools into the site. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks for contacting Facebook.

I was furious after recieving this email. I felt like quiting Facebook but I have alot of my friends on it. So anyway, I cooled down and made a new account and dealed with it. So just a heads up to anyone who homeschools out there, Facebook will not be very friendly to you if your under 18. Hopefully I won't have anymore problems.

Wal-Mart Site to Store™

Well, about 3 weeks ago I ordered that Razor Pro Model scooter off of Wal-Mart.com and I finally picked it up on Monday. The scooter is very nice, I love the way its built and I will never get a Razor A2 model ever again after seeing how well this one is made. Another thing I will also never be doing again (at least for a while) is using the Wal-Mart "Site to Store" shipping feature. Although it may be free shipping to your local Wal-Mart it takes FOREVER. In my humble opinion I would rather pay a little more for standard shipping and have it shipped to my house in about 5 days rather than having it take 3 weeks to ship to the store and then still needing to drive all the way to the store and back to get the dang thing.

A Long, Hard, and Tiring Week.

Man, this last week has sucked. On Friday (4/25/08) our cable TV line got hit by lightning, causing some TVs and other things such as my Wii and DVD players to not work. Many of the things that were hit were on surge protectors, but they didn't seem to work. My parents have called our insurance company (West Bend) and are debating on filing a claim. Saturday (4/26/08) I called Nintendo about my newly fried Wii. They told me to try a different AC adapter on my Wii and see if it would turn on or not then call them back. So, I called my friend, Colin and went over to his house and tried using his adapter. I had no luck, it would just light up red and not turn on or eject the disc stuck inside it. So, I called Nintendo again on Sunday (4/27/08) and told them about what the results were. They said "Well, you can't control lightning really, so we'll send you a new one if you ship the old one back we can get the disc out." I was so happy and was so worried about getting a hold of a new one and I didn't know what to do. I'm so glad I called. Anyway, that was my week, and today I shipped my Wii to Nintendo.

Spring Finally Approaching?

Looks like spring is finally here and i'm glad. I've been on my scooter a couple times this year already and I can still tailwhip and do very high jumps, e.g., going down 6 stairs. But my scooter is in very bad condition from the abuse it has had in 2007, the current tricks that have been easy for me in the past are now hard because of how loose the handlebars are and other things on it. I've had many scooters in the past but they all have been the Razor A2 Models (except one that was a Airwalk that broke the same day I bought it). So now i'm going to be saving my money for a Razor Pro Model which has increased durability in the handlebars preventing the shakeyness that I have been having with the scooters i've had in the past. Once I get that Pro Model though, I know I can tailwhip a 3 stair.

Windows Remote Assistance

These last couple days have been fun, yet challenging. I have been trying to connect with my friend Chris, who lives in Florida via Remote Assistance. I must say, it was not easy, for we have came across alot of issues that didn't make sense because i'm on Windows Vista and he is on Windows XP. Also, we had some firewall issues at one point. We now have had sucess connecting to Windows Vista while on Windows XP and vice versa. Overall I am happy though as to what we were able accomplish and now we both have more experiance as to how this cool program works, thanks Chris!

Adventures With Guinness: Toy Rescuing

Yesterday I made a new "Adventures With Guinness" video, and it was a hit. I've been getting honors like crazy. I can't wait to see how much attention my upcomming video will get when I post it in the near future.