Which Streaming Stick? Chromecast, Fire TV, or Roku?

Mea culpa. I promised this comparison for Holiday 2014, and here it’s February next. The time between allowed for valuable cord-cutting experiment that will matter to some of you reading this review. The Wilcox household now streams Encore, HBO, Starz, and Showtime—via Cox Flex Watch—and the addition affects our choice of streaming stick; perhaps yours, too.

Google opened up the category with $35 Chromecast in July 2013, and the device gets better with age. Roku Streaming Stick, at $49.99, is priciest choice, while Amazon Fire TV Stick is the $39 in-betweener. Briefly, before deep diving, Chromecast is easiest to use and offers more commercial programming support. Roku delivers broadest streaming channel selection. Fire TV fits tightly into the broader Amazon Prime ecosystem, while offering satisfying, but incomplete, content options compared to either of the other devices.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 18, 20157:07 am

Flickr a Day 49: ‘Happy Snow Year’

Today’s selection is the first of three found searching Flickr for “happy”. Winter weather is a constant across much of the northern and eastern parts of the United States and Canada—although days are unseasonably warm here in San Diego. For those of you sick of snow, delight even if briefly in this magnificent portrait.

John Britt joined Flickr in September 2008, and he primarily shoots nature. His experimental, photo techniques, particularly the most recent work, is fun—and educational. He communicates about what he did to capture the image and why.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 17, 20157:20 am

Flickr a Day 48: ‘In for the Kill’

I picked today’s pic for three reasons: Photographer Andrew Stawarz uses the Fujifilm X-T1, and I want to draw attention to this fabulous, mirrorless camera; his photostream demands your investigation; and my wife loves red […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxFeb 16, 201512:45 pm

The Smartwatch isn’t a Dumb Idea

Over the holiday weekend, I started using the Moto 360, which user experience is way better than anticipated. (My old watch is left in the photo.) For all the nutcases calling Apple Watch innovative and revolutionary—without there even being a device for them to test—Android Wear is, ah, timely. Google gives great utility that will be difficult for the fruit-logo company to match. Reasons are simple: Context, search, sync, UI design, and Google Now.

I resisted the smartwatch concept for having been there before. Few of the gadget geeks gushing about wearables are old enough to remember Microsoft SPOT. Mid-last decade, the company partnered with real watchmakers (Fossil, Suunto, and Swatch); the devices were as much jewelry as functional timepieces; FM radio delivered appointments, news, weather, and other alerts independent of cell phones; and battery life lasted three days or more (which wasn’t enough). By these measures, SPOT watches were so much more and still failed. Hence, these are reasons why in past analyses I called the decade-later attempt dumb. But I was wrong.

Sports by Joe WilcoxFeb 16, 20157:09 am

Flickr a Day 47: ‘Hurdles Start’

I really wanted to remove this photo’s distracting border, which likely seemed cool on July 8, 2007. But I believe such alteration would violate the Creative Commons license. Sometimes you just suck it up. Robert […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 15, 20157:11 am

Flickr a Day 46: ‘We Make It Pretty’

Ethereal describes the best photography of Kelsi Barr. If Enya songs were pictures, they would be Kelsi’s. I came to her Flickr stream searching for “aspiration”. I picked this pic for creating the illusion of bygone days—a harbor scene that looks more like the 1920s than the 2010s. So compelling is the feeling, I worried she took a photo of an older picture.

Kelsi shot self-titled “We Make It Pretty” on Oct. 17, 2013, using Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS and 70-300mm lens. Vitals: f/4, ISO 160, 1/4000 sec, and 70mm; edited using PhotoScope. She joined Flickr in June 2010 but hasn’t posted in the last 12 months. In 2015, look for her photos, which character is dramatically changed, on Instagram or her website.

Critters by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 201510:20 am

Cries by Day, Cries by Night

For Valentine’s Day, I present a sad song of lost love written in early 1979. Lyrics are same, but I made an alternative melody in 2014 that is lighter than the original’s more somber tone.

I wrote this song back in my cat-despising youth. If you asked why, I could present no answer for the attitude. Regardless, it is what inspired the verse, to which I soon after put to melody. I knew little about romantic love and nothing about loss then.

“Cries by Day, Cries by Night” is the fifth lyric posted since the new year. The others: “Dank Deep Eyes the Darkness“, “Disco Queen“, “Empire State“, and “Surrealistic Pillow“. More will follow.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 20158:06 am

Flickr a Day 45: ‘Love in the Subway’

Happy Valentine’s Day! As you can see, today’s selection is all about love. They say love is mysterious—so is the photographer, Benurs, who joined Flickr in October 2009 but hasn’t posted to his stream in […]

Society by Joe WilcoxFeb 14, 20157:01 am

Comic-Con Heroes: The Writer

Among the 12 profiles that are the core of my book Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth, the one that follows offers the most interesting content for science fiction fans. The convention isn’t just about superheroes. Sci-fi is part of the core culture dating back to the very start during the 1970s, and it’s even stronger in the 2010s. Because what was niche more than 40 years ago is mainstream, and more, today.

This profile also introduces some valuable historical insight—if 10 years can be considered old, and measured by Internet time it most certainly is. Fans’response to a new sci-fi television show, and their torrenting it, kicked the pebbles eventually unleashing an avalanche of legitimately-available streamed TV programming. So-called video pirates of 2005 are indirectly responsible for there being Hulu, Netflix streaming, and Google’s purchase of newbie service YouTube.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 13, 20157:11 am

Flickr a Day 44: Lucky Lightning

Do you feel lucky? Happy Friday the 13th! It’s the first of three in 2015, and another follows in March. Except leap years, next month mirrors February for 28 days—hence the lucky double appearance of […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 12, 20157:13 am

Flickr a Day 43: ‘Where Am I?’

Sociologist Gianni Dominic captures life with great intimacy. Is that a professional trait applied to photography? Because to properly study societies and cultures, you need to examine everything from different viewpoints. His photos get in […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxFeb 11, 20155:20 pm

Today’s Brutal Bias Assault Against Android Wear is Shameful

Oh my. Canalys reports half-year 2014 Android Wear smartwatch shipments of 720,000 units, and the Apple-loving free press categorizes the number failure. Meanwhile, the analyst firm boasts that “All eyes are now on Apple, which will reveal further details about the Apple Watch prior to its release in April”. Not mine. Are yours?

Over at Wall Street Journal, Rolfe Winkler begins his hatchet piece with: “It’s been a slow start for Google’s smartwatches”. The search and information giant doesn’t sell any of the devices, developing the underlying platform. Nitpicking aside, he ridiculously writes: “Apple sold roughly 114 million iPhones over the same period. That means Apple sold almost as many iPhones each day as makers of Android smartwaches sold over the six months”. Oh yeah? That comparison matters how?