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Netflix streaming to Xbox 360 problems

December 3, 2008 by chet

I was thrilled to hear that Netflix is now streaming HD movies to Xbox 360 devices. So I upgraded our Netflix account and went through the process of connecting the two. That was super easy.

The first couple of days it worked great. But then we started to have connection problems.

When you first start a program it will test your connection speed. There’s a little bar diagram … you know, just like on your cell phone … and you get one to four bars. At the beginning we would get four bars and the program would start immediately.

Lately, no matter what time of day we try we might get one bar or we get no bars and a message saying “you’re internet connection is too slow”.

However, we have a Time Warner cable modem and doing a speedtest.net test shows our download time is about 6000 kbps and upload time is 900 kbps. Definitely fast enough for streaming video.

So after troubleshooting … rebooting everything, etc … and googling like crazy I called Netflix. It took about 7 minutes to get through to tier one support, then another ten minutes to get to tier two support. But they were extremely helpful and understanding about the problem.

Essentially, they said that they’re aware of the problem. And while the new service had driven an up-surge in traffic their servers were not yet even operating at 50%. So the congestion problem is happening somewhere between users and the servers. They said it doesn’t seem to be focused on any particular ISP. So in the meantime we just need to hang time and give them time to work it out.

I can’t wait. I love my HD tv. And I loved my Voom service (remember them?). But cable and satellite HD service just sucks ass. I’m hoping Netflix can fill our HD void.

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Umbrella?

September 20, 2008 by chet

My favorite new weather site … http://umbrellatoday.com/

Sometimes (most times?) the best idea is the simplest idea.

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Dexter

August 30, 2008 by chet

We finished watching the second season of Dexter (thank you Netflix) and I have to say I enjoyed it much more than the first season. Naturally, the first season had to set up the Dexter universe, however I think that the stories were a little too neat and tidy (like the Ice Truck Killer’s victims). It just seemed like Dexter was a little too unreal and all his problems were solved too easily.

In season two Dexter himself became way more real. It was actually exciting to see him come a little unhinged and unpredictable. The Lila character was a great addition and she really had a great effect on Dexter.

All that said … the ending was really disappointing. Of course we hope Dexter won’t get caught. But there’s nothing wrong with unfinished story lines. There’s nothing wrong with unanswered questions. However everything got wrapped up neat and tidy. A little too neatly and easily.

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Why I love the internet

August 29, 2008 by chet

At work there is a Friday morning breakfast mafia of about 30 people. On a rotating schedule two to three people bring breakfast for the entire group on Friday. A couple of days ago I got an email from a member of the mafia asking if I’d like to join. “Sure,” I said.

Well, then on Thursday I got another email welcoming me to the group and showing the new schedule. Guess which Friday was mine? Yep, the very next Friday. Urp!

I decided that what I’d like for breakfast is good breakfast tacos or burritos so that’s what I volunteered to bring. Hrm this would have been easier in Austin; just go to Tamale House. I have no idea where to get good breakfast tacos in Dallas. I don’t want to get fast food crap from Whataburger or Taco Cabana. So I turned to Google.

A search for “richardson tx breakfast tacos” turned up several hits. Close to the top was a blog reviewing a restaurant named Taqueria El Fuego.

Turns out this place is very very close to my house. Perfect! There was a picture of the exterior of the restaurant (hosted on flickr) and on the sign is their phone number. So I called them up.

“Sure we can make you breakfast tacos. We open at 6 a.m.,” I was told.

The next morning I got up extra early. Drove over and picked up the tacos (with a side of chorizo … Mmmmmmmmm). Drove back home to put the garbage out (almost forgot again!). Then drove to work.

I didn’t actually see many people around. But checking on the breakfast table 15 minutes after leaving the tacos there one bag was empty and the other half empty. So I think they were a hit.

Turns out I should have known about this place. G’s friend M told us about it. El Fuego serves authentic Mexican food not Tex-Mex. And she told us we should go for dinner. Well now we are because the tacos were excellent. And it’s just around the corner. Can’t beat that.

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Died and went to nerd heaven

March 28, 2008 by chet | 1 comment

For a long time we’ve been Bookpool.com customers, but recently we discovered that a competing online tech book seller is a resident in our neighborhood! Nerdbooks.com has pictures of the warehouse on their web site and at one point had an invitation for people to stop by. The web site doesn’t say that anymore so this morning I called them up to see if they still welcome visitors.

Friendly Dave told me that yes, you are welcomed at any time as long as you agree to three conditions … 1) you’re not scared of dogs. They have some beautiful resident Labradors running around inside the warehouse. 2) you shut the door behind you. The Labs are fond of romping around parking lot. 3) Don’t bring small children. Their warehouse consists of aisles and aisles of books arranged in very logical groupings with comfy couches and chairs to sit at and three Macintosh computers to shop with.

It’s not a store in the traditional sense. It is truly their warehouse. But you’re welcome to browse all you want. When you find something you want to buy you use one of the Macs to make your purchase through the web site (no shipping charges). The Mac automatically prints out your order in their office. Within a minute someone came over to doublecheck that we had the books we purchased.

What an incredibly relaxing shopping experience. I could spend hours there!

Here’s what we picked up:

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A Stone Horse with no name

March 19, 2007 by chet

Tonight we went to have dinner at a new restaurant in town … Stone Horse.

It’s a “steak and sushi” restaurant which usually doesn’t do much for me. I find that they’re often heavy on the steak and light on the sushi. Turns out, this is actually a Korean restaurant that specializes in cooking steak in a special oven. I can’t remember the details but the menu describes the oven, as it’s based on a traditional Korean type grill. The highlight is that it operates at extremely high temperatures. Guess we won’t be waiting long for our meal.

There are some typical Korean dishes on the menu, like bulgoki and kimchee .. yum and yum! G opted for a grilled mahi tuna and I went for the orange beef kabobs. Plus we ordered a spicy tuna roll, an oshinko roll (first time I’ve ever noticed that on a menu), and some saba sushi.

Saba (mackerel) is the big test. I love saba. And it also happens to be a good barometer of a sushi restaurant’s stock. Saba is a dark oily fish with a strong taste. If a restaurant serves good tasting saba then everything else will be good. If it’s mediocre .. well then all bets are off.There are exceptions though … one of our favorite restaurants serves mediocre sushi but their hot dishes .. especially the tempera udon .. are fabulous!

Anyhow, the saba was really good. Not the best I’ve ever had, but I’ll be back.

The mahi tuna had a wonderful flavor though there wasn’t much on the plate. Usually that’s a good thing but tonight G was a little surprised when she looked down and all her fish was gone.

The beef kabobs were wonderful, and filling. They come served over rice and with some grilled zucchini and asparagus. The rice, oddly enough, seemed rather long-graned and mediterranean instead of short-grained and asian.

The restaurant is divided between dining and bar. The bar looks well stocked and inviting though the music is top-40-ish. Hrm … sushi and Duran Duran. I bet this place is a hit with young single people.

G wasn’t too sure about going back. But I’d like to try the bulgoki.

Best damn BBQ ever

July 28, 2006 by chet

Well, OK, maybe not the best BBQ ever but tonight … it hit the spot. G and I are in Llano, TX and for dinner we stopped at Coopers Old-Time Pit BBQ. We really only picked it because it was surrounded by cars and trucks. If everyone else was going then it must be good.

Outside are three or four gigantic BBQ pits. There was only one going so I’m guessing they alternate them or they fire up more when they have a big event going. Anyway you line up outside the building and stop at the pit first. The pit guy will help you pick out what meat you want. He cuts it and dunks it in sauce (if you want) and puts it on a platter.

Then you take the platter inside where someone else slices the meat for you and wraps it in butcher paper. Then you pick out your sides and pay. The cashier hands you “your plates” which is waxed paper. Then you stop at the drink stand where you’ll find free all-you-can eat beans, onions, pickles, etc. Then you pick a seat from a room full of tables and benches.

G and I sat next to a couple of good-old-boys who described … in excruciating detail … a football game. But then later started talking about “that guy in that tv show with Kurt Russell and he played a sniper.” LOL

We finished off dinner some excellent hot peach cobbler. Mmmmmmmmmmm!!

Check out the photos.