Harrison Blackwood » General

Comcast cable TV problems

Harrison — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 06:46:54 +0000

Recently, I was informed that I would need to get a cable box in order to view TV channels from Comcast that are now being transmitted digitally. So I picked 2 for that TVs in the house – one in the family room the other in a bedroom. The family room install was simple with no problems, everything works as it should.

The bedroom cable box has been trouble. First time install with other cable box, following given instructions, got no signal. Call #1, tech support. They resent programming data. No change. Call #2, reset power, resent programming data. Again no signal. Call #3, reset power, again no signal. It was determined that the cable box was bad. I went to the local Comcast office and got a new cable box. Connected new cable box initial no signal. The next day I was receiving a few stations, 2-13, 37 (TNT), 41 (TBS). Later that day lost all stations, no signal. Call #4, reset power, resent programming data. Tech support told me to call back later because that rep I had could not help me and he could not get additional help. A full day or two later Call #5, reset power, resent programming data. I could not fully understanding the tech due to language accent problem, but I believe it was determined that if the resent programming data did not take effect this time I have another bad cable box. I have not dealt with this any further yet.

During the entire process the family room TV is working with ALL stations. The bedroom TV works ok without the cable box but I only get SciFi (73) and Discovery (29) channels plus 2-13.

Comcast Customer Service rates a 2/5 only due the pleasant manner of the representatives, otherwise they have been completely unhelpful. They do not listen to the stated problem. They are unwilling to listen to any additional support information. For example, the fact that I have a currently working TV. The above problem seems to be beyond their understanding, so I have to wait even longer as they ask for assistance. The language accent issue can be frustrating.

Thank God for Hulu.

In a day or so I will check with my local Comcast office about getting a 3rd cable box and call customer service. The physical cable is new and there are no devices of any kind connected between the cable to cable box to TV. Except for a splitter that feeds the other TV and the bedroom one.

Just a test from my iPod Touch

Harrison — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:37:36 +0000

Checking to see if this post appears ok.

Typing on the virtual keyboard is a bit time consuming. Twitter is the only app that works for this type of posting. Keep it short and specfic.

Over 1,000,000 credits using BOINC

Harrison — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:03:33 +0000

I finally reached over a 1,000,000 credits using BOINC participating in 7 different projects using 5 different Apple Mac computers, old and new.

2 new iMacs
2 modified G4s
1 modified G3 + 1 HP laptop

Xmas

Harrison — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:05:01 +0000

Merry Christmas to anyone that reads this!

Sleep deprivation

Harrison — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 08:56:05 +0000

Another semester dealing with a lack of sleep. Keeping busy teachs you to be very well organized and to plan ahead.

Time management is one cure for sleep deprivation. This will only work if there is actual time that can be utilized more efficiently. With work, commute, and school there is very limited time left over for any unforeseen issues. Support from family and/or friends can be helpful when available.

I have no time for procrastination or just plain screwing around if I want to get required school work completed and still have time for other interests or hobbies.

Wikipedia – sleep deprivation

over 50,000 BOINC work units

Harrison — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:06:59 +0000

I finally completed over 50,000 BOINC work units. Not bad when 80% of that is done on a 6 year old Mac G4. My next goal is to get under 100k on total world postion – currently 120k. Also get all 3 of the projects I participate in over 20k.

SETI and BOINC

Harrison — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 07:49:43 +0000

I have been a supporter of SETI@home for about five years. When I started there was not an easy way to participate in multiple projects. A few years back BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) was developed for the home user to volunteer their personal computing power and time.

See the basic info below from the BOINC site.
Use the idle time on your computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) to cure diseases, study global warming, discover pulsars, and do many other types of scientific research. It’s safe, secure, and easy:

Choose projects
Download and run BOINC software
Enter the project URLs, your email address, and password.

This is a simple process, so sign-up today.