BlakeAtwood.com

Cutting Cable’s Cable

September 1, 2011 – 7:04 pm

After reading the post Tivo Courts Cord Cutters over at Zatz Not Funny, a blog that covers Tivo-related news, I ventured to a local Best Buy to take full advantage of the offer that Dave Zatz pointed out in the post. Namely, I bought a Tivo Premiere unit and an Antennas Direct ClearStream 2 long-range HDTV antenna for the all-inclusive sum of $100.

Separately, each item is $100 by itself. In other words, I received a $100 long-range antenna for free. Couple that promotion with the fact that Tivo is offering a separate promotion for users who only want OTA content ($10/month instead of $20/month, promo code: Antenna), and I was sold before I’d even bought anything.

For months (maybe even years), I’ve been trying to find the one solution to getting rid of cable or satellite. The cost versus benefit of cable or satellite is just too exorbitant. Also, I’m not quite ready to give up TV like so many of my much-holier-than-me friends and family have done. I still want content; I just want it more on my terms and less harmful to my wallet.

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Technology Tags best buy, hulu, netflix, tivo, Youtube | Permalink | Comment (1)

July and August Articles at FaithVillage

August 31, 2011 – 11:00 am

My blog has been quite quiet since I took a new job with FaithVillage a little over a month ago. Some of what I would have written here has gone there, but there’s nothing holding me back from highlighting every now and then some of the stuff I’ve written there that would have gone here.

So, if you’re not following @FVmomentum on Twitter, where you can learn immediately when a new article is posted, or if you haven’t subscribed to the FaithVillage blog in your feed reader, you’ll learn about my FaithVillage posts in posts like this one. These articles were written in the last month and are ranked by way of how much I like them. It’s a very technical standard.

Articles Christianity Tags book reviews, FaithVillage, Steve Jobs | Permalink | Comment (0)

Chatting Up Cleverbot

August 30, 2011 – 11:00 am

After reading Jason Boyett’s A Conversation with Cleverbot about School and watching this video of two Cleverbots talking to each other, I had to talk to the Cleverbot myself.

It’s not good that I know Cleverbot exists, because what I really need more of in my life at this particular moment is another online diversion that adds no real value to my life. (There are only so many hours in my day where I can be Moses on Facebook)

So, in that vein of wasting time, here’s my first encounter with Cleverbot. If you’re familiar with any of Jason Boyett’s books, you’ll find Cleverbot’s answers a little ironic. This is one conversation, and it’s a little long. If you want to have your own chat with Cleverbot, scroll to the end of the post.

Testing Knowledge
User: What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Cleverbot: Is that an african or european swallow?
User: African.
Cleverbot: It is 35 mph with no headwind and an empty stomach.
User: How fast is 35 mph?

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Funny Technology Tags apocalypse, Cleverbot, Monty Python, the meaning of life | Permalink | Comment (0)

Introducing the Church Leadership Editor at FaithVillage.com

July 20, 2011 – 8:00 am

What do good comedians and God have in common?

Timing.

On Wednesday, June 22, I replied to a month-old message sent from a friend through LinkedIn. Once on the site, LinkedIn showed me a job posting they thought I might be interested in. I was. I was so interested that I stayed up well past my bedtime re-working my resume, which had not seen an overhaul in at least a year. I composed a cover letter espousing my excitement over the position, confidently proclaiming that the job description was written as if it were a biographical sketch of my past. With nothing to lose, I applied for the job the next morning.

On June 23rd,

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