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Viventis

Last reply Feb 4, 2011 · posted in DIRECTV General Forum

About to Order Directv: Need Advice

I have just cancelled Dish after they cancelled my subscription package (HD Absolute). I need to have Directv in place on or before February 2 (if possible).

I am inclined to get the Choice Xtra package to get the extra premium movie channels free for 3 months. I definetly need one HD DVR and another HD box (no charge in this package).

Some questions before I order.

Should I go online, phone to Directv or contact a local provider? Any differences in the costs, incentives or packages?

Is there any special trick or way to get a better deal than published online? Does it matter if I give contact information for a current Directv customer on a "referral?"

How does the whole house DVR work in a setup where I will have one HDTV connected to a DVR, one HDTV connected to the HD box, and two SD connections?

What is the best, latest HDDVR and do I automatically get it or do I have to specifically request it? Will it cost extra? I definitely want to hook up an eSata external HD.

Will the installer remove my Dish Network dish or do I need to do that before the Directv installer arrives?

Any other tips before I pull the trigger?

Thanks in advance from a soon to be customer.

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mdram

Jan 11, 2011

to insure the latest box, you may have to go to a local provider.
the latest hddvr is the hr24
for whole home you have 1 box at each tv. they talk to one another and stream video from the dvr to the regularbox.
if you hook up an external hd it disable the internal. if you move this drive to another dvr it formats it.
get everything you think you want now, its costly later.
to get a referal you need to call the special number and have the info ready. i didnt do a referal, i did a rebate thru dishstore for the same amount.

how many tvs do you want? will you need ota? how many streams do you want to record at a time? what did you ahve with dish?

i ask because d* dvrs record 2 streams at once, e* does up to 4 iirc.
if you need ota you will need an am21 as there is no built in tuner for this.
also each location will need its own reciever either dvr or other
request hr24's and h24's for the latest stuff, well until the h34 is released but i dont think there is a timing on that yet.

almost forgot i doubt he will remove your dish as they use diff mounting methods

kjlued

Jan 11, 2011

Viventis said:
Is there any special trick or way to get a better deal than published online? Does it matter if I give contact information for a current Directv customer on a "referral?"

This is the best promo

Get a friends Name, Address, phone #, and account #
Call 1-877-774-1688 (make sure you use that number as different promotions are attached to their phone numbers)
Give them your friends information and use this promo code: MANC913320

This will give you and your friend each $100 Visa gift card.

You can ask if they are still offering free HD but you will have to have autopay to get it.

As far as guarantees on equipment, there are none unless you go to a retailer but you will not get all the promotional discounts if you do this.
However, most of what we are currently getting is HR24 and H24.

Getting service by Feb 2 will be no issue at all as there is about a 24 to 48 hour turn around in this area.
Your tech will either come from office in the Asheville area or from Charlotte just depending.

Make sure you get all equipment you want on the work order.
If you want 2 HD/DVR's, then pay the $99 to get the extra because if you decide to do it a month down the road, it will cost double.

And yes, any tech should remove the dish.
Even though it uses different mounts, most will try and put it in the same place so they can use the same wiring.
Certainly though you can ask them if they will.

Viventis

Jan 11, 2011

mdram said:
if you hook up an external hd it disable the internal.

What do mean by this? Can you still do whole house DVR with an external? If I start out recording on the DVR, then add an external drive later, will I lose all of the previous recordings (or can you transfer them)? My plan is to record as many movies as possible while I have all of the premium movie channels for free.

What is the initial cost of the AM21 over the air tuner and is there a monthly cost associated with this? With the AM21, can you record a third show? I have an external antenna I use to record a third stream with my current Dish DVR. But, I can always hook it up directly to the TV if I need to.

BTW: Thanks all for the replies. I think I am going to enjoy this forum!

Another question: Does the HDDVR connect to my network in addition to a phone line? What, if any benefit is there to connecting through my network? I am guessing that the use of a computer (or iPhone) to schedule the DVR needs this. I am also assuming the connection, if any, is not wireless. I will probably need to get a wireless access point if I need to connect to my network.

Ronnie-

Jan 11, 2011

Viventis said:
What do mean by this? Can you still do whole house DVR with an external? If I start out recording on the DVR, then add an external drive later, will I lose all of the previous recordings (or can you transfer them)? My plan is to record as many movies as possible while I have all of the premium movie channels for free.

What is the initial cost of the AM21 over the air tuner and is there a monthly cost associated with this? With the AM21, can you record a third show? I have an external antenna I use to record a third stream with my current Dish DVR. But, I can always hook it up directly to the TV if I need to.

BTW: Thanks all for the replies. I think I am going to enjoy this forum!

You will still be able to use the whole home DVR with an external, but it replaces your internal, not supplements it. If you wanted to view the stuff on the internal, you would have to deactivate the external. At least that is how I think it works, have not used an external personally.

The AM21 is around $50 or so, but you can probably talk them into giving it to you for free. There is no monthly fee associated with it.
You can not record a third show, you can record 2 sat or 2 ota or a combination of 2, but two is the max that can be recorded by one box at one time. You can also watch a recorded program while recording those other two.

kjlued

Jan 11, 2011

msmith198025 said:
The AM21 is around $50 or so, but you can probably talk them into giving it to you for free.

Not needed or available in this area.
So, no you can not get the AM21.

As far as connecting in to your network, you will not need a wiresless solution.
All we need is to be able to get a cable to your router (or use a pre existing one).
It will all communicate through the coax then.
If you want it hooked to your computer network (which I would) then ask for it to be connected to your broadband.
This will not only allow you to order movies, but also allow video on demand, dvr2pc, etc.
It is free to have done at the time of install and there is no monthly charge.

Phone lines will then only be necessary if you want to receive caller ID in the receivers so if you have phone jacks near the receiver and want that option, then ask for some phone jumpers.
Personally, I find caller ID popping up on the TV to be quite annoying.

Viventis

Jan 11, 2011

kjlued said:
Not needed or available in this area.
So, no you can not get the AM21.

As far as connecting in to your network, you will not need a wiresless solution.
All we need is to be able to get a cable to your router (or use a pre existing one).
It will all communicate through the coax then.
If you want it hooked to your computer network (which I would) then ask for it to be connected to your broadband.
This will not only allow you to order movies, but also allow video on demand, dvr2pc, etc.
It is free to have done at the time of install and there is no monthly charge..

Thanks. Dish charges $5 per DVR that is not hooked up to a phone line.

Will the installer run Cat-5 cable through the crawl space of my house free as part of the install? If so, I'll get a small gigabit switch to run my Blueray and Squeezebox (and the DVR) hardwired rather than wireless. I can configure it ahead of time to make it plug and play.

bender3000

Jan 12, 2011

I'm in the same boat as Viventis. Thanks for all the info.

kjlued

Jan 12, 2011

I say to any new customer thinking about ordering DTV with DVR, order this.

1 HD/DVR
1 HD
Up to 4 standards
Broad Band Deca (if you have high speed internet and a router)

This will be what DirectTv will give you for free (depending on credit history).

Ask for free HD which I believe they will give you as long as you go on autopay.

If you want extra HD equipment or additional standards they will charge you.

I believe they will charge you $199 if you ad a HD/DVR or $99 if you swap the HD for it (not sure on this).
Additional HD receivers will be $99
Additional Standards $69
(Again not 100% sure on all prices and they are subject to change)

Whatever you do, order additional equipment at time of original order or the price will go up if tou try and order it down the road.
Also, if you change your mind when the installer gets there, he may not have it because we leave with little to no extra equipment due to shortages.

hdinsd

Feb 4, 2011

kjlued said:
This is the best promo

Get a friends Name, Address, phone #, and account #
Call 1-877-774-1688 (make sure you use that number as different promotions are attached to their phone numbers)
Give them your friends information and use this promo code: MANC913320

This will give you and your friend each $100 Visa gift card.

does this still work? is this just like the regular referral which can be combined with other offers, such as the $180 costco card?

kjlued

Feb 4, 2011

Still works, but don't think it can be combined with other offers.

Mojo Jojo

Feb 4, 2011

Viventis said:
Thanks. Dish charges $5 per DVR that is not hooked up to a phone line.

I thought that Dish did away with that fee when they quit giving $5 credits for having boxes hooked up to a phone line or broadband connection.

In addition, if you are going with DirecTV, you should be able to get the HD Extra Pack (if no one has mentioned it) for free for at least the first three months.

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dfergie

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply 3 minutes ago · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Gas Price Info With National Gas Temperature Map

Stumbled across this ... http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_ZipSearch.asp
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy

Ethanol Free Stations

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Bobby

Today at 10:27 AM

Regular$5.999
Premium$6.399
Diesel$7.999
at Costco, Rohnert Park.

Reactions: harshness

harshness

Today at 11:30 AM

I wonder if California is getting into the Winter formula.

dishstaller

Today at 12:32 PM

Bobby said:
Regular$5.999
Premium$6.399

Odd that out there, Prem is only 40 cents higher. Here it's a full dollar more.

Last night it was about $4.17 gas, $6,19 diesel.

harshness

Today at 2:04 PM

dishstaller said:
Odd that out there, Prem is only 40 cents higher. Here it's a full dollar more.

On the West Coast, a 40-cent differential is common. It used to be 30 cents before the prices rose above $3.

A "full dollar more" sounds like it may be boat gas (non-alcoholic), which is a whole different discussion.

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Foxbat

26 minutes ago

Here in Indiana, the difference between Regular and Premium is usually a dollar, but some charge even more:

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dishstaller

3 minutes ago

harshness said:
A "full dollar more" sounds like it may be boat gas (non-alcoholic),

Both non-ethanol and prem run about the same....buck more. When we were up in TN it was a buck more up there as well.

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jokeworm

Last reply 5 minutes ago · posted in What's Cooking?

What's for dinner ?

Ok, I'm bored .... actually - to be more precise - I'm bored of eating the same rotation of 9 or 10 meals that are currently my "go-to" meals. My wife works the long hours - I work from home as and when i feel like it ... which means i generally do most of the cooking ... and so by default - i also make out the shopping list ...

We cook at home 5 or even 6 nights a week - but we always seem to fall back on the same old tried and tested "quick and easy but tastes ok" meals. Week in week out.

Pot Roast - mash and Peas.
Spaghetti
Chicken Pasta in cheese sauce.
Curry & rice
(these are some of mine)

Now it's not that I'm not adventurous in the kitchen ... I'll try anything once or twice ... but we all do it. Unless your name is Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray .. we all eventually fall back on our 8-10 favorite "meals"

So i thought - if we shared some of our own go-to meals with each other ... we might be able to add a few "new" ones to our own arsenal of meals.

So again - I ask you ...

What's for dinner tonight ?

Please give me something new to add to my rotation ... its our weekly shop tomorrow - so i want to pull together a few idea's and try and eat a meal each day next week that I've never had before .. or at least something that is not on my current "go-to" meal plan.

What meal do you always seem to fall back on in your house ? Maybe its something that I've never tried or not had in a while. I need inspiration !! I've got a blank shopping list in front of me - and nothing sounds good .. HELP !

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TRG

Sep 29, 2026

Beef and vegetable stew with buttermilk biscuits. Water.
It seemed appropriate on an unusually cold and wet evening in New Mexico.

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Bobby

Monday at 7:39 PM

Chili Cheesebugers, Tater Tots.

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TRG

Monday at 9:40 PM

I made shrimp parmesan with spaghetti and a salad.

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slow_poke_pete

21 minutes ago

venison lasagna

dishstaller

5 minutes ago

Smoked some salmon on the grill while enjoying some Blue Moon beer. Kinda cool tonight so I fired up the heaters. Here in FL, we fire up heaters once the temps get below 60 :cool

As for the salmon, I seared them first, then flipped them off to the side not over the coals and brushed on some lemon pepper marinade followed by some salmon seasoning. Threw some hickory chips on the coals and then closed the vents to about 10% airflow. Yum.

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osu1991

Pub Member / Supporter

Last reply Today at 8:46 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

EV News

America’s Fastest-Growing EV State Isn’t California—Not by a Long Shot

New data shows electric vehicle adoption is increasingly driven by state policies, electricity prices and charging access—not federal incentives

www.autoweek.com

The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.

:eek

It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.

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navychop

Sep 22, 2026

Servant's problem.

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meStevo

Sep 26, 2026

tomwellborn3rd (@wellborn.net)

This author has chosen to make their posts visible only to people who are signed in.

bsky.app

Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.

So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.

harshness

Sep 27, 2026

The EV company to watch out for is SAIC. They seem likely to take over Government Motors at some point.

GM originally struck a JV deal with SAIC to gain access to China. Now SAIC has taken China back with the substantial library of technology GM shared and they're looking to export to Mexico, South America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

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osu1991

Oct 9, 2026

View: https://youtu.be/AzErJdWUDTE?si=sdAjeOen3sKm8DV9

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osu1991

Today at 8:46 PM

US EV sales are rising again. Here’s why the recovery is set to last.

Even though sales tanked last year after the end of federal incentives, the American EV sector is on the mend as drivers face sky-high gasoline prices.

www.canarymedia.com

Reactions: Foxbat and AZ.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 7:52 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Microsoft Defender Arriving on Linux

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_nW-BTlv4

Direct YouTube Link - Microsoft Defender Arriving on Linux
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

0 Replies · 11 views

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Ham Radio 2.0

Today at 7:22 PM · posted in Ham Radio 2.0

LIVE!

Time for another AWESOME video from Ham Radio 2.0!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDeuQ1SLkQU

Direct YouTube Link - LIVE!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook

0 Replies · 11 views

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Peter Parker

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 7:14 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

DISH Hopper 3 Software Version 713 Is Out

No idea what improvements might be involved.

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bookworm370

Yesterday at 3:17 PM

Has anyone noticed an FF stutter with 713? I used to be able to hit FF a few times and skip smoothly. After 713 (maybe 712), when I skip forward, there is a definite stutter for as many times as I have pressed FF.

Can anyone check on this and report back? Recorded programs and then press skip forward a few times to see if it's smooth? Normally, it just jumps to the right place after the skips.

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naptime

Today at 1:05 AM

I'm getting fabulous picture on Ch. 148 4k, but zero audio with H713. This is with a recorded show (Notre Dame game). Anyone else have this? Audio is fine on every other channel.

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reubenray

Today at 6:14 AM

bookworm370 said:
Has anyone noticed an FF stutter with 713? I used to be able to hit FF a few times and skip smoothly. After 713 (maybe 712), when I skip forward, there is a definite stutter for as many times as I have pressed FF.

Can anyone check on this and report back? Recorded programs and then press skip forward a few times to see if it's smooth? Normally, it just jumps to the right place after the skips.

My wife mentioned that her remote is acting strange this morning. She hit FF and it went to 15x FF.

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Bobby

Today at 10:32 AM

naptime said:
I'm getting fabulous picture on Ch. 148 4k, but zero audio with H713. This is with a recorded show (Notre Dame game). Anyone else have this? Audio is fine on every other channel.

This has been an ongoing issue. A fix is coming, probably in the next software version.

Reactions: naptime and charlesrshell

dishstaller

Today at 1:01 PM

reubenray said:
My wife mentioned that her remote is acting strange this morning.

Had a customer call recently saying their remote was really acting up, some buttons no longer functioned. Told them to reboot the Hopper....problem fixed.
Wife bought me a t-shirt that has "have you tried turning it off and on again?"

https://www.amazon.com/Have-Tried-Turning-Again-T-Shirt/dp/B07G1ZV9W9/ref=sr_1_11?crid=3NNRAEED195WV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.86TxUTPcw48CRYlDcLntwpMxbPDBfjiLu4wMZGX3VN6ajG_cFCuoDBJT7pS9CW2mjThKlke5Z6dlXH8bJKkQF4s892wGVU1ca_00S0BQz6F15V30_4szIdWeycvw3_zoVtsULQASM8bGcgvsKms930xApC43y_-YBVN0Q8Xsf_csSqXcmhWpresARdXHfx2VazllrXI8asduvrbnk9S3CGnzjqnVTkjzFSpSQLdQKA6Dx_7UfbQIBBJsqAmQwwtDGqM0YKVIkjV4ARgVJvJ69vLPhxV0m8pkJQd_2w_QX_A.-jSy9OqrqWdxPBsgZGia1hHMbvDAKxxhRn9kK1EBdCc&dib_tag=se&keywords=have%2Byou%2Btried%2Bturning%2Bit%2Boff%2Band%2Bon%2Bagain&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1792342839&sprefix=have%2Byou%2Btried%2B%2Caps%2C265&sr=8-11&customId=B0752XJYNL&customizationToken=MC_Assembly_1%23B0752XJYNL&th=1&psc=1

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cpdretired

Today at 6:58 PM

dishstaller said:
Had a customer call recently saying their remote was really acting up, some buttons no longer functioned. Told them to reboot the Hopper....problem fixed.
Wife bought me a t-shirt that has "have you tried turning it off and on again?"

https://www.amazon.com/Have-Tried-Turning-Again-T-Shirt/dp/B07G1ZV9W9/ref=sr_1_11?crid=3NNRAEED195WV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.86TxUTPcw48CRYlDcLntwpMxbPDBfjiLu4wMZGX3VN6ajG_cFCuoDBJT7pS9CW2mjThKlke5Z6dlXH8bJKkQF4s892wGVU1ca_00S0BQz6F15V30_4szIdWeycvw3_zoVtsULQASM8bGcgvsKms930xApC43y_-YBVN0Q8Xsf_csSqXcmhWpresARdXHfx2VazllrXI8asduvrbnk9S3CGnzjqnVTkjzFSpSQLdQKA6Dx_7UfbQIBBJsqAmQwwtDGqM0YKVIkjV4ARgVJvJ69vLPhxV0m8pkJQd_2w_QX_A.-jSy9OqrqWdxPBsgZGia1hHMbvDAKxxhRn9kK1EBdCc&dib_tag=se&keywords=have%2Byou%2Btried%2Bturning%2Bit%2Boff%2Band%2Bon%2Bagain&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1792342839&sprefix=have%2Byou%2Btried%2B%2Caps%2C265&sr=8-11&customId=B0752XJYNL&customizationToken=MC_Assembly_1%23B0752XJYNL&th=1&psc=1

Works every time. My wife needs one.

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Foxbat

Today at 7:14 PM

dishstaller said:
Wife bought me a t-shirt that has "have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Here's the one I need:

Reactions: charlesrshell, long_time_Dish and Bobby

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Ramy

Supporting Founder

Last reply Today at 6:34 PM · posted in The Sports Section

2026-27 NCAA College Football

Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.

148 Replies · 1731 views

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osu1991

Monday at 10:13 AM

View: https://youtu.be/HjQO7IWmC50?is=JrnzyTNTv5MoX24u

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osu1991

Monday at 9:37 PM

View: https://youtu.be/Dj-pH4x_Z1Q?is=CHrZoqR0K3GnQb35

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Howard Simmons

Yesterday at 7:45 PM

osu1991 said:
View: https://youtu.be/Dj-pH4x_Z1Q?is=CHrZoqR0K3GnQb35

Down Goes the SEC

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Foxbat

Yesterday at 8:17 PM

osu1991 said:

They ought to have fun with this… :devilish

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osu1991

Yesterday at 10:14 PM

Foxbat said:
They ought to have fun with this…

Was thinking same thing. It should be a good week for sec shorts and roll call

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reubenray

Today at 6:19 AM

A lot of upsets yesterday, but my LSU Tigers won.

Reactions: Mike0616 and Jimbo

Foxbat

Today at 6:34 PM

Best fan sign I saw during the ND-BYU game: "Bear ate your Lucky Charms!" (Bear being the Cougars' QB). I was going to suggest, "Have you or your team been involved in a Carr crash?"

Reactions: Jimbo and Mike0616

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meStevo

Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 5:36 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

AI thread

A continuation of a thread from the pub, just general discussion of AI.

Brief 60 minute clip about next gem autonomous fighters - not remote controlled, but rather collaborating with controllers and aircraft in the theater.

View: https://youtu.be/DRm0mbp_n1k

We've literally got a movie already about this

View: https://youtu.be/a2PW7a9ViDc

67 Replies · 1138 views

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meStevo

Oct 9, 2026

Agreed, it mostly regurgitates known solutions. That's the point. Nobody needs an innovative fix for a driver error or a creative way to format a report. Let it handle the solved problems so people can spend their time on the ones that aren't.

harshness

Oct 9, 2026

meStevo said:
Agreed, it mostly regurgitates known solutions. That's the point.

That's the point at which innovation ends, and there's no longer any point to software engineering other than swatting bugs that result from misapplication.

meStevo

Oct 9, 2026

harshness said:
That's the point at which innovation ends, and there's no longer any point to software engineering other than swatting bugs that result from misapplication.

Addressed by what you didn't quote. This cycle is as old as computing: compilers, libraries, frameworks each automated the tedious part, and the human work moved up a level. Innovation didn't end; it shifted. And people still make new compilers, libraries or frameworks.

Nobody's forced to hand anything off. Anyone who wants to keep doing it by hand still can, and people who couldn't do it at all now can.

harshness

Oct 9, 2026

meStevo said:
... and people who couldn't do it at all now can.

Misapplication isn't something that the casual coder can identify. They can only discover, the hard way, that it doesn't work at some point.

meStevo

Oct 9, 2026

harshness said:
Misapplication isn't something that the casual coder can identify. They can only discover, the hard way, that it doesn't work at some point.

You're not wrong, but that's part of learning. Whether from others or our own mistakes, we've all learned that lesson one way or another.

harshness

Oct 9, 2026

meStevo said:
Whether from others or our own mistakes, we've all learned that lesson one way or another.

I'm not sure that the school of hard knocks is the quickest or surest education to find your way.

There are many examples in the headlines of people getting burned multiple times and not wavering in their pursuit of stupidity.

meStevo

Oct 9, 2026

harshness said:
I'm not sure that the school of hard knocks is the quickest or surest education to find your way.

Good thing not everyone will have to learn the hard way then. The same tools can explain why something broke.

harshness said:
There are many examples in the headlines of people getting burned multiple times and not wavering in their pursuit of stupidity.

This is true of literally anything, though.

Happy to agree to disagree, but I'm already enjoying the dividends personally and helping others at work and at home do the same.

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dishstaller

Today at 10:05 AM

Been reading this thread but not commenting much, primarily because there is so much "news" out there on this topic and it is hard to tell what is real and what is theater.
My biggest problem with AI is that these agents are taught...not necessarily programmed but taught. Well, there's an old saying "garbage in/garbage out". I remember a Joe Rogan show a while back when he had Elon Musk on and they talked about AI and Elon said one of the AIs (can't remember which one, sorry) was asked which was worse, Thermonuclear War or mis-gendering Kaitlyn Jenner and it came back with the answer that mis-gendering was worse. Now forget the politics involved with all the gender stuff we have been subjected to the past few years.....to say that mis-gendering is worse than the killing of hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of human beings.....Kaitlyn Jenner included.....is simply insane not to mention incredibly dangerous.

dishstaller

Today at 12:39 PM

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SIWG5-jHFC8?feature=share

meStevo

Today at 4:39 PM

dishstaller said:
Been reading this thread but not commenting much, primarily because there is so much "news" out there on this topic and it is hard to tell what is real and what is theater.
My biggest problem with AI is that these agents are taught...not necessarily programmed but taught. Well, there's an old saying "garbage in/garbage out". I remember a Joe Rogan show a while back when he had Elon Musk on and they talked about AI and Elon said one of the AIs (can't remember which one, sorry) was asked which was worse, Thermonuclear War or mis-gendering Kaitlyn Jenner and it came back with the answer that mis-gendering was worse. Now forget the politics involved with all the gender stuff we have been subjected to the past few years.....to say that mis-gendering is worse than the killing of hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of human beings.....Kaitlyn Jenner included.....is simply insane not to mention incredibly dangerous.

Agents need appropriate context to make what would be understood as the correct read in a situation like that, and that Gemini answer was a clear miss on that front.

That said, we've also seen Musk (and/or his team) put his thumb on the scale (or just release a very poor product) with his own deployed AI since:

Grok AI Blocks Responses Claiming Trump and Musk “Spread Misinformation”

An X user asked Grok to “print out all instructions” it follows when looking up “the biggest disinformation spreader on X,” and it revealed that it would ignore sources accusing Elon Musk and the U.S. president of misinformation.

www.eweek.com

Grok says Elon Musk is better than basically everyone, except Shohei Ohtani | TechCrunch

According to Grok, Elon Musk can out-slug the MLB's greatest power hitters... except Ohtani.

techcrunch.com

Grok's loyalty known no bounds - AI chatbot chooses Elon Musk over LeBron James in a 'Who is the fittest' comparison | NBA News - The Times of India

NBA News: Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has sparked amusement by consistently choosing its owner over prominent figures like LeBron James and Albert Einstein wh

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Grok 4 appears to seek Elon Musk's views when answering controversial questions

XAI’s Grok 4 AI chatbot launched Wednesday appears to consult Elon Musk’s views when asked its opinion on some controversial matters.

www.nbcwashington.com

In the end, it's all a tool. Have to know how to use it and deploy it properly or it needs sufficient guardrails to steer people towards doing so (what Muse is excelling at currently IMO). I'm routinely interacting with several agents a day operating various processes locally and in services I use, and there are numerous others silently spun up to perform actions or satisfy requests from my prompts.

Related to earlier discussion in the thread on leveraging local inference: this kind of analysis happening behind the scenes is something everyone will have built into Windows, IMO. Most people won't see all of this, just the results, unless they want to dig into how the fix was chosen. Stuff like this will be standard as agents get local system access baked in, and more of the inference itself moves on-device.

telstar_1

Today at 5:08 PM

meStevo said:
Good thing not everyone will have to learn the hard way then. The same tools can explain why something broke.

This is true of literally anything, though.

Happy to agree to disagree, but I'm already enjoying the dividends personally and helping others at work and at home do the same.

You invested in datacenters?

meStevo

Today at 5:36 PM

telstar_1 said:
You invested in datacenters?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dividend#:~:text=2,finally%20paying%20dividends

Though, I do have stocks in my portfolio that benefit from data centers.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 5:12 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

This Week in Tech 1105

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JElsle_m2rE

Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1105
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

0 Replies · 13 views

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Former member 208119

Last reply Today at 5:08 PM · posted in SiriusXM Satellite Radio

SXM still giving discounts

My year was almost up and we got the new bill for a year of service for $ 360.00 insane sat radio is becoming like cable!!! i logged into my acct and hopped onto chat and told the rep that i wanted to cancel. she understood my concern and went quiet for a few minutes. i figured that she was canceling my service. she comes back and said that she seen that i have been a sub since 07 and then offers me the same package for a year for 120.00 with taxes and fee's!!! i grabbed it. after almost having a stroke :biggrin

236 Replies · 10960 views

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Bruno

Oct 4, 2026

What i noticed with my last renewal XM is now billing me $4.99 monthly instead of one time yearly payment.

Jimbo

Oct 4, 2026

Bruno said:
What i noticed with my last renewal XM is now billing me $.99 monthly instead of one time yearly payment.

Did you accidentally get on the wrong plan ?
I still do the once a year plans.

EarDemon

Tuesday at 9:52 PM

I tried to do that, when I did delivery driver work (2010- 2013), we had a fleet of Freightliners. The newer trucks had headunits that were satellite compatible (XM only I think), but lacked the antenna and guts. I got a car kt for my old Roady XT and tried to use it, but at the volume levels I needed have it at to hear it over the diesel engine it sounded like crap, so I used my phone with an aux cable. When I was in the middle of nowhere with no cell service it didn't do me any good though.

At my current job, one of our new cars has the free trial of SXM active, I frequently have to go off site to a location 75 miles away in a rural area and it's nice being able to use the service off of the satellites versus using the app. There are many places on this journey where all three providers lack service.

Reactions: Howard Simmons and slow_poke_pete

Bruno

Today at 11:16 AM

Jimbo said:
Did you accidentally get on the wrong plan ?
I still do the once a year plans.

I have to think maybe more people dont keep track of the monthly XM bill. Every time i renew i put a reminder on my calendar week before its time to renew. My wife told me the other day not to renew her and then i told her you are not going to be able to listen to XM at home. Then she changed her mind...!!

Reactions: Jimbo

TRG

Today at 11:55 AM

Bruno said:
I have to think maybe more people dont keep track of the monthly XM bill. Every time i renew i put a reminder on my calendar week before its time to renew. My wife told me the other day not to renew her and then i told her you are not going to be able to listen to XM at home. Then she changed her mind...!!

I get an e-mail every month reminding me that X amount will be charged to my credit card. If I see it go up I get on chat or pick up the phone. But I also remember that my year is up in December.

Reactions: comfortably_numb and Bruno

Bruno

Today at 12:08 PM

TRG said:
I get an e-mail every month reminding me that X amount will be charged to my credit card. If I see it go up I get on chat or pick up the phone. But I also remember that my year is up in December.

yea i don't understand WHY, like you I get a notice each month. Mine is also up in December.

Jimbo

Today at 5:08 PM

Bruno said:
yea i don't understand WHY, like you I get a notice each month. Mine is also up in December.

You get an email every month to let you know they are billing you for the next month.

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