Social Feed
1st 2 paragraphs are back story / venting – bypass is you wish.
I don't post much, but this is seriously unbelievable. I recently bought a 2nd HD TV and when getting the receiver from D* decided to upgrade from the H10 3LNB to 2 H20's and the 5LNB. I got a great deal, they were nice, threw in free stuff without me really asking. It couldn't have gone better.
The 2 H20s they sent out were both bad. 1 shut itself down and restarted randomly more than a few times a day. The other had problems with the HDMI port – it just wouldn't work. So I called and they said sorry, we'll send out 2 more. The first new one doesn't even power up. The other keeps giving me (and the tech support guy on was on the phone with for 91 minutes) error messages when setting up – so I only got channel 100.
They sent out an installer who said (in order) 1 is dead, 2 is dead, 3 only works with component cables, 4 works fine. So 75% or 3 of 4 H20's sent to my house DO NOT WORK RIGHT. Additionally, both only get low 70's in signal strength – which he says is simply how they are made and that it is a bad product. SO, as I found out last night, if the wind blows harder than someone blowing out a birthday cake or if there is even the slightest of sprinkle of rain, the HD signal goes out and I can't watch HD. That is great, right.
Finally, I have 5 TVs/receivers. I checked my bill in the middle of all of this - I am being charged for count'em 8 active receivers and $150 of other charges that shouldn't be there. The billing stuff has officially been resolved. It took 2 calls and 68 minutes of my time, but it is resolved.
Do I have a point? …I am not sure. The signal loss is a problem – obviously. I was told by the installer that the HR20 doesn't have the same problems that the H20 does. But really at this point, why would I want to spend money with these people.
On a positive note, all of the people I have dealt with so far in the 159 minutes of phone calls have been pleasant. Although when the problems are this bad, don't they kind of have to be??
...I was really hoping this would make me feel better
I don't post much, but this is seriously unbelievable. I recently bought a 2nd HD TV and when getting the receiver from D* decided to upgrade from the H10 3LNB to 2 H20's and the 5LNB. I got a great deal, they were nice, threw in free stuff without me really asking. It couldn't have gone better.
The 2 H20s they sent out were both bad. 1 shut itself down and restarted randomly more than a few times a day. The other had problems with the HDMI port – it just wouldn't work. So I called and they said sorry, we'll send out 2 more. The first new one doesn't even power up. The other keeps giving me (and the tech support guy on was on the phone with for 91 minutes) error messages when setting up – so I only got channel 100.
They sent out an installer who said (in order) 1 is dead, 2 is dead, 3 only works with component cables, 4 works fine. So 75% or 3 of 4 H20's sent to my house DO NOT WORK RIGHT. Additionally, both only get low 70's in signal strength – which he says is simply how they are made and that it is a bad product. SO, as I found out last night, if the wind blows harder than someone blowing out a birthday cake or if there is even the slightest of sprinkle of rain, the HD signal goes out and I can't watch HD. That is great, right.
Finally, I have 5 TVs/receivers. I checked my bill in the middle of all of this - I am being charged for count'em 8 active receivers and $150 of other charges that shouldn't be there. The billing stuff has officially been resolved. It took 2 calls and 68 minutes of my time, but it is resolved.
Do I have a point? …I am not sure. The signal loss is a problem – obviously. I was told by the installer that the HR20 doesn't have the same problems that the H20 does. But really at this point, why would I want to spend money with these people.
On a positive note, all of the people I have dealt with so far in the 159 minutes of phone calls have been pleasant. Although when the problems are this bad, don't they kind of have to be??
...I was really hoping this would make me feel better
6 Replies
·
2218 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
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
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
5551 Replies
·
460578 views
Here in Indiana, the difference between Regular and Premium is usually a dollar, but some charge even more:
Pub Member / Supporter
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.
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.
112 Replies
·
896 views
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.
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
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
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
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
·
10 views
Ham Radio 2.0
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
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
·
10 views
Supporting Founder
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
·
1728 views
Was thinking same thing. It should be a good week for sec shorts and roll callThey ought to have fun with this…
Lifetime Supporter
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
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
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.
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.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
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
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
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 
236 Replies
·
10954 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68525 Replies
·
2672521 views
