Hi all. I hope you’re all well. As regular readers will know (if they scroll all the way to the bottom of each post!), I do a ‘Rob Recommends’ feature, where I do mini reviews of recent films or TV shows I’ve seen. Today’s blog will be an extended version of that, but instead of reviewing pop culture, I will discuss some technology I’ve recently become acquainted with. Without further ado, let’s boot this up and get cracking. Enjoy:
Sky Glass: Get or Pass?
I’ve been using Sky Glass for about six months now, more than long enough to pass judgement, I’d say. Overall, I have to say I’m impressed. However, there are a few drawbacks that I wish I’d been privy to before switching to Glass. To be fair, I probably could have found this all out with a bit of research beforehand, but I went in a bit blind.
One drawback is that you can’t record anything. As someone who had hitherto had some form of recording device for the preceding 20+ years (longer if we’re including VHS…), this came as a bit of a shock. The beauty of digitally recording something is that you always have it (for as long as you have the Sky/Virgin box anyway).
Sky Glass does away with all that, as it allows you to stream things instead. This worked out fine for me and my family, as we rarely recorded programmes anyway. And those that we did record are all readily available on demand anyway, so we’re not missing out.
The biggest difference with Sky Glass is that it is all Internet-based. Again, this works out well for me because I have excellent broadband. If you have any problems with your broadband, either with uptime or speed, avoid Sky Glass!
And, just to be clear, when I say it is all Internet-based, that includes watching live TV as well. I imagine this might be quite scary for some, as if your Internet goes down, you can’t watch the telly either. However, there have been a small handful of times in the past where there has been a storm that has affected my satellite or cable signal whilst my broadband remained connected. So I guess that is swings and roundabouts.
Onto the more positive aspects, everything you need is included with the Glass TV; no Sky box is required. You just plug the TV in, connect it to your broadband, and you’re good to go. Again, this worked out very well for me, as I was able to sell my old TV for a decent amount; we had no further use for it once we had the Sky Glass TV.
Speaking of money, one of the reasons I resisted Sky Glass for such a long time was that I assumed it would be very expensive. I liked the idea of getting a new TV which had everything included, but I thought that it would cost far too much. On the contrary, it has somehow worked out to be cheaper than what I was paying for Sky Q each month. If you include the money we got for selling our old TV, upgrading to Sky Glass was a good financial move.
The final positive would have to be the Playlist function. This is what has effectively replaced recording. There is a “+” button on the remote. Whenever you see something that you fancy watching, you click the button, and the show will be added to your playlist. This playlist is easily accessible via your main menu, meaning you have quick access to whatever you want.
This is particularly handy if, like me, you don’t have loads of time to watch the latest films and shows. You just add things to your playlist and come back to it when you have time. Another nifty feature is that you can have up to five separate playlists, so you can have one for each member of the family. Or, even if you live by yourself, you could set up one playlist for sports, one for movies, one for sitcoms, one for HBO shows, etc. It’s completely customisable, so the only limit is your imagination (well, and the aforementioned maximum-of-five thing).
Overall, would I recommend Sky Glass? It’s really hard to say, as I feel like it completely depends on each person’s circumstances. I think for more traditional people, or people who like the freedom that comes with being able to record and keep whatever they want, Sky Glass should be avoided. For those who are more into streaming or catch up TV anyway, Glass will likely be a very good option.
I’m No Longer a Virgin… Customer
I’ve been locked in an ongoing dance with Virgin Media for many years now. It’s a dance I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with. I sign up to one of their promotional-rate 18-month contracts for broadband. When that deal is near its end, they tell me the price will be increasing. I tell them that I’m leaving for a different broadband provider. They tell me that they can offer me a discounted price for the next 18 months. I tell them that I’ll stay with them.
On and on this goes. Until about a month ago. It started off just like any other WiFi waltz. Virgin told me that my monthly broadband cost would be jumping from £30 per month to £67 per month. I told them that I couldn’t afford that, so they could cancel my contract (giving me the 30-day notice period to arrange for a new provider to provide broadband).
Now, usually, what would have followed would have been a phone call from the Virgin renewals team, in the week after I told them I wanted to cancel. I mentally prepared for the call, finessing my negotiation tactics and working out the most I was willing to pay. But the call never came. Luckily for me, I never bluff in these situations; I was perfectly willing and able to sort out broadband with someone else. But it still baffles me that Virgin decided that they didn’t want my money.
I don’t know what the overheads are for tech companies. With the cost of electricity at the moment, I imagine it isn’t cheap to run a company that is providing Internet to thousands, or maybe even millions, of people. And I’m sure there must be a minimum amount they charge their customers so that they’re not operating at a loss. But other companies seem to be offering similar broadband packages for around £30 per month, so I don’t understand Virgin’s stance on this.
Seemingly, they would rather take £0 from me each month than offer me a discount and take £30 a month. They are also, as they must know, making one of their competitors an extra £30 per month. Perhaps Virgin are doing so well that they don’t need my business anymore? In any case, I’ve now moved on. Whether my lack of financial contribution ultimately sees Virgin Media crumble, only time will tell…
Ding Dong Merrily on Wi(-Fi)
On the off chance that the silly heading above didn’t make it clear, my next tech topic is the Ring doorbell. In some ways, it is very difficult to recommend a Ring doorbell. Not because they’re not good, because they are, in my opinion. It’s just that they don’t really do anything that you wouldn’t expect.
If you don’t have a Ring doorbell, chances are that everything you imagine they will be like, that’s what they are like. It basically does exactly what it says on the tin. And there’s nothing wrong with that, obviously. It definitely lives up to expectations; it just doesn’t surpass them.
There are two key features that you might want a Ring doorbell for: talking to delivery people when you’re not home and security. In terms of being able to talk to people who ring your bell when you’re not home, it is super handy. We get quite a few packages delivered, and sometimes they come unexpectedly or when no one is home. In these instances, being able to converse with the deliverer and ask them to leave the parcel somewhere is very convenient. Whether this is useful for you really depends on how much stuff you get sent to your house and how often you aren’t around.
In terms of security, that’s, of course, a much more personal choice. For me, I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to things like this. I have always had a house alarm, for example. I had a house alarm when I lived with my parents (from as far back as I can remember, anyway). When I first moved into my own place, it was never a question of if I would get an alarm, but rather which one I would get.
There will be some who claim a house alarm is a waste of money, and perhaps they’re right. But in my 35 years on this earth, my house has never been broken into. Now, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who have never had an alarm and have never been broken into either. But I don’t want to take the risk.
It’s hard to put yourself in the mind of a burglar, but I can only imagine that they try to avoid risk wherever they can. A house with a big dog as a pet? Avoid. A house with all entrances bathed in light? Avoid. And, given a choice between a house with an alarm and/or Ring doorbell, and one without, surely they would opt for the latter.
If you do end up getting a Ring doorbell – or, if you already have one – let me give you some free advice: reset your router. Let me sprinkle some context on that. We had our Ring doorbell for about a year, when it suddenly became disconnected from our WiFi.
Now, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m an expert when it comes to technology, but I’m certainly tech-savvy enough to handle most modest to moderate issues that might arise. So the first thing I checked was that the broadband was working. All other devices that connected to the WiFi seemed to be working fine, so I knew there wasn’t an issue there.
I next tried re-establishing the connection between the doorbell and the WiFi. It would get 95% through, then fail to connect. A bit flummoxed, I Googled the issue. Near enough every bit of advice I came across suggested resetting my router. But, as I’d already established that there was no issue with my router, I swiftly and stubbornly ignored that advice.
Another recommendation was to try updating the firmware. This made sense to me, as we’d had it a year without the firmware being updated. Yes, that must be the issue! Nope! The last bit of guidance suggested resetting the doorbell, effectively starting again from scratch. So, as a hail Mary, I went for it. This part is critical: if you no longer have the box the Ring doorbell came in, do NOT reset it!
Like an idiot, I reset it, forgetting that when you set the doorbell up, the only way to do it is by scanning the QR code provided on the box. Did we still have the box? No, we did not. So, I then had to unscrew the doorbell from the wall to uncover the QR code that was thankfully also present on the back of the device. I scanned it, got the doorbell set up again, and it connected, no problems.
For a day! Then, the connection was lost again. At my wits end, and out of options, I tried resetting my router. This, of course, fixed the issue straight away, and I will never be speaking about this ever again!
Thank you for joining me. Come back next time, where I’ll be looking into the power of words, and how certain bells can’t be un-wrung. Until then, take it easy.
Rob Recommends
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness – Film – 9/10
What a joy this film is! Really fun stuff! As you can tell if you’ve read my previous (and upcoming!) recommendations, I’ve seen a lot of MCU films. This is one of the darkest and scariest in the whole series. And for what could have easily just been a dumb popcorn sequel, it was quite the surprise.
I saw that it was rated 14+ on Disney+, and this raised an eyebrow; most MCU films are usually 10+ or 12+. It is quickly clear why this is rated for a slightly older audience. Some parts of it are scenes you might expect to see in a horror film. Other parts are just plain gruesome. And, without spoiling anything, a character that I love gets murdered (fairly brutally), so that was quite upsetting.
The film is thoroughly entertaining throughout, though. And I think this is something Marvel can afford to do more often. I know that making films that kids can see is more profitable, but there is definitely a market for darker content. It certainly keeps me interested.
Eternals – Film – 5/10
Let’s start with the positives because it won’t take long. I feel like the filmmakers deserve credit for their ambition. This really isn’t an easy story to tell; there are about a dozen characters, all of whom have their own special abilities. Couple that with the fact that the story takes place over thousands of years and you have a recipe for disaster. I wonder whether this would have worked better as a TV series?
My biggest problem with this was apathy; I just didn’t care about the characters or what happened to them. Most of the characters ranged from dull to unlikeable. And I don’t think my issue was with the actors themselves, as I have liked many of them in other projects.
The most unforgivable aspect of Eternals, though, is some really shoddy CGI when it comes to some of the fight scenes. Some of it looks like PlayStation 2 graphics. I remember that insult being thrown at The Matrix Reloaded (with some justification). But, at least that film came out in 2003. There’s not really any excuse for a film released in the last five years.
If I were to be generous, I could look at the fact that this film was released in 2021. I suppose it is possible that the Covid pandemic impacted the post-production, meaning there wasn’t as much time or man hours as they ideally would have liked.
Even if that is true, this movie is a boring mess, and one which I would recommend avoiding.
Hawkeye – TV – 8/10
Ok, yes, I’ve been on a bit of a Marvel run recently. And I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. A TV show centred around the most boring Avenger could have missed the target, but this one is a hit!
I have to be careful with what I say, as there are a few twists and surprises throughout, and I don’t want to spoil anything. But, what I can say is that the cast is fantastic and the storyline is a lot better than I thought it was going to be (it actually gets a lot better after the first episode).
Hawkeye has, as well, what all the best MCU entries do: great action, a lot of humour, but also a lot of heart. There are some genuinely touching moments throughout, but without it ever getting too heavy. And, at only six episodes, it won’t take up too much of your time. I wish it lasted longer.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – Film – 8/10
Crouching Tiger meets the MCU! I really liked this film. I think it is a very enjoyable experience, in the main. It is a beautifully told story, with a lot of visually fantastic scenes. There are, however, a few things that I think may put some people off.
Firstly, after a rather dramatic and unexpected event near the start, everything after that becomes fairly predictable. Which, for a superhero origin story, isn’t entirely unexpected; most do follow a set pattern. The most jarring thing, though, was how convenient a couple of parts were. There was one bit, in particular, that was really bad.
Our heroes are held captive. Not only do they need to escape, but they also need to get to a magical village before the villain does. The big problem is that the forest surrounding the village is also magical, and it attacks anyone who tries to get into the village. Luckily for our heroes, in the very same place they are being held prisoner, there is a magical creature from the magical village. And he says he can guide them through the forest. Wow!
Another aspect some won’t like is that a lot of the martial arts on display is supplemented by CGI. This didn’t bother me, though, as it was clear to me the actors were talented fighters. The fact that they were enhanced in post didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the fight scenes. Overall, bar a couple of daft moments, this is a film that is well worth your time.
A Rob Blog 