Random household issues -- questions asked and answered here

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I looked at that one. Just not sure how reliable the numbers are.

87% of all statistics are made up on the fly.

In the '90s only 85% of statistics were mad up on the fly. It's an alarming trend.

It would be alarming 90% of the time normally

Here's some data on what the government allows for meal and mileage reimbursements. It can show which provinces are more expensive to live in:

https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/d10/v238/s659/en

https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/d10/v238/s658/en

You trust the government? They have guys like Clutch working for them.

Gotta love government thinking.

Not sure how it happened, but I paid the second part of the residential taxes on our previous house twice. Normally, when you move, the portion of your taxes after the closing date (or the unpaid portion up to the closing date) is settled by adjusting the money transferred from buyer to seller. But in this case our lawyers had to write to the city to request a refund of the extra taxes. That was done probably 2-3 weeks before the move. Here we are a month and a half *after* the move and we finally get a reply from the City. It will take 6-8 weeks to process. And they will charge $27 for it.

As far as I know, the only cost other than *doing their jobs for which they are already paid* is the cost of a a cheque and mailing it. Hardly adds up to $27.

An even better solution -- given how we are still residents of the City of Ottawa -- would have been to simply apply the refund to our new account.

But that would simply make too much sense for City bureaucrats. Their heads might explode.

wprager wrote:You trust the government?  They have guys like Clutch working for them.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

wprager wrote:You trust the government?  They have guys like Clutch working for them.

Does anyone have a Roku device? It's there a CraveTV app for it or would I have to run an app on my phone and cast it? Assuming it's the latter, how does it compare to the Chromecast? Reason for asking is I'm getting really fed up with Netflix over my Chromecast. Keeps disconnecting randomly. Not sure if that is my phone, the device or my wifi. I think it's the device itself. The phone is only used to select the show and start it. After that I can power down my phone and it will still keep playing, that's why I don't think it's the phone. And that is also the reason I hate it. The phone acts like a glorified remote that tends to disconnect after a while. Can't explain, but I'm not a fan.

Anyhow, I'm not making much progress in selecting an Android TV box, so I'm thinking of a Roku as an interim solution.

wprager wrote:Does anyone have a Roku device? It's there a CraveTV app for it or would I have to run an app on my phone and cast it?  Assuming it's the latter, how does it compare to the Chromecast? Reason for asking is I'm getting really fed up with Netflix over my Chromecast. Keeps disconnecting randomly.  Not sure if that is my phone, the device or my wifi. I think it's the device itself. The phone is only used to select the show and start it. After that I can power down my phone and it will still keep playing, that's why I don't think it's the phone. And that is also the reason I hate it. The phone acts like a glorified remote that tends to disconnect after a while. Can't explain, but I'm not a fan.

Anyhow, I'm not making much progress in selecting an Android TV box, so I'm thinking of a Roku as an interim solution.

I have two Roku 3s and love them. I'm not 100% positive about CraveTV, but I'll check the next time I turn it on.

Ya I find Roku has a lot of limitations. If you figure out how to side-load apps it's a lot more functional of a tool. I would suggest that you get an Android box or an Android TV. I just picked up an Android TV. It's pretty incredible. It has chromecast built in and I have access to apps like Kodi

I thought Roku find a proprietary OS, there is no way to sideload anything.

On the way home I dropped by BestBuy and got then to price match a Roku Stick. $60 down to $50. Instant improvement over the Chromecast. RF remote is very nice to have, although if the remote app works well that is definitely about option.

This is an interim solution. Longer term I still want full on Android TV, ATSC tuner, PVR capabilities. For now I just want to watch House of Cards without having to restart the times each episode.

The guy at the store tried to upsell me to the Premiere. Said it was more powerful. Umm, no. Same CPU. It supports 4k, which I don't yet have on my TV, and the non-stick form factor.

While I am not a fan of the stick (the HDMI input on my TV upstairs faces directly out instead of sideways) I can always just get a short HDMI extender and position the stick anywhere I want.

By the way, of you're looking for a 3d printer, GearBest is selling the Prusa i3 for under $192 ($365 on Amazon.ca). Tempting. Absolutely do not need it, but ...

Do I need an ethernet switch or hub?

Current situation:
1. ethernet cable from Rogers router goes down into basement
2. ethernet extender (one end is female) going from basement to tv in family room; the two cables are connected.

I want to extend ethernet into the basement for another TV (and maybe more). I'm thinking of plugging #1 into an ethernet switch and then plugging #2 into one of the ports on the switch (would need a male-to-male adapter),leaving the other ports available for the other TV and possibly other devices.

That should work. Just not sure what I need. Searching for "ethernet hub" on Amazon all I see is switches, but from the description it sounds like they are hubs (I didn't think a switch would be plug-and-play and would require some configuration).

A switch is what you want, and should be plug n' play. Mine was.

It should arrive today. If I have time I'll try it out -- plug it in and insert it between the two ethernet cables. I'm pretty sure what I have now is two male-to-male cables and a female-to-female adapter to connnect them together; if one of them is a male-to-female extension then I'll need another male-to-male to plug it into the switch. All those connections, I hope I don't get a ton of noise.

For the downstairs TV, I completely forgot to tell the electrician about HDMI. And he can't make HDMI cables (he can crimp coax and RJ45 connectors and has the cable, but not HDMI; so I'll have to supply those.

I found a wallplate on Amazon that has a coax, cat-6 and 4 x HDMI. That's perfect for the top side. If I can't get to them in time I'm pretty sure I'll be able to replace whatever wallplate they put up with this one and then patch the cables in. For the bottom-end (components) all I need is 4xHDMI and therer's a wallplate for that, too.

This will be my third wall-TV and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. What the builder did (using bilt-in vac tubing for conduits) is nearly criminal. There's absolutely no need to run cable through the basement. The two wallplates on amazon, plus 4 x 10' HDMI (you don't need more than 10 to connect from above fireplace to corner of the room) plus 10' cat-6 is about $60 total. That's definitely more than the several pieces of tubing they called cable conduits but it's infinitely more useful.

Good luck Walter. Reading your tech posts sometimes makes my brain hurt.

So Amazon is now using Canada Post? I didn't see a package when I got home and figured they missed delivery. But later I checked my order status and it said "delivered". Finally found it in the mail. But it's too late to try anything now. Games are on.