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Are You Smart Enough for Satellite TV?» Are You Smart Enough for Satellite TV?Trivia programs and game shows have long been a staple of American television. In fact, they date long before satellite and HD, and even before the invention of television itself: many popular radio shows quizzed and queried invited guests about just about anything. Contemporary television has not given up the genre. At this point Jeopardy! is a classic, if a bit of a dinosaur, and more recently Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had mass audiences taking a keen interest in trivia of all kinds. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and host Regis Philbin appealed to American intelligence. Anyone with a telephone and lightning fingers was free to try to get on the show, and for many regular Americans it felt like a million bucks was no more than that phone call away. This show praised and rewarded knowledge, with question topics ranging from sports to politics to current events. It uplifted education. And it felt like anyone could do it. At any rate, the first couple of questions tended to be ones that the general public could answer, and it felt good to know that you could have reached a certain level, even if the questions that followed went beyond the average knowledge of most folks. More recently a new show has put a subtle twist on the trivia format. Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (apparently having a title that includes punctuation is a common trend for such shows) pits adults against the long forgotten tower of grade-school knowledge. In many ways it is proof that the things we learn as schoolchildren are not all that important to retain to get by in the “real world” of adult responsibility. However, I feel that it also reminds us not to underestimate youth and their extraordinary powers of recall, and their extensive knowledge regarding history and geography that fades for so many of us with each passing year. The premise of the show – asking adults questions from primary school, while a gaggle of fifth graders giggles and scribbles down their own answers, sometimes helping and sometimes exasperated by the featured adult – has a bit of a kitsch feeling to it, but the questions are so familiar that it’s hard not to be drawn in. Be careful on a Sunday, because if you flip away from the NFL Sunday Ticket during a commercial break and come across this show on satellite TV, you may be so bewitched that you’ll end up missing the third quarter! I think back to how much I knew about dinosaurs as a 10-year-old – scientific names and geologic eras. Where does that knowledge go? The kids on the show have grown up with HD, cell phones, and internet, but obviously their brains haven’t been rotted by these technological innovations as some people so greatly fear. Television must not be the culprit for loss of knowledge, but rather some other change we go through as we grow up and re-prioritize what information is most important. Personally, I am not too concerned that I couldn’t remember who the longest reigning British monarch in history was (it was Queen Victoria, to save you a Google search), but I am happy to watch the glee of children and the dismay of adults when they realize they aren’t unequivocally smarter than a fifth grader. Satellite TV and the Road to the Super Bowl» Satellite TV and the Road to the Super BowlAs a complete football fanatic (and sports nut in general), every season I do my utmost to keep up to speed on all the games played and players’ stats possible, always trying to predict the likely contenders for the most epic of all football face-offs: the Super Bowl. This year, after many years of wading through sketchy sports dives and unreliable online sportscasters, I decided to change things up and get all my football satisfaction at home with a satellite TV subscription. Let’s just say, I’ve never been so on top of the season in my entire life! Among the many optional sports packages available to me—which, seeing as we’re talking about satellite here, are all vastly superior to their cable kin—I was most keen on the NFL Sunday Ticket, which has unleashed upon my TV room a veritable universe of NFL action. The investment has been the wisest of all in my many years of being a sports aficionado. The fact that I was getting every Sunday game of the NFL, simultaneously, was just a shock too powerful to describe. That I could then set-up my own selection of several games to watch, live, all at the same time on one screen was what nearly killed me. But I survived the initial onslaught of this formidable package, and trudged on to learn more about how I could make the experience even better…as unbelievable as that may sound. Additional, optional features like the players’ stats and games stats, and the pre-game coaches’ talks are the icing on the cake. My head was nearly exploding with information from all the valuable stats being thrown at me; I ended up resorting to keeping my own charts just to absorb it all. Of course, the fact that all of this is broadcast in high definition for my superior viewing pleasure can’t be forgotten. Compared to the many games watched in standard definition in the days of yore, I feel like my current experience with sports programming is turning me into a new person. A better person. I have been able to see just about all the action so far this season, and have been superbly prepared for the Super Bowl by all the benefits of having the Sunday Ticket. Though the Cardinals, and to a lesser degree the Steelers, are not who most thought of as the contenders, I can honestly say that I had foreseen these two teams rising—or at least having the mettle to rise—to be finalists this year. Of course, the Super Bowl is going be big a big affair in my house; with the set up I have, I am already a magnet for sports lovers all over town. But once the game is over and done with, I will order the Sunday Ticket again next season, and the one after that, too, simply because there is no better way for me to enjoy the game. No matter who makes it to the Super Bowl in coming years, I know I’ll be pretty likely to see them coming, too. DirecTV Gives You More, More, More» DirecTV Gives You More, More, MoreThere’s just no doubting it: DirecTV gives people so much more to choose from than any other provider, whether of satellite TV or cable services. No other company has as many exclusive packages, nor as many channels, nor as much variety in its lineup, and these are precisely the qualities that have made it so incredibly successful in the national (and international) marketplace. In fact, in neighborhoods all over the country, it’s conspicuous how many new houses have a dish on their roof with the DirecTV logo on it; a tangible, measurable sign of just how great the service being offered really is. DirecTV is all about more, more more. More quality, more variety, more exclusivity, and more customer loyalty, too. More action, more romance, more adventure, and more movies on DirecTV are only some of the many great reasons that each year there are so many converts to this exceptional service. Every genre is represented, and not just with a token show or movie, but with scores of channels practically exclusively dedicated to that particular taste. Love movies in general? Well then you’ll be happier than a pig in mud with the fact that you get HBO, Starz, Showtime, TMC, and a whole host of other channels that only play movies. Love action? You’ll be blown away by channels like Spike or AXN that cater particularly to that taste. Love adventure? Well, you’ll be delighted with the superior programming to be had on channels like the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the Science Channel, and many more that help viewers explore our natural world and beyond in ways that will simply take your breath away—anybody that has seen the mini-series Planet Earth on Discovery Channel knows what this is all about. In fact, DirecTV also gives you more sports than any other provider, whether they be of cable or satellite TV. More live games than you could ever imagine, from more parts of the country than any other provider offers (remember, cable companies usually only show local or regional games, whereas satellite brings you a much more global, complete portfolio of games). And the vast majority of it is all brought to you in stunning HD quality, which makes it all that much more exciting to watch. Add on to all these great aspects the fact that you can use interactive channels to watch up to eight games at the same time, live, or also get “Big Play” alerts and follow the stats of your favorite players, and you’ve got a package that exceeds all possible expectations. And how it does! So, if you are looking to get more out of your television service, then stopping fooling around with providers that only offer you less, and become part of the community that has it all ( it sure is hard to have more than that). All your hankerings will be satiated and you will find yourself immersed in a universe of television options you never had even imagined existed before, all of a quality that simply cannot be equaled by any other player on the market. Beware of Pronto» Beware of ProntoJust a comment about Pronto. I was interested in switching to Dish from Direct, and brought up both Idish and Pronto to compare their packages, etc. Unfortunately, with both, I had to give my phone number in order to get any information. Long story short…I decided to sign up with idish (one of the main reasons was that they were recommended on this site. Also, Pronto’s figures didn’t jibe with their banners). Well, for the last three days, Pronto has been calling me (evidently from India), telling me that since I had been on their website, but didn’t sign up with them, they wanted to offer me special offers, etc. I informed them, each time, that I had already signed up with idish, and to take me off their calling list. I have still been bombarded with calls. The last time, I told them that I was going to cancel and stay with DirectTV if they didn’t stop it. I guess, though, that would just be cutting off my nose to spite my face. So, from now on, I am going to just ask them to hold on for a minute, and put the phone down until they get tired of holding and hang up. I think, maybe, since time is money, that may (or may not) get them to stop. Just wanted to warn everyone to not give their phone number to Pronto. Idish “seems” to be doing ok…so far. They are supposed to install tomorrow, so we will see. Take care, >>I’ve given up on Enlightenment…Now, I’m just hoping for a Reasonable Fantasy<< Bob’s Satellite Dish» Bob’s Satellite DishWhen a satellite dish suddenly showed up in Bob’s backyard, he wasn’t seen for a few days, I had to satisfy my curiosity. I walked to their front door one day and knocked. A cheerful-looking Bob answered the door. HD 811 is Free from Dish» HD 811 is Free from DishDish Network Offered What Cable Couldn’t: An HDTV 811… FREE! It was during the waiting period to have my cable television service installed that I noticed a flyer on the front door of my apartment. It was from a place called Dish Network, offering to install satellite television service in my apartment. I was intrigued. I called Dish Network to find out a little more about their service, and a whole new world opened up to me. The Dish Network representative (more…)
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