Computer Based TV and Movie viewing and how legal is it?
Date: Thursday December 18, 2008Posted in: Computer IT, Money making, Technology, Windows XP, legal stuff
I recently lost cable TV service in my gated community and neighborhood due to a contract issue, which our association did not renew. So now I was only given the option to contract my own satellite TV service. Well after finding prices, I found a slightly better deal with DirectTV, but that was only my opinion because they only had me to sign up for 18 months in order to get the free installation and some sign up perks as opposed to the 24 month obligation that Dish Network offers.
The reason I am against contracts in because I feel that there may be an upcoming event where we can get TV legally from the internet. I know that there are some sites that claim that this exists today, but I am not sure if they are being totally honest. It seems what they do is they host a few servers and have their cable or satellite tv provider signal shared across the internet. Then they try to sell you some software that helps you to cache the steaming video and then play it on your computer.
Well I know I can watch TV on my compter via a few sites like Hulu.com or movies on watch-movies.net. also I can download free software like TVUplayer. But is any of this legal. I also found that I can install a free plug-in in Mozilla called Sothink SWF catcher and this lets me save the movies and TV shows to my Hardrive. Now I still wonder if this is legal, so I have not done this in any major form outside of a simple test. It works good, but I do not want to get a visit from some Fed agents if this illegal. I do not want to be considered a bootleg video producer either. I only want to watch TV in my own house.
So I guess my question is: Is it legal to save these TV shows and movies to my Hard drive just to be able to watch a movie or show without buffering? And then watch them in my own house as long as I don’t make copies on DVD or distribute them. And if I do this is this an alternative to Cable or Satellite?
The one problem with this besides legal concerns is this: Even if it turns out that Comcast, Directv or DishNetwork offer this service legally, like I think Netflix already does, how do we get the Image onto out larger 50 inch Plasma and LCD TV screens.
Yes you can use a long VGA cable, but how good is the Picture and you still will have to have your PC fairly close to your TV and most people do not keep their PC in their living room, or at least not close to the TV. So I hear you can buy a box called Hauppauge Media MVP which let you network your computer with this box that even has a remote control and it gets the media from your computers Harddrive and displays it on your TV. So now you can hide this box under or behind your TV and the only think you need to run is a network patch cable. Oh and now I hear that they make wireless version too. They also make wireless VGA transmitters and receivers too. But who makes an all in one box that is as small as a cable box but with the power of a laptop computer running windows media center? Will this technolgy become an alternative to Satellite and Cable TV in the next 18 months even if I have to pay, I think it will be cheaper.
Please let me know if anyone has had experience with these programs or technology.
What can we do if our investment homes are deep underwater?
Date: Friday December 12, 2008Posted in: Credit Loans, Economics, Real Estate, finance, legal stuff
I understand that many people live in a home that they purchased a few years ago and they were given a loan payment that was more than 50 percent of their montly income. So now they realize that it is too expensive to pay it and they are looking into doing a short sale or foreclosure. Well it looks like their is some government help available to help them modify their loans, forgive some of their principal, give them lower payments and keep their credit intact. Well that is good for those who are honest and deserve a second chance.
But I have a slightly different situation. My wife and I purchased a second “investment” home in Florida. This home was a complete failure. We paid over $320,000 and now it is worth only $150,000. The builder totally ripped us off. We have good credit, but the rent income from this home does not even pay half of the expenses to keep it, even at the lowest interest rates, and the taxes are very high too. So it is costing us $1000 per month to keep something that is so far underwater that you can compare it to paying for life support on someone who is totally brain dead. We have good credit now, but is it worth it to keep throwing away $1000 per month, or risk loosing some of our credit for a few years. We have no problem paying our primary home mortgage and other bills. but is our credit going to be ruined so bad, only based on one bad item out of 15 other items on our credit report that are in perfect standing, payed on time etc. Can I compare this to getting one or even 2 F’s on a test, when all my other grades are A’s?
I have found a realtor that will help me to short sell this home for a very small fee.
I also have a few credit card balances that I am willing to pay off prior to the short sale. We are also going to try not to miss any payments unless the bank requires us to show some sort of financial hardship. If that happens, I can use the same money to pay off my credit cards completely. Is that a good idea, to boost my credit score up as much as possible, before the short sale inpacts it?
Please post comments or email me with any info. Thanks
