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3 Reasons to Keep the Music Playing

Drake's Scorpion reached 130 million streams 130 million doesn't count how many times listeners repeated the album to keep the music playing.

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3 Reasons to Keep the Music Playing
Silence is golden…good music is platinum. This point was proven by Drake’s newest album Scorpion, which went out and racked up 130 million global streams in its first twenty-four hours. While that number—130,000,000— counts streams, it doesn’t count how many times the music was on repeat. Repeating the album keeps the music playing. This speaks to the force of Drake’s beats, lyrics, and style. There are those inexplicable times when a song just speaks to you and you have to hit the repeat button. Maybe it’s the lyrics, maybe it’s the beat, maybe it’s the situation you find yourself in. No matter the reason, we’ve all experienced a time filled with a single song or album that defines an emotion. These unique times, when you keep the music playing, are doing more for you than you may realize.

Soothing Notes

Happy or sad, angry or joyful, there’s music that comes to mind to help us express these feelings. And it may not be solely music that we turn to when we’ve experienced a great loss or a profound victory. These moments, nonetheless, wouldn’t be as impactful if they did not have music. When we recognize the benefits of music, we can begin to strategically incorporate it into our daily lives. As opposed to listening to music to deal with negative emotions, we can instead play a song in anticipation of those situations we know to cause us stress. Jenny Hole, Martin Hirsch, Dr. Elizabeth Ball, and Dr. Catherine Meads conducted a review in 2015 on this very idea. They checked medical records of patients who’d undergone surgery. There were those who’d listened to music before, during, and after their surgery and reported feeling less stress in anticipation of the surgery, coupled with a speedier recovery time afterward. Patients who didn’t listen to music at all found their stress levels higher and their recovery time to be longer. More interesting than that; listening to music while under anesthesia was shown to have a positive effect on recovery time. The study was inconclusive as to whether these patients were listening to Drake or one of his haters.

Coming Up with New Ideas

Scorpion consisted of 25 tracks! For Drake to produce that much music, he did more than mine his own experiences for material, he collaborated with a host of artists, both new and old, to create new music to fill out Scorpion. Music was part of the process of creating new music. Beyond creating tracks for albums, you can use music to boost your own creativity. It’s been shown that listening to happy music does, in fact, boost divergent thinking—also known as being creative. Don’t limit yourself to just Drake, however, as instrumental music does a better job of accessing the right side of the brain. The right side is where images are stored. By listening to music without words, we put the focus on the right side of the brain. The left side is where words are stored, the logical side. When we listen to music with words, we’re pulling from both sides of the brain. This doesn’t take away our creativity, our brain’s focus is simply split between the two sides. If Drake gets your creativity going, then keep listening to Drake. If you want to branch out into the more instrumental side of the music spectrum, there’s classical music. For those who wouldn’t go near classical music, don’t worry, there’s Epic Music. Epic music is the stuff you hear on trailers for movies and games. Believe it or not, there are bands out there that create such music. Just check out Two Steps From Hell, Heavy Melody, Colossal Trailer Music, Phantom Power, Brian Delgado, and much more!

Enhance Experiences

The greatest movies have spawned some of the greatest music ever. Thanks to composers like John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Alan Silvestri, there are those tunes we hear and automatically think of Superman, Batman, The Avengers, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and many more movies. While these movies tell a story, it’s the music that hints when we need to feel excitement, fear, betrayal, anger, happiness, and ultimately, success. Take the music away from these movies and the experience would feel significantly less. Just try it and you’ll see.

Keep the Music Playing

While silence is golden, admit it, having music playing does give even the most mundane events a bit of a boost. To ensure your experiences are never without a soundtrack, download a music streaming app today. There are plenty available; Apple Music, Prime Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, Slacker Radio, Spotify, and Tidal… to name a few. Of course, which is better is an ongoing debate... which I'll levae up to you. If Scorpion has taught us anything about music is that it is not a one-time thing. Good songs, artists, and genres do so much more than just fill the void. When we keep the music playing, we reduce stress, push our creative boundaries, and enhance experiences.
Keep the music playing with streaming apps. Check out Spectrum internet bundles in your area.

Who Killed Your Wi-Fi?

It's Friday night,you turn on your favorite streaming service. Only to find your TV is stuck on the loading screen. Someone has killed your Wi-Fi. But who?

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Who Killed Your Wi-Fi?
It’s Friday night and you’re simultaneously turning on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu to catch the most recent binge-worthy show. This week’s flavor is...crime dramas. Yet, the TV is stuck on the loading screen. Someone has killed your Wi-Fi. The screen will only show the spinning wheel that never stops. Instead of loading your show it simply taunts you. Thanks to having watched a few police shows already, you’re confident in your detective skills to assess the evidence, round up suspects, and deliver the perpetrator to justice. It’s the Internet Service Provider. Plain and simple. Cue the end credits, no need for further investigation. Right?

Bring It Out Into the Open

Your badge isn’t on the line, but admit it, you jumped straight to the conclusion that your ISP killed your Wi-Fi. Stop and look around the room. Locate the Wi-Fi router. Is it tucked away in the corner? Set high up a shelf with books? Hidden behind your TV because you’re ashamed that it doesn’t fit with the overall aesthetic? Now is the time to move it somewhere closer to the middle of your house or apartment. Wi-Fi, like a sprinkler, does its best when it’s in the middle of the space and can be seen from each corner easily. An optimal location for it would be to install it on the ceiling. Obviously, this isn’t an option for everyone. There’s also the concern of having your Wi-Fi router hanging from the ceiling like a bat. While this option may not be feasible for most, work to locate a spot near the middle of your living space. Be it an apartment or home, there should be a spot near the center that you can use to set your router. Also, try to get it up as high as you can. Going back to the sprinkler metaphor; sprinklers cast the water out and it falls to the earth. So the higher the sprinkler, the greater the coverage of the lawn. Same with a Wi-Fi router, though the signal doesn’t fall like water, you’ll notice better reception when it is placed higher.

Appliances Are An Accomplice

Your Wi-Fi router, while sitting still and unassuming, is constantly being accosted as it tries to do its job--send and receive signals. Some of these suspects may be surprising to you.

Home appliances

This may seem obvious. Most appliances plug into the wall and are made out of metal. All that metal and electricity interfere with a Wi-Fi signal. In a way, they create their own little signals. They don’t mean to do it as they’re just doing a job as well. The problem can be exacerbated further with appliances now coming with their own Wi-Fi signals in an attempt to make homes “smarter.” Think of the refrigerators with touch screens and cameras inside. While these are meant to work with your personal Wi-Fi network, they can also end up taking more of the bandwidth and leaving you sitting there staring at the pinwheel of boredom.

Blinds

Some blinds are made of plastic or compressed board. And a lot are manufactured out of metal. Again, the metal is what will affect your Wi-Fi signal. On the flipside, there may be a new market here- “Interior Design that is both stylish and won’t kill your Wi-Fi!”

Mirrors

The reflective coating that gives mirrors their...mirror-ness, also bounce Wi-Fi signals off in haphazard directions.

Reinforced Concrete

The rebar inside of reinforced concrete will affect the Wi-Fi signal, as well as the dense nature of the concrete itself. This time it's not just the metal, but the concrete too.

Fish Tanks

Yes, there are comprised of metal too, but also a lot of water. So while Nemo is taking laps and plotting his escape, the water he’s swimming in is also making it difficult for your Wi-Fi signal to get through. Of course, you can’t take out all the metal in your home, nor can you leave the windows uncovered and tear down any walls. There will be obstacles to your Wi-Fi, but you can eliminate or lessen them by placing your router somewhere up high and near the center of your abode. There are also ways to extend your Wi-Fi signal.

The Butler Did It!

Those smart home devices mentioned earlier? Yeah, they could be the ones who killed your Wi-Fi, or they may be taking up a lot of the bandwidth. Earlier this year, it was revealed that these smart home devices were actually bogging down your home's Wi-Fi signals. A bug in the system caused a lot of data to be sent at once, impeding the Wi-Fi. Most of the kinks are being resolved right now, but don’t be surprised if your Wi-Fi is slow after you plug in your newest smart home device. There is good news; patches have been sent out in updates to fix the problem. So if you haven’t updated yet, this may be the reason. Or maybe those little boxes just got tired of you shouting at it? Maybe.

It's an Open and Shut Case

Thanks to buddy cop movies and police procedural shows we can solve the case of "who killed your Wi-Fi?" with confidence. But do not, and this is important, start trying to solve murder/arson/robbery cases on your own. Leave that up to the professionals! What it all boils down to is understanding the technology you use and how its affected by items in your home. This knowledge will ensure a proper solution to these “crimes.” The next time you see the spinning wheel of doom, take a moment to assess the room and figure out if the router just needs to be moved or if you have an appliance in the way? 
Looking to stream more police procedurals and crime dramas? Check out the best Spectrum internet deals.

4 Ways to Keep Rising Prices from Burning Up Your Wallet

Since a few streaming services have decided to raise their rates, this also creates optimal fire conditions in your wallet.

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4 Ways to Keep Rising Prices from Burning Up Your Wallet
With summer in full swing, temperatures rise. It’s not uncommon to see forest fires in more rural parts of the country. As the heat and the dry winds cause perfect conditions for fires to start. Since a few streaming services have decided to raise their rates, this also creates optimal fire conditions in your wallet.

Temperature Rising

Within the last week Playstation VUE, DirecTV have announced a price increase of at least $5 to their streaming services. It doesn’t help that Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Netflix have also announced price hikes in the last six months.

It’s not all bad

Despite no clear explanation for the price increase, Playstation VUE and DirecTV are still going to deliver the same great shows and live TV they always have…just at a little bit more of a price tag. These streaming services provide cable channels without the actual cables, which is a definite plus for some people. For example, FIFA’s World Cup is garnering lots of attention, even though it's already half-over. Since it’s being held in Russia, which is on the other side of the globe, being able to stream games live is a necessity. Come August we’ll see this happen again when the NFL kicks into high gear with their 2018-2019 season.

Fire Risk

With so many streaming options available, there’s a significant portion of the population with more than one streaming membership. Now, what may be just a $5 increase for one streaming service, is becoming a $10, $15 increase per month. Some people are faced with the choice of deciding whether that price tag is worth premium access, even if it is for the World Cup and the NFL.

Rising Prices

Prices go up, that’s one thing we can all rely on with certainty. Therefore, there are those who will simply pay the increase and find ways to cut costs somewhere else in their budgets. Then there will be those who decide it’s not worth the extra five, ten, fifteen dollars a month to have multiple streaming services. Yet, the decision will be difficult as to which streaming service to cut and why. Take heart, as there are other options.

Reduce Your Internet Bill

To keep your streaming services, you can find ways to reduce your internet bill, thus absorbing the cost of the price increase that way. Before you dial the customer service line, realize that this isn’t a life and death negotiation. It’s just business. The customer service rep on the other end of the line won’t take it personally that you’re trying to reduce your bill. They will still get paid at the end of the day. Come into it as though you’re simply talking dollars and sense. Knowing this you can confidently dial the customer service line for your ISP. Start by giving them your cancellation date. This lets them know you’re serious. Once you have their attention, request a lower rate, possibly the introductory rate. If they can’t give you the introductory rate, don’t settle for “the next best thing.” Set a price and stick to it. If they won’t play ball with you, then hang up. It’s as simple as that. If they still want your business, then you’ll be getting a call back from a retention specialist. It’s this person’s job to keep you as a customer for the company. When they’re calling you, you’re the one calling the shots. From there you can set the tone of the conversation and demand a lower rate. If they’re still not going to budge on their price, let them know you’ve already set your cancellation date. If the retention specialist is wise, this person will at least entertain the idea of a lower rate. When this happens, you can even offer to buy the modem and router your ISP provided to bargain for a lower price. This way you’re no longer paying the monthly rental fee!

Skimpy Bundles

If negotiation isn’t your thing, then you can cancel your streaming services and go with a Skimpy Bundle. The trade-off with a skimpy bundle service is a sacrifice of access to unlimited content in exchange for a select number of channels for a cheaper price. You’ll still get a good picture and ad-free content but on a smaller scale.

AT&Ts Watch TV

AT&T’s cheapest live TV streaming service, Watch TV comes in at $15 a month. With this, you can stream 31 channels to your smartphone, tablet, or set-top box, but only one at a time.

Philo

Backed by cable TV content providers, Philo offers a base package of 37 channels that includes a lot of the big-name channels. You can also stream on multiple devices at the same time. There are other packages that offer more channels, but of course, they’ll cost more. The base package only costs $16 a month. Unfortunately, there are no sports channels offered.

Fubo TV

Fubo TV does have a nice introductory package of 70+ channels that includes a healthy sampling of sports channels! After a seven-day free trial, your first month will be $19.99. The drawback is after that first month, the price goes up to the normal amount of $44.99. This would be a great way to enjoy your sports for a short time then cancel once the season ends.

Extinguish the Fire

With these suggestions in mind, you don’t have to let the streaming services dictate how much you’ll be paying. There are ways around the higher prices. All it takes is a little research, a little time, and you’ll find the right viewing options for you at the right price. This will keep the money in your wallet from burning up this summer!
To ensure the best streaming experience, find the best deals on Spectrum internet bundles

DirecTV Now is the Future of Television!

The future of television is here.  No more missing work for installations; no more long contracts; DirecTV Now is here! It is the future of television!

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DirecTV Now is the Future of Television!
What a wonderful time to be alive!  The future of television is here.  No more missing work for installations; no more long contracts; no more clunky TV boxes and tangled wires; and most importantly, no more overspending.  DirecTV Now is here!

The state of cable television today

Live TV streaming services are the future of television, and you can expect that every cable TV monopoly (err… I mean, company) in America will be creating their own version of it.  Dish Network was the first to pioneer this trend with Sling TV.  As with Netflix and Hulu, all you need is a good Internet connection (preferably 5 Mbps per device streaming) and a smart device.  Presently, there are only a handful of these live TV streaming services.  We’re going to take an in-depth look at DirecTV’s lovechild, DirecTV Now. Four years after purchasing DirecTV, AT&T has seen the writing on the wall.  Mainstream America is becoming less and less smitten with satellite installations, two-year contracts, and $7 leasing charges for each TV box per month.  A household with four TVs on a middle-of-the-pack channel package with DirecTV averages around $150 per month.  After the first year, new customer promotional pricing expires.  If you have unlimited data, streaming services like Netflix ($8/month) and Hulu ($7.99/month) are proving more economical to the family piggy bank.  DirecTV is not the only cable company suffering to this new trend in America.  Everyone is.

The deets

AT&T’s answer to the problem is DirecTV Now. Popular TV channels, along with local and regional sports networks, can all be broadcast live from any device that can connect to the Internet (tablets, smartphones, laptops, PC’s, smart TVs, etc.).  Don’t have a smart TV?  No problem.  Turn your dumb TV into a smart TV with Google Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Firestick, or Apple TV.  DirecTV Now is currently offering a promotion that will give you a free Roku, valued at $49.99, if you prepay for one month of service at full price, which can be as low as $35. If you aren’t happy with the service, you can cancel after the first month with no penalty and get a $15 discount on a Roku.  Not too bad if you ask me!  They have another promotion for you Apple-lovers where if you prepay for 3 months at full price, which can be as low as $105, you get a free AppleTV.  That’s a retail value of $179. If you’re already up-to-date with today’s technology, then the above promotion probably means nothing to you.  So, DirecTV Now’s promotion for $10 for the first 3 months on the “Live a Little” package will probably tickle your fancy better.  At $10 a month, you get 60+ channels which includes your local channels and pretty much all the top channels that most people would want to watch.  After three months, the price reverts to the regular rate of $35.  I can handle a $35 cable bill, and I’m pretty sure you can, too.  And did I mention you can cancel or start back up at any time? There’s also one more promotion you can take advantage of where you try the service free for a week and see if it’s worth paying the full retail price for whatever channel package you choose, but I feel like the two promotions I mentioned above are much better.  I mean, I could easily blow $10 on a McDonald’s drive-thru lunch session, so why not get TV for a month instead? Below are the lineups showing the most popular channels for all the packages offered by DirecTV Now. Pretty much every main channel is covered in these packages.  And did you notice that it’s just $5 for HBO?  Pretty sweet deal for all you Game of Thrones fans.  I’d bend the knee to that (that reference will only make sense to GoT fans).  Seriously, though, this is where DirecTV Now really wins: their premium channel pricing. Setup is easy, but you do need to be mindful that whichever promotion you settle on, your credit card will be set to auto-charge itself whenever a payment is due; if you plan on canceling, you will need to do it manually.

Working out the kinks

Not everything is all peaches and cream with DirecTV Now. It’s still in its early stages, so there are still bugs.  Reports of On Demand shows appearing as available when they really aren’t is the most often reported bug.  It’s highly annoying when the latest episode of “The Bachelor” is not even available to view and you can’t find out who got the rose tonight! The DVR service is still in its beta form.  Beta is already a warning sign that you can expect issues.  Right now, the service only offers 20 hours of cloud storage space for recordings and will hang onto them for 30 days. That’s not horrible but 20 hours I could fill up in less than a week if I’m adulting enough and not watching television.  There was an announcement that 100 hours will be available later this year as an add-on feature.  Another drawback to the DVR is that you can’t at this early stage of the app rewind live TV.  And pausing live TV will only freeze the current programming, and when you press play, instead of picking up where you left off, it plays what’s live again.  So, there’s no real point in pausing anything live if it’s only going to play what’s live when you press play.  Recordings will play, pause, rewind, and fast forward like any other DVR you’ve ever used. DirecTV Now as of right now will only allow you to stream on 2 devices at a time.  As with Netflix, you can add one more device to stream at the same time for $5 more.  I’m sure once Live TV streaming services become more prevalent, the competitive market will force this to increase at little to no cost.  Time will only tell with that one.

The future of television

Other than these minor setbacks, DirecTV Now looks like it’s going to be a staple in many households for years to come and it’s only going to get better just if the pricing doesn’t start mimicking its satellite pricing.  Offering more TV channels for your money than its main competitor, Sling TV, a great HD picture quality (4k on its way), and a user-friendly interface, DirecTV Now looks destined to have a bright future within the Live TV streaming market. Here’s a bold prediction but I feel it in my bones: DirecTV Now and its Live TV streaming competitors will be the norm in America within the next 10 years.  Receiving your cable TV from a cable line or satellite will become ancient technology like the car phone. The only thing coming in on that cable line or satellite will be high-speed internet.  This is a good thing and we just need to embrace it with fatter wallets and purses.

Top Cable TV Apps and Reviews

As a busy person,you don’t always have time to sit on the couch and watch shows. You need a portable option that you can take anywhere—luckily,most of the

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Top Cable TV Apps and Reviews

Updated 02/17/2020

As a busy person, you don't always have time to sit on the couch and watch shows. You need a portable option that you can take anywhere—luckily, most of the major providers now offer TV apps. If you primarily plan to watch cable through an app, you should closely review the apps before you make your choice. In some cases, you may want to skip a traditional cable subscription and just get an app.

AT&T U-Verse Live TV

After being a phone company for generations, AT&T has now emerged as the country's biggest internet provider, and it's dabbling in the world of TV with an app. You don't have to be an AT&T customer to buy the app. Instead, anyone can sign up-- there's just a monthly subscription fee. The app works on Windows computers via iTunes, but it also works on iphones and androids. You get the typical line up of ESPN, Fox Sports, Comedy Central, and other popular options.

DirecTV App

If you are a DirecTV subscriber, you have free access to the DirecTV app. It works on androids, iphones, and even Kindles as well as on most computers. The app allows you to watch live TV, but generally, you can't pick up the local channels through that feature. You can also access a huge range of on-demand shows including HBO, Showtime, and any other premium channels you subscribe to. The app works perfectly in most cases, but for some reason, DirectV struggles with updates. It seems to take a while to get out the bugs anytime the company updates its app.

Charter TV

To use the Charter TV app, you have to subscribe to the company's cable service. The app works on iphones, androids, and kindles, and it gives you access to live TV from 150 channels. Heading out camping? Going on a long road trip in an area without service? That's one of the best benefits of the Spectrum TV app--you can download shows and movies to watch offline.

DirecTV's Sunday Ticket App

Sports is one of the best things on TV, and it's the reason many people still subscribe to cable. It's almost impossible to get sports anywhere else. DirecTV subscribers can watch their favorite NFL games from anywhere with the Sunday Ticket app. The app works on most of the major platforms, but you have to subscribe to the Sunday Ticket to get access. This is an add-on subscription, but DirecTV often offers deals for new customers. With the app, you can catch games, check out highlights and even track your fantasy football league players.

HBO

In addition to apps that give you access to your cable package remotely, there are all kinds of apps that are just devoted to one channel. There's a Comedy Central app, a Disney channel app, an ESPN app, and all kinds of similar ones. However, with most of these apps, you have to be a cable subscriber. With HBO, it's a bit different. If you have cable and an HBO subscription, you can use the HBO Go app for free. If you want to watch HBO but you don't have a cable subscription, no problem. You can get a standalone subscription and watch it through the HBO Now app. Apps are changing how we watch TV, and they are a cost effective way to keep up with your favorite shows on the go. In many cases, you can get apps free with your cable service. In other cases (such as with HBO Now), you can test out the app with a free trial before you pay.

Facebook Status Update

It's time to hold great TV in your hand. It's time for the convenience of cable on your computer. Want to take entertainment on the go? Check out our review of the best cable TV apps.