Xbox's Revamped Games With Gold Goes Live

Last call for free Saints Row The Third. Xbox has extended its Games With Gold feature to the Xbox One, meaning a single Xbox Live Gold account will get you free games on your Xbox 360 and Xbox One. This month Xbox 360 gamers will receive a third free game, June's free games are as follows:

• Halo: Spartan Assault and Max: The Curse of Brotherhood for Xbox One
• Dark Souls, Charlie Murder and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition

Games are available the first and 16th of each month. The Xbox One Games With Gold program operates a bit differently than the Xbox 360 version. The Xbox 360 Games With Gold program allows any Xbox Live Gold member to download a game and keep it essentially forever. The Xbox One Games With Gold offers games on a subscription basis, if your Gold membership lapses than you cannot play games that you already downloaded. Xbox One owners will also have access to “Deals With Gold” sales starting with Forza 5 and Ryse: Son of Rome.

Microsoft is planning a huge update for June, where the console will receive support for external storage, a Real Names feature for easily identifying your real-world friends, auto-sign-in, major updates to SmartGlass, and an expansion of TV and OneGuide capabilities to more regions. June will also see an end to the need for an Xbox Live Gold account to access popular apps such as Netflix, HBO Go and ESPN among others. Once the Xbox One and Xbox 360 system updates become available in June, Xbox Live Gold members who purchased a paid membership before that day can cancel and receive a pro-rata refund of any unused remaining days between the date of cancellation and the date their paid Gold membership ends. Cancellation and pro-rated refund requests must be made by August 31, 2014 and require six to eight weeks for processing. Free or trial Gold memberships are not eligible for a refund. To request your pro-rated refund, please click http://support.xbox.com/contact-us after the system updates become available.

My First Week With an Amazon Fire TV

I was wanting to update my prior Unboxing and Day One Impressions post that I made regarding The Amazon Fire TV. After my inability to find The Simpsons: Tapped Out on the Fire TV as well as the need for a game controller, not included, to play Minecraft, I made it a goal to find a game that I could play on the Fire TV.

My third attempt at playing a game on the device was Sonic the Hedgehog, I already owned the game and when I clicked to play it I was met with a familiar error message.







I was now 0-3 in playing games for the Fire TV, I decided that I was going to pay for a game that was not only Fire TV compatible but also one that I knew the controls would not be more difficult than the included controller. I downloaded Plants vs Zombies and when I did not receive the additional controller needed error message when I started it up I was optimistic. At the menu screen for the game I could not do anything, literally nothing. I decided I was done with trying to play a game on the Fire TV, I resigned myself to the fact that all new devices have issues and one of the Fire TV's issues was that it would not play games. I made a plan to contact Amazon the next day regarding Plants vs Zombies but before I could, they e-mailed me.

• We're contacting you about order # for "Plants vs. Zombies." We recently learned that this app isn't compatible with Amazon Fire TV. As a result, we've issued a refund to your account without revoking access to it. The app will therefore no longer be available in your Amazon Fire TV app library.
  
  This refund will be applied to the payment method used for the original purchase and should complete within the next 2-3 business days.
  
  We're very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
  
  We hope to see you again soon.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Customer Service
  Amazon.com

So I can't play it on my Fire TV but they refunded me the purchase amount plus it is still accessible on my tablet and smartphone, good looking out Amazon. Still it would be nice to actually be able to play a game, I turned to a title that I own but haven't played in almost a year, Quell. Quell is a simple puzzle game where you can only move in any of the basic four directions (up, down, left right), the game looked the same as it does on my Kindle Fire tablet, then again I don't know what I was expecting given that Quell's graphics, like its controls, are very simple.

Now that I have managed to play a game on the Fire TV I can focus on some of its other features. The voice controls work for Amazon's digital library which is a good thing but when I am watching Netflix and I voice command a show it kicks me out of Netflix and moves me to Amazon's library. Keeping on the subject of Netflix, the video quality is noticeably inferior to that of Amazon's Digital library, I regularly notice that Netflix's video quality can vary from good to bad yet Amazon's featured content is always good. It also takes a while, for me at least, to get the next video to load on Netflix after the countdown ends while watching a TV series.

I did finally get voice command to work for Flight of the Conchords but searching only for "Flight of The", it was the fifth title listed. I still see no reason that the Fire TV will replace anything currently in my media center, I would say without question that my Xbox 360 does everything the Fire TV does and more, plus it does it better. I could also be a little harsh on the Fire TV because when I was watching the Mad Men midseason finale on my desktop I accidentally touched a button on the Fire TV controller and it automatically changed the video source off of my PC. This could be considered a nice feature if you don't want to have to find the TV remote to change the video source but understand, there was nothing nice about it when it happened unintentionally. I do not dislike the Fire TV but I am confident that it is not for me and I doubt that I will keep it much longer before I return it to Amazon.

Free Art Friday: Discovering New Artists Through Social Media

On the hunt for original art from local artists? Start with Facebook. Miami and Broward both have Free Art Fridays which give local artists a platform to share their creativity in a scavenger hunt manner. On Fridays, and even some "Spillover" Saturdays, local artists drop their work in various locations giving clues to where you can find it and all they ask in return for you receiving free art is for you to share your find on Facebook. The pieces do get found rather quickly but the flipside to this is that you at the very least get to discover local artists whose work you like, and you can contact them directly to see if they have any available pieces for you to purchase. I was fortunate enough to ask Registered Artist, the founder of the Miami chapter, a few questions.

• How did Miami Free Art Friday get started? "I started the group in December 2012 during the Friday of Art Basel. It was my friends that I trade art with in Chicago, California, Scotland and Australia who encouraged me to spread the worldwide movement to Miami".
• So it wasn't started in Miami? "It was started 3 years before I knew it existed, I was urged by a few of my International artist friends who had been doing for some time now...it was originated in Australia by MyDogSigh"
• How instrumental would you say that social media has been towards the success of Free Art Friday? Social Media has been crucial to FAF as its our way to expand and let people aware of whats going on. People have been doing art for free before FAF but it's more organized now. I recruited a few locals to help out and little by little started meeting more locals. They told someone, who told someone...etc"

If you wish to get involved with either Broward or Miami's Free Art Friday, look them up on Facebook and send a request to join the group, happy hunting. 

Dogecoin, A Currency of Community

I have been getting asked about Dogecoin a lot recently due to its mainstream attention regarding NASCAR driver Josh Wise, mentioned in The Washington Post, NPR and The Wall Street Journal to name a few. Dogecoin is similar to Bitcoin in the sense that they are both forms of cryptocurrency, and that's where the comparisons end. In August 2013, doge memes were spammed onto Reddit's r/MURICA by 4chan's /b/. A search of the term doge on Google Trends shows an explosion of popularity occurring in October 2013, and more so in the following month. Not long after in December, Dogecoin was created by programmer Billy Markus who hoped to create a fun cryptocurrency that could reach a broader demographic than Bitcoin. At the same time, Jackson Palmer, a member of Adobe Systems' marketing department was encouraged on Twitter to make the idea a reality.

I recently turned to the mods at /r/dogecoin to ask them if they would be willing to answer a few questions that I had regarding the currency, they told me that there was nothing they could tell me that the community(shibes, a reference to the Shiba Inu breed used for Doge and Dogecoin logo) couldn't better explain and encouraged me to make a post. In the comments I was met with people that were not only pleasant but also very knowledgeable and willing to answer any and all questions that I had. Here is a link to that thread , not once was I met with anything other than what very well may be the nicest community that I have encountered on the internet and that is what sets Doge apart. The following is taken from Dogecoin's wiki:

• On January 19, 2014, a fundraiser was established by the Dogecoin community to raise $50,000 for the Jamaican Bobsled Team, which had qualified for, but could not afford to go to, the Sochi Winter Olympics. By the second day, $30,000 worth of Dogecoin was donated, and the Dogecoin community also raised funds for a second Sochi athlete Shiva Keshavan.
• Inspired by the Winter Olympics fundraiser and smaller charity fundraising successes, the Dogecoin Foundation, led by Eric Nakagawa, began collecting donations to build a well in the Tana river bassin in Kenya in cooperation with charity: water. They set out to raise a total of 40,000,000 Dogecoin (~$30,000 at the time) before World Water Day on March 22nd. The campaign succeeded, collecting donations from more than 4,000 donors, including one anonymous benefactor who donated 14,000,000 Dogecoin in what news media dubbed "the most valuable tweet in history".
• On March 25, 2014, the Dogecoin community successfully raised 67.8 million Dogecoins (~$55,000 at the time) in an effort to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise. Wise ran with a Dogecoin/Reddit-sponsored paint scheme at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. On May 4, 2014, Wise and his car were featured for nearly a minute, during which the race commentators discussed Dogecoin and the crowdfunding effort, while finishing 20th and narrowly avoiding multiple wrecks. On May 16, 2014, Josh Wise won a spot at the Sprint All-Star Race through an online fan vote beating household name Danica Patrick, largely due to the efforts of the Dogecoin Reddit community. He finished the race in 15th. 

Bitcoin has been around for going on five years now and most people involved in BTC are doing so for the gains (a loose conversion would be each bitcoin worth ~$500), Dogecoin on the other hand isn't worth more than $0.50 per 1000DOGE. So, why do people spend their time so invested in a cryptocurrency worth less than you can find in your couch? Because unlike Bitcoin, Shibes aren't in this for the money, not now at least. If you were to ask someone how to get BTC they would most likely direct you to a FAQ of sorts, ask someone how to acquire DOGE and you very well may get a dogetip, I went from no DOGE to over 875.00DOGE in my single post to their subreddit. Much like with any cryptocurrency Dogecoin is unpredictable, however shibes have no problem coming together for a common goal and that is what will prevent Dogecoin from going belly up.

A Shiba Inu, belly up

Mining, Blockchains, Value and Further Understanding Cryptocurrency

In Making Sense of Cryptocurrency I posted links for both Bitcoin and Dogecoin which showed How to:

• Get a Wallet
• Get coins
• Spend coins

Now that the basics have been touched on we can focus on learning more starting with coin mining. Mining is not for everyone, it takes particular hardware specifications and may cost more in electricity than you can mine and there are also multiple ways to mine. I've included a link to a Beginner's Guide to Mining Bitcoins which will pick up where my first post ended. This is a link to a Dogecoin Mining Guide which also shows you how to build a Dogecoin mining rig. Now that you (should) have a wallet the linked post will explain how to get a client, the author of the bitcoin Mining Guide does a pretty decent job of explaining why he recommends joining a pool as opposed to using the basic software to make coins. "...The reason is that bitcoins are mined in blocks of 50. You can’t mine just 1 at a time. So unless you have a massive mining machine, the odds of you actually discovering a block at the current difficulty is extremely low. It actually might never happen. That being said, it can still be done, but it would be an extraordinary lucky occurrence. In a pool, you are working together to discover a block and you will receive a lot of smaller payouts with much more consistency." Another resource you should consult when deciding if mining bitcoins is the best course of action for you is the Bitcoin Mining Profitability Calculator. Assuming you have your hardware up to par and your wallet, the next step would be acquiring mining software.
 
What are blockchains? The blockchain is a public ledger of all transactions in the coin network. Blockchain.info allows you to navigate the bitcoin blockchain and also operates Bitcoin's largest and most secure wallet service. Dogechain is branded "the official dogecoin blockchain".


What's it worth? That varies, Here is a converter for Dogecoin/bitcoin value.

Hopefully between the two posts you can see how to get started with digital currency. If mining is not for you than you can always purchase from the previous link provided or if you operate a business than you can accept Bitcoin/Dogecoin as a form of payment. There is also the option of receiving cryptocurrency from tips, something that I will get into more in tomorrow's Dogecoin feature. 

June Technology Events in Miami

June 2nd - August 29th 08:00AM - 05:00PM - Free YouthSpark Summer Camps at the Microsoft Retail store located at 7535 Dadeland Mall, Suite 2416 Miami, FL 33156 United States. RSVP NOW

• Smart Photo Taking classes are available for Jr Designers (children aged 8 to 10 years old) and Designers (aged 11 to 13 years old).
• Smart Movie Making classes are available for both Designers and Jr Designers.
• Smart Game Coding classes are available for Jr Designers while Smart Game Designing classes are available for Designers.

June 7th 09:00AM - 05:30PM - Money Trail Hackathon at Univision Noticias – Fusion Newsport located at 8551 NW 30th Terrace Doral, FL 33122 United States. RSVP NOW

• "Join Hacks/Hackers Miami for the first-ever Pan Latin American Hack Day. This free all-day event will bring together coders, journalists and designers from nine countries for a first-of-its-kind regional hackathon."

June 10th 07:00AM - 02:00PM - Yahoo’s Business & Human Rights Program at The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse located at 404 NW 26 Street Miami, FL 33127 United States. RSVP BY June 6th

• "A day of candid conversations with rising and established companies, academics, and NGOs, all passionate about putting users first. Speakers, including Juan Pablo Cappello of the Private Advising Group, Yahoo’s Vice-President of Information Security, Alex Stamos, and Dalia Topelson of Harvard’s Berkman Center, will join us to discuss what young companies should know about the intersection of privacy and free expression and technology, including policies to have in place at launch and beyond."

I will update throughout the month as new events are announced/discovered.

Making Sense of Cryptocurrency

I decided to give my take on Dogecoin but I think that would be difficult if a person didn't have a basic understanding of cryptocurrency in general first. Cryptocurrency is a form of online currency that has been around since 2009 starting with Bitcoin. In lieu of writing out a Getting Started with Bitcoin, I decided it best to link the guide created by weusecoins.com as well as a Getting Started Guide for Dogecoin. As you can see in the first guide multiple places exist where you can not only spend your Bitcoin's but also convert them into physical money. Cryptocurrency has a predetermined cap amount at which point no more digital coins can be produced, unlike physical money that is printed with no regard of how much is actually in circulation. Digital coins are also impossible to counterfeit, again unlike the dollar, so if there are said to be 1 Billion Dogecoin available than you can bank on that being the actual number.

Arguably, the two most newsworthy of the cryptocurrency bunch would have to be Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Bitcoin reports tend to switch between statements of how it's going to revolutionize the internet or how it's a dangerous scam that nobody can truly predict or understand. This report on Bitcoin replacing PayPal is an example of the former, with digital currency you have lower transaction fees than you would find with either a bank or specifically in this case, Paypal. An example of the latter can be found in this article, just like with physical money there are going to be unsavory individuals that want what you have and are willing to take it. Dogecoin's reputation is different, it seems most of what you hear about regarding Dogecoin is in its fundraising. I will talk more about everything Dogecoin has done in my post about it specifically so I'll just touch on its recent headlines. On March 25, 2014, the Dogecoin community raised 67.8 million Dogecoins, equivalent to ~$55,000 at the time($26,875 today), sponsoring NASCAR driver Josh Wise. The Dogecoin community has continued its support of Wise recently helping him to beat out Danica Patrick for a spot in the Sprint All-Star Race through an online fan vote.

Hopefully this will give a person an understanding of what cryptocurrency is, Dogecoin and Bitcoin may both appear to be the same thing on the surface but they are actually pretty far apart. At the time of this post 1000 Bitcoin, also read as 1000 or 1000 BTC is valued at $593,444.32 whereas 1000 Dogecoin, also read as Ð1000 or 1000 DOGE is valued at $0.40.

Amazon Fire TV Unboxing and Day One Impressions

First impression: "This looks tiny"

Confirmed, it's smaller than a Nintendo DS game case

The contents inside of the box were the Fire TV, a remote control, batteries for the control, power cord and the instructions. The only thing missing for me to set it up was an HDMI cable which I had laying around the house.

Shot of the main screen.

The setup was as simple as plug the power cord into an electrical outlet and the back of the Fire TV, then plug an HDMI cable into the Fire TV as well as your television. After powering on the Fire TV you are directed to connect the device to a  network and then you are shown a tutorial video.

Voice command seemed to work really well except for the one show I was trying to watch, I used the control to manually navigate and found the show easily.

I again tried the voice navigation to search for the one mobile game I waste a decent amount of time on, The Simpsons Tapped Out...points for trying?

So they don't have the game I was really wanting to play, at least I can try Minecraft...or not. Though I could not play Minecraft I should note that it downloaded rather quickly.








So, after one night I am not overly convinced that this will replace anything currently in my entertainment center but my mind could be changed over the next month. I will update at the end of this week.

Murder Suspect Filmed His Plan To Kill.

Link for mobile

In Isla Vista, CA, twenty-two year old Elliot Rodger kept a regularly updated Youtube channel and he made his last entry within twenty-four hours of allegedly killing six people before turning his gun on himself. Elliot is said to have stabbed three people, two of which were his roommates, then went to a local sorority house(as he said he would in the video) but when he could not gain entry he opened fire out front killing two students. The suspect killed another person in a nearby shooting and injured a total of eleven others. There are definite signs that Elliot was not in his right mind and his parents claim they alerted the police weeks ago yet nothing came of it after the police determined there was not cause for concern. On Elliot's Youtube Channel there are currently twenty-one videos and you can watch them in order finishing with the one linked here.

This is far from the first time a premeditated attack has been caught on film and it reminds me of a similar case from almost two decades earlier. Ricardo López, also known as the Björk Stalker, filmed his obsession with the Icelandic singer as he built a bomb and mailed it to her before filming his own suicide. Ricardo filming his plan to kill unintentionally wound up saving Björk after police watched the videos and they intercepted the package in London. I've included The Video Diary of Ricardo López a documentary which focuses less on the bomb making and omits his actual suicide, which is still readily available for viewing on the internet.

CodeDay Miami Kicks Off

Starting at noon and running for a full 24 hours, CodeDay Miami has begun...allegedly. RefreshMiami descibes the event as "CodeDay is a 24-hour event where students passionate about technology get together and build cool things together! You pitch ideas, form teams, and build a cool app or game over 24 hours! The event is open to all currently enrolled students. Usually, most of the attendees are in high school and college. Middle school students that can behave independently are allowed." That all sounds great but when i click on the actual CodeDay Miami site I am met with the following message: "Whoops, looks like something went wrong." Undeterred, I clicked on their Eventbrite link and was met with: "This Event is Currently Unavailable." The procrastinator I am truly hopes that this event is full and if I want to take part next year I better move before the day of the event. The skeptic I am hopes that this event wasn't cancelled, Miami has a chance to separate itself from the rest of the technology pack and it needs more events like CodeDay to show Miami belongs not only with the pack but ahead of it.

A Wild Fake Pokemon GBA Cartridge Appeared!

Today I had a chance to make time for one of my oldest hobbies, collecting video games. I'm certain in future posts I will be able to delve more into my collection and collecting habits but this is more of a cautionary tale. As far as game collecting goes, the Game Boy Advance Pokemon games (FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald) are still sought out and average around $25 - $30 each per legitimate copy. Ebay is currently loaded with knockoffs and if you aren't careful you will end up with a fake, a working fake, yet fake nonetheless.

Take a look at the two cartridges in the picture, both are allegedly legitimate copies of Pokemon FireRed but only the game on the left is authentic.

• First look at the glare on the label, a legitimate copy of a Pokemon GBA game will have a reflective foil label.
• Next a more subtle difference, if you zoom in on the picture you can see the legitimate copy has a round indention underneath FireRed, even if it is not visible you should still be able to feel it by running your finger over the label.

•  Look at how bold the E is on the ESRB rating compared to the fake version.
• Another subtle difference is the "Fat Nintendo" logo featured on the fake copy of Pokemon compared to the more "Svelte Nintendo" logo the real copy sports.
• You will also notice that AGB-BPRE-USA on the legitimate copy is thinner than its fake counterpart.
• The font for GameBoy Advance at the top of the cartridge is also different between the two.

 

•  The most telling difference in the front of the two games is how clear of a case the fake copy of FireRed has in comparison to the legitimate copy. You should not be able to see through the front of a copy of FireRed or LeafGreen.
• So, just off of the front of a Pokemon game for the GBA we can see multiple differences but it doesn't end there. You should also be able to see how dull the coloring on the text in the label is on the fake version of FireRed.

• Comparing the back of the cartridge we can see even more differences between the two. One thing I have yet to see a counterfeiter duplicate is Nintendo's trademark tri-screw. The screw on the fake game on the right looks warped, like somebody tried making it look like the correct one on the left.
• You should notice differences with the font on the two cartridges and the details the clearer, fake case shows. As counterfeiters get better they are going to start addressing some of the differences to make theirs look more real, its good to know several things to look for.

Lastly I will say look at the actual underside of the cartridge near the contacts, a legitimate version will read: ©2001 Nintendo instead of just "Nintendo". Now with your newfound knowledge go take a look at how many fake copies of GBA Pokemon games there are on Ebay as opposed to how few real copies there are. If you find a listing from Hong Kong or China, chances are they are fake copies. If you see a listing where the photo is a generic box art and not actually the cartridge, chances are they are fake. If you see a listing for a Pokemon game that was never released on GBA (Pokemon Cyber, Pokemon Chaos Black, Pokemon Quartz...) , chances are they are fake. A few years back before I had this knowledge of GBA Pokemon games I "won" an Ebay auction for all five GBA Pokemon games, upon doing a little research online I discovered all five were counterfeit. I messaged the seller telling him I knew the were fake and the seller refunded me my purchase price plus I kept all of the games, which still work. I should also note that legitimate copies of Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald do have more of a see through case than LeafGreen and FireRed do.

I Make Gifs

I don't really think they are that good quality of gifs, but they are easy to make and it prevents me from having to search for a gif when I feel an online exchange will be enhanced by them.

I changed the gif size to Large for this post.

• A copy of the video, youtube link... : This should be a no brainer, if you are going to make a gif from a video than you need a copy of the video. You could download a copy from you favorite tracker or you could just find a copy of it on the internet.
• YTD Youtube Downloader : If you prefer not to torrent your shows I would recommend  making sure you have a downloader that works with the particular site, YTD is free and it works on several sites including multiple NSFW ones.
• Windows Live Movie Maker : If you have Windows than you should have this, I did not know this existed on my computer until I specifically searched for it almost two years after I bought my computer. Your video will not be able to be turned into a gif after this step unless you make sure you Publish Movie or Save Movie and not Publish Project in WLMM.

Add the video to WLMM

Edit the start/stop time, gifs under 5 secs work effortlessly with makeagif and imgur.

• makeagif.com : I registered an account to eliminate their watermark, it also raised my size cap from 2MB to 10MB.
• imgur.com : I registered and account and it increased my cap size. it also allows you to group your gifs into much larger albums. Imgur is an optional step.

This is definitely not the best way of making gifs and I don't believe it's the quickest but in the end it's free.

Amazon Fire TV Free for 30 Days

Amazon sent me an e-mail telling me that I could get a Fire TV free for 30 days, I figured why not give it a try. I do not consider myself to be an Amazon fanboy in any sense but I do have an Amazon store card; own two Kindle Fire HD's; buy most if not all of my electronics from them. With that being said, I don't know if it was my status with them or mere coincidence that got me this offer and I'm not sure that everyone didn't get this exact same offer extended to them. The Fire TV is currently priced at $99 with free shipping, the offer gave you 30 days to decide if you wanted to keep it before you are charged.

I already have a setup where I don't feel that I'm in need of a standalone streaming device as I already own an Xbox 360, Xbox One and a PS3 all of which do what the Fire TV does. I do however recognize that not everybody wants video games as the centerpiece of their device and for them a Fire HD may be able to help cut the cable cord. I am set to receive the device tomorrow and I will post my experiences with the Fire TV starting with its unboxing.

How I Cut Cable, Without Using Torrents or International Streaming Sites.

There are plenty of free sites that you can use to keep up with your favorite shows, start with the actual network sites. Content will most likely be limited to a few most recent episodes and they are usually available the same night that they air, if not the next morning.

• ABC
• CBS
• FOX
• NBC
• CW
• Nickelodeon
• Comedy Central
• MTV

Keeping with free options we should add:

• Free Movie Database - Not Hollywood blockbuster's but free nonetheless.
• South Park - Every episode
• Whose Line Is It Anyway - Every episode
• Crackle - Movies and television with some original content.
• Combat Sports - MMA, K-1 and Boxing, highlights and full fights
• NBC Sports LIVE Stream NBC Sports.

Now on to pay services:

• Netflix - I pay around $8 a month for Netflix and I think they are they best bargain for pay services. Netflix has a large library of TV shows and Movies and have their own original content not available elsewhere like House of Cards, Arrested Development and Orange Is The New Black. Netflix e-mailed me the other day letting me know their price would be going up but since I was an existing customer my increase would not take effect for two years.
• Hulu + - Hulu offers a free and pay version, neither is overly impressive. I have been sent a free month of Hulu + at least three times in the past year and I never extend the service, I cannot get on board with paying them to watch commercials. Most options on Hulu can be watched elsewhere.
• Amazon - Amazon offers streaming when you subscribe to their Amazon Prime which was recently raised to around $100 a year, or around $8.33 a month. Amazon has a decent library including some content not available on Netflix and they are moving towards creating more of the own exclusive shows. Amazon has officially partnered with HBO bringing more content not available with Hulu or Netflix.

Finally don't forget Youtube and other popular video sharing sites.

Learning Python

I really enjoy talking about tech but unfortunately my friends do not, I figured at least I could on my own blog. I have recently, within the past few months, been teaching myself Python with the help of a few resources. I started learning with Coursera's Programming for Everybody which has been good at not only teaching it's curriculum but also provides active discussion forums where I can share my side projects and ask for assistance if I ever feel lost. Whether you wish to take the class or not, I find it's accompanying http://www.pythonlearn.com/ to be a good resource. I have also found Reddit to be helpful in my learning, in particular r/programming and r/python. It may seem obvious but I feel the need to mention that one of the best Python resources available is https://www.python.org/.

So, what have I done with any of my new Python skills? Not much really. I make sure to watch all of the videos on Coursera and I make sure my projects are submitted on time but I haven't been going programming crazy like I expected to. One thing I did make was a Redditbot and though it took a very long time, I completed it, I also learned about something Coursera had yet to address in API. I spent longer learning about API, how to install Reddit's (PRAW) and making a Reddit account for the bot plus getting it karma to bypass captcha's than I did actually writing the code for the bot. The bot searches designated subreddits for keywords and if it finds a keyword it will automatically log in to Reddit and respond. It may not be that advanced of a bot but it's a start, and it's the first time I felt like I was building with Legos without needing the instructions. 


Other Python classes to check out would be the archived A Gentle Introduction to Programming Using Python from MITOpenCourseWare and this September Coursera will be offering An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python.