What I'm Asking For

Let's be clear about a couple of things: I'm not asking for Comcast to lower their rates. I'm not asking for them to make any undue sacrifices. They are free to charge whatever rates their customers will pay.

What I am asking for is the absolute cheapest HDTV package. After looking through their website at all of the packages available, I believe that the following combination is possible:

Limited Basic Cable. Covers channels 2-13 plus a few others like public access, and the Home Shopping Network (ugh). $12.85.
+plus+
Limited Basic HDTV. An $8.00 add-on for any cable package. It gives me the HD versions of the channels in the other package, where appropriate.

Combined, this package should cost roughly $20.85, plus taxes and fees. But the customer service rep I spoke to last week insisted that I also needed to rent a converter box. She claimed that because the package I was trying to order "was not a digital package," a converter was needed to receive the HD channels.

Say what? What, exactly, is that converter box converting?

Perhaps she thought I had an "HD Capable" TV, which does need a tuner in order to receive HD channels. But not only is my TV "HD Ready," so is my TiVo Series 3. The latter even has CableCard slots, conveniently filled with two Comcast CableCards that I've been using the past two years.

Or perhaps the converter is needed to convert the analog channels into digital versions that my TV/TiVo can receive. That doesn't hold water. HD channels are by definition digital. I'm only interested in receiving the local broadcast stations in HD: KCRA, KXTV, KOVR, etc. Believe me, being able to watch HSN in stunning digital is the last thing on my list. It ranks even lower than the public access channels. I've got my TiVo configured to never, ever, EVER record that channel.

So there you have it. My request to Comcast is humble: bundle Basic Limited Cable with Basic Limited HDTV for roughly $20. Your website says it's possible. Will you do it? If not, I'm getting the antenna.

Comcast Continues to Respond

If you've been reading the comments on my original blog posting about Comcast, you've seen that they've responded. Apparently they have employees who scan the net and look for disgruntled customers. Kudos to them, I say. Note that I'm not disgruntled with Comcast -- I just don't feel like paying $75/mo anymore.

I also received a voicemail on my home phone. (I included my phone number in the email I sent directly to their customer service dept.) It was from a Herman James, representing the Sacramento region. Unfortunately, I didn't listen to it until after business hours, so I'll be calling them back on Monday.

In addition, I posted an ad on Craigslist inquiring about TV antenna installers. I got two responses that I'll be following up on.

The ex-Comcast saga continues!

Comcast's First Response

This morning, a semi-automated response was waiting in my inbox. Clearly, they missed the point.

---

Dear Mr. Brown,


Thank you for taking the time to write to the Comcast Office of Rick Germano, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations. My name is Robert and I thank you for this opportunity to assist you regarding your Billing inquiry. We apologize for the delayed response.

We need to hear about any unsatisfactory situations in order to correct them and to enhance our level of customer service. I have forwarded your comments to the appropriate members of our development and management teams for further review Mr. Brown. I do hope the following information is useful to you.

What is the digital television transition?

Keep in mind that only older "analog" televisions relying on Broadcast signals (through the air) will be the equipment that is truly affected by this change.

Information for the Digital Broadcast Transition

At midnight February 17, 2009, Congress requires that all TV broadcast stations (such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and Univision) begin broadcasting exclusively in digital format. This switchover is referred to as the broadcast digital TV (DTV) transition.

Consumers with analog TVs that rely on antenna reception such as rooftop antenna or rabbit ears to get your TV signals (not connected to a pay TV service like cable or satellite) will need to take action to ensure continued reception of broadcast channels on these TVs. Their options include:

1. Request a DTV Converter Box Coupon
2. Purchase a new TV capable of displaying a digital signal (still requires adequate antenna reception)
3. Subscribe to pay TV service like cable or satellite

What is the TV Converter Box Coupon Program?

Congress created the TV Converter Box Coupon Program for households wishing to keep using their analog TV sets after February 17, 2009. This program allows U.S. households to obtain up to two coupons, each worth $40 that can be applied toward the cost of eligible converter boxes.

The TV Converter Box Coupon Program can be contacted 24-hours at Coupon Program Hotline at 1-888-388-2009 or visit the website mentioned. Hearing impaired customers can call the TTY number which is 1-877-530-2634. Please note the TV Converter Box Coupon Program is Government run program and not affiliated with Comcast. For more detailed information, please visit this website https://www.dtv2009.gov/

A TV connected to Comcast service does not require a TV converter box from this program (this includes Comcast customers with Limited or Full Standard Service only). NOTE: Comcast has agreed to continue to carry broadcast network signals in analog format for a minimum of three years following the Feb. 2009 conversion deadline. This means that Comcast customers will still not need a converter box to still receive these signals. To be clear, all they need to have is their TV connected to the Comcast cable network.

Additional information available and useful Links.

What you should know about February 17, 2009 for the cessation of Analog broadcasts and Digital conversion:

http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html

FCC Homepage: http://www.fcc.gov/

The FCC's special website, http://www.dtv.gov has more information on digital television, or you can call 1-888-225-5322 (TTY: 1-888-835-5322).

http://www.dtvanswers.com/

http://www.dtvtransition.org

http://www.getreadyfordigitaltv.com

Comcast is committed to provide the best customer experience possible. We look forward to your continued feedback Mr. Brown and we hope to be able to continue to provide you with our services. Please contact us if you have any questions or require additional information.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.


Sincerely,

Robert
Office of Rick Germano

Dear Comcast

Dear Comcast,

After six years as a customer, I have decided to end our relationship. I have found myself watching less and less TV. Consequently, I felt that the $75 per month I sent you was simply not giving me enough of a benefit. The numbers don't add up anymore. Let me explain.

What does $75 get me? Local broadcast channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.), over one hundred cable channels in your "Digital Preferred" package, and HDTV versions of those channels where appropriate. Of those roughly two hundred channels, I regularly watch only about ten of them. Even among those ten, I added up that I watch approximately fifteen hours of TV per month. That's about a half-hour per day, on average. I'm paying five dollars per hour.

The shows on those ten or so channels overwhelmingly consist of broadcast HDTV shows on NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS. I'd say 80% of my viewing is broadcast TV. The rest are a smattering of cable-only shows on networks such as Discovery, TLC, and HGTV. I don't watch sports. I don't watch pay-per-view. I don't even watch movies on Starz; I'd rather rent a DVD for that.

I'm sure you're well aware that the broadcast networks can be received over-the-air in HD via an inexpensive antenna. Therein lies the rub: I'm paying five dollars an hour to watch TV I can receive for free. The rest of my TV diet is easily accommodated by inexpensive services such as Amazon Video on Demand (built into my TiVo) and iTunes (displayed on my TV by Apple TV). Even broadcast shows are easily viewable on the TV from the networks' respective websites. Local news -- with video -- is available online, too.

You see, I'm going to get almost all of my TV viewing from the airwaves for free or from online sources for free or very inexpensively. And I'll save money -- an estimated $500 or more per year, even including the upfront cost of buying an antenna and Apple TV. It's all legal. No BitTorrent, no Limewire. I believe in rewarding the studios, actors, and productions crews for shows that I enjoy.

I tried to talk your kind customer service representative into offering me Basic Limited cable ($12) plus Basic Limited HDTV ($8), but she countered with a $40+ package that included a hundred or so channels that I will never watch. Twenty dollars I would have happily paid, but $40 was too much. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

I'll give you another chance, Comcast, if you will accept my offer: Limited Basic HDTV for about $20. And please don't upsell me on a converter box. I don't need one. My TiVo and TV are perfectly capable of receiving digital HD signals, as the last six years certainly testify. Will you do it?

Sincerely,

Barry Brown

My close call with greatness

I was thiiiiiis close to greatness last night. The workshop had ended and a bunch of us were getting ready to go to Chinatown to get dinner. Goeff Knauth (instructor at Lycoming College in PA and one of the attendees) asks, "shall I call Richard Stallman and invite him to dinner?"

Can someone really turn down an invitation like that?

A phone call was made; message left; and shortly returned. Richard would love to join us, but is currently in France and can't make it in time.

Bummer. But how cool would that have been?

I'm a stickler for quality. And a cheapskate at heart. Conflict arises, especially when I'm getting into a new hobby or activity.

A couple of cases in point:

About a year ago I wanted to buy one of these new digital oscilloscopes. They have LCD displays, can capture signals, and do real-time analyses on the inputs. Neat stuff, and much better than their analog predecessors.

Like most things, they come in a variety of price points. The cheaper units has B&W LCD displays and narrower bandwidth. Being my first digital o-scope, I bought a used one off eBay for about $200. After playing with it for a few hours, I wanted more. More bandwidth, faster display, color.

My next purchase was a new, Chinese-made color LCD unit for about $1,000. It had great reviews online and, indeed, it's a nice unit. But although it had a huge memory for capturing digital signals, the display was kind of "noisy" and it didn't quite have the bandwidth I lusted after.

Finally, I purchased the unit I should have bought in the first place: a Tektronix TS3012 color LCD digital storage oscilloscope for about $1,200. It's fast, built like a tank, and still supported by Tektronix even though it's used (another eBay purchase).

In other words, I spent on my dream 'scope the same amount of money I spent on the first two 'scopes that are now sitting on a shelf. I spent double, needlessly.

Another case in point: as a teacher, I'm getting more into online instruction. And I might dabble in podcasting. So I bought the typical starter kit:

Basic condenser microphone (Audio-Technica 2020), $100.
Basic mixer (Behringer 802), $60.
iMic USB interface, $50.

But I quickly ran into limitations. Being a condenser mic, the AT2020 picked up way too much room noise for my taste. So I upgraded to the Electro-Voice ND767A super-cardioid dynamic, $130.

The wimpy Behringer mixer was quickly replaced with a Yamaha MW10C, $200.

Boy, that Heil PR-20 microphone sure is looking nice. Heil, known among podcasters for its PR-40 studio microphone, makes great microphones right here in the USA. Well, better order one of those. ($150)

Then I start really getting into different ways that might students might be "calling" into class: either through CCCConfer or through Skype. I need a way to cross-mix the two inputs. And I'd love to have Firewire so I can send all the audio inputs to the computer separately, rather than mixing them down to a single stereo track. That Yamaha mixer just isn't going to cut it.

So, off to eBay to get a Mackie Onyx 1220 Firewire mixer, $800.

After using it for a few hours, I still can't quite get the inputs to mix correctly. Next purchase, Behringer UB1622FX mixer along with a Behringer UCA202 USB interface (to be used in conjunction with the iMic). Total for this purchase: $170.

But wait! I think I might be able to get the Mackie to do what I want! Too late, the Behringer is on its way.

Finally, here we are on Sunday evening. I'm lusting after that Heil PR-40 again -- the microphone I should have bought in the first place.

Sigh.

Finding the median value in SQL

Most SQL dialects don't come with a median function. But one can be cobbled together using the procedural programming language that accompanies most databases.

They work like this:
1. Sort the list of values.
2. Count the number of items in the list.
3. Select the element at position n/2.

A function like this can't be expressed purely in SQL because SQL is not procedural.

I've come up with a median function that uses pure SQL:

select age
from person
where (select count(age) from person p1 where p1.age >= person.age) -
(select count(age) from person p2 where p2.age <= person.age) between 0 and 1;

This technique uses two correlated subqueries. The outer query works through the list of values (in this case, age). As it considers each age in turn, it counts the number of ages that are greater than the target age and the number of ages that are less. The difference between the two should be 0 or 1 (depending on whether there are an odd or even number of ages to consider).

When the difference is 0 or 1, you've found the median value.

This solution is O(n²). Expect it to take a long time on large data sets.