Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
So I'm seriously considering ditching cable again.  Any ideas on the most efficient way to access live in-market MLB games?  Just MLB.tv + a proxy?  VPN? Some bootleg web stream?  I'd prefer something at the router level so that I can watch across all devices. 

If NBC Sports does a great job with moving the Prem on line, I will be doing the same in August.

Sadly, I have no experience with in Market games as I never feel the need to watch the Giants or A's, and on the few occasions they play Anaheim, I'm in attendance or watching at a bar.

Do remember, playoff games are not on MLB.TV….

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:Does MLB.tv let you pause / time shift?

It depends on your choice of delivery vehicle.  Xbox and Roku do a great job of letting you start at any inning you'd like, and FF or rewind, though the game is not always on the screen (so you can't watch it at 2x speed, for example, at least on Roku).  The tablet and PC browser versions are not as slick at starting from the beginning or certain innings in my experience.

From the MLB.TV website, it looks like an international VPN would allow you to watch pretty much anything.

MLB.TV Postseason Live Blackout: Due to Major League Baseball exclusivities, during the MLB Postseason, all live games will be blacked out in the United States (including the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and Canada. If you are an MLB.TV Subscriber outside of the United States and Canada, each of these games will be available live and as an archived game as soon as possible after the conclusion of the applicable game. If you are an MLB.TV subscriber within the United States or Canada, each of these games will be available as an archived game approximately 90 minutes after the conclusion of the applicable game.

Postseason.TV: Subscribers to Postseason.TV, available only during the MLB Postseason, will be able to view live alternative video feeds (excluding the broadcast feed) from MLB Postseason games without blackout restrictions.

Live Audio of those games subject to the blackout restrictions reflected above is available as part of any MLB.TV subscription, as part of MLB.com Gameday Audio.

OUTSIDE THE U.S. AND CANADA

No blackout restrictions apply.

All blackout restrictions described herein are determined by Major League Baseball, in its sole discretion, and are subject to change.

vansmack wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
So I'm seriously considering ditching cable again.  Any ideas on the most efficient way to access live in-market MLB games?  Just MLB.tv + a proxy?  VPN? Some bootleg web stream?  I'd prefer something at the router level so that I can watch across all devices. 

If NBC Sports does a great job with moving the Prem on line, I will be doing the same in August.

Sadly, I have no experience with in Market games as I never feel the need to watch the Giants or A's, and on the few occasions they play Anaheim, I'm in attendance or watching at a bar.

Do remember, playoff games are not on MLB.TV….

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:Does MLB.tv let you pause / time shift?

It depends on your choice of delivery vehicle.  Xbox and Roku do a great job of letting you start at any inning you'd like, and FF or rewind, though the game is not always on the screen (so you can't watch it at 2x speed, for example, at least on Roku).  The tablet and PC browser versions are not as slick at starting from the beginning or certain innings in my experience.

I'm also concerned about Fox Sports 1 for Georgetown away games, but it looks like they'll have a decent streaming service that I can use someone's login info to access:

http://features.rr.com/article/01XX6my8AzaFy?q=ESPN

4b. ESPN executives will be closely watching the August launch of Fox Sports Go, a mobile app for iPhone, iPad, Android devices and the web which will stream sports content from Fox Sports, Fox Sports 1 and the company's 22 regional sports networks. This is Fox's product answer to ESPN's immensely popular WatchESPN, which allows for mobile viewing of all of ESPN's live sports on an authenticated basis. Fox said its live games and events will be available to subscribers of participating cable, satellite, and telco providers at no additional cost. Fox is also redesigning Fox Sports.com and will re-launch all of its mobile apps in April.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20130310/media-circus-fox-sports-1/#ixzz2XQeYTstj

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
I'm also concerned about Fox Sports 1 for Georgetown away games, but it looks like they'll have a decent streaming service that I can use someone's login info to access:

You might also want to find out what the most inexpensive cable package is and just switch to that.  That should get you ESPN and your local Sports Network for ~$30 a month, plus all of the Cable "on demand" stuff, which might be worth the cost just so you don't have to go through all of this.  Then don't rent any equipment or pay for HD, and use ESPN3 and Fox1 online, plus Comcast on Demand, which might be in HD.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
From the MLB.TV website, it looks like an international VPN would allow you to watch pretty much anything.

The only danger there is that when you leave the VPN on, others won't have access to US only viewing rights, but it's a good idea.

vansmack wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
I'm also concerned about Fox Sports 1 for Georgetown away games, but it looks like they'll have a decent streaming service that I can use someone's login info to access:

You might also want to find out what the most inexpensive cable package is and just switch to that.  That should get you ESPN and your local Sports Network for ~$30 a month, plus all of the Cable "on demand" stuff, which might be worth the cost just so you don't have to go through all of this.  Then don't rent any equipment or pay for HD, and use ESPN3 and Fox1 online, plus Comcast on Demand, which might be in HD.

this is very interesting, maybe the way to go.  I'd still like an HBOGO login, which I can get from my parentals.  So if I'm doing that, I may just use their login for all the services.

vansmack wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
From the MLB.TV website, it looks like an international VPN would allow you to watch pretty much anything.

The only danger there is that when you leave the VPN on, others won't have access to US only viewing rights, but it's a good idea.

I'm hardly a networking expert, is it easy to turn the VPN off/on when wanted at the router level?  maybe have two different routers (VPN/non)?  is that crazy?

Just a couple more silly threads need to be started before this blatant abuse of power will disappear to the second page and be forgotten.

But perhaps not excused…

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
I'm hardly a networking expert, is it easy to turn the VPN off/on when wanted at the router level?  maybe have two different routers (VPN/non)?  is that crazy?

I am no longer the networking expert in my household, but my lady friend who is happens to be at a networking conference at the moment.  When she returns tomorrow, I'll ask her.

My oh so very serious thread has already rolled off, then again I force WAP mode on my phone

kosmo wrote:
My oh so very serious thread has already rolled off, then again I force WAP mode on my phone

Not off my desktop, friend, not off my desktop.

vansmack wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:Does MLB.tv let you pause / time shift?

It depends on your choice of delivery vehicle.  Xbox and Roku do a great job of letting you start at any inning you'd like, and FF or rewind, though the game is not always on the screen (so you can't watch it at 2x speed, for example, at least on Roku).  The tablet and PC browser versions are not as slick at starting from the beginning or certain innings in my experience.

Just to update this:

On the web site/desktop version of MLB.com I paused the Halo's when I left for a meeting after the third inning. 

When I returned I hit play and it jumped me ahead to current time, which was the 10th inning.  That's crap as now I know that it's in extras and I missed 7 innings.

On the Xbox and the Roku hitting pause and then restarting would have left me at the top of the 4th.

Also, when you start a game in progress on the Xbox/Roku, it asks if you want to start at the beginning or jump to a particular inning.  When you start the desktop MLB.com version, it takes you right to live.

that's really nice.  i start most games about 90 mins late.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
that's really nice.  i start most games about 90 mins late.

Me too.  Bottom line use a supported device:

Xbox 360
Sony Playstation® 3 system
Apple TV
WD TV
Roku
Panasonic
Samsung
LG
Boxee
Sony Blu-ray
Windows
TiVo

Hey, let's not forget about SF restaurant recommendations!  :o

If only the Angels could play the Yankees and Tigers every game, the rest of the league would be looking up at them in the standings.

They will now go get swept by the Astros.

Yada wrote:
Hey, let's not forget about SF restaurant recommendations!  :o

That's right, my bad.

My favorite Steak House is Bourbon Steak.  It's not too far from your hotel.  Something slightly more old school SF would Alfred's.  Both can be pricey.

My favorite seafood place is down the street from my place and it's called Bar Crudo.  You can also get your fill of fancy beers there too.  Old school SF place for seafood is called Sam's Grill - older than the city I think.

If Asian's your thing, any number of massage parlors in either China Town or the Sunset will take care of you.  If you want the food, I'd suggest Slanted Door (Vietnamese) or you can drop a ton of cash at Hakkasan.  Sadly, Tommy Toys is now closed, which was the best old school place.

Italian is easy.  Just walk up and down Columbus in North Beach and find something you like on the menu.  I also recommend Centerfold's and to stay out of the Lusty Lady - it's unionized.  Think about that for a second.  If you want something closer to your hotel, I like Perbacco.  If you're in the Mission, I like Flour + Water.  If you want to make a nice night out of your trip to Toronado, I would recommend Uva Enoteca (Italian), but truthfully, Toronado's is best enjoyed with Rosamunde (suasage) or Memphis Minnie's (BBQ).

And a couple of my more casual and affordable favorite places are Slow Club, First Crush (all organic, huge selection of Zin's, right next to your hotel), Q, Nopa, and Foreign Cinema.

If you need rec's by neighborhood or something, let me know.

vansmack wrote:

Yada wrote:
Hey, let's not forget about SF restaurant recommendations!  :o

That's right, my bad.

My favorite Steak House is Bourbon Steak.  It's not too far from your hotel.  Something slightly more old school SF would Alfred's.  Both can be pricey.

My favorite seafood place is down the street from my place and it's called Bar Crudo.  You can also get your fill of fancy beers there too.  Old school SF place for seafood is called Sam's Grill - older than the city I think.

If Asian's your thing, any number of massage parlors in either China Town or the Sunset will take care of you.  If you want the food, I'd suggest Slanted Door (Vietnamese) or you can drop a ton of cash at Hakkasan.  Sadly, Tommy Toys is now closed, which was the best old school place.

Italian is easy.  Just walk up and down Columbus in North Beach and find something you like on the menu.  I also recommend Centerfold's and to stay out of the Lusty Lady - it's unionized.  Think about that for a second.  If you want something closer to your hotel, I like Perbacco.  If you're in the Mission, I like Flour + Water.  If you want to make a nice night out of your trip to Toronado, I would recommend Uva Enoteca (Italian), but truthfully, Toronado's is best enjoyed with Rosamunde (suasage) or Memphis Minnie's (BBQ).

And a couple of my more casual and affordable favorite places are Slow Club, First Crush (all organic, huge selection of Zin's, right next to your hotel), Q, Nopa, and Foreign Cinema.

If you need rec's by neighborhood or something, let me know.

you da man!

If any Android users would like to Beta Test and app that friends of mine are working on, shoot me a PM.

It's essentially "Tasker" - which is an app that helps automate things based on location, time, situation, etc. only made for the masses.  Tasker is for programmers, to where this app is for the every day user.  Let me know!

vansmack wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
I'm hardly a networking expert, is it easy to turn the VPN off/on when wanted at the router level?  maybe have two different routers (VPN/non)?  is that crazy?

I am no longer the networking expert in my household, but my lady friend who is happens to be at a networking conference at the moment.  When she returns tomorrow, I'll ask her.

any update from your lady friend on the VPN issues?

I'm slowly assembling my cord-cutting gear – got an indoor antenna and a roku 3 on the way.  Comcast wants $75/month for their "up to" 50 mbps service, and $80/month for that service + "digital economy" with 40 or so channels (no equipment fees, no HD, one converter/box included).  I think I'm going to try that $80 package and see if I use the TV at all.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
any update from your lady friend on the VPN issues?

Sorry, we were getting our gay on all weekend and I forgot to ask.  I'll send her an email now…