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What is Spectrum, or Charter Spectrum?

Dave Farquhar ISPs May 8, 2017March 7, 20181990s, AT&T, AT&T U-verse, cable tv, comcast, Missouri, New York, Paul Allen, phone service, time warner, verizon

What is Spectrum? Charter Spectrum, or simply Spectrum, is a new name to many parts of the country. Spectrum is the brand name for cable, Internet and phone service from Charter Communications.

Although Charter started using the Spectrum name prior to its merger, the name Spectrum gained prominence as a result of the second, fourth, and sixth-largest cable operators in the United States merging in 2016. Post-merger Charter is now a Fortune 100 company.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Spectrum bought by AT&T? Not quite.

Dave Farquhar ISPs November 24, 2016October 22, 2022AOL, AT&T, cable tv, comcast, nbc, phone service, time warner, verizon

Was Time Warner Cable or Charter Spectrum bought by AT&T? No it wasn’t, but I understand why some people are thinking that right now. It now turns out that both Charter Communications and AT&T have a history with Time Warner, but it’s complicated.

That said, there was a rumor that AT&T’s arch rival Verizon is considering buying Charter Communications, the company behind Spectrum. Meanwhile, AT&T did buy Time Warner. Time Warner differs from Time Warner Cable.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

A DVR without a subscription or monthly fees

Dave Farquhar Saving money July 14, 2016November 26, 2018antenna, cable tv, RF, USB flash drive

What if I told you that you could have a DVR without a subscription that worked with free over-the-air antenna-based TV, and it cost less than $35, saving those monthly subscription fees month after month?

It’s called the Mediasonic Homeworx HW180STB. If you want to record and time-shift television without loss of quality and without paying a fortune in subscription fees, it’s a tremendous value. You have to provide an antenna–which you can even make yourself–and USB-based storage, but it means you can get whatever capacity you want, and if you fill up a drive, just get another one.

Dave Farquhar

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How long do you think it takes to have a conversation you don’t wanna have?

Dave Farquhar scams August 25, 2015August 23, 2015BMW, cable tv, phone service

Friday night, I took my wife out to get some coffee to get her a few minutes away from the house. There’s a corner in the front of the store next to the window that we always sit in, and it seems like some huckster is always huckstering something there.

And did we ever find a doozie on this Friday night.

Dave Farquhar

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How to test whether your TV has a digital HDTV tuner in it

Dave Farquhar Saving money June 11, 2015June 6, 2015antenna, cable tv

If you’re thinking about canceling your cable TV subscription to save money, you might be worried about buying an antenna, only to find your TV isn’t capable of receiving over-the-air broadcasts.

If you live near a major metro area though, you can test it with a one-cent paper clip.

Dave Farquhar

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Net neutrality is not Marxism

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized August 27, 2014August 31, 2014AT&T, cable tv, internet providers, Major League, Major League Baseball, net neutrality, netflix

There is a fear campaign going on, suggesting that net neutrality is Marxism, or a plot for the government to take over the Internet.

That’s name calling. There’s actually something very different going on.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Cutting through the fluff around the Target PIN breach

Dave Farquhar security December 27, 2013AES, breach, cable tv, Debit card, IBM, NSA, PR, Target Corporation

OK, so Target is back in the news, and it’s nowhere nearly as bad this time but there’s some posturing and some fluff in the news, so I’ll take it upon myself to demystify some of it. Some of it’s PR fluff, and some of it’s highly technical, so I’ll cut through it.

I’m just glad–I guess–to be talking about this stuff outside of a job interview. Like I said, this time the news isn’t nearly as bad as it could be. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Hints for surviving if the shutdown put you out of work

Dave Farquhar Saving money October 3, 2013Aldi, cable tv, christmas, DEC, mortgage, preschooler

I’ve seen plenty of news stories of how the government shutdown is affecting 800,000 or so government employees. What the news stories fail to mention is a large number of contractors are out of work too, until this passes. I can only guess on that number, but there’s no doubt it numbers in the millions, and little doubt it’s in the tens of millions.

As a former government contractor myself, I dealt with losing my job unexpectedly earlier this year, so some tips on dealing with an unexpected loss of a paycheck, even if it’s temporary, are fresh in my mind. There are five things you have to do.

I’m not here to gloat about anything. I’m here to try to help. Some of these things won’t be pleasant, but they’ll reduce pain in the long run if this lasts longer than a week. Keep in mind that everything I’m advocating is something I’ve done myself.

Dave Farquhar

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There are several things to like about the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized May 17, 2013May 16, 20131940s, 1950s, antenna, cable tv, New York, New York City, VCR

The Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 is coming soon to a Senate near you, and there are several things in it worth paying attention to.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How to save money on tech

Dave Farquhar Saving money January 29, 2013December 6, 2018antivirus, asus, AT&T, AT&T U-verse, avast, cable tv, Libre Office, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Security Essentials, netflix, Nook Color, office 2010, panasonic, prime95, saving money, sony, Windows 10

CNN offered up some good tips on saving money on tech. But of course I want to analyze and comment on it myself. Anything else would be out of character. Here’s how I save money on tech.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

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