SYP Says

SYP Cooks

So...it's been a while since I posted here! Just a friendly note that if you want to see what I've been up to, it's all happening over at my SYP Cooks blog and on Instagram @ sypcooks. 

I'm sure I'll get back to this blog at some point -- it still boggles my mind that I get notes about Cutting the Cord and Pretty in Pink! And there are things I'd love to tell you more about, including my biathlon training(!), but until then, do feel free to join me on Instagram. (And if you want to talk shop, I'm over at LinkedIn here.) Thank you so much for the support! <3

 

 

 

Cutting the Cord: How to Survive without Cable TV in NYC (but still watch the shows you like)

Like other annoyances of living in NYC, putting up with Time Warner Cable is just one of those things you have to do, but everyone loves to complain about. It costs too much. They have terrible service. And so on.

In almost 15 years of living here, I've often considered getting rid of cable TV altogether, but somehow I always got suckered into keeping it. I would receive a special bundle or some such, and it just seemed like too much hassle to figure out how to still watch the shows I liked. Luckily, in all that time, the options for people who want to cut the cable TV cord have come a long way, just in time for me to make my move.

A few months ago, I started getting offers from Verizon FIOS which is often rumored to be both faster and more consistent than Time Warner in terms of Internet speed, in part because you have a dedicated line. (I knew it couldn't be worse than Time Warner which often slows to a crawl on Saturday nights when everyone I am apparently sharing my Internet with is also trying to watch Netflix.) Turns out my apartment building was already wired for FIOS. This is what got me thinking about cutting the cord again.

If I could switch to FIOS for Internet and then find alternatives for cable TV, I'd be all set. I was tired of scrolling through literally hundreds of channels and never finding anything to watch (and then if I did find something, realizing that it was the one episode I'd seen already). Usually, what would end up happening is that I would just watch a show on Netflix because I just couldn't watch The Fifth Element for the umpteenth time (so why was I paying for cable?). Anyway, first, I needed to figure out if it would be worth switching and how much I'd actually save. Here's the simple spreadsheet I made.

The main point of this grid is that by replacing cable TV with a combination of Aereo, Hulu Plus, Amazon, and Netflix (the latter two which I already pay for) accessed through my Roku device, I will save over $800/year *including* an allotment of $20/month for paying for some episodes on Amazon, and there is no show I like that I can't watch with this new arrangement. There was a nominal difference between Time Warner and Verizon's premiere cable/Internet package, and using Verizon for local TV is almost 5x more expensive than Aereo, so this ended up being an all or nothing situation.

This sheet doesn't include the $99 Amazon Prime membership I have because it is irrelevant. I have been an Amazon Prime member for several years and never watched a free show. I mostly have it for the "free" delivery aspect. Anyway, the additional cost for paying for Breaking Bad and Mad Men is built into the AMC line.

Details after the jump.

Numbers in $.	TWC cable + internet	Verizon Extreme Cable +Internet	Verizon Local+Internet	Verizon Internet Only
TV		42	10
HBO		included	10
DVR		20	20
Set Top HD Box		7	7
TV Subtotal	107 (incl taxes)	69	47
Internet	52	65	60	55
Subtotal Package		138	107	55
Taxes est		14	12	no tax on internet
Cable/Internet TOTAL	159	152	119	55
Aereo	0	0	0	8
Netflix	16	16	16	16
Hulu	0	0	8	8
AMC	0	0	10	20
HBO	0	0	0	0
Additions TOTAL	16	16	34	52
Cable/Internet + Additions TOTAL	175	168	153	107
yrly expense	2,100	2,016	1,836	1,284
savings per month	0	7 (vs twc)	15 (vs vz xtreme); 22 (vs twc)	61 (vs vz xtreme); 68 (vs twc)
savings per yr	0	84 (vs twc)	180 (vs vz xtreme); 264 (vs twc)	732 (vs vz xtreme); 816 (vs twc)

LOCAL TV

OK, so first, what is Aereo. Aereo is a startup service that allows you to essentially rent a tiny digital antenna so you can watch and record local TV. You can watch shows from anywhere, which is nice. And the $8/month fee is great too (first month is free) and includes 20 hours of DVR storage. As a member, you can add Aereo's private channel to your Roku device and watch on your TV which is what I do. There are a few caveats:

1. Aereo is currently only available in NYC, Boston, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta (with several more coming soon, including Chicago and Houston). Check Aereo's coverage area.

2. Aereo doesn't yet offer continuous viewing. What this means is if you are watching a show or a channel, when the show is over, you have to actively choose what to watch next, even if it is on the channel you are already watching. 

3. Aereo isn't like watching regular TV. It's not instantaneous. It buffers when a show starts up and it takes a second or two...or sometimes a bit longer, depending on your connection. The fast forwarding on the recordings is kind of wonky.  And every once in a while, while you're watching a show, there is a hiccup and the show rewinds a bit and starts playing again (you can just fast forward to where you were or ignore it).

It's not perfect. However, it works quite well. The picture quality is excellent. The price is right. They are making improvements. Most importantly,  you can watch network channels through your TV and record shows if you're away. 

Alternatively, you can buy an HDTV antenna and make that work. You will have varying results in NYC due to the tall buildings. Just depends where you live and where you're able to put the antenna. If you want to record shows watched via an HDTV antenna, you may have to shell out a bit of money to get another device and/or service, such as Boxee, Simple.TV, or Tivo, unless you are one of those people who can build your own recording device or figure out how to use Windows Media to do the recording for free. This is a good starter article on DVR solutions for cord cutters. 

For New Yorkers, I think Aereo is a better, easier choice. As a start-up "disruptor" service, and given some of the legal hoopla surrounding Aereo (which networks and cable providers see as a threat to their business model), I suppose there is a risk that Aereo will go under or get bought, but I'll deal with that if it happens. Aereo has won all of the legal cases so far.

CABLE TV

I won't bore you with the details of another grid, but basically I created another spreadsheet of all the shows I watch and where I can watch them. This was A) to verify that I can actually watch most of them without cable TV and B) to use as a cheatsheet while I get used to the new method. (Now where do I go to watch that show again?) If you are thinking of cutting the cord and you watch more than a few shows, I recommend doing this.

To replace cable TV, I am using a combination of Hulu Plus, Amazon, and Netflix. Hulu Plus has FX, for ex, which I can't get through Aereo. It also has Comedy Central (hello, The Daily Show) and other channels, as well as the Criterion Movie Collection available for streaming. I may find over time that I don't need it and free Hulu is enough, which would save another $8/month. 

Netflix is where I watch most everything, especially movies and foreign TV. It has full seasons of AMC shows like The Killing and Walking Dead which I still need to catch up on. Netflix's original series are also quite good.

Through Amazon, I can pay for BBC shows like Luther and Broadchurch and AMC shows that I have to watch near-live, such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men. I don't watch enough TV for this cost to go over $20/month though, so that's what I budgeted.

It's true, I no longer get NY1 or YES Network for the Yankees, but I follow Pat Kiernan on Facebook and Twitter and I can watch the Yankees when they are on local TV (or listen on the radio). I also no longer get Food TV or Cooking Channel, but nowadays, they air mostly food travel or game shows.  I find the actual cooking shows are pretty lackluster (just add a lot of cheese or bacon to something vaguely edible,  sell it on a food truck, have Guy Fieri host, and you're golden!). I am pretty picky when it comes to food and cooking and I am not learning a whole lot these days from any of the shows, so I'm kind of over it. Lastly, I get most of my news and weather online anyway, so no loss there. 

HBO

This was a tough one. You have some options here which are more well documented by others and I don't recommend you necessarily do any of these things, but I can tell you what I know. You can obviously just wait for full seasons to come out on DVD or on streaming via Netflix. You can buy episodes or full series on iTunes. You can go to a friend's house (or borrow his/her HBO Go account). You can go to a nearby venue that offers group viewing of HBO shows. (I have several bars and movie houses in my neighborhood that have free Game of Thrones night, for ex.) I have heard that you can download episodes online for free, but I don't know where to do that. 

DEVICES

In order to cut the cable cord, but still be able to watch shows through your TV, you will need some kind of device. I already have a Roku, so this is what I use to access streaming content on my TV. It has channels for Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, Aereo, and something like 700 others (some paid, some free).

If you don't have a Roku, you can go for an Apple TV, especially if you buy shows on iTunes. However, I don't believe you can get Amazon through Apple TV. The newest option is Google's Chromecast which has limited channels, but I'm sure that will grow. Obviously, if you want to cut the cable cord and just watch shows through your tablet or laptop, you won't even need to bother with a device for your TV. There are many others who have written in-depth comparisons of Roku vs Apple TV vs Chromecast. I'll leave that to the experts, but just say that I have had a Roku for several years and love it.

AM I SURVIVING?

I've been without cable now for a few days. I realize it hasn't been very long, but I don't miss it. I was beginning to hate the fact that I would turn it on for no reason or leave it on while I did other stuff. And I just kept thinking, I'm paying $800 extra a year for this? Now, when I watch TV, it's more purposeful, and that's just fine with me. I watch less of it and what I do watch is stuff I want to watch, not stuff I watch just because it happens to be on. And honestly, I have hundreds of titles in my Netflix queue alone. I will never be able to watch all the content I want to, so why pay hundreds of dollars for content I don't even care about? 

And one extra plug for the Roku--it has hundreds of channels you can use for free, which is wonderful. The one I use the most is called TuneIn and it streams radio to your TV. So now I can listen to NPR, 1010 WINS (only relevant to New Yorkers), KCRW in Santa Monica, WBGO (the local  jazz station out of NJ), BBC News, and other radio stations anytime. Listening to more radio has actually been a real pleasure.

Dropping cable TV isn't for everyone, obviously. I wouldn't recommend it if you watch a lot of cable TV consistently on a variety of channels and enjoy watching it in a more or less current fashion (even if you are recording shows, there is a limit, after all). I also don't recommend it if you just like having cable TV on as background noise, and/or if you like to "discover" shows while you channel surf. It's also not a great option if you care about sports, because you are basically limited to what you can get through local networks. You can pay extra for a premium sports channel on Roku or online, but there may be blackout dates and such. I don't know enough about it to say much more than it should be a consideration. (As much as I love the Yankees, they aren't worth $800/year to me.)

It IS a good option if you want to watch less TV or watch only TV you actually want to watch. It's also good if you can barely keep up with shows as it is. I found that I would record series and then get so behind (several weeks), that it became frustrating because my DVR would fill up. (Yeah, yeah, I know--#firstworldproblems.) It is much easier for me to just watch most shows on demand when I have time and/or when the entire series is already out (with a few exceptions). I also only ever watched a handful of channels with any regularity. Ninety percent of the channels on cable were basically dead to me, yet I was paying for them. Lastly, it's great if you want to save money. An extra $800-$1,000 per year is nothing to sneeze at. 

Hope this helps! Analyze your viewing habits and your budget. Even if you watch a lot of TV, you may be able to save quite a bit of money by replacing cable with a variety of other services. Happy TV watching, wherever and however you do that. :)

 

 

A Day in the Life of an E-Commerce Manager Video

I kind of fell into the e-commerce business, as did many of my peers. I didn't go to school for it, since degrees in e-commerce didn't exist back then. (Yep, I'm that old. One of my college papers was on "the information superhighway"!) I graduated with an American Culture degree from Vassar...I'm not sure what I thought I would do with that to make money, but I was smart, and good with technology and marketing, so e-commerce ended up being a really good fit. In any case, I started doing online marketing almost twenty years ago, and just never really stopped. Along the way, it turns out that e-commerce brings together things I'm passionate about—customer experience, technology, and building great products and businesses--so I was very lucky.

Over the years, I've held key e-commerce and marketing leadership positions in a variety of industries, at some of the world's leading consumer brands, including Guitar Center and Musician's Friend, A&E Television and The History Channel, and PennySaver. My job at all of those companies, at the end of the day, was to grow revenue. Now, I'm at Oracle, doing something a little different. My role is not to run a business, but to use my many years of client-side experience to help bring the customer point of view into the product strategy and development process for Oracle Commerce, Oracle's enterprise software offering, so that we can build better products. (For those of you in the biz, it's the integrated stack that now includes ATG and Endeca.)

The thought occurred to me that many people actually don't know what it's like to manage an e-commerce business, so I've created a short, 4-minute video called A Day in the Life of an E-Commerce Manager, to give the person watching a sense of what 's involved and to illustrate a few of the key challenges e-commerce managers face. To do this, I focused on a handful of common scenarios I've seen played out over and over in my career.

The video is meant to be entertaining, and not at all critical--heck, I think I've played all of the roles portrayed in the video, for better or worse. And for those of you who are e-commerce managers yourselves, I hope you'll find something to appreciate here. Lastly, because it was a video I was making from scratch, I gave myself license to use zombies. Yes, you heard that right. (At first, I planned to make a stop-motion animation film with music from the movie, Brazil, until I realized just how long that would take. Plus, I figured the legal rights just *might* be an issue. So, zombies were my creative compromise.) :)

The key takeaway concepts from my Day in the Life of an E-Commerce Manager video are:

1. It's all about the numbers. There is a tremendous amount of pressure within organizations to hit numbers every day. Sales is the number one driver and typically trumps everything else—whatever was planned that day, any planning sessions for the future, and sometimes even common sense.
2. It's not just about the website anymore. All marketing activities have to be synced with whatever on-site activities are occurring. The complexity grows as other channels are considered, but grows exponentially as you start to bring in concepts like personalization, real-time recommendations, multi-channel customer segmentation, and a/b testing. All this can become an internal pain point as different groups within an organization are unable to “see” what is happening on their own website and related planning efforts and production times increase substantially.
3. Promotions aren't made in a day...or even in a week. Technology vendors tend to focus on the tool itself -- "It's easy to build this promo (or campaign or email or what have you) and it only takes 5 minutes!" While that may be true, the actual end-to-end process of creating and launching a promotion can take weeks. The promo checklist I came up with has 50+ steps or decision points that need to be figured out or produced to get a promo live (and many of those steps have sub-tasks). Promo planning in an organization is often long, frustrating, and involves many stakeholders. Launching an unplanned promotion is usually even more difficult and can show real gaps in internal processes.

There's a lot more to e-commerce than what's in the video, of course, but I hope it gives a little bit of insight into what can be a high-pressure, complicated job. If you've never been involved with the ins and outs of an e-commerce effort, you may not realize how challenging a job it is, or how stressful it can be. It's also a lot of fun, too, though. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have stuck with it all these years! 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video. I worked hard on it and think it is at least somewhat educational, which is the reason I'm sharing it in the first place. Even if you don't learn anything, my fingers are crossed that you'll have a good laugh. Enjoy the show!

N.B. My friend, e-commerce recruiter, Harry Joiner, recently used the video in one of his new job postings. Let him know if you or anyone you know wants to move to Greensboro, NC and fight the good fight! 

 

 

 

Ras El Hanout Me!

 

I recently started a recipe blog on Tumblr called Ras El Hanout Me! at http://www.RasElHanoutMe.com. I will still have food-related posts on this blog, mostly as it relates to restaurants and trips, such as my recent dumpling excursion in Flushing.

Ras El Hanout Me is really just a place for me to log recipes I've tried or created, and a centralized location for family recipes that I hold near and dear. I've gotten lots of requests from friends for recipes, so this is also an easy way to store and share them.

The name of the blog is a nod to the Moroccan spice blend Ras El Hanout, which is "The King of Spices." My food is global and I love to eat and try food from all over the world, so I thought it was fitting. At some point, I may change the name to SYP Cooks, but I'm not there yet. In the meantime, check it out and let me know what you think. 

So far, my most popular recipes are:

1. Springtime Garlic and Chile Shrimp, Asparagus, and Fresh Corn with Whole Wheat Pasta

2. Honey and Lemon Madeleines

3. Everyday Granola

4. Quick Kimchee Coleslaw

5. Summer Three-Tomato Gazpacho with Watermelon and Avocado

This collage, btw, is not on my blog, but on Instagram. If you just want photos of yummy food, I often post food pics there. (You need to have a free Instagram account online or on your mobile device.)  

***UPDATED: My recipe blog is now at http://www.SYPCooks.com because my mom could never spell ras el hanout. :)

Best Songs of 2013: May: No Room for Doubt by Lianne La Havas featuring Willy Mason

In celebration of the start of Summer, I'm restarting my Best Songs feature with an artist I started listening to LAST Summer, Lianne La Havas. She was the star of all of my Holiday 2012 Mix CDs. My adoration of her music hasn't let up in 2013, even with all the kudos her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, has gotten lately, including iTunes Album of the Year. She has a gorgeous voice and every song on her album has a different vibe and style. She's not just any cookie-cutter indie singer/songwriter/musician from London. At the same time, this album is totally listenable. Perfect for the (finally) nice weather.

I saw her in  concert recently at the very awesome Music Hall of Williamsburg and it was easily the best music show I've seen so far this year. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. Lots of love for her in Brooklyn. Even the waiter we had at the restaurant we ate at before the show was there (we were waiting for the concert to start and turned around to see him standing behind us with his friends--very funny). Anyway, if you can see her live, do it. (Those of you in NYC in July can see her free live show at Central Park Summerstage.) 

Here are a few songs I really like from her album, starting with this duet with NYC-based folk singer, Willy Mason. It reminds me so much of old Everything but the Girl songs (OK, sorry, totally dating myself). 

 

 

 

N.B.: For those of you who've visited before, I'm back to blogging Best Songs, but have decided to do a few posts per month, rather than a strict one-two posts per week. I hope this will help me keep it up! Thanks for your support over the years. It has kept me going. :)

How Embarrassing (and Other Important Business)

Well, this is embarrassing. I haven't posted on this blog since last July! Quite a bit has happened since then, not least of which is that I have a new job. I now work at Oracle, helping lead product strategy for Oracle Commerce, the leading enterprise e-commerce solution.

As such, I am duly obligated to make the following statement.  

 

WARNING!!! 

The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle. 

Now that's done. :)

On to other important business.

I recently changed the look of things around here. It had gotten unruly and a bit of house cleaning was in order. I know it looks more serious, but hey, I had to grow up sometime. Besides, I plan on changing the header graphic fairly often (always NYC-related, natch, and using one of my own photos so as not to disturb the copyright gods). 

[Aside] Oh, and may I say, it is indeed great to be back in the best city in the world. This previously displaced New Yorker is once again feeling whole.

SYP Says started back in 2006 as a blog about a New Yorker moving to Ashland, Oregon and along the way, it was mentioned in The Wall Street Journal and US News and World Report; played a key part in getting over 200,000 people to wish Darwin a Happy 200th Birthday, and evolved into a music blog, plus some random musings (my most popular post which has over 5,000 views is about a song from the film, Pretty in Pink).

I clearly can no longer keep up with a weekly best new song post. You may not know this, but back when I was doing those posts, I was listening to an insane amount of new music. I still listen to new stuff, but not at all at the same pace. So instead, I'm hoping to do a Favorite Song of the Week that isn't necessarily from this year. Can I do it? We'll see...

Lastly, my time is a bit divided these days, due to my obsession with cooking. I've always had it, but it has become a more public endeavor. I launched a new blog recently on Tumblr, called Ras El Hanout Me, a nod to the Moroccan King of Spices. Yes, I could have called it SYP Eats...I may still, but not yet.

Many of the recipes I posted on this blog are there, as well as many others. And I have some foodie photos on Instagram.

Thank you for popping in, reading, and commenting over the last seven years, even when I was on hiatus. I promise to be better from now on.

 

 

 

 

Graffiti in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I just started a new little project over on Tumblr called GraffitiBurg. Once a week, I'll post a photo of graffiti from my neighborhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

I'll still post here from time to time (and hopefully more often than I have been), but not about graffiti. :)

Check out my first graffiti pic!

It really is the little things.

I haven't written a "real" post on my blog in quite a while. I could give you a whole host of excuses about how busy I am, but the truth is that I just fell out of the writing groove.

Today, though, I want you to share in my joy.

I'm a member of a closed group on Facebook for film lovers--not the "Oh, I've watched Einsenstein's The Battleship Potemkin twenty times and that scene with the baby carriage falling down the Odessa steps is *da bomb* kind of film lover (although I actually may be one of those annoying people...sorry) and certainly not the "Have you seen Little Fockers yet? Isn't DeNiro HI-LARIOUS???" type.  No, this is just a diverse group of friendly, witty people who love watching movies and having fun discussing them in an intelligent way.

Online communities really only thrive when individual members participate and engage regularly. We have a weekly quiz in which one of the members picks a single frame from a movie, posts it in our group, and we all try to guess which movie it's from. Believe me, these aren't easy. Past frames have been from films as diverse as Tati's Playtime to Lynch's Eraserhead. (Yeah, I know, the quiz owner does seem to have a bit of a happily cruel streak, doesn't he? Hee hee.)

For over three months, we've been playing this game and I have NEVER gotten one right, let alone won. Even frames from movies I love, like Brazil, have totally eluded me. Guess my brain just doesn't work that way. After I've seen a film, I look back and remember the experience of it, not individual frames or even quotes.

Today, he posted this image and gave the decade (1970s).

The European license plate was a clue, but that was pretty much it. And the tractor really threw me off. One of our members threw out French Connection which was my first thought too, but that wasn't it. Once he said that though, I was convinced it was a thriller of some kind. I guessed a couple more and then decided to just throw out as many thrillers from the 1970s as I could. Three was indeed the charm. I finally hit on Straw Dogs, Peckinpah's controversial thriller from 1971 starring Dustin Hoffman.

I cannot tell you how excited I was when he told me I got it right. I mean seriously. I fist-pumped. I danced. I jigged. I blurted out a big "WOOHOO" which made my cat hide under the bed. I was so thrilled, I took this pic of myself and shared it with my film friends.

Basically, I was happy. Sometimes it doesn't take much. And you know what? It really shouldn't. Do a little something to make yourself happy today. Thank me for it later. Just something small will do.

Craig Charles makes our marriage official.

My marriage is official -- Craig Charles of The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on BBC6 Music gave our marriage a shout-out (at 18:30) on his radio show today. W00T!

The song is Double Exposure — Everyman

Marriage Shout-Out on Craig Charles 8|28|10 BBC6 Music

How to have a cheap wedding.

Want to know how to have a very inexpensive wedding? Do what I did.

1) Decide three days before your wedding date that you actually are going to get married. This means you naturally avoid many of the things that drive a wedding's cost sky-high, plus you avoid all planning headaches--months of annoying conversations about which flowers you want, what kind of invitations to send, whether the tablecloths should be ecru or alabaster, what crappy food you'll be overpaying for, and how far away to seat your in-laws from one another.

2) No guests.

3) Get your rings someplace cool, but cheap. I went to Little India in LA and got two cool silver rings at an Indian jewelry store for $50.

4) Wear clothes you like and already own. 

5) Get married in Vegas. If you fill out the marriage license online, when you get to the Vegas marriage license bureau, you'll get to be in the Express queue and all you'll have to do is sign a couple of papers and pay $60. The online form takes less than five minutes to fill out and the Express window took about about ten minutes (we had just one couple ahead of us, while the regular line had ten couples).

6) Do the Vegas drive-thru window--the cheapest package was $40. I chose the awesomely cheesy and fabulous Tunnel of Love at the Little White Chapel where Elvis got married. You literally drive through the Tunnel of Love decorated with angels, pull up to a window, and do the deed. I never even got out of the car (well, except for taking a picture of the Elvis sign and the adult bookstore across the street). They were nice, efficient, and we had a blast. Highly recommended.

TOTAL COST: $190, including tipping the pastor. 

Sure, I'm not including the cost of dinner that night or the hotel room or the gas to drive to Vegas from LA, but the point is, you don't need to spend many thousands of dollars to show your mate you love them and make your wedding memorable.

Getting married was a big deal for me and maybe not for the reason you think. As a child, I never dreamt about what my wedding would be like. For almost my entire life, I succeeded in avoiding it. I didn't want it. I said I wouldn't do it.  So for the last twenty years, I've been with the same person, but not "official." You know, sort of like Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.

When I told my mom I was finally getting married on my 20-year anniversary of being with my "significant other," she told me that being with someone for a long time (like she was before she got married) was being committed 99%, but being married added that extra 1%. I think she's right. Here's the happy couple.

 

More pictures of my Vegas wedding are on Facebook here.

My very awesome PennySaverUSA.com team at work made a fun video about my PennySaver wedding here. Check it out. They rock.