My Three Words for 2015: PLAY, FUN, and SURPRISE

I've been doing Chris Brogan's THREE WORDS exercise for New Years for a while now. What's ended up working for me is keeping the same words year to year.

It's become my mantra.

These three words help me focus on what's important to me.

Here they are:



PLAY

Back in my Three Words for 2013 post, I talked about how PLAY has worked for me in travel and food blogging.

I expressed an interest in working with high end resorts that are looking to share their story in a personal way via social media. The best example from 2014 was attending the grand opening of The Hermitage ski resort in Vermont.

My wife and I had a great time, I shared content via social media while there in real time, and then compiled everything in a Storify blog post. We hope to do lots more travel this year. Let me know if you want me to help you tell your story.

FUN

I only choose to work with people who are fun. I enjoy helping fun people and companies grow. I'm good at saying NO. If a project isn't going to be fun, I won't do it. ;-)

I also made more time for leisure fun in 2014. For 2015 that's going to mean getting better at tennis, and taking up golf again.

SURPRISE

Ze Frank talks about:

- Trying New Things.
- Being uncomfortable.
- Breaking patterns.

In 2014 I ramped up my angel investing and got involved in some new companies. I'm enjoying the start up process, advising Mercedes-Benz of Burlington, and Lord Hobo Brewing Company. There are a couple of other new startups that I'll be working with in 2015, and it'll be fun to explore and learn with them.

HINT: One company is working in the virtual reality space.

Do you choose three words to start the year? I'd love to hear them.

Removing Dust and Scratches from 35mm Slides

Three Movies To Watch: Winter's Tale, Divergent, Snowpiercer

Winter's Tale - The horse in this movie is called 'Horse.'
I enjoyed watching Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay in this love story across time.



Divergent - You can't be expected to know what you want to do with your life when in College.
I expected this to be a rip off of The Hunger Games, but the story kept my interest throughout, and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.



The Aptitude Test.

Snowpiercer - It would have been easier to buy a First Class ticket.
I heard extreme mixed reviews on this one, from LOVE to HATE. I loved it. Especially seeing all the different classes of train cars.

How to Fix: Comcast Xfinity TV Go Video Loading Adobe Flash Problem

It's cool that you can watch live video via Xfinity TV Go, but sometimes the videos don't play, and you're stuck on a VIDEO LOADING page.

You might have brought this on yourself by changing a setting in Google Chrome that keeps videos from automatically playing.

You thought it was a good idea at the time, because it sped up the browser, but then when you wanted to watch some live video, you had NO IDEA how to make it work.

I went over to the ADOBE web site, looked around at a message board where a lot of people were complaining, some even saying to DELETE Chrome and reinstall.

Well, sometimes that works, and in this case it probably would, by resetting all the settings, but I figured out how to get videos to play again on Xfinity TV Go, but just changing one setting in my browser settings...

Hope this can work for you.

Here's how I did it.

Here you are seeing 'LOADING VIDEO...'



CLICK THE 'TOP RIGHT MENU ICON'
SELECT 'SETTINGS'



UNDER PRIVACY
CLICK 'CONTENT SETTINGS'



UNDER PLUGINS
CLICK 'RUN AUTOMATICALLY'

New Xfinity Wireless Gateway Dual Band 802.11 AC Installed

I just got a new New Xfinity Wireless Gateway Dual Band 802.11 AC Installed (DPC3941T).


New vs. Old

According to Multichannel news, The new DOCSIS 3.0-powered and voice-capable Xfinity Wireless Gateway is a dual-band 802.11n router with 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz radios designed to expand wireless coverage in the home and help customers connect their tablets, smartphones, gaming consoles and PCs to the home network.

To get the higher speed, you need to have a device that is capable of connecting to the faster band. Some older devices won't be able to. For a laptop, you can get a Dual Band 802.11n USB Adapter, that will allow you to connect to the 5.0 band.

Here are the results of a Comcast Speed Test:

Wired:


Wireless:


It seems like it's going to cover a farther range from my upstairs office. I'll be watching it's performance to see how the connectivity is downstairs.

2.5 GHz Band is crowded, 5 GHz band isn't
I used WiFi Explorer to take a look at EiFi networks that are around me. The 2.5 GHz Band is crowded, the 5 GHz band isn't. The Xfinity tech told me that the crowded band is like the old wireless home phones where you had to pick a channel. Sometimes you'd hear your neighbor's calls, or have conflicts with their phone.

That's what's happening with the 2.5 GHz WiFi band. It's getting crowded. So crowded in fact, that it can become almost unuasable when there are lots of devices in the same area.

Here's my quiet neighborhood's 2.5 GHz WiFi band.


Here's my quiet neighborhood's 5.0 GHz WiFi band.


A lot less crowded.

And yes, I named my Xfinity Wireless Gateway Skynet. ;-)

There were other suggestions.

Press Release:

INTRODUCING THE INDUSTRY'S FASTEST WIRELESS GATEWAY:

Our new Gateway not only offers faster speeds, but it also operates within the 802.11 AC spectrum, a Wi-Fi channel that is used by many of the latest consumer electronic devices including the Samsung Galaxy S4/S5, Macbook Pro, and the Macbook Air. And like previous Xfinity Gateways, the new hardware is built to the MoCA 2.0 standard, which allows the device to leverage a home’s existing coaxial cable network to create a faster and more efficient network of connected devices in the home.

This technology translates into faster speeds and a better connection to do all the things we love: stream HD video, download music, network multiple rooms in our homes, and connect lots of devices and gadgets simultaneously.

Jimmy Fallon says "This must be viral..."

“@stevegarfield: Camp Winnipesaukee - YouTube. #FallonTonight https://t.co/lCOZTZioQq” whoa - @stevegarfield? This must be viral...

— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) December 17, 2014

Camp Winnipesaukee w/ Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake

The Hermitage Club: A Private Mountain in Vermont

The Hermitage Club.

Teaching my Mom the difference between HDMI1, HDMI2, and TV so she can get Netflix on the Amazon fireTV stick

I got my mom (89) an Amazon Fire TV Stick to allow her to watch Nextflix on her TV.


Installing the fireTV stick was easy, teaching her the the difference between HDMI1, HDMI2, and TV was hard!


Amazon fireTV stick connected via HDMI EXTENDER CABLE TO Monitor HDMI port

HDMI1 and HDMI2
Once I had the firstTV stick set up, it was time to teach my mom how to use it to access Netflix.

My mom has Xfinity and uses that remote to do everything. But now that I introduced a new input, I had to go find the remote that came with the TV to show her how to switch between Xfinity and the Amazon fireTV smart stick, which from here on out I'll call Netflix.

So I found the remote and showed her the SOURCE button.

Note: Maybe she oculd have used the Xfinity remote to do this. I'll have to take a look the next time I visit. Makes sense.



Me: Here mom. Use this remote to change between HDMI1 and HDMI2. HDMI1 is your TV, and HDMI2 is Netflix.

Mom: What does HDMI mean?

Me: I don't know, just press the SOURCE button.

Mom: What's HDMI1 and HDMI2?

Me: HDMI1 is your TV, and HDMI2 is Netflix.

AMAZON FIRETV STICK REMOTE
So we get Amazon fireTV stick display up on the tv and now need to navigate around.



Me: Use the circle to go up, down, left, right, and the button inside the circle to select. Try moving around.

Mom: OK.

When my mom pressed down, it moved down two locations instead of one, and sometimes she pressed the select button instead of navigation. We figured out that the black circle was not differentiated enough in color to distinguish it from the black selection button.

We figured that out.

NETFLIX
Then we moved on to selecting Netflix.


Netflix on Amazon fireTV stick

Once there we looked at how to select and watch a show.

Back to TV

After that we practiced going back to TV.

[Times Passes and we visit again]

Mom: My TV isn't working. It says No Signal. I watched Netflix on my computer at my desk.

So I went over to the TV and saw that the SOURCE was set to TV. Ah ha!

Me: Mom, when you press the SOURCE button, you don't go to TV to get TV, you go to HDMI1 to get TV, which is Xfinity. When you press the SOURCE button, you need to bypass the TV option and only go to either HDMI1 or HDMI2. No TV.

That cleared things up!

My Mercedes-Benz C300 Test Drive Story

Amazon fireTV stick: Easiest Installation Ever

[Video] Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser

[Video] Jimmy Fallon & Rashida Jones Sing Holiday Parodies of the year's biggest songs.

Note:

YouTube embed works on Twitter, not on Facebook

Twitter:

.@JimmyFallon & Rashida Jones Sing Holiday Parodies of the year's biggest songs. http://t.co/oUzaH2pIPP via @YouTube @FallonTonight

— Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield) November 28, 2014

Facebook:

FACEBOOK GROUP: Fox 25 for Blacked-out Verizon FIOS Customers

Boston Globe writes, Fee dispute leaves FIOS customers in Mass. without Fox 25, but doesn't link to the Facebook group that they mention in the story.

Wellesley resident Cimarron Buser, who launched a Facebook page for people who lost service, urged them to complain to the Federal Communications Commission. He and others suggested ways to work around the blackout. One idea: Hook up a high-definition TV antenna and tune into the station’s broadcast for free.

“I’m not sure who is to blame for this, but clearly two large media companies . . . are fighting it out,” Buser said in an e-mail. “The consumer is the pawn in the game.”

Cimarron Buser

Update: Globe added a link.

FACEBOOK GROUP: Fox 25 for Blacked-out Verizon FIOS Customers

MA Health Connector Website: Download in EXCEL Doesn't Open in NUMBERS

Massachusetts Health Connector website "Download in Excel" feature.

DOWNLOAD IN EXCEL


OPEN IN NUMBERS

Scanning Old Kodachrome Wedding Slides

Talking Heads UMass 1978 US Tour.

Scanned Slides from Grand Lake Lodge 1969

Epson Perfection V850 Pro Photo Scanner. Install and Auto Mode Test

Massachusetts Health Connector: BROWSE PLANS ANONYMOUSLY

The Massachusetts Health Connector let's you browse plans anonymously.



Be careful entering your birthday. 

Once you start typing, the MM/YYYY prompt goes away, so if you type MM/DD/YYYY instead , and get an error, you won't know why.



'Browse our plans' page asks for Date of Birth as MM/YYYY and NOT MM/DD/YYYY.

Date of Birth field label needs 'MM/YYYY' too.

Or, my preferred solution, change the field to accept, MM/DD/YYYY.

Massachusetts Health Connector: FIND A DOCTOR

Massachusetts Health Connector goes Live, November 15, 2014 at 8:00 AM.

NOTE: The URL is http://www.mahealthconnector.org, not .com



Shopping for Plans
When shopping for plans, the Massachusetts Health Connector site WILL NOT let you enter in your doctor to see which plan s/he is in.

You'll need to visit each plan site to see if your doctor is a member of that plan.

Available plans:


FIND A DOCTOR

when you are selecting a plan, it is very important that you check that your doctor is in that plan’s network (a network is the group of providers that participate with a certain health plan).

You will find links to health plan websites on the Health Connector website.

Be sure to visit the “find a doctor” tool (Provider Search) on these websites before enrolling in a plan to ensure that your doctor will be available to you.

That's 15 plans!

Oh wait, that's 16 plans!



The DENTAL and MEDICAL plans are mixed together here. Would be better to separate DENTAL to make it easier to search.

Also, some plans are for BUSINESS ONLY. I've noted that below.

Each link to a plan goes to an intermediate page. From there you click through to the plan's SEARCH page.

I've provided direct links to PLAN SEARCH PAGES here, and put DENTAL plans at the bottom.

Ambetter from CeltiCare Health

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan

Fallon Health

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Health New England

Minuteman Health

Neighborhood Health Plan

Tufts Health Plan

Tufts Health Plan – Network Health

UnitedHealthcare

DENTAL

Altus Dental

Delta Dental

Dental Blue

Guardian Dental - PLANS AVAILABLE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES ONLY

MetLife - PLANS AVAILABLE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES ONLY

PolitiFact:

Obama: 'If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan'

Barack Obama says that what he'd said was you could keep your plan 'if it hasn’t changed since the law passed'

MA Health Connector Promotes New Website With Broken Link

MA Health Connector tweeted out a broken link yesterday to the new Health Connector website.

I told them on twitter.



It's still broken.



They need to be listening on Social Media.

If they aren't listening now, they aren't going to be listening Saturday, when the site opens up at 8 AM.

That's not right.

Massachusetts Health Connector Board Meeting 11/13/14

My Techstars Boston Demo Day Fall 2014 Recap

Cabot Farmers' Legacy Recipe Contest

I Hardwired my TiVo and Let it Choose DHCP Address

I had a problem connecting my TiVo Series 3 to my home network.

Error: No DHCP connection. 

It might have something to do with the power going out here for 12 hours.

I tried a lot of things and ended up unplugging EVERYTHING, and then physically connecting the TiVo to the Xfinity modem via a hub. I removed an intermediate WiFi device.

It worked.

Hard cable connection to a hub:

Over to a router:

Upstairs:

To the modem:

I donated to support The Brittany Fund and Compassion & Choices - Massachusetts

I donated to support Compassion & Choices - Massachusetts

Leeo Smart Alert™ Nightlight

Ireland's Brewery Tours: Carlow Brewing, Guinness, and Smithwicks

The Cliff House, A Seaside Resort in Ardmore, Ireland

Kilkenny, Ireland: A Church, a Castle, and a Bar.

We went to Waterford to see Crystal being made, but we just visited the store.

Two Stops in County Wicklow, Ireland: Avoca Handweavers and Powerscourt Waterfall

3 Ireland Whiskey Tours: Kilbeggan, Tulemore Dew, and Jameson

Two Great Dublin Hotels: The Westin and Contarf Castle

Traveling from Boston to Dublin: Aer Lingus and Hertz. 6 Tips for a Great Trip.

Havas Opens New Office in Boston's Burnham Building

Havas, which includes Havas Worldwide, Arnold and Havas Media, opened a new office in the old Filene's Building in Boston's Downtown Crossing. Havas employees around 800 people, who will help bring new life to the area. Here's my recap of their opening Burnham Bash party.

New Storytelling Tools: Hyperlapse and Snapchat

Boston Photo Walk with MarketingProfs

[Photos] Day One of the Marketing Profs B2B Marketing Forum 2014

Here are my photos from day one of the Marketing Profs B2B Marketing Forum 2014.

I Tw-Insta-Vined it. ;-)