Archive for the ‘Totally Random’ Category

Make your Grandmother Happy – Get Her SIRIUS

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Our audience skews a bit young, afterall, the average satellite radio listener is 43 years old, and being an internet store, our average customer might be younger still.

Since we don’t think of older people and satellite radio together usually, I want to fill you in on a secret.  Your grandparents will FLIP OUT if you get them SIRIUS for a gift.  For example, take my Nana.  Satellite radio is perfect for her because she:

  1. has some time to kill, especially lately, as she has been recovering from shoulder surgery
  2. is used to listening to the radio a lot, most of her life has been spent during the years when FM radio was a major form of entertainment
  3. loves music (and news) and wants to access the ever-proliferating amount of content, but has NO PATIENCE for figuring out complicated technologies like internet radio, ipods, itunes, etc.  The genius of satellite radio for her is that it puts modern technology into a familiar interface.

I attached a voicemail message that she left me a couple days ago (on my birthday) where she talks about how much she likes the Tivoli Sirius table radio that I sent her a few weeks ago. Take a listen.

SIRIUS radio is a great gift for grandparents everywhere.

http://www.tss-radio.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/nana.mp3

Me and My Nana in Door County

Me and My Nana in Door County

Listen to the Podcast  

Download the File Here

Sad Road Trip Without SIRIUS

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Mountains and Reindeer in Colorado

Two weekends ago I went to a wedding in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  I have been to Steamboat a few times before, but always in the winter to snowboard.  In the winter one of the biggest appeals of Steamboat over other ski areas out west is that it has a little airport about 20 miles away that has direct flights from Chicago – much nicer than driving out I-70 from DIA to get to Breckenridge or Vail.

However, in the summer there are no direct flights from Chicago to Steamboat / Hayden Airport and I had to drive up from Denver.  It’s about a 3.5 hour drive and my wife couldn’t come so I was doing it solo.  I rather like road trips and I took the long way, through Rocky Mountain National Park, which was beautiful, and spent the morning hanging out in Boulder, which I enjoyed as well.

I am really really cheap, especially when it comes to travel, especially when I’m not traveling with my wife (who is not that cheap).  So I completely skimped on the rental car and got a $20 / day rental from Hotwire.  The car itself wasn’t bad, a Carolla from Avis.  Because of the mountains I would have preferred something with a little more power.  But what really sucked is that it didn’t come with satellite radio.

I am also really spoiled since, as an owner of TSS-Radio, I have satellite in my car and home and I completely take it for granted.  After about 20 minutes of listening to FM I was seriously pissed off – the stations sucked, the reception was awful in the mountains, there were way too many commercials and the playlists were generic and boring.

More Mountains

More Mountains

In Boulder I hit up a cd store and bought 4 cds for about $50.  I was a pretty happy camper for the first two listens of each cd, or about 3 hours.  Unfortunately, between the drive there and the drive back (thanks to some horrible traffic on I-70 coming back) I had about 8 hours of driving total.

Lesson?  I should have paid the extra $10-15 to get a fancier rental car with satellite radio in it.

How do you take your Media? DVDs? MP3s? Blu-Ray? Radio?

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

comcastdish networkhd dvdnetflixsirius xmpandora musictivoitunes ipodblockbusterdirect tvhd radiozuneslacker radioclear channelcompuserveaollaserdiscblu ray

Long has media been a part of our lives. We use media every day; Magazines, DVD’s, or Radio, we use these tools to either get information or the entertainment that we need/desire. The types of media that is available to people is so numerous to even begin counting. But there has to been one media you use that you rely on more. For some TV is the largest media device in their lives for others Radio either Satellite or Terrestrial. We all find a devices and medias to suit our needs and desires.

I am asking you, the readers of the TSS-Radio Blog, What media do you use and how do you like it? I asked several of the employees here at TSS-Radio to see what media they use and how the feel about it. Here is what I got:

netflix Myself(Josh): I just got Netflix for my Xbox360. It streams right to my HDTV and displays the movie’s full glory. The amount of instant content on Netflix is a little lacking(around 12,000 titles), but the quality of the stream(variable by ISP of course, I use just standard cable internet) is outstanding. As my colleague on Digital Radio Central, Sgip2000, pointed out, you have to preselect the content you want to see on Netflix.com from your computer first and then it becomes available on your Xbox360. Other than the preselection of the content, I would suggest to anyone who has both an Xbox360 and Netflix to check it out. It’s a great way to watch the Netflix Instant content on your TV and in HD.

siriusTish:I have a lot of stuff. Specifically, I have a lot of entertainment options.  From an iPod and Wii to DJ equipment and digital cable, I can never legitimately be bored.  There are two things, though, that have really simplified my media consumption.  First is the Tivo.  Tivo allows me to watch whatever I want whenever I have time.  I love that I can set the Tivo to record some obscure movie that only plays once at 3 A.M. on Wednesday night and then watch it at my leisure–which is definitely NOT 3 A.M. on a Wednesday night!

The second media device that has made my life a lot easier is my SIRIUS Satellite Radio.  I currently live in Chicago but my family lives in Southwest Ohio, so I travel back and forth several times a year by car.  The SIRIUS radio allows me to listen to commercial free music, with a wide variety of musical genres represented, without changing the channel or dealing with static for the entire 500 mile trip.  Besides the music, I LOVE the NPR stations!  I always try to schedule my trip so I can catch Talk of the Nation Science Friday and The Splendid Table on the weekends. In addition to the great programming–SIRIUS has that traditional radio feel that is missing from the iPod or Slacker experience.  I actually really like hearing DJs and top of the hour news reports and the variety of talk programs.  I love music, but the human element is really missing from most of the other portable media options. There is something special about the personal feel you get with talk or terrestrial radio and I feel SIRIUS offers that without all of the repetitive junk and commercials.

All in all, the Tivo and SIRIUS Radio both offer diversity in your programming options and the ability to enjoy only what you are interested in without all of the filler.  So, if you haven’t already….Check ‘em out!!

memorexRoss:I put the Memorex cassette mix tape into my GE walkman and then put my Koss over ear headphones on (need to replace that damn missing foam on one ear).

We will be adding a few more opinions from TSS-Radio Staff, but now we want to hear from You. Just Click Below to COMMENT and tell us about your media!

More websites to check out!

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

A while back I posted a few website that I frequent and I thought people would like. Here is a few more that I think everyone can enjoy:

Digital Radio Central- a great forum for all forms of digital content.

Woot.com- a cool site that posts a daily deal

TigerDirect.com-a top computer and computer related retailer worth checking out.

Etsy.com-”Your place to Buy and Sell all things Handmade”.

TheHottestGadgets.com- “your source for some of the hottest gadgets on the planet. We post useful, and interesting information about gadgets and technology.”

If anyone has any cool sites they visit, feel free to post them in the comments!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

No, this isn’t a joke. We are reviewing what will likely be one of the Summer’s biggest blockbuster movies–Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull here at TSS Radio. And no, there aren’t any Stilettos or Sportsters in the movie, we just wanted to lighten things up and not be so “SIRIUS” all the time. (Pun seriously intended)

This fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series starts off a bit slow and although it ends up being pretty entertaining there’s still something to be desired–especially when compared to the previous Indy films. The first hour of “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is filled with half-hazard plot development and boring details that you will forget by the time you are to the good stuff anyways. It seems as if the back story is kind of an after thought and the plot is so all over the place it doesn’t end up mattering. The first hour also introduces us to some campy, over the top characters–most notably the Russian femme fatale/Natasha from Rocky & Bullwinkle-esque villain played by Cate Blanchett. I couldn’t help but find her accent laughable and the character’s weird interest in the paranormal and psychic communication led this avid television watcher to compare her to Jackie from Lifetime Network’s “America’s Psychic Challenge” (they even have the same haircut!). After we are through with Natasha…er, I mean, Irina Spalko (Blanchett) we are forced to meet the not very believable as a rough and tumble greaser Shia LeBeouf as a character called “Mutt Williams”.

Our first encounter with Mutt is with him riding up on a motorcycle doing his best impression of Marlon Brando from “The Wild Ones” (hat and all). Maybe I can’t take LeBeouf seriously as this kind of character because he was in “Even Stevens” for 4 years, or maybe it’s because his character’s dialogue is dotted with cornball ’50s slang and all he seems to do is comb his hair. As the movie progresses he kind of loses the lame slang and comb, and becomes a highlight of the movie. I think LeBeouf has a quirkiness about him that translates really well in a role that mixes action and humor, especially alongside Harrison Ford who has pretty much made a career of that.

Once the movie gets rolling there are some really enjoyable action sequences that remind me of why I thought being an archaeologist was the coolest job in the world when I was a kid. The action is reminiscent of classic Indy and we finally get to the cob-webbed caves and situations that only Indiana Jones could get out of. The last half of the movie also reintroduces the character of Marion Ravenwood (played by Karen Allen) who you may remember as Indy’s love interest in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. The banter between Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood is also a throw back to the earlier films and provides some of the only humorous moments in “…Crystal Skull”, which is a disappointment.

Overall, I would say that “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is worth seeing if you are a fan of the series, however it didn’t leave me with the same excited, adventurous feeling I remember after watching the older ones. In conclusion, this movie will not spawn a future generation of wannabe archeologists like the earlier films may have, rather it will most likely just create another overworked action franchise and more work for Shia Lebeouf (as if he needs it).

Tish
TSS Radio