Old Apple TV no longer offers SD rental option for movies.

Recently I went through more data than usual and whilst investigating why, I realised I'd downloaded and watched a number of 99 cent movies. I couldn't help think could these possibly have been the problem.

These movies didn't offer the choice of SD or HD, so I have to assume they ran at HD. HD can consume between 2 to 4 times as much data. A few cheap movies and bang, there goes the data and since I use mobile data, and the cost of mobile data is higher, so the movies perhaps no longer so cheap.

I then went and checked the Apple TV. This is one of the older Apple TV units that has the slim aluminium  remote control. I went though a number of new movies and not a single movie now offers the option for SD rental. Previously I'd select SD because to me the lower quality didn't make a difference and the rental was a $1 less. Now it appears Apple may have removed the pricing difference between the SD and HD versions. There's no longer a choice. The lower cost SD rental seems to have vanished from the Apple TV.

It would seem this may be a trend in the industry. A subtle price increase by removing the lower cost SD quality rental option. Google Playstore also only appears to offer movie rentals using HD. The Microsoft Store however at this stage still provides the option of SD or HD on many movies with pricing often being $5.99 and $6.99 respectively.

I did notice with the recent release of Aquaman the rental price was only $7.99 for SD, HD and UHD. I was hoping this isn't a trend towards higher pricing of rented movies. Aquaman is available for $6.99 on the Apple TV and $7.99 on Google's Playstore. It does feel like there's a subtle push to move the lowest streaming price of movie rentals from $5.99 to $6.99. Starts to make those $2 weekly rentals from the video stores look better value for money.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support

Update: 30/04/2019
I performed further testing and whilst the option to rent the SD version is no longer on each movie, if you do wish to use SD to reduce the amount of data used, you can change the video resolution from auto to 720. This doesn't seem to impact the price.

I also checked iTunes on my older MacBook Air and the ability to rent an SD movie at a cheaper price is still generally available. Some movies have a single higher pricing and select SD makes no difference.

Hayu streaming service data usage.

If you have a reality TV junkie in the house then the Hayu streadming service available at Hayu.com may be worth checking out. Hayu provides access to all the seasons and all the shows for popular reality shows like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vandepump Rules and many more.

However one thing to watch out for is the Hayu streaming service does not provide the ability to selected the quality of the stream. If you have unlimited data this isn't an issue. However, if you're using mobile data, or a plan with more limited data, then not being able to adjust the streaming quality could be a real, and/or costly issue.

Recently I had 28GB of data that was used in just five days. That's a lot of data and one thing I thought may be using the data was Hayu. This wasn't necessarily the case but it did make me realise I needed to check Hayu and see if I could control the streaming quality.

This is an important lesson. When reviewing streaming services it's a good idea to make sure the streaming service has the ability to set the maximum streaming quality. With ultra HD now available from some services and consuming many gigabytes per hour, you could rack up some serious data usage and possibly bills, watching streaming media at a much higher quality than needed.

This page from the NBN site provides some useful information on different streaming services and the data they use.

Hayu doesn't appear to have an option to set the streaming quality. What they do state on their site is:

Most episodes last around 42-44 minutes. On wifi we will deliver the strongest quality video which will mean that your data consumption will be higher.

For mobile we use 'adaptive technology' which means we work out what is appropriate for the device. If you are at all concerned about your mobile data usage we suggest that you only watch videos via a wifi connection.

There can be a handy clue in this information. If the software just sees Wi-Fi it may not know the data is coming from a mobile broadband device. If the streaming is using a mobile device there's a possibility this could use less data. The only way to know is to perform testing to see how much data is being used.

The real issue with Hayu is if you can't set the streaming quality, you don't have control. For some that is not an issue, but for others it may be an  issue with data usage.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

New Microsoft Edge now has casting.

The new Microsoft Edge browser is currently in development and the development versions are being made available to the public. I'm now using the developer version of Microsoft Edge as my main browser and will provide feedback on the browser as I find things worth sharing.

Previously the ability to cast to a Google Chromecast was listed in the menus, but did not actually work. Microsoft have now made the cast feature available. It's a little quirky to use, but overall a huge step forward for casting using Microsoft products. Yes this has been available in Google Chrome, but now it's begining to feel like Google Chrome is needed less as casting is integrated into Microsoft's product. Until now I've not found Microsoft's approach to casting was used by anyone I've had contact with.

When I say casting is quirky to use, it's really about knowing the order to select the casting. Keep in mind Microsoft has Casting in Tools, which is one level lower than Google Chrome and thus casting in Edge may not be noticed by many people.

When you open the cast option it's important to first select whether you want to cast the tab (default), entire desktop, or a file. Then select the device you wish to cast to. If you want to be able to quickly open tabs and have the new tab display on the external device, this is when using the cast Desktop option is easier. If you just wish to cast the one tab, and open other tabs in the background, this is when the cast tab option is best. I felt it was quirky as I tend to work through menus top to bottom. That is select device is at the top and then select cast desktop, but this didn't work. I would expect it should work. The sequence does matter in this case.

It should be said sequence is the same issue in Edge as it is in Google Chrome. That's expected since Microsoft is using the same open source software as Google Chrome.

Overall casting is an excellent new feature now available in Microsft's Edge browser that is currently under development.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Microsoft Edge Chromium based browser early release review.

Today I read the first release of Microsoft's Edge browser based on Google's open source project Chromium was available. I downloaded the weekly updated Dev version, as Microsoft said it was more stable than the daily updated version.

So far no issues and it's already replaced the Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. Why you may ask. Because it already does a couple of things I've wanted that Google Chrome did but Microsoft Edge didn't. I might even say, even at this stage I'd probably use it as my default browser except for one thing, the spellchecker feature is not yet completed.

The following shows Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Edge based on Chromium.

As you can see the two don't look very different. That was an interesting experience to see how the front end of the old browser was reproduced for the new browser.

One thing that stood out straight away was the thinner and crisper font used in the interface. I thought that looked good.

The Home button I added as I really didn't think Microsoft would have the feature I really wanted. That is to be able to change the search used in the address bar to the search I use. I've written my own search facility that enables me to include keywords to go to dozens of sites quickly. Keywords to the top 300 sites Australians visit. Keywords I use to help others with their computers. All sites quickly available just by entering a keyword and pressing search. I couldn't get my search to work in Microsoft Edge, but I can with Edge based on Chromium, albeit I have to manually enter the details. For me that's a huge bonus. The Home button will shortly go.

Everything seems to work and whilst I've only been using the Dev edition of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium for a few hours, not a single site has given me an issue. That's pretty good for an early release.

One feature I miss still is the ability to set a new tab to open in a page of my choice. No longer an issue really since using my search from the address bar will work around that feature being missing.

My bookmarks came across from Microsoft Edge without a problem. Features I don't want I could turn off.

Because of my interest in the preferred Australian English spelling and the tools I provided I'll be interested to see if Microsoft provides the ability for me to use my spelling dictionaries. Whilst Google Chrome uses my dated dictionary work from around 2006, Google Chrome does not provide an easy way for me to include my own dictionaries. Only time will tell if Microsoft's Edge provides a better option. If it does, for me that alone will make Edge the preferred browser over Chrome. I can only hope.

I'm not really into add-ons so really can't say whether that area is good or bad. For me it's just a feature I don't use.

Other things I've liked, but aren't necessarily new, but shows how I customise my browser to suit me.

• Turn off password prompts. I don't store passwords in my browser.
• Send Do Not Track.
• Turn off sites checking for payment method.
• Turn off send data on how I use the browser
• Turn off send info on sites visited
• Turn of notifications. Do I really want to be nagged by every site I visit.
• On start up go to my preferred site, which is my search site.
• Set Australian English as my preferred and first language, even though the spelling feature is not yet available.
• Turned off the feature to continue running background apps when Edge is closed. May revisit this if its used in a useful way.
• Whether this will change but Microsoft Edge would automatically play ad videos from sites like news.com.au and that was really, really, really annoying. Those ads don't play now. Peace at last. I think we thank Chromium for that change.
• Feels quite fast even on my very low end (read cheap) Acer I use for travel and keep using when not travelling. This may change as Microsoft ads further code, but hopefully not. Feels faster than Chrome.

Whilst I have to admit I was concerned with Microsoft's change of direction with their browser, even though Microsoft Edge really wasn't a good browser, but this new browser based on Chromium already feels better than the soon to be obsolete Microsoft Edge.

Now if there was one feature I'd like in the browser it would be the ability to read a barcode and send that barcode to a site of my choice just like the search now does in the address bar. If Microsoft can keep include features designed for old developers like myself that like to dabble in code in a simple way, that would be appreciated. There's lots of people like me, but I do accept, software is for the many, not for the one as Spock would probably say.

These are my first impressions of the Microsoft Edge browser based on Chromium. Already the new browser is looking better than the old browser. If they continue down the path of making the software cross-platform, and not cripple the experience on mobile devices (e.g. limiting search engine choice) Microsoft may just win back some market share. Something they sorely need to do having gone from being the leading browser to almost obscurity.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.OnlineConnections.com.au

IT support.

PS. There's one negative I didn't mention above. Microsoft have a site where people like me can sign up and be notified of when the new Microsoft Edge is available. I signed up. So far I've heard nothing and only knew about the release through the media. This almost indicates Microsoft doesn't care, which in turn loses loyalty. If you're not going to use a mailing list to keep people informed then don't offer it. It doesn't look good. The good thing however is this loss of loyalty means we make better decisions in the long run and that's a good thing.

PPS. Another feature which is in the menus but not yet implemented is casting. If casting is implemented using Google Chromecast this will be a bih step forward for Microsoft. To date if you wanted to cast you needed to use Chrome. Microsoft option really wasn't something I found anyone using and really having to resort to plugging in a video cable to see something on the big screen is not ideal.

Update: 10/04/2019
Autoplay of videos on news.com.au site does occur. Tested this is the same using Chrome. I do wish I could turn autoplay off as a standard feature without resorting to add-ins that may or may not work.

Hostgator SSL free

A while ago I migrated quite a few sites from Hostgator as they didn't have free SSL. Paying for an SSL certificate for every site was just not cost effective. Moving quite a number of sites to another hosting service with free SSL covering all the sites for less than the cost one certificate from Hostgator just made sense.

Fast forward a couple of years and Hostgator now have free SSL available with their hosting. They've never let me know, and it's not at first clear how to use it, so I thought I'd share with others what I've found.

First, every add-on domain now has SSL available without doing anything. All you have to do is use https: instead of http: to access your site. But's there some catches.

The first is all those links out there using http: to access your site. To get around this you need to rewrite all requests to http to https.

Next you'll find Google Chrome gives you security warnings for some sites, but not for all sites. At first this made no sense. However, after a while I saw the pattern. The sites with forms would give security issues, whereas those that didn't have forms gave no issues. The reason. Remapping http to https happens on the server but there's no way for Google Chrome to know this will happen. Chrome assumes if it sees a form URL with http: there's a potential security issue. You need to update the form URLs to http:.

Once I'd made those changes that padlock appeared in Google Chrome and those pesky informational issues went away.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Update: 1 April 2019
For one site, even though the lock now showed in the address bar, the layout of the page had been quite severely affected. For this site stylesheets were used to create a responsive site. The stylesheets were referenced using http: and changing this to https: fixed the layout issue.

Also this site was giving the information message "Attackers might be able to see the images you're looking at on this site and trick you by modifying them." Images on the page where referenced using http:. Changing these images to be referenced using https: fixed this warning message.

Also note there were still plenty of places http: was used on this site (links used with images, links used with php, links in menus) but these were not causing an issue. Ideally if links can be made relative this will avoid the issue with http/https. This experience shows not all links need to be changed to migrate a site from http to https. If time and resources permit, it is however better to do a full job rather than half a job. Sometimes life forces us to compromise.