I\u2019m setting two goals for myself: 1) Try to make $1 trillion by mining bitcoin on my standard-issue home computer, and 2) finally cut the cable cord. I want to do these two things because it seems like everyone is these days. And at my advancing age it is important to keep up with the trends and stay relevant. (Plus, learn some TikTok dances.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019m also motivated by money. Because we all could use more of it, and right now, it seems like all of mine is going to the cable company. I looked at my cable bill recently and realized that I am paying what is equivalent to the national debt of Northern Macedonia. Each month! And I\u2019m sure they at least have some kind hydro-electric damn to show for their money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Me? I have 82,000 channels and only two that I use: Food Network and any channel with a show on that has \u201cunexplained\u201d in the title. (Someone really should start a whole network called \u201cUnexplained\u201d to capture the attention of people like me. It could be bigger than mining Bitcoin.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Otherwise, I don\u2019t use it. Actually, that isn\u2019t true. I use it quite a bit as I scroll endlessly through the channel guide in a desperate search for something to watch. Anything with the word \u201cunexplained\u201d in the title. I\u2019m like a thirsty man lost in a desert. Or worse, a zombie stumbling around moaning, \u201cMust watch \u2018Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, when I calculated the amount of quality time spent \u201cwatching\u201d cable and divided it by the national debt of Northern Macedonia, and then compared it to the thousands of dollars I spend on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ that I actually use, I realized \u2026 I can\u2019t do math. But that while I don\u2019t know the exact figure, I AM wasting a lot of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I\u2019m trying to learn how to become a \u201ccord-cutter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a fancy term for an individual who doesn\u2019t like paying the national debt of Northern Macedonia each month and wants to stick it to the cable company by dropping their service. This last part is extremely important. Because it\u2019s not enough to just eliminate a service or save extra money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cord-cutting, it seems, has to be an act of liberation. Of sticking it to the cable man for years of stealing our money and convincing us that an incredibly fancy remote control that you can talk to will somehow make the world better. (If I\u2019m being honest, it really kind of does, but that\u2019s beside the point!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cord-cutting is a movement. A revolution. A way of taking back \u2026 uh \u2026 our digital \u2026 um \u2026 I don\u2019t know. I think there\u2019s a manifesto or something, but I didn\u2019t really read it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cord-cutters are a community of like-minded freedom fighters. They have web sites and advice columns and I think there are even patches you can earn to sew on your cord-cutter leather jacket. (\u201cI earned this one for creativity in service cancellation. I rode an alpaca into the cable company\u2019s corporate office and delivered a registered letter myself.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019re hard core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think you have to be. Because cutting the cord is not easy, I\u2019m finding. There\u2019s the emotional baggage of letting go. There\u2019s trying to understand how you\u2019re going to get your Food Network and \u201cunexplained\u201d shows through the multitude of streaming services out there. There\u2019s figuring how you\u2019re going to stream a lot more bandwidth into your house when you thought \u201cbandwidth\u201d was how wide a musical act extended across the stage. And then there\u2019s the fear that you may no longer have a remote control that never understands what you say and makes you scream, \u201cI said put on some $#@&!% soccer, you cable stooge!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m researching. I\u2019m reading advice columns. I\u2019m setting up elaborate spreadsheets and getting lots of prices. I\u2019m learning all kinds of things about streaming speeds and Internet \u2026 uh \u2026 technical stuff that is four miles above my basic ability to plug a wire into the wrong TV input. And I\u2019m looking into whether I can use any old leather jacket, or if cord-cutters wear a particular kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, I\u2019m thinking about what I\u2019m going to do with all that money I\u2019m going to save. Mind you, my math isn\u2019t good, but I have calculated it to be in the several million dollars. I figure I can take all that cash, plow it into computer hardware and start mining Bitcoin. Because that\u2019s where cord-cutters seem to go next. And they even have a patch for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m setting two goals for myself: 1) Try to make $1 trillion by mining bitcoin on my standard-issue home computer, and 2) finally cut the cable cord. I want to do these two things because it seems like everyone is these days. And at my advancing age it is important to keep up with the trends and stay relevant. (Plus, learn some TikTok dances.)<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m also motivated by money. Because we all could use more of it, and right now, it seems like all of mine is going to the cable company. I looked at my cable bill recently and realized that I am paying what is equivalent to the national debt of Northern Macedonia. Each month! And I\u2019m sure they at least have some kind hydro-electric damn to show for their money. <\/p>\n
Me? I have 82,000 channels and only two that I use: Food Network and any channel with a show on that has \u201cunexplained\u201d in the title. (Someone really should start a whole network called \u201cUnexplained\u201d to capture the attention of people like me. It could be bigger than mining Bitcoin.)<\/p>\n
Otherwise, I don\u2019t use it. Actually, that isn\u2019t true. I use it quite a bit as I scroll endlessly through the channel guide in a desperate search for something to watch. Anything with the word \u201cunexplained\u201d in the title. I\u2019m like a thirsty man lost in a desert. Or worse, a zombie stumbling around moaning, \u201cMust watch \u2018Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[578,559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-nutshells","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2264,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions\/2264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}