Monthly Archives: May 2008

Paperless, Week 3

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Monday

Not Junk

  • Letter from the IRS explaining that I should expect my economic stimulus payment last week. It was direct deposited into my account on Thursday.
  • Letter from the Toyota dealer informing me that my Avalon is likely due for its 125,000 mile minor service. They include a coupon, which is nice of them. Cheaper than Jiffy Lube.
  • Urgent notice from Time magazine that my subscription requires renewal. This one is borderline. I deliberately cancelled my subscription, but I was a paying customer for several years.

Junk

  • My non-partisan voter information guide, which recommends a full slate of Republicans. Strange.
  • Store circulars from RedPlum. 35 pages. The grocery circulars are actually folded sideways, so they’re only half the number of real pages; however, they’re big enough to count double.

Tuesday

Mail

  • 2008 summer schedule for REI’s Outdoor School.

Wednesday

Mail

  • Confirmation letter from my credit union that one of my CDs has been automatically renewed.
  • June issue of ZooNooz from the San Diego Zoological Society.

Junk

  • One week pass to LA Fitness, with an offer to join for “less than $7 per week.” That’s not quite as good as the $24 per year I pay to 24 Hour Fitness.

Thursday

No mail!

Friday

Mail

  • Membership renewal notice from KPBS, the local public radio station. I suspect if I were more diligent about renewing, I wouldn’t receive reminders in the mail.

Junk

  • Local advertisements brought to me by the San Diego Union-Tribune. 37 pages. I may not take their newspaper, but they still find a way to send me their advertising.

Saturday

Mail

  • Time magazine.
  • June 2008 issue of The Costco Connection.
  • Summer coupon book for Costco. Not a lot I’m interested in this time.

Junk

  • Another vote recommendation guide.
  • Advertisement for Cox digital cable. Their internet service is so bad I’m considering looking for an alternative. I’m certainly not about to pay them for digital cable, with an interface much, much worse than my TiVo systems.

That leaves me with 10 pieces of mail and 6 pieces of junk. I notice that not one piece of junk mail was a credit card offer. Maybe this experiment is working?

Roku Neflix Player

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On Tuesday, someone on IRC showed me the Netflix Player by Roku. It’s similar to the Apple TV, or Amazon’s Unbox, but obviously works with Netflix instead of iTunes. This benefits me because I have a Netflix subscription, and the Netflix Player, once purchased for $99.99, incurs no additional fees for streaming movies or television series. My package arrived today.

What’s in the box.

  • Netflix Player
  • Remote control
  • Power supply
  • Composite A/V cable
  • 2 AAA batteries
  • License Agreement and Warranty Statement
  • 7 step Getting Started manual

Reading through the simple Getting Started manual, I noticed that Roku has only rated a single star for the quality of my video and three for the quality of my audio. I know, I know, I have a 10 year old 27 inch CRT and I really haven’t kept up-to-date in the A/V arena.

Connections on the back of the box include power, S-video, composite, component, and RJ-45. It supports wireless networking, but since I have a network switch next to the TV for the TiVo anyway, I went ahead and plugged it into the network.

Once hooked up and turned on, the system automatically downloaded an update, restarted, and connected to the Netflix service. Activating the box on my account was as simple as logging into my Netflix account and entering an activation code.

As quickly as that, I was able to start browsing what Netflix calls my Instant Queue. Since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released today, I searched for Raiders of the Lost Ark for my first Roku movie. Unfortunately, that title was not available for instant viewing.

In fact, I found very little selection in the Instant Viewing area. For the moment, I’m willing to write this off to the recent introduction of the service. As more people adopt it, I expect more DVDs will be available for streaming.

My mom has been watching the British series MI-5 on BBC America. I don’t receive that channel, so I went ahead and added MI-5: Volume 1 to my Instant Queue. As advertised, it was immediately available on my Netflix Player.

The Netflix Player appears to buffer individual DVD chapters at a time to the player. The buffering went quickly, and the quality of the video was okay. No better or worse than what I usually record on my TiVo. I expect that if Cox was actually delivering Internet to me at the speeds they advertise, I would receive higher quality video. Either that, or the player detects which video cable is plugged in and downloads the appropriate quality stream.

Overall, I really like the Netflix Player and would recommend it to anyone with a Netflix account. However, it may be an impatient wait until more DVD selections are available. I would love to use the Netflix Player as an excuse to cancel my cable television service. Everything I watch is eventually released on DVD, so I’d be able to watch it when I want and without commercials. The one-time purchase price is just right, too, since I already have a Netflix account. Not paying for individual programs is a definite plus.

My entire Netflix Player Set on Flickr.

Paperless, Week 2

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This week I’m formatting my post to more easily distinguish desired mail from junk mail. One might also notice that we’re not very good about walking out to the mail box every day. Just another reason to go paperless.

Monday and Tuesday

Mail

  • Stages magazine from Fidelity. Right on the cover, they advertise going paperless. I hope this applies to the magazine as well as their statements.
  • @UCSD, a magazine for alumni.

Junk

  • Solicitation for some token amount of life insurance for Mrs. sirhc, through our credit union.
  • Solicitation from AMVETS to leave donations on the doorstep for them to pick up. I’m pretty sure I get one of these every month, but this is the first time I’ve ever taken the time to determine what it is.
  • Solicitation from a junk removal service. They even direct me to their web site. Gee, thanks.
  • PennySaver and associated circulars (15 pages, not including the PennySaver and included CouponSaver).
  • Local business circulars, from RedPlum, which is apparently a company that specializes in sending circulars. 41 pages.
  • LEGO catalog. As awesome as this is to flip through, I can browse their web site just as easily.
  • REI catalog. Same as the LEGO catalog.

The RedPlum circulars do include the weekly specials for Sprouts and Vons, which we do frequent (we also shop at my favorite store, Trader Joe’s). Both stores have their weekly specials on their web site, so there’s no problem losing the RedPlum circulars.

Wednesday and Thursday

Mail

  • Results for Mrs. sirhc’s last ultrasound. It’s a girl!
  • The June issue of San Diego Westways. Part of our AAA membership.
  • The June issue of Parenting. Part of a free two issue trial, which Mrs. sirhc has already canceled.

Junk

  • Invitation to join the IEEE Computer Society. I’m already a member of USENIX, SAGE, and LOPSA. I suppose I could throw in IEEE and ACM as well, but I’ll first see if work will pay for it. Of all the junk mail I get, I expect the computer societies to be paperless.
  • Solicitation for AT&T’s internet, phone, and TV services. Junk, but with the quality of Cox’s internet service, I’m almost tempted.
  • Another voting guide to instruct me which way I should vote on the issues. With a little more than two weeks until the election, I expect a lot more of this. My mistake, apparently, was not registering as a decline-to-state voter. I’ll remedy this after the election.
  • Solicitation for a United Airlines credit card. I get this about once a month, both at home and at work. I guess they think I’ll eventually break down.
  • Solicitation from UCSD’s Computer Science and Engineering department to support their tutoring program. This is what I get for registering for the tutor reunion (and then not going anyway).
  • Catalog for Basset, which apparently sells furniture.

Friday

Mail

  • Rebate check for my cell phone.
  • Rebate check for Mrs. sirhc’s cell phone.

Junk

  • Pre-approval notice from our credit union that I’m eligible for an auto loan.
  • Pre-approval notice from our credit union that Mrs. sirhc is eligible for an auto loan.
  • Local business circulars, consisting of 45 pages.

Normally, the pre-screened offers would bother me. However, we’re actually in the market for a new car right now. Not very green of me, I know.

Saturday

Mail

  • Time magazine. Including the warning about my subscription expiring. Darn.

Junk

  • Something called NC Magazine. There sure are a lot of community-oriented publications where we live now.
  • Get1Free magazine. A coupon book that rarely contains anything I want.
  • An informative reminder that I can save on Alamo car rentals because I’m a Costco member. Um, thanks.

Ratio of mail to junk for week 2 is 8:19. More than twice as much junk than mail. It’s a good thing I recycle.

Paperless, Week 1

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A week ago, I signed up for paperless bank statements and paperless billing. Additionally, I signed up on GreenDimes. Shortly after I posted about this, a fellow by the name of SanjDimes, who is apparently affiliated with GreenDimes, asked that I wait at least three months before I review the effectiveness of the service. That gave me an idea. Why don’t I spend that three months documenting the amount of mail I receive, and how much of that is junk? This will give me empirical evidence of the success or failure of my experiment.

Monday and Tuesday

We never got around to checking the mail on Monday, so the first two days of this week have been combined.

  • New home survey from CIDR Systems. This is actually the second copy we’ve received, since I couldn’t be bothered to fill out the first one (they’re kind of annoying).
  • Credit card offer from Southwest Airlines. Incidentally, I received this same offer at work. Two pieces of junk mail for the price of one.
  • Credit card offer from Chase, advertising their “card factory,” whatever that is.
  • Bill from American Express. This was mailed before I opted for paperless billing.
  • Greeting card for Mrs. sirhc.
  • Several grocery store circulars. I did, however, pull out the advertisements for Sprouts and Vons.
  • PennySaver and associated circulars.
  • California primary election sample ballots. Yes, we’re having another one this year. No, I don’t know why they couldn’t be combined into one.
  • Costco coupon book.
  • Postcard reminding me to spend my Costco credit card rebate. Of course, I have already done this, so the reminder is pointless.
  • Advertisement for a local tanning salon.
  • June 2008 issue of Linux Journal. I don’t intend to renew my subscription. I never get around to reading it anymore, and most of the articles end up on their web site anyway.
  • Brochure for the 2008 USENIX Annual Technical Conference. Did I really need a hard copy of this?
  • AAA offer to upgrade my membership. Just like last year, and the year before that, I’m not interested.

Wednesday

  • Another greeting card for Mrs. sirhc. Well, we are expecting a baby, and Mother’s Day is this weekend.
  • Our absentee ballots for that superfluous California primary election.
  • Terms and conditions for my wireless phone protection plan.
  • A neighbor’s advertisement for Ocean Enterprises. I wonder how much of my own mail ends up in my neighbors’ hands. Good thing I’m going paperless.
  • Brochure for this year’s LinuxWorld conference. Yet another advertisement that could have been sent via e-mail. I expect better of technical conferences.

Thursday

  • Workforce and community development course catalog from Palomar College.

Friday

  • Circulars for local chain stores (Target, Rite-Aid, etc.).
  • Advertisement for Discount Tires.
  • Our “voting guide” for California’s upcoming primary election. I don’t know what I’d do without people sending me mail to tell me how I should vote.
  • Solicitation to alumni to pledge money for UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering. This was sent because I refused to pledge money to someone who cold-called me soliciting money.

Saturday

  • Time magazine. I won’t be renewing my subscription after next month. It’s another magazine I no longer have time (ha ha) to read, and the articles all end up on the web site anyway.
  • City news and recreation guide for the city of San Marcos. I’ll have to read through this to see if it’s something I want.
  • Invitation to the Zoological Society of San Diego’s Member Appreciation Evening. I’ve been a member for a number of years, so I expect these things.
  • Solicitation to become a member of the Birch Aquarium. Nice, but I’ll pass for now.

The first thing I’ve learned from this experiment is that it’s not as easy as I expected to distinguish the signal from the noise. Some pieces of mail—the credit card offers—are obviously junk. Some pieces of mail—the greeting cards—are obviously not junk. Others, such as the San Marcos recreation guide or the circulars for stores we actually shop at, are not so easy to classify. For the purposes of this experiment, I will classify them as junk, because they were unsolicited commercial mail. This, as some may recognize, is similar to the official definition of spam e-mail. That said, what was my signal to noise ratio?

We received 13 pieces of desired (or not so desired in the case of bills and ballots) mail and 15 pieces of junk mail. While these numbers may look close to equal, much of the junk mail was composed of circulars and brochures, which consist of much more paper than the typical desired piece of mail. Next week I may need to refine my measurement criteria by counting the number of unique advertisements in each circular.

Coasting to Work

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I spent the better part of my weekend, and this morning’s commute, thinking about public transportation. A year ago, when Mrs. sirhc and I moved to North County, I investigated public transportation; specifically, the Coaster. At the time it wasn’t worth it. There are too many days—karate, game night, user group meetings—I’d still need my car. The combination of that and the cost of the Coaster pass made it prohibitively expensive.

Well, now I’m paying over $4 per gallon on fuel for said car. It is time again to evaluate the Coaster. I would need a “2 zone” pass, which costs $126 per month. At $4 per gallon, that’s 31.5 gallons of gasoline. I burn approximately two gallons of gasoline per day on my commute, or 10 gallons per week, or approximately 40 gallons per month. The Coaster is becoming more attractive every day.

I live 7.8 miles from the Carlsbad Poinsettia Coaster station, a distance I could cycle to save even more fuel (and get some exercise). Regardless, even parking my car at the station, I would be reducing my commute by over 28 miles per day. I’d still need to drive for game nights and user group meetings, but the majority of my time would be spent on the train.

I don’t usually drive my morning commute in heavy traffic, opting to leave the house early to avoid it. However, it’s difficult to find a time of day to return home that will avoid traffic (except for really late after game night). While the train will likely add to the overall time of my commute, the lower mileage on my car and the benefit to my sanity will probably make up for it.

Qualcomm makes the deal even sweeter. The company subsidizes 25% of the Coaster pass, bringing the cost down to $94.50, and allows me to pay for it with pre-tax money from my paycheck. The only catch is, to receive a pass I need to apply for it by the first day of the month prior to the month the pass is for. For example, to have received a pass for June, I would have needed to apply by the first of May. So, while I could buy a full priced pass for either May or June (I don’t know if the passes are pro-rated), I couldn’t receive the subsidized pass until July.

I’m looking forward to trying out the Coaster. I may really enjoy it, being able to work or read on my commute. The time wouldn’t be wasted behind the wheel of my car.

Going Paperless

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At least, as much as I can.

For years, people have been talking about the paperless office, an idealized concept in which all documents and communications are of the electronic variety. I don’t know about anyone else, but looking around my office, it is far from paperless. Sure, a lot of once was done on paper is now done via electronic means, but I still have more paper around my office than I’d like.

Still, the situation at my office is far better than at home. Every day I receive reams of paper in my mailbox that I do not need. Magazines (I never read and have unsubscribed from), catalogs (from which I’ve never ordered—opting instead for their web sites), weekly circulars (for stores I never shop at), credit card offers (for cards I’d never get), and bills (which I suppose I need, sort of).

In an effort to rid myself of the piles of junk I either shred or recycle every week, and save a few trees, I did two things. First, I signed up for paperless billing from all of my utilities and paperless documents from my bank and credit union. The immediate benefit of this, besides not having my mailbox filled with paper is archival. Bank statements take up room in filing drawers and that room runs out quickly. Bills just get shredded, because I have no desire for them to take up what little room isn’t being taken by bank statements. By opting for electronic delivery, I can save as many bank statements and bills as I want—for years—and it takes less space on my hard drive than my photo collection.

Second, I signed up for GreenDimes, which advertises itself as a way to stop junk mail and save the environment. Initially, I was going to sign up for the free account and use their pointers to manage the junk mail myself. Then I noticed that the $20 fee for their premium service is a one-time fee, not a subscription. So I opted for this service, to free myself of the hassle of freeing myself from junk mail. I don’t know how effective this service will be, but I’ll report back in a couple of months on the relative success or failure of it.

One thing I found odd about GreenDimes was the $1 offer. There are three options for this nominal sum: receive it as a check in the mail; use it to plant a tree on my behalf; or receive a free trial issue of Plenty, the magazine of hip, green living. I can’t help but think this is a test. The irony of the first and third options was immediately apparent to me.

I still receive periodical publications from memberships. My bank, AAA, Costco, and the Zoological Society of San Diego. Most of the time, these magazines go unread. I save some (Zoonooz) and toss the rest into the recycle bin. Still, if possible, I’d like to receive these electronically as well. A PDF file is far more environmentally-friendly, and takes up less space, than a print magazine.