Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon Instant Video is available on a lot of platforms. If you pay $99 for Amazon Prime you get access to the company’s online video streaming service, which can be accessed using apps for mobile devices, smart TV platforms, consoles and various other devices. Amazon hasn’t released an official app for Google’s relatively new Android TV platform though it offers one from Sony’s latest generation of smart TVs that are powered by Android TV. It is now being reported that the company has disabled the Instant Video apk that many were using on non-Sony Android TV systems.

A user on the XDA developers forums was able to rip the Instant Video apk from one of Sony’s latest smart TVs and got it running on non-Sony Android TV systems, such as the Nexus Player and the Razer Forge TV.

This workaround soon became common and many Instant Video users simply got the apk running on their Android TV system just to access Instant Video content, which they’re already paying for.

Multiple users are now reporting on XDA forums that this workaround has been broken, “License Error” codes are showing up if you try to use the Instant Video apk on a non-Sony Android TV system. Amazon has disabled it.

Why would Amazon do that? One of the biggest reasons is that the Android TV platform directly competes with its Fire TV platform. So why does it provide Sony’s latest smart TVs with the app? Presumably both companies had an agreement for service on smart TVs before Sony made the switch to Google’s Android TV.

Instant Video APK Gets Disabled By Amazon On Non-Sony Android TVs , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Fragmentation is one of the biggest arguments that go against Android in any debate related to mobile operating systems. Users who depend upon carriers to release updates often have to keep waiting for a very long time before the carrier gets around to roll out the update. The problem exists with Windows Phone as well but Microsoft is shaking things up with Windows 10 Mobile. The company has confirmed that it’s taking things over from mobile carriers and they will no longer be able to delay software updates.

Here’s a perfect example of carrier delay” Microsoft announced the Lumia Denim update back in September 2014 and it still hasn’t been released by T-Mobile for Lumia 635 and AT&T for Lumia 830, and there are many similar cases. On the other hand Verion was the first carrier to roll out Denim for WP devices on its roster.

Microsoft has confirmed that all Windows 10 Mobile devices, business or personal, will receive new software updates at the same time. Carriers will still get to test the software on their networks but the final call to push out the update will rest with Microsoft, so it can coordinate the timing.

Keep in mind though that this applies to updates released after Windows 10 for Mobile arrives. Those with carrier locked devices updating from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile will remain at the mercy of carriers, once the new iteration arrives, all devices on all carriers will receive subsequent updates simultaneously.

Carriers Will Not Be Able To Delay Windows 10 Mobile Updates , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that Congress’ upper chamber would give President Barack Obama expedited authority to negotiate major trade deals “later this week,” despite strong opposition from members of the president’s party.

The Senate voted to open debate on trade promotion authority last week. The issue is shaping up to be the most significant intra-party battle of Obama’s second term, but the president has found support for his trade agenda among the Senate’s Republican leadership. Fast-track authority would allow Obama to present the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other deals to Congress for an up-or-down vote, meaning legislators couldn’t offer amendments. The TPP is a proposed free trade arrangement among 12 countries bordering the Pacific rim.

“The president has done an excellent job on this,” McConnell said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.” “I point out to my members who are somewhat squeamish, as you can imagine, giving the president the power of any issue, given his expansive view of his powers on so many other issues. But this is a trade promotion authority not just for President Obama, but for the next president as well. This is a six-year trade promotion authority bill that will give the next president an opportunity to enter into additional trade agreements with other countries around the world.”

McConnell had previously described his coordination with the president on trade as “an out-of-body experience.”

Fast-track authority faces a significantly more difficult path in the House. Nearly all Democrats are opposed, as is a strong contingent of Republicans, who are hesitant to hand Obama a victory.

And yet Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was confident Sunday that the measure would pass the lower chamber.

“We will have the votes,” Ryan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’re doing very well. We’re gaining a lot of steam and momentum.”

Presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has so far remained quiet on TPP. While progressive groups want Clinton to come out against the trade deal, other Democrats want her to support it.

“I think she should take a good look at it,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “And I think it would be very helpful.”

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Through all the mishaps, ridicule and hurricanes, the well-meaning but often-loathed Ned Flanders of “The Simpsons” is somehow able to preserve his connection to the divine.

But now that actor Harry Shearer, who voices Flanders and a number of other iconic “Simpsons” characters, is leaving the show, will the character ever be the same?

Showrunner Al Jean told CNN that Shearer’s characters won’t be killed off, but voiced by other actors.

Shearer has voiced the part of Flanders, Homer Simpson’s next-door neighbor, ever since the show began in 1989. The character is a friendly, compassionate and extremely devout evangelical Christian. Although Homer is generally annoyed with his neighbor’s seemingly perfect family life, Flanders has, over the years, proven to be a loyal friend.

Here are some of our favorite Flanders quotes, curated from IMDB, The Simpsons Archive, TV.com and BeliefNet.

Godspeed, neighborino. We hope the next Ned is just as dang-darn-diddly inspiring.

“Dear Lord, thank you for Ziggy comics, little baby ducks and ‘Sweatin’ to the Oldies,’ volumes one, two and four.”
Ned Flanders, “Homer’s Triple Bypass”

“I’ll have a Shirley… No, a virgin… No, a children’s… Oh, what the heck? You only live once. Give me a white wine spritzer!”
Ned Flanders, “Viva Ned Flanders”

“Bless the grocer for this wonderful meat, the middleman who jacked up the price, and let’s not forget the humane but determined boys at the slaughterhouse.”
– Ned Flanders, “Homer Loves Flanders”

“Why me, Lord? Where have I gone wrong? I’ve always been nice to people! I don’t drink or dance or swear! I’ve even kept kosher, just to be on the safe side. I’ve done everything the Bible says, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff! What more could I do?
– Ned Flanders, “Hurricane Neddy”

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Photos from the collection of Nikki Haskell.

Last December, I re-introduced you to the fabulous Nikki Haskell. You may remember her as the host and producer of The Nikki Haskell Show, which aired more than 300 episodes on celebrity and fashion entertainment during the 1980s. Nikki was the first to produce television of this kind, allowing her audience a glimpse at the behind-the-scenes lives of silver screen stars, television favorites, politicians, diplomats, and dictators. She traveled the world to bring foreign lands, parties, and personalities into our living rooms, and we loved it. Nikki paved the way for shows like Entertainment Tonight and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. And now, she’s bringing it all back.

Many see the 80s as the good ol’ days, and we all long for the nostalgia of those years. This decade’s great influence is seen in fashion, music, movies, and more. The Nikki Haskell Show is an extensive archive of priceless footage – the only of its kind – that captures not only an essence but actual scenes and moments from a golden era.

Nikki’s newest project, Flashback To The Future, will incorporate classic footage with new interviews, parties, and fabulous fun. She’s on a mission to make old things new and take us all along for the journey. How will she do it? The same way she does everything else: in sky-high heels. Nikki has a firecracker personality, and the new interviews will revisit many of our favorite stars. We can be sure that she’s going to get personal in a way that only Nikki can.

“We’re going to make the good old days the good new days,” says Nikki.

Fasten your jet-set seatbelts: It’s time for Flashback to the Future!

__________

Check back for more on exceptional living and for information on the all new I On Youth Roll-On Serum, coming soon to Amazon.

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