Here’s what you should know about the Roku Streaming Stick

It may look like an oversized USB key but it’s way more exciting than that.

Roku recently lifted its embargo and announced the newest Roku Streaming Stick. The Roku Streaming Stick model 3600 has been paraded before the tech press already and now, we’re allowed to talk about it.

As the new kid on the block, the Roku Streaming Stick, which presently has a pre-order price of $49.99, is also the most powerful. It beats Amazon’s Fire TV Stick and Google’s newest Chromecast in terms of raw specs. In real terms, it’s eight times more powerful than the previous Roku Streaming Stick which was released in 2014. It’s sleek, it’s hardworking, and it’s simple to power down.

Open Access is a section of the Ting blog dedicated to discussions about the open Internet, net neutrality and other important online topics. If you’re already convinced that Internet access should be classified under Title II, Tumblr has a great grassroots campaign on the go. Read on for all the gory details on Title II, common carriage and how we got to the sorry state Internet access is now in.

Common carriers, Title II and Net Neutrality explained

If you care about an Internet that is open to every idea and every startup, you need to know about common carriers and understand what’s at stake as Internet advocates call on the FCC to reclassify the Internet under Title II.

It’s complex. So, I asked Barbara Cherry to help explain it all.

Cherry knows about this from three decades in the field, including in the telecommunications field for almost twenty years–ten of them at AT&T, five at Ameritech, and almost five at the FCC. Now she is a professor of telecommunications who trained as a lawyer and has a Ph.D. in communications studies.

Cherry explains that the idea of common carriage goes back to the Middle Ages. “If your business is to carry things for others, you have certain legal obligations,” she says. Whether you’re a postal service delivering letters or a ferry delivering people, the basic obligation is “to serve upon reasonable request without unreasonable discrimination at a just and reasonable price and with adequate care.”

There are some big ideas in that legalistic formulation.

How to watch sports without cable

One of the main reasons people have for not wanting to cut the cable TV cord completely is that they don’t want to miss out on their favorite sports. Yet now, there are numerous options available for cord cutters to watch everything from golf to the NFL. With only a little work to set it up, many different sports are easy to access over the air or online without paying for cable TV.

We’re going to show you how to watch sports without cable in the U.S. so you never miss a game or match.

Taking parental control in the digital age

Parenting has never been easy but in the digital age, it can be harder than ever. For instance, without parental control over online content, it is surprisingly easy for children to see to something you’ll wish they hadn’t.

The good news is tech companies are catching on and are quickly rolling out new options to give parents better control over what their kids have access to watch.

Let’s take a look at what Google and Amazon are doing to protect your kids.

TV schedule notification tools

When you cancel cable TV, you may be surprised to notice that it’s easy to miss the premieres of your favorite shows since you’re not seeing commercials. This is especially true for on-demand services that are commercial free. The good news is that there’s a flood of new TV schedule services out there to help so you never have to miss your favorite show again.

Here are a few of our favorite picks for the best ways to keep track of what you’re watching.

Meet Christopher James

Christopher James is a celebrated blues musician from Westminster, Maryland. If you’re into the local blues and jazz scene, you probably know his music well, and if you’re not, maybe you recognize his song, “Catch That Train”, from our Ting Westminster commercial, “A great town deserves great Internet”.

That’s one of the great things about James. He’s immersed in the music world. A teacher at Coffey Music on Main Street, a performer, a session artist and a touring member of various groups, James has made a solid, storied and successful career without having to leave home. At least, not for too long.

We’re proud to have the opportunity to connect with artists and musicians in our Ting Towns. When we make a commercial celebrating a town, we do our best to partner with local bands and artists. It’s more complicated than grabbing a track from a royalty-free music service but it supports local artists and personifies our local approach. It also gives us the chance to meet artists like James and to hear their stories. In short: worth it.