Hosting HISTORY’S “Take A Veteran to School”

In 2010, Time Warner Cable began partnering with HISTORY to host “Take a Veteran to School” in Maine. The program is aimed at giving students a chance to honor veterans of all conflicts for their service, and to learn about history through the eyes of the actual participants.

Over the past three years TWC has helped organize programs at more than a dozen schools in Maine and New York, involving more than 350 veterans and over 4,000 students of all ages. Some of the events are school assemblies, full of speeches and marching bands. Others are classroom settings where the students get to interact with the veterans and ask them questions about their service. Some students have even recorded the veterans’ stories for the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project.

Our most recent Take a Veteran to School was held May 30, in Auburn, Maine, in honor of Memorial Day. Among the featured speakers was 89-year-old James Sheppard, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps 332nd Fighter Group – the famed “Tuskegee Airmen.” Living history, indeed.

Here is a video of the event.

Categories: Cool Stuff, In the Community, Northeast

Check Out Our New TWC Media Campaign

The advertising side of our business – Time Warner Cable Media – has launched a new campaign called “That’s how.” The multimedia campaign is designed to help raise awareness to our ability to help local businesses and advertisers solve problems and reach their marketing goals.

The New York Times featured an article about “That’s how” on Monday. You can read it here.

Over the next six weeks, Time Warner Cable viewers will see a series of TV spots in our markets across the country, in addition to ads at www.rr.com.

The ads raise the questions, “How can your company prevail when competition is relentless? How can your business grow?” The answer, of course: “Time Warner Cable Media. That’s how.”

You can watch the first ad here:

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Categories: Digital Cable, Programming, What's New

The Science of Football, Racing and More on “STEM In Sports”

Did you know that Newton’s Laws of Motion and the Pythagorean Theorem are as essential to football as a good touchdown dance? Or that the surface of a golf ball is dimpled to make it go faster and farther on the green?

These are just a few of the factoids you’ll pick up by visiting STEM in Sports, a new Connect a Million Minds campaign that inspires kids to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through the sports they love.

Available on connectamillionminds.com, “STEM in Sports” features original video from top athletes about the critical role science plays in their game, including:

• Web exclusives on the science of the speedway with race car driver Jeff Gordon, including “Drafting 101″ and “Breaking the Vacuum”
• An original PSA about the physics of football from wide receiver Victor Cruz
  
• An interview with pro golfer Ian Poulter, who shares how a game of 18 holes is one big math problem
  

In addition to these exclusive videos, parents and educators visiting STEM in Sports will find tips and games for integrating science learning into their kids’ favorite sports by downloading guides created by education experts.

Hustle on over to connectamillionminds.com to learn more about the science behind football, golf and racing.  Plus, stay tuned for information in July on how to participate in a STEM in Sports Trivia Giveaway on Twitter with Victor Cruz.

Categories: Connect a Million Minds, Cool Stuff, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sports

Explained: Why Internet Traffic Slows At Times

Occasionally, Internet users experience a lagging video game or a stuttering YouTube video. We do our best to minimize buffering and other slowdowns at Time Warner Cable, but this is normal for broadband users at any Internet service provider, at least some of the time. The reasons, as we’ll explain below, have to do with the way the Internet works.

A small subset of our customers, however, seem to think we are intentionally degrading their service.

If I were to sum up these kinds of complaints, it would go something like this: “Hulu and YouTube wouldn’t intentionally degrade their services and provide a subpar experience, but for some reason, it makes total sense that Time Warner Cable would by throttling customers’ traffic.”

Our standard response has been a simple, “We don’t throttle traffic.” That’s because we don’t. Some people want us to elaborate, so here goes:

The Internet is not as simple as one wire connecting a website’s servers to a customer’s home. Traffic originates in countless places, heading toward billions of end-user destinations. Each network that carries web traffic is itself a collection of a number of complicated technological and business relationships. As traffic flows from one area of the Internet to another, it passes through this network of technologies, agreements, and protocols and culminates in each particular user experience.

We’ve invested billions of dollars to ensure that our networks deliver the best possible experience regardless of the source or nature of the traffic. However, the traffic only moves as fast as the weakest link. And when traffic travels across multiple networks, each with its own relationships, slowdowns and other problems can and do occur.

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Categories: Broadband Penetration/Deployment, Content Delivery, Internet Safety

A #STEMandWriting Sequel: We’re Expanding Our Partnership with 826 National

Last summer, we teamed up with non-profit writing network 826 National, co-founded by author Dave Eggers, to pilot a workshop series that introduced kids to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through creative writing.

Available to youth at 826 National locations in Los Angeles and New York City, this innovative program resulted from a joint “Commitment to Action” that we made with 826 National at the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative: America conference.

Today, from the stage of this year’s CGI: America meeting, we announced that we’re expanding our partnership with 826 National.  We’re pleased that last summer was only the first chapter in our story with the organization.

First, we’re continuing our STEM-meets-creative writing workshops and bringing them to new locations.  Starting this summer at 826LA, 826NYC, Operation Breakthrough (Kansas City), and the Flushing YMCA (NYC), students ages eight to 12 will participate in workshops like “The Science of Superheroes” and the “STEM of the Zombie Apocalypse.”  According to 826 National CEO Gerald Richards, while they may be an unlikely pairing, science and creative writing can spark a new sense of enthusiasm in students and the type of cross-disciplinary thinking that’s key to innovation. Continue Reading

Categories: Connect a Million Minds, Cool Stuff, Corporate Social Responsibility, In the Community

That’s A Wrap: 2013 Cable Show Ends With Honors For TWC

The 2013 Cable Show wrapped up Wednesday in Washington D.C.  The three-day event provided Time Warner Cable a stage to show off its latest and greatest products, technology and innovations.  The final day of the event also doled out honors to two TWC executives. Here’s a look back at the big show, including some of the impressions made on TWC employees.

Categories: Cool Stuff, Corporate Social Responsibility, Future of the Industry, TWC on TV, What's New

Cable Show: Tour the TWC Executive Suite & Preview New Products

Check out our home base at the 2013 Cable Show  – the TWC Executive Suite.  It’s one of 250 exhibits showcasing current and emerging technologies in the cable industry. The TWC Executive Suite is a one-stop shop to learn about the company’s new TV, IP, health and home security offerings.  In this exclusive video, get the scoop on our next generation set-top boxes, IntelligentHome, and business cloud services straight from Time Warner Cable product experts:

Categories: Cool Stuff, Future of the Industry, Product Launches, What's New

Cable Show: TWC Unveils Samsung App, Participates in Job Fair for Veterans

Tuesday was another busy day for Time Warner Cable at the Cable Show. Chairman and CEO, Glenn A. Britt appeared on CNBC to announce the availability of our TWC TV App on Samsung Smart TVs. TWC also participated in a job fair aimed at hiring military veterans into the cable industry. Meanwhile, our technology took center stage at our exhibit. You can see those stories and more in the video below:

Categories: Content Delivery, Cool Stuff, In the Community, app

We Are Bringing On Demand Content to Samsung Smart TVs

Starting this summer, Time Warner Cable video customers will be able to download our TWC TV App on their compatible Samsung Smart TV and have access to 5,000 Video On Demand titles from nearly 100 networks without a set-top box.

This is part of our ongoing commitment to giving customers more flexibility to enjoy their favorite programming anytime, anywhere. At the Cable Show today, TWC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Glenn A. Britt talked about our partnership with Samsung. You can watch it here:

To download the TWC TV application, customers can go to the “Smart Hub” on 2012 and later Samsung Smart TVs. The App will be available at no additional cost. Channel line-ups vary by market and depend on your video subscription.  We also plan to add live TV to the app later this year.

For more information on TWC TV on Samsung devices, please visit the TWC TV About page on our website.

Categories: Content Delivery, Cool Stuff, On Demand, Product Launches, app

Cable Show: Watch Our Recap of the Industry’s Biggest Event

The Cable Show is under way in Washington, D.C. It’s the cable industry’s biggest event of the year, featuring major players in entertainment, programming, digital media and broadband technology. Time Warner Cable has a strong presence at this year’s show by showcasing new products and innovations, such as the TWC TV App, more Wi-Fi hotpots and cloud-based navigation. Here’s a recap of day one of the Cable Show seen through the eyes of TWC:

Categories: Product Launches, What's New