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Comment Re:you're not listening to me (Score 1) 200

Not when you distrust Microsoft for a reason that has no bearing on Google whatsoever.

If people distrusted Microsoft because they gathered lots of information about people, yeah, they should distrust Google as well.

But people don't.

They distrust Microsoft for a completely different reason than you distrust Google. And that's okay. We can have a difference of opinion on this. You can live your life and not use any Google product and stay as far away from them as possible. And guess what? They won't have any information on you!

Just don't try to make up some fake argument about how if you distrust one you must distrust the other. It is simply not true.

Comment Re:The old bill allowed analogs off early too. (Score 1) 318

The original bill didn't require analog stations to stay on until June either.

(if the link breaks, try this PDF link)

See Sec. 4, paragraph (a) which states in part: "Nothing in this Act is intended to prevent a licensee of a television broadcast station from terminating the broadcasting of such station's analog television signal (and continuing to broadcast exclusively in the digital television service) prior to the date established by law under section 3002(b) of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 for termination of all licenses for full-power television stations in the analog television service (as amended by section 2 of this Act) so long as such prior termination is conducted in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's requirements in effect on the date of enactment of this Act,.."

(typical government wordiness)

What it means is that before this bill was introduced, stations could sign off their analogs before Feb. 17th upon giving 30 days notice to the FCC and the viewers. Should the bill pass into law, paragraph (a) ensures they can still sign off before June 12th, again provided they give 30 days notice.

Several hundred stations have already given such notice. Including most of the major-network affiliates in Nashville, New Orleans, and Wichita among other cities.

The proposed new bill (PDF version) contains the same paragraph.

Is there a list of stations that have given their switch notice?

Comment Re:colossal failure of broadcast media (Score 1) 318

The stations around here have all been covering the changeover as news stories for months now, including explaining what to do to be able to keep watching. I assume it's the same elsewhere.

Overlay banners are annoying. Especially if they would run 24x7

Why not do this for a week, or three days? It seems it would be in the interest of the local station, to insure that their viewers know what steps they must take to see the station. Or, maybe have a repeating 20 minute informercial that actually walks through the steps of making the transition?

Comment Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score 1) 318

This is something that's been on my mind about digital channel numbering.

KETK-TV is my local NBC station. It's on analog 56 and digital 22. However, the station refers to itself at channel 56 and shows up on my digital box as channel 56, through virtual channels.

My question, once the transition finally takes place and the dust settles, will KETK start referring to itself at channel 22, or continue to use the virtual moniker of channel 56?

Comment Re:A little extreme there, don't you think? (Score 1) 872

I understand your frustration and agree with you. However, have you ever had a commercial electric account? My experience with commercial electric has been that if you use the electricity in a certain manner...say, turning on three air conditioners at once, you will be pushed into a higher rate bracket because you are deemed a heavy demand on the system. I wonder if a system like this would work for ISPs and consumers alike?

Feed Engadget: Faking one's death still not enough to escape Verizon contract (engadget.com)

Filed under: Cellphones

It's no secret that some wily individuals will look high and low for loopholes to escape a wireless contract, but staging your own death in order to bypass a $175 early termination fee is admittedly extreme. Nevertheless, a frustrated and determined Verizon customer decided to do just that after the carrier refused to let him out of his contract. Insistent that a host of dropped calls and "string of defective cellphones" were reason enough to ditch The Network, he went so far as to "fashion a fake death certificate" and convinced a friend to fax it in. Unfortunately, Verizon caught on to the scheme and yet again refused to let Mr. Taylor out, so as you can probably guess, the perturbed ex-customer begrudgingly coughed up the dough, trashed his phone, and hoped that he "sent a definite message about how much people hate being strapped to a cellphone that doesn't work."

[Via Pocket-Lint]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


Movies

Submission + - Netflix Gets Hacked (tvsquad.com)

Dragontologist writes: "In an interestingly round-about way, a few hackers have posted publicly about how to get around the $17/month fee for Netflix streaming video. It's not particularly easy, you only get 17 hours of video a month, and you can't copy it onto your iPod (not without another hack, anyway), but it's free (assuming you don't mind the whole illegal thing). All I want to know is, who would think to exploit Windows Media Player?"
Google

Submission + - Eight Parties Join Suit Against YouTube/Google (nzherald.co.nz)

eldavojohn writes: "Things have worsened in the copyright suit against Google for its YouTube service. eight more parties have joined among them the National Music Publishers' Association, which is the largest US music publishing trade association, the Rugby Football League, the Finnish Football League Association and author Daniel Quinn. Back in May, Google commented on this suit by saying "These suits simply misunderstand the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which balances the rights of copyright holders against the need to protect internet communications and content.""
Biotech

Submission + - Barry Bonds' HR Record Tainted by Elbow 'Armor'? (editorandpublisher.com)

solitas writes: "An interesting article for the mechanical engineers and baseball fans on /. about the guard Bonds wears on his right elbow, and the possible physical and mechanical advantages it gives his swing.

Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the "armor" that he wears on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds' unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed."

Networking

Submission + - Internet Pioneer Unveils Flow Router (theglobeandmail.com)

No_Weak_Heart writes: From this article in the Globe and Mail: "Lawrence Roberts, once part of a group that developed the world's first major computer packet network in the 1960s, started up Anagran Inc. in 2004 with the aim of developing a router that can better handle Internet traffic. The FR-1000 Flow Router, Anagran's first product, uses what the company calls behavioural traffic control, instead of existing methods of delivering data "packets" across networks, to ensure online video and voice services are delivered without interruptions."
Handhelds

Submission + - iPhone unlocked for use on European carriers

thefickler writes: Thanks to a Macedonian hacker and the iPhone hacking team at Hackint0sh, the Apple iPhone is now usable across the pond. All you need to unlock the iPhone for use with a European carrier is a SIM reader/writer, V1Comp SIM card, and a blank SilverCard smart card.

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