// age discrimination corrollary

if (Engineer_B > 40) {
    reject();
}

Last month, Make Television on PBS showed how to make one of those Hoverman antennas using coat hangers, a pipe and some pieces of wood. Here's the video.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/maker_workshop_dtv_antenna_steadyca.html

Here are some GPL'd antenna designs I also found on a different site.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/design.htm

I predict that after the DTV transition, many folks living in fringe reception areas will find their existing (indoor or outdoor) antennas aren't good enough for Digital TV. Digital signals either come in with a perfect picture or no picture at all (cliff effect). People living 50+ miles away who used to get snowy reception with analog will now get no reception with digital. If they are lucky enough to receive any digital stations, they certainly won't get as many Digital TV channels as analog TV channels. Centris predicts 9 million households could have DTV reception issues. I happen to be one of those households with DTV reception problems. I'm located 65 miles north of the Empire State Building (where NY TV signals originate) with an existing UHF/VHF rooftop antenna setup that can pull in all seven of the VHF analog TV stations and one UHF analog station. Some channels have better reception than others (less snow). When I got my digital converter box and hooked it up, I couldn't pick up any Digital TV channels from New York, probably due to the hilly terrain that blocks line of sight signals. This makes UHF reception difficult. I don't buy the argument that rabbit ears can suddenly provide digital-perfect pictures as well as many more channels. It all depends on your distance from the transmitter, the terrain between your home and the broadcast tower, and what kind of antenna you have and where it is mounted. And if you live in a fringe reception area your chances of getting over the air digital reception worsen as you get beyond 50 miles. Cable companies might actually pick up more customers in these fringe areas after the digital transition. As for me, I already signed up for cable.

Meanwhile where are these laid off IBMers going to work? I grew up in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Poughkeepsie, Kingston and East Fishkill are historically one-company towns. This is not Silicon Valley where you can lose your job, walk across the street and get a job interview at another company. My Dad worked at IBM for 32 years until he retired, but I couldn't even last two years there (this is not your father's IBM anymore). There were no comparable jobs at comparable pay in the area, so I have to relocate to another state to find work.

The local government officials were blind and took IBM for granted. One former county executive was fond of saying: "Sure, we have a one-horse town, but our horse is a thoroughbred." When the first IBM layoffs came in the 1990s, there was devastating effect on local communities. After the 1993 layoffs and the eventual closing of the Kingston plant, there was a mass exodus of technical professionals out of the area. Contractors and subcontractors that depended on IBM went out of business. Real estate prices took a nose dive. The only jobs left were in the growing big box retail and service industry along Route 9. Programmers and engineers who stayed in the area ended up underemployed and had to learn the phrase "Would you like fries with that?" at their new job.

If IBM ever pulled up roots completely from the Mid-Hudson Valley, then the area would be nothing but a bedroom community for New York City (based on recent growth in Metro North commuter rail riders, that could become reality sooner than you think). I would love to see the area become more diversified in terms of jobs and companies, but I don't think the Mid-Hudson Valley will ever become a tech hub. I would encourage the laid off IBMers to not leave the area and try some good old fashioned entrepreurship. C'mon all you retired and laid off IBMers, why not get together and come up with a great idea for an invention and start your own company! That's the Silicon Valley way - Intel was founded by former employees of Fairchild Semiconductor. The best way to screw your former employer is to compete against them! And if your startup becomes successful, you'll generate new jobs for the local economy and eventually there will be less dependence on Big Blue for jobs.