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Report Says Government Has No Plan for Digital TV Switch-Over

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Dec 14th 2007 at 12:03PM

Report Says Government Has No Plan for Digital TV Switch
According a new report (PDF file) from the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, the U.S. government is not prepared for the February 17, 2009 deadline for the switch to digital television signals. The GAO says that, "Despite efforts by the public and private sectors and ongoing coordination, we found that no comprehensive plan for the transition exists."

Till now the government relied very strongly on initiatives from the private sector to spread the word about the switch from analog to digital. When the switch is finalized, citizens' analog television sets will cease to function with over the air (OTA) broadcasts. Owners who don't purchase a digital television will be forced to get a cable or satellite TV system or a digital/analog converter box. The government has put in place a program to lighten the load on the consumer by subsidizing the purchase of a new digital TV or converter box by offering $40 coupons for the purchases.

Kevin Martin, chairman of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the arm of the Commerce Department overseeing the transition, responded by offering 99 pages of "comprehensive plans, goals and achievements" drawn up by the FCC.

While you might not be able to rely on the government to tell you what to do and when, we can do our part and remind you to have your new TV in place by February 2009 (the earlier the better) so that you don't miss a single episode of the the 11th season of 'America's Next Top Model.'

For more information regarding the switch from analog to digital television check out the following links:

From Reuters

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Rolling Stone Releases Free Digital Edition

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 6th 2007 at 4:28PM

Rolling Stone Releases Digital Edition

Rolling Stone, like many other traditional print publications, is working on strategies to maintain its place in the media mainstream in our increasingly Internet-focused age. To this end, the magazine has issued its first ever Digital Edition, a complete copy of the print version in digital format, including advertisements.

The "magazine" is shown as a Flash presentation, with arrows to turn the page and a zoom feature for easier reading of the text. The Digital Edition features a detailed table of contents that also includes the advertisements, a short cut collection, and search.

The Digital Edition is an interesting initiative, but not the most convenient way of reading content. The application is slow to respond and is too small to read an entire page at once. You have you to zoom in and then pan left or right and up and down to read all of the text.

That said, we applaud Rolling Stone's efforts to recreate the magazine-reading experience online for free, but the Digital Edition could use a more user-friendly reading-view and smoother page-turning before it becomes a viable replacement for the physical publication.

So far, we're most impressed with Monkey, the interactive, online "magazine" out of Britain's Dennis Publications (creators of Maxim), which is a real departure for print-style, digital versions of publications on the Web.

And we'd also be curious to see Rolling Stone (and other magazines) show up on the Sony Reader soon.

What do you think? Would you read a print magazine in digital format or do you prefer it in traditional, paper form?

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Name Your Own Price For New Radiohead

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 1st 2007 at 12:27PM

Name Your Own Price For New Radiohead Album

Radiohead has always been one to buck trends and eschew traditional music industry trappings. After its masterpiece (and greatest album ever!) 'Ok Computer,' the band decided to totally abandon guitars, anything resembling pop-song structure and music videos. It recently severed ties with music label EMI; then, last week, Radiohead decided it was also done with Apple and iTunes because the band didn't want to break up its upcoming album into individually available tracks -- as required by iTunes.

Radiohead has now officially announced this new self-released album, 'In Rainbows' which will be available on October 10. Initially, the album will only be available as an electronic download through the Web site InRainbows.com. Later, it will be pressed and made available as a massive and expensive (£40, or $81.18) box set that includes three copies of the album: one on vinyl, one on CD and the previously available all-digital version.

Believe it or not, Radiohead is asking fans to name their own price for the downloadable version. Pre-order the album for an October 10th download and at checkout you are asked to enter whatever price you feel is appropriate. Seriously. Wanna pay a penny? Then do it. Wanna throw a little more cash at the band? Donate $10 or $20 -- it's up to you.

At the moment, the site to pre-order 'In Rainbows' either crawls or is completely unresponsive -- not a surprise given Radiohead's popularity and humankind's appetite for free -- so give it a bit before trying to snag yourself a download code. In the meantime check out AOL Entertainment's unofficial 'In Rainbows' listening party -- a collection of live concert performances of 'In Rainbows' tracks culled from camera phone videos on YouTube.

From AOL Entertainment

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iPods Kicked Out of Class

by Tom Conlon, posted Apr 30th 2007 at 7:30AM

iPods Kicked out of the ClassroomJunior's iPod is helping him do more a lot than go deaf at an early age -- it's also helping him cheat his way to better grades. According to the Associated Press, schools all over the world are banning iPods and other digital media players from the classroom because they are increasingly being used to cheat.

The latest iPod ban came out of Mountain View High School in Meridian, Ohio, which found students listening to test answers by discreetly snaking earbuds through their clothes up out of their collars, then behind their ears. Other ways the iPod is being used to cheat include disguising text as song lyrics and storing graphs and charts as photos.

But, Apple's iPod isn't the sole perpetrator. A high school in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, recently banned all digital media players as well as cell phones. Australia's University of Tasmania bars iPods, electronic dictionaries, CD players and spell-checking devices from entering the classroom.

In fact, it's not just schools banning digital devices on their grounds. One in three Canadian businesses now bans iPods from the office out of fear that the players' disk mode could be used for corporate theft. Or, too much Rush.

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From The Chicago Tribune
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The Bionic Wallet

by Tom Conlon, posted Apr 26th 2007 at 10:00AM


Earlier this week we brought you the handbag with a TV screen sutured onto it. But, another day, another LCD-enhanced fashion accessory! This time it's these $50 wallets from Brookstone (available for men and women) featuring a 1.4-inch display on the inside. Plug the wallet into your computer's USB port and upload as many as 55 photos of loved ones to bore strangers with.

From Brookstone
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