Analog TV: Not Dead Yet

The FCC has just proposed a new rule - one that will drag out the analog/digital transition for another 30 days. This "Analog Nightlight" program is actually quite interesting.  Some full-power stations will be permitted to use the outgoing bandwidth to provide public safety and more information about the digital transition.

This is similar to what one of my local Atlanta stations did. They performed a test, and said that if viewers could see the message, they needed help to get the proper equipment to view digital signals going forward.

What gave the FCC this idea?

Out With the Old, In With the...Old?

While most folks are trying to figure out how to get the latest TV technology before the switch to digital, one ingenious and resourceful man in England took a unique approach to the problem.

FCC Strong-arming Retailers

Circuit City can't catch a break. The FCC just slapped the struggling retailer with a whopping $712,000 fine for violating an FCC rule. In order to forewarn consumers about the February blackout of analog TV, the FCC is requiring retailers to put up signs in stores that sell analog TVs. These signs will alert consumers that after the switch, their televisions will no longer work without converter boxes to receive broadcast signals. Seems like a good rule, right?

Flipping the Side

Recently, I did something that I hadn’t done in a long time: flipped the side. The record was King Crimson’s Red, a 1974 gem that rejoined my collection last May when an old college roommate unloaded a bunch of vinyl on me (not surprisingly, several other LPs of mine, missing since college, turned up in the stash). I can’t remember the last time I just sat and listened to a full album from start to finish without multitasking — was it high school? But Red had me riveted.