Feb 2009 - TV is going dark

For those back in the US who don't know by now, on 17-Feb-2009, less than two years from now, over-the-air analog TV in the US is going dark. That means that your old TV's and VCR's will no longer have a TV signal to pickup.

What is Digital TV?
All over-the-air TV broadcasts after that date will be exclusively digital. The larger broadcasters have already invested in the digital transmission equipment and are already broadcasting in digital. Not only are they broadcasting the same programming that is being sent over the classic analog transmission, they are broadcasting extra channels on the digital side. Often they broadcast a high-def (HDTV) version of the same content, and in some cities, entire new channels with different content.

The smaller broadcasters, especially the UHF stations, are still broadcasting analog. They don't have the money to switch. So they are either going to close. Or they will require a grant from the government to switch. As of today, the future of these stations is still not resolved.

Does This Mean I'm Hosed?
Now this doesn't mean that your old TV's and VCR's are not going to work any more. It simply means that the receiver built inside will not find any content from an aerial antenna. You can still feed your TV and VCR content from other sources. Most people in the US no longer get their content from an Over-The-Air antenna anyhow. They get it from cable or satellite TV. So for those people, they won't even notice.

Digital Converter Boxes:
For those left, you can either replace your TV with a newer model that have a digital receiver built in. Or you can get an external digital-to-analog receiver. That is a little box that will take a digital signal and convert to a analog signal that is feed into the TV's antenna input port.

The problem with converter is that they usually only convert one channel at a time. And you have to tell the converter what digital channel you want to watch. That means you have to change channels on the converted box instead of the TV. Most converter boxes also have volume control. So at least you can control both the channel and volume from the same remote control.

In the US, the NTIA will be proving two $40 coupons per household for converter boxes. Read about it here. This program will start in 2008. So you have all of 2008 to get over to digital before the old system goes dark in 2009.

I already have a converter box that I bought at Radio Shack (Tandy here in Australia) that I use for my old analog TV at home. It was their cheapest model, costing me around $80 AUD, which is around $60 USD. It works great. I get all the channels crystal clear, plus two extra digital only channels, plus some nice digital music channels. All are free.

I predict that the $40 coupons will cover 100% of the costs of the low-end model boxes that will be sold in the US in 2008. Considering that they cost almost that now, $40 will be the magic number the retailers will shoot for.

Even if you don't need a converted box because you only watch cable TV, I would recommend that you still go ahead and get the coupon and get a converter box for your old TV. Even of you don't use it, you will still need it should you sell the TV, or decide to cut off your cable. Also, if your cable gets cut off, then at least you can get some programming.

Aren't My Taxes Buying The Boxes?
Yes and no. Your taxes are buying the boxes initially. But once the old analog TV frequencies are shut off, then the FCC can auction them off to other wireless companies after March 2009. The income from the new leases on those frequencies will more than pay for all the boxes sold.

Your Old VCR:
If you have an analog VCR, then things get complicated. You can't watch one channel while recording a second. You can't program the VCR to record from different channels at different times. What you have to do is stick a converter between your antenna and the VCR. Then you have to program the converter to tune the desired station at the desired time. You have to synchronize the two devices.

Personally I don't think it would be worth investing in a converter for a VCR. It is just too much of a pain in the ass to sync the two to make sure you get your program recorded. It would be cheaper and easier to invest in a digital recorder. Or if you can even find one, a digital VCR.

Do I need an HDTV?
Not at all. DTV means "Digital Television". HDTV means "High Definition Television". All HDTV is digital. But not all digital is HDTV. Make sense?

The "D" stands for definition, not digital. It simply refers to the density of the image that is being displayed. There is Standard Definition Television, often called SDTV. HDTV has more pixels (dots) for the image. It also has a different aspect ratio.

Your old analog TV sets can only display standard definition images. Over the air digital TV will be broadcast as SDTV. It may also be simultaneously broadcast on another channel as HDTV. So you aren't going to miss any content. It only means that you won't get the visually stunning version of it.

F.U.D. Scams
I suspect that in 2008 we are going to see a lot of FUD scams as a result of this switch over. FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. If you don't already know this, FUD is the greatest sales tool ever created in the history of mankind. It is the opposite of greed, and often more effective.

There is already a lot of FUD out there regarding the switch over. In particular, the scammers are going to target the elderly and non-English speakers by confusing them with acronyms and half truths. So it is emparative the we keep an eye on our family and friends to make sure they they do not fall for scam. Inform them that before they buy anything, they talk to you.

Antennas
One thing scammers are already doing is selling people new antennas that they don't need. They will convince someone that their current antennae won't work with digital TV and that they will need to buy a new one and pay to have it installed.

There is a kernel of truth to this. Digital TV, unlike analog TV, is either on or off. You won't get a bad picture. You either get a perfect picture, or non at all. So if get poor analog reception, there is a chance that you won't get a strong enough digital signal to view channels.

But remember that The broadcasters have know about this switchover for a long time. The digital transmitters they have installed and are installing are new. So they have not sunk any money into maintaining their old analog broadcasting equipment. So the digital replacement may actually be better because they have upgraded the location and strength

So your analog reception experience has no bearing on your digital reception experience. You simply need to install your digital receiver and see what you get. You might need to turn your antenna a little to optimize your signal. There are websites dedicated to telling you what the best antenna and direction to use for your home's location. But don't pay for anything until you know for sure that you need it.

High Def Receivers:
The second scam will occur within the stores. The sales people would love to sell you a high-def digital receiver instead of a standard-def receiver. They cost more, often 5X as much. If your TV can't display a high-def picture (the analog one's can't), then spending money on a high-def receiver is a waste of money.

The high def receivers will support standard def. So the salesman won't be lying when they tell you that it will work. It will. But you will be paying for extra capability that you can't do anything with.

If you wait to 2008, and use you $40 coupon, then all you will be able to afford is a basic standard def receiver. That will be more more than enough for your needs. Until you decided to plunk down the money to get a high-def display, then you don't need a high-def source to feed it.

Summary:

• Wait until 2008 and get your coupons for every analog TV and VCR you own.
• Exchange the coupons for converter boxes. Do not buy anything extra.
• Hook the box to your antenna and see what digital stations it finds.
• If you can not get any stations, go to the internet and see what antenna recommendations are there for your location.
• If you can't figure this out, get your boxes and bribe your local teenage geek to hook it up for you.

Speaking of Teenagers...
I was thinking that this switchover in 2008 would be a perfect merit badge project for boy-scouts and girl-scouts. Anyone who finds themselves overwhelmed by all of this could ask their local troop for on-site assistance. Or perhaps high-school band camps could use ask for donations for helping people.

What was I drinking???

I went to a birthday party last night. Got pretty buzzed on some good vodka. When I woke up this morning, I found this video sitting in my RSS feed. I watched it thought I was still drunk and experiencing some twisted nightmare. My review in one word: Craptacular!

This is a a clip from an Indian Bollywood movie staring Supermand and Spiderwoman (there was spider woman???). Spiderwoman sounds like her singing is really nothing but stomping on squirrels. The fight scene where they rescue an old woman from nasty muggers is a riot. The choreography is a riot. What moves!

The special effects are hilarious. Notice how they always fly over the same small landscape everytime?

Well enjoy, and be mortified.

Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy

Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy: 'We'll Go Through Iran'

I love The Onion. It is up there with The Daily Show for intelligent humor based on current events. This article today just cracked me up. Brilliant!

Restaurant Owner

The Department of Labour contacts a restaurant owner and claims he was not paying proper wages to his help. They sent an agent out to interview him.

"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.

"Well," replied the owner, "There's my chef who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $800 a week plus free meals.

The waitress has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $500 per week plus free meals.

Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own meals, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night."

That's the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit," says the agent.

"That would be me," replied the owner.

Funny stuff

I saw this product display at a local mobile phone store. Made me laugh.

Aussie SuperAnnuation Taxes

I read an article in today's paper about the how Australia's Labour Party wants to boost the Superannuation contribution from 9 percent to 15 percent. What made me upset is how they want to find this extra money. They want the workers to boots their contribution from 9% to 12%, the for the government to kick in the remaining 3%.

It blows my mind. Where do these idiots think the government gets its money from? From taxes! They treat government money as a bottomless pit of funding. So basically, they want to boost the already high taxes another 6 percent.

For those who don't know, a superannuation is a mandatory retirement account, similar to an IRA in the US, but worse. Your employer is required to contribute 9% of your pay to this account. So if you earn $50,000 a year, your employer should also pay an additional $4500 to your superannuation account. Then of course you have to pay all your income tax and other taxes.

Here is where superannuation accounts suck compared to IRA's and 401ks in the US. They tax and fee the shit out of so it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of growing.

Contributions: The government takes 15% of your 9 percent contribution right off the top. Then the account holder helps themselves to contribution fees ranging from 1 to 2 percent. So by the time your money gets invested, a good chuck of it has already disappeared.

In the US, the accounts are not taxed. All of your contribution starts working for you. They are, instead, tax deferred.

Growth: The government takes 15% of all capital gains from your investments every year. They do not offer any tax breaks for capital losses. So basically, your investment has to carry the burden of taxes on its back. That reduces your return on investment enough to make a huge difference over your working lifetime.

In addition, the account holder also gets to help themselves to some more of your money in both annual and monthly fees that vary. Some ding a fixed percentage. Some have a fixed amount. Some are both with caps after your balance gets large. Still, you have to pay them out of your earnings. Another monkey on the back.

In the US, there are no taxes on the earnings. All of your earnings go right back to work earning more money for you. Just like with the contributions, all taxes are deferred.

Distributions: This is when you finally get to take your money out of your retirement account after a lifetime of working. Guess what? After taxing the shit out of your contributions and your earnings, they hit your one more time for another 15%. And some of the fund managers also get to charge and "exit" fee. They get to charge you money for giving you your own money. Nice?

In the US, they tax the distributions too. It can even be higher than 15%. But keep in mind that those tax dollars you are paying at distribution were working for you for all those years. When you do that math, it makes an enormous difference over the average working lifetime.

Insurance Premiums: This is Australia's dirty little secret, and one that boils my blood. Somehow the insurance industry got their fingers into the retirement investment business and convinced the government that it would be a good idea to allow people to pay their life and disability insurance premiums from their superannuation contributions.

This is a terrible idea for so many reasons. First off, some younger people are paying for life insurance they they don't need, and don't even know they have. What happens is that an insurance company will talk a company into "opt-out" insurance coverage for their employees. So unless you tell your employer not to, they will give part of your 9% contribution to an insurance company. In some cases, the premium takes 100% of their money. There is no choice, needs assessment, or anything. So rather than making their money work for their retirement, it is wasted on insurance that they don't need. A 21 year old person with no dependents doesn't need life insurance. What they need is to have every dollar working for their retirement. But it gets wasted on insurance. I suspect that the employer gets a nice kickback from the insurance salesman for this scheme since they have to work together to legally loot their employees pensions.

The most important reason this is a bad idea, even if some one needs insurance, it that it reduces the amount of money working for them. A superannuation is a bet that you will live to retirement. Life insurance is a bet that you won't.

The Problem: The reason for the discussion of boosting the contribution from 9 to 15 percent is because most Australians won't have enough money in their accounts to retire on. But, that is based on current rules.

The Wrong Solution: The knee-jerk solution proposed to this problem from the Labour party is to crank the contribution up to 15%. Can you imagine if 15% of every dollar you earned over your working lifetime was invested for retirement? That would be a huge amount of money, of properly done.

The Right Solution: Labour is so wrong about their idea. The solution is not to pour more money in, but to make the current money harder and more efficient. The most effective way to do this is to simply convert the contribution and growth taxes to deferred taxes. That small change, plus time, thanks to the magic of compounding, will grow far more than pouring 15% into the current system.

The second thing that must be done is to get the insurance companies out of people's retirement accounts. The bottom line is simple. EVERY DOLLAR SET ASIDE FOR RETIREMENT MUST WORK EXCLUSIVELY FOR LONG TERM GROWTH AND NOTHING ELSE.

If the government demands that we must wait until we are 60+ to get to our retirement money, then they can also wait to get their taxes from that money.

The Sad Part: The sad thing is that I do not even see my idea being offered as a solution by any politicians of letters to the papers. It is almost like the concept of deferring taxes is insane. But we do it in the US. They do it in the UK. Why not here?

Amnesty International - how far they have sunk

I used to have a lot of respect for this organzation. Not any more. They have totally lost the plot. I had always assumed that they spoke for prisoners of conscious, such as Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar. That is people like her who are imprisoned for their thoughts of freedom. Freedom to speak, worship, gather, travel, learn, and other freedoms we take for granted in the west.

But nooooo... They have decided to elevate David Hicks to sainthood status. They have a "Bring David Home" campaign. I see them on the corner with nice childhood pictures of David looking harmless wearing a sweater screaming that Australia owes it to him as an Aussie to come home. Why don't they use this photo of him with an RPG launcher and his fellow terrorist?

David Hicks is in a mess of his own making. For those who don't know, Hicks is a white kid who was caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11. He has been held in Gitmo Cuba along for 5 years now.

Now Hicks is just a looser with a gun fetish who converted to radical Islam and then left Australia to join Islamic militants in battles through out Asia. He is reported to have fought for Islamic militants in Kashmir and Afghanistan. He is no saint. He is a violet thug who wanted a license to kill and found one in violet jihad. God knows how many people he as killed.

He did not commit these crimes in Australia. So why do so many people think that he deserves Australian justice? He Australian passport does not guarantee that. If you don't want to risk getting caught up in some seriously bad shit, then don't go around shooting people in other countries.

And now he is sitting in a jail cell getting feed 3 square meals a day thanks to the US tax payers. The bottom line is that he was a combatant in a war who has been caught. The war is still going on. He deserves nothing. He is getting far more now from the US that any other government would give him in the places where he ran around killing people.

Yet Amnesty International makes him their poster child. Aren't there people out there being persecuted that are far more deserving of our attention?

West Bank Bozos

NPR Radio had this story on their "All Things Considered" podcast about the latest group of people are moving into new houses in the Israel occupied West Bank. It just pissed me off to no end.

The article, which you can read, talks about the ultra-orthodox Jewish families that are moving in mass into the area because it offers inexpensive housing. I don't have any issue with their faith. I don't have any issue with people deciding where they want to live.

What pisses me off are two things. First, these people move there and then expect the Israeli taxpayers to protect the and provide them with services. Second, the fact that the government lets them get away with it.

It is with morbid fascination the I read that these men who head these household neither work, or serve in the military. The consider the tasks to be distractions from their most important duty, which it is to sit around and study the Torah.

Again, that is fine. If that is what you want to do with you life, then find a way to do it. But to expect others to pay for your food, educate your children, provide you with food, water, electricity, medical care, and everything else is too much. Get a religious scholarship or sponsorship. But to consider that you are too important to work for a living, pay taxes, or even serve in the military to help protect your country.

The article mentions that they move there for economic reasons. But what I can't figure out for the life of me is how they get away with it. Does that mean I can just walk into the Angeles National Forest behind Pasadena and build myself a house? And then demand government services and protection. And then to add insult to injury, refuse to contribute money or labor to society. Please!

If I were in the IDF, I'd be pissed off to no end that I have to put my ass on the line to protect these bozos from outraged locals. I'd be pissed off that my government didn't have the balls to stop these bozos when they started pouring the foundations to the house.

If I were an Israeli citizen I'd be pissed off that my taxes are going to subsidies the lifestyle of these religious slackers. If they want to go live in the bad lands, then go ahead. But don't go crying to me when things go tits-up in your neighborhood. That is the risk you took when you decided to build where you were not supposed to.

I also don't get how these people get title to these properties? Who gives them the money? Do they get mortgages? Who is dumb enough to issue a mortgage on a piece of land that has such a convoluted title?

These guys remind me of the people that buy houses cheap and the end of an airport runway. Then they complain to no end about the noise and demand the airport close. Well No shit Sherlock... the fact that the house was under the flight path is why it was so cheap.

And for these guys.... the reason the house was so cheap is because you built it on land you don't own, in an area that does not fall under the jurisdiction of government protection, and the locals want to kill you. Perhaps you failed to look around when you moved in? The guys shooting at you should have been a clue that all was not good there.

As a US citizen, I wish our government would demand that the Israeli government put an end to this nonsense. Either take the damn land or don't. This half-ass acre-by-acre sneaky theft is just making them, and us, look dishonest.

More on Mrs. Friedlander

Elva sent me an email with a link to Mrs. Friendlander's obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune. From Elva...

I sent you the obit for Mrs. Friedlander a while ago. So sorry that I didn't have a chance to include words or anything else. I had just a few minutes and I wanted to send it to you asap.I didn't know if you two even remembered her. Since you do, then I know that you two must feel sad. She was a good person and she cared very much for you two.

Here is the obit:

FRIEDLANDER, CORINNE FRANCES 1931 to 2007 Corinne died peacefully in her sleep on January 4th after a courageous four year battle with Lou Gehrigs Disease. She was born in Ray, North Dakota on December 22, 1931, shortly later moved with her family to Kalispell, Montana, and in 1941 moved to San Diego where she spent many years; graduated from Hoover High School in 1950, married, raised her family and was foster mother to many children. She married her loving husband Kenneth in 1953 and spent 51 years together until he went to Heaven in October of 2004. She is survived by her two daughters Sally and Susan, her sons- in-law, Craig and Craig, Foster daughter and son, Kristina and Nicholas, his wife Laurel, grandchildren, Duane, his wife Erika, Devin, Darin, Teresa, Dilan and Chloe, great-grandchildren, Yazmine and Kenneth, her sister Jeanne, nieces and nephews and many friends in San Diego and New Mexico. She had a wonderful excitement for life and was filled with great love and devotion to her family and friends. She had sparkling blue eyes and unbelievable courageous and dignity. Our dear Mom, Granny and friend will be missed so very much. A celebration of her Life will be held today, February 8th, at 2:00 p.m. at First Lutheran Church, 867 S. Lincoln Avenue, El Cajon, Ca 92020. In lieu of Flowers family requests contributions in Memory of Corinne to the ALS Association, www.alsa.org.

I learned a few things today.

First, I've always misspelled her last name. That is strange because I distinctly remember being taught by her how to spell it when I went to school. Even though we were foster children, we were told to use their last name as ours. I remember being told to spell it "Free...", as in "Freed Men". I can't figure out why I would so clearly remember being taught by her to spell it that way since it is now clear to me that was wrong.

Perhaps she told me NOT to spell it "Free..." and got it all backwards. Wouldn't be the first time in life. Dyslexia strikes again!

I see Susie is now called Susan. We used to call her Susie. Perhaps that was her nickname and I just never knew better.

I noticed that her service was held at a Lutheran church. I didn't know she was Lutheran. Perhaps her's is a more fundamental version of Lutheranism than I experienced going to Grace Lutheran in Santa Barbara with the Larsons. I sure remember the hellfire and brimstone at the Friedlander's church. When I got older and reflected on that that church, I had guessed it was Pentecostal, Evangelical, or Baptist. I knew they weren't Jehovah Witnesses because they celebrated birthdays and Christmas... but I knew they weren't too far from that sect.

I always thought she was from Tennessee because that is where her sister was from. It also meshed with my theory that she was from a strick Pentecostal upbringing. Guess I was wrong.

Funny the obit mentions her blue eyes. I remember them well.

Elva. I'm sorry to have to tell you that neither Janice or I feel sad. We feel nothing. As I said in my previous post, I'm glad that she can't screw up any more kids. I will concur that she did care for us. She did the best she could considering how her much own fears and religious convictions dictated her life.

It strikes me as hypocritical that she was not above lying to the authorities about you, claiming you would show up drunk to visit your kids, when in fact you never drink. Perhaps in her mind she felt that she was protecting us from you. Perhaps she felt you were not good enough, or righteous enough. Who knows? But being a hypocrite is what she was about.

I hope Corrinne will make peace with herself and remove the shackles of shame, guilt, and fear that so defined her.

So all is well that ends well, eh? I for one wouldn't change a thing if it meant that I would not have ended up being adopted by Roger and Toni Larson. Sometimes you have to go through hell to get to heaven.

Corrine Freedlander

Hmmmm...

My bio-mom Elva sent me an email last week letting me know she saw in the San Diego newspaper that Corrine Friedlander died a couple of weeks ago. Interesting. I was thinking about this last night and wondering if I should say anything.

Mrs. Frielander was my last foster-mother before I got adopted. I don't have fond memories of her. She had, in my opinion, lots of "issues".

Corrine and her husband fostered a lot of children that ended up in the custody of San Diego County, like my sister and I were. They did provide a roof over our heads, and meals. We went to school. They even threw birthday parties for us. That was nice. But I can never forgive her for some of the things she did, especially to my sister.

Thanks to her I have a healthy dislike or organized religion. And I am extremely skeptical and wary of those who claim to be religious and pious. Too many people use that as a cover to mask deep sins and weaknesses. To the authorities, she seemed perfect. A god fearing Christian woman who wanted to take care of little children. Too bad they didn't know what she was really like.

Her and her husband had two children of their own. Two girls, Sally and Susie, who were teenagers when I lived at their house. There is one thing I remember most the morning the CPS van pulled up to take me out of there. As I said my goodbyes I remember feeling sorry for Sally and Susie. I knew I was getting out of there, and they were stuck with her for life. I often wonder how they turned out. Poor girls. I remember some of the hell they went through with her.

Corinne's specialty was shame, sex, sin, hellfire, and punishment. Even as a kid I used to be amazed that her husband was so whipped that he would not stand up to her and some of things she would do. To be honest, she had so many issues with human sexuality that I don't understand how she even managed to get pregnant twice.

I believe that we all end up in a hell or heaven of our own making. If you believe in a hell, then that is where you will go, until get you tired of it and let it go. So for Corrine, I can't help but wonder what kind of hell you built for yourself. Perhaps you will judge yourself for the lies and sick tortures you devised. Perhaps that is why you claimed to be so religious? So you could live with yourself?

I know that no one is perfect. I know that you were a deeply flawed person. I think you were a product of a seriously dysfunctional upbringing back in the hills of Tennessee. Your parents obviously stuffed you full of guilt and shame and convinced you that you were a sinner. They convinced you that Satan was real, that he was in your head, and that you were going to burn in hell for the thoughts that you allowed him to put in there.

Perhaps I am being to hard on you. Even though I can't forgive you for what you did to Janice. I am grateful that we were spared a worse fate. Considering the options, things would have probably been worse. There was a reason were were there. I don't forget that. At least you didn't break our bones, put your cigarettes out on our flesh, drug us, or let others sexually abuse us.

I remember so many of the other kids that came through your house when I lived there. They were always so scared when they arrived. I would have to care of them and make them feel safe. I would take their hands and tell them that they were going to be ok. The first night back in the bunks they always cried. We would lay in our bunks n the dark and they would tell me about the tortures that got them there. Pretty strange stuff for a six-year old kid to listen to, eh?

Well.... part of me is grateful for taking me in during my time of need. And part of me is glad to know that you can no longer screw up another kid's head with your twisted crap.