Tag: Technology

Early Morning DTV Madness

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/9PqzY5eqIdM" width="450" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The DTV transition was mandated in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, but 13 years later, 2.8 million Americans were still not ready for the switch that happened today.

I had the opportunity to help answer phone calls with DTV questions on the Fox 8 News Call for Action phone bank yesterday and today, so I had firsthand experience with a few Cleveland area viewers who were not all set for the analog TV signals to go dark at 10:00 am today.

Although most Americans are ready for the transition, according to the FCC, there was an estimated 55,000 or more Cleveland area residents who weren’t. Most of their questions involved where to turn to as they had expired converter box coupons, having not bought their equipment yet. The answer, of course, was to call the 1-888-CALL-FCC hotline.

The other question that came up often was whether they really needed the converter box. I had a number of callers who believed that because the word “digital” appeared somewhere on the front of their TV, they were ready to go. In many cases, I found out that it was a “Dolby Digital” sticker on the set that was causing some of the confusion.

The cutoff came and went hours ago, and the world hasn’t ended. However, I really sympathize with anyone manning a DTV support phone bank in the US, as now the compatibility issues with faulty equipment, or VCRs that won’t automatically change the channels on converter boxes start to come up. Good luck, brave DTV soldiers!

Gaming Like it’s 1999

There’s a thread going on the QuatertoThree games forum about “PC games that are a decade old this year.”

1999 was a strong year for PC games, as evidenced by this short list compiled in the thread:

  • Counterstrike
  • Everquest
  • Freespace 2
  • Jane’s F/A-18
  • Jane’s USAF
  • Planescape: Torment
  • Quake III
  • SWAT 3
  • Starfleet Command (I & II)
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress Classic
  • Tony Hawk
  • Unreal Tournament
  • X-Wing Alliance

There are plenty of memories for PC gamers in that list. Unreal Tournament was a personal favorite of mine, as it was something of an underdog before release. Most of the gaming community thought id Software’s Quake III Arena was going to completely dominate the online multiplayer FPS market that year, but Epic Games really surprised a lot of people by having so many unique (read: non-deathmatch) game types available for online play.

It was also a time where 3D graphics cards blossomed as Nvidia and ATI finally took the market from 3dfx. The Voodoo line of cards were eyeopeners when they first appeared, but the company just didn’t keep up with the changing demands of the industry. At the least, I was happy to see their proprietary Glide API lose ground to Direct3D and OpenGL.

Yes, it was a very good year for PC gamers.

Fox 8 Unplugged – DTV Questions Answered

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/iaUmPDhcxCo" width="450" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The DTV transition is finally (no, really!) going to happen on Friday, June 12th, at 10:00am. I had an opportunity to answer DTV questions on Fox 8 News Unplugged this morning, and will likely be helping out on their Call for Help hotline on Thursday to get viewers through their remaining DTV issues.

You can find out more about the DTV transition at geeksquad.com/dtv.

Lifehacker’s Essential Free Windows Downloads

The Internet offers plenty of free Windows applications to improve your productivity and your computer’s functionality, but finding them can be daunting. If you’re looking for a good place to start, take a look at the Lifehacker Pack 2009, courtesy of the ultra-productivity help site Lifehacker.com.

There’s plenty to choose from, including Foxit Reader for those tired of Adobe Reader’s bloat, or Postbox, a remixed Thunderbird client with a more G-mail feel.