Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Think Before Pitching It In The Trash

It has been widely reported that during 2008 more than 32 million new digital TVs will be purchased by consumers in the US. One of the driving forces behind this trend is the looming February 2009 analog cut off date. On Tuesday, February 17th at the stroke of midnight, most of the TV stations in the US will cease broadcasting using analog technology and rely totally on digital broadcasting. Unless you have purchased converters or are connected to cable or a satellite service, your old TVs will not work. With this in mind, many either have already opted to get a new TV or will soon purchase one.

In the past when most people bought a new TV they seldom pitched out the old one. If it was still working it ended up in the kid’s room or in the basement family room. Since without a converter the old TVs will be useless, the prediction is that many will end up on top of “ole” Rumpke.

And it is not just TV’s that add to this “techno junk.” With consumers replacing cell phones about as often as they get a haircut, many of us have a drawer in the kitchen brimming with old cell phones, AC adapters, car chargers and hands free head sets. All of which we don’t use anymore. There are usually a bevy of various size batteries that have been removed from a device because they were dead. I am not sure why we put them in the drawer. I guess we are thinking that they might just come back to life some day. Fat chance.

The fact is that we all amass a tremendous amount of electronic junk. The stuff, long ago state of the art and awesome to use, is now useless. That same awesome junk is filled with some very nasty stuff. To send it to Mt. Rumpke is to release lead and other heavy metals, and some chemicals like arsenic and other poisons, into our environment. Not a good thing.

So with all this stuff filling up our junk drawer and basements, what are we to do? First there are some simple ways to properly and safely dispose of cell phones and batteries. Stores like Best Buy® have bins at the entrance of the store that accept old phones and batteries. So take those items out of that kitchen drawer, put them in the back seat of your car and the next time you are near a Best Buy®, deposit them in the bins.

Some of the larger items pose more of a challenge. Companies like Dell® offer to take back your old computer free of charge when you purchase a new one. Some newer “old” computers are accepted by some non profit organizations. For example, Crayons to Computers, the free store for teachers, has a program with Cincinnati Computer Cooperative to take relatively new models. You can contact them on line at their web site www.cincinnaticomputercooperative.org . If your computer equipment is not usable, Hamilton County residents can bring it to a special recycling depot. For more information call 946-7766 or go on line to www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org . You can use this web site to search for places that will accept most any household refuse that should not be mixed with regular trash or garbage at the curb.

I also found out that The Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District is very aware of the Feb. 2009 analog shut off and will be planning a TV recycling event either this fall or next spring or both. They promised to let me know the dates and I will pass them on in a future column.

Finally, when you purchase a new TV or other major appliance be sure to ask if the retailer offers to remove the old one and dispose of it in an environmentally safer manner.

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Think Before Pitching It In The Trash

It has been widely reported that during 2008 more than 32 million new digital TVs will be purchased by consumers in the US. One of the driving forces behind this trend is the looming February 2009 analog cut off date. On Tuesday, February 17th at the stroke of midnight, most of the TV stations in the US will cease broadcasting using analog technology and rely totally on digital broadcasting. Unless you have purchased converters or are connected to cable or a satellite service, your old TVs will not work. With this in mind, many either have already opted to get a new TV or will soon purchase one.

In the past when most people bought a new TV they seldom pitched out the old one. If it was still working it ended up in the kid’s room or in the basement family room. Since without a converter the old TVs will be useless, the prediction is that many will end up on top of “ole” Rumpke.

And it is not just TV’s that add to this “techno junk.” With consumers replacing cell phones about as often as they get a haircut, many of us have a drawer in the kitchen brimming with old cell phones, AC adapters, car chargers and hands free head sets. All of which we don’t use anymore. There are usually a bevy of various size batteries that have been removed from a device because they were dead. I am not sure why we put them in the drawer. I guess we are thinking that they might just come back to life some day. Fat chance.

The fact is that we all amass a tremendous amount of electronic junk. The stuff, long ago state of the art and awesome to use, is now useless. That same awesome junk is filled with some very nasty stuff. To send it to Mt. Rumpke is to release lead and other heavy metals, and some chemicals like arsenic and other poisons, into our environment. Not a good thing.

So with all this stuff filling up our junk drawer and basements, what are we to do? First there are some simple ways to properly and safely dispose of cell phones and batteries. Stores like Best Buy® have bins at the entrance of the store that accept old phones and batteries. So take those items out of that kitchen drawer, put them in the back seat of your car and the next time you are near a Best Buy®, deposit them in the bins.

Some of the larger items pose more of a challenge. Companies like Dell® offer to take back your old computer free of charge when you purchase a new one. Some newer “old” computers are accepted by some non profit organizations. For example, Crayons to Computers, the free store for teachers, has a program with Cincinnati Computer Cooperative to take relatively new models. You can contact them on line at their web site www.cincinnaticomputercooperative.org . If your computer equipment is not usable, Hamilton County residents can bring it to a special recycling depot. For more information call 946-7766 or go on line to www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org . You can use this web site to search for places that will accept most any household refuse that should not be mixed with regular trash or garbage at the curb.

I also found out that The Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District is very aware of the Feb. 2009 analog shut off and will be planning a TV recycling event either this fall or next spring or both. They promised to let me know the dates and I will pass them on in a future column.

Finally, when you purchase a new TV or other major appliance be sure to ask if the retailer offers to remove the old one and dispose of it in an environmentally safer manner.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Misleading Ad for "FREE" DTV Converters

As the adage goes, “There is no free lunch!” There are also no free DTV converters!

The Tuesday Morning Cincinnati Enquirer (May 20, 2008) carried a full page ad from Universal Techtronics offering FREE DTV converters. The Ad is riddled with misleading information and creates a false sense of urgency.

When you cut through the advertising copy you will find, that far from being free, the DTV converter ordered from Universal Techtronics will cost you almost $70.00 each. The same converter can be purchased locally for $59.00 plus tax and, if you have a government coupon, the local price is $20 each.

The pitch they use is that you are only paying for the 5 year warranty. Modern electronic devices are very reliable. If the DTV converter works out of the box there is a very high probability it will work for more than five years.

I do NOT recommend this offer. Caveat Emptor!

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Misleading Ad for "FREE" DTV Converters

As the adage goes, “There is no free lunch!” There are also no free DTV converters!

The Tuesday Morning Cincinnati Enquirer (May 20, 2008) carried a full page ad from Universal Techtronics offering FREE DTV converters. The Ad is riddled with misleading information and creates a false sense of urgency.

When you cut through the advertising copy you will find, that far from being free, the DTV converter ordered from Universal Techtronics will cost you almost $70.00 each. The same converter can be purchased locally for $59.00 plus tax and, if you have a government coupon, the local price is $20 each.

The pitch they use is that you are only paying for the 5 year warranty. Modern electronic devices are very reliable. If the DTV converter works out of the box there is a very high probability it will work for more than five years.

I do NOT recommend this offer. Caveat Emptor!

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Monday, May 19, 2008

Movies To Go

There are a few ongoing developments in the computer field that have been making a big difference in many of the devices and services that we now enjoy or soon will enjoy. One of the fastest developing facets of digital electronics is the increasing capacity of storage devices.

For many of us who have been using computers for more that 25 years, these developments in data storage technology have truly been nothing short of amazing. Remember the floppy disk? One of the earliest and most common storage media for many years was this “double sided” plastic disk that could hold a whopping 360,000 bits or 360K of information. If you had two floppy drives in your computer, you thought you had died and had gone to heaven, since you had all the room you would ever need to save your digital stuff. That floppy disk was about 6 inches square and about as thick as a 45 RPM record. (Ask your mom or dad what that is.) Today, a 1 gigabyte Smart Card™ holds more than 2700 times the amount of information as was possible on the floppy and is about the size of a postage stamp. Two and five gigabyte cards are commonly available and 1 terabyte drives are becoming more and more commonplace. A terabyte is 1000 times larger than a gigabyte.

Enough about size. But does it matter? Yes it does. I read about a new service being developed in Europe that will install small unattended self-contained kiosks in public places each loaded with first run movies. These kiosks, the size of a soft drink machine, can hold thousands of full length feature films. Rather than dispense the films on a DVD or videotape, which would require a physical supply of each of the movies within the machine, the device downloads the requested movie to the consumers memory stick. A two hour high definition format movie can be loaded in less than 30 seconds.

The user takes the memory stick home and plugs it into a $50 adapter connected to the TV and voila, a movie. The user can choose how many “plays” he or she wants to purchase. Once the plays are exhausted, the memory stick erases itself and is ready for another title.

What makes this all possible is the advancement in storage capacity. An affordable kiosk is now available with enough disk space to hold more than 5000 movie titles. That is more titles than a standard BLOCKBUSTER® store has on the shelves. The consumer memory stick, available at most drug stores for less than 10 bucks, can hold an entire movie.

Look for other services that will hit the market made possible by affordable storage technologies. Devices like GPS systems already have more in depth information on travel destinations. Not only does the GPS tell you that there is a Holiday Inn® at the next exit, it gives you a look at the menu at the next door restaurant.

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Movies To Go

There are a few ongoing developments in the computer field that have been making a big difference in many of the devices and services that we now enjoy or soon will enjoy. One of the fastest developing facets of digital electronics is the increasing capacity of storage devices.

For many of us who have been using computers for more that 25 years, these developments in data storage technology have truly been nothing short of amazing. Remember the floppy disk? One of the earliest and most common storage media for many years was this “double sided” plastic disk that could hold a whopping 360,000 bits or 360K of information. If you had two floppy drives in your computer, you thought you had died and had gone to heaven, since you had all the room you would ever need to save your digital stuff. That floppy disk was about 6 inches square and about as thick as a 45 RPM record. (Ask your mom or dad what that is.) Today, a 1 gigabyte Smart Card™ holds more than 2700 times the amount of information as was possible on the floppy and is about the size of a postage stamp. Two and five gigabyte cards are commonly available and 1 terabyte drives are becoming more and more commonplace. A terabyte is 1000 times larger than a gigabyte.

Enough about size. But does it matter? Yes it does. I read about a new service being developed in Europe that will install small unattended self-contained kiosks in public places each loaded with first run movies. These kiosks, the size of a soft drink machine, can hold thousands of full length feature films. Rather than dispense the films on a DVD or videotape, which would require a physical supply of each of the movies within the machine, the device downloads the requested movie to the consumers memory stick. A two hour high definition format movie can be loaded in less than 30 seconds.

The user takes the memory stick home and plugs it into a $50 adapter connected to the TV and voila, a movie. The user can choose how many “plays” he or she wants to purchase. Once the plays are exhausted, the memory stick erases itself and is ready for another title.

What makes this all possible is the advancement in storage capacity. An affordable kiosk is now available with enough disk space to hold more than 5000 movie titles. That is more titles than a standard BLOCKBUSTER® store has on the shelves. The consumer memory stick, available at most drug stores for less than 10 bucks, can hold an entire movie.

Look for other services that will hit the market made possible by affordable storage technologies. Devices like GPS systems already have more in depth information on travel destinations. Not only does the GPS tell you that there is a Holiday Inn® at the next exit, it gives you a look at the menu at the next door restaurant.

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Monday, May 12, 2008

Confession Time

I have to tell the truth. I have to be completely honest when I tell you that there some times when I am at a loss to figure out some very simple technical problems. Now you would think that someone who spends most of his waking hours surrounded by all things digital would be able to master setting up a simple consumer-grade device. No blinking 12:00 for me. Well, the following will demonstrate that I, like many of you, can get frustrated setting up even the most basic electronic gear.

It all started when I brought home a new DTV converter box to test out on my home TVs. I connected it to one of the sets in the guest bedroom and it worked great. It took less than 2 minutes to denude the package of it’s shrink wrap and plug in the cables. All was right with the world.

A few days letter I decided to see how the box would function on another TV. I disconnected the converter and cables and connected it to the other TV. Again, all worked as promised. I got a clear picture. The sound was great on all the channels. The remote functioned as described in the instructions.

There was one problem however. All the channels were now displaying captions. “I’ll fix that,” I said to myself. The remote for the DTV converter box is well designed and the closed caption button was plainly marked. I pressed it, expecting the captions to disappear. They vanished for about two seconds and then returned. I tried another channel. Sure enough the captions were there too. I pressed the button again and again with no luck.

Beginning to get somewhat irritated, I figured that the system was either malfunctioning or somehow I had programmed the converter to always display captioning. I waded through the menus and found everything to be in order. I even reset the converter to “Original Factory Specifications,” an often-used last resort fix for many misbehaving computer or electronic devices. No dice, the TV was going to write out in captions whatever was being said on the screen no matter what I did.

OK, now I am getting mad. I even sat down and read the manual, something I never do. The darn thing is broken I decided. “But it can’t be,” my more rational side of the brain whispered in my ear. (Yeh , I hear voices too…that is another story.) The thing worked fine on the other TV.

The proverbial light bulb went on. The captions were coming from the TV not the DTV converter. Sure enough, I found the remote control for the TV. The button to turn the captions on or off was right next to the button that selected the input for the DTV converter. I had apparently pressed it when I connected the converter. As expected, turning off the TV captions ON THE TV solved the problem.

So what is the moral of the story? I am not sure, but when you have multiple TVs, multiple devices connected to those TVs and a dozen or more remote controls lying on the coffee table in the living room, some strange things can happen no mater how technically savvy you are… or think you are.

So the next time you feel like throwing that brand new electronic gizmo through the window, take a deep breath and open the window first.

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Confession Time

I have to tell the truth. I have to be completely honest when I tell you that there some times when I am at a loss to figure out some very simple technical problems. Now you would think that someone who spends most of his waking hours surrounded by all things digital would be able to master setting up a simple consumer-grade device. No blinking 12:00 for me. Well, the following will demonstrate that I, like many of you, can get frustrated setting up even the most basic electronic gear.

It all started when I brought home a new DTV converter box to test out on my home TVs. I connected it to one of the sets in the guest bedroom and it worked great. It took less than 2 minutes to denude the package of it’s shrink wrap and plug in the cables. All was right with the world.

A few days letter I decided to see how the box would function on another TV. I disconnected the converter and cables and connected it to the other TV. Again, all worked as promised. I got a clear picture. The sound was great on all the channels. The remote functioned as described in the instructions.

There was one problem however. All the channels were now displaying captions. “I’ll fix that,” I said to myself. The remote for the DTV converter box is well designed and the closed caption button was plainly marked. I pressed it, expecting the captions to disappear. They vanished for about two seconds and then returned. I tried another channel. Sure enough the captions were there too. I pressed the button again and again with no luck.

Beginning to get somewhat irritated, I figured that the system was either malfunctioning or somehow I had programmed the converter to always display captioning. I waded through the menus and found everything to be in order. I even reset the converter to “Original Factory Specifications,” an often-used last resort fix for many misbehaving computer or electronic devices. No dice, the TV was going to write out in captions whatever was being said on the screen no matter what I did.

OK, now I am getting mad. I even sat down and read the manual, something I never do. The darn thing is broken I decided. “But it can’t be,” my more rational side of the brain whispered in my ear. (Yeh , I hear voices too…that is another story.) The thing worked fine on the other TV.

The proverbial light bulb went on. The captions were coming from the TV not the DTV converter. Sure enough, I found the remote control for the TV. The button to turn the captions on or off was right next to the button that selected the input for the DTV converter. I had apparently pressed it when I connected the converter. As expected, turning off the TV captions ON THE TV solved the problem.

So what is the moral of the story? I am not sure, but when you have multiple TVs, multiple devices connected to those TVs and a dozen or more remote controls lying on the coffee table in the living room, some strange things can happen no mater how technically savvy you are… or think you are.

So the next time you feel like throwing that brand new electronic gizmo through the window, take a deep breath and open the window first.

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Don't Throw Away That VCR!

Several people have asked me about how they might be able to use their VCRs and DVD players and recorders once we transition to the all digital TV system early in 2009. Many people have built up large libraries of tapes and DVDs and want to make sure that they will still be able to enjoy them for years to come. Well, like so many other questions relating to the digital conversion, there is no simple answer. I will try to address some of the issues one at a time.

The good news is that you will be able to play back any tape or DVD that you have in your collection. If you have the VCR or DVD player connected to your analog TV, you will continue using it as you do now. If you purchase a new digital TV, standard definition or high definition, you will be able watch your tapes and DVDs. In many cases the DVDs will look better than ever. Unfortunately, some of your VHS tapes may look a bit worse, since the new digital TV may emphasize flaws in the tapes. The tapes and DVDs will continue to play back as long as they remain in good shape.

You should remember that tapes of all sizes and formats do degrade over time. As the tapes dry out, the iron oxide begins to separate from the plastic tape. Once that happens your priceless video of little Johnny’s T-Ball championship will fade into oblivion. While there is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, keeping the tapes in a cool, dry environment will slow the degradation process. No matter how careful you are storing them, they will however cease to play back someday.

If you really want to keep some videos for a very long time, i.e. decades or more, copy the tape to a DVD or other digital medium. We don’t know how long DVDs will hold up, but for sure it will be longer than magnetic video tape. This holds true for any professionally copied VHS tapes such as movies or TV documentaries that you may have purchased.

Recording a TV program may be somewhat of a hassle for some as we convert to digital broadcasting. If you have cable or satellite service, you will not need to do anything different from what you are doing now. If, on the other hand, you are among the 20% of the US homes that gets TV over-the-air using an antenna, you will be in for some changes.

An analog VCR can record digital programs off the air if you connect it to a DTV converter box. The good news is that the picture, while not being recorded in digital form, will look great and result in a clean clear tape. The bad news is that if you connect the VCR to the DTV converter box, you will no longer be able to use many of the programming features on your VCR. For example, many set their VCR to record different programs from different channels at different times. You will no longer be able to program your VCR to change from one channel to another since you are no longer using the TV tuner in your VCR once you connect it to the DTV converter. So if you want to record Nova from CET on Tuesdays at 8 PM, you will need to set your VCR to record at 8 PM on Tuesday. That will work fine. You will not be able to program the VCR to change channels. For your Nova program, the VCR will need to be connected to the DTV converter and the converter set to CET. If you also want to record a program off another channel later on, you will need to manually change the channel on the DTV converter to the proper channel. If this sounds a bit confusing just remember that the tuner in your VCR, DVD recorder or analog TV set will no longer function after February 2009. The DTV converter will serve as the “tuner” and since it is not part of the VCR the VCR can’t control it.

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Don't Throw Away That VCR!

Several people have asked me about how they might be able to use their VCRs and DVD players and recorders once we transition to the all digital TV system early in 2009. Many people have built up large libraries of tapes and DVDs and want to make sure that they will still be able to enjoy them for years to come. Well, like so many other questions relating to the digital conversion, there is no simple answer. I will try to address some of the issues one at a time.

The good news is that you will be able to play back any tape or DVD that you have in your collection. If you have the VCR or DVD player connected to your analog TV, you will continue using it as you do now. If you purchase a new digital TV, standard definition or high definition, you will be able watch your tapes and DVDs. In many cases the DVDs will look better than ever. Unfortunately, some of your VHS tapes may look a bit worse, since the new digital TV may emphasize flaws in the tapes. The tapes and DVDs will continue to play back as long as they remain in good shape.

You should remember that tapes of all sizes and formats do degrade over time. As the tapes dry out, the iron oxide begins to separate from the plastic tape. Once that happens your priceless video of little Johnny’s T-Ball championship will fade into oblivion. While there is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening, keeping the tapes in a cool, dry environment will slow the degradation process. No matter how careful you are storing them, they will however cease to play back someday.

If you really want to keep some videos for a very long time, i.e. decades or more, copy the tape to a DVD or other digital medium. We don’t know how long DVDs will hold up, but for sure it will be longer than magnetic video tape. This holds true for any professionally copied VHS tapes such as movies or TV documentaries that you may have purchased.

Recording a TV program may be somewhat of a hassle for some as we convert to digital broadcasting. If you have cable or satellite service, you will not need to do anything different from what you are doing now. If, on the other hand, you are among the 20% of the US homes that gets TV over-the-air using an antenna, you will be in for some changes.

An analog VCR can record digital programs off the air if you connect it to a DTV converter box. The good news is that the picture, while not being recorded in digital form, will look great and result in a clean clear tape. The bad news is that if you connect the VCR to the DTV converter box, you will no longer be able to use many of the programming features on your VCR. For example, many set their VCR to record different programs from different channels at different times. You will no longer be able to program your VCR to change from one channel to another since you are no longer using the TV tuner in your VCR once you connect it to the DTV converter. So if you want to record Nova from CET on Tuesdays at 8 PM, you will need to set your VCR to record at 8 PM on Tuesday. That will work fine. You will not be able to program the VCR to change channels. For your Nova program, the VCR will need to be connected to the DTV converter and the converter set to CET. If you also want to record a program off another channel later on, you will need to manually change the channel on the DTV converter to the proper channel. If this sounds a bit confusing just remember that the tuner in your VCR, DVD recorder or analog TV set will no longer function after February 2009. The DTV converter will serve as the “tuner” and since it is not part of the VCR the VCR can’t control it.

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