Posted on 01/08/2009 9:27:20 AM PST by lewisglad
Consumers Union is urging Congress to delay the nation's transition to digital television, saying the program to help TV viewers prepare for the switch next month has been underfunded and poorly implemented.
In a letter sent last night to President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the consumer advocacy group said Congress should push back the transition "until a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals."
The request comes two days after the federal government said it has run out of money to provide coupons to help offset the cost of converter boxes. Analog television sets that rely on "rabbit ears" or rooftop antennas to receive broadcasts will need a converter box to get a picture after Feb. 17, when all full-powered television stations will stop airing analog signals and move to digital-only broadcasts.
Lawmakers are looking for ways to make sure consumers who need coupons get them in time. "But with the date looming, moving the date back certainly warrants further discussion and may be a wise choice," said Daniel Reilly, a spokesman for Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
As of Sunday, consumers requesting $40 vouchers to help purchase a converter box are being placed on a waiting list, and federal officials warn that TV watchers may not receive the coupons in time for the switch.
A coupon is not needed to purchase a converter box. But with boxes costing $80 in retail stores, Congress allocated $1.34 billion to provide coupons to help offset the price. Consumers who have a newer digital television or who subscribe to cable or satellite service will not lose programming.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This was posted on another forum. Not sure if joke or not. probably not. lol
True. But to the ones making a choice, the morning of Feb 18th won't be a surprise. To the nation's intellectually challenged, it will.
I seem to be infected with something similar to what is described here...
http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1139
No matter what I search for with google, I will get results that show legitimate “headlines”, but the link is a fake anti-virus site that tries to snooker you into buying their malware.
And it isn’t just a few links - every single link in my search results is a fake anti-virus site.
So - I’m switching my search engine, and trying to figure out where to go from here.
Anyone out there aware of this problem and how to fix it?
One of the ‘wags’ made a statement about this ‘crapola’ yesterday and the final ‘conclusion’ was:
So the WORST that will happen to you is that you will not be able to watch TV.
.........
As has been stated earlier, you only had 14 or so years to prepare for this and if it takes a government grant to watch TV your problems are deeper than no TV
That’s microsoft. They gave me 495 virus when I hit the update button; so I don’t go there anymore.
hmmm - they send me automatic updates, so I wonder if they just sent it to me?
Yikes.
I’m not a techie, but I guess I better start figuring this out and fast.
I just don’t know.
Congress has to make their payoffs before they can service anyone.
It could be your provider to or your registry. Usually, your antivirus dingy will tell you if you have a virus.
I know, my comcast.net deserves Loser of the Year award.
you will be paid a visit if you don’t tune in when the Dear Leader has a vision.
No... that's not Microsoft. You have some other garbage on your machine. If you got 495 virus hits when checking MS update, you've got your computer screwed up. MS might have its problems, but let's be realistic.
Look, I hit the upgrade button and that’s what happened. Besides I have fixed it all to the tune of 1800 dollars. And I am being realistic.
Depends on your TV market...our local NBC affiliate put it's new digital transmitter on a totally different mountain 35 miles away from the old one. Most stations are just using the same transmitter site though. Most stations are changing their actual channels also (but keeping their old "number" via digital trickery), that may affect your reception.
Barack called for change and that includes digital transition. That’s for change for ya! I have a converter box, so I am ready to go. I actually want the digital change over now because digital signals are weak at this time.
The BCS system needs change too.
http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1139
My brother had that recently ("Anti-Virus 2008" or similar)....the latest version of "SpyBot S & D" or better yet "SuperAntiSpyware" can get rid of it. It is a toughie!
A few day later they did a half hour program on how to ...
I miss the color and bars on television. They showed it at night.
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