Irony in Iron C

It used to be that no matter what was going, on, I knew that Sunday would be a kind of sanctuary for me.  But these days it's not like that. 

These days Sundays are bad. 

A lot of days are hard, but Sundays are the hardest.

There is of course still one haven.

but unfortunately it's a little harder to get there.

So I guess I'm asking for a favor,

if your headed to the south. 

could you let me know?

cause I could use a ride.

and I really want to go.

Especially on Saturdays.

In other news My knee is feeling better

I still don't know how healed it is,

but it hasn't freaked out on me in a really long time,

occasionally I take it slow, but at least it isn't agony any more

Ok it just popped out,

 it's not in pain, but it's a little tender. Still I have high hope that it will fix itself quickly

I guess I  should have knocked on wool

(or is it wood, i don't know Ü ) 

I'm still not sure what I can do,

but I guess we'll find during our softball game tonight.

still a runner might be a really good idea.

ttfn

Ha ha funny funny

So I had this idea,

you know, something 

a little ironic.

I'm going to have a party.

I  don't have all the details yet,

but I'm doing it when gas hits four dollars/ gallon.

(or more accurately about that time)

Probably a weekend,

probably more information later.

hope you can come,

W.

Another scoop of DTV goodness

As if the first dose wasn't enough to send your mind on a vacation from which it may never return, I have come again to share my wisdom, or lack there of on Digital digitalness.

So here's an update,

It just happened one day I turned on my tv and it was there.

I have a free program schedule built in to my tv now.

I am imagining that each station has decided for some reason that it is now time to broadcast their full information.

What show you are watching, what it's about, and why you might wanna skip it. (a rating)

But suddenly the button that did nothing. now brings up a schedule.

I haven't explored too much, but I know I get at least a six hour window.

And while I do think that this is being done by the stations, I can't guarentee that all boxes will have the capability to display it (i.e.; the box may get the signal but if there's no button on the remote, then you might have to click through every station to see what it's showing.

granted you may not think that this is nearly as cool as I do, but it kept me entranced for hours.

So how many coupons are there?

about 34 million.

How will they be distributed?

well this is where is get complicated.

The first 22 mil. are available to anyone.

No holds barred.  Get one, get two they really don't care,

the last 12 mil. will only go to people without a pay service of any kind.

Are there advantages to waiting?

yes.

Are there disadvantages?

yep on that one too.

Once the coupons are gone, they're gone.

Technically you could get one until about February 2009, but I could see them running out before then.

And then there's that other thing applicatoins will be processed in the order that they are received,

And they will be processed, and/or mailed in batches.

If I had to guess I'd say they'll send out an average of 3 million per month, maybe every month maybe every quarter,

but they won't all come at once. (so the stores won't get a windfall, but they won't run out so fast either).

I ordered mine in January, and I imagine that many other people did too.

My coupons got here In April and will be good through the middle of June

(which means it actually got sent towards the end of March) 

I think, now that the first batches of coupons have been spotted in the wild, a lot more people will be hopping on board.

this could be good or bad.

If you wait too long, then the people giving out theses puppies, may make you wait a little longer,

or horror of horrors, they may run out,

but I guess I doubt thats gonna happen just yet,

but if you do wait you may get better stuff at a better price,

I personally think now is a good time to order. It's a is a nice compromise, between waiting to 

get a better value, but not missing the boat (or not running to catch it).

Like I mentioned before the coupons are good for three months (they have the date that it's mailed printed on the back) but the coupons, are not a cheap piece of paper (they're a cheap piece of plastic, and they probably have their expiration date coded in to them too).

As I said before I think june is the pivotal month (better and cheaper technology).

but if you wait too long...

I honestly think that the coupons could all get used,

but that may not happen until people start to panic,

necessity can be a great motivator.  ü

So that's that, but what can I expect when I get my box?

Well actually to my surprise the boxes vary quite a bit more than I had thought.

yes even the picture quality from different model varies.

Some boxes have better antennas

so they receive a signal where others might not,

The main differences between the basic boxes 

are latency, and picture quality.

Since the boxes are reconstructing an image from a digital signal,

it takes a bit longer to get a picture,

but usually when you do, the picture is crisp.

(though if you have interference, you might see some jaggies, during a storm for instance)

For now this is where NTSC pass through comes in handy,

(if I can't get a signal, I just switch to Analog)

 

Some boxes will load channels very quickly,

while others, my take a bit longer.

I highly recommend the Echostar box.

but until it comes out the king of DTV is RCA.

(which ironically is the box I saw at the W-mart the other day)

I check CNET for latest ratings and info

 http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6487_7-6613951.html

so  Digital TV part two. 

That's the scoop, 

one more time.

TTFN

Researchers wisdom

I saw this and it was funny,
so I'll share it if you want it.
Link

A Little Video

The video file was kind of large, so I thought I might add a separate audio track, but I haven't yet.
It's not quite the same, but it would be something.
It turn's out though that video is actually easier than audio.
so if you really want it (audio only version) let me know,
otherwise, enjoy the show.