I admit it. I made a mistake. I should have known better. I usually do. But I suppose hope had me beguiled to believe the United States Federal Government could actually do something worthwhile and good for a change.

With the June 12th cut of analog television signals, I finally went out and bought a DTV receiver, brought it home, hooked it up and got …nothing. The screen read only “No Signal”. According to AntennaWeb.org with my quality pre-amplified antennae, I should be getting all these wonderful stations:

uhf   W46DB    62    UNI  MELBOURNE, FL           3°   9.0mi
uhf   W16AJ    16    NBC  DAYTONA BEACH, FL      69°   5.2mi
uhf   WSCF-LP  31    IND  MELBOURNE, FL           3°   9.8mi
uhf   WFTV-DT   9.1  ABC  ORLANDO, FL           337°  44.5mi
uhf   WOTF-DT  43.1  TFA  MELBOURNE, FL         336°  46.4mi
vhf   WESH-DT   2.1  NBC  DAYTONA BEACH, FL     338°  47.1mi
uhf   WDSC-DT  15.1  PBS  NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL  338°  47.1mi
uhf   WTGL-DT  45.1  FMN  COCOA, FL             336°  46.4mi
uhf   WBCC-DT  68.1  PBS  COCOA, FL             338°  47.1mi
uhf   WOPX-DT  56.1  ION  MELBOURNE, FL         336°  46.4mi
uhf   WOFL-DT  35.1  FOX  ORLANDO, FL           336°  47.5mi
uhf   WRDQ-DT  14.1  IND  ORLANDO, FL           337°  44.5mi
uhf   WRBW-DT  65.1  MNT  ORLANDO, FL           338°  47.1mi
uhf   WHLV-DT  53.2  FMN  COCOA, FL             336°  46.4mi
uhf   WKMG-DT   6.1  CBS  ORLANDO, FL           338°  47.1mi
uhf   WKCF-DT  18.1  CW   CLERMONT, FL          336°  46.4mi
uhf   WMFE-DT  24.1  PBS  ORLANDO, FL           336°  47.7mi

After fussing with my antennae for a bit I managed, while holding the antenna over my head in a specific direction, pull down two channels –one of those was in Spanish. And that’s it.

To say the least, I was disappointed. I had believed the hype. I had read all the government talking points: superior picture quality, more stations, better reception and range, and of course free over-the-air access just like it used to be. I thought the government was truly looking out for the people for once –making the effort to give everyone, even the poor, access to television. Sure, the plethora of channels and special stations would remain the domain of cable and satellite, but the main stations, ABC, CBS, NBC and a few others like ION along with their extra sub-channels, would now be a available to anyone at little to no cost. Clearly, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The next day, after my disappointment subsided a bit (a few curse words helped with that), I ventured some additional research. This time without the starry-eyes. My first Google hit, searching “what was the point of the DTV transition?”, brought me this little beauty.

People just don’t get the point of this DTV thing.

The real purpose of the DTV transition is to kill-off free over-the-air television.

First, encumber every television so it is no less klunky than a TV with a cable box, so there’s no operational advantage for using OTA programming.

Second, pull the biggest flag day since the ARPAnet went TCP-only, leaving analog TVs stranded by the tens of thousands and many otherwise-faithful DTV users out in the no-signal zone resulting from the “all or nothing” nature of DTV signals. (Technically not exactly right, but close enough for Gubmint Work if you live in a fringe area.)

The local stations who have nearly bankrupted themselves deploying the mandated DTV capability will see viewership drop off precipitously except for viewers on Cable, at which point the cable companies will have the economic upper hand, especially in the absence of “must-carry” rules for DTV.

The local free OTA stations will starve – some quickly, some slowly, a few maybe not at all, but most will die a horrible, lingering death.

And that will be the end of Free TV in the US

Howzat for juicy a conspiracy theory?

–Michael O’Dell, October 16, 2008 9:00:21 PM PDT

Exactly what I was now beginning to suspect myself. If only I had been more suspicious, even back in January, a month before the original cut-off was scheduled. I might have read this.

Now the that the cut-off date has come and gone, there is endless confirmation of these issues all over the Web: here, here, here, here, here… this could go on and on.

What really strikes me as funny about the whole thing though, is just how much time and bureaucracy it took to achieve the this monumental fail.

Tags: dtv

Most research and application in the field of robotics has attempted to instill automation intelligence into robots via designer algorithms. Attempting to create intelligence behavior in this manner is akin to running up a cliff. While some progress can be made, the heights remain far out of reach. Modern approaches mix in neural networks, genetic algorithms, and a variety of other learning systems. Learning systems are a major leap forward in bringing intelligent behavior to machines, but these methods are generally hampered by limited input, feedback and achievable goals.

I propose we take a more synergetic approach between man and machine, to allow the robots to read our “thoughts”, so to speak, and in accordance, do our bidding. Initially a robot’s “host” would control the movement of a robot’s limbs through a mind and body interfaces. Microsoft’s recent Natal interface is a prefect example. Then, using pattern recognition networks, such as Bayesian networks and neural networks, the robots would be able to generalize on this human input, learning to preform some specific task. These action patterns could then be encapsulated as unified behaviors, such as command to a robotic dog, “fetch paper”. Combining these individual trainings into larger systems could then produce very intelligent behaviors, vastly superior to any designs we have been able to implement manually.

Having the robot under self-control, readily available for general use to perform specialized tasks, is the ultimate achievement of industrial automation. It behooves us to put our own physical skills to work as a means of education for automated learning systems, rather than attempting to instill the behaviors or criteria via our crude means of symbolic programming.

Tags: ai, robots

On the same day that I met the one-eyed man, coming home along the same bus route, two men were speaking about dogs and children. One spoke of his recently diseased English Cocker Spaniel (or some such breed) which he loved dearly for over 15 years. He said his own kids had to share a bedroom, while his dog got a room all his own with a king size bed no less, and that he even had more pictures of his dog than his children. “That is how much I loved that dog”. One wonders if it’s true. But I really wonder if he had any idea how sad that sounded. The man was very large, and it was clear, as is often the case with people on a bus, of limited education.

A bit later a young lad boarded. As young people are wont to do, he was wearing headphones and listening to music. The large man asked him about his music player. “Oh, I have over a thousand songs on here. But I have room for many more. I have… like… a 100 gigabytes of free space.” The big man says he “has no idea about any of that”. The younger continued, “Well let me put it his way, each song takes up 3 to 4 megabytes”. The young man did not really comprehend the extent of the older man’s ignorance on the mater. Drawing even a starker contrast, a very rugged-looking black man who had been sitting near them with a collection of mops and a bucket of water, chimed in to explain how 5 movies could be put on one CD, or was it one movie on 5 CDs. He wasn’t sure which. They went on this way for a few minutes.

But then the young man started talking about his love of music. His genre of choice was Metal. His favorite band was Queensriech. He knew all about this music, and, something I thought was interesting, he pointed out that all this music existed before he was born. He went on to speak about how he gets the music for free off the Internet and how this and that singer could hit such high octaves, and so forth. He was quite knowledgeble.

At first, it seemed like just another mundane low class conversation. I thought about how people define themselves –how the ego makes itself feel special by valuing such simple things, how much they knew, how much they have, how fast, How much they own, how much they can do, how much music they know. I suspect we all do it. In fact, that day I had taken a basic motor skill test. I had to keep a triangle between two lines using a very touchy joystick. The test giver told me I gotten better scores than anyone she had seen. Such a small thing this, and yet my ego was stroked. Later in the evening I would tell a friend about it and she too proved proud of me. So funny.

Then the large man began to put forth his own favorites, Pink Floyd, Iran Maiden and Black Sabbath. His favorite song, he said, “is War Pigs”. At that point a shift occurred in me. Where before I had separated myself from these individuals for there simpleton ways, now suddenly I shared with them a common Reality. The lyrics of that song, I had long ago appreciated, started to come back to me.

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses

Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction

In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning

Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

This simple song –this classic 70’s anti-war anthem, became a common ground that changed my whole reflection on the day. I saw these people as the salt of the earth, even less perhaps –it’s dust. And there was no doubt that their overall taste in music reflected it. But it was still music. Despite their status, in it they found something much greater than themselves –the chords, the harmonies, the rhythms and lyrics. The appreciation might not be deep or sophisticated, but they could appreciate it. No matter how separated we were by class or education, we still had something lofty in common.

So then I had to wonder, was there really such a difference between myself and these other people? In the measure against the full potential of mind and ultimate understanding I doubt I bat much more than a tick or two above him on a vastly larger scale. I know there are brilliant people in the world, I have met some of them, and they might just as easily look down on me for my simpleton understandings in comparison to theirs. But they too are just another small tick away from me on this larger scale. Those ticks can seem like such great gulfs in our day to day lives, especially on the bottom rungs. But truth be told, we have far more in common than we will ever have in differences.

In some sense I suppose I am privileged. I have had the fortunate of straddling two worlds, to experience both sides of economic reality in America, the poor and the wealthy, the well-educated and the uneducated. I am able to compare and contrast. See how the circumstances of life generally effect the resulting living. Hindu culture is well know for is caste system. People are relegated from birth to specific classes, from the lowest untouchable to the highest royal. They have institutionalized something that generally occurs naturally due to the situation of one’s parents. It is something that should remain natural, and if anything is to be institutionalized it should be to undo these divisions as much as possible. In the States, birth and rearing still sets a person into a particular class, but they are free to move up or down as they are able. Unfortunately, we as a polis do not go very far out of our way to see the lots of our fellow human-beings improve. It is hard for those stuck on the bottom rungs to move up. Much harder than I think most people realize. And it is not a particularly friendly place. A place ferom which few listen or care. As a friend of mine once termed it, it is a place of “quiet desperation”. But as I learned today, it is not a place utterly lacking in character, culture or good intent. In general, it is not the people that are lacking, it the system in which they find themseleves.

Tags: man

Yesterday I took a bus up to John Hopkins Bay View Medical Center. In route a one-eyed man boarded. He eyed me with his one good seer, and though he passed me by at first, I am not surprised he finally choose to sit in the empty seat next to me. The typical client of an inner-city bus is African American and the one-eyed man and myself were both white. (I do not think it racially motivated that he sat with me, just the natural tendency of people to relate more easily with those more like themselves.) So he begins to tell me how he lost his eye, interjecting that he could no long remember names. He asked me mine, but told me he would forget it soon enough. “I was shot in the face”, he said, pointing to the side of his nose and indicting the bullet went through his eye and outside the side of his head. He told me how the culprits went to jail, as they deserved, and that he was just lucky to be alive. He was in the hospital for nearly two years, in a comma for much of it, and had dwindled in weight to 80 lbs. You had to feel for the guy. He pretty much lost everything in the ordeal. Though he did not say so, it was clear that his relationship to his parents, wife and children were all irreversibly strained. I did not catch exactly where he said he was coming from, but it was some sort of “mission house” –a house for addicts, troubled people, people without real homes, but fortunate enough to have the money to pay for such a facility. He explained the government paid him $2500/mo is disability, but he did not care about the money.[1] He was just happy to help out at the mission. By the smell of his breath it was clear he wasn’t just there to help. He claimed it was cough syrup, but anyone who has experienced it before knows the smell of a street-alcoholic. The liquor helped explain why he talked non-stop.

Following his story about the bullet to his face, which he repeated, he then asked if I believed in God. Ugh. Now there is ultimate rhetorical question. Either way you’re in for a ear full. I shrugged and said, “it’s kind of complicated.” He took that to mean ‘no’, and said “hey it’s okay I was an Atheist for most of my 54 years too. Then he’s starts to evangelize. He explains to me that there must be a creator because… “just look how perfectly round the sun and the planets are”. “Clearly”, he explained “evolution is garbage”, but he clarified that there were dinosaurs and it says so in the bible (something about “big monsters”) and that God wiped them out with a flood. He went on to tell me that we can’t see past the planet Pluto (he emphasized that it was a planet), so we have no idea what’s really out there. “Aliens?”, he suggested. And finally concluded that God would eventually wipe us out with fire. “First water, then fire”, he said. But no one paid attention to the signs, though he tried to warn them.

I did not have the heart to explain to him that he was talking to someone that was probably an order of magnitude or two more educated than he. That the Sun and the planets were almost perfectly round due to gravity and centrifugal forces. Whether “God” created that force, or not, is a larger question, but being basically round is not a very convincing argument, and perhaps the ultimate irony since the Church was going with the flat-earth for all those years. I wanted to talk to him, wanted to educate him, at the very least to improve his arguments. Recently I listened to some Eckhart Tolle and I wondered what he might do if he was sitting in my place. I even considered taking this poor man down a Buddhist line of reasoning. But I doubt it would have done any good. He had been drinking, and so early in the morning, he would not have the ears for hearing. He was just rattling. The accumulation of weakly interwoven memes bouncing around in his head were dropping down like pachinko balls into his mouth. At least he was good intentioned. In the end I just sat there, in the present, and let him talk. I imagine that’s what Tolle would have done. I imagine that’s what most anyone would have done.

But maybe that’s not the best thing to have done. Maybe I should have said something, no matter how futile. After all, isn’t that what the one-eyed man was doing to me? He cared enough about me, some stranger, to try to educate me. Try to help me. If I know he is mistaken, should I not feel a duty to correct him? And although I suspect that he was getting some selfish gratification from the trying to “help”, so what? Shouldn’t we all be gratified by our attempts to share understanding? Perhaps it is because most people will do exactly what I did –shrug off the interaction as a hopeless one, that weak ideas persist. Perhaps if enough dialog accumulated from more educated people down to the less educated on a personal level, then a monumental shift could take place as good ideas reach a critical mass and propagated themselves. Perhaps I am being too idealistic, but as difficult or fruitless as it might have been, what would it have hurt to try? Trying might made all the difference. The smallest nugget toward a new way of thinking might open a new path that could eventually lead a poor man to prosperity. Perhaps I should have said something after all.

The smell of the one-eyed man never left me that day.

[1] I note that if the it is indeed true that the government is giving this man $2500/mo than they are simply enabling him. One can understand giving him some disability assistance, but essentially covering his every expense and then some is not going to give him much incentive to better his life.

So Congress finally passes yet another delay to the digital TV switch-over. It’s a small matter ultimately, but can our government seem any more dysfunctional at this point? Why would we delay, yet again, an act that would modernize and enrich the television viewing experience of all Americans; that would provide an economic net plus to the nations bottom line while we are in the very midsts of an oncoming depression; that would only further enable people not to do what is required of them; that would free up spectrum to emergency responders in this so-called age of terrorism? There are so many reasons to move forward. What good reasons at this point can we possibly have for standing still?

This bit of historical reading might be an eye opener to some people.  In summary, this was a switch-over originally scheduled for 2006, (postponed in 2005), planned in 1997, and originates from proof of concept demonstrations in 1988. 1988! It has taken us over 20 years to move, as a country, from analog to digital television. Why? Why did congress decide to delay the 2006 deadline to 2009? And why does congress now believe adding another six months will make any significant difference after all this time?

The acting FCC Chairman, Michal Copps, said in a recent statement:

It has long been clear to me — and it’s even clearer since I became acting FCC chairman two weeks ago — that the country is not prepared to undertake a nationwide transition in 12 days without unacceptably high consumer dislocation. The additional four months provided by the law affords urgently-needed time for a more phased transition.

I would really like to know what consumers he is talking about. I know no one, and I mean no one, that watches TV over the air waves anymore. They have all switched to cable or satellite, or they simply do not watch broadcast television. And it is not that I am overly affluent to not be aware of the things poor people do. On the contrary, I live quite close to the bottom of this nations barrel. I have no doubt there have been poor souls out there trying to eek out a good viewing from their static filled sets, but I assure you, having myself been in that place in desperate attempts to watch X-Files back in the late 90s, they are the last people in the world seeking to hold up the transition. These people have already received their rebate coupons, bought the boxes, and are now watching a clear picture on digital TV. Any consumer who hasn’t yet seen fit to get off the couch and find a way to get on the DTV bandwagon at this point, is not going to get off their butts six months from now either.

What is clear is that 6 months isn’t going to fundamentally change anything in so far as people actually being prepared. People have had years to prepare. And the TV’s have been bombarded with ads about the switch-over for the last year. So there’s really no excuse for people to be unaware –if they aren’t already they must not be watching much TV!

The official excuse they are giving is that funding for the coupon program ran out last month and they fear millions of people will be caught unprepared. That’s pretty funny, considering it doesn’t take much to correct a funding problem. And add to that the irony that the delay bill doesn’t address the funding issue at all. Besides that, I just sent away for my rebate coupons a few weeks ago, and they are now in my hand. Doesn’t appear to be much of a problem there.

We all know how our government works. Our representatives are but bit pieces in the horse of the people’s business. It’s the lobbyist that pull the reigns. And not to disappoint, that is exactly what has happened here as well. Who were the lobbyists behind the decision to delay?

Among those present were National Association of Broadcasters president David Rehr, National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow and Washington representatives for Fox and ABC, among others.

Now I happen to know Kyle McSlarrow by way of his father. And through the grape vine I have been able to gain some insight into the inner workings of the world of lobbyists. First of all you would not believe how much these people get paid –they themselves can’t believe how much they get paid. Trust me, none of them are worrying about their TVs going black on Feb 17th. Secondly, they get paid the big bucks for a very good reason. Because they are hired to be professional pushers. Deep down they knows this, but for that kind of money almost anyone would find good ways to justify their “service to the country”. In fact I’m guessing they have very well paid therapists to help make sure of it.

I imagine Obama is being told that it has to be done to avoid pissing off millions of people that aren’t prepared. That’s unfortunate for him. If he read tech-news sites he would learn he’s is actually pissing off a hell of lot more people that are. The internet is full of messages from the people disgruntled with the delay. I don’t really blame Obama. He doesn’t have time to explore details for himself. So he just taking the advice of the “experts”.

But why are the top lobbyist for the big media , and cable and telecommunications industry advising for a delay? A delay that any rational human being can see is pointless? It’s hard to be sure exactly what these men are considering. Their meetings are held in confidence after all. But we can be sure it is to first and foremost to serve their constituents, their companies and their directors.

So what motive then?

It may be as simple as the potential of my last post. Six months might not seem like a lot of time, but that could mean many customers to the cable companies. Once people get DTV, there will certainly be those who decide they can live without cable. I think the industry knows this. I’m sure they’d kill the whole affair if they could. I suspect they might try to delay again in June. Whether they succeed or not, at least six months gives them more time to prepare, such as incentive programs to keep customers, and hell, maybe eve stock strategies to move their money out of the cable business.

It will be interesting to see what happens when June roles around.

First, a little history. In the early 80s most people watched TV over the air, via antenna. When cable came on the scene it was initially a tough sell. After all, they had to convince the average television viewer to buy a product that they had essentially been getting for free all their known life. The selling point was of course a larger channel selection, about 30 channels as opposed to the usual Big 5, commercial-free viewing on most of those channels and, the big draw, the option of movies at home via HBO or Showtime. So these features sold the product, but the price had to remain low to get them in the door. Back then, one could get basic cable for about $6/mo and the movie channels for a few dollars more.

Today, a standard line-up of channels can easily cost $60/mo and movie packages can quickly double that figure. That’s a 1000% increase in less than 25 years. And to compound the matter, commercial-free is a rare communist slogan. Of course, with these steady price hikes we have gotten some return on our money: more channels, around 100 or so now, plus music channels, and DVR and VOD services. But the later costs additional dollars. Although there are some free choices, Video-On-Demand generally runs $4 or more per viewing, which can easily add a hefty sum to the monthly bill.

There is also a catch to the addition of more channels. While it multiples the available content, it also tends to lower the quality of that content. Consider 24hr news stations that simply repeat the same sound bites all day long. Or science documentaries that take an hour to explain 10 minutes worth of material by reiterating everything proceeding each commercial break. And the continual reruns of old movies on TNT, AMC and so on. The fact is, there is only so much content that can be produced and only so much that can be consumed. And both come at a price in time and money.

So here we are some 25 years later, and the system has approached its saturation point. Consumers are paying a larger chunk of their earnings toward video then every before and cable companies continue to drive prices upward to meet modern market capitalism’s growth expectations, while there is little room left for real product enhancement. Indeed, all that seems to be left to them is the High Definition switch over, and the companies are in no rush to spend the money on infrastructure upgrades it requires. So you can expect another 10 years before HD content is pervasive and of course you can count on even higher cable bills.

Meanwhile, we find ourselves in an economic depression. I have discussed this fact with many people, and it continually surprises me how unwilling most people are to part with their cable box, even when money is tight and doing so could easily save them over $500 per year. People, I have noticed, tend to get stuck in their luxuries. Tell them you can save them money and they are all ears, but tell them they’d have to give up one thing, even a minor thing, and they’d rather continue being fleeced. There is little one can do about this. Eventually one must come to the realization one’s own, that it is not worth all the money or the time wasted on finding something good to watch or the constant bombardment of commercials. There are alternatives, and while they may not provide every little detail of what you have become accustomed, what they do offer is superior in every way.

So I am going to explain how you can save a large sum of money every year and have a much more enjoyable television watching experience, while making only, what is in truth, some very minor sacrifices to your current customs.

This is the age of the Internet. This age does not just mean a big computer network we can google. It brings with it a whole change in mindset. Information is accessible to us on request, at our discretion. It is the new Pull Paradigm replacing the old Push. And though still in the early stages in high-bandwidth information such as video, it is nonetheless available now, and in some creative forms as well. For as it turns out, the medium is not actually the issue. The Pull paradigm has been successfully applied to video-on-demand, not via digital networks, but via good old fashion snail mail. Combine this with the developing online VOD services and the new over-the-air digital TV, and you have a recipe for finally replacing the cable box.

So what exactly do you need to make the move to Pull? Your cable company may still have you by the shirt tails in one respect, but few people realize that you can get Internet service from them without also having cable, and for a much better price because Internet service is tax-free. That’s right, there are no tax or government fees to tag on. You pay a straight price. And, by law, companies are required to offer economic access. You could pick up low-end broadband for about $25/mo. If you are already using the Internet anyway (and why wouldn’t you be?), then this is just cake. Now all you need is Netflix, for around $22/mo. Now you can watch all the movies and popular television shows you want, generally when you want and all practically commercial free. You simply have to be willing to plan a couple days ahead and watch your TV shows a season behind original release (and no, that is not as hard as it might seem). In addition, plunk down $99 for a Roku box or other Netflix ready device, and you can watch your choice of 12,000+ titles at your beck and call.

But what about traditional viewing: news, soaps, morning shows? You’re in luck. Thanks the the digital switch over scheduled for mid-Feburary, a whole new line-up of channels will soon be available over-the-air along side the traditional big five. All you need is the new digital converter box and that old antenna. The government is giving out $40 rebates for the boxes, and you can expect all new TVs to have converters built-in.

So for a little money down, you can kiss the those big cables bills away for good. Yes, there are some sacrifces to make, but in the end the experinece is much more enjoyable. You are are in charge or what you watch. And hey, personally, I miss my rabbit ears.

A modern-day warrior
Mean mean stride,
Today’s Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride.

Though his mind is not for rent,
Don’t put him down as arrogant.
His reserve, a quiet defense,
Riding out the days events.
The river

And what you say about his company
Is what you say about society.
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift.

The world is, the world is,
Love and life are deep,
Maybe as his eyes are wide.

Today’s Tom Sawyer,
He gets high on you,
And the space he invades
He gets by on you.

No, his mind is not for rent
To any God or government.
Always hopeful, yet discontent,
He knows changes arent permanent,
But change is.

And what you say about his company
Is what you say about society.
Catch the witness, catch the wit,
Catch the spirit, catch the spit.

The world is, the world is,
Love and life are deep,
Maybe as his skies are wide.

Exit the warrior,
Today’s Tom Sawyer,
He gets high on you,
And the energy you trade,
He gets right on to the friction of the day.

Rush (c) 1981