Official TechtalkRadio Blog

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Congress mandated that “full-power” TV stations will not be able to broadcast in analog after June 12, 2009…three other categories of TV stations exist – “low-power” stations, “Class A” stations, and “TV translator” stations. There is currently no deadline for these stations to convert to digital broadcasting.

…the June 12, 2009 deadline for ending analog broadcasts does not apply to low-power, Class A, and TV translator stations…

Viewers should look for information from their LPTV, Class A, and TV translator stations about plans to convert from analog to digital broadcasting. Viewers should also visit www.fcc.gov for any updates on the digital transition of low-power, Class A, and TV translator stations.

List of All Class A, LPTV, and TV Translator Stations

February 7, 2009 S!ickLeave a commentUncategorized

antennas for television reception

AntennaWeb.org attempts to suggest types of antennas needed to receive local television broadcast channels based on geographical maps and signal strengths.

For example: most of the transmitters of the Tucson (Arizona) television stations are on Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains, which is north of Tucson.

My area is Picture Rocks, which is far west of Tucson…beyond the Tucson Mountains.

According to AntennaWeb.org:
for my CBS, ABC, and PBS affiliate stations I need a Medium Directional Antenna rooftop antenna with a pre-amp…
and for my Fox, NBC, and KTTU stations I need a Large Directional Antenna rooftop antenna with an amplifier.

(I’m not surprised…as long as I’ve lived in Tucson, to receive most of the television stations available, I’ve needed to use the best antennas I could afford.)

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Regarding the installation of outdoor antennas…

The Telecommunications Act (Section 207/rule 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000) prohibits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance, or use of antennas used to receive video programming including: satellite dishes, TV antennas, and wireless cable antennas.

It applies to condominiums, rental properties, and single-family homes.

February 5, 2009 S!ickLeave a commentMac, software

Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop version 1

I had been testing the beta version of this product, and at this moment their website has the word “beta” on it…but it appears that “version 1” has been released: my installed software has updated to “version 1”.

Amongst its many features:

Contacts-
import contacts as .csv files, or export contacts as .csv files
Syncs Zimbra, Yahoo! and Gmail contacts

Calendar-Syncs Zimbra, Yahoo! and Gmail calendars

Windows, Mac OS and Linux

mailbox data is kept on the server

Yahoo! Mail, Address Book, and Calendar Support
Gmail Mail, Address Book, and Calendar Support

It’s being promoted as a replacement for Microsoft Outlook.

Per their blog, it’s possible I have “Release candidate 1”; in the “About” window it states it is “Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop 1.0”.

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My experiences, so far…

In Zimbra, I added a contact to my Gmail account…that did not sync with my Google Contacts account.

Because I’m using the free version of Yahoo! Calendar, I cannot sync Zimbra with my online Yahoo! Calendar.

February 5, 2009 S!ickLeave a commentUncategorized

latest Logitech webcam software link

I had problems updating the software for a Logitech webcam: it displayed error messages whenever I tried to. So, I sent a message to their support division…

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Summary: cannot update

Product Level 1: Logitech

Product Level 2: Cameras

Product Level 3: QuickCam Fusion

Operating System: Windows XP Media Center Ed

Logitech Software: QuickCam 11

Software Version: 11.0.0

Discussion Thread

Customer

After having problems updating QuickCam software, I:

uninstalled it…

restarted my computer…

downloaded and installed the latest version (Logitech QuickCam Version 11.0.01218)…

and attempted to update the software.

On my Windows Vista computer, the latest version of the software that is installed and updated is 11.5.0.1169

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from Logitech Customer Support

subject cannot update

Discussion Thread

Response

…the latest update for your webcam is QuickCam 11.1…Do a clean installation for your QuickCam software…remove the current installation of the software first…

You can acquire the software driver QuickCam 11.1 from the following link:

http://www.logitech.com/pub/techsupport/quickcam/qc1110.exe

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It worked.

Whenever I had gone to their website to download the latest version of software available for the Logitech Fusion, the only file that was available was qc1100.exe. After contacting support, I was given a link to qc1110.exe. And now, in case you need it, I’m giving it to you…

January 31, 2009 S!ick1 CommentUncategorized

Google search sputtered

I like to have backups…spares…alternative plans. Today, I realized have allowed myself to become much too trusting…again.

This morning, I dragged myself over to one of my computers to search for…something…it really doesn’t matter what it is. I’m sure I’m no different than others who are too lazy to look in whatever they use for bookmarks, and find it easier and quicker to search for a website and webpage they want. Google has become my default “spell-checker”, as well…

ALL of the results from Google showed, “This site may harm your computer”. All links available from the searches would not allow me to move forward to the websites. I thought that it must be something I was doing: my browsers have been up for a very long time. But, it was happening on both of my computers. Well…I haven’t restarted them in a very long time…so I did. Same problem. Could it be my internet service provider? I have long suspected problems with their service…I only use them because I can’t afford a different one.

Then I noticed that on Twitter that I wasn’t the only technology related media personality that had the problem (I suspect the reason his post beat mine is because I was troubleshooting, and he wasn’t). I was in no rush to learn what had happened…I went back to being ill with influenza.

Later, I found Google’s explanation: an update had caused the problem. I think we can all empathize with them. I can’t imagine anyone not updating, upgrading, or installing something that did not work correctly…and/or made what was working cease to.

What really bothered me about me was I had been so conditioned, I forgot that Yahoo! has a search engine!

With that in mind:
Wikipedia has a list of search engines…
visit Search Engine Watch to try to stay on top of the latest search news…
and, allow me to suggest we use meta-search engines (“…a search tool that sends user requests to several other search engines and/or databases and aggregates the results into a single list or displays them according to their source…”).