CETconnect.org

“What does the digital transition mean to me?”

“What happens to my TV after February, 2009?”

“HDTV? NTSC? What does all that technical jargon mean?”

“What sort of technologies should I look out for?”

If these and other questions like it have been bothering you, then CET has the answer. Introducing the CET Tech Info blog. This blog will help you navigate through the confusing terminology and baffling techs peak you may encounter as we continue on in this bold, new, media-addled world.

Maintained by CET COO Jack Dominic, the CET Tech Info blog seeks to answer any questions you have. Submitting a question is as easy as posting a comment on the blog or by emailing TechInfo@CETconnect.org.

Give it a read and let us know what you think about this blog.

-Brian

All of us at CET regularly get calls from viewers who have questions about their television reception or the type of TV they should buy.  In order to be more responsive to our members and viewers, we’ve decided to formalize our advisory service by establishing the CET Tech Hotline and E-Hotline. With the February 17, 2009 deadline for the shut-off of analog television drawing closer, more and more people will be trying to figure out the best digital solution to meet their needs.  Should you buy a new TV?  Or a DTV converter box?  Or subscribe to digital cable or satellite?  You can get answers to any of these questions from CET.  Simply leave a message at 513-345-6512 or email us at TechInfo@CETconnect.org and someone from the CET staff will get back to you promptly. In addition to your questions about television, feel free to ask about CETconnect.org and how you can watch the nearly 1,000 videos available on-demand through the Internet.  In addition to the rich content about Greater Cincinnati, there are links to some great PBS programs. We want to do everything possible to make it easy for you to enjoy all of the wonderful programs and services that CET offers to Greater Cincinnati. 

-Susan

Just like you, I was ecstatic when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld on January 9, 2007. But when he announced the $499 and $599 price tags (for the 4GB and 8GB flash drive, respectively), I almost choked on the trail mix I was eating. Thanks to the self-Heimlich maneuver I did on the backrest of my chair, I’m still here typing this. The iPhone has everything in its small body: the hi-res 3.5” touch-screen (reminiscent of my Palm PDA), a phone, a widescreen iPod, a built-in 2.0 megapixel camera, web-based email, internet browsing and local Wi-Fi connectivity. It’s the best invention since sliced bread.

From the get-go I knew I just had to have it. So I started saving my hard-earned dollars that day, knowing that five months from then, I’ll have the coolest convergence of a gadget in my hands. Coolness village, here I come…

Fast forward to June 29, 2007, it’s the official release date. Apple’s marketing prowess at its best caused many people to wait in line as if it’s Black Friday. In my book, these people are heroes. Heroes for being brave enough to reach into their deep pockets and try a first-generation device from Apple. Will it live up to its hype? Is this $3,000 commitment (if you average out the price of the iPhone and AT&T’s 2-year contract) worth it all? Not just yet, for me. I will wait and see.

 It was one of the best decisions I’ve made. A few days later, countless newspaper and online articles “stood in line” for the consumer to peruse, touting its “cool” factor. But not far behind it, are its shortcomings: slow connection, problems with activation, spotty, dropped calls, the pricey AT&T service plans and so forth. After the hoopla surrounding the iPhone has simmered down a bit, I visited my local Apple store in Kenwood Towne Centre to decide for myself. Nothing like hands-on. It sure beats watching somebody “un-box” it on YouTube! 

The iPhone felt oh-so sweet in my paws. The security tag got in the way for me to get a true sense of its sleekness, but that little annoyance quickly subsided as soon as I turned on the device. I must’ve played with the iPhone for a collective 45 minutes. There I was, in the corner of that Apple store, familiarizing myself with its newest device. I felt as if Steve Jobs’ hands took over and ran a demo in front of me. But wait, those were my hands! I’ve seen enough demo videos from Apple’s Web site and YouTube, that it wasn’t so surprising I was able to maneuver so quickly between applications…like a pro!

It was lightning fast! Taking a digital photo took a matter of seconds! I called my sister and left a voicemail. I switched to the iPod mode and flipped through the cover flow of album artworks. Before I knew it, I was jammin’ to Justin Timberlake’s “Sexyback”. If that song wasn’t so heavily rotated in the last year, Apple might’ve chosen that as its iPhone launch theme song.

But here’s the ultimate caveat to this mobile video device: there is currently no Adobe Flash and Java support! How can I enjoy the video content on CETconnect.org, MySpace and YouTube’s videos? To work around Flash, YouTube has started encoding its videos on H.264, thus allowing the iPhone to play some of its videos. It still has a long way to go.

 For the moment, it seems the iPhone is the must-have gadget. But for now, I suggest that you wait for the second version of the iPhone. It can only get better from here. When the iPhone honeymoon is over, you’ll be hit with the reality: a pricey, two-year service plan with AT&T’s so-so coverage, no third party support, no Flash and Java, no instant messaging, no voice dialing and recording, a not-so-intuitive virtual keyboard (a text-entry nightmare!), no firewall (a recipe for a security risk!) and the non-removable rechargeable battery (just like all of Apple’s iPods).

Maybe that trail mix hazard was a sign… -Ricardo

Did you have any problems watching CET yesterday between the hours of 1 and 2 p.m.? If so it’s probably my fault. CET staff took a field trip up to our transmitter to see how things work and … I’m clumsy. No, actually I behaved very well, I didn’t trip on anything (important) and I don’t believe I disrupted anyone’s picture, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

What is most interesting to me is the changes that we’ve been through already and those yet to come. Our fearless tour guide Ed Frisa showed us both the analog and digital transmitters. Now, I don’t want to get too technical for fear of getting it all wrong, and boring you, so I won’t. The brief synopsis is the analog transmitter is about 3 times the size of the digital transmitter, but the digital one does more. This kind of reminds me of the days when computers had to have their own rooms* because these analog transmitters need their own building. And now the new digital ones could probably fit in a large closet. That closet would have to be temperature and humidity controlled, of course, but it would still fit. Makes you wonder if in the next 20 or so years there will be a transmitter that will be about the size of a cereal box.

Anyway, the analog transmitter handles only traditional channel, the one anyone can tune to on channel 48. The digital one handles channels CET Create and CET High Definition. These are the channels I can only watch when I go over to my parents’ to do laundry and watch their new fancy Digital HD set. (Maybe they’ll invite you over to watch it too.) Ed said the digital one can actually handle more work, so when we stop airing on analog, like everyone else on February 17, 2009 at exactly 11:59 p.m., we should have no problems. Are you going to tune in to see if you can tell a difference? I’ll probably already be asleep. -Katie

* Katie is too young to really remember the days when computers took up entire rooms, she just said that to make a point.

Greetings from afar … I promised when I left Cincinnati and CET to write now and then … so here we go. These days my office is in the fabled land of Academia, where I sit atop my ivory tower (okay, 6th floor, with a window overlooking the top of “parking structure #6″ - I really do miss my view of Music Hall).

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a show and tell of a 3D virtual world where people play and somtimes actually learn. It’s called Second Life, and it’s a time-sucking black hole, although not without good points. Here are the basics: you download the software, you choose some basic characteristics for your avatar (it’s like a 3D Barbie or Ken doll, with attitude) and you are placed on Orientation island. On this island, you learn to move (including flying capabilities, which is very cool), communicate, change your appearance, find information and events in Second Life, and so forth.

I was introduced to Second Life by tuning in with my web camera to observe, in web conferencing software, one of our staff participate in an education conference taking place in Second Life. Yep, people attending a conference via avatar. You go, you find the rooms, you sit down in chairs, you see a speaker on a podium. It’s bizarre, I kid you not, but you also get used to it pretty quickly. 

Well, of course I had to go try it out. When I came here, they gave me two computer monitors (screens). I thought, “Why do I need two computer monitors?” I have found many uses. One was to watch this presentation while simultaneously going to Second Life and setting up my account. What I was watching via web conferencing made more sense when I experienced it first hand.

But alas, I am a loser: I haven’t gotten past Orientation Island. 1. I’m too busy. It takes time, and every time I log out I lose all my points for finishing tasks. I have never been able to finish that last task and then magically … well whatever happens then. 2. There are idiots there as in real life. Ladies, any of you who plan to do this should go in and as soon as possible disguise yourself as a guy. I mean, just like downtown on a Saturday night, if you don’t have a date you will find yourself with unwanted company. Or maybe you want company. Okay, I won’t pass judgment on you. I’m just saying if I could really move my avatar like I want to, the guy in the white t-shirt would find himself in a world of hurt.

Second Life will indeed suck up your time. I tried it out, then looked up and couldn’t believe how much time I’d spent on it. Same from my colleagues. However, you will find neat things there. Some universities actually offer classes in Second Life. Of course, recently some idiot (I’m guessing possibly the guy in the white t-shirt) trashed a university’s island/classroom space and it had to be rebuilt from scratch. Second Life is not without its special issues.

Well, I have gone on entirely too long. Try it out for yourself. Here are some links:
Second Life http://www.secondlife.com/
Ohio University Second Life Campus http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu/index.php/Ohio_University_sims
The Infinite Mind on Second Life http://www.current.org/tech/tech0614secondlife.shtml
Meet the New You (School Library Journal - high school) http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6403251.html
Campus Life Comes to Second Life http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2004/09/65052
Educators Explore Second Life Online http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/11/13/second.life.university/

-Patsy
 

Patsy is a former employee of CET who has moved away from Cincinnati but enjoys virtual community by occasionally contributing to the CETconnect blog.

At some point in your life, you have probably been told (or figured out for yourself) not to believe everything you read in the newspaper or see on TV. (My apologies to the Enquirer, the Post and, um, my employer and its colleagues.) Remember how your school librarian, English teacher or journalism teacher sternly warned you to find at least two and preferably three sources for your research on a subject? They may not have known about YouTube, but they knew what is still true: people have their own perspective on subjects, and you need to examine several viewpoints or sources to find which parts are objective and which parts are subjective (or outright garbage).

I have read several opinion pieces lately about how access to information (with a loose definition of information) is confusing the consumer, getting in the way of decision-making. The most recent was a newspaper column last week on a video of John Edwards primping, mashed up with the song “I Feel Pretty” (which, I must say, was chucklicious). To paraphrase: Oh my goodness, didn’t he understand that cameras were running and soon his image would be everywhere? Now everyone thinks he’s vain and no one will take him seriously.

Or … maybe everyone realizes that you do things unconsciously when you don’t realize you’re being watched and it will be repeated over and over and over again until you want to crawl under a rock. Didn’t the columnist ever go to high school? Maybe she was lucky and skipped from childhood to adulthood. Good for her.

Communications is an exciting field right now. Consumers have become participants. Now it’s not a matter of writing letters to the editor until you hit the right note and get published. No, just post your blog or your video for the world to see and build your own audience. Consumers are now not only participants; they are competition for traditional media.

But I don’t think the majority of us are confused about what we’re seeing. We can weed out the informative from the entertaining. I do not base my voting decisions or other important decisions on a viral video. Do you? –Patsy

Have you ever been in conversation with a co-worker or neighbor and realized you had missed a great TV program on CET? If only you had been reminded when the program was to be broadcast. Same for the great videos on CETconnect.org. There is so much good new stuff, how can you keep track of it?

Here is your chance to help CET develop new ways to alert you to upcoming programs on CET and new videos on CETconnect.org. 

We are developing a system to deliver via cell phone text message a brief synopsis of specific programs. We are beginning with Nova and Frontline. If you would like a weekly reminder of  the topics of either or both of these programs sent to your cell phone, just send me an email with your Name, Cell Phone Number, Carrier ( i.e. Verizon, Cinti Bell, etc.) and which program series you would like information on. Send the email to:  jack_dominic@wcet.pbs.org. During this introductory period there will be no CET charge for this service. You may be charged for the incoming message by your phone carrier. This test will last about two months and you can opt out at any time. Thanks for your help. -Jack 

Newsweek has an interesting article this week about the antenna, and says that “rabbit ears” are back in style. See the article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17080800/site/newsweek/

It relates back a bit to an earlier blog entry I wrote. And it’s interesting to note how the Newsweek writer mentions that rabbit ears won’t pick up ESPN or other cable channels. I guess trying to get people to remember what it’s like to watch programs “over the air” will be an educational effort in itself. -Patsy

Yesterday I reviewed a video titled THE WCET STORY. It was produced around CET’s tenth anniversary, and it was quite the step back in time. I especially loved the part that explained in detail how you would need a special adapter to tune in to “WCET” way up on channel 48 (a UHF antenna). I am old enough to remember TV before cable, and I remember my dad fooling with those blankety-blank antennas that never seemed to be positioned quite right. Today, upstairs in our house, my husband and I have a second TV that just has an antenna and no cable television connection. I have a lot of fun with my children by showing them how if you park yourself in one area of the room and then move your hand, you lose the sound on a certain station. With an antenna, you can’t always get exactly what you want when you want it.

Everything old is new again.

A few weeks ago, some of my colleagues and I discussed the programming on our HD (high definition) channel, CET HD (digital channel 34). We were getting calls from people with new HD televisions who were receiving their digital signal off the air rather than from cable. They missed their NEWSHOUR and NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, which they watched regularly on CET when they had an analog television. We do not simulcast our analog channel on our digital channel – that is, we do not show the same thing on both channels. That’s because we offer programming from PBS that showcases high definition programming on our HD channel, and that differentiates it from our analog channel. If you have cable television service, like most of our consumers, and if you have the “digital tier” package with the HD box, you are getting all of CET’s channels, both analog and digital. (See CET TV channels webpage for explanations and listings). (If you need more information, CET has more digital service information on its website.)

But as more and more people buy digital televisions, and loyal viewers who have watched analog off the air in the past (they do exist!) move to new sets and the digital stations, we have to think about that programming. Finally, we decided to simulcast NEWSHOUR and NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT on CET HD so that those programs are available to the growing number of viewers who have requested them. The rest of the time, we continue to showcase HD programming.

In the meantime, more of us are tuning in to those digital channels, just as we once began to explore VHF and UHF channels. CET would like to hear from you. What are you watching? How do you tune in? What types of programming are most valuable? Click on COMMENTS above this article to leave your own thoughts, or email us at comments@cetconnect.org. –Patsy

Right after the Super Bowl telecast and right before March Madness in 2009, all U.S. television stations will cease their over-the-air broadcasting of analog channels. That’s right, on February 17, 2009, CET and all other U.S. stations will turn off their analog transmitters forever. It is interesting but not surprising to note that a new study by CBS found that less than 30 percent of the population is aware of the FCC’s drop dead date for analog television. Is that a problem? Well, yes and no.

For most viewers this might be a non-event. For those who have cable or direct satellite service – that’s about 75-80 percent of all US households and growing – it won’t matter. In fact, you may already be getting digital signals on your analog TV from your cable or satellite provider and you can watch them quite well on your trusty 25-year-old TV. That is because the cable or satellite provider’s set top box makes the conversion for you … digital signal in … analog signal out.

In 2009, when we cease analog over-the-air broadcasting, it is true that your old TV will no longer be able to tune in off air the digital signals, but there will be inexpensive adapters available that will convert the over-the-air digital signals to a signal that your old TV can handle.

With the current rate of sales of new digital sets increasing each month, many of us will no doubt have compatible digital sets by then. So don’t throw away that black & white “Spartan” TV your aunt Emily gave you for your dorm room back in ’68. –Jack