KC8DNE.com

Poor Sarah Palin. She was thrown into the political deep water without her waterwings.

This thing looks like it would be ideal to go with your new 72 inch HDTV display and the stack of attendant equipment boxes. I must add that the overuse of capitalization in the features list is theirs, not mine.

The IC2 Home Theater Automation and Control System includes a table top remote control, main system unit, two power supplies, master key labels, zigbee® antenna and extension kit.

FEATURES

• The IC2™ Makes Home Theater So Easy Every Family Member Can Access The Entertainment
• Combines All The Home Theater Remotes Into One Easy-To-Use Interface
• Large, Ergonomically Positioned Buttons Simplify Operation For The User
• Master Keys Can Be Custom Labeled To Reflect User Preferences And Specific Equipment
• ZigBee® Wireless RF Communication Enables The Equipment To Be Hidden Away And Eliminates The Need To Point And Hold The Remote
• Reliable One-Touch Operation Using Intelligent, Customized Command Sequences
• A Single Press Of The Off Button Shuts Down The Entire System
• The Remote’s Backlight Feature Enables Operation In Low-Light. The Tabletop Remote Can Even Programmed To Illuminate Automatically When A User Reaches For The Control

SOURCE: Niles Audio

Kite aerial photography looks like an interesting application of ham radio and Amateur Television (ATV).

I’ve been interested in photography for as long as I can remember, and kite aerial photography (KAP) seemed like a natural progression. At least it did after my friend, Thomas Dewez, convinced me that it isn’t completely ridiculous to suspend an $800 camera from a kite. After seeing the potential in online galleries, I knew that I had to do this! I spent a few months researching equipment, technique, etc. before diving in. I had not flown a kite since I was a kid, so I’m learning as I go… (Read more)

SOURCE: Scott Haefner’s Kite Photography

See also: Charles C. Benton’s Kite Aerial Photography

How about a combination TV and video picture frame? Watch reruns of the Simpsons and them put up your vacation shots for everyone to enjoy.

Sony has gone all arty with its Bravia E4000 range - offering a ‘picture frame’ style edging in Midnight Sky, Aluminium (sp), Pearly White and Dark Walnut to match your room decor.

Choose from 26, 32 and 40-inch models, all conveniently with a Picture Frame Mode for displaying images ‘like a real painting’ when the TV isn’t in use, which you can load from any USB drive. The models also feature x.v.Colour for displaying an extended, more lifelike colour palette and a PhotoTV HD mode for lifelike reproduction of still photos from a connected compatible Cyber-shot or a compatible digital SLR camera.

Coming in next few weeks, no price as yet.

SOURCE: Tech Digest

So, you just had to be an early adopter and bought a HD-DVD player before the “standard” was established. What do you do now that Toshiba has thrown in the towel and the HD-DVD format has become the Betamax of the twenty-first century? Do you also own a Minidisc player and a Laser Disc player?

The option you will like most is to try to make the best of the situation by converting your movie collection to Blu-ray. Consider that you may also get some extra deep discounts on HD-DVD formatted movies as they are blown out of retailer’s inventories.

The first step is to buy a Blu-ray recorder. You can then make copies from HD-DVD to Blu-ray. WIRED’s wiki has some good advise for you as you Convert Your HD DVDs to Blu-ray.

If you have joined the ranks of big-screen LCD, or plasma, TV owners, you may have had thoughts of hanging that beauty on a wall, or even a (not recommended for obvious reasons) ceiling.

The Wired How-To Wiki, a collaborative site dedicated to the burgeoning DIY culture, has a stub about just that.

The very useful tips are at: Hang a Flatscreen

Pounding another nail into the HD-DVD coffin, Wal-Mart will only be selling Sony’s hi-def movie discs in all of their 4,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. This is like the old VHS/Betamax war where it was all about who has the program material, rather than any technical issues determining the survivor. Only this time, Sony is looking like it will be the winner

National discount retailer Wal-Mart announced Friday that it had decided to only sell Sony’s Blu-ray hi-definition movie discs, and will phase out Toshiba’s competing HD-DVD formatted discs over the next several months.

Wal-Mart said that by June, its 4,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores would sell only Blu-ray discs and Blu-ray hardware players. Blu-ray and Toshiba’s HD-DVD format are not compatible. (Read more)

SOURCE: CNN.com

As you have no doubt heard by now, all over-the-air TV broadcasters will be converting from analog to digital transmissions (DTV) by February 17, 2009. What does that mean to you?

The change to DTV will effect those who use “rabbit ears” or a rooftop antenna for their TV reception. Most cable and dish users will be able to receive the new digital signals via their cable, or dish, provider without any additional hardware purchases.

Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program

Beginning on January 1, 2008, all U.S. households have been eligible to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes. For a quick overview, see the Associated Press (AP) video about the digital TV converter boxes with Technical Writer Peter Svensson.

Take a short quiz at the DTV Transition Web site to see whether the converter box is the right option for your household to make the digital transition.

Get more information from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Continuing with what seems to have become a digital theme, here is a reminder that high priced cables will not improve the performance of either digital audio, or video. In the digital realm the cables will either work, or they won’t.

Ever wonder why gadget store employees push Monster cables like they’re crack? Bitchin’ markups, just like you suspected/knew all along. That’s what we found when a Radio Shack employee sent us his store’s entire inventory list, which included the wholesale and retail price of every item in stock.

Some cables, like the 19ft HDMI-DVI cable, have markups as high as 80%. Retail: $179.99. Wholesale, $99.40, a profit of $80.54. Or consider the 16 ft S-Video cable, which Radio Shack buys for $61.24 and sells for $114.99. We found non-name brand versions of both on Meritline.com for under $20. It’s not just limited to Radio Shack, Best Buy charges the same retail price, and, presumably, gets them for a similar wholesale price.

Here’s the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it’s not. As long as its built to HDMI standards, the only difference between a "fancy" digital cable and a no-name one is the price. (Read more)

Obviously, there are legions of confused consumers out there who are clueless about the 2009 conversion of over-the-air TV broadcasting from analog to digital.

"Consumer Reports" says that 74 percent of survey respondents know that the transition is coming, but aren’t quite sure what that means. Many are unaware of the DTV transition, or ready to spend money on unnecessary add-ons.

When you go nestle into your couch or La-Z-Boy tonight and tune into “American Idol” or the hours of election and/or Super Bowl pre-game coverage, think of the little people — those who haven’t yet experienced the magic of HDTV.

Yes, there are plenty of them out there, and apparently they don’t have a clue about the upcoming digital transition. Consumer Reports just finished a study that says that many have misconceptions about what’s coming in 2009. (Read more)