|
Macro Gadgets: Digital TV and Lab Rats |
|
|
|
Dr. Samuel Says -
New Toys
|
|
Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
|
|
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 |
Here at Dyscern World HQ Labs, we pride ourselves on having the best equipment that money -- and several well-placed connections at NASA, JPL, and the CIA -- can buy. We just got a new particle accelerator in the other day -- she's a real beaut. The Atom Smasher 3000. Works wonders with leptons and quarks, and it even has a cup holder!
One thing we don't have a budget for, criminally, is a decent
television. I've been putting up with this ancient cathode-ray artifact
for 15 years now, and it's finally flaring out. (CRT televisions are
technically particle accelerators, too, by the way. Drop this little
infonugget at your next cocktail party.)
 So I've been researching our options, and hoping to convince the Powers
That Be here at Dyscern to approve a decent expense budget. First thing
was to figure out for sure this digital broadcast television
switchover. As you may know, the august body that is the U.S. Congress
has mandated that February 17, 2009 would be the last day for
full-power television stations to broadcast in analog. What does this
mean for you? Nothing at all, unless you happen to be one of the
approximately 17 people left in the world who get TV the old-fashioned
way, via aerial or rabbit-ear antennae. We got the cable hook-up here
in the lab, principally for the lab rats, who are hooked on Canadian
parliament coverage via C-SPAN. Anyway, if you want the full lowdown,
the government has a thorough FAQ at dtv.gov.
As I've progressed in my research, I've discovered shopping online is
as fun as it ever was -- that is to say, not at all. This weekend, I'm
taking Edison -- my favorite lab rat -- out to Best Buy. He's actually
much better at dealing with sales people than I am. I'm still crunching
the numbers, but I'm hoping to get something big, shiny, and
plasma-affiliated. Will keep you posted.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
