Free Republic

Washington, D.C. (March 1, 2007) -- Today is D-Day. D for Digital TV tuners, that is. Starting today, any new television that has an analog tuner must also include a Digital TV tuner. Previously, the Digital TV tuner rule affected sets over 25 inches, but now it covers all including the smallest of sets. The rule is designed to accelerate the nation's transition to Digital TV signals on February 17, 2009. On that day, Americans will need either a Digital TV or an 'analog-to-digital' converter box to get their signals. (Note: Cable and satellite boxes will be able to convert...

Everyone is talking about HDMI with the release of the PS3, and it's worth talking about; many people don't know that much about the cables or the connections. Heck, I've talked to people who don't realize that their PS3 will look better if they upgrade their composite cables that come with the system. I'm not going to try to break down the entire issue of cabling because it's a broad one, but if you're looking to buy an HDMI cable, just pay attention to the fact that there are stores that will rob you and others that won't. When I...

The wraps came off high-definition DVD players at this year's annual Consumer Electronics Show, offering the final component to replicate the movie theater experience at home. And while a fierce DVD format war likely will delay the mass adoption of such devices, digital video is here to stay - the Consumer Electronics Association trade group estimates 25 million U.S. homes will have a high-def TV set by year's end. But big, expensive flat-panel sets aside, this year's gadget show offered plenty of smaller screens for video... Yahoo Inc., DirecTV, Starz Entertainment Group and Sony were also among the companies getting...

Televisions grabbed the spotlight at the Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday with companies showcasing everything from super-sized models for the red-hot LCD market to technology enabling TVs to play video straight from the Internet. A slew of consumer electronics makers introduced bigger flat-screen TVs, while others highlighted products to enhance viewing, such as a DVD player that could be a bridge between rival formats for next-generation video discs. Sharp Corp showed off a 108-inch high-definition LCD television to rival a 100-inch model introduced only hours earlier by LG Electronics Inc. Sharp said its was the biggest yet among liquid crystal...

(AP) Dogged by criticism of his hefty pay and his company's poor stock performance, Bob Nardelli abruptly resigned as chairman and chief executive of The Home Depot Inc. after six years at the helm of the world's largest home improvement store chain, the company said Wednesday. But he didn't leave empty-handed: the Atlanta-based company said Nardelli would receive a severance package worth roughly $210 million, an amount decried by some lawmakers as a golden parachute that sends the wrong message to investors. "It's a sign of being totally out of touch," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the incoming chairman of...

Soliciting advice and instructions on what is the best way to backup a PC. I have two computers and two hard drives on each.Yes, I have done a Google, but I would like the advice from Freepers who have helped many of us with out computer questions over the years. Is there a way to make an exact copy of my OS, including programs and all data, and "paste" it onto the other hard drive? I read about backing up data; what about backing up everyting? Apologizing in advance for asking a stupid question. But, the weekend is when I...

Erasing data from a computer is not as simple as the manufacturers would have you believe. Just deleting it or reformatting the hard drive does not remove the data, and the secure removal of data about individuals by companies is now a legal requirement. There are a number of methods used to "delete" data from a hard drive. These methods do not remove the data, they simply make space available for the system to use when next required. The data remains on the disk. Readily available software tools can be used to restore the data. Some are even free. When...

An enzyme known to be critical for the repair of damaged cells and the maintenance of cellular energy may be a useful target for new strategies to treat Huntington's disease (HD) and other disorders characterized by low cellular energy levels. In the August issue of Chemistry & Biology, a research team from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) describes their discovery of a novel inhibitor of Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP1) and their findings that PARP1 inhibitors can protect HD-affected cells from damage in laboratory assays. "While PARP1 is essential for the repair of damaged DNA, we also know that,...

Zoran, a little-known chip company in Sunnyvale, is providing a big service to Silicon Valley by smoothing the long and bumpy road from analog to digital television. In about three years, all the familiar analog VHF and UHF channels -- such as 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 36 and 44 in the Bay Area -- will go away and the stations now at those numbers will be available only on digital channels. That's potentially a big problem for the estimated 15 million households who get their television over the air through rabbit ears or roof antennas. Those folks won't be...

As a result of their arena exploits, Pullo and Vorenus have become heroes to the Roman rank and file, causing Caesar to reward those he normally would punish. Pullo's unexpected return to Vorenus' household is not appreciated by his former slave Eirene. Caesar decides to overhaul the Senate by adding some unexpected new faces, to the chagrin of the old guard. And Servilia hurdles the final obstacle in her ambitious revenge scenario, at Niobe's expense.

Episode 9: Utica With Scipio and Cato defeated, Caesar returns home to a hero's welcome. Vorenus and Pullo's showdown with local thug Erastes gets an unexpected reprieve from Caesar. Servilia's plan to use Octavia to unearth a secret about Caesar backfires. Don't miss the all new episode "Utica", Sunday, October 30th at 9PM ET.

Tonight, HBO-HD (HBO 1) shows Rome Episodes 6, 7, 8 in a run up to the new episode "Utica". Episode 6: Egeria Synopsis With Caesar chasing Pompey in Greece, Mark Antony is in Rome pushing through laws on his behalf - insisting that the few remaining senators agree to anoint the general "co-Consul," free more slaves and create more jobs for the populace. The senior senator protests, arguing that such efforts would be too expensive. "Only to those few rich men that own all the land," Antony replies, "and they will have the consolation of doing something eminently patriotic." Niobe...

Episode 4 and 5 tonight in HD! Episode 4: Stealing from Saturn: Here we are, refugees in our own land," Cicero says to Pompey and his supporters, anxiously settling into their makeshift camp south of Rome. "We are not refugees, we are maneuvering," Pompey responds sharply, before explaining his strategy to the men: without gold, Caesar will have to resort to violence, and once the blood starts to spill, the people will turn on him with a vengeance. "While he is fighting mobs in the forum, I will be gathering an army the like of which he has never seen!"...

Hey there Tech Freepers. I need your help once again. I seem to have a bad hard drive, and am looking to replace it. I was going to go internal probably with a 120gig EIDE 7200 RPM job. But looking around, I see that externals aren't too much more and are just as fast. This would be the second HD in the system. What are the pros/cons about going external? Mainly this second drive would be used for data files, but maybe some applications. What's the good advice from the Freeper experts on the subject? Thanks...again!

I went through a period where I downloaded some pornography. None of it was illegeal, but I want it gone. I mean GONE. From what I have read, you can think you have deleted something, but the remnants of that file are still there. Advice?

Cablevision Systems Corp., a New York area cable TV provider, said it would proceed with a shutdown of its money-losing satellite TV venture called Voom. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released early Friday, Cablevision said the service would no longer be available to customers as of April 30. The move represented a defeat for Cablevision's chairman and founder Charles Dolan, who had championed the service. His son James, Cablevision's CEO, had sided with board members who opposed it, leading to a bitter family feud. Investors, who had long been skeptical about Voom's prospects, applauded the...

This German article is translated to English. Harald Bögeholz At Your Disservice How ATA security functions jeopardize your data With most notebooks it is possible to secure the hard disk against unauthorized access with the aid of a password. Without the latter the disk, even when inserted into another computer, won't divulge its data. In the meantime this security function has become a feature of all 3.5" ATA hard disks and can hence be used - and abused - on desktop PCs! One morning the screen stays blank - disk boot failure, insert system disk and press Enter. Could it...

More dirt about Apple's HD Video Network initiative The more we look into these developing rumors of Apple's planned HDVN high-defintion content delivery system, with each new report this is becoming one of the biggest stories in our 11 years dishing dirt -- right up there with Mac OS X, the iMac, the iPod....yeah, that big. Seriously. Apple's interest in satellite HD content delivery has become more than obvious. Just a note to Phil Schiller and company: your (potential) competitors are taking notice! Just because Apple rebuffed Sirius is by no means an indication that Apple isn't interested in...

Town of Waukesha - Motorcyclist Daniel Buckel was within 10 feet when he saw the potential disaster stretched across a dark and foggy rural road just ahead. Disbelief turned to fear, then anger, as Buckel's 2-year-old motorcycle hit a barrier of kitchen-variety plastic wrap that was wound thickly from traffic pole to traffic pole on opposite sides of Guthrie Road, south of Highway I. The clear plastic trap, which was 3 to 4 feet above the two-lane road south of Waukesha, sent both Buckel and his passenger, girlfriend Theresa Brzykcy, into a bloody slide across the asphalt. "It's appalling, and...

Boycott call not hurting rally interest By Bill Cissell, Journal Staff Writer STURGIS - A call by some motorcycle riders for a boycott of the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally doesn't seem to have hurt interest, and this year's event may be one of the largest in the 64-year history of the August gathering, local and state officials say. This year's rally officially runs Aug. 9-15, but the weeks immediately before and after the rally typically are only a little less hectic. The calls for the boycott came in protest of the sentencing of former Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., for the...