Obama Administration Blocks Change
January 26, 2009
It looks like he got his way. After Obama recently asked that the change from analog to digital television be delayed, the Senate voted to postpone the switch from February 17th to June 12th. (via CrunchGear)
Update: Whoa! Looks like this failed to make it through the house. There are still a few weeks left until the dealdline. I’m not sure if this is over yet, but I find it hard to imagine with the problems we currently face that the government would want to be seen squabbling over something like this. (via Zogdo)
Update: Sigh. The switch has been delayed.
I’m starting up a page to keep a tally of what Obama accomplishes. I’m going to have to prioritize what is worth putting up, and it may take me a bit of time to get it linked to relevant sources. I know we have some strong Obama support and opposition among the readers. I’m counting on you to help keep me honest,so as always, feel free to comment wherever it seems relevant. I’m not afraid of dissenting views.
Dammit Obama
January 8, 2009
I’m apparently having a week of breaking resolutions. I wasn’t going to say anything bad about Obama until he was in office and started screwing things up, but he apparently couldn’t wait that long.
On Feb 17, analog TV should be no more. The conversion to digital has been a long drawn out process, for which we have already paid a ridiculous price in commercials and other time wasters, and well over a billion dollars. The conversion will retire a dinosaur of a technology that has been bogging down huge swaths of prime spectrum that could be used for far more useful new technologies. The spectrum has been sold. New products that will use the new digital service are everywhere and have been sold for years. They have a better picture and better features.
Now Barack Obama puts out a last minute memo asking that the conversion be delayed until mid-summer. Heaven forbid anyone illiterate and living in a cave might be surprised to find their television not working and have to venture into reality long enough to figure out why. What we really should have done is just cut the TV resolution in half every month until everyone gets sick enough of it to get their crap together and convert.
Update: The Chairman of the FCC, Kevin Martin, has now come out at CES and said about Obama’s request, “[W]e’ve spent a lot of time and energy getting ready for the February 17 date,” “I am concerned about the consumer confusion that would be created.”
Update: Obama has named June 12 as the date he would like the switch to digital to be postponed to.
Speed Camera Pimping
December 28, 2008
It looks like people are now taking advantage of this new, guilty until proven innocent folly in order to hurt their rivals. ‘Speed Camera Pimping“, as it is being called (Plate Cloning in Europe) is the act of putting a printout of someone else’s licence plate on your car and then intentionally zipping through red lights in order to rack up tickets. The city has a conflict of interest in this case since it is far easier for them to continue to accept these vast revenues than to solve the problem.