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Entry bubble Digital TV Transition: Good or Bad?

By: Jake | September 07, 2009 | Category: General

TVHappy Labor Day!

I'd like to give a big thanks to our blog editor Tonya and the representatives from the Energy Information Administration, Department of Education, Department of Interior, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Federal Housing Finance Agency, National Park Service and the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services who blogged while I was away. I also liked the "Your Turn" pieces we did while I was away and today I wanted to get your opinion on the digital TV transition.

My experience hasn't been too great. I really thought the digital TV transition would allow me to live without cable TV, but yesterday, after two months without it, I had my cable reinstalled. I didn't do it because I wanted to catch the new season of Mad Men or watch reruns of Housewives of New Jersey. 

Though the content on the stations leaves a little to be desired, I got cable because I don't many channels. Two big network stations in my area switched to a format that my digital TV doesn't receive. The channels that do come in on my antenna have weak signals. If I move or even breath too hard I lose reception. I tried buying various TV antennas but none of them work and since I live in an apartment I can't exactly put an antennae on my roof (though I've thought about it). I'm not the only person having trouble. One person compared it to the 50's when her parents would tell her to be still if something they wanted to watch was on.

It's been a couple of month since the transition, but today I wanted to get your opinion on the digital TV transition. Has it been good or bad for you?

| View Comments [23] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: dtv_transition   jake   labor_day  

 

Entry bubble Cash for Clunkers?

By: Jake | April 27, 2009 | Category: Money

CarIt was a year ago this week that my car wouldn't start. My reliable car had become an unreliable clunker about a year before this and it finally decided to die. As a clunker it wasn't valuable for a trade in, so I waited for its final trip, called a charity company to haul it away and bought a new one.

If you want to get rid of a clunker, especially one that's a gas guzzler, the Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient Vehicles Act (ARIVA), known as the "Cash for Clunkers" bill, may provide you with another solution. It needs to be passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the President first, but it would allow you to trade in your older, less fuel efficient car, truck or SUV for a cash voucher that you can use to buy a more energy efficient car. You could also redeem that voucher for transit fares with participating local public transportation agencies.

The last major action on the bill was in January when it was referred to the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, but there was some news about it last week.

What do you think of the "Cash for Clunkers" bill?

| View Comments [11] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: alternative_fuel   cash_for_clunkers   fuel_efficient   jake   new_car   trade_in  

 

Entry bubble Ever Heard of Housing Discrimination?

By: Jake | April 20, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

Houses

The Department of Housing and Urban Development designates April as Fair Housing Month to spread the word about your rights when buying, renting or financing a home. This week is Fair Housing Education Week, where HUD representatives visit schools to teach children and their parents about housing discrimination.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability) when renting, selling or financing a home. It also makes HUD the primary enforcement agency, so if you think you have a housing discrimination case, file your complaint with them. Keep in mind the law does not protect people who can't pay their rent or mortgages.

I wonder how much of a problem housing discrimination is. According to recent remarks from HUD's Secretary, there were more than 10,000 complaints of housing discrimination last year, though an older study estimates that there are 2 million instances of housing discrimination each year. I've never been discriminated against and none of my friends believed that they had been a victim of housing discrimination. Of course I wouldn't consider my friends to be a scientific sample, and most of them believed that housing discrimination would be hard to identify because it might not be overt.

So what do you think? Have you or anyone you've known been the victim of housing discrimination?

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: fair_housing_education_week   fair_housing_month   housing_discrimination   jake  

 

Entry bubble Happy Birthday Thomas Jefferson!

By: Jake | April 13, 2009 | Category: Fun

Thomas JeffersonToday is Thomas Jefferson's 266th birthday. We've celebrated George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays, and today we are giving TJ his due.

During a 1962 White House dinner featuring 49 Nobel prize winners, President John F. Kennedy remarked, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House—with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Kennedy's remarks weren't really a stretch. Jefferson's major accomplishments include writing the Declaration of Independence, completing the Louisiana Purchase as third President of the United States and selling his personal library to restore the Library of Congress after it was burned by the British in 1814.

What most people don't realize is that outside of his government life, Jefferson was a polymath, or Renaissance man. Like Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson was an inventor. He was an accomplished architect who designed his home at Monticello and the Virginia State Capitol building and, along with Washington, initiated a public competition for the design of the U.S. Capitol. Jefferson is also credited as the "father of archeology" because he created a more scientific excavation technique by cutting a wedge into an Indian burial mound he was exploring instead of digging until he hit something (the common practice of the day).

Jefferson's three favorite accomplishments—noted on his epitaph—were authoring the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom and founding the University of Virginia. Jefferson's political and social philosophies are still applied to today's issues. Monticello is open for tours and you can become a fan of Monticello on Facebook.

In your opinion, what was Jefferson's greatest accomplishment?

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: jake   monticello   thomas_jefferson_birthday  

 

Entry bubble DTV Update: Converter Box Coupon Status

By: Jake | March 30, 2009 | Category: General

DTV phone numberLast month I told you about how the President and Congress delayed the transition from analog to digital-only broadcast until June 12, 2009 in order to give stations and consumers more time to prepare.

When the delay was announced, many people were on a waiting list for a digital television converter box coupon. The coupon allows people who have analog televisions the ability to buy a digital signal converter box at a reduced price. Fortunately everyone on the coupon waiting list has had their requests processed and they can go online and use their address or account number (given when they signed up for the program) to check their coupons' status. People can still apply for a converter box coupon, but they are being issued on a first come first serve basis. Once you buy your converter box, look at the resources for installation and fixing any reception problems.

When the transition was delayed, the Federal Communications Commission allowed some stations to move to digital-only broadcast on the original deadline date of February 17. As a result, one third of all television stations in the US are digital-only broadcast. Two weeks ago the FCC released a list of 158 channels which meet the specific requirements set forth by the FCC that allow these stations to transition before the June 12 deadline. The remaining stations will transition on the June 12 deadline.

Have you had any trouble getting a coupon?

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: converter_box   digital_tv_transition   jake  

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