mahalomenehune

what? i wuz being serious

not all of russia is poor. In the major cities like moscow or st. petersburg they are very wealthy

By Michael Rogers Columnist Special to MSNBC Updated: 5:16 p.m. ET April 24, 2005 Depending on the outcome of discussions in Congress, television as we know it may end at exactly midnight Dec. 31, 2006. That’s the date Congress targeted, a decade ago, for the end of analog television broadcasting and a full cutover to a digital format. If enforced, that means that overnight, somewhere around 70 million television sets now connected to rabbit ears or roof-top antennas will suddenly and forever go blank, unless their owners purchase a special converter box. Back when the legislation was written, New Year’s Eve 2006 probably looked as safely distant as the dark side of the moon. But now that date is right around the corner and Congress and the FCC are struggling mightily to figure out what to do. Congress, however, left itself a loophole in the 1996 legislation, and could actually let the cut-off date slide by. But powerful lobbyists now are pressing legislators to set a “date certain†for the analog lights-out. The debate over when to throw the switch is a strange brew of big money, high technology, homeland security and a single, unanswerable question: just how angry are the couch potatoes going to be? It’s also a textbook example of why the future almost never happens as fast as technologists promise. It all started back in the Eighties, when the Japanese shocked American consumer electronics companies with trade-show displays of high definition television sets that delivered razor-sharp images and stunning audio. Everyone from Congress to the Wall Street Journal raised outcries: America’s favorite technology was being taken over by the then-fearsome Japan Inc. As a result, a group of American companies formed the “Grand Alliance†that leapfrogged the Japanese technology by inventing digital HDTV. Thus, early on, HDTV invoked not just pretty pictures, but national pride and economic development. (Ironically, Zenith, the most all-American commercial participant in the Grand Alliance, is now South Korean-owned.) One drawback to the U.S. version of HDTV was that to make it work, all broadcast television (not just high-definition) would have to convert to digital, meaning that every American television set manufactured since 1946 would be rendered obsolete. To ease the transition, Congress generously gave all television broadcasters additional channel space so that they could keep broadcasting their analog signals while they installed and launched their digital channels. The deal was that they would give up their old channels when the transition was done. That part worked: Over 1400 broadcasters now transmit in digital as well as analog, reaching 99 percent of the U.S. television market. During the same period consumers were supposed to buy digital television receivers. That part didn't work. This is ridiculous. Why would the government be desperate for everyone to have hdtv?

thats a terrible way to think of it

what is the point to making other people feel bad. Im not fat or anything like that, but just becuz some1 is and u r lean doesnt give u the right to insult them like that

what the? i thought the nex sex board wuz london....... no way is there going to be 2? is there? its to bad becuz i liked the drama board

what song r u guys talking about? it has the exact same lyrics as to the one im thinking about

you really must be a hardcore partier to travel coast to coast just for that

oh i see

no u kno where u should go........the london dungeon.... i went there one time and its sick. It gives u a history of london, and its not a bright one, very entertaining

Wow this is pittiful.......bj skills? how low can u go

how did u get the pictures onto these posts. I try to cut copy paste but i cant paste on here

say what? i didnt say that. Crack aint cool

haha thats funny ur calling me a newbie

definately chewbacca

yea and?

koky why are u asking the same question in every forum?

I just caught the stomach flu. Im feeling so queasy, and the only thing im eating is bread becuz if i eat ne thing else i feel like barfing

why wouldnt u want nash to win it? he turned phoenix from not making the playoffs last year to being the best team in the west

ive also seen girls 13-18 dress like strippers on the street. Absolutely disgusting

I dunno if thats possible knowing yahoo

Ive always hated hockey. It wuz no surprise to me that no1 really cared it went on strike. Arena Football is now becoming popular becuz of this hockey strike

o i see alright

nah i havnt yet? does it sound good at all?

yea and how come i see red boxes for me? and where do u read what people wrote about u?