Hacker in Murdoch Trial Acknowledges Receiving Money from Murdoch Firm - Via Threat Level:
An American hacker who is at the core of a piracy trial against a Rupert Murdoch subsidiary, testified this week that he created pirating software for the company but did not use it to sabotage the company's rivals.
Earlier this week I laid out the case against NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm and a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation. The company is accused of reverse-engineering access cards created by competitor NagraStar in order to provide pirates with counterfeit cards. EchoStar's Dish Net used the NagraStar cards, and the counterfeit cards allegedly allowed pirates to access Dish Network pay-TV content for free. read more... »
FCC Relaxes Digital-TV Transition Order - Via washingtonpost.com - Technology:
The Federal Communications Commission is planning to lay out a new, more flexible set of guidelines for broadcasters, cable companies and television manufacturers as they try to educate consumers about the coming switch from analog to digital programming.
The commission has been under pressure by consumer groups and members of Congress to take stronger steps in raising awareness about the transition. Broadcasters will stop sending analog signals and move to all-digital programming on Feb. 17, 2009. After that, TV watchers who rely on antennas to receive over-the-air broadcasts will need a special converter box. read more... »
What is the digital television transition?
At midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting. Digital broadcasting promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders. read more... »
Amazon.com Unveils "High-Def 101" Customer Knowledge Center for High-Definition Shoppers: Amazon.com, Inc. today unveiled a new customer knowledge center, Amazon High-Def 101 (www.amazon.com/hd101), which will help customers navigate the mountains of information available about the high-definition (HD) home entertainment marketplace. As a one-stop education and shopping destination, Amazon High-Def 101 allows visitors to explore a comprehensive lineup of HD-related products -- including HDTVs, movie players, game systems, PC options, accessories and movies -- while getting the facts on how to "high-def" their homes. Visitors also have access to other HD product offerings and new content, including educational videos and weekly blog posts highlighting the latest trends. read more... »
Schedules Direct - Replacement for zap2it's free TV listing service: Editor: Now that Zap2it has halted their free TV listing service, folks are looking for a new source of TV listings for the open-source PVRs. This site is run by the folks who gave you MythTV and are anon-profit trying to keep the costs low. read more... »
Linux.com :: Three MythTV Linux distros compared: My Series 1 TiVo is getting old, so I am planning an escape route based on MythTV, a free software system that turns an old computer into a personal video recorder. This week I tested three MythTV-specific Linux distributions: KnoppMyth, MythDora, and MythBuntu. I found MythDora the best overall fit for my needs -- but there are important distinctions between the three that may lead you to a different decision.
My curiosity toward MythTV-specific distros was touched off by MythBuntu's latest release earlier this month, Public Alpha 3. I run Ubuntu on my primary desktop machine, and had a relatively painless experience installing MythTV on it courtesy of the official repositories. Only while waiting for the MythBuntu ISO image to download did I decide to check out its competition. read more... »
Three MythTV Linux Distros Compared: "An anonymous reader writes 'Linux.com has a comparison article up looking at three MythTV-focused Linux distributions. The piece looks at Mythdora, Mythbuntu, and KnoppMyth, with an eye towards ease of installation and the actual utility of the install. From the article: 'For regular system maintenance, KnoppMyth simply isn't in the same ballpark as MythBuntu and MythDora. read more... »
Installers: A Basement Built for Entertainment, by EH Staff - Electronic House Cool Home: This 6,000-square-foot basement handles audio, video and live entertainment with ease. read more... »
ConsumerReports.org - How to survive the digital TV transition: "The impending switch to all-digital broadcast TV will be a step forward, but it could be bumpy for many
Over the next 18 months or so, you'll be hearing a lot about the digital TV transition. Here's what you need to know: On Feb. 17, 2009, broadcasters must shut down their analog systems and transmit only digital TV signals to comply with the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act. read more... »
ABC12.com: HDTV A to Z - including HDTV antennas: "HDTV is a type of digital television broadcasting. Digital signals (ones and zeros like a computer reads) provides sound and picture quality much better than traditional television.
Traditionally, analog signals were sent over the air or through cables to tell your television what to display. It generally did that in 525 tiny lines across a screen. With digital signals you can get 1080 lines, providing for a much clearer picture. HDTV also comes in a 'aspect ratio' that is wider and more rectangular - more like a movie theater (traditional TV uses a 4:3 ratio; HDTV usually uses 16:9) It usually has 10 times the resolution of traditional TV. Current sets have about 300,000 pixels, while the HDTV screen is composed of more than 2 million pixels. read more... »