On February 17, 2009 broadcast television stations will be switching from an analog format to a digital format.

What this means to you:

If you DO NOT have cable or satellite providing you your television (such as Cox Cable, DirecTV, or Dish Network) it is likely that you receive your television signal through an over-the-air antenna atop your TV or the roof of your house. If this is the case, anytime before February 17, 2009 you will need to purchase a Digital to Analog convert box.

There is no need to wait.  All stations in the greater Phoenix area are currently broadcasting both ways so getting a converter box will allow you to make this transition early.  One box is needed for each TV.

The converter boxes are on sale at most stores that sell TVs for $40-$70.  The government is issuing up to two $40 coupons per household (that cannot be combined together for an $80 discount) here.  These coupons expire 90 days after they are mailed so don’t request them until you are ready to buy.

For those of you that subscribe to cable or satalite, again, this only affects televisions that use the ‘ol bunny ears antenna; if ANYBODY tells you otherwise they are wrong and I would advise you to have them contact me directly at DigitalTVTransition@SixChip.com  But, don’t forget about the little TV in the den or the RV or garage – even the little 3 inch handheld – any TV that gets its signal from an antenna: as is, they will no longer receive any local stations signal on February 18th, 2009.

Questions?  E-mail DigitalTVTransition@SixChip.com

More on the subject:

[Website] Why Are We Switching to Digital

[Website] Official US Transition Website

[Website] Request up to two $40 coupons per household

[Website] DTV Converter Box Guide

[Audio File] The Real Deal Podcast on Cnet – Episode 105: Digital TV transition

[PDF] Nielsen’s Overview of the Digital Readiness of U.S. Households (May 2008)

“The Nielsen Company’s new Overview of Digital Readiness classifies 9.4 percent of US households as “Completely Unready” for February 17, 2009—the last day of analog broadcasting… as well as another 12.6 percent of U.S. households are “Partially Unready…”

[READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE]

“Security researchers say they’ve developed a way to partially crack the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption standard used to protect data on many wireless networks…

…To do this, [Erik] Tews and his co-researcher Martin Beck found a way to break the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) key, used by WPA, in a relatively short amount of time: 12 to 15 minutes, according to Dragos Ruiu…”

[READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE]

What this means to you:

Using either WEP or WPA with TKIP to secure your home network is ineffective.  Simply adjust your routers settings to use AES instead of TKIP, with a long, random password, and you are once again safe.

Questions?  E-mail WifiSecurity@SixChip.com

More on the subject:

[Website] PCWorld

“Circuit City Stores announced Monday it plans to close 155 stores and lay off 17 percent of its workforce in the U.S., as it aims to restructure its business amid a tightening credit market and downturn in business.”

[READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE]

What this means to you:

This means, if you have purchased any extended warranties from Circuit City that have yet to mature, you’d better call your nearest store and inquire as to how they plan on handling warranty issues in the future.

More on the subject:

CNET News

List of 155 stores (PDF)