Once the excitement and busy time of the holidays dies down, the new year of 2009 offers a lot of opportunities and reasons to make the switch to satellite television. There are many different reasons to switch to satellite, some for cable subscribers, and others for television viewers who do not subscribe to any pay television service.

Cable subscribers may want to give satellite television a second look in the new year. Satellite television has the most high definition channels available, and cable viewers who want access to their favorite high definition programming may be missing out. The new year of 2009 sees satellite only increasing the availability of high definition channels, with one company launching a new satellite into orbit which will allow them to offer 200 channels in high definition.

If you are a cable subscriber or have never had a pay television subscription, this enhanced access to high definition television programming is a perfect reason to make the switch over to satellite programming. If you have made an investment in a high definition television, it only makes sense to get the most out of that investment by having access to your favorite programs broadcast in high definition. Satellite television offers more high definition programming than cable and has packages that are competitively priced, and some providers may even offer free installation and other incentives for first time subscribers.

Another reason to consider switching over to satellite, especially if you do not have a subscription to cable or … Continue Reading ...

As a counselor and life coach I have always taken a strong stand against having a television or computer in any child or teens’ bedroom, period. Yes, we used this rule in our own home. We had objections at times and that’s alright. It didn’t change our actions.

My rationale is two fold. First, I see the social isolation, decrease in social/emotional skills, decrease in peer interaction and increase disrespect of authority from children and teens who have electronics in their bedrooms.

Having visual electronics in kids’ bedrooms decreases the amount of time families spend together, increases the risk of early exposure to pornography and children acting out sexually, decreases the number of family dinners, and decreases the amount of social play time with other young people. The negative impact of this is apparent in school as well. These children have a shorter attention span, more often want to get their way, have lower than average social skills and often feel socially isolated.

The second reason, is knowing a thing or two about brain development, I knew that TV and computer use does not tap into the normal brain development and brain stimulation needed to make our young people healthy and happy. Now we have plenty of research to back that up.

Let’s look at the summary of research from Joseph Chilton Pearce who is a scholar, scientist and teacher. He states: “First, if you want intelligent, successful and healthy children they must have positive emotional experiences. This starts in … Continue Reading ...

I always promise myself I won’t get sucked in to ‘America’s Next Top Model’ when a new cycle is beginning. I say I won’t watch ‘Canada’s Next Top Model’, ‘Make me a Supermodel’, ‘True Beauty’ or any other modeling contests. And yet I find myself glued to the television, hopelessly addicted to all of the above, every single time.

How can I resist – Beautiful people, designer clothes, death-defying photo shoots, drama – modeling contests are the ultimate escape. I sigh with envy as girls settle in for their three-hour makeup and hair sessions, reflecting on my own daily routine of yanking my hair into a ponytail and swiping on some lip balm. I picture myself twenty pounds lighter and twenty years younger. I imagine myself hanging from a crane in an evening gown while a photographer yells up at me that I am fabulous. These fantasies are surprisingly easy to get lost in while sitting on the couch in sweatpants eating chocolate and watching modeling contests on television.

The funny thing about a modeling contest like ‘America’s Next Top Model’ is that the winner, well, isn’t America’s next top model. I read a lot of fashion magazines and watch FT and I have never seen any of these girls anywhere ever again after the show’s closing credits. And yet season after season the hopefuls pose, squeal and fight to the death to gain a title that in reality is pretty meaningless. Such is the lure of the model lifestyle. … Continue Reading ...

It’s almost the beginning of July 2006. The Direct to Home (DTH) scene in India is getting ready for the mother-of-all battles. The Subhash Chandra owned Dish TV is going to have a competitor in the Rupert Murdoch backed TATASKY DTH platform soon. Though TATA owns seventy odd percent in the venture we all know where the technical expertise is going to come from.

Newscorp via STAR TV will no doubt be building a strong product for Indian households. Let us not forget that they own and operate BSKYB in the United Kingdom where they are almost considered untouchable in both quality of service and reach. DISH TV too is not sitting still. Only a few months from their launch, they started offering services like Movie On Demand and of course the more recent announcement of the inclusion of extra channels including SONY on their DTH platform.

STAR having stayed off the DISH TV platform with only STAR UTSAV making a token appearance, have made their intentions clear. This year promises to be an all out exciting one for television viewers in the country. Both the players are known to be aggressive. They are not going to pull any punches and surely aren’t taking any prisoners. When BSKYB launched to a lukewarm reception in the UK, SKY started giving the set top boxes free, they also bought all the exclusive football rights for an astronomical amount to bring in the viewers. Free set top boxes plus the only place to … Continue Reading ...

When painting a room some people go old fashioned by using old newspapers to cover the floor. This is the cheap man’s way when doing painting around the house. Besides being this a cheap of doing it, let’s look at it from a practical point of view as well as if this is actually the better way comparing it to using plastic drop cloth.

The advantages of using newspaper to cover the floor are easy to count. Newspaper is cheap and eventually you have it anyway if you subscribe to the daily paper of your home town. You can “borrow” some from friends and neighbors without the need paying for it, too. Newspaper absorbs liquids to a certain degree, too. A newspaper sheet covers a certain amount of floor and you just add additional layers on top of each other to reach maximum protection.

Disadvantages of using newspaper are easy to identify as well. Using newspapers when painting a room can lead to stains on the carpet as an example. No matter how many layers of newspaper you eventually put on top of each other, if you spill a can of paint it will most definitely leak through somewhere. Newspaper is dirty – just grab a few sheets of newspaper and then look at your fingers. In most cases your fingers will show black or grey color from the newspaper. Now imagine you cover an entire room with newspaper when painting and then walk over this several times. Then you … Continue Reading ...

Cathode-ray Tube (CRT) displays have widely been used in televisions and computers for long. The displays have several advantages like wide viewing angles, superior colour resolution and low manufacturing costs. But these displays also suffer from drawbacks like excessive weight and high power & voltage consumption. The configuration of CRTs requires television sets to be virtually as thick as they are wide. Hence the demand for flat panel televisions is increasing day-by-day.

Technologists have developed alternative flat panel display (FPD) technologies to overcome the inherent drawbacks of CRTs. Prominent FPDs include liquid colour display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), and electroluminescent display (ELD). A flat panel television display includes a flat panel on which a matrix of cells is formed between two glass substrates. A PCB module drives the panel. There are two types of FPDs – volatile and static.

A LCD provides a richer and higher resolution of colours as compared to the conventional CRT displays. A LCD essentially comprises of two glass substrates that are separated to form a predetermined space into which a layer of liquid crystals is injected. Flat panel televisions are gaining popularity these days as they improve visibility and reduce glare due to reflection of external light.

A FPD is preferred to a conventional spherical panel as it provides higher resolution power. These panels have exceptional colour accuracy and can display up to 16.77 million colours. The FPDs are gaining popularity among the masses as they are light-weight, consume less … Continue Reading ...