Cool. The government is really doing its best to encourage fat-ass people to stay fat-assed.

The people responsible for the delay have just been sacked.

Every House member and Senator who voted for this measure should be forced to watch an endless loop of Matlock reruns on analog broadcast until June 12.

Oh great, another round of those transition commercials. Urgh.

DAMMMMIT

Just farking cut off the signal.

TV is not a right, otherwise would would provide TV's free of charge for every one of our citizens.

sure....yeah......uh huh . .

PowerSlacker: Every House member and Senator who voted for this measure should be forced to watch an endless loop of Matlock reruns on analog broadcast until June 12.

What makes you think they deserve a reward?


/'cause Congressmen are mostly like, old and stuff
//and old people *like* Matlock
///The Simpsons said so.

alacy52: The people responsible for the delay have just been sacked.

The people responsible for sacking the people responsible for the delay have also just been sacked.

I hope most TV stations say fark you to the government and switch anyway.

alacy52: The people responsible for the delay have just been sacked.

The delay has been reinstated. The people responsible for sacking the people responsible for the delay have been sacked.

meat0918: DAMMMMIT

Just farking cut off the signal.

TV is not a right, otherwise would would provide TV's free of charge for every one of our citizens.

Don't give them ideas.

I agree, cut the people off, it will be about the same number in june so might as well just do it now.

People are either stupid or lazy if they haven't figured it out yet.

Despite that scenario, proponents said the delay was necessary to not only disburse more coupons but also help educate them about issues that arise from the transition.

Educate them? Educate them?
WE'VE BEEN EDUCATING THEM FOR 2 F*CKING YEARS!

I wish we spent half this amount if time and effort dispensing information to the American public on how to vote, or do your taxes, or perform the heimlich maneuver.

Will they change the commercials?

Just do it already!! Im tired of hearing about this. If you dont watch enough TV to know that this was going to happen like 3 years ago then your probably not going to be effected when the TV you dont watch switches over. Lets wait another 3 years so people can not buy converter boxes then freak out all over again. Jeez....

/rant over...

Think we will have five days of comment on this bill, or is it an "emergency" bill?

I'd love to give the White House a piece of my mind on this bill.

He'd sign it anyways of course, to much political backlash not to.

PowerSlacker: Every House member and Senator who voted for this measure should be forced to watch an endless loop of Matlock reruns on analog broadcast until June 12.

Because that's what their constituency will be doing.

I've seen these commercials and whatnot for the past 2 years. My cable company is offering 12 months of basic cable for $9.99/month to assist people with the conversion. Anyone who hasn't done the conversion yet is lazy.

Just convert to digital already. For the people who haven't gotten off their fat asses to make the jump, maybe losing loosing TV will help them move.

/Sorry, pet peeve

Well, it's not like Congress has anything else to do. Oh, wait ...

otherginger: ...or perform the heimlich maneuver.

Yea, like that's ever gonna be useful.

12349876: I hope most TV stations say fark you to the government and switch anyway.

Many will hit the switch. Apparently there are no penalties to turning off the analog transmitter, and many stations are paying over $20,000 per month in electricity costs alone to run the damn thing (the analog transmitter).

I really hope that the delay that this forces for spectrum re-allocation and radio testing (for first responders) doesn't come back to bite us in the ass. Average folk already pay enough for the mistakes and asshattedness of their elected officials without injecting security troubles into the mix.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

All my local stations are switching on the 17th, no matter what. The FCC will not fine any station that does. The bill has no teeth, it's just a PR move for Obama.

I love how much the interested parties (e.g. TV newsfolk) have been pushing this like the it's actually in the public's interest. Like nobody will have any clue what to do if their TV doesn't work. Panic in the streets, trashcans through windows, etc.

I think they're worried nobody will really care.

I'm just sad that I have run out of elderly family members and neighbors whom I can scam out of a free dinner for doing 10 minutes work hooking up their converter box.

And come June 12 they can delay it for a couple more years.

So when will the aliens start to look human?

you know who else delayed conversion?

dont you know it is financially motivated? do you think anyone gives a flying fark if you cant watch tv? oh, wait, advertisers do, and people who pay for advertising do, and they are the ones responsible for the delay. some way, some how, this decision was made because it put money in someones pocket.

Texas with a Dollarsign: Just convert to digital already. For the people who haven't gotten off their fat asses to make the jump, maybe losing loosing TV will help them move.

/Sorry, pet peeve

fail

"We are not ready for this transition," said U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, during the House debate. "We can fix these problems and minimize this catastrophe if we pass this legislation."

Oh for Christ!

tweekster: meat0918: DAMMMMIT

Just farking cut off the signal.

TV is not a right, otherwise would would provide TV's free of charge for every one of our citizens.

Don't give them ideas.

I agree, cut the people off, it will be about the same number in june so might as well just do it now.

People are either stupid or lazy if they haven't figured it out yet.

This, it will be the same people. Maybe we should make the switch and put Gigli on 24/7 for the people who aren't ready, they will get there quick enough if we did that.

One compromise in the bill (officially known as S. 352): TV stations will be allowed to go all-digital before the new June 12 transition date, provided they get FCC approval first. (It's also worth noting that about 150 local stations-as well as every TV station in Hawaii-have already turned off their analog over-the-air signals.)

Meanwhile, the bill does not include any additional funding for the cash-strapped $1.5 billion DTV coupon program, which provides up to two $40 coupons per household for $40-$60 DTV converter boxes.

So stations can still switch over on 2/17 if they want to, and no more money is being provided for coupons. So what's the point of this delay then??

otherginger: I wish we spent half this amount if time and effort dispensing information to the American public on how to vote, or do your taxes, or perform the heimlich maneuver.

I'm convinced, as an academic, that there are some basic courses that we should offer the community for free: US history, civics, an intro to science. Heck, I'd teach calculus pro-bono if there was a societal benefit to it.

The problem is the vouchers. There was a certain amount set up to be distributed, and a budget set for the number of those vouchers. They have to let the coupons expire before they send out new ones, because they have reserve more money to pay for them. So that pushed back the cut off date.

/DNRTFA

Sorry, this was the right thing to do. You can't get a converter box coupon, they distributed all they could until the money ran out but 6.5 million people still need a box. They should make sure everyone who needs a box (or two) gets them, then do the conversion. The delay makes this possible.

Fact: most districts have a sizable number of old people who vote.
Result: this.

*headdesk*

alacy52: The people responsible for the delay have just been sacked.

No, that sacking was actually delayed.

Walker: and no more money is being provided for coupons.

good. it would have been much easier and cheaper to do it as a tax deduction and it could still be done for those who have waited so long to get their box.

The House of Representatives is such a farking joke.

Um..... we suck. We can't do a god damned thing right.

/we suck

Hobodeluxe: Texas with a Dollarsign: Just convert to digital already. For the people who haven't gotten off their fat asses to make the jump, maybe losing loosing TV will help them move.

/Sorry, pet peeve

fail

I take it you don't know the "lose/loose" meme?

There will always be some group of people who are supposedly unprepared for the switch. We can't wait around and hold their hands forever. Just do this already and make these people learn the hard way. It's not difficult. Buy the box, plug it in, and watch tv.

Hobodeluxe: Texas with a Dollarsign: Just convert to digital already. For the people who haven't gotten off their fat asses to make the jump, maybe losing loosing TV will help them move.

/Sorry, pet peeve

fail


fail

/hint: did you hear that whooooshing sound above your head?

Are there going to be good deals on analog LCD TVs that I can use for my HTPC? I'm hoping some dumb neighbors will just toss their perfectly good sets in the alley.

Walker: Despite that scenario, proponents said the delay was necessary to not only disburse more coupons but also help educate them about issues that arise from the transition.

Educate them? Educate them?
WE'VE BEEN EDUCATING THEM FOR 2 F*CKING YEARS!

Believe it or not, some of them are just too poor to be able to buy the converter. Sad, but true.

12349876: I hope most TV stations say fark you to the government and switch anyway.

At least one of the local stations where I live is switching this month anyway. GOOD FOR THEM! We've known about this for years. If you are not ready now, too bad!

What TV conversion?

We should just broadcast CSPAN and CSPAN 2 on the analog stations.

THAT will get people to change.