Here are some very efficient (low-administrative-cost) relief organizations (all have four-star ratings from CharityNavigator.org): <http://www.americares.org/> <http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html> <http://www.directrelief.org/index.html> <http://www.hopeww.org/> <http://www.mercycorps.org/splash/> Americans may also call the Red Cross at 800 HELP NOW (800 435-7669). I haven't gotten around to the ads yet. - Follow-ups: - The "analog hole" - It was debated at the Senate Judiciary Committee this week: <http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346165.html> <http://www.twice.com/article/CA6346107.html> <http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=11059> I still wonder about the value of this sort of content protection in an era when an HDTV camcorder that can be aimed at a screen has a list price under $800. - Unlicensed wireless devices - The Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) wants a delay in allowing them so as not to cause DTT interference: <http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346132.html> - Multicast must-carry - - It was removed from the agenda of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) meeting on Sunday, reportedly because the vote of the latest commissioner was not assured: <http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6344841.html> - The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) made an expected statement: <http://tinyurl.com/rm6ce> - So did the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA): <http://tinyurl.com/rtg36> - Religious broadcasters seemed most vocal: <http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6345489.html> - Here's an extensive legal analysis from Red Orbit: <http://tinyurl.com/ofduv> - Senator Jim DeMint wants satellite to be free of multicast must-carry, too: <http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6345782.html> - In a related story, some low-power stations want must-carry: <http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346147.html> - DTT-transition education - Acting assistant secretary of commerce John Kneuer told the Media Institute that his National Telecommunications & Information Agency (NTIA) isn't going to be able to do much with the $5 million allocated for DTT-transition education and will need help. He said analog cutoff would have "more immediate impact" than anything he'd previously experienced in his industry career. He referred to a brief withdrawal of an ABC station from Time Warner Cable of New York City a few years ago. "That was one station and one day, but it was pretty much as if the world had come to an end": <http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346321.html> - Comcast's request for waiver of separation of navigation and conditional access - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) opposes it: <http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6344818.html> In a related story, only about 141,000 CableCARDs have been deployed: <http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/weekly_analysis/062106.html> - Ultra-high-definition - Dalsa has created a 10,560 x 10,560 image sensor, said to be the first to break 100 million: <http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189500300> - Next-generation consumer disks - - Blu-ray players are now available: <http://www.twice.com/article/CA6344299.html> <http://www.twice.com/article/CA6346379.html> - According to a "teardown" analysis by iSuppli, the cost of materials, alone, in Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD player far exceeds its suggested retail price: <http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189600999> - New York Times "Circuits" columnist David Pogue recommends against purchasing either format: <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/22/technology/22pogue.html> - Cable-Tec Expo - Here's one story suggesting that multichannel HDTV can defeat telco TV: <http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189600890> - May 1 - - Neither the FCC nor the NAB updated their sites this week. - Doug Lung's RF Report notes 900 licensed DTT stations in the FCC CDBS database as of June 12: <http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=1309> - Panasonic is providing HD copies of artworks to display on flat-panel TVs: <http://www.panasonic.galleryplayer.com/> - International news: - Canada has authorized HDNet to be carried on satellite services: <http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2006/pb2006-75.htm> - There is yet another report that Brazil has adopted Japan's ISDB-T for DTT transmissions: <http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060622/kyodo/d8idb2f02.html> Regardless of what Brazil picks, that country and Argentina reportedly want to have a common system in the future: <http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=2¬icia=357265&idioma=I> Chile is reportedly interested in a common standard, too: <http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=2¬icia=357383&idioma=I> - A treaty agreed to at the International Telecommunications Union's Regional Radiocommunication Conference calls for analog cut-off by June 17, 2015 in more than 100 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Iran (with some countries getting a five-year extension): <http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2006/11.html> - HDTV updates: - Singapore: <http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060617/5/singapore214171.html> - France: <http://tinyurl.com/kzhm4> - Spain (the story is from advanced-television.com>: <http://tinyurl.com/l72zy> - DTT updates: - Spain reportedly had 1.75 million DTT set-top boxes deployed as of May 31 (with more viewers on cable). This story is from advanced-television.com: <http://tinyurl.com/ozrnl> - Poland (this story is from TMCnet): <http://tinyurl.com/jzne7> - Romania (this story is from Hotnews Romania): <http://tinyurl.com/nqa8e> - South Africa (this story is from Business Report): <http://tinyurl.com/l3pfh> - I'm not permitted to release the CEA week-22 sales figures until next week. - Upcoming Dates (DTV and non-DTV): - June 27-29, Javits Center, New York, Entertainment Technology Alliance <http://www.etaexpo.com/>. - September 27-29, Hotel Washington, Washington, D.C., IEEE Broadcast Symposium <http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/sympo.html>. - October 3-5, Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa DTV Symposium <http://www.iptv.org/dtv/2005/>. - October 4-6, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, Jackson Hole Tech Symposium <http://www.jhfestival.org/symposium2006/>. - October 18-21, Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, SMPTE convention <http://www.smpte.org/conferences/148cfp.cfm>. - ***January 31-February 2, The Westin at Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area), California, ***HPA Technology Retreat*** <http://www.hpaonline.com>. - April 14-19, Las Vegas Convention Center, NAB convention <http://www.nabshow.com/>. * - new or revised listing TTFN, Mark PS Permission is granted to forward this or any other Monday Memo. Next week's memo might be late. Have a question about the memo? Before contacting me, please try the FAQs and glossary in the second postscript to the January 5 memo: <http://www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02213.html> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.