The Hartford Courant September 26, 2002
PIXELS
By KEVIN HUNT
TiVo: The Handyman's Special
Users of SnapStream's Personal Video Station software have turned their computers into a TiVo-type digital recorder, storing TV programming on their hard drives with the help of a TV tuner card and a broadband connection. But they haven't been able to get the programming from their PC to their TV set. New software from BroadQ (www.broadq.com) called QCast Tuner ($50) accomplishes that in a roundabout way, sending the recorded programming into a TV set via a Sony PlayStation 2 outfitted with a network adapter released last month.
Eye On Saddam
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More than 100,000 visitors a month to GlobalSecurity (www.globalsecurity.org) are doing their own weapons inspection of Iraq using commercial satellite images. After GlobalSecurity posted images earlier this month of the Tuwaitha nuclear complex, about 25 miles from Baghdad, and said the facility was "known to be associated with a clandestine nuclear program," Iraq gave reporters access to the plant for the first time. An Iraqi official said the complex was now a mushroom farm. GlobalSecurity buys images from two commercial satellite imaging companies and also commissions specific shots of a region.
The DTV Future
Highlights of the draft of the digital-TV bill released last week by Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee:
Effective January 2006:
*A "broadcast flag" embedded in digital TV signals would prevent viewers from recording it or sending it, Napster style, onto the Internet.
* "Fair use," which allows consumers to record music or TV programming for use on other devices they own, will be protected. The bill does not say, however, that no technology exists to permit both "broadcast flag" copy protection and "fair use" duplication simultaneously.
* Today's analog TV sets and VCRs would become obsolete. Digital TV signals would be received only by digital sets and recording devices with built-in anti-piracy features.
The Linux PC
A $1,000 computer called Mad Hatter that uses the free Linux operating system will be sold by Sun Microsystems early next year. The computer isn't likely to encroach on the huge market share of Microsoft's Windows operating system: the PC will be sold in bundles of 100, directed at businesses that need restricted-use machines with basic features like a Web browser.
Copyright 2002 The Hartford Courant Company
