If you subscribe to PC Magazine, hold onto the January issue: some day it may show up on Antiques Roadshow as a collector’s item. After 27 years of producing what was once the Bible of the microcomputer industry — a rag so dense with advertising that mailmen dreaded the day it showed up in their pouches — PC Magazine is giving up its printed edition and switching entirely to online publication.

First issue of PC Mag

Sadly, this scenario is likely to play out more often as time goes by. With advertising fragmented by the Internet  and cable TV channels, with young readers abandoning print for online publications, and with the cost of paper and distribution increasing too fast to be offset by online revenues, it’s a wonder that only a handful of magazines and newspapers have abandoned dead trees altogether so far.

As an editor whose former newspaper is a shadow of itsself these days, but at least still available in print, I bleed a little every time I read one of these stories. True, I am a wired guy — moreso than most people my age — and I read more news online than I do in print these days. But there’s still something satifsfying about sitting down with a real, honest-to-goodness printed paper or magazine and enjoying it with a cup of coffee at the breakfast table, or in my easy chair at night. I’m sure I could do the same thing with a tablet PC, but I still like the feel of paper. Various studies also show that people read faster in print than online, and retain more of what they’ve read.

But it doesn’t matter, because for many publications, the economics of print just don’t work out any more. Over the years I watched PC Magazine slowly waste away as advertisers and readers dropped out. It cut back publication from twice a month to once, and its final issue was just under 100 pages.

But I also have to note that the magazine’s reason for existence is less compelling than it was. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was a responsible voice of expertise in a technology industry that was exploding with new applications for the new IBM Personal Computer and its clones (IBM actually coined the term “personal computer,” quite accurately). PC’s reviews were throrough and rigorous; the magazine’s labs developed benchmark tests for hardware and software that became industry standards. So influential was the magazine that some hardware vendors rigged their circuit designs to detect when PC Labs tests were running and produce faster results than they ever could in real world applications. Catering to a variety of audiences, the magazine provided programming tips for geeks, sound tech advice for general users, comparison grids for corporate purchasing agents, and yes, a lot of hype about a lot of products that turned out to be vaporware or just plain duds.

Unfortunately, the industry isn’t nearly as exciting as it was 15 or 20 years ago. For most users, PC’s have become near-commodities. In the says when a computer cost $3,000, consumers were likely to look a lot harder before they leaped. Today, $500 buys you a solid computer and $1,000 buys you a great one. Factor inflation into the equation and today’s PC is only a step above an impulse buy. The only people who really care about what’s in them are gaming enthusiasts who need the performance and corporate IT types who have to support and repair them. When Dell, HP, Sony or Lenovo come out with a new model, it’s about as exciting as Whirlpool announcing a new dryer. The real action today is in online software (Facebook, cloud computing applications and illegal file sharing), and in mobile devices like the iPhone and Blackberry. Indeed, read a recent print issue of PC Magazine and you’ll find an inordinate amount of space devloted to to phones, large screen HDTV sets, and digital cameras. So moribund is the PC market that the magazine has taken to reviewing Macs.

Online outlets (Including pcmag.com, the company’s excellent Web site) also offer something print editions can’t — instant access to late-breaking news. Printed magazines have lead times measured in weeks and months.

Enough of this tale of woe. For PC Magazine subscribers who love print, there’s one bright spot — PC Magazine will deliver a print-formatted electronic copy to your e-mailbox every month. So you can read it on your PC,print all of it, or just the handful of articles you want. To misquote the great John Updike, it’s “progress with an escape hatch.” Visit http://go.pcmag.com/subscriberservices/

Worried about the details of making your ancient analog TV receive those new digital signals? So are lots of of other people. One of them is Spike Feresten, host of the eponymously named “Talk Show with Spike Feresten.” Particularly concerned with the effect of the transition on the elderly — who will bear a disproportionate share of the hassle and expense  — Spike produced this inspirational video on installing a DTV converter box. He only thought it was a parody.

Happy Holidays to all!

Not long ago, a friend was surfing the Web when he got a pop-up message like this one, warning him that his computer was infected with a virus. Not surprisingly, the message offered him a chance to download a program to root out this evil.

Now Richard isn’t a fool — he’s a retired financial executive for a big computer outfit – so he clicked on the “No” button. But that wasn’t good enough. He soon found his machine slowing down to a crawl, infected with a piece of slimeware now known as Antivirus 2009.

This is one of the nastiest little bugs I’ve seen, for a couple of reasons. First, it’s distributed as “scareware,” a term describing the pop-up “warning” boxes that lure Web surfers into downloading the malicious software by telling them their machines are infected.

These warnings are almost always bogus. If you already have an antivirus program installed, don’t worry - chances are very good that it’s taking care of business. It will generate legitimate warnings from time to time, but they will always look the same, and they certainly won’t appear as chintzy Web windows.  Antivirus 2009 is particularly insidious because its name sounds legit - in fact, it’s meant to be confused with the legitimate and popular Norton Antivirus 2009.

Another problem: clicking anywhere in the popup warning screen, even on a “No” or “Ignore” button, will often download the malicious program. You won’t even be aware of it. Typically the click will transport you to a Web page advertising antivirus software. Merely visiting the Web page can trigger the dirty download - without any further action on your part. › Continue reading…

It’s hard to avoid Digital TV Transition ads these days. With less than two months till the nation’s TV stations switch to a new, all-digital transmission scheme, broadcasters and government officials are running thousands of public service advertisements warning viewers that unless they take action, millions of sets may turn into doorstops on Feb. 17.

Some stations are even running half-hour shows discussing the DTV transition and telling viewers how to buy and install converter boxes for their existing analog sets. Others are telling people how to find new digital TVs with tuners that can receive the new signals on their own.

All these ads make the process look deceptively easy, but unfortunately, it won’t be easy for everyone. In fact, after Feb. 17, a small but significant minority of viewers will never again be able to get the same variety of programming they get now. Some will have to spend hundreds of dollars for rotating outdoor antennas to match the reception they get today from the $3 rabbit ears that came with their old analog TV sets. Even then, the dirty little secret of digital broadcasting is that it won’t reach as many TV sets as the analog system we’ve used for the better part of seven decades.

› Continue reading…

While most of the world was watched Barack Obama make history on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission quietly voted for its own little revolution.

Despite furious lobbying by TV broadcasters, Broadway producers, Dolly Parton and rock band roadies everywhere, the panel approved a plan to open up the so-called “white spaces” between television channels for unlicensed wireless gadgets.

Dolly Parton and other show biz names objected to FCC White Space proposal.

Back in the dawn of television, the government left these little gaps in the TV spectrum because broadcast TV stations were so powerful – and the available technology was so limited – that engineers feared the stations would step on each others’ signals if they were too close together.

That issue became less important as equipment improved over the years, and it will change even more with the switch from analog broadcasting to a more efficient and precise digital system in February. For more about that, read my DTV Transition Q&A page.

A coalition of major industry players, including Google, Intel, Microsoft and Motorola, backed the plan, which they see opening up a whole new market for wireless Internet access. Because these white spaces are smack in the middle of the TV spectrum, signals in can travel considerable distances, opening up the possibility for relatively cheap, high-speed wireless Internet service in rural areas.

But TV broadcasters are still worried about newcomers with faulty equipment or intentions interfering with their frequencies, and the people who produce plays and concerts are furious. That’s because the wireless microphones they use every day use those very same frequencies. After an acrimonious battle and repeated tests by FCC l aboratories and a lobbying appeal by country legend Dolly Parton. She conceded that she knows nothing about the technology, but does know a thing or two about how important wireless mics are for musicians in concert. They’re the reason singers can prance all over the stage without worrying about tripping over a cord, and why Broadway musical stars don’t need penetrating “Broadway” voices any more.

In an attempt to pacify the theater and concert producers, the FCC is requiring manufacturers of equipment to set of databases with locations where wireless microphones are typically used, as well as sensors for wireless microphone transmissions. The theory: with current technology, the new wireless devices can avoid frequencies that are being used and switch to unoccupied channels.

With deep pockets on both sides, this isn’t likely to be the end of the issue. Here are good explanations from USA Today  and the Washington Post.

The National Association of Broadcasters’ Television Board of Directors is supporting legislation that would allow TV stations to continue transmitting emergency alerts and information about the digital TV transition over their analog channels for several weeks after the Feb. 19, 2009 switchover.

This is the first crack in the alliance between broadcasters and the government, which has been telling everyone how wonderfully the transition campaign has been going and resisting attempts to tinker with the deadline. The FCC, with congressional backing, has told broadcasters to turn off their analog transmitters Feb. 19.  Currently, local stations arebroadcasting simultaneously in both formats.

The change will leave millions of analog sets dark unless the owners have hooked up digital converter boxes. TV sets hooked to cable or satellite feeds — and 80 percent of American homes have at least one — will not be affected. Cable companies will continue to provide analog signals to their customers for several years, at least.

Millions who receive broadcasts over-the-air, with antennas, have bought converter boxes, but millions more haven’t gotten around to it yet. And 8 to 10 percent of Americans still aren’t aware of the switchover, according to the latest surveys.

There’s also evidence that even with converter boxes, 15 to 20 percent of over-the-air viewers won’t be able to get all the channels they get now unless they buy a new antenna — an expense that can run into hundreds of dollars.

One problem is that folks who buy converter boxes now won’t know for sure whether they’ll get all their channels until the day of the switchover. That’s because so many channels will be switching frequencies — in addition to using a new digital transmission system.
Because digital signals don’t always behave like analog transmissions, some digital signals that come in fine on the temporary frequencies local broadcasters are currently using may be not be strong enough on their permanent frequencies. Digital signals also suffer from the so-called “cliff” effect: if they’re strong enough, they produce superb images, but if they’re not, you won’t get anything on that channel.

Given these potential problems, it makes sense to give stations the option of continuing to broadcast emergency information and messages alerting viewers about the transition for some time after the official date. Aside from the fact that worried politicians want to squeeze the switchover between the Super Bowl and the NCAA basketball tournament, there’s no reason it has to be done in one day.

Unfortunately, the even if the bills (Senate 3663 and House Resolution 7013) become law, it won’t help all viewers. Stations that have chosen to broadcast digitally on the same frequency they used for analog broadcasts won’t be able to use both transmitters after the change.

“This voluntary commitment would apply only to stations where the continuation of the analog signal is technically feasible,” the NAB board said it a resolution approved on Wednesday, Oct. 15. “The NAB will work closely with the FCC in implementing a reasonable program taking into account local stations’ technology and market specifics.”

The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.)

As a rule, members of Congress have sided overwhelmingly with the wealthy and powerful music, TV and motion picture industries when it comes to “fair use” of copyrighted material on the Internet. That means both the law and federal enforcement agencies have been backing the army of attack lawyers who have been suing 12-year-olds who post songs on the Web for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now John McCain’s campaign has complained that YouTube is too aggressive in removing the Republican’s videos from the Web site because they contain copyrighted material. Often it’s not much — a few seconds from a televised campaign debate, or a few bars of a catchy song in the background. But it’s enough to draw complaints and a virtually instantaneous response from YouTube, which has become very gunshy about this kind of thing.

In the old days before the Internet, this type of “infringement” might have been covered under the so-called “fair use” doctrine, which allows at least brief sections of copyrighted works to be used by others for critical, educational or other worthwhile public purposes. One of those purposes is political, inasmuch as political speech has the very highest degree of constitutional protection. Of course, YouTube isn’t a court — it doesn’t have to post any video it doesn’t like, and if somebody complains about copyright infringement, it’s likely to yank the material, even if the poster of that material would prevail if the case ever reached the Supremes.

Here’s a good, concise story on the subject from WiredNews.com.

For months I’ve been getting complaints from readers who say some of their favorite cable TV channels are disappearing. Depending on where they live it may be Discovery, or MSNBC or some other cable-only channel with a dedicated,  if not overwhelmingly large following. The cable company tells customers it has moved the channel to its “digital tier.” If viewers want to  see the channel again, they’ll have to rent a digital cable box for $10 a month.

A lot of victims think this is part of the great DTV Switchover, and they blame the government. But it’s not. It’s a case of cable companies trying to wring a few extra dollars out of their subscribers without raising overall rates and free up more bandwidth for the high-definition broadcasts that their premium customers want. Here’s the story: › Continue reading…

One of the major culprits in the demise of classified newspaper advertising (and the departure of so many of us from the business) is Craigslist.com, the online ad service that lets visitors buy, sell, rent, hire or give away almost anything — at no charge. Now, from The Seattle Times,  yet another sign that Craigslist is the Devil’s Own Tool.

According to a report this week, an enterprising criminal ran an ad on Craigslist that promised respondents $28.50 an hour to show up near a Bank of America branch dressed for work as laborers — in blue shirts, yellow safety vests and protective eye gear. Then the robber — dressed in identical clothing — maced an armored car guard making a pickup, snatched a sack full of money and ran to a nearby creek. There he may have escaped by floating away in an inner tube — or maybe not. But everyone agrees the ad on Cragslist did a great job of recruiting decoys who unwittingly showed up just in time for him to make his getaway.

America is a GREAT country.

Aside from bingo, horse racing was the only legalized form of local gambling open to most Americans for more than a century. In fact, so prized was the government’s interest in horse race betting (or more accurately,  the state’s share of the track’s gambling revenue) that communications devices were virtually probhibited in race tracks, lest they be used to transmit results that illegal bookmakers could use to pay off illicit (meaning untaxed) wagers.

This has changed radically in recent years, and in many traditional strongholds, horse racing has fallen on hard times. One reason is the relatively easy availability of other forms of gambling — first state lotteries, then casino gambling in Atlantic City and other venues far from the flesh pots of Las Vegas, and now online gambling — the easiest bet of all.

The other problem for horse track operators and the states treasuries who feed at their tough: as a sporting event, a day at the races is inherently boring. Think about it. You watch a bunch of horses run around a track for two minutes (for about half of that, they’re almost out of sight in the backstretch), then you wait 20 minutes, and then you watch some more horses run for two minutes, and so on. The total action over a 10 race card that occupies 4 hours of your time is 20 to 25 minutes. So gambling was the only real mass market attraction racing had going for it.

In some states (such as my home state of Maryland) ailing race tracks and state governments have banded together in an unholy alliance to boost revenues with track-based slot machines — possibly the ugliest form of gambling next to dog fighting. But not the great state of Kentucky — home of the eponymous Derby and a breeding industry that employs thousands and attracts crowds of Arab oil sheiks whose Boeing 747s crowd the airport every year as they line up to buy untested yearlings with the millions they’ve collected from us at $4 a gallon. › Continue reading…