President Obama Delays Digital TV Transition

Today, due to the bad economy in the United States, President Obama signed the law to have the digital TV transition delayed from February 17 to June 12 of this year. This sucks because I was looking forward to next week, however I do respect his decision because of what is going on these days. This is what Obama had to say:

"During these challenging economic times, the needs of American consumers are a top priority of my administration. Millions of Americans, including those in our most vulnerable communities, would have been left in the dark if the conversion had gone on as planned, and this solution is an important step forward as we work to get the nation ready for digital TV."

Read the full article here.

E-mail: renealanis2012@gmail.com
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The Stimulus Package and What It Will Do for America

Quite frankly, I am against and also, at the same time, for the stimulus package. It's really a sticky slope as far as I'm concerned. $780,000,000,000. That's a lot of zeroes, and really, it will plunge us farther into debt. I read somewhere that currently the national debt is somewhere like $10,000,000,000,000. That's $10 trillion dollars. With this stimulus package, because we'll have to get that money from some foreign country, our national debt will be something like $11 trillion and growing everyday. We spend something like $5,000 a second in Iraq-- a second! Considering that there are 86,400 seconds in one day, that means that per day, the American government spends $432,000,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the previous stimulus package, the bank bailout deal, the new stimulus package, the Wars, by my estimates, we'll be in $13 trillion in debt by the end of 2009.

Now, I'm for the stimulus package as well. It will stimulate the economy (somewhat) and will help our economy to improve during this time of recession. There are also negatives about that as well. First of all, most Americans have bills to pay, which are probably overdue or pretty close to it, as well as things that they need purchase but have been putting off due to the lack of funds in their bank accounts. I have a feeling that a plurality of Americans will put the money that they receive from the government, along with their tax refund, right in the bank. People need to save money on the off chance of them being laid off or a depression or anything like that. I googled the stimulus package and what was returned was just opinions about the stimulus package and not the facts about it. The point of this is that no one really knows about this stimulus package and what's in it. We can only assume that most of it is pork that the senators threw in at the last minute, because a good chunk of what was originally $819 billion dollar stimulus package was reduced to $780 billion dollars after a couple weeks of delegation.

In conclusion, well, I think now that I have more negatives than positives on this stimulus package. If you feel differently, send a comment because a good debate is always welcome.

Thank U.S. government for the next fifty years of stimulus package payments.

Joshua Clark

thejoshuareport.com

thecreativeone.tv/socialblog

Apple's IDE: Xcode

     I have recently started my C++ programming class and I am very excited about building some cool applications.  In class we are exposed to an windows-only atmosphere.  After working on the schools’ Vista machines I was curious to see if I could wrie my programs on my MacBook Pro.  I did some research and found Apple’s Xcode application.  Xcode is Apple’s programming IDE.  An IDE (Integrated Developing Environment) is an application that makes the developing cycle easier for programmers.  The IDE can compile and organize your developing projects.  Xcode also supports many languages, for example: Java, C, C++ and many more.  I am new to the programming scene and it only took me a couple of hours to figure out how to use the basic features of Xcode.  It didn’t take long to build my first command-line program.  The best part about Xcode is that it’s free.  Aspiring programmers can download Xcode for free through Apple’s Developer Connection.  http://developer.apple.com  With Xcode users can build full-fledged Iphone and OS X applications.  The Interface Builder supplied with Xcode makes the construction of the interface amazingly simple.  The user simply drags the objects into the applications’ window.  Xcode has a large library of objects too; Xcode supplies windows, buttons, text-boxes, drop-down-menus and many more to boot.

     I found that the easiest way to learn Xcode is to use tutorials.  YouTube has a large library of easy-to-follow tutorials.  Google is always a good resource too!  The learning curve is fairly steep but well worth the effort.  It may seem intimidating but the application is well organized.  Xcode also has a text-prediction feature as seen in the iPhone.  The prediction feature is great because the user doesn’t need to re-type the same variable names repeatedly.  C++ programming on the Macintosh platform has some small differences.  Macintosh operating systems cannot compile when the user enters the ‘system(“pause”)’ command in their program.  The only reason for this is because this command is a Dos based and only works in the Windows environment.  In my opinion not being able to use this makes it easier to code because the programmer doesn’t even need it.  The Macintosh OS already pauses at the end of a program; thus, eliminating the need for the old Dos command.

     If anyone is interested in programing on the mac then give Xcode a try!  I have had absolutely no need to use Microsoft Visual Studio.  Xcode does everything that Visual Studio does, and in some cases, it does things even better.  So you better start downloading it now because it was around 900mb :)

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

-Kyle

The Kindle 2 is here!

Hello everyone! 

The new Kindle 2 from Amazon is here and offers some new features that may send people jumping out of their chairs and yelling hooray!  On the other hand some anticipated more than reality. 

Some new features include:

• Wider capacity of storage - NEW 2GB space
• More advanced display
• 16 shades of gray to choose rather than 4 from the original Kindle
• 15% more battery life
• Wireless access to download many famous reads via Sprint's EVDO network in the US
• and more!

This device ships from Amazon warehouses February 24th, 2009 and sells at $359 USD

For more detailed information and an interview by CNET's Natali Del Conte, watch the video!

-Winston S.

http://techguysnetwork.com

http://youtube.com/sihwinston

http://twitter.com/winstonsih

Unboxing Apple iSight Camera

I was searching eBay for a video camera when I thought about Apple's iSight Camera. They no longer sell them but I advise you to look on eBay if you wish to purchase it. Here's the video of me unboxing this camera. 

Comment, Rate, and Subscribe! Brandon

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