Show V Section ©ram© Wednesday September 25 The Herald Journal —Pagel — Satellite Tech consumers bargain - hunting radio worth a listen t By Matt Symes X don’t understand how radio works I learned in school that my favorite station's signal is carried on a segment of the electromagnetic spectrum at a precise sine wave oscillation arriving at my little set-- 'i top receiver tuned to the proper fre-- ? quency Got it? Me neither But it’s this mysterious technology that con-- " veys ail the news music and opin' ionated chatter that profoundly influences our lives and culture Yet we take radio for granted — thru is until we find ourselves travthrough the eling wastelands of Nevada Wyoming or Blanding UT with nary a sine wave oscillation worth tuning to What’s a weary listener to do? Well friends satellite radio is the answer Also known as digital radio broadcasting from satellite removes the limitations of earthboundtrans-mission- s by 9 1 1 iV SAN JOSE Calif (AP) — When Jeanette Bosio was shopping for a computer she wasn't looking for the fastest processor richest sound or fanciest graphics She wanted the best price Tlw $1100 Compaq Presario 700 notebook she bought this year is good enough for Iter needs It plays music shows movies and can connect to the Internet a requirement of her two school-ag- e daughters “If it were for my business I would have spent more” said Bosio who owns a construction company “For my personal use I don’t need that much I’m a single mom so money was an issue there” " Bosio isn’t alone The ranks of shoppers appear to be swelling at least according to the latest financial data reported by the makers of microprocessors the brains of PCs Both Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc reported selling far fewer high-en- d processors in the second quarter than they had hoped for Whether this is an anomaly or the start of something bigger is the value-mind- ed subject of considerable debate An obvious explanation is the eco- nomic downturn and tighter budgets for both consumers and businesses Computer makers may have mis- judged demand overall Another possibility is that consumers see no real need to buy more performance when slower less expensive machines handle most jobs well enough “The folks who are using these machines for office productivity e- mail surfing the Web over a dial-u- p modem decided in many cases that the lower speed machines are more than adequate for their needs” said Nathan Brookwood an analyst at the research firm Insight 64 Despite chip makers’ spending on TV radio and print ads that feature the latest benchmark tests space aliens or even dancing clean-rooworkers in bunny suits Bosio said she paid little attention to processors in her hunt Instead she consulted with friends and looked for a machine that could handle her needs She ended up buying her Compaq laptop at the Costco store in Salinas 60 miles south of San Jose Bosio's machine runs on a Duron processor AMD's value line introduced in 2000 in part to compete with Intel's Celeron brand which debuted in 1998 The companies created the inexpensive lines as a way to separate' their value and high-en- d offerings Now however high-en- d Pentiums and Athlons are finding their way’ into inexpensive systems as the companies continue to lower prices as they introduce faster models m ’ cross-count- ry (Damn w® tirastt tiDnenro? The recent Florida voting debacle once again highlights problems of placing our future in the hands of machines sending radio signals from orbit to specialized receivers installed in EW YORK (AP) — The list of tasks that computers can’t handle just got longer We already knew computers make a mess of language trans- lation and speech recognition They can’t be trusted to keep personal messages private And there are better ways to shop for shoes and groceries Oyer the past week we ' learned that computers also make lousy voting platforms Florida whose dubiously worded punch cards brought us the presidential election wreck of2000 spent $32 million to rescue democracy — largely by" wheeling in computers and scanners But the machines and the under-traine- d poll workers who ran them made a mess of the recent primary voting They eerily converted Democratic votes to Republican They refused to boot up And they didn't bother to count thousands of ballots In many precincts voters ' would have been better off with papa and pencil along with some shoe boxes to N ( —J your home or automo bile Think of it as the ultimate Tower of Power in the sky There are currently two providers saving North America: XM and :i" Siriiri Eachhas its owh'set of ' redundant satellites in obit (they even have a spare ready to launch if one goes haywire) It is a subscription service running $999 and $1295 per month respectively The Sony receiver I’ve been using plugs into my existing car stereo through the tape deck (just like a CD player adapter) All car receivers require an aerodynamic antenna attached to the car’s exterior So what do you get for yet another monthly fee? Plenty In the week or so I’ve been privileged to try XM I’ve yet to want for something to liken to Most stations are com- and those pletely commercial-fre- e that aren’t spare you the incessant breaks you hear on the local stations Sound quality is near CD quality and reception has been crystal clear save for a few brief moments in die deeper parts of Logan Canyon The funny thing about a digital signal is that it’s either there or it isn’t no fading or static just on or off The programming runs the gamut: dedicated news stations like CNN or FoxNews top 40 alternative jazz blues world — you name it they got it Most receivers even display the artist and song currently being played Of course the broadcasts are nationwide You won’t find local news or sports and the programming can feel a bit canned (which it is) However die DJs do seem to have quite a bit of flexibility ' You’ll not only hear your favorite tunes but obscure extended remixes or lengthier selections are almost common I actually heard Bauhaus’ 1979 classic “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” I - in all its glory in prime time Would I take die plunge myself? I’m sorely tempted Were I a regular commuter truck driver or a serious connoisseur of a Wide variety of music then absolutely yes tt’s almost indispensable if you’re on die road a good deal And sdme receivers can be parted around to home car or office The equipment can be purchased for around $300 locally at Stokes (thanks for the loaner) and other fine car and home entertainment retailers Visit siriuscom or xmra- diocom for full programming and service details 51-eco- " : Matthew Syma la an Internet project manager at a local technology company County Elections Top: A Miami-Dad- e Department worker checks out die voting machine's flash cards as the state' primary votes are being tallied at the Government Center earty Sept 12 Above: Bruce Eldrige left and Nancy Kosa are surrounded by boxes that contain electronic voting cartridges used to record votes in voting machines at the Voter Equipment Center Sept 13 in Fort Lauderdale slot-topp- ed i 1 ' stuff That way Floridians would have been certain within a day or two that their Democratic candidate for governor really won the primary Now it An unidentified poll worker wheels six out of eight voting machines that were unloaded from a buck Sept 16 at the Sections Department Voting Equipment & Supply warehouse in Miami as work continues to find all of the votes from the primary elections pight: See VOTING on B2 Take me out to the ball game — please - casts from either team as well as French or Spanish versions for some games I could listen live or'replay games already completed But every time I tried to listen to one I was encouraged to sign up directly with Major League Base- ball which offers a separate $995- Total Ticket pass i Out came my credit card once - ByAnlck Jesdanun AP internet Writer NEW YORK— With the New York Mets struggling to avoid last place you wonT find me in Shea Stadium eating peanuts and Cracker Jack But perhapsTll still peek at j their games on the Internet If you’re a fan of a team that’s still in contention there’s even more rca-son tp log on to track this year's pennant races So I decided to check the Internet offerings from Major League Baseball as well as ESPN CNN-Spor- ts Illustrated and CBS t Sportsline Play ball! From a Windows 98 computer at work I started with Major League Baseball's offerings through RealOne SuperPass the $995-pemonth subscription service from RealNetworks With that I’m supposed to get audio feeds— the local radio broad- IS r- : available ' ' Squndsgood — i 7— could out ( ' I was really impressed with an underpromoted feature called Gameday It's a way to follow the game without audio or video It’s an inter- active feature that truly leverages the Net’s potential an attempt to go beyond what TV and radio offer On the right side is the game’s bqx score automatically updated after Click a tab to find out every at-b-at players still available on the bench as well as their season stats On the left is a graphic of the ball field showing who's playing what position and which batter is up The middle column offers game i COKtlltlCKIlflry te small hardly see the ball in screen And when I missed a play I thought I could rewind the stream a bit Instead the video froze ’ Three outs Side retired For the “home” half of the test I shifted to my iMac computer at home I was pleasantly surprised The audio worked running only about 35 seconds behind the live radio broad- cast not bad for streaming audio A base hit right there ' But I wish I could have started the game from die beginning I had q choice between listening in progress — the Chicago Cubs at Mets game was already the seventh inning— or waiting until the game ended to access the archives One But despite having signed up for this package the site kept requesting a credit card again Finally I had to request a reset to my account TWoouts When it finally worked video was jerky and rough despite my high- speed connection at the office I per-mon- th more One out Next I checked out baseball’s video offerings which is not includ- ed with SuperPass With Total Ticket I’m supposed to get daily highlights and “condensed games” which are the games’ key plays squeezed into about 20 min- utes with pitching changes and other endless delays stripped out The site also began offering live games last month — though we’re talking one preselected matchup every few days For the playoffs live batting practice will also be ' ' : ' - See BASEBALL 5SSZI on B4 4 |