Seniors may get mixed signals

WASHINGTON — Elderly people may be the most vulnerable to losing television reception when the nation's broadcasters go digital in less than 18 months, members of Congress and advocates for seniors say.

A study in July showed that a disproportionate number of people who rely on "over-the-air” signals through an antenna are senior citizens. And without a coordinated national campaign to educate people about the digital transition, set for Feb. 17, 2009, millions of elderly people could be cut off from television.

"We all need to do a lot more outreach to prepare our seniors,” Jonathan Adelstein, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, told a Senate panel last week.

Adelstein said if a massive public education campaign isn't launched quickly and uninformed people lose television reception, "we're going to have one of the biggest outrages this country has ever seen. It will be a very difficult day in the history of American broadcasting if we don't turn this around.”

Read the entire article on NewsOK.com

When regular TV broadcasts go dark

If you were caught off guard when the federal government rescheduled the changeover to the daylight saving time, be prepared for another shock just over the horizon.

On February 17, 2009, the analog over-the-air TV broadcasting we've known for more than 50 years is scheduled to end and be replaced by digital broadcasting. Once television stations drop their analog broadcasting and go digital, old-style analog TV sets will effectively go dark.

While moving the nation to a superior technology, this analog-to-digital transition could cause massive problems for Americans still using analog sets, especially those who get television programs off the free airwaves.

The change to digital broadcasting was mandated by Congress as a way of updating the nation's television broadcasting network in one fell swoop. It's already stimulating innovation in both broadcasting and consumer products, and helping move computing, gaming and communications (along with television) closer to digital convergence.

Read the entire perspective on CNet

What students are up to these days

E-Mackqulent, LLC. (EMQ) is the brainchild of three Hampton University students who have a vision and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. EMQ is co-owned and operated by Antonio Hawthorne, senior media management major from Piscataway, N.J.; Erin Z. Young, senior public relations major and marketing minor from Wilmington, Del.; and SGA president Darrian Mack, junior broadcast journalism major and marketing minor from Randallstown, Md.

What is EMQ? It is a new media multimedia organization which produces EMQTV, a broadband television network highlighting the black college experience.

“We are a cable channel that exists on the Internet,” said Young.

The network site, http://www.emqtv.com/, launched in late January. EMQTV began as an idea for an on-campus television station which Hawthorne and Mack hoped would replace the “power point station” available to HU on-campus residents. Hawthorne and Mack met in a chat room during the 2004-2005 school year and began discussing their ideas to create and broadcast television programs for the student body. Young joined the group in December 2004. The students further developed the idea of their immaculate” organization and chose that name for their company with a unique spelling combining all of their names.

After several lengthy meetings and brainstorming ideas for the station, EMQ filmed their first program in Wilder Hall. This filming led to a meeting with Hampton University administrators who encouraged the students to “globalize” their project and think about how to broadcast their program to other universities.

This led to the idea of creating a broadband network.

The idea was “definitely divine intervention,” said Young. Young said the group realized that “all media companies are developing broadband media arms” and that EMQTV is the “perfect thing” to reach their target audience.

The students developed a business plan and decided to incorporate in Delaware as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Then in Summer 2006 the group began to create their site.

“We were able to afford certain technologies thanks to generous gifts from angel investors,” said Hawthorne.

We also gained “access to a lot of marketing data especially in the black collegiate market,” said Young.

Hawthorne and Mack spent months developing the site design and Young worked with Hawthorne to create the site content. EMQTV.com now contains five components: EMQ News, Submit Your Video viral video, The College Yard social network, music, and EMQ on Campus broadband television programs. The EMQ site is supported by advertising features market specific advertising and is geared toward black college students and alumni ages 18-35. The owners are excited that their market is growing because more black students are attending college than ever before.

Young said that site is not strictly for HBCU students but for all black college students because “the black college experience is shared no matter where you are.”
The group has focused on creating a socially conscious site by displaying positive images and encouraging alumni giving.

“We were not satisfied with the portrayal of black college students in other media,” said Young.
The students have spent long nights and given up their social life at times to create an impressive product.

“These guys have become a large part of my family,” said Young.
The family oriented company is not stopping with EMQTV. They have future goals of providing business consultation, establishing a “brick and mortar” cable site, and to spreading their brand among all media.

Article courtesy of Hampton University's Office of Unversity Relations. Article can be found in the Hampton University publication, Student Connection. *Note EMQNews' is a parent company of E-Mackqulent, LLC, mentioned in this article.

New Interactive Television To Assist Patients And Elderly

In this day and age, who wants their elderly parents [actually] living with them, when they could just turn on the TV and check on them in between commercials? Plus, if there's a problem you can just call your doctor and have him watch them on TV as well.

Telecommunications engineer at the Public University of Navarre, Alejandro Fanjul Fernández, has designed a pioneering system of telemedicine for interactive digital television. This system enables the monitoring and treatment of and support for both patients and elderly people, from the comfort and convenience of their homes, by means of the television. This is the first tele-assistance system in Spain for interactive digital television and a number of companies and government bodies have expressed interest in marketing the application...

This designed tele-assistance system, known as ATS-Interactiva, focuses its services on the monitoring and treatment of and support for patients by means of television. To this end, every so often, a series of check-ups and medication reminders are carried out, which at the same time enable a channel of communication to be opened up between the health care professional and the patient...

Through a complex system of data treatment and interactivity with the patient, the ATS-Interactiva system enables doctors to have a complete system of monitoring of patients at hand at all times, enabling them to assess patients' progress through the observation of their vital signs: weight, pulse, blood pressure, glucose level and so on.

This application may be of great utility for undertaking the monitoring of patients who are convalescing in a post-operative recovery stage but who can carry out their basic functions in an independent manner. It is also of great interest to those elderly persons who require a minimum of control and monitoring of their state of health on a daily basis. The progress of these persons may be followed without them having to be transferred to a health clinic or hospital - the monitoring being undertaken simply from their sitting-room sofa using the TV remote control.
Moreover, for the over 60s who watch more than 4 1/2 hours of TV daily, the system has an application known as an "interactive dosifier" that provides a personalised reminder for the administration of medicines. In this way, when the patient is due to take medication, the system emits a sound signal and a nurse appears on the TV screen to remind the patient of what has to be taken and a complete description or written recommendation from the doctor on how it should be taken.

The system also enables communication between the patient and the doctor through interactive messages or by electronic mail, again using the TV set. Today the possibility of communicating with the doctor has become vital in the treatment of any kind of ailment. This creates genuine patient-health care professional trust when dealing with a possible health problem.

The application of tele-assistance, moreover, does not interfere with television viewing, as the screen can be minimised or left in the background of the TV screen in such a way that, while the system is operating, TV programmes continue to be seen, the system information appearing in the foreground only when the patient has to be reminded or she or he requests information.
The ATS-Interactiva identifies the patient by means of an intelligent card, in such a way that he or she may locate to a different town and the monitoring can continue, as long as the intelligent card is carried on their person and connected to a receptor where the ATS-Interactiva application is available. In principle the emission of the system over a specific TV channel is being considered
More at ScienceDaily. . .

Source: Medgadget

simple + computer + TV = Apple TV

My mother who is handicapped and vision imparied is awaiting the arrival of Apple TV. As its released, I'll update you on her installation and usage as an example of senior tech which improves life.

From Apple