Home theater sounds systems come in many different shapes, colors, sizes, qualities, and most important price. A good sound system really increases the intense moment of actions movies or the sad moments of dramas. A good sound system will make feel as though you are watching a movie at the theater. A great sound system will give the feeling that you are right up close and personal with the environment of the movie. Picking the right sound system for your home is anything but easy. There are some many different brands, models, and features at times it becomes overwhelming and confusing.

Almost all home theater sound systems include a subwoofer, surround speakers, center channel speaker, and left and right speakers. All of the speakers work in sync with one another to give you the theater feel right in your own home. It is very important that your speakers work well together. Many people use voice matching to help determine whether or not their sound systems are effective. Voice matching makes it possible to determine if the sound is being distorted as it is being pasted from one speaker to the next. The best way to prevent this from happening is by using the same speakers from the same brand.

First off, just what is convergence?

The word originally came from the world of math and science. Its earliest use was
by a man named William Derham, who was working at trying to measure the speed
of sound by timing the flash and the roar of a cannon. That was in the
1600’s-1700’s.

The term has been used in technology, business, science and journalism -
everything from explaining corporate strategy to Darwin’s “The Origin of
Species” (still a “hot” topic today, what?).

What we want to approach today is convergence in the digital media.
Convergence refers to the power of digital media to combine voice, video, data,
text, and money in new applications, devices and networks.

Television is probably the most amazing invention of mankind. Sending pictures
and sound through the air has a magical quality that challenges the imagination.

Next in line is the computer. This cool electronics - that takes ones and zeros and
turns them into words, pictures, sounds, data - and places them in the palm of your
hand is nothing less than amazing in itself.

You can’t leave out the telephone - which has passed from being connected by
wires to wireless voice, then audio and sounds, then video, then internet, then ….

Convergence. Convergence is taking all of these media and combining
them into one delivery system. Major companies are gearing up for entering into
this new development.

Here are some things coming up through this cool electronics melding:

• AOL is putting old TV shows on the Internet

• CBS and NBC are offering current TV shows online - and ABC, Apple and
Disney are putting shows on the new Video iPod

• Google is into offering video - Chris Rock’s new show premieres online before
it is aired over regular network channels

• MTV has bought the independent film network iFilm and launches a 24/7
Internet TV Network [MTV Uber]

What does all this mean to you?

With the proper cool electronics coming available, you can expect that within … say
five years … your TV watching will expand beyond network - cable - satellite, and
the private video networks of companies like TiVo and RePlay - to what one person
has called “ubiquitous content.” In other words, any show or video you can think of
will be delivered to you over the Internet. Think 1000 channels?!

And this Internet TV will be delivered to your home TV set (HDTV big screen) and
more. There will be gadgets and devices that hook up your TV set directly to the
Internet to deliver video directly to your set instead of your computer.

Anyone with a camera will be able to upload video to the net. You will see the good,
the bad and the ugly for awhile - but the cream will rise as they always say - and
levels of video will form into communities of like style, ability and value - all
through the new cool electronics that are becoming available now.

Sponsored videos will become more plentiful. One advertiser will supply and
sponsor programs - like the Hallmark Hall of Fame has done since the early days of
broadcasting.

Niche programs will become an important marketing tool for small companies - like
cooking shows sponsored by a local/regional grocery store - or health shows
backed by health food products. Do I hear “infomercial?” They may become the
norm. We can only hope that the creative people in our society will also be
challenged and bring us some real product that we can learn from and enjoy.

There will be improved search capabilities. you will be able to search video content
as well as titles. This will be done by transcribing dialogue into text and stored in a
database. Videos will be searched and rated just like websites are now.

Set-top boxes [like the new Brightbox] will connect you from living room to living
room by video phone and video email. Now you will have to dress up to answer
your email (at least cover up).

A user interface will become the most important feature of your TV because there
will be SO MUCH CONTENT. The interface will make suggestions based on your
mood, your astrological sign or what other people have chosen. This is already
happening in Japan.

Video communities will form to find and present content to fit various fields, moods,
interests, and levels to suit your needs.

Your home TV (DVR, DVD, Tivo, etc.) can be watched on your computer anywhere in
the world with a broadband connection and the cool electronics in devices like the
Slingbox - which is available now.

How about interactive shopping and education?
You watch a program and pause the program to respond to a commercial while you
think about it. Or - you are watching King Kong - you will be able to click on the
“King” and get a lesson about apes and their history.

TV’s are being built now (in Japan) with ethernet connections. this will speed up the
connection convergence.

Of course, the commercial value of TV will not disappear. Unfortunately, it may get
more imbedded in the programming. Shopping will be made easier - with the
ability to see products in real time and real size- or at least closer to real size - and
right from your home set in your living room, kitchen or bedroom. Point and click
and buy with the new cool electronics.

I’m sure there will be many more surprises as this new industry develops. The
emergence of convergence - Internet/TV/Communications - is expected to be the
biggest new industry since the telephone - then TV - then the computer - then the
Internet - then … who knows?

© 2006 Gary Cogley

Gary Cogley writes about all kinds of gadgets, gizmos and inventions. Get additional
information at his website:
http://www.gadgets-gizmos-inventions.com

Nominated for 9 Craft Awards (bestowed by the Director’s Guild of Canada), Queer As Folk is a groundbreaking drama series that has built itself a large cult following since its inception in 2000. Based on a British TV series of the same name, Queer As Folk is in many ways similar to HBO’s Sex And The City, and it’s one of the first TV dramas to be completely centered around the lives of homosexual characters, or even have prominent homosexual characters - following on the heels of groundbreaking sitcoms such as Ellen (1994) and Will & Grace (1998). The brainchild of UK-born writer and creator Russell T. Davies, Queer As Folk follows the life and times of a group of gay friends as they live out their respective lives in modern-day America…

Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Queer As Folk follows the exploits of a group of gay and lesbian friends who live on or around Liberty Avenue. Most of the scenes take place either in the character’s homes, a local diner, or the popular gay nightclub Babylon. Lindsay Peterson (Thea Gill) and Melanie Marcus (Michelle Clunie) comprise the lone lesbian couple to star in the series, while various gay friends and neighbors such as Brian Kinney (Gale Harold), Michael Novotny-Bruckner (Hal Sparks), Justin Taylor (Randy Harrison), Ted Schmidt (Scott Lowell), Emmett Honeycutt (Peter Paige), etc. deal with each other and their own varying relationships. Composed in a drama/soap opera format, Queer As Folk centers wholly on the careers and lives (including sex, drugs, love, friendships, tragedies, etc.) of its diverse characters, maintaining a specific focus on its attempted realistic portrayal and illustration of the American homosexual lifestyle…

The Queer As Folk (Season 2) DVD features a number of interesting episodes including the season premiere in which we learn that Brian has been visiting Justin in the hospital every night, but he tells the staff not to let Justin know he’s been there. After proper rehab, Justin is released into the care of his mother who lets Brian know that she doesn’t want him to see her son anymore. Meanwhile, Lindsay’s sister gets married and, while in the act of toasting at the reception, Lindsay rocks the boat by proposing to Melanie… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “Episode 210″ in which Michael is distraught with the death of his comic book hero, Captain Astro, and he initializes a campaign to bring him back to life, and “Episode 216″ in which Melanie and Lindsay take Justin to a violin recital where he meets a new love interest…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Queer As Folk (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 23 (Episode 201) Air Date: 01-06-2002
Episode 24 (Episode 202) Air Date: 01-13-2002
Episode 25 (Episode 203) Air Date: 01-20-2002
Episode 26 (Episode 204) Air Date: 01-27-2002
Episode 27 (Episode 205) Air Date: 02-03-2002
Episode 28 (Episode 206) Air Date: 02-10-2002
Episode 29 (Episode 207) Air Date: 02-17-2002
Episode 30 (Episode 208) Air Date: 03-03-2002
Episode 31 (Episode 209) Air Date: 03-10-2002
Episode 32 (Episode 210) Air Date: 03-17-2002
Episode 33 (Episode 211) Air Date: 03-31-2002
Episode 34 (Episode 212) Air Date: 04-07-2002
Episode 35 (Episode 213) Air Date: 04-14-2002
Episode 36 (Episode 214) Air Date: 04-28-2002
Episode 37 (Episode 215) Air Date: 05-05-2002
Episode 38 (Episode 216) Air Date: 05-12-2002
Episode 39 (Episode 217) Air Date: 05-26-2002
Episode 40 (Episode 218) Air Date: 06-02-2002
Episode 41 (Episode 219) Air Date: 06-09-2002
Episode 42 (Episode 220) Air Date: 06-16-2002

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Queer As Folk (Season 2) DVD.

Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there’s more choice in what to watch. If you said to yourself ‘there’s nothing on TV’, switch to satellite. The differences couldn’t be more obvious.

“Satellite is the only service that offers a true digital signal on each and every channel. Cable can not offer true digital quality channels.”

Why is Satellite TV Better Than Cable? So Many Reasons!

Many people don’t realize how much is offered with today’s satellite TV systems, assuming that they will be expensive or difficult to install. Not so! In fact, most of today’s top satellite TV companies such as service providers Dish Network and DirecTV, will come to your home and do the installation at no extra charge once you have a contract.

Your options are also greater with satellite TV vs. cable - most of the larger companies offer their services just about anywhere you can imagine, whether you live high in the mountains, remotely located from the world where no cable reaches, or in a crowded city. Being national companies rather than small, locally owned cable services also means you will benefit from quality service at lower prices. It also ensures you are getting the benefit of state-of-the-art technology. Many cable companies today are either replacing old cable or struggling to keep up while satellite TV providers are forging into the future.

Of course, in the final analysis, it all comes down to quality of programming and service reliability when you compare cable and satellite TV providers.

Cable quality vs. Satellite quality

With the limited bandwidth that cable offers, it’s no wonder the quality is poor. First, the cable wire comes from a hub transmission system somewhere near your home. At source, the signal is passable, but by the time it runs through your community, splitting to each house, the signal has degraded. As the cable is RF (radio frequency) based, it has converted from an audio/video signal (at source) to RF and then needs to re-convert back into audio/video for your television. Along the way, anything broadcasting through the air has tried to get into the cable line and will appear as noise on your TV screen.

The choice is yours. I have had both satellite TV and cable tv and I select the best based on the programming offered by the respective comapnies. In small towns it is a wash on which has the best signal, basiclly because the signal from cable is not split to as many homes as in a larger city.

Keith Londrie II is a well known author. For more information on Satellite TV, please visit Satellite TV for a wealth of information. You may also want to visit keith’s own web site at http://keithlondrie.com/