CONTENT UPDATE and MINOR TYPO Update to Page 252

In the second paragraph under “Television”, the first sentence should read, “In general, liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions use half to one-third less power than tube sets, but there is a lot of variability. “Display” is misspelled.

Also, it’s worth pointing out that a major change is coming to the U.S. television system in February of 2009. The analogue stations that we have relied on since the beginning of television will be going off the air, replaces by digital versions of the same stations. (The digital stations are on the air now, but most people aren’t aware of them.) The offshoot of this change is that ALL of the small portable TV’s currently in use will no longer work. Hopefully someone will develop a battery-operated digital to analogue converter by that time so we’ll be able to use the small sets, but that’s not at all certain.

New table-top sets already come with a digital tuner (for the most part), so they will work fine with a generator or other back-up power source. And, the reception you get using rabbit ears to receive the digital stations will, in most cases, be much better than you ever saw in the analogue world. Post-storm communications may take a hit, however, until this is sorted out.