HD Radio: Taking The Radio Industry To The Next Level

At some point in your life, radio has most likely played a large role in delivering music and news (local, world, sports, etc.) to you. However, it seems that with the growing popularity of downloading music from the internet as well as obtaining news from websites and other mediums, that the radio industry is becoming obsolete. Fortunately for every radio disc jockey in the world, radio is not dead, it's just evolving.

The radio industry is finally upgrading with a new service known as HD Radio. This service is basically changing the way AM and FM radio signals are transmitted. The standard method of radio broadcasting has been analog, but HD Radio bundles analog signals with digital signals to produce an amazing new quality of audio. HD Radio works almost the same as traditional radio broadcasting, but it guarantees crystal clear and static free audio. Previously, AM and FM transmissions were interrupted by buildings, airplanes, mountains, and inclement weather. HD Radio provides an uninterrupted service that is extremely high quality and flexible. One of the best qualities of HD Radio is that it is completely free! Of course, listeners would need to purchase a HD Radio receiver or have a vehicle already equipped with the technology to receive digital transmissions. HD Radio receivers are typically inexpensive and are available for the car, portable, and the home. The only question that remains unanswered is why you haven't upgraded to HD Radio yet?  

 

Arguably, analog radio has become archaic and is no longer able to provide the quality and performance that is expected in today's fast paced technological world. People want the music and information that they are interested in now. They do not want to wait hours for their favorite song to be played on the radio or listen to a college football game with scratchy and unrecognizable audio. The people deserve better and so does the radio industry. HD Radio provides the listener with a greater variety of formats to choose from. This is due to multicasting, where a radio station can broadcast multiple formats on different "channels" at the same time. For example, a radio station can broadcast country music hits as well as a talk show during the same time slot. Thus, giving the listener multiple options to choose from. 

The HD Radio service not only delivers amazing sound quality and multiple listening options, but also physically enhances the radio experience. A new feature that has been added to HD Radio is the "Artist Experience". This gives the listener a visual and audio component. Listeners can view images that are related to the broadcast such as album cover art. In addition to the images, listeners are also able to see the name of the artist and song that is currently playing.

Should you choose HD Radio over other services like satellite radio or traditional analog radio? The answer is simple; choose what makes sense for you. Maybe you can not afford a new HD Radio receiver or perhaps analog radio has never failed you. What is certain is that HD Radio is changing the way we receive radio broadcasts. It is an upgrade not only for the radio industry but also for our world. Whether you are a fan of HD Radio or not, it is clear that this has allowed radio to progress and has provided a much needed life preserver to keep the radio industry afloat in this rapidly evolving world.      

  

Filter Failure Is Putting Our Future At Risk

Should society focus on addressing information overload or filter failure?
     Today's world is plagued by emerging as well as stagnant information that is constantly forcing itself into our everyday lives. Our lives are being flooded with information and there is not much that we can do to escape it. It has become natural for us to intake thousands of pieces of information everyday. When did it become "normal" for the world to know information like where President Barack Obama ate lunch today or even information about how I was feeling after having my wisdom teeth removed? Everyday, people are throwing fragments of their life on top of the already huge mountain of information that is open to the public. Society should not be concerned about the growing amount of information, but rather focus on addressing filtering the increasing amount of information.
   
     Filter failure is becoming a major concern in today's world. The problem is not only trying filtering what information we come into contact with, but also filtering what information we send out into the world. We must protect ourselves and our families when engaging in social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook, because it is becoming more evident that not everyone is our "friend". The number of identity thefts linked to social networking mediums is growing rapidly. Posting or writing about personal information online is somewhat common and acceptable to a certain extent. However, there is always a risk of divulging too much information. When people open up their lives on the internet, they are also opening themselves up to the risk of attracting stalkers, scammers, identity theives, etc. There are already good measures that people can take such as reading and understanding privacy settings and limiting the amount of personal content that is available to the public online. "According to Consumer Reports Social networking sites typically offer varying degrees of privacy, yet one-quarter of Facebook households either did not know of them or chose not to use them." In some ways we are becoming our own worst enemy by not paying attention to what information we send out into the world and what information we invite into our world. It is necessary to be aware of the risks involved when displaying personal content on the internet, but it is of great importance that we repair society's filtering system to protect us from oursleves. 

  http://www.examiner.com/identity-theft-in-nashville/revealing-too-much-information-on-social-networks-can-lead-to-id-theft