Topics

16

General Discussion / Alternative(s) to The Weather Channel

« on: March 26, 2013, 05:01:51 PM »

With the way things are currently going on The Weather Channel, has anyone here found alternatives for 24/7 weather coverage?

As for me I got the following:

 - NOAA Weather/All Hazards Weather Radio - I'm covered with 2 stations in Dallas and Fort Worth, and I got it set to where it can alert me of any severe weather in Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant Counties.

 - The Local AccuWeather Channel on WFAA-TV - For regular TV viewers it's on channel 8.2. For Time Warner Cable customers: channel 371 (and also channel 8.2 for HDTVs directly connected to cable). For Charter customers: channel 101. And there's even live streaming online here. While this station may not have any smooth jazz music playing during local inserts (a rebroadcast of NOAA Weather Radio airs while they run live radar, plus local video forecasts), it's reliable enough.

17

General Discussion / Bogus EAS "Dead Bodies" Message Tramsmitted

« on: February 11, 2013, 06:55:19 PM »

Apparently, someone in Montana was bored to death and decided to recreate a "Walking Dead" scenario by hacking a TV station's Emergency Alert System for the sole purpose of reporting a fake Zombie Apocalypse.

Someone apparently hacked into the Emergency Alert System and announced on KRTV and the CW that "dead bodies are rising from their graves" in several Montana counties.

This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency.

Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets.

18

General Discussion / Making my YouTube Debut

« on: February 02, 2013, 10:20:31 PM »

This Christmas, I got a new digital camera...a Nikon Coolpix L26 model to be exact. Not only does it take great photos, but it also shoots HD video. That said...prior to this, me and a high school & college friend of mine went and shot an infomercial spoof with my previous camera. We were about to shoot a 2nd infomercial, but we set that aside and came up with ideas for a couple movie trailers. One is a comedy-romance. The other is a horror based on the happenings at the Irving Mall where several popular stores (Barnes & Noble, Sam Goody, FYE, etc.) disappeared in the past 13 years. Upon filming the first few scenes of the "Haunted Mall" trailer, we decided to shoot a scene where he plays 2 characters at once. Here's the video:

"The Haunted Mall" - Abandoned House Scene

It isn't exactly my "debut", I got 2 other videos (one is a promo for the Six Flags Wilhelm Scream miniseries that was supposed to be shot and released last year, but my previous camera had a cracked screen and another was the Billy Mays infomercial spoof). Look for more to come soon as I got these and 4 other video projects in the works.

19

General Discussion / Internet Meltdown?

« on: December 10, 2012, 06:35:03 PM »

At 5PM this evening, Facebook has become inaccessible. So I went and checked the website Down Right Now to find out what's going on. That too has been inaccessible (You know there's trouble on the web when Downrightnow.com is literally Down Right Now. When I finally accessed the site a few moments ago, I saw that Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Gmail, and Hotmail has been having service trouble this evening. (Most of the status messages read "Likely Service Disruption")

Is the internet having a meltdown?

20

General Discussion / Facebook Issue (Need to Vent)

« on: December 06, 2012, 08:17:11 PM »

Early this morning when I was checking my news-feed, a window popped up saying I uploaded photos that "sexually explicit" or does not meet their guidelines and they're not telling me which ones. I reviewed all the photos I uploaded and I never really see anything inappropriate. Unless they're talking about the photos of the Dallas Mavericks Dancers at the Saturday Night basketball game I attended, that's not even close to inappropriate. Besides, there are kids watching and they would never cross the line. I would never cross the line myself. Heaven knows I didn't deserve what I've been put through. But because of such accusations, I'm unable to upload any photos for the next 3 days. Probably, Facebook has changed something they shouldn't have...again.  Or someone found something I posted "offensive" (These days, many people out there take offense to everything). I wanna know what's going on, who started it all and why? There will be no judgement on their part, just a long talking down to. And maybe turn the tables on them and figure out how they would like it if I reported them for all the wrong reasons. I've already written about this to the FB staff.

This wasn't the first Facebook incident. Earlier this year, someone opened up an account with my name and photo pretending to be me. I've already put a stop to that after I spotted it.

Anyone else experienced these kinds of problems?

21

General Discussion / Ambulance "Booted" While on Emergency

« on: December 01, 2012, 12:53:50 PM »

Just when you thought you've seen it all...
Ambulance gets 'booted' while paramedics tend to emergency

NEW ORLEANS - The Quicky's convenience store in Mid-City takes its parking lot rules seriously. Very seriously.

About 4 p.m. Friday, New Orleans paramedics rushed inside the store for a man with a life-threatening medical issue.

They worked on the patient with chest pain, put him inside the vehicle, then started to speed off.

The paramedics “heard a loud noise,” and the vehicle came to a screeching halt, according to Jeb Tate, spokesman for New Orleans Emergency Medical Services.

The medics stepped out and found a boot on their ambulance.

Convenience store employees allegedly put a restrictive parking boot on the ambulance. And now it was stuck.

The paramedics were perplexed.

Tate said the ambulance had its emergency lights on the whole time.

Store employees didn’t want to talk about it. They declined requests for comment.

Apparently one of the employees took the boot off. The tire was left flat.

Full Story

22

General Discussion / 'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dead at 81

« on: November 24, 2012, 12:44:13 AM »

Just when the reboot of "Dallas" was getting good, Larry Hagman passed away. May he R.I.P.

DALLAS -- Larry Hagman, known for more than three decades as oil tycoon J.R. Ewing on the TV show Dallas, died Friday afternoon, News 8 has confirmed.

The Dallas Morning News reports Hagman died at a Dallas hospital with several of his co-stars by his side.

The North Texas native was part of the original Dallas cast that debuted in 1980. The show returned last year on cable, was a hit, and season two was currently being shot in Dallas.

Full Story

23

WeatherSTAR Tech Support / TWC HD Feed/IS2 on SD channel.

« on: November 02, 2012, 10:33:20 AM »

Hi TWC STAR Team. This morning, while at a friend's house in Fort Worth, TX watching TV, I may have noticed that Charter has gone all digital. Have not seen any analog channel on the list. Plus, I see The Weather Channel's HD Feed and IS2 on regular channel 95, letterboxed on the standard channel. Not that I'm complaining, because I finally got to see the IS2 in action, but what happened to the current IntelliStar and SD feed?

Provider: Charter Communications
Location: Fort Worth (City used as headend: Westover Hills)
Local weather ID: 23484
Channel: 95

24

General Discussion / G4TV Ends As We Know It

« on: October 27, 2012, 04:52:49 PM »

Thanks to 'jtmal0723' for posting this story via Facebook:
_________________________________________________

G4 Canceling X-Play, Attack of the Show. Gaming Programming Nixed

G4—the network once known as the go-to destination for video game-friendly programming—is ending its gaming programming. The network is informing its employees in meetings today.

We've heard that G4's major video-game and geek-culture shows, including X-Play and Attack of the Show will be cancelled today by the network. A source close to the situation says that it's not clear if the shows will last through the year or be cancelled immediately. The rumor is that the network will shift to something more like an "Esquire" or "GQ" channel. This aligns with reports that NBC Universal was looking to rebrand the channel as alifestyle network focused on "the modern male."

Full Story and Tweets from current and former Personnel of G4 on this link.
_______________________________________

Although I never watched either show on G4 (I mainly tune in for programs of my interest such as "Ninja Warrior", "Unbeatable Banzuke", and "Proving Ground"), I knew something was afoul with the network the moment they were given a new graphics package overhaul in late May. Not to mention another shift in the channel's programming schedule to this point. I wonder what will happen with "Ninja Warrior" as well as our US Counterpart "American Ninja Warrior".

25

General Discussion / Evacuation ordered at Texas A&M

« on: October 19, 2012, 01:05:17 PM »

As if things here in Texas haven't gone from BAD to WORSE...
_________________________________________________________

COLLEGE STATION (WFAA-TV) - A bomb threat has led to an evacuation at Texas A&M University in College Station.

The university issued a "Code Maroon" that asked students to evacuate "by foot immediately" at around 11:34 a.m. A witness at the scene said students were calmly and slowly evacuating the area.

The evacuation comes a day after Texas State University was evacuated after receiving a similar threat. Three buildings on the campus in San Marcos were evacuated around 9:40 a.m. and students were allowed to return in the early afternoon.

Over the last month, several other universities - including the University of Texas at Austin, North Dakota State and  Louisiana State -  were evacuated based on similar threats. In each case, the universities were later cleared without incident.

Full Story

26

General Discussion / Big Tex Caught On Fire at State Fair of Texas

« on: October 19, 2012, 12:21:16 PM »

Fire leaves Big Tex a skeletal frame

DALLAS (WFAA-TV) - Flames swiftly engulfed Big Tex Friday morning, leaving only a skeletal frame with his hands still intact.

The State Fair of Texas was celebrating Big Tex's 60th birthday.

Mitchell Glieber, vice president of marketing for the State Fair, said it appears the fire was started by an electrical shortage.

"There's obviously some electronics inside of Big Tex that leads to the ability for his mouth to move when he speaks," Glieber said. "I believe there was an electrical short, but that hasn't been confirmed or investigated."

The fire department was on the scene and able to put the fire out within a matter of minutes. However, those at the scene said it only took around five minutes for the fire to quickly engulf the 52-foot figure.

Full Story and Pictures on this Link
_____________________________________________________

Quoting Fair Park, TX on their Facebook page: "Fear not. Like a phoenix, Big Tex will rise again."

27

General Discussion / Got Interviewed on WBAP News/Talk Radio!!

« on: October 15, 2012, 10:47:26 AM »

I meant to post this when I got home on Friday, but I've been busy.

Anyways, Early Friday morning I attended WFAA-TV's News 8 Daybreak Party on the Plaza at Victory Park for TX/OU fans. Not only was I one of many fans featured on the show (you could see me wearing a solid orange Longhorns shirt), but at the end of the broadcast, I was pulled aside for a short interview about the said TX/OU weekend by one of the personnel of WBAP News/Talk 820 AM & 96.7 FM! I was stammering at first as it was a spontaneous thing, but the rest of the interview went by smoothly.

It's too bad the Longhorns got slaughtered (no pun intended) by the Sooners 63-21 the following day. But I gotta say it was a great weekend!

28

General Discussion / Intruder removed from WFAA Dallas studio

« on: September 05, 2012, 03:24:51 PM »

I can think of a few possibilities: One...She's stalking one of the anchors. Two...She's a 1-person "Occupy Channel 8" group. Three...She craves attention. or Four...She's off her meds. Anyway you slice it, this story is bizarre. The staff of WFAA-TV loves it when their viewers visit their studios. This is NOT the best way to go about it.

Link to Story

29

General Weather Chat / Storm Sirens Sit Silent in Garland

« on: March 20, 2012, 08:00:43 AM »

Things get very scary in Garland, TX: Outdoor Warning Sirens in that city sit silent for 4 years after council quits funding repairs on the aging system (VERY stupid move if you ask me  ). After deciding to dismantle the system years ago, city leaders reversed course. Whatever the case, it's definitely one of the many reasons why you should get a NOAA Weather Radio in your home in case outdoor siren neglect happens in your town. Then again sirens are meant to be heard outdoors.

Full Story and Video Courtesy of WFAA-TV

Additionally: Yes, there are other ways to be alerted like apps for your iPad or iPhone. But not everyone can afford that kind of technology.

30

General Discussion / Clear-channel/"Blowtorch" Stations

« on: March 01, 2012, 08:18:00 AM »

Just outta curiosity: What clear-channel (border-blaster or blowtorch) AM stations do you pick up in your area? Clear-channel (not to be confused with Clear Channel Communications) is a type of radio station that extends beyond their coverage at night to dozens of other states. (More info on Wikipedia)

Aside from my local ones; WBAP News/Talk 820 and KRLD NewsRadio 1080, the other stations I picked up so far are:

- KFAQ 1170 - Tulsa, OK
- KMOX 1120 - St. Louis, MO
- WHO 1040 - Des Moines, IA
- XEEP 1060 - Mexico City

There could be a few more signals to find, but I'm hoping to pick up other stations in San Antonio, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and a few other cities.