Subj : newspaper was: moving or To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Thu Mar 12 2020 12:29:00 Hi Nancy! NB>> (Still lots of overquoting...) BM> But it said I was using only 6%! NB> I was referring to mine... It's more the wanting to have the NB> reply start on the first page, as far as I'm concerned.... :) NB> And sometimes one just can't snip too much without losing the NB> sense of the thread... Agree with the 'snippage loss'; sometimes difficult to figure out how to abbreviate what had been said. The good news is I don't think we have to worry about dial-up charges and running up the bill. Not saying some people aren't using dial-up but if they are probably have subscribed to the flat-rate usage option. NB>> And actually, the FM announcers on WXXI are sometimes contributing NB>> feature stories for the more comprehensive news on the AM station(s)... BM> So all working together. NB> Exactly. :) NB>>> For weather, I think that the FM is getting it from one of the NB>>> commercial stations weathermen.... I had thought it was directly NB>>> from NWS, but one of the substitute announcers has been giving NB>>> credit to one of the commercial stations... WXXI is, though, the NB>>> station to turn to when there's the weather warnings from the NB>>> Emergency Broadcast Network. BM>> Yes - I generally don't listen to OTA radio except for snippets when BM>> in the bathroom or driving so not a suitable sampling. NB>> That's pretty much all I listen to, is OTA.... BM> The commercials and limited playlist tend to drive us away from OTA BM> radio. (Broadcast TV has a lot of commercials too but most of the BM> shows get recorded and can fast forward.) Both of us are more into BM> "Oldies" and "Adult Contemporary 100 [AC100])" but the local/in-town BM> oldies station changed format some time back, which created a large BM> listener uproar. Next-closest station (30-40 miles) happened to also BM> be considering a format change but held off; they eventually changed BM> formats. Low-power FM stations maybe 20 miles from here 'steps in' - BM> they have sort of an odd format: oldies for a few minutes, then BM> country (not country-western), a lot of talk. NB> Ah, well... Your interests are enough different from mine that I NB> can see where you'd have more of a problem... My station, being NB> public radio, has no commercials, and with live local announcers NB> with a good library has a much less limited playlist... but, on NB> the other hand, it's classical music, not "oldies" or "adult NB> contemporary"... :) Different people, different preferences. Makes for a good balance. :) Do have a few 'lite classical' playing on my Pandora station. ...Not sure if this one counts: Beethoven played by the Piano Guys. And I'll pop this one in while I think of it: did stop at the gas station on the way home; no coffee-flavoured M&Ms yet. The woman who was to order was off but the other woman knew all about it. Vendor was in last Monday (of this week) so might have been ordered/requested. And the woman I talked to also likes the coffee-flavoured M&Ms. BM>> Business-wise would make sense to create an alliance: TV has to have BM>> people on-air to present the news and do some gathering. Radio could BM>> take advantage of the TV people when they're not on the air. Any BM>> station really into the news could work with other stations to provide BM>> the information plus make a bit of additional income. NB>> That may be happening with the commercial stations, but I don't think NB>> so much with the public broadcasting stations... Although there might NB>> be some sort of cooperative deal with local reporters sharing local NB>> news among themselves... BM> Might be. There is some sort of cooperation betweeen the Iowa-side BM> newspaper and an Iowa-side TV station. And then the same TV station BM> also reported on at least one of the I Heart Media affiliated BM> stations, though recently switched to an Iowa-side all-news AM station. NB> Recently the Public stations group here took in an independent NB> local newspaper.... which added more local reporters to their NB> "stable"... So far the local semi-independentpublic station has its own news crew. (Might be just a crew of one or two!). Saw their microphone with nameplate on a story covered by a local TV station. Hmm: just thought of something: the radio station is affliated with a local university. Their news crew might be students getting their radio lab credit! BM> The local FOX station used to do the newscasts for another FOX station BM> - forgot where but IIRC was in one of the Southern states. That BM> stopped, some time later the local FOX newsteam was gone, think there BM> was no news for a while, then the folks from the local NBC station were BM> doing the news and now the local CBS station. (Confused yet?!) NB> It certainly isn't non-convoluted, to be sure... It isn't! BM>> And like your WXXI there are a few stations to change to when something BM>> major is going on. One may not be as good now: they had staff cuts BM>> with the last I-Heart-Media slash so more automated. Still physically BM>> part of a nine studio complex, so maybe "flip a switch" and simulcast. NB>> What I was trying to say is that WXXI is the designated station to NB>> turn to for emergencies... when that EBS test message comes out, and NB>> says, if this was an actual emergency, you'd be told where to tune NB>> to... WXXI 91.5 is the one that would be designated for people NB>> listening to the other stations... :) BM> Ah! Misread and misinterpreted that one. Not sure what is done here: BM> I don't recall the test announcements indicating a specific station BM> would be used. NB> I think the specific station is only designated in the case of an NB> actual emergency.... That's possible. ... Checking on-line -- somehow got to Spokane Washington's list so backed up the web pages a bit, got to Davenport but then didn't see where the listing might be -- will finish this and check later. BM>> Locally radio seems better for traffic-related issues and TV for BM>> weather. NB>> Here there seems to be a traffic service that shows up on a computer NB>> at the station, from which the announcers tell where the tie-ups NB>> are... shared amongst all the local stations, I think.... Not really NB>> sure where the weather information is really coming from... BM> The dartboard in the back room! As for traffic reports on TV it BM> appears the video feeds are coming from IDOT (Iowa Department of BM> Transportation), which AFAIK also has several cameras on the Illinois BM> side of bridges over the Mississippi. Illinois' Department of BM> Transportation has a similar website. The TV stations do use both BM> websites depending on what's happening: will display three or four BM> 'constants' - almost always the Last Iowa Exit which gives it on the BM> hill and gives a good view of the general I-74 traffic, etc. Use an BM> Avenue of the Cities camera if a traffic snarl on the Illinois side BM> instead of the no-problems view of some intersection on the Iowa side. NB> I think we might have a local company that produces the traffic NB> reports... TV seems to get pictures (from the few times I've NB> happened to see), radio just a listing of where the accidents or NB> tieups (or major construction starting) are, which the announcers NB> read on the air... And I think they are using helicoptors over NB> the city to get at least some of that.... ;) Maybe that explains the evening helicopter! AFAIK not big enough to need helicopters to report traffic conditions; most if not all are medical usage. NB>>> Typewriting is a useful skill, though... ;) If nothing else, it'll NB>>> make them more proficient on their computers.... and appreciate NB>>> cut-and-paste and easy corrections on the fly more... ;) BM>> Right: seemed the need to plan ahead was the 'fun' part. Accuracy BM>> (spelling and the like) was up there too: maybe almost like a BM>> dictionary version of a target game: have to hit the right key to get BM>> 'points', the word on the paper correctly. Misspell or wrong order and BM>> no points. NB>> Back when I actually took a typing class, I was pretty good... until NB>> the teacher wouldn't let me look at my hands anymore... :) Typing on NB>> the computer in the dark actually helped my skills more than anything NB>> else... I still might look at my hands occasionally, but don't need NB>> to nearly so much... ;) BM> I pretty much also have to look at where my hands (and therefore BM> fingers) are in relation to where they are to the keyboard. Might be BM> able to look less at the keyboard if I wasn't a two-to-four-finger- BM> thumb-spacer typist. That's just the way I type and generally works BM> out rather well. NB> Yeah... I'm still not a proper touch-typist... but can ofter do NB> the corrections without recourse to looking... just keep trying NB> until I get it right.... "R - no! Y - no! 6 - no! T - yea!!!!" ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... His touch exhausted, all that King Midas touched turned to mufflers. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .