One year from now, February 17, 2009, analog TV broadcasts will cease entirely in the US. The switchover to digital systems is going on now. What do you need to know to get ready? Wired has a simple overview of who will be affected and how you can prepare yourself for completely digital TV.

Most U.S. TV stations already broadcast digital signals as well as analog. What's happening a year from Sunday is they'll switch off the analog signals. No one with cable or satellite service will be affected, nor will anyone who gets stations over the air with a newer TV with a digital tuner.

http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/D/DIGITAL_TV_TRANSITION?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-02-16-14-51-51

(image credit: AP/Matt Rourke)

PS: In the UK, analog TV will cease on different dates for different regions, with the last signals ceasing in 2012. -Thanks, violet/riga!

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Evan Jake does an impression of his dad on the phone with the cable company. -via Consumerist

I Can Has Cheezburger hosted a marriage proposal on Thursday. In a series of LOLcats, Jon popped the question to Loretta. It was later updated with more LOLcat images to verify that she did, indeed, accept. Link -via Geek Like Me

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This is something I never thought about before, but there are many ways to count cash. People in different parts of the world use somewhat different styles. How do YOU count your cash? -via the Presurfer

Major Brian Dennis adopted an abused mixed-breed dog in Anbar Province, Iraq. He named the dog Nubs because his ears had been cut off. Dennis nursed Nubs back to health over four months, but then he was ordered to move his squadron 70 miles away. Two days later, Nubs rejoined Dennis! The dog had tracked him down despite 18 degree weather and rough terrain. But the major received orders to get rid of the dog within four days or he would be shot. Dennis started an email campaign to save Nubs that raised three thousand dollars within a couple of days, and battled bureaucratic difficulties to get the dog out of Iraq across the Jordanian border. Nubs will be flown to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, where a fighter pilot will care for him until Dennis can come home. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Thorsten Dziomba)
To mark the 25th anniversary of the development of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), a contest was founded called SPMage07 to showcase the wonderful nanoscale images made with this technology. Wired has a gallery of nine of the images. This one shows GeSi quantum dots, a mere 15 nanometers high and 70 nanometers in diameter. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/02/nano_gallery_jmm

Dutch designer Katharina Ludwig presents a line of jewelry made of ice! There are ice earrings and a ring as well as necklaces. Of course, each piece must be remade every time you wear it. Could be a real hit for women suffering from hot flashes. http://www.kathyludwig.com/index.php/2008/02/03/ice-jewellery/ -via Unique Daily

The Naked Cowboy has filed a $6 million lawsuit against Mars. Times Square busker Robert Burk says the candy maker stole his image for a massive video billboard featuring an M&M wearing a cowboy hat, boots, and briefs.

"All I've got is my underwear. It's the most brilliant thing that's ever been created from a marketing perspective. You can't stop it," said Burck, 37, who said he filed suit on the advice of lawyers and trademark experts.

The M&M appears for a few seconds in a five-minute looping advertisement that also features other New York icons. The case will be heard in Manhattan federal court. Burck began his career as a street performer in 1998, and has appeared on numerous TV shows and music videos. Link -via YesButNoButYes

These stick-on eyes will make you seem alert while you get some real shut eye at your desk! Too bad I couldn’t find out who is actually selling these. Link

It takes real bravado to convince people they should give you money because you are royalty, or because you need an airplane, or because you can protect them from other scammers. Cracked looks at the most outrageous schemers in history, as well as the profits they made and they price they paid... or not. Link

Cookie Monster recently paid a visit to NPR’s New York studios. In an interview, he answered questions from James Lipton’s version of the Proust questionnaire. The interview was captured on video, and accompanies a biography of Cookie Monster. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18659731 -via YesButNoButYes

David Prowse, who played Darth Vader’s body in three Star Wars movies, is a bodybuilder and fitness trainer. He auditioned for the first Superman movie, but was passed over in favor of Christopher Reeve. However, Prowse was hired as a personal trainer to get Reeve into shape for the part. Prowse was touched by Reeve’s 1995 riding accident and saddened by his death in 2004. Now, at age 72, Prowse is involved with Walk Once More, a charity dedicated to spinal cord injury research.

He says, “I suppose I’m carrying on Chris’s legacy. It’s a privilege to have known him, and to now be involved with Walk Once More. My friend never did walk again, but someday we’ll find a way to cure this terrible affliction.”

Link -via Digg

Also see Prowse’s website.

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It’s interesting to see the strategies different species use to operate.
Cat: Back off or I’ll fight! I’m warning you!
Raccoon: I don’t know anything about fighting. I’ll just take the food.

-via Cynical-C

Many of the Valentines Day roses presented in Europe are grown in Ethiopia. Over 100,000 roses are exported each day! And the custom of giving flowers is catching on domestically. Floriculture is one of Ethiopia’s fastest-growing industries, because the government makes it easy for flower companies to obtain land and startup loans. National Geographic has a video report on Ethiopian roses. Link

Read the stories behind the development of classic videogame characters Donkey Kong, Mario, Sonic, and of course Pac-Man.

Japanese game designer Toru Iwatani was 26 when he invented the timeless masterpiece. In the original Japanese release, our star was called “Puckman” which was just a wee bit too close to a certain English swear word for the developers’ liking. Thus, “Pac-Man” emerged. His name is derived from the Japanese slang term ‘paku paku,’ which describes the motion of the mouth opening and closing while eating, and in the literal English translation means “to eat.”

Link