Mike Cassidy, columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, has a nice article on Dick Baughman's career as a TV antenna installer. In Dick's Antenna is a Silicon Valley throwback Cassidy notes, "And he's still going, buoyed by a little antenna renaissance owing to two technological leaps and one bad economy. When the FCC last year ordered broadcasters to switch to digital broadcast signals, local stations started putting out crisp, clear signals; including high-definition options. Consumers realized they could receive superb local signals for free. Add in the strain of hefty cable or satellite bills and over-the-air TV was looking pretty good." I liked this comment from one viewer Baughman helped, "He's not like Silicon Valley celebrities, the CEOs who have more money than they know what to do with and all they know to do is go get some more. He feels proud that he did a good job and he doesn't need any more stuff."
Having trouble finding an open parking spot? Jose Lopez Vicario, Antoni Morelli and their research group at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona Department of Telecommunications and Systems Engineering at the School of Engineering may have a solution: a network of wireless sensors capable of detecting unoccupied spaces outdoor and a central server that guides cars to the spaces. See New system helps locate car park spaces on Eurekalert.org.
