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HEY BLACKMAGIC USERS: Update your camera software

If you have a Blackmagic camera, you owe it to yourself to update it. You can download the latest camera software here. You’ll find the Blackmagic Camera Software as one of the downloads. It may not be at the top of the list depending on when you read this. But it’s worth the time and effort to do it. Really? Now my camera needs an update? I’ll be really honest with you, friends. I didn’t want to believe it either. After all, we surround ourselves with things that need updates. Two decades ago you would buy something and then it would just work as intended, for the entire time you get it. Now, if it has a plug it probably has an update every few months. It’s to the point where I have a laptop I just take out once a month to keep it...
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Smart Healthcare: Improving Patient’s Well Being

With the advent of the digital age, smart healthcare services founded on the next wave of information technologies have become increasingly essential in improving resident health quality. Using a two-way fixed effects model, this research experimentally investigated the influence of regional smart healthcare services on local health and the underlying mechanism. There has been a surge in scholarly interest in healthcare service innovation in recent years. Superior healthcare services can lay the groundwork for national prosperity and social stability. However, the current conventional healthcare service system is naturally hampered by spatial limitations and unequal division of healthcare resources, rendering it impotent to react to...
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ViaSat-3 is a reimagined internet satellite on a mission to connect everyone, everywhere.

ViaSat-3 is designed to expect the unexpected when it comes to bandwidth flexibility Reprinted with permission from the Viasat blog. What is ViaSat-3 With the successful launch of ViaSat-3 Americas, ViaSat-3 is expected to be nimble enough to move bandwidth to where it’s needed most. With two more satellites expected to round out the full ViaSat-3 constellation, it is important to look back on how far we have come, starting with ViaSat-1. Before ViaSat-1 came on the scene, communications satellites had low bandwidth capacity and were not really designed to scale to meet consumer, business, and government needs. Viasat saw an opportunity to push the industry forward by maximizing existing technology to create ViaSat-1, then...
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Tips for Operating a Successful Marina

Marina owners should always look for ways to make their business more attractive to boaters and boat owners. While it seems that a lot goes into operating a thriving marina, your success comes down to two things: services and amenities. Does your business offer the best of both? You’ll know it when you do because your guests will keep coming back. To help you operate the best marina you can, Signal Connect lists the top marina services and amenities for freshwater and saltwater businesses. We also offer help in a few key areas of marina services. Check it out! The Best Marina Services As you know, marina services describes what you have to offer your guests and their vessels. Fuel isn’t the only thing these boats and boat...
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STREAMING SATURDAY: Will Prime Video make it?

It has been a fairly long time since I had anything positive to report about the streaming world. I hate to be Mr. Pessimism folks, I really do. But I call them as I see them. I think streaming video started with such promise, but the economics really never made sense. The whole streaming world was built on the idea that if you get enough subscribers, then it doesn’t matter if you lose money on each one. Sooner or later that whole thing was going to fall in on itself, and let’s be honest: it has. Prices are jumping up by double digits, content is being cut, and profits are still way down. Except for Amazon. Amazon doesn’t report profits from Prime Video, because it’s a free service essentially. It’s a benefit of subscribing to Prime...
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5 Reasons Small Business Owners Should Be Excited About 5G

Reprinted with permission from the weBoost blog. 5G technology is a game-changer not only for individual users but also for the American economy. Current data estimates from the American Consumer Institute expect 5G to generate up to $1.5 trillion in additional gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, creating 4.6 million new jobs during that timeframe. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce expects small busiensses to be among the biggest beneficiaries of 5G’s improved connectivity and data capabilities, enabling them to tap into cloud computing, more robust online presence, and better operational efficiency. A survey conducted by Verizon found that 96% of small and medium-sized business owners believe 5G will have a positive impact on their...
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How can Xfinity advertise 10G service?

Because marketing that’s why. Before I get any further into this article, let me explain something. There’s no law in the US that defines what “3G,” “4G,” or “5G” even mean. There’s no law stopping you from advertising a cell phone that gets 100G if you wanted to. The only law that really governs any of this stuff is the law that says you have to deliver what you promise to deliver. There’s nothing about misleading names. Got it? Let’s dive into what’s really going on then. What is a “G” anyway? The first cellular network in this country was built in the 1970s. Before that point, there were phones you could put in your car, but they were really just two-way radios. You’d contact a mobile operator who would place the call for you. The...
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Megabit? Megabyte? Is there a difference?

Marketing is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? It’s the art of giving you just enough information to make the wrong impression. There are marketers out there who willingly trade on what you think you know to make you buy something they don’t even understand. Take the curious case of megabits, megabytes, and mebibytes. Mebibytes you say? What the frack is a mebibyte? Most people haven’t heard of them so don’t feel bad. Here’s a way you can amaze your friends at the same time turn off telemarketers. Let’s start with the basics. At the heart of it all is the bit. Bit is supposed to stand for “binary digit” but you know that’s made up — you know that the funny-cigarette-smoking computer guys in the 60s just came up with a food-oriented...
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FUN FRIDAY: Marantz PMD 420

If you’re looking for proof that the internet has pretty much everything you’ll ever look for… here it is. I was thinking today about the Marantz PMD 420. I happened to use this particular device at a job back in the 1980s and I remember it with great affection. At the time, Marantz was not a well known brand, but they made some of the toughest audio products out there. The sound was pretty good as well, as good as you were going to get from cassette tape. The 420 was one of several devices from Marantz that were built on the same chassis. The 420 was near the top of the line, with stereo recording and every adjustment you could possibly want. For a portable device, it didn’t skimp. It had backlighting that you could turn off if you...
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: When our office staff worked hard

Back in 2013, we put up a video showing our office staff in action. At that time we were evaluating a little turntable and app designed to do time-lapse videos and this seemed like a good way to put it through its paces. It’s fun to look at this video now. A lot of the staff are still with us but back in 2017 we moved into a new location that’s about four times the size. You can see even in 2013 that we were busting at the seams and believe me the crowding only got worse from there. The video is also a reminder that the internet keeps everything forever. Sure, I could delist that video. I could take it down but chances are it’s cached somewhere. So, friends, be careful what you post. We’re proud of what we looked like five years ago...
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For gosh sakes, ground your equipment

Looking back, the last time I nagged you about grounding was back in October 2022. So that’s on me. I try to mention it at least once a quarter because it’s so important. Here we are in June and I’m just getting around to it. But hey, the warm weather is here so you have no excuse to wait any longer. Why you should ground your outdoor equipment The principle of grounding has been with us for a bit over 300 years, ever since the experiments that proved that lightning and electricity are the same thing. At that time it was proven that if you gave lightning an attractive place to strike, it would. And, if you took that attractive place and ran a wire down to the ground, the electricity would travel down that wire and dissipate...
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Is prime-time TV dead?

I was inspired to write this article by two things. The first was a random factoid that caught my attention. Back in the early days of television, I Love Lucy would commonly score a 40 rating. What that means is that 40% of all the humans in the country, whether or not they even owned a TV, were watching that show as it aired live. And this was the run-of-the-mill rating, not like a special event or something. Today, it’s very uncommon for any broadcast TV show to get more than a 3 rating. That’s a huge difference. The second was this article at CordCutters News. It confirms that trend by pointing out that even if you look at a network-by-network basis the numbers are just appalling. And that’s what led to the headline of this...
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Best of the Blog 2022, Volume 12

The Solid Signal Blog is your resource for thousands of articles and reviews, with new content coming every day. 2023 marks our seventeeth year since our humble beginnings, and today over 250,000 people read the blog every month. Every month, the staff gets together and gathers articles that really seem like they have long-term appeal. Here’s the list for December, 2022: FROM OUR CUSTOMERS: How can you get Channel 2 with a UHF antenna? Off topic: The history of Breakout, and why I owe Larry Leppert an apology Which Solid Signal Rover Duo should you choose? NICE AND EASY: Can you take your antenna with you when you travel? What is an anechoic chamber? What accessories are available for the Solid Signal Rover Duo? The right replacement...
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Will a cell phone signal booster help my GPS?

When someone asked me this question, my first thought was all the way back to that 1980s sitcom, Perfect Strangers. You know, the one where the catchphrase was “don’t be ridiculous.” But the more I thought about it, I came to a surprising conclusion. Chances are, a cell booster will help your GPS. At least the GPS you’re likely to actually use. GPS is… The Global Positioning System is one of those things we rarely think about but it’s an incredible invention. A constellation of satellites all over the world have only one purpose. (Well, one purpose we know of. There are probably military things going on.) Their purpose is to broadcast out the time in precise increments. That’s all they do. On the ground, a GPS receiver listens to...
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Marine Satellite TV: Fraud and Misclassification

Marine electronics installers, we have to talk to you about the serious issue of fraud and misclassification associated with satellite TV installations! Have you ever heard of anyone getting into trouble for misclassification or fraud associated with marine satellite TV use? It actually happens quite a bit. Since DIRECTV became part of the AT&T family, the corporation’s team of lawyers is focused upon issues of compliance. This means they’re going after people who violate the DIRECTV’s installation agreements. This is why it’s so important for marine electronics installers to make sure your accounts are properly classified. Since this can be a tricky issue, we’ve taken the time to explain a few things for the benefit of marine...
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