Digital Technology

As the goods in our daily lives transform from analog to digital, it's hard not to wonder: Where did all our stuff go? We take photos, but the leather albums remain empty. The music collection bulges but requires no space next to the stereo. When "War and Peace" lives on electronic reading devices, it can no longer serve as a doorstop or a sign of being well-read.

Fears of blank TV screens and pixelated shows largely failed to materialize in San Diego on Wednesday as months of public outreach left the vast majority of viewers capable of receiving pictures via the new all-digital broadcasts. Although Congress delayed the digital TV transition until June 12 for most of the country, San Diego's major broadcast stations were among hundreds nationwide that received federal permission to turn off their analog signals early.

Kristina Schauer followed all the instructions to bring the promised benefits of digital television -- clearer reception and more free channels -- to her Santa Monica condominium. The 32-year-old stay-at-home mom bought a converter box, hooked it up to her old 17-inch Toshiba set and attached the rabbit-ears antenna. She then scanned for the digital signals that all Los Angeles stations and most nationwide have been transmitting in advance of turning off their analog broadcasts.

More than a quarter of major U.S. television stations intend to shut down their analog broadcasts Tuesday, sticking to the original date despite legislation backed by the Obama administration that would have let them delay until June. Congress last week gave TV stations until June 12 to shut down analog broadcasts, hoping to give viewers more time to prepare. The Federal Communications Commission said that 491 of the 1,796 full-power TV stations in the country intend to keep the original date.

Federal regulators shepherding the U.S. digital television transition visited Los Angeles on Monday and asked for divine assistance. Broadcasters turn off their analog signals in just over four months, and Federal Communications Commission staffers can't make sure that people buy and set up the converter boxes they'll need for their older TV sets that are hooked up to antennas. Who can? Ministers.

Angelenos with old analog televisions don't have to worry about the major networks making an early leap to all-digital broadcasts. When it approved a four-month delay in the nationwide switch to all-digital transmissions, Congress allowed stations to seek permission from federal regulators to turn off their old analog signals earlier. Hundreds across the country plan to make the switch on the original date, Feb. 17, at least in part to save money. But Michael J.

The move to delay next month's nationwide transition to all-digital broadcast television stalled Wednesday in the House, but supporters expected the measure to pass as soon as next week. A fast-tracked bill to delay the switch until June 12 failed to get the two-thirds majority required for an expedited vote after it passed the Senate on a unanimous voice vote Monday.

If you're still using old-fashioned rabbit ears to watch television, you may be in luck for a few more months. The mandate to switch from old-school analog to new-school digital over-the-air TV is likely to be postponed from Feb. 17 to June 12, if a Senate bill passed Monday makes it through the House, which is scheduled to vote this morning. But it's not quite that simple.

Fifteen years ago, nearly 52,000 Holocaust survivors and witnesses began sharing their stories with a group that would come to be known as the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. The testimonies, averaging about two hours each, were documented on videotape, a format whose quality deteriorates over time.

OMG! POTUS keeps his BB. After facing down his top security advisors, President Obama won the right Thursday to be the BlackBerry user-in-chief. Under an arrangement with security aides, Obama will get a new BlackBerry loaded with software approved by U.S. intelligence officials that lets him communicate with friends, family and close associates without fear of hackers reading his e-mail.