satellites

Cable box or satellite box, DVR or digital media receiver, it's important to set the output resolution so it looks best with your TV.

But what looks best with your TV?

The answer is probably easier to find than you'd imagine.… Read more

"When humanity disappears, a ring of dead spacecraft will remain as evidence of our existence."

That comforting thought is how nonprofit arts group Creative Time introduces a project by multimedia artist Trevor Paglen to put a photo time capsule in space, where it will orbit our planet for thousands of years, perhaps long after we've blown each other up or otherwise expired. … Read more

PC-TV Free Satellite TV Viewer is a stripped-down program that supposedly offers a free preview of a for-pay online satellite TV service. Though the for-pay service claims more than 3,000 channels, this program is limited to 10 channels, with no ability to edit or change the selections. While some of the channels the freeware includes seem impressive -- such as ESPN, BBC News, and Bloomberg US -- others are less so. For instance, ABC 12 Minneapolis is great if you're in or from Minnesota; likewise FOX 8 New Orleans. But since we couldn't get any of the … Read more

I love Internet radio. Pandora, Slacker, Spotify -- they're all wonderful in their own ways, and not simply because they're free.

But SiriusXM? That's the satellite radio service for cars, right? Turns out there's also SiriusXM Internet Radio service, one you can enjoy on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or the like.

It normally costs a somewhat laughable $14.49 per month (a Pandora subscription runs $36 per year), but right now, you can get a free year of SiriusXM Internet Radio. Just click the link, supply your name and e-mail address (the CHEVY1YR promo code should … Read more

If you're looking for a bit of an escape on a Friday afternoon, you can probably get away with it thanks to some more updates to Google Maps and Earth.

Google announced today that it's rolling out an "extensive refresh" for its high-resolution aerial and satellite images, which are viewable on both Google Maps and Google Earth.

The aerial collection will be updated in more than 20 locations across the United States and Europe while satellite imagery is being boosted in over 60 regions worldwide.

Furthermore, the image collection is going to include new 45 degree … Read more

Dish Network is reportedly preparing to roll out a nationwide satellite-based broadband service this fall, ramping up competition with cable companies.

While Dish already offers satellite broadband to select areas as part of a partnership with communications company ViaSat, the new service would utilize a satellite recently launched by Dish sister company EchoStar, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.

The satellite, which was launched last month, can support download speeds of 15 megabits per second and can handle about 2 million new Internet customers, the sources told Bloomberg. However, speeds may be limited to 5 megabits per second to … Read more

In 1971, the KH-9 Hexagon was the United States' most advanced spy device -- a brand-new photographic reconnaissance satellite as large as a school bus and carrying more than 60 miles of high-resolution photographic film for surveillance missions.

The 6-inch wide Hexagon film frame captured a field of view of about 370 miles, with a resolution of about 2 to 3 feet, according to the National Reconnaissance Office.

Before today's digital technology, the film images were sent back to Earth in recoverable return capsules. Having entered the Earth's atmosphere, the canisters deployed a parachute, and were then snagged … Read more

The first Landsat satellite went into orbit 40 years ago today, and during the past four decades, a series of seven different "birds" have trained a watchful eye on Earth from just about the most wicked vantage point around.

The program's youngest eye in the sky, Landsat 7, has been flying since 1999 and will be joined next year by the next-generation Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite, or LDCM. The LDCM features up-to-date thermal infrared sensors and land-imaging equipment that will make it a full-blown orbiting observatory.… Read more

I've been a Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber for ages, but I'm ready to pull the plug. I still think some of the music and talk channels are pretty good, but the sound quality has always been iffy. The treble sounds like it's underwater; it "swishes" and sounds garbled. I got around that by playing Sirius over my Tivoli PAL table radio, and since the PAL doesn't have a tweeter it softens the sound enough to make Sirius less irritating. The Tivoli is also on the other side of the room, and that helps to … Read more