New England Patriots Game To be Simulcast

The New England Patriots' shot at history Saturday night will be available for every household in the country with a television after months of wrangling.

The game against the New York Giants, in which the Patriots could become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in the regular season, was originally scheduled to be shown only on the NFL Network, which is available in fewer than 40 percent of the nation's homes with TVs.

The league announced Wednesday that the NFL Network feed will be simulcast on NBC and CBS. It's a major concession by league officials, who repeatedly said they would not show the game anywhere but the NFL Network. The NFL had faced mounting pressure from lawmakers in recent weeks to make the game available to more viewers.

Local TV affiliates in the Boston, Manchester, N.H., and New York areas who were already set to simulcast the game under NFL policy will still air it.

The NFL has feuded with major cable companies, who have declined to carry the network as part of basic packages.

"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."

This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC both televised the first meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.

Older OnStar Systems To Go Offline In February

The network that launched the U.S. wireless industry with brick-sized - and brick-heavy - cell phones 24 years ago will switch off in most of the country next year, leaving a surprising number of users in the lurch.

Older OnStar systems for cars, home alarms and up to a million cell phones will lose service starting in February under a 2002 federal decision that allows carriers to switch the spectrum over from analog to digital technologies, which would use it more efficiently.

The shutdown has caught some customers by surprise, including some owners of the approximately 500,000 cars whose handsfree emergency OnStar service can't be upgraded to digital.

Adele Rothman of Scarsdale, N.Y., who said she bought her teenage son a new Saab in 2003 specifically for its OnStar, had no idea the car's system would stop working in five years. But General Motors Corp., which owns OnStar, did - and it knew the system would be impossible to upgrade, like many others of model year 2004 and older.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. and Alltel Corp. are the largest carriers that still have analog networks. Alltel will take more time than Verizon and AT&T to close its network, shutting down in three stages ending in September. Each carrier will keep its portion of the newly available spectrum.

A few rural cellular providers may keep their networks up. Plateau Wireless, which provides service in eastern New Mexico and western Texas, will maintain its analog network alongside a digital one "for the foreseeable future," according to Chief Executive Tom Phelps.

Many of the company's 75,000 customers are farmers and ranchers, and the network's superior range helps them because it fills gaps in the digital network. The larger carriers say their digital buildout will cover any gaps left by the demise of analog service.

Commercial service on the analog network, also known as the Advanced Mobile Phone Service, or AMPS, began in 1983; it was the first time coverage areas were divided into smaller areas known as cells, a move that boosted call capacity tremendously and made the modern wireless industry possible.

Even after 2002, the analog network still had the widest range, so analog wireless functions were built into millions of devices from automated meter readers, to irrigation controls and truck-tracking systems. Devices like this are the ones that will be most affected by the shutdown, while cell phones are cheap and easy to replace.

The consumer products most affected by the analog sunset, aside from cars, are home alarms. The Alarm Industry Communications Committee surveyed member companies after the Federal Communications Commission's 2002 decision and found that just under a million home alarm systems used analog cellular to communicate with alarm centers. For most, the cellular link was a backup to a landline, but for 138,000 homes, the analog network was the only link to an alarm center.

The AICC doesn't know how many systems have been converted since then, said Chairman Louis Fiore, but he believes 400,000 systems still use analog service, most as a backup.

"The larger (alarm) companies are in pretty good shape. There are so many smaller companies out there that are probably, I'd say, in denial. They just don't know about it," Fiore said.

To complicate things, some alarm systems advertised as "digital" actually use a digital subchannel of the analog network. True digital alarm system modems did not become available until 2006, according to the AICC.

According to the FCC, many analog alarms that have not been replaced by the time the network is shut down will start beeping to warn that they've lost the connection to the alarm center.

The Central Station Alarm Association, an alarm industry group and the parent of the AICC, tried unsuccessfully to get the FCC to delay the analog sunset.

Rapid development in the field means a faster, better technology always lurks just around the corner tempting carriers to upgrade - raising the prospect that future digital technologies will have even shorter lifespans than the analog network.

"If you've got a product that's going into the market for five years, for 10 years, for 15 years, how do you pick a technology that's going to be around that long?" asked Chris Purpura, senior vice president of marketing at Aeris Communications.

Aeris, in San Jose, runs a control center that manages automated wireless communications for alarm companies, trucking fleets, manufacturers and utilities. As late as last year, more than a million of its clients' devices, like remote-readable electricity meters and refrigerated shipping containers, used the analog network.

Purpura said the next generation of wireless devices could be 10 times as big, making the challenge of the next transition even greater. He said GPRS, or General Packet Radio Service, could be the next network to go, since this relatively slow second-generation digital technology isn't compatible with newer cellular broadband networks.

"I don't think anyone wants to go through this again in five years," Purpura said.

Holiday Party Planning Tips

Comparison auto insurance agency, Insurance.com, has some helpful holiday party planning tips to help you plan a safe holiday party this year:

Limit your guest list to people you know well and know how they typically act and drink in a social environment.
Invite guests that know each other. Guests that are on their own might be apt to drink more versus guests that know a couple of people at the party.
Greet each guest personally and offer to take coats and keys as they enter the house. This will prevent any potential problems later in the night as you try to take the keys away from a guest who may have had too much to drink.
Stay sober. The only way you can properly determine if a guest has had too much to drink is if you are sober enough to evaluate the guest yourself.
Reward Designated Drivers by having a Designated Driver drawing to win gift certificates or other fun holiday gifts.
Provide plenty of foods high in protein and starches. Food will help slow down the absorption of alcohol into the body and give guests something else to do besides drinking.
Set up a coffee station with non-alcoholic toppings and mixers, such as non-alcoholic syrups, sundae sauces, whipped cream and flavored powders.
Schedule games or entertainment to keep guests occupied and away from the holiday spirits.
Hire a bartender to serve drinks instead of having your guests serve themselves. Bartenders are trained in recognizing if someone has had too much to drink. Plus, it is easier for a bartender to tell someone they are cut off than it is for a hostess to tell a guest they are cut off.
Provide a ride. Have a couple of taxi company numbers on hand for guests that have had too much to drink and need a ride home. Or hire a limo bus later in the evening to run guests home safely. This may seem like a lot of money to spend, but it is worth every penny if it means keeping your friends and family safe and sound.
Holiday tips for holiday guests
If you are planning to drive to a holiday party where you know you are going to be drinking, the best thing to do is plan on staying over night at the host’s house or call a cab for a ride home.

Think you can drink and drive and you’ll be fine – think again. All 50 states have strict laws against drinking and driving, most with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) Level of .08. Typically a .08 BAC Level is achieved after only two drinks in women that weigh 120 pounds and only four drinks in men that weigh 180 pounds.

However, alcohol consumption can affect everyone differently. For some people, they could have one drink and achieve .08 BAC Level, while it might take others with a higher tolerance a little longer to hit a .08 BAC Level. In any event, it is never a good idea to drive no matter how much or how little you have had to drink.

Another point to consider is while your state may have a set acceptable BAC LEVEL, that doesn’t always mean that you are in the clear if you are stopped and blow under that level. If the police officer that stops you feels that you are too intoxicated to drive, the officer can arrest you for drinking and driving. In addition, your car insurance company can also cancel your auto insurance policy if you have been charged with a DUI.

The best way to celebrate the holidays this year is to abstain from drinking, or if you do decide to drink, make sure to have a designated driver with you, book a hotel room for the night or arrange for alternate transportation.

USDA Warning On Food Safety

The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns those affected by recent ice storm power outages that food can spoil in a matter of hours.

"Foods stored in freezers and refrigerators can become unsafe in just a few hours if bacteria begin to grow and if these foods are consumed, people can become very sick," USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond said in a statement.

During a weather emergency, the government advises: The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about four hours if left unopened, a full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours, 24 hours if it is half full.

Food may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40 degrees F or below. Never taste a food to determine its safety. Obtain dry or block ice to keep the refrigerator and freezer cold.

Discard refrigerated food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after four hours without power. When in doubt, throw it out.

Overseas Travelers Entitled To Refund

If you recently got a letter from the U.S. District Court Settlement Administrator about a multi-million dollar credit card settlement, you may want to read it first instead of throwing it away.

Whether you spent two weeks touring the historic ruins of Italy, or two days across the border in Canada, if you used plastic during your visit to any foreign country your credit card company calculated the currency exchange rate.

But six years ago, some cardholders noticed a problem -- the numbers on their statements didn't add up. They filed a class action lawsuit.

The currency conversion suit accused MasterCard, VISA, Diners Club and their partner banks, of tacking on undisclosed currency exchange fees for every transaction -- and in some cases, inflating the base exchange rates.

The lawsuit claims the hidden fees generated more than $3.5 billion for the credit card issuers. The credit card companies deny any wrongdoing, but agreed to settle out of court.

Everyone who traveled outside the U.S. between Feb. 1, 1996 and Nov. 8, 2006 and made purchases, ATM withdrawals, cash advances or internet transactions with a credit or debit card is eligible to apply for a refund.

This applies to all international transactions using MasterCard, VISA and Diners Club. If you fall into this category, you have until May 30 to file a claim.

Now that a judge has approved the settlement, this claim notices spell out your refund options. If you had limited foreign travel, the easiest option will be the flat $25 refund.