A High-Flying Merger

Today marked the announcement of the much anticipated merger agreement between satellite radio service providers, XM and Sirius. Under the agreement, Sirius will acquire rival XM for $4.6-Billion in stock. Neither company has yet to turn a profit, and a combination makes a lot of sense. Still, the merger will face opposition by other interests, such as terrestrial radio stations and others who fear a monopoly in satellite radio. The satellite providers say that there is no monopoly, in that they compete with every audio device out there, from iPods to CDs to standard radio.

I am mixed on this one, as I fear subscription prices will rise without the competition between the two; yet both of them are burning through a lot of money competing against each other. Such fears kept the proposed merger of Dish Network and DirecTV from gaining government approval a few years ago, resulting in the breakup of the deal.

So far, I have resisted the siren-call of satellite radio. Still, I would enjoy the variety of programming available on satellite, but I don't really want to pay another $12.95 every month. Terrestrial radio has gotten very homogenized and boring. I used to love listening to distant AM radio stations via atmospheric skip at night, a hobby called "DX-ing". When you hear the same syndicated program on another station that is now owned by Clear Channel Communications, it takes a lot of the fun from the effort.

Once the dust settles, I may yet succumb to the lure of satellite radio. I was once an early adopter. I have had satellite TV for ten years, owned a VCR shortly after they came out, and had a cell phone when they had a handset attached to a backpack-style unit by a cord. I have paid dearly over the years for the privilege of getting technology when it is still new. Circumstances and changing priorities have cured me of that. Things I would like, but are not a priority include not only satellite radio, but High Definition Television, a cell phone that does more than just make calls, and a car GPS navigation system. There was a time in my life when if these things were available, I would have had them. Now, I enjoy my standard definition TV, my plain old flip phone, and listen to AM radio going to work.

I still have satellite TV though. I cannot see going back to the way it was when I was a kid . . . three channels, all in beautiful black and white!

Lights Far & Near

Today has been a warmer and drier day than was expected here in Douglas County. As we get close to 7 PM and the sun beneath the mountains, the temperature is heading down for the night. Still, the partly cloudy skies at dusk cleared just a bit. I went out to watch the deer that come out to find food, and noticed the twilight sky. About 40 degrees or so above the horizon, Earth's closest neighbor, The Moon, was in a crescent phase. Just below it, our next closest neighbor in space, Venus, was shining in the sky.

I braced myself against a pole and shot a few photos. The one above gives a bit of perspective, as the blurred object on the left is the branch of a pine tree, while the dark, cloudy blob in the upper right is . . . a cloud.

In any case, here are some lights a lot closer to home than either The Moon or Venus. The picture below is taken on Mainstreet (yes, Parker spells it as one word) in downtown Parker. The flags are out because today is Presidents' Day. I'm old enough to remember when we had celebrations on February 12 for Lincoln's Birthday; and again on February 22 for Washington's Birthday. Now we lump them together, and I doubt many school children even know why.

A car went by as I was taking this one, so we have what appears to be a very fast car, but instead it is just the trail left by it's taillights during the exposure. It also looks like a motorcycle was coming the other way, because just above the taillight trails, you can see a white streak on the opposite side of the road.

Here's wishing you a very Happy Presidents' Day!