Feeling left out of all the high-definition TV hoopla? I have great news: Prices continue to fall dramatically for all types of televisions!

When shopping for a new set the first thing to remember is that the TV needs to suit your room. All buyers should be looking at the top resolution, called 1080p, so that the set does not become obsolete anytime soon. With 1080p, most people will be happy with a screen size that is 1/3rd to 2/3rds of the viewing distance, eyeball to screen. Those who are more critical, or who plan to view still pictures, as I described in my last article, should stay to the smaller end of that range. Everyone else: go as big as your budget and room allow. Thus, for a 10 foot viewing distance (120 inches), you should look at screen sizes of 40 to 80 inches diagonally. Here are the common display technologies and the sizes widely available:

• LCD : 20 – 60 inches
• Plasma: 40 – 65 inches
• Digital Rear Projection: 50 – 75 inches
• Front Projectors & Screens: 60+ inches

Flat panel TVs, both LCD and plasma, are a lot brighter than the other two types. This makes them the best choice for bright rooms and daylight viewing, such as in the family room. Rear projection sets essentially mount a front projector in a big box with a screen on one side and an internal mirror or two. Both projection types have a fixed amount of brightness. The effective brightness is simply a result of how large a screen that light power is spread across. Big screen = low brightness.

When the choice is between plasma and LCD flat panels, the latter has most of the advantages. LCDs consume less energy, are less prone to annoying reflections in a bright room, weigh less (especially important if you want to mount it to an articulating arm), run cooler and are more reliable and less fragile on average. Plasma screens are better when watched from way off to the side and have superior contrast in dark rooms. Plasmas can be vulnerable to image burn-in, where a static image is actually burnt into the screen, permanently. If you plan to connect a computer or game box to a plasma TV, be careful, or just buy an LCD.

Rear and front projection units can be based on LCD, DLP or LCOS (same as Sony SXRD), the details of which are unimportant because they all can throw a great picture. Bulbs do burn-out on these, but most people get at least 2,000 hours out of them, so it’s not a huge concern. These are not as bright as flat panels, but are larger for a given budget. They suit basement rec-rooms and dedicated home theaters where big is mandatory and daylight is less prominent. Rear projection sets just plug in, while front projectors with matching screens (just like in a commercial theater!) require more skill & time to mount and set up. Only a few years ago, front projection systems in the home were for Hollywood moguls and other well-heeled consumers only. Today you can have a 120” commercial-quality image starting at around $3,000, screen included.

As far as which set to buy, don’t worry about all those tech specifications, especially contrast ratio. Manufacturers play marketing games with those. 1080p native resolution is the only critical one. Brands? Sharp and Samsung are leaders in LCD technology, while Panasonic and Pioneer make superior plasma displays. For rear projection, Samsung, Sony, JVC and Mitsubishi are strong. There are lots of good options with front projectors: JVC, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, Sony, Epson, BenQ and Panasonic. If you need any custom work done (run wires in walls, mount TV to wall, set-up projector, etc.) I strongly suggest you use a professional “custom integrator”. The good ones don’t work for the big-box store geek teams because their experience and knowledge justify their $75+ an hour typical rate. Most are also authorized resellers and since they keep no inventory, they will more often get you the best product for your needs, rather than the one in stock. You might pay a little more and wait a little longer, but the value is likely superior. The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) and The Imagine Science Foundation are two organizations that train and certify such installers.

Happy TV hunting!

–“Tech Dad” John Svoboda is a consumer electronics enthusiast, manager and business owner since the time of the 8-track, and holds a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications

One edamommy attempts to cut meat out of her life.

Ok, I know it’s early in the ve-game, but this experience has really made me think about people with food allergies, or worse, parents with allergic kids. I read all the labels, try to make sure there are no animal ingredients and away I go. If I make a mistake, the worse that can happen is that I figure it out later and avoid that product, lie to my readers and doom myself to eternal fire.

In other words, there is absolutely no risk. But any such ingredient can prompt an array of reactions in those with food allergies, from an itchy nose to anaphylactic shock.

Nutritional labels are nearly impossible to read with the tiny type and chemical speak. I took my 3-year-old daughter grocery shopping and it was impossible to read every label while simultaneously preventing an avalanche in the produce aisle in Whole Foods. (By the way, that’s a whole separate blog—those stacks of fruits and vegetables are rigged. One wrong orange or apple choice and thewhole thing comes tumbling down.) I didn’t feel the least bit confident that I had purchased only foods without animal products in any form.

When I got home, I had to go on several websites to make sure I had purchased a genuine vegan item. In some cases, I hadn’t. All told, I feel pretty lucky that we don’t have food allergies in my family and that this is a risk-free learning adventure. Except for the eternal fire part.

-”Edamommy” Mary Talalay is a writer for KIWI Magazine

One edamommy attempts to cut meat out of her life.

My limited exposure to vegans included a co-worker who used to special order vegan jelly beans (without animal gelatin). He also patiently explained the notion of Tofurky to me (tofu-turkey). He was skinny and pale and, let’s just be honest here, no poster child to join Team Vegan.

But, I have been noticing more and more vegan cookbooks, diet books and even articles in the mainstream media about vegans. MLB pitcher Roger Clemens was asked by Congress in February 2008 during the steroid hearings if he was a vegan since he was receiving B12 injections (prompting a well known pro-vegan organization to send him an animal-free snack pack). NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez was featured in a January 2008 article about going on the vegan wagon (vagon). And, the lovely Natalie Portman has teamed up with té casan for an animal-free shoe line (these will be Edamommy – free since the prices are in the hundreds, unfortunately).

I think the increasing interest and action to be embrace the environment has made veganism very vogue. There are lists of celebrities on the internet who claim to be vegan (and I am sure the paparazzi are trying their best to catch them with a burger or milkshake).

Holy Buf-faux-lo Wings! I think there is a paparazzo rifling through my recycling right now to see if my yogurt containers are soy or not.

False alarm. Just a raccoon.

-”Edamommy” Mary Talalay is a writer for KIWI Magazine

One edamommy attempts to cut meat out of her life.

My family is not joining me on my adventure, although I will make vegan recipes for all of our meals and add in extras. At first I contemplated being a covert vegan, but I thought it would be too hard to keep this on the down low without making my family suspicious. Veganism is a sea change from my normal routine.

My husband’s exact words: “If you get nutty on this, you’re stopping.” (I am secretly glad he said “get nutty,” as opposed to “get nuttier”). I intend to get nutty, silly! It’s all about nuts, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruit! Ship a’soy!

And, let me just say, there are not enough emoticons on the Internet to express my excitement over finding The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. The author’s book and website, www.compassionatecooks.com, not only have recipes for chocolate chip cookies and other treats, but every vegan resource you can imagine. I had no idea that you could still pig out and be vegan.

Not skinny-model pig out, but suburban mom-with-ice-cream- tub-calling-my-name, toddler-dodging-bedtime, dog-rolled-in-something, husband-away-on-business pig out. Really, how hard can this be if you can eat mousse?

I only have Colleen to thank (or blame) for the fact that I found vegan chocolate chips that are made from real chocolate. Not carob. Never carob. Carob hasn’t changed since I tasted it in the ’70s. There is nothing right about carob. Notice the second syllable is rob? That’s no mistake. It looks like chocolate, smells like chocolate and tastes like dirt. I hope the carob council doesn’t come after me like the beef producers went after Oprah.

-”Edamommy” Mary Talalay is a writer for KIWI Magazine

With all the ways to spend your time, watching TV seems like a lesser choice compared to playing with the kids, balancing the checkbook, or reading a good novel. Some of the data about American TV habits is frightening:

• Average minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 39
• Minutes per week the average child spends watching TV commercials: 192
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900
• Hours per year the average child watches television: 1,500

• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66

Unsurprisingly, some families have gone so far as to ban TV entirely in order to rid themselves of the habit. The reality is that the television is a communications tool that can be used with either great of awful effect. To make it beneficial, as opposed to merely a time suck, it must be actively managed.

First, televisions simply do not belong in bedrooms. There is no way to effectively monitor what and how much your child is watching with a set in the bedroom.

Second, the best option is to manage your television with a digital video recorder, or DVR. A DVR is essentially a dedicated computer that records video intelligently. Tivo is the best known name, but cable and satellite companies have their own versions. They all do the same things, but on the ease-of-use scale, Tivo is a 10, Dish Network is an 8, DirecTV is a 7, and most of the others are a 5 or lower.

DVRs can pause live TV and provide instant replay, but the big added value is automated recording. The key when setting up your DVR is to enter all the shows you want your family to watch, up-front. For example, you can set your box to record all new episodes of Nova. The DVR then automatically identifies all the Nova episodes to record, regardless of time or day, and skips duplicates. After you’ve had your DVR running for a week or so, it will be chock-full of the programs you actually want. Thus, when you sit down to watch, the question is no longer “What’s on?,” but “What do you want to watch?” because they are all on!

This is no subtle change. Watching live network TV essentially empowers some media executive to decide what you and your kids should see. Much of the best and most informative programming can be on at odd times and obscure channels. You just need an effective means to sort out the gems among all the junk. Wired Science is starting, but Jane hasn’t finished her homework yet. No problem–it’s being recorded. In fact, after a few months with a DVR, my family largely forgot what days and times our favorite shows are even on!

And then, of course, you can zap those commercials! DVRs allow you to fast-forward or jump (in 30-second increments) through commercials. Most children are happy to watch commercials, but when they are wrapped up in a show, it soon becomes second nature to skip ahead to continue the show ASAP. Once the DVR is fully stocked, the battles over which shows the kids get to watch slow to a trickle. If it’s in the DVR, it’s free game, otherwise it’s only with permission.

Many parents resist the idea of a DVR: “Oh, we watch too much TV already; the last thing we need is more ways to watch”– an understandable, but misguided reaction. My family watches both better and less television with a DVR than without. While that might seem counter-intuitive, I believe there is an appropriate food analogy: consume good quality, eating is more satisfying and you crave less.

Give a DVR a try. It’s the best way to dump television dieting and adopt healthy, long-term consumption habits.

–“Tech Dad” John Svoboda is a consumer electronics enthusiast, manager and business owner since the time of the 8-track, and holds a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications

One edamommy attempts to cut meat out of her life.

My husband describes me as Farfromvegan (his take on Volkswagen’s Fahrvergnügen advertising campaign), but my true identity lies in being a mom and writer. I live in suburban Baltimore and my craziest adventure of late was a week of Zen skiing. I put baby birds in boxes, call the state police if I see goslings trying to cross the highway, and have adopted two dogs from the SPCA.

But I eat meat. If stranded on a desert island, I would want to bring cases of yogurt. Brie is me. Hail Caesar salad. I’m a grilly girl.

For me, this vegan experience is a journalistic experiment as well as a way to shrink my personal carbon footprint. But now my carbon footprint won’t be made by leather shoes.

Just how challenging is it to become a vegan? I’ll find out soon.

-“Edamommy” Mary Talalay is a writer for KIWI Magazine

One edamommy attempts to cut meat out of her life.

Set meat free, why don’t cha babe

Get out my life, why don’t cha babe

‘Cause you don’t really love meat

You just keep meat hangin’ on

-Adapted from “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” by The Supremes

I have to admit something. For every new challenge or adventure, I pick a theme song. There were some unfortunate choices in the ’80s when I tried out for high school cheerleading (“Eye of the Tiger”); became an aerobics instructor (“Kung Fu Fighting”); and got my first real job (“2 Legit 2 Quit”).

When I decided to go whole-hog vegan, the song that immediately came to mind was “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” Substitute meat for me in each line and you have a new vegan anthem. Presto!

Going vegan isn’t a delayed New Year’s resolution (although I have several of those). I was not inspired by some bug-eating reality show. I don’t intend to be a top model, idol, big loser, survivor, bachelorette, geek-loving beauty or a home-improvement show host. Just a vegan for as long as I can be-gan.

-”Edamommy” Mary Talalay is a writer for KIWI Magazine

Just like the body needs essential amino acids for normal functions, it also requires another essential nutrient that is often overlooked. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are considered essential fats because they are required for health, but cannot be produced by the body. These fats, known as omega-3 and omega-6, are commonly called the “good fats.”

Hands down, children are deficient in the beneficial omega-3 fats (as are most Americans) and not the omega-6 fats. Kids consume excessive pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats from corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils. An imbalance in the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio has been unequivocally proven to burden the body with excess inflammation. In kids, this has been linked to conditions such as eczema, asthma, allergies, and attention and behavioral problems.

Simply put, omega-3 fats are brain food. The brain is made up of 60 percent fat, half of which is the essential fatty acid DHA. Therefore, the type of fat consumed by children⎯especially during the developmental years⎯is of paramount importance. A child’s nervous system begins to form in the last trimester of pregnancy and continues to develop at a rapid rate until the age of seven. The essential omega-3 fats, primarily DHA, are required for adequate nervous system development. Research has shown DHA is especially important for brain and eye development. Getting enough EPA and DHA in the diet, particularly in children, is difficult because many children eat minimal fish and so many fatty fish are laden with mercury, PCBs and dioxin.

I have found that purified fish oil supplementation is the safest way to obtain the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, without the environmental toxins. Fish oil has been shown to improve many conditions that affect children, including attention, learning, behavior and eye health.

Taste is the key to compliance for adults and children alike. If a kid likes the taste of a product, he will remind the parents to give it to him everyday. In my practice, I use Nordic Naturals Children’s DHA and Omega-3-6-9 Junior supplements. You can call Nordic Naturals and ask them to send you sample packets so that your kids can taste the product before you bring it home. There is nothing worse that spending $20-30, only to find out your child won’t take a product. Compliance will always be higher if it tastes good and a child has decided that he will take the product regularly.

–Dr. Keri Marshall MS, ND is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in holistic pediatrics and women’s medicine.