Q: TV commercials still seem to be louder than the shows. I thought some FCC ruling was going to limit the rise in volume. Has this ever happened?
W.B.
A: Back in December 2011, the Federal Communications Commission passed regulations that will bring down the audio on loud commercials, requiring that commercials have the same average volume as the programs on which they air. But those regulations won't take effect until Dec. 13, 2012, one year after they were adopted.
Even then, there may be some exceptions; a one-year waiver may be granted to any TV station, cable operator or other distributor "that shows financial hardship in obtaining the equipment to comply with the new law," according to the FCC.
Until the new rules take effect, the FCC recommends the following to deal with loud commercials:
"Manually controlling volume levels with the remote control remains the simplest way to reduce excessive loudness levels. The 'mute' button on your TV remote is also useful to control excessively loud audio. In addition, many televisions have circuits that stabilize volume differences between programs and commercials. These functions usually need to be 'enabled' or turned on through the television receiver's 'set up/audio' menu. In 'high-end' equipment, such as home theater systems, some automatic devices may also help."
You can read further details and tips online at www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/loud-commercials.
Q: Last year, you printed the best days to mow to get rid of the wild onions that grow in our yard. I did what you suggested and had no problems with them returning. If you could update it for 2012, I would really appreciate it.
M.C.
A: "The hotter, the better," said Allen Goslen, whose company publishes Blum's Farmer's And Planter's Almanac. "It doesn't do any good to do it when snow's on the ground or when it's real cold in the morning. It needs to be real warm. That increases the bleeding of the onion when you cut it."
Let's pause here to point out, before someone else does, that what we have here is mostly wild garlic, not wild onion. Wild garlic has a hollow stem and has an onionlike smell, while a wild onion has a flatter, more solid stem and a garliclike smell. For obvious reasons, they are often confused with one another.
Though our winter has so far consisted of one sputter of snow and temperatures are already springlike, it's technically too soon to be cutting the wild onion/garlic. Temperatures need to be consistently warm.
A lot of people believe in using astrology to determine when to do that cutting. SAM remains skeptical, but there are plenty of believers and it appears to have worked for you.
Here are the earliest days Goslen says will be right for cutting, all of which are in the sign of Leo: May 25 and 26; June 22 and 23; July 19 and 20; and Aug. 16 and 17.
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