At 23:41 01/08/03, Mary Cameron wrote:
>When my husband was watching television the other night, he called
>me into the room and said "look at the TV screen...CLOSELY!" I did,
>and to my surprise, on top of the regular program image, scrolling
>horizontally across the screen were negative images of the disk
>defragmenter details screen that was running on my computer. I
>could clearly see each little block as it changed as the defrag
>progressed, and when the defrag was complete, could see the
>message box indicating the process was complete. The television is
>about 20 feet away from the computer. I've noticed bright white
>vertical lines scrolling across the television screen before, but
>not until now did I actually see an image that was from my computer.
>Any suggestions? Is my television haunted? It is a regular old TV
>with external antenna, and not hooked up to cable.

Hi Mary

Have you seen those commercials or magazine ads for the devices
that will let you watch a cable TV show or movie on your main TV
(one connected to cable or a VCR) and simultaneously watch the
same thing on a different TV (one not connected to cable or VCR)?
Such devices re-broadcast (through the air) what is showing on
the first TV to the second (unconnected) TV...which can be in
another room or on a different floor.

Clearly your computer is broadcasting a weak signal that your
nearby TV can receive. A good metal computer case should prevent
electromagnetic signals from leaking out (maybe your case is not
all metal or there are holes or gaps in the metal part of the
case). Maybe the cable connecting the computer to its monitor
is acting as an antenna. (Get a different length cable or one that
is better shielded). Maybe metal connectors on the wires and
cables coming from your computer case are leaking these signals.
Maybe the interference and signals could even pass through your
house's power cables. (Maybe you should plug the TV into a
different circuit than that used by the computer and monitor.)

I've read that the government has technology (which might be in
a truck parked in front of your house) that can be used to see
everything that you do on your computer...all keystrokes and
everything that shows on your monitor. I've seen scientific
papers describing how this is possible ... but I don't know if
such technology is actually being used. Your situation might be
a rather crude example of how this works!

Regards,
Bill

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