] Samsung is trying to bridge the gap with the first DVD
] player aimed specifically at HDTV owners. According to
] the company, the $299 player optimizes standard DVD video
] performance to make better use of the capabilities of new
] high-definition displays. In short, it brings DVD video
] closer to high-definition clarity.
]
] Ordinary DVD players and all basic TV sets
] use what's called standard definition video, which splits
] the image into 480 horizontal lines. The Samsung is the
] first DVD player to use a smart digital imaging chip to
] fine-tune the image and to "upconvert" the video to 720
] or 1,080 lines, both of which are considered
] high-definition. It's a technological cheat, though,
] because the chip is adding resolution that doesn't exist
] on the disc.
SNIP
] But how does the Samsung stack up to full high-definition
] TV? I compared a DVD copy of Star Wars, Episode II:
] Attack of the Clones with an HBO HD broadcast, and the
] player performed admirably.
]
] Make no mistake, the HD broadcast was superior. In
] Amidala's and Anakin's sappy frolic in the field, I could
] make out individual weed stalks in the foreground that
] were lost in the DVD video. But the DVD player held its
] own, and, to many eyes, would appear close enough to HDTV
] to make it worthwhile.
]
] Of course, a new format for true high-definition DVD
] discs will arrive eventually. But today's DVDs are likely
] to remain the format of choice for years to come. This
] player and its successors will help you get
] the most out of them.

This is VERY good news for us video philes. I was afraid that todays DVDs; a format facing obsolesence thats less than 10 years old ("What do you mean I have to purchase all new copies of my DVD's?") would be the biggest hurdle in getting consumers to adopt the new Hi-Def format. To see just how bad of a "problem" this would have been, go into an appliance store and view a HD program next to an NTSC (current television format). Those 480 lines of resolution your brain has been "filling in" all these years, suddenly become apparent, don't they? While pixel interpolation like this is, as he says, no substitute for true high definition media, this should bridge the gap until the old DVD's are phased out.

Laughing Boy

Higher-definition DVD player: A resolutionary idea

] Artist representatives say a singles-oriented model means
] a significant hit to the bottom line. Instead of divvying
] the spoils of a $12-$18 CD sale, labels, artists and
] songwriters are vying for nickels and dimes from 99 cent
] downloads.

Oh what a load of BS. If I'm not particularly hungry, am I forced to buy a 7-course meal? If I only like one or two songs by a group, why should I have to buy the whole freaking album? And how is this different from CD singles? What they propose is akin to them saying, "radio stations can't play only one of our songs - you have to play the entire album in sequence."

They want me to buy the album? Fair enough. So start giving us an albums worth of good songs - not 1 or 2 decent tracks and a bunch of mediocre (at best) "filler". The shortsightedness of this is amazing.

Laughing Boy

BILLBOARD: Artists opposed to online music stores

] Hi ladies, my name is Wo-Hen Nankan. Welcome to my site.
] You can check out my stats on my Asian Avenue Site. I am
] searching for a girlfriend. The picture on the left is
] me. Aren't I very sexy? I am a singer and I've sold many
] records. If you're looking for someone who has a stable
] life, I'm the one you're looking for!
]
]
] Feel free to browse my site. You will find me
] irresistible.

This has got to be a joke.

Hello Ladies...

] Seahorses are their own worst enemy. Fished to the point
] of extinction for the traditional Chinese medicine
] market, they mate for life and their unwillingness to
] seek new partners after being separated has done little
] to improve their chances of survival.
]
] One of their better hopes for conservation may lie in the
] unlikeliest of places -- a ramshackle shed perched on the
] edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
]
] Seahorse Ireland says its goal is to help save the
] species by cultivating seahorses born in captivity for
] the growing aquarium market.
]
] "We want to make people aware that the captive-bred
] seahorse is a much better buy," said production manager
] Ken Maher, from the makeshift laboratory in Connemara,
] west Ireland.
]
] "There's no deleterious effect on the environment and the
] seahorse will survive and flourish in your tank."
]
] Seahorses are no ordinary sea creatures, notwithstanding
] their monogamy which is highly unusual for the animal
] kingdom. It is the male who receives eggs from his female
] partner and fertilizes them himself.

CNN.com - Monogamous seahorse is its own worst enemy - Jun. 23, 2003

] More than a generation before Sally Ride became the first
] U.S. woman in space, some experienced female pilots
] dubbed the Mercury 13 almost beat her to the milestone.
]
] Trained in secret in a laboratory run by a NASA medical
] officer, the group's remarkable experiences are
] chronicled in a new book by Martha Ackmann, "Mercury 13:
] The Untold Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of
] Spaceflight."
]
] In 1961, the same year the first U.S. man achieved
] spaceflight, the women underwent the same series of tests
] as the Mercury 7 astronauts, according to Ackmann.
]
] But the Mercury 13 program did not win enough political
] support to continue to completion, she said, and the
] Soviet Union sent the first woman into space in 1963.
]
] Ackmann, an author, journalist and Mount Holyoke College
] professor, recently spoke with CNN during the same week
] as the anniversary of Ride's historic flight on June 18,
] 1983.

CNN.com - Women secretly trained as U.S. astronauts in 1960s - Jun. 23, 2003

There are now 16 versions of the star wars kid video, include a Terminator and Matrix version. Enjoy.

All your star wars kid are belong to us

] A federal district court dismissed a request by the
] one-time plaintiff known as "Jane Roe" to reconsider the
] landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized
] abortion 30 years ago.
]
] The court said late Thursday that Norma McCorvey's
] request wasn't made within a "reasonable time" after the
] 1973 judgment in Roe vs. Wade.

Federal court declines to reopen 'Roe vs. Wade'

This would save on *soooo* much typing. :)

The 3l33t HaX0r Keyboard

Oh hell yes. I knew eventually something like this would hit the market. Glow in the dark fish that aren't made of plastic or things that look like they might be distant cousins of C'thulu.

'Fluorescent fish' give the green light to GM pets

] A new wide-angle view of the universe looks back to a
] mere billion years after the Big Bang, revealing secrets
] about the lives of galaxies and the black holes at their
] hearts, scientists reported on Thursday.
]
] The new view is contained in one extraordinary image,
] compiled by astronomers using a super-high-resolution
] camera aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, along with a
] catalog of objects giving off strong X-rays from space,
] detected by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, another
] NASA-affiliated instrument.
]
] The image shows a section of sky about one-tenth the size
] of the full Moon viewed from Earth. Though this may seem
] narrow, it is about 30 times wider than the last deep
] look into the universe, the Hubble Deep Field observation
] released in 1996.

(trying REAL hard not to sound like Carl Segan here)

Amazing. Each of those tiny specs of light in the back ground? They aren't stars. They are other GALAXIES - if the same size as our own Milky Way, about 90,000 light years from end to end in a mass of 200 BILLION stars.

And we're so arrogant to think we are the only speck of dust in the universe with life???

Laughing Boy

Hubble snaps stunning baby pic of cosmos