Over at <I>IGN.com</I>, Hilary Goldstein and Richard George have compiled a list of the top 25 X-Men characters. Granted, it's a shamelessly blatant tie-in to Friday's release of <I>X-Men III: The Last Stand</I>, but it also points to what I suspect will be that movie's biggest weakness, judging from the trailers I've seen.
Rob Pegoraro, <I>The Washington Post</I>'s personal technology editor, reviews Microsoft's Windows Media Player 11, which MS claims, possesses an ease of use and simplicity to match iTunes." As if MS would <I>recognize</I> ease of use if it bit them in their text assembler.
<A HREF="http://www.he2006.com">Home Entertainment 2006</A> is only days away, taking place June 1–4 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. Attendees will find a wide variety of special events, product demonstrations, and entertainment options throughout the show.
A website devoted to deciphering the lyrics (and name) of Steely Dan. Not quite as comprehensive as <A HREF="http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/"><I>The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics</I></A>, but these collaborative efforts improve with time—and participation.
If you go by the RIAA's claims of $150,000 damage <I>per song</I> caused by downloading (as in this <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/052206xmtrials/"><I>Stereophile</I> story</A>), that would mean that one month's worth of downloads caused be a single P2P site <I>would be greater than the GDP of France</I>—at least according to <I>Donny's Blog</I>.
I couldn't do it, but these eight physicists rose to the challenge: Explain in one page what the Higgs boson is and why we want to find it.
In the June issue of <I>Stereophile</I>, another classic component is reviewed (the Eico HF-81 amplifier). Even though they don't measure up by today's standards, many audiophiles prefer certain classic designs. Are there any classic components that you prefer to newer products?
<I>Laser turntable launch:</I> Despite its having been available on a limited basis for several years (and having been written about in magazines like <I>Stereophile</I> since 1988), the ELP Corporation's <A HREF="http://www.elpj.com/main.html">laser turntable</A> was officially introduced into the North American market on May 18.
On May 17, XM Satellite Radio was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which alleged that Pioneer's personal portable XM device, <A HREF="http://www.xm-radio-satellite.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=… Inno</A>, infringes on copyrights and essentially represents a digital download device.
I told a friend that I'd received a pair of Vienna Acoustics' new Beethoven Concert Grand loudspeakers for review. "They're designed more for music lovers than for audiophiles," he said. I can't imagine a more damning statement—about audiophiles.