LATEST ADDITIONS

What's the Fourth without beer? Here's a gallery of microphotographs of the world's most famous beers. I think they're <I>beeyootiful</I>.

I grew up in Charlottesville, VA, in the shadow of Monticello and a few blocks from UVA, Mr.Jefferson's university, so I always felt a tad proprietary about the Fourth of July. Schoolchildren in Charlottesville were pretty much taught that the Revolution was Thomas Jefferson and some other guys against King George.

Jimmy Carter says happy birthday FOIA and tells us why we need less secrecy, not more.

While we're thinking about thinking, think about this: Recent research confirms that animals have language, experience complex emotions, and can apply abstract reasoning&mdash;including the assimilation of previously acquired information&mdash;to problem solving. So why do we think we're so special?

My buddy John Atkinson likes to say that what makes science work is <I>not</I> simply the measurement of observed phenomena, but the scientist's refusal to believe those measurements. I once asked him if he'd teach me to do audio measurements and he said no, "because you'd <I>believe</I> the measurements&mdash;a good scientist knows the measurements are trying to lie to him."

If you spotted an EICO HF-81 at the local Goodwill, you'd think nothing of this plain-Jane integrated amplifier in its nondescript gray case. But if you kept on walking, you would have passed up one of the best-kept audio secrets of all time. The HF-81 hails from hi-fi's pioneer days, before chromed chassis and slick Mac transformers. It isn't ultracool-looking, like early Marantz or McIntosh gear. It doesn't have the nostalgia factor of a Fisher. It's not a supercheap eBay steal like a Stromberg-Carlson or a Heathkit. So what's the deal?

Larger than a stocking stuffer, Musical Fidelity's X-Ray<SUP>v3</SUP> CD player is nevertheless quite compact and would be very nice to find under the Christmas tree.