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If I were to tell you that four months into 2007, I already had a nomination for the year's best-sounding record, you might think me daring. If I told you that it features bandoneon—a chromatic accordion—and cello, you'd probably think me barking mad.

The website www.appleinsider.com revealed on April">http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/04/12/apple_inc_scores_trademar… 12 that it had discovered filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) showing that record label Apple Corps had granted computer manufacturer Apple, Inc. far more than the right to use the word "Apple" in conjunction with music in February's trademark settlement.

Show attendees at Home Entertainment 2007, the High Performance Sound & Imaging Show of the year, will be treated to several educational seminars and clinics that will help guide and inform them about the choices confronting contemporary music and film lovers looking for better home entertainment experiences.

The announcement went out on April 1: Apple Computers and EMI Group had scheduled a press conference for April 2 and the announcement was going to be "historic." It was April 1, after all, and there had been rumors swirling about for months that Apple Computers and Apple Corp. had settled their trademark differences as a first step to a bigger display of collaboration. I forwarded the announcement to Jon Iverson under the heading "April Fool's Joke or Genuine Press Release?"

With buds and 'phones in hand, headphone enthusiasts from around the US and beyond are about to plug in in San Jose, California. Their destination is the Radisson Hotel, where the Second Annual International Head-Fi Meet takes place on April 21 and 22. Organized by Head-Fihttp://www.head-fi.org">Head-Fi;, an online discussion board boasting 53,907 members and a whopping 2,810,005 posts annually, the meet promises two very full days of interactive panels, DIY demos, and vendor exhibits.

Tweeter Home Entertainment Group announced a massive "restructuring" of its operations on March 22. The chain will close 49 stores, including all operations in California, New York, Alabama, and Tennessee, and trim its workforce by 20%. The chain's remaining 104 stores will be remodeled to conform to the chain's current "CE playground" theme.

In a move some industry analysts characterized as "an uncertain experiment that could backfire," Circuit City Stores, Inc, the nation's second-largest electronics retailer, laid off 3400 employees, about 8% of the company's workforce, on March 28 because they earned too much money. Company spokesperson Bill Cimino told Bloomberg.com that the jobs that were eliminated were paying "well above" market rates, adding that the fired employees can re-apply for their jobs at lower pay after a 10-week delay. Cimino declined to give the wages of either the fired employees or the wages being given to new hires. He said it would vary "depending on the market."