Reaching Millions with a Smile

Good Update on the HD vs Blu-ray Situation from Yahoo.com Tech section:

Want a refund from Toshiba now that it’s pulled the plug on its own format? Good luck. Also: HD DVD prices plummet, Universal and Amazon go Blu-ray, and more.

Toshiba nixes refunds: So, HD DVD early adopters - think you deserve a refund now that Toshiba has killed the format? Think again. Valleywag reports that the company (and big-time HD DVD backer) won’t be accepting refund requests (although it will continue to support existing HD DVD players). Here’s the quote: “There is nothing wrong with the products so we aren’t accepting returns from customers … [Customers] understood that there were two competing formats and understood that one of them would probably prevail …” Good point, actually. In my case, I bought the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive knowing full well that I was taking a gamble. I lost. End of story.

Universal goes Blu-ray: Not a shock, but Universal went ahead and made it official: The studio (the only one to exclusively support HD DVD from the beginning) announced that it will start churning out Blu-ray versions of its new releases and catalog titles. No word on how long it will continue to press HD DVD discs. The move leaves Paramount and Dreamworks as the final HD DVD-only studios. Neither movie house has made any official announcements, but expect that to change shortly.

Onkyo drops HD DVD: Confirming pretty much a foregone conclusion, Engadget HD reports that Onkyo, one of the few manufacturers besides Toshiba to make HD DVD players, has followed suit and dropped the format.

LG stays with HD DVD: Or at least with dual-format Blu-ray/HD DVD decks, according to High-Def Digest. The manufacturer, which was the first to release a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player, said that “at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer.” Very true, although it’s not clear whether LG will produce more combo players, or will simply continue to support its existing players (its latest, the BH200, arrived in stores late last year).

Amazon hearts Blu-ray: The giant online retailer just went the way of Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Netflix, announcing that it will now “more prominently promote Blu-ray hardware and software products on its Web site.” Amazon will continue to sell HD DVD products, however. Indeed, I’m waiting for a mega HD DVD fire sale in the wake of the 50 percent discount offer that began last week.

HD DVD prices plummet: Sharp-eyed readers at Engadget HD found Toshiba’s HD-A3 HD DVD player on sale at Circuit City for $99, including 7 free movies. Of course, it’s just the beginning of sharp price cuts across the board for HD DVD. Taking a quick look at eBay, I found HD DVD players going for well under $100, with the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on selling for about $50.

More info here: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/12764/blu-ray-trumps-hd-dvd-the-aftermath

Found and Posted by:

~Mirada~

A Yahoo Article on the recent Tornadoes. Hours of warning and still lives are lost… I think we’re doing better in the scientific area of prediction but need to work on personal preparation, action and reaction.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080207/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather

~Mirada~

” REYKJAVIK, Iceland - “Chess,” Bobby Fischer once said, “is life.” It was the chess master’s tragedy that the messy, tawdry details of his life often overshadowed the sublime genius of his game. Fischer, who has died at the age of 64, was a child prodigy, a teenage grandmaster and — before age 30 — a world champion who triumphed in a Cold War showdown with Soviet champion Boris Spassky.

But the last three decades of his life were spent in seclusion, broken periodically by erratic and often anti-Semitic comments and by an absurd legal battle with his homeland, the United States.

“He was the pride and sorrow of chess,” said Raymond Keene, a British grandmaster and chess correspondent for The Times of London. “It’s tragic that such a great man descended into madness and anti-Semitism.”

Fischer died Thursday of kidney failure in Reykjavik after a long illness, friend and spokesman Gardar Sverrisson said Friday.

“A giant of the chess world is gone,” said Fridrik Olafsson, an Icelandic grandmaster and former president of the World Chess Federation.

Noted French chess expert Olivier Tridon: “Bobby Fischer has died at age 64. Like the 64 squares of a chess board.” ”

The Full Yahoo News Article…

~Mirada~