August, 2006

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Toshiba delays sale of 1st HD DVD recorder
Toshiba said Thursday it will postpone the sale of the first recorder for HD DVD high-definition video discs because of a production delay. The recorder, the RD-A1, had been slated to go on sale Friday, but the release will be pushed back to July 27, the Tokyo-based electronics maker said in a release. The new machine combines an HD DVD burner with a one-terabyte hard disk and can record and store up to 130 hours of high-definition broadcasts. The product is a key element of Toshiba's battle against rival Sony Corp. to establish the standard for next-generation DVD technology. Sony and its allies are pushing an alternative technology called Blu-ray. Toshiba launched HD DVD players in Japan in March, and in the United States in April. Sony plans to begin selling personal computers equipped with Blu-ray drives later this month. Toshiba said last month the RD-A1 recorder will carry a suggested price tag of $3,470. The electronics maker hopes \to sell 10,000 recorders by the end of 2006, company spokeswoman Junko Fruta said. It was unclear when the product will be launched overseas. Sony has been selling Blu-ray recorders since 2003 in Japan, but prices have been high and consumer adoption limited. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray can deliver dazzling high-definition video and can store much more data than today's DVDs, but the formats are incompatible.

The $10,000 question
What would you do if you found $10,000? If you were a member of the New Jersey Antique Radio Club in the US, you would do the honest thing and return the money to its rightful owner. The club's members recently discovered a thick envelope containing $10,000 beneath the lid of a 1920s Crawford three-dialer radio. They had been asked to auction off the radio by the sister of the radio's deceased owner. On finding the money, the club members immediately contacted the sister by telephone and the next day the club's secretary returned the money to her in person. But how did the money end up in the radio? According to the sister, the radio's owner liked keeping money around his house. She remembered an occasion when he became distressed because he had lost a large sum of money. It appears that he must have hidden the money away in the radio an then, suffering from poor memory, forgotten that he had put it there.

Major changes to UK amateur rules announced
The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) reports radio amateurs there soon will no longer have to keep a log unless telecoms regulator Ofcom specifically requests it. Other significant rules changes Ofcom has announced include a substantial relaxation of regulations regarding unattended operation and remote control. Amateurs will be able to use 10 mW on any amateur band for remote operation within a 100-meter range, but Internet gateway operation will be prohibited. "Interestingly," RSGB commented, "Ofcom appears to have formally recognized Amateur Radio as a leisure activity as well as a self-training hobby." In 2005, Ofcom unveiled a laundry list of changes to the Amateur Radio rules, including the introduction of a lifetime license that could be renewed free of charge via the Internet. The lifetime license and the new changes to the licence Ofcom has just announced go into effect in October 2006. RSGB encouraged UK amateurs to read Ofcom's documentation on the format of the new licence and respond with their comments.

NEW SUNSPOTS, MAMMATUS CLOUDS:
NEW SUNSPOTS: After several days of utter spotlessless, the face of the Sun is changing. Two new sunspots have emerged: one is large and the other is growing with wild abandon. It's a good show for solar observers. So far neither 'spot poses a threat for strong solar flares, but this could change if the rapid growth continues. MAMMATUS CLOUDS: Is it raining where you live? After the storm, go outside and look up. You might spot a strange and beautiful formation of "mammatus clouds," which often herald the end of severe weather. They are jaw-dropping. Visit http://spaceweather.com for pictures. [Thanks, KA3CEA]

August, 2006

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