When Blu-ray first came out it was getting 50/50 shelf space with HD DVD, and now the shelf-space has clearly turned in the favor of Blu-ray, and that means the sales will only continue to slide towards Blu. That will make the already inevitable outcome seem even more inevitable.

Chapek: We [Disney] are targeting late Spring for our BD Live applications, and it will be profound when we do it.

Facemelter 3/4

How could Brett and I talk about facemelting guitar solos without recognizing Brian May of Queen? We couldn't. The song "Brighton Rock" by Queen is famous for the guitar solo. We think Brian May's guitar playing is out of this world. Speaking of out of this world, did you know May is an astrophysicist?

Dialight's New LED Strip Light Alternative to Fluorescent Tubing Set ...

Dialight Corporation has joined forces with two of North America's leading manufacturers in the transit bus and motor coach market, Hadley and New Flyer, to provide the industry's first complete LED-based interior lighting system.

Dialight's new LED strip lights are set to be introduced into the New Flyer fleet for a 500-bus North American transit property within a Hadley housing. Hadley's Transit Group markets a variety of products for the transit bus, motor coach and specialty vehicle industry -- mirrors, air/electric horn systems, 12V and 24V electric compressors, interior systems and luggage racks, along with mechanical and electronic levelling systems.

III. Obstacles to Reform

Poor financial controls allow such practices to flourish.379

Military finances, like all public spending, should follow good fiscal management practices.380 This section analyzes the Indonesian government’s financial management of the military sector and levels of transparency. It identifies a number of major shortcomings and finds that, despite some efforts to improve financial controls, the military remains a weak area. As a general matter, the Indonesian government has acknowledged the need to improve management of government finances and taken steps in this direction.381 The progressive implementation of overall reforms is welcome, but there have been delays in applying these government-wide finance reforms to the military sector. Moreover, targeted efforts are needed to make military finances publicly accountable.

Climate Talks Urge Quick Cut to Global Warming

The target was a meeting the White House has scheduled for late January in Hawaii; industrialized nations are supposed to go hash out climate policies in a sort of "alternate" venue to the U.N. But several European diplomats in Bali suggested they'd boycott that meeting if the Bush team in Bali doesn't try harder to come up with language now on specific emissions limits on greenhouse gases. There's still time for some sort of compromise so that delegations can leave Bali with something to show for two weeks of conferencing. But to longtime climate negotiators, the Bali conference was always in jeopardy because of timing. It launches two years of negotiations that are supposed to create a new climate treaty by 2009. That period spans the U.S. elections, and it's likely that whoever replaces the Bush administration will have a different take on international climate regimes.

Ypsilanti Man Dies in Grand Canyon Fall

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal authorities say a Michigan man drove his rental car to an overlook at Grand Canyon and plunged hundreds of feet off a cliff to his death.

Laptop With Data Stolen? Announce It, Give 1-Year Free Credit ...

We've noted in the past that it's become somewhat standard for any company who has lost the private data of its customers/employees/partners/etc. to agonize for a little while and then offer one year of free credit monitoring as an apology. Apparently that formula has reached such a point that companies are doing it automatically. This way, the press can simply combine two stories into one. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey loses a laptop with data on 30,000 members? No big deal. With the announcement they immediately offer a year of free credit monitoring and everyone can forget about it and move on. At this point, you have to assume that anyone storing personal data is starting to mentally price in the cost of a single year's free credit monitoring as a cost of doing business. It's certainly cheaper than actually securing your data.