Expertise

Running with a stack of my favorite CDs compressed into a player no larger than a deck of cards, I set a personal best on the trail around the Central Park Reservoir.

Audio buffs have been known to lock horns over all kinds of things - CDs vs. vinyl, Dolby Digital vs. DTS, tubes vs. solid-state, DVD-Audio vs. Super Audio CD, and on and on. But one of the hottest debates of recent years has been over which kind of speakers work best for the rearward surround channels in a multichannel setup: monopole (a.k.a. direct-radiating) or dipole?

As the 2002 International CES drew to a close, manufacturers, investors, journalists, and curious onlookers departed the Las Vegas Convention Center with a sense of wonder and amazement after seeing all the incredible innovations in . . . hehehehehehe BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA . . . aaaaaah. Sorry. I wanted to keep you going there, but I just couldn't keep a straight face.

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was giving the keynote address at CES on Monday evening, January 7, when he suddenly realized (or so he said) that he'd neglected to instruct his personal video recorder to save the Monday Night Football broadcast then in progress. No problem.