Are you the owner of a HD DVD player who looks to Netflix to supply your high definition rental needs? Are you a HD DVD enthusiast who buys your DVDs from Best Buy? Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your format of choice will no longer be available through Netflix’s DVD rental service by the end of the year and your local Best Buy will be highlighting Blu-ray as the high definition format of choice.

While Best Buy maintains they will still sell HD DVDs, the writing is obviously on the wall for HD DVD, despite HD DVD being the more consumer-ready format. Blu-ray was rushed to market by Sony, who learned something from the launch of the PlayStation 2 and the Betamax debacle.

If you get a new media delivery format and integrate it with a popular video game system, then you have the immediate edge in any format war, because most format wars are all about public relations. Even though HD DVDs are cheaper to make and purchase, HD DVD players have more features, and the only real difference in the two formats is raw disc capacity, Sony’s ability to point to the PlayStation 3 and say, “Look, here’s an audience of millions who are able to buy Blu-ray DVDs!” and their in-house movie studios have seemingly won the battle.

One good thing about HD DVD is that, because the tide seems to be turning, Toshiba will cut prices on HD DVD players even further. This means that, for those of you out there with high-definition televisions, you can now buy one of the best up-converting DVD players made for the price of a standard DVD player, along with a lot of great HD DVD movies that are exclusive to the HD DVD format, like The Ultimate Matrix Collection. Enjoy the bargains while they last.

The former “Tree Man of Java,” Dede Kosawa, is experiencing life for the first time thanks to the efforts of the physicians at the Hasan Sadikin Provincial Hospital.  It has taken an incredible nine surgeries, but Dede is now 95% wart free and the former “Tree Man” is now able to walk without pain, see his […]

You never know what the Japanese will turn into a hobby or a fad.

Everything from key chains that sound like bubble wrap popping when you press on them to canoes made from chop sticks can capture the attention of the Japanese.
The latest fads there are items made by prisoners in prison.
In kitchens and bars and […]

People do a lot of odd surveys.  A recent Ipsos Reid poll conducted in Canada at the behest of Microsoft asked a lot of questions about, what else, video games.  I suppose they’re trying to find out just where people play games so they can respond and push the Xbox 360 into the proper areas […]

Some call it being sarcastic.

Some call it being a smartass.
Either way, it’s apparently proof that we as human beings are evolving.
It seems studies in Israel and California have shown that people with damage to the right side of the brain can not distinguish sarcasm during conversation.
The scientists are saying that those who aren’t able to […]

Everybody and their brother are talking about the rising price of a gallon of gasoline.
I know I’m feeling the pinch in my bank account every time I fill my tank and see the numbers on the pumps whirling around and around faster than Britney Spears can pop in and out of rehab.
But at least the […]

I’ve got a sweet tooth, but there’s one candy that rarely touches my sensitive palate.

I can’t abide Gummy Bears. I’m guessing even those stupid candy criminals didn’t even grab any of these during their stealing spree.
I know I must be in the minority as the sugary, sticky products keep turning up in all kinds […]

 Who doesn’t love a relaxing day on the golf course?  The sun’s shining, the grass is green and lush, there’s a nice cool breeze blowing through the trees.  Oh yeah, and there’s also discarded military explosives right off the tee box.  Wait, what?
Right off the 5th hole, Freddie McGee was operating a bulldozer with another […]