John Sciacca

The 21st century is giving us numerous ways to listen to and control our music. Not only can we now distribute tunes around our homes with the touch of a button, but the wonder of metadata feedback actually lets us know what's playing as well.

Having a new house built might be one of the most stressful endeavors you can go through. Practically every time you turn around, someone is there needing an answer to something - or waiting to deliver bad news. In fact, many people who go through the construction process swear to never do it again.

Audio Design Associates might be unfamiliar to Sound & Vision readers, but this 30-year-old, New York-based company has a well-earned reputation as a top player in the custom market. In fact, it pioneered bidirectional control in 1989. And ADA's president, Albert Langella, is the first-ever recipient of CEDIA's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Giving consumer electronics as gifts used to be easy. You picked out what you wanted, wrapped it up, and were off the hook for another year. If you took the time to look at the package, you might have noticed the micro-sized print advising "*Batteries Not Included" and decided whether or not to toss in a pack of AAs for good measure.