As I warned you in SXSW: The Night Before (under Rule No. 4), tonight is the night I make my pilgrimage to Soiled Mattress & the Springs. The photo at left is the opening image on the band's MySpace page - and I can't think of anything better...
Have you got a favorite film that's never been released on DVD? I have - in fact it never came out on laserdisc and is virtually impossible to get on VHS. I acquired a tape copy of Montparnasse 19 , also known as Modigliani Montparnasse 19 and The...
"I have a B.A. in dope, but a Ph.D. in soul." That, of course, is the line extracted for today's front page of The Austin Chronicle, reporting on yesterday's SXSW keynote interview of Lou Reed, conducted by producer and friend Hal...
Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show, Bill Gates likes to get up on stage and make a fuss about "the connected home of the future" and its associated gadgets, which often include a smart kitchen counter top, refrigerator and recipe...
Oh, Canada. Your enthusiasm and honesty knows no bounds. You're ready to leap head-first into new technologies without bothering with minor details like how these technologies work. In a study commissioned by Sharp Electronics, only 5% of...
Remember that private study predicting that the transition to digital television broadcasting would cause some viewers to lose some channels? It's caused quite a flurry. In fact, the Federal Communications Commission has agreed to a new set of field tests to gauge exactly what will happen to antenna-dependent viewers in February 2009. That's when analog broadcasting is scheduled to end and digital signals will be the only ones winging their way across the sky.
Hey, here's an official SXSW logo! As you may have seen from the S&V home page, our Web man Rob Medich was able to grab one (those computer guys are, y'know, adept). So, inspired by his adeptness, I finally found one, too. No more ripping off...
To design a consumer electronics product and ramp up its production costs lots and lots of money. To shut down the conveyor belts after marketing is already in full swing costs even more. Still, it sure hurt: Japanese business paper The Nikkei...
In yet another move towards the total generic-ization of flat-screen TVs, LG said this week that it would buy 32-inch and 52-inch LCD panels from Sharp. Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic have all recently gotten on the Sharp LCD bandwagon as well. LG's...
Data from shopping site Pricegrabber.com showing that Blu-ray player prices have increased since the beginning of the year hammers home the sting of the early-adopter trade-off: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. For savvy buyers of Blu-ray...
At a late winter press event, Panasonic Corporation of North America rolled out its complete 2008 line of 21 plasma and LCD flat paneltelevisions, all branded VIERA for the first time in North America. A Panasonic spokesperson explained that VIERA stands for "Visual Era," and for "exceptional picture, connectivity and customer service and satisfaction" [But the latter didn't make such a spiffy acronym!-Ed.].
Following in the footsteps of Radiohead, R.E.M. will offer its new album Accelerate free on the internet for a limited period before official CD and download release.
When most people think of Imax, they think of swooping, grandiose shots and dramatic camera angles capturing natural splendor. They remember those huge wall-to-wall screens and imagine the expensive equipment, cameras and film required to produce...
Every audiophile music geek dreams of taking a giant hard drive full of high bit-rate music and streaming it to every room in the house. But making it a reality is expensive and complicated. Short of shelling out $1,000 or more for systems like...
We said our hellos (on the night before): That would be writer Billy Altman, photographer Ebet Roberts, and I (your humble Entertainment Editor, Ken Richardson) saying our annual hellos on Tuesday night - the night before the South by Southwest...