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Well, DirecTv's new high definition channels are here and, er, what the heck were they thinking? On TNTHD, a station that existed as channel 75 before the hoopla and is now also shown on 245, "Save the Last Dance" is being shown in 4x3 stretch mode. Sci-Fi's high def incarnation is showing Merlin, a movie that was only shot in 4x3 (but at least they're not stretching it). USA is showing "Law & Order: CI" on their high def station properly, but in a weird-aspect challenged pillow box (black bars on all four sides) on their regular definition channel. A&E's has some high def shows that they're cropping and then stretching to 16x9 judging by the look of it. Only TBS's high def baseball game looks good enough that it gives me nothing to complain about – except that fact that the Yankees are losing.

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.

While I have decidedly mixed feelings about big-box consumer electronics retailers getting into the TV calibration game (see the following story on Best Buy, and an earlier story that also touches on Circuit City's calibration promotion) the commercial pull of these giants is already having at least one unanticipated benefit.

The advent of Blu-ray and HD DVD isn't the first time I've covered a format launch- DVD was still pretty fresh and new when I started in this biz in the late 90s. Things have changed a lot since then, especially in the way that the PR machines are operating and interacting with the online community. And what better evidence of that is there than the fact that esoteric technical details like "yield rates" and "cycle times" are a frequent water cooler topic among the uninitiated?