LATEST ADDITIONS

Investors are singing the blues over cable giant <A HREF="http://www.comcast.com">Comcast</A>, which on Thursday, July 25 reported a net loss of $209.6 million for the second fiscal quarter. That number compared unfavorably to the company's $35.2 million profit for the same period a year earlier. Comcast has been hammered by investment losses&mdash;$538.3 million, more or less&mdash;including stakes in AT&T Corporation and other high-tech companies.

<A HREF="http://www.echostar.com">EchoStar Communications Corporation</A> has begun an aggressive campaign to win new subscribers. The three-pronged effort includes low-cost subscriptions to the company's DISH Network, a soon-to-be-launched eighth satellite, and a marketing deal with discount giant Wal-Mart, Inc.

I consider myself very fortunate to have a wife who indulges my obsessions. There's the time last summer when she sat in a rental car on a sweltering beach in Baja while I surfed for more than an hour.

Over the years personal stereo has evolved from an offensive weapon (think boombox) to a defensive one. When you're wearing earphones in a crowd, you're ensconced in a zone of privacy. People don headphones at a health club or on the street in part to signify they don't want to be approached.