Mark Fleischmann

Read the fine print on some DVD and CD releases and you'll see the phrase CarbonNeutral. What's that? CarbonNeutral, formerly known as Future Forests, has convinced a variety of manufacturers to offset the CO₂ emissions caused in the making of plastics by paying landowners to plant trees. Celebrity enthusiasts include Atomic Kitten, Beth Orton, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones—not to mention Gwyneth Paltrow and Leonardo DiCaprio. Unfortunately, critics of the scheme say that the company is just selling the carbon rights for trees that would have been planted anyway. Still worse, Mike Mason of Climate Care told The Times of London: "When Mick Jagger's trees die in 50 years' time, they will release the CO₂ they have been storing at a time when the situation is likely to be more critical." You know what the road to hell is paved with. Bit of a heartbreaker, isn't it?

The on-again, off-again effort to delay the DTV transition from February 17 to June 12 has overcome its biggest obstacle. It originated with the Obama team, then got approved by the Senate, voted down by the House of Representatives, re-approved by the Senate, and today, finally passed by the House in a 264-158 vote. The legislation now goes to President Obama who is expected to sign it.

A Japanese newspaper has reported that Toshiba will in fact market a Blu-ray player, though further details are scanty. It's not known whether it will emerge in the North American, European, Japanese, or world markets.

A little while back I ran an item about Google Video. Guess what? Google's and Yahoo's video departments have been overtaken by a classic two-guys-in-a-garage web startup, youtube.com. Some of the user-posted content probably violates copyright but there is an appealing early-Napster-like breadth. Check out this goofy pick hit (from press agent and audiophile Jonathan Scull). I searched Robyn Hitchcock and came up with several music videos, including a great radio appearance from public-radio treasure KCRW, a lovely duet with violinist Deni Bonet, and others obviously shot on someone's cell phone. The look is blessedly utilitarian, the user interface simple and versatile. And the underlying video player is the Macromedia Flash Player, something most of us already have installed. Check it out before it gets bought up or outlawed.