Jerry Garcia's premature death at age 50 left a void comparable to that of John Lennon at 40. We ache from the loss of their iconic presence, their wry wit, and songs they might have written. But though Garcia did not live to see his 70th birthday celebrated on August 3rd, 2012, he was present in spirit at the marathon concert convened at Bob Weir's TRI Studios in San Rafael, California. It included old friends, new acolytes, songs that have not worn out their welcome, heart-on-sleeve performances, an audience that spanned generations, and the subtle use of technology that let the musicians do what they did best while spreading the event to a webcast audience.

Housing. Transportation. Home theater. Your local bank offers loans for those first two things, but not for the third, surely one of the most pressing needs of human life. What's up with that? Aren't big-screen television and surround sound at least as important as a house or a car? The General Electric Money Bank says yes!

This Finnish manufacturers specializes in active, meaning powered, speakers. Its demo reviewed the reasons, which include eliminating impedance interaction between amps and speakers, and crossovers that don't heat up and waste juice. There were two demos, one of which featured the gigantic HTS3B shown here. Dynamics and admirable bass control were what we heard.

Back when TVs were made in America, General Electric was one of the major brands. Following a half-decade absence, GE's TV brand will return to service in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2009 thanks to a partnership between the General Electric corporation and Tatung, a Taiwanese manufacturer.