High Definition Video Discs (Blu-ray & HD DVD) by Genre

Blu-ray is one of two competing high-density video disc formats, the other being HD DVD. Both formats use a higher-frequency violet laser (DVD and CD use red & near-infrared, respectively) to achieve higher data-storage density -- hence the name Blu-ray. There is still considerable doubt as to which format will ultimately gain wider acceptance, and become the de facto standard.

As I mentioned earlier, Blu-ray seems to have the upper hand at the moment, although many maintain that the HD DVD technology is superior and should become standard. The question may become moot, as the formats are not as irretrievably incompatible as in the bygone VHS / BetaMax format war. There are already players capable of reading either type disc, although they are a bit more expensive than single-format players.

Amazon.com carries about as many Blu-ray, and HD DVD discs as anybody, but they haven't really made them easy to find. (You have to come here for that!)

Blu-ray Discs @ Amazon.com by Genre

• Blu-ray: Action
• Blu-ray: Animation
• Blu-ray: Art House
• Blu-ray: Comedy
• Blu-ray: Documentary
• Blu-ray: Drama
• Blu-ray: Horror
• Blu-ray: Kids'
• Blu-ray: War
• Blu-ray: Music DVD
• Blu-ray: Mystery
• Blu-ray: Performing Arts
• Blu-ray: Sci-Fi
• Blu-ray: Television
• Blu-ray: Westerns

HD DVD Discs @ Amazon.com by Genre

• HD DVD: Action
• HD DVD: Animation
• HD DVD: Art House
• HD DVD Comedy
• HD DVD: Documentary
• HD DVD: Drama
• HD DVD: Horror
• HD DVD: Kids'
• HD DVD: War
• HD DVD: Music
• HD DVD: Mystery
• HD DVD: Performing Arts
• HD DVD: Sci-Fi
• HD DVD: Misc.
• HD DVD: Television
• HD DVD: Westerns

Gaming Mania

I should have been paying attention when the TV program I was watching casually dropped the "most popular video game ever" bomb. I thought they were referring to Grand Theft Auto, but they went on to say that the games distributor had escaped the "one hit wonder" category with the introduction of BioShock (from 2K Games).

2K Games is hardly in the aforementioned category, though, with titles like Sid Meiers' Civilization, and Elder Scrolls. Perhaps the story was that Rockstar Games had recently acquired Bioshock? No matter. The ongoing CES event in Las Vegas is sure to shake up the gaming world a bit, so herewith are several new feeds to keep you abreast of the changing computer gaming world.

Subscribe to Amazon Feeds by FeedBurner

You may recognize the orange squares below as feed icons, but you may not know that these feeds display as normal web pages in your browser instead of the cryptic raw xml most feeds give you, and contain additional useful links thanks to a little tweaking by FeedBurner.

 Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in  Videogames (All Platforms) (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for PlayStation 3            (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for XBox 360                 (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for Nintendo Wii             (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for PC                       (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for Mac                      (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for Sony PSP                 (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for Nintendo DS              (more)

 Amazon.com: Top 100 Videogames for Gameboy Advanced         (more)

Electronics Mania

The 2008 International CES Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing now, and I guess it's time to upgrade my Electronics Mania aStore. The big news coming out of Las Vegas this week seems to be in the Home Theater arena. Time-Warner announced that their future high definition DVDs will be released in Blu-ray format, and a number of other distributors have already indicated that they will do the same, or seem to be leaning in that direction.

It seems that Sony, after being on the wrong side of the VHS / Betamax standards war, is about to get a little pay-back as Toshiba's competing HD DVD standard may have to struggle for market share. It may be time to look into a High-Def DVD Player to go with that new HDTV! Of course, if you are a "belt and suspenders" type there are Combo Players like LG's BH200, or you could get their GGC-H20L Blu-Ray/HD DVD Rewriter Combo Drive to be prepared for anything.

Maybe this Blu-ray announcement is the impetus you need to get that Playstation 3 you've been lusting after, or perhaps you'll need to compare the games available for Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBox 360, Nintendo Wii first. Another big hit at the show is the VUDU Box (pronounced "VooDoo," naturally.) which downloads movies on demand via your broadband connection and plays them on your (HD)TV.

Now since the CES is always the occasion for a lot of new product releases, I've resyndicated several Amazon feeds using FeedBurner. While a lot of people are aware of feeds, many others aren't -- particularly since they tend to be displayed as raw XML. These are human-readable. Just click on the feed icon. If you're already using feeds you know what to do. If not, you might want to try subscribing via an online feed reader (upper right corner of feed.) If you already have an account with Yahoo, MSN, Google, AOL, or "other," that would be the logical choice. If not, many people swear by Rojo or NetVibes, but YMMV.

Subscribe to Amazon Feeds by FeedBurner

You may recognize the orange squares below as feed icons, but you may not know that these feeds display as normal web pages in your browser instead of the cryptic raw xml most feeds give you, and contain additional useful links thanks to a little tweaking by FeedBurner.

     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Electronics               (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Notebooks / Laptops       (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Computer Add-Ons          (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Handhelds & PDAs          (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in GPS & Navigation          (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Home Theater              (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Receivers & Amplifiers    (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in TVs & HDTVs               (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Blu-ray Disc Players      (more)


     Amazon.com: Hot New Releases in Office Electronics        (more)

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Congratulations LSU Tigers

Congratulations to the LSU Tigers on their 38-24 upset of the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, and on winning the coveted BCS trophy. I'm going to try to avoid some controversy by staying away from the "National Championship" label. (O.K. I know that will ruffle some feathers in Baton Rouge, but c'mon!)

The whole "National Championship" brouhaha was cooked up by the creation of The Associated Press Poll in 1934 -- a public-relations master stroke that used our neurotic national obsession with crowning a winner to sell A LOT of papers. It was obviously a beauty contest, and only the winners paid much attention to it, but college football wasn't the multi-million dollar business it is today.

The genius of the BCS system is that it preserves all the long-standing arrangements between the various bowl organizations, NCAA conferences, the AP, the upstart USA Today Coaches Poll, and so on -- while neatly carving out a piece of the College Football Pie for themselves. The claim of being a "National Championship" reminds me of Bimarck's comment on sausages and the law, though. The BCS own website links to an article from the Kansas City Star: The BCS Works, which (unfortunately) has Missouri and West Virginia in the final game.

None of this is meant to take anything away from LSU, or Ohio State either, for that matter. The BCS bowl was a fine game between two great teams that had nothing to do with creating the BCS formula that landed them in the match. It's just that in this year of college football "upsets," (Vegas generally had a good year picking winners) there are a lot of teams who feel slighted, and some of them have pretty good cases.

USA Today / Coaches Poll final standings

1. LSU
2. USC
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. Missouri
6. West Virginia
7. Kansas
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
10. Texas
11. Boston College
12. Tennessee
13. Arizona State
14. Auburn
15. Brigham Young
16. Florida
17. Hawaii
18. Illinois
19. Michigan
20. Cincinnati
21. Wisconsin
22. Clemson
23. Texas Tech
24. Oregon
25. Penn State

Amazon Classical Music Forum's Listmania

I'm no expert on classical music, although I have been known to listen to NPR at times. As I slogged my way through a major expansion of my Classical Mania aStore, I was surprised at just how many of the featured artists I actually had heard of. I guess I should have expected that. Classical music is part of our culture, after all. Not pop-culture or counter-culture, just plain culture -- the things we all hold in common that bring us together.

Stereotypes about classical fans abound, but I discovered in glancing over Amazon's Classical Music Forum they are actually a pretty diverse group. I was encouraged to find that the forum was less opinionated and more informative than the dread pop-music boards. There was also a considerable amount of attention paid to beginning classical buffs. I guess everybody has to start somewhere.

If you're looking for E. Power Biggs definitive recording of Bach's renowned Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, it's here. (A recording I know of strictly as a stereo equipment enthusiast. I mean you could smoke-test your bass with Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida, but how prosaic that would be!)

You might be surprised how much classical music you've heard a thousand times, but just couldn't name. After all, The Lone Ranger and Beat the Clock didn't have to pay royalties to Rossini and Khachaturian! You can also give yourself a big pat on the back if you immediately realized that Arthur Sullivan is more often mentioned in conjunction with his librettist William S. Gilbert.

Here is a selection of classical music Listmania lists from the Amazon Classical Music Forum:

1. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Symphonic Cycles
2. Listening List for Trumpet Students
3. Hoshour's Guide to World Class Violin & Cello Concertos
4. Hoshoshour's Guide to Definitive Beethoven Symphonies
5. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Bruckner Symphonies
6. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Brahms Symphonies
7. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Piano Concertos
8. Hoshour's Guide to Definitive Mahler Symphonies
9. Music CDs I Listen to in 2007, and Music CDs I Recommend.
10. Sublime Beethoven recordings
11. Essential Prokofiev
12. Best Brahms Symphony Cycles according to The Penguin Guide
13. Best Beethoven Symphony Cycles according to The Penguin Guide
14. Got Scenery?
15. Wade's Piano Student Listening List #1
16. My favorite classical recordings of 2007
17. ~Handel's MESSIAH~the best recordings~
18. A Ranking of Rach 3
19. Music of Howard Hanson
20. Favorite "Messiah" Recordings
21. My 20 Desert Island Recordings
22. Essential Brahms
23. Christmas-Themed Classical Music
24. Mahler for Audiophiles
25. Great Christmas Music From Various Genres
26. CHRISTINE SCHäFER's GREATEST REALIZATIONS...
27. GLENN GOULD's GREATEST REALIZATIONS.
28. My favourite opera recordings on DVD
29. Great Classical at a Great Price!
30. Favorite Classical Music on the Philips Label
31. A Must-Have Mahler Cycle
32. A Strauss-Lover's Four Last Songs
33. My Favorite Italian Pop
34. Collecting the Deutsche Grammophon Collector's Series Classical CDs
35. Deutsche Grammophon "Archiv" Favorite Recordings
36. Building an Outstanding Classical Music Library with Box Sets
37. The World of Classical Music and the Performing Arts!
38. A Debussy Discography
39. Classical Trumpet
40. Some uncommonly beautiful recordings
41. Not Just for Longhairs: Funny Classical Music
42. Leonard Bernstein, Renaissance Man
43. Classical Entry Points
44. Musical Performance Practice Favorites
45. Classical Music starter list
46. Classical Music
47. Classic Recordings of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos
48. Classical pieces recorded by progressive rock groups
49. Classical Music - sophisticated structures in sound from the Masters
50. Classical Music For People who don't like Classical Music
51. Heavenly Voices