I just don't know if it's strictly an HD DVD thing or is available on both formats.

That sounds like an HD-DVD feature to me. (One the major points in HD-DVD's favor is all the supercool interactive features it promises. Unfortunately almost nobody releasing movies on HD-DVD is taking advantage of them.)

If you're going to be buying a PS3 anyway, you could probably pick up a standalone HD-DVD player for under $200 (that would also play standard def DVDs).

Kevin, I came across this page yesterday, which has mapping tools it says works on an iTouch or iPhone.

That sounds like an HD-DVD feature to me. (One the major points in HD-DVD's favor is all the supercool interactive features it promises. Unfortunately almost nobody releasing movies on HD-DVD is taking advantage of them.)

That's too bad. DH will literally pull out an atlas while watching a movie. He is itching to see this feature in action.

Looks like RIAA is going after personal use:

[link]

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

I don't understand this at all. What are they going to do? Go after everyone who owns an ipod?

Unfortunately almost nobody releasing movies on HD-DVD is taking advantage of them.

Yeah. I'm afraid this will be like the multi-angle option on DVDs. I understand that porn uses it pretty often, but the only other time I've seen this used EVER is on the Moulin Rouge special features (the dance numbers).

I've seen a couple of Special Edition DVDs that had alternate viewable angles for certain scenes, but I believe they were all "behind the scenes" angles of the scene in question, and only available for certain parts.

The best HD-DVD is, believe it or not, Two Fast Two Furious (or The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift, I've forgotten which one). It uses a wide variety of the HD-DVD special features, so it's a good technology demonstration - unfortunately, it's The Fast and The Furious.

The Serenity HD-DVD uses interactive menus (meaning the menus overlay the film), but that's it.

There's a few cute ones - an aquarium HD-DVD, which is full of fish tanks which look very pretty, and a fireplace one, which does exactly what it says on the tin.

So my new laptop can't see my home wireless network. It's not just that we can't log it on -- it literally does not detect the home network, though it finds several other (secured) networks in the area.

Any ideas on where to start? Is this a security setting or some kind of configuration thing? Useful troubleshooting websites?

You can try calling the tech support line for your wifi router. I know it's a bit of a cheat, but if there's one thing those guys know (and that's often literally true) it's how to hook a computer up to a wifi router.

Dana,

is your network broadcasting? are there any restrictions on who can connect to it (restrictions by computer)?

try restarting the computer if you already haven't. That's what I have to do when my laptop doesn't see a network.

You can also try turning off the wifi and then turning it back on to see if that resets it.