LATEST ADDITIONS

Tomorrow, music editor Robert Baird is off to Austin, Texas, for the <a href="http://2006.sxsw.com/">South By Southwest</a> Music, Film, and Interactive Fest. He attends year after year.

And popular songs and why only "Yesterday" became a "standard in the old fashioned sense."

What a great writer she is&mdash;this is like prose crack.

Cecil Adams says he knows what OK stands for. Now if only somebody would clear up that "whole nine yards" mess.

Cooking up plasma in the kitchen. But remember kids, don't try this at home.

<I>Audica MPS-1:</I> <A HREF="http://www.audica.co.uk/">Audica</A&gt;, the Cambridge, UK&ndash;based manufacturer founded by Kieron Dunk (formerly of Mission, Denon, Cyrus, Infinity, and Klipsch, to name but a few) is finally shipping its stylish MPS-1 desktop audio system ($400). The MPS-1 consists of two diminutive extruded aluminum loudspeakers and a 25Wpc amplifier/control center with three 3.5mm inputs (one high sensitivity for portables and other low-output sources; the others with lower sensitivity and higher input impedence). The MPS-1 control center also has USB and FireWire connections to facilitate recharging portable players' batteries.

<I>As anyone who reads this website is all too aware, these days legislative matters increasingly encroach upon audiophiles' ability to experience uncompromised high fidelity. Like it or not, political decisions </I>can<I> and </I>do<I> have an impact on what we listen to and how we are able to manipulate our music after we have purchased it.