Barry Willis

You may have noticed recent news items about proposals to deregulate the electrical power industry. You may have received solicitations to sign on with some start-up utility you never heard of, promising 10% to 40% reductions in your electrical bill. The model for this deregulation---if it comes to pass---is the long-distance telephone industry.

Remember how your Uncle Charlie used to hole up in the basement with his ham radio rig? He'd spend hours down there, tweaking his equipment and chatting in an arcane jargon with fellow hobbyists around the world.

Although standalone music systems will always be part of the audio hobby, it appears that computers are becoming increasingly important. Improvements in data transmission and storage are reported almost daily, and several services now offer downloads of music. When will a computer become part of <i>your</i> music system?

Members of San Francisco's legendary Grateful Dead have announced plans to reunite for a six-week, 25-city tour beginning in June. The group---whose core consists of original Dead members Phil Lesh (bass), Bob Weir (guitar), and Mickey Hart (drums)---will call itself The Other Ones, after an old Dead tune. The group will headline the third annual "Furthur" tour.

On February 23, Pacific Microsonics announced that <A HREF="http://www.atlantic-records.com/">Atlantic Records</A>' forthcoming golden-anniversary release will feature classic popular recordings remastered using Pacific's high-resolution <A HREF="http://www.hdcd.com">HDCD</A&gt; technology. The patented High Definition Compatible Disc process enhances the detail, richness, and dynamics of compact disc performance.

February 20---Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazil's president, has signed into law two bills intended to rein in that nation's widespread abuse of intellectual properties and bring Brazil into compliance with worldwide copyright law. One covers software piracy; the other, authorship rights.

San Francisco---<A HREF="http://www.vacuumtube.com/home.html"><I>Vacuum Tube Valley</I></A>'s tube and antique audio show here last week drew dozens of exhibitors and hundreds of attendees to the Airport Clarion Hotel over the Feb. 6-7 weekend. The heavy rains that caused mudslides in some Northern California communities, combined with high tides that flooded some freeways, kept attendance down. The show's turnout was "about half of what we expected," said <I>VTV</I> publisher/editor Charlie Kittleson.