LATEST ADDITIONS

The invitation looked intriguing: "We are happy to welcome you to The Netherlands in September for the offical introduction of the Siltech Pantheon Loudspeaker." <A HREF="www.siltechcables.com">Siltech</A&gt; introducing a loudspeaker? I was well familiar with the Dutch company, celebrating its 25<SUP>th</SUP> anniversary next year, as a cable manufacturer. Indeed, some of the first high-end cables I had found to sound better than what I had been used to were Siltechs, back in the mid-1980s. Paul Bolin had been impressed by his <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/cables/1004siltech">auditioning of more recent G5 models in 2004</A>. And Siltech's founder, Edwin van der Kley, is married to the irrepressible Gabi van der Kley, principal of Crystal Cable with whom I had had a rather intense breakfast meeting with during last May's <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2007">Home Entertainment 2007</A>. (<I>All</I> conversations with Gabi are intense.) But loudspeakers?

A consortium of media and Internet companies announced a set of guidelines to protect copyrights online on October 19. Among the group, which has been negotiating for nine months, were Walt Disney Co.; Microsoft; NBC Universal; Viacom, Inc.; CBS Corp.; News Corp.'s MySpace and Fox constituents; Veoh Networks, Inc.; and Dailymotion S.A. Noticeable for its absence was Google, including YouTube, which has recently been sued for $1 billion for infringement by Viacom.

When Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Goldman Sachs decided to <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/092407harman/">call off</A> their <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/043007harman/">projected $8 billion takeover</A> of Harman International Industries, Inc., industry experts predicted the audio company would take the two financial firms to court, if not to gain the $225 million termination fee, to force them to abide by their material adverse effect statement and complete the transaction.

Dr. Lajos Nagy offers cosmetic surgery that shapes your pinnae to points. Why? I'll let the good doctor tell you.

I've written before about my immense regard for Garry Trudeau's <I>The Sandbox</I> milblog. Today, Owen Powell (<I>aka</I> SGT Roy Batty) posts about his experiences in DC promoting the book <I>Dunesbury.com's The Sandbox</I>, visiting the Pentagon, the Vietnam memorial, and Walter Reed Hospital.

So Bagheera don't stare.

And Huck will stare at you for hours attempting to convince you it's kibble time.