Birdfeeder still popular

Although spring has arrived the feeder is still visited by many birds throughout the day. Some bird couples are very 'regular' and come to feed together (e.g., House Finch [see photo], Starlings, Junkos), some others visit separately (e.g., Cowbird, American Goldfinch [see photo], Mockingbird). Additional species arriving back from their winter quarters in the South have not shown up yet.

Welcome home, Katze Walk II.

After more than seven years we have taken another cat into our home. Gabriele and I were always thinking about it but could not decide to take on another responsibility. Now Alexander asked us whether we could have a pet companion in our family and that tipped us over the edge. And here she is, "Katze Walk the second". About one year old, a grey tiger that is healthy and happy with people inside a home. From the first moment she 'owned' the place and felt at home. Alexander will give her a new name but in the the interim she bears the same name as our former cat in Germany which looked very similar and kept us company for more than ten years before she died of old age.

Blueray - Second thoughts

After comparing the quality/impression of the picture of the Blueray player (Sony BDP-S300) with Blueray DVDs and standard DVDs upsampled to 720p resolution with the images presented by the 460p Lexicon RT-10 DVD player (no upsampling), we decided to return the Blueray player and continue to use the standard player instead. Either the technical quality and sophistication of the first and second generation of Blueray players is still far from that of higher-end standard DVD players or the component cable connection that I have to use with my Meridian G68 processor is so much worse than the HDMI connection used by the most recent versions of processors that they should not be used (I actually saw a Denon Blueray player that had only HDMI output). So if you consider Blueray at this time, make sure you can use HDMI connectors and have a TV or projector that can handle full 1080p resolution. Then Blueray may make sense even at this time. But also check and compare carefully before you commit to replace your current DVD player with a new Blueray.

Discovery of organic molecules on extrasolar planet.

Methane molecules in the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized extrasolar planet HD 189733b has been found with the Hubble Space Telescope. Under the right circumstances methane can play a key role in prebiotic chemistry -- the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it. Although methane has been detected on most of the planets in our Solar System, this is the first time any organic molecule has been detected on a world orbiting another star.

Blueray is the winner

The decision is made: Blueray will be the new DVD standard and HD-DVD is history. As a first consequence most Blueray players are sold out immediately. So I had a limited choice and bought a Sony BDP-S300. The good thing about this particular player is that it upconverts 'normal' DVD up to 1080p resolution (the best you can have with your TV or projector these days). So its "Blueray time"! Well, for me that means I bought one single Blueray DVD for calibration and reference purposes ("The Fifth Element" - a great movie!). I have this movie already in the standard DVD (460p bitstream) version and so I can play the two with my Lexicon RT-10 DVD player and the new Blueray Sony side-by-side. My first impressions are that the picture is more detailed with Blueray (I can project 720p of the 1080presolution of the Blueray disk with my "old" Yamaha DPX-1000 projector.) than with the standard DVD. Also the contrast is increased which makes 'black' more black and 'white' more white. With this difference the picture becomes less soft and color-detailed (or less 'movie-like'). Maybe this can be tweaked with the settings of the new player, but I prefer the 'old' DVD tone of the picture more. The same difference can be observed with upconverted DVDs on the Sony vs. th Lexicon player. So the picture 'liking'is a question of what the viewer prefers: detail resolution or natural color tones.
Another clear difference between the two players is the sound. Here is the ten-times more expensive Lexicon as a high-end player the clear 'winner' over the Sony. Again, this is a first impression after two movies and I may not have optimized thge settings and cables, but the sound difference is very audibel. Another point is that the Lexicon but not the Sony can play two- and multi-channel SACDs and HD-Audio CDs. So the Blueray player is not a replacement for the Lexicon at this time. So, I will watch some more and compare the the two systems. Maybe some of you can help and join me for a movie. By the way, I will obtain my Blueray movies through my Netflix subscription and will not buy a new collection of disks in yet another format to be replaced by something 'better' in the future.