When the phase-out of NTSC analog television finally comes to pass, the viewing public may welcome its disappearance, especially if the decline in prices evident at this year's Consumer Electronics Show continues at the present rate. Display hardware is beginning to come down in price as services begin to blossom—a trend that should continue long into the future. The development bodes well for sofa spuds everywhere.

Last week, Audio Line Source announced a new product it calls Richard Gray's Power Company. ALS claims the Power Company reinvents power by delivering high current on demand via a "reactive electronic interface device," that it is the only product of its kind on the market, and that an entire system can be plugged into it.

A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge has denied a request for a temporary restraining order against 72 computer enthusiasts brought by the DVD Copy Control Association. The computer folk were accused of distributing a string of code, called DeCSS, that enables them to play DVD movies on Linux-based machines and thereby violate intellectual property laws. Linux is user-developed software widely perceived as a possible competitor to Microsoft's Windows.

Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association reported that factory-to-dealer sales of digital television (DTV) products posted their fourth consecutive month of growth in November by topping 22,000 units, bringing total year-to-date sales to 97,481. According to these numbers, November's record sales brought total sales since introduction (August 1998) to 110,657.