Toshiba, which spent an absolute fortune in the HD-wars, gave up the ghost when major studios refused to back the [HD-DVD] format and the big distribution chains decided that it was not financially viable.
For a while Tosh has been talking about getting more mileage from existing DVD technology, but now it seems that it has thrown in the towel all together and built a Blu-Ray player of its own.
Details of the player are sketchy. It appears to have the catchy title of BD-18 and will be in the shops in Japan in time for the Christmas sales.
The dark satanic rumour mill suggests that Tosh is considering a Blu-ray recorder for the Japanese market, though no further details on that are available.
Gidget the Chihuahua, whose Taco Bell commercials made her a star, has died. She was 15.
The owner of Studio Animal Services in Castaic says Gidget suffered a massive stroke late Tuesday at her trainer’s home in Santa Clarita and had to be euthanized.
Gidget was the sassy mascot in Taco Bell commercials from 1997 to 2000. While other dogs had bit parts, it was her bug-eyed, big-eared face that was seen pronouncing “Yo quiero Taco Bell,” Spanish for “I want Taco Bell,” in a male voice dubbed by Argentine actor Carlos Alazraqui. A few years later, Alazraqui landed the role for which he is best known: Deputy James Garcia on Comedy Central’s “Reno 911!”
[…]
Gidget’s trainer, Sue Chipperton, in an interview earlier this year with the People Pets website, described the diminutive dog as a consummate professional on the set. But, she said, Gidget had been the victim of typecasting, which limited her career choices (or, rather, Chipperton’s choices on her behalf).
A detailed, functional artificial human brain can be built within the next 10 years, a leading scientist has claimed. 
