Midnight Ramblings

I just read something interesting at The Digital Bits. Sony has teamed up with a Japanese printing company and developed a new DVD that's 51% made of paper. And there's another use for recycled paper. The trick is, this disc is optimized for Blu-Ray technology, so this paper DVD can hold 5 times as much as a regular DVD.

For those just joining us...Blu-Ray Discs, along with HD-DVD, are part of the developing next generation of DVD players. This next generation uses a blue laser instead of a red laser. See, current DVDs are divided into two layers. That's how they hold so much. But, the frequency of a red laser doesn't have enough energy to penatrate more than 2 layers. However, a blue laser does have enough energy. A higher powered laser means more layers on the DVD which means the DVD can hold more, such as a higher quality sound and picture.

Right now, we've got two rival blue laser formats in development: Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. And don't worry. Once it hits the market, you won't have to throw out your DVD collections. A top priority among all next generation DVD developers is to make blue laser players capable of playing the current red laser DVDs that we all own and love.

Right now, I'm watching reruns of DS9. It's the classic second-season episode The Maquis, which detailed the origin of the Maquis. I never really understood the Maquis. They were typical in DS9's early seasons. Great ideas and new concepts thrown at the wall, just hoping that one would stick. Sadly, nothing stuck until the fifth season when the Dominion War broke out.

Let me see if I can explain the Maquis. The Federation and the Cardassians signed a new treaty which established a demiliarized zone between Federation and Cardassian space. The thing was, though, some Federation colonies now fell on the Cardassian side of the DMZ, and vice-versa. The Federation colonists were told to evacuate their homes and relinquish them to the Caradassians. But, the colonists refused to give up their land. A compromise was eventually reached. The colonists gave up their Federation membership. This allowed them to stay on the Cardassian side of the DMZ, but now they had to live under Cardassian rule. Eventually, these Federation colonies began to feel threatened by the Cardassians. The Federation couldn't help them because they gave up their Federation membership, plus to do so would violate the treaty. So, the colonists banded together, formed the Maquis, and began fighting the Cardassians. The Federation dismissed them as a terrorist organization, but still, they were responsible for them, so they began trying to bring them in.

I don't know. They just seem like half a good idea.

Next Issue...Sleeping Leg