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We know all too well that there are lots of new formats out there. We also know firsthand that this means a lot of spending and a whole lot of studying to try to keep pace. If everything falls into place as it should, there will come a day a couple of years from now when you'll slide into that easy chair, throw some high-definition television on the screen or some high-resolution audio into the speakers, and smile from ear to ear, wondering how you ever lived without either. No one ever said change was easy; however, from what I've seen and (more importantly) heard over the past couple of years, I have no doubt that this change will be worth it.

"In George Orwell's novel <I>1984</I>, everyone had a television in their home that monitored their every move," reads a June 26 report from the <A HREF="http://www.cme.org/access/index_acc.html">Center for Digital Democracy</A>, a Washington-based advocacy group. Orwell's good citizens dutifully watch, and are watched in turn, their every move tracked and recorded.

A threatened strike against the entertainment industry by actors will probably be avoided. Negotiators for film studios and television networks, and for two actors' unions, worked late Saturday, June 30 and resumed work Sunday morning in an effort to avoid a strike. The situation is a replay of one enacted two months ago by writers and producers, who arrived at an agreement May 4.

Remember that scene in the Wizard of Oz when our heroes are making their way through the forest chanting "lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! . . . lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!" Well, the movie business is apparently chanting "hackers, pirates, and peers" as they work their way through the digital media jungle. A new report released online last week details just how scary the future may or may not be for the Hollywood suits.