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Photos by Eleni Mylonas No editor could ask for a better contributor (or a better friend) than Julian Hirsch. He was an unquestionably honest man, a scientist who welcomed innovation, an enthusiast who clearly enjoyed what he was doing, an astute critic, and a fine writer who could address complicated technical subjects in plain, straightforward English.

<I>Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian Mc-Kellen, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, John Rys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Liv Tyler, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban. Directed by Peter Jackson. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX (English), Stereo Surround (English). Two discs. 179 minutes. 2002. New Line Home Entertainment N6355. PG-13. $29.95.</I>

Toshiba and NEC have emerged victorious from a prolonged campaign to gain approval for their blue-laser-based high-definition optical disc system. Known as HD-DVD, the system was approved for read-only applications by the DVD Forum on December 8.

New York's Cablevision Systems Corporation is the latest cable provider to announce that it will begin offering set-top boxes with recording capability. The company plans to offer digital video recorders (DVRs) based on the TiVo, Inc. model, with a high-capacity hard-disk drive used to record dozens of hours of TV programming. Cablevision should begin offering its DVRs in spring 2004.