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This archive is a compilation of articles published in our eMagazine since inception. The articles are organized by "Subject". Many thanks to those who have contributed to this archive and continue to help it grow by submitting their thoughts and expertise to the magazine.
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Columns and Series - Classic Home Toys by James Russo
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| Article Title | Author | Company | eMag Issue | Article Synopsis |
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| Classic Home Toys Installment # 27 | James Russo | Dec 2011 |
The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used , freely modified, Â and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License. Typically Linux us a format known as a Linux distribution for desktop and server use. |
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| The Brief Lifespan Of DAT | James Russo | Aug 2011 |
DAT was widely used in the professional audio recording industry in the 1990’s, and is still used to some extent. Particularly with regard to archives created in the ’90, although most labels have a program in place to transfer these tapes to a hard disk-based database. DAT is used professionally due to its lossless encoding, which allows a master tape to be created that is secure and does not induce tape noise (hiss) into the recording. | |
| Classic Home Toys #26 | James Russo | Apr 2011 |
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| Blu-ray DVD Part 6: The Future of Blu-ray | James Russo | Dec 2010 |
Although the Blu-ray disc specification has been finalized, engineers continue to work on advancing the technology. Quad-layer or 100 GB discs have been demonstrated on a drive with modified optics. Hitachi Corporation has stated that such a disc could be used to store up to 7 hours of 32 MB’s video (HDTV) or 3 hours and 30 minutes of 64MB video  also referred to as 4K. In August of 2006, TDK announced that they have created a working experimental Blu-ray Disc capable of holding 200 GB of data on a single side, using six 33 GB data layers. |
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| Blu-ray DVD Part 5: Blu-ray survives | James Russo | Oct 2010 |
With James Cameron’s Avatar becoming the most successful Blu-ray DVD to date, Blu-ray manufacturers could finally breath a sigh of relief and be confident that the once infant format has finally matured.  The next dilemma facing Blu-ray is an old problem that once again reared its ugly ahead to threaten this newbie format. | |
| Blu-Ray DVD: Part 3 | James Russo | Jun 2010 |
On January 4, 2008, a day before CES 2008, Warner Bros. (the only major studio still releasing movies in both HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc format) announced that it would release only in Blu-Ray Disc after May 2008. This included other studios that came under the Warner umbrella, such as New Line Cinema and HBO –though in Europe, HBO distribution partner, the BBC, announced it would continue to release in both formats while keeping an eye on the market. |
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| Blu-Ray DVD Part 2: The Format Wars Begin | James Russo | Apr 2010 |
In 2004, the physical specifications for Blu-Ray Disc were finalized. In January 2005, Sony announced that they had developed a hard coating polymer for Blu-ray discs. Cartridges, originally used for scratch protection, were no longer necessary and were scrapped. The BD-ROM specifications were finalized in early 2006. | |
| Blu- Ray: The Next Generation DVD - Part 1 | James Russo | Apr 2010 |
Once DVD’s had become an entrenched part of the world’s media landscape, home video aficionados knew that not much time would pass before movie companies did one better than the picture and sound quality of DVD discs. | |
| Classic Home Toys #23 | James Russo | Aug 2009 |
The Rebirth of 3-D: Pt 3 | |
| Classic Home Toys #22 - The Rebirth of 3-D: Part 2 | James Russo | May 2009 |
The earliest confirmed 3-D movie ever screened for a paying audience was The Power of Love which premiered September 27, 1922 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. This was the first time that the red/green dual strip projection was used as well as the anaglyph glasses. The film despite the novelty of the 3-D effect failed to capture the interest of theatre owners and exhibitors and was shelved. Unfortunately, all copies of the film have been lost. | |
| Classic Home Toys Installment #19 The Final CD Format: HDCD | James Russo | Nov 2008 |
HDCD is capable of higher quality sound reproduction because HDCD encodes the equivalent of 20 bits worth of data in a 16-bit digital audio signal by utilizing custom dithering, audio filters, and some reversible amplitude and gain encoding. Peak Extend, which is a reversible soft limiter and Low Level range Extend which is a reversible gain on low-level signals. There is thus a benefit at the expense of an increase in noise. | |
| Classic Home Toys #17 - Make Way for SACD | James Russo | Aug 2008 |
Whatever the future holds for SACD, listeners cannot deny the formats superior audio quality and after listening for some time to SACD’s. one may find it difficult to go back to listening to the traditionally recorded CD’s in their collections. | |
| Classic Home Toys #16 - Electronic Book Reader | James Russo | Jun 2008 |
From Apple’s Newton right up to the latest contenders including the Amazon Kindle, computer manufacturers are still trying to get the public to embrace the ability to read without holding any paper. | |
| Classic Home Toys #15 - Palm Pilot | James Russo | Apr 2008 |
The Palm V had 2MB of RAM to store data as well as the ability to wirelessly transfer data to another Palm through an infrared port located in the top of the device. | |
| Classic Home Toys #14 - Atari’s Next Wave: The Atari 5200 | James Russo | Feb 2008 |
The 5200 console became yet another obsolete home video game system that was obsolete almost from the day it was released. Although a financial failure, the 5200 would earn its rightful place as a classic home toys and find a niche in the annals of video game history. A downturn in the video game market and stiff competition from Coleco and Mattel forced Atari to abandon the 5200 in the hopes of achieving success with a new line of game systems. | |
| The Watch of the Future | James Russo | Dec 2007 |
Unlike many of the other electronics examined in Classic Home Toys, the Timex Datalink watch is alive and kicking and the watch is a credit to Timex for managing to stay ahead of the game in innovation. | |
| Classic Home Toys #12 - TRS-80 Part 2 | James Russo | Oct 2007 |
At the time the Model 16 was introduced to the home computer market, the system represented one of the most advanced personal computers available for a small or home based business. | |
| Classic Home Toys #11 - The TRS-80: The world’s first home computer | James Russo | Aug 2007 |
The Model I combined the motherboard and keyboard into one unit, in what was to be a common case design trend throughout the 8 and 16 bit microcomputer era, although it had a separate power supply unit. | |
| The Instant Camera That Was: Polaroid film in the Digital Age | James Russo | Jun 2007 |
Because of its ease of use and its ability to produce a picture in a seconds at any location, the Polaroid was used by insurance agents, construction foreman, real estate agents, and filmmakers. | |
| Classic Home Toys Installment #9 - Coleco Strikes Back | James Russo | Apr 2007 |
Colecovision’s reign as king of the video game kingdom was short lived. Though the system sold well, Colecovision was reluctant to invest in original game design and relied heavily, if not almost entirely, on games brewed from arcade classics. | |
| Classic Home Toys Installment #8: Intellivision…intelligent television…or was it? | James Russo | Feb 2007 |
Intellivision was the first video game system to offer downloadable games via a Mattel owned cable TV station called PlayCable. However, since the Intellivision console contained no hard drive to save games, the downloaded games were lost once the power to the console was shut off. | |
| Classic Home Toys Installment # 7 - The Sony Discman | James Russo | Dec 2006 |
Look up in the sky…it’s a bird..no it’s plane…no it’s the Sony Discman | |
| Classic Home Toys Installment #6 - What in the world was the Sirius Movie CD? | James Russo | Oct 2006 |
The Sirius Movie CD was a marvelous creation and the CD-ROM’s which were released worked very well and represented a giant leap forward in CD-ROM movie technology. | |
| Classic Home Toys Installment #5 - the twilight zone of DIVX | James Russo | Aug 2006 |
DIVX (an acronym for Digital Video Express) was a rental format variation on the DVD player in which a customer would buy a DIVXdisc (similar to a DVD) at a low cost, which would be able to be feely viewed up to 48 hours from its initial viewing. | |
| Run, Don’t Walk To Buy A Sony Walkman | James Russo | Jun 2006 |
Some companies till produce cassette Walkmans although the demand by consumers for them had dropped dramatically. Portable CD players (one time known as Discmans) as well as the Apple iPod and other devices have virtually all but eliminated the cassette Walkman market. | |
| Before there was DVD there was…Laservision. | James Russo | Apr 2006 |
Laservision players had actually been invented in 1972 (under the name MCA Disco- O-Vision) and was intended to be an economical way to sell movies to the consumer market. | |
| The Rise and Fall of Betamax | James Russo | Feb 2006 |
Beta and Betamax decks are alive and well. You probably won’t find them in your local home electronics store, though. Beta has been relegated mainly to television studio use as well as portable video news cameras. | |
| Classic Home Toys: Super 8 Film | James Russo | Dec 2005 |
This new column, Classic Home Toys, will feature electronics of yesteryear. It is this reviewers hope that this column and forthcoming articles will bring nostalgic memories back to those who used these formats and, hopefully, help out those readers who may still be using these formats to connect with other hobbyists who have an appreciation for what these home toys of yesteryear could do. |
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