From Green Tech Blog, a story too good to pass up on inspiring little planes. There is a tenuous legal hook for this post, but mainly I was just wowed by these works of avionic art and wanted to share.  Don’t miss the gallery.

Light, electric powered planes built from carbon fiber are advancing to the point of initial economic viability ($77,000, $133,000 and $300,000 models are mentioned), but FAA rules are very restrictive on personal light aircraft.

However, FAA rules could change, possibly within the next year. The Experimental Aircraft Association announced Saturday that it has filed a request for the FAA to change how it classifies electric aircraft. If the group’s petition succeeds, the U.S. market could open up for other electric craft on the horizon.

Commenters to the article are not optimistic, citing the inability of most of us to navigate (drive) without mishap in two dimensions. Still, it’s a pretty dream.

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You might want to exchange that recently-purchased ‘HD DVD’ player/recorder.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/19/toshiba.hdd/index.html

Remember when Sony’s Betamax technology lost out to VHS in the 1980’s? (My family had a Betamax, and it was the best VCR I’ve ever used). Well, Sony has won this round. Its Blu-ray high-definition technology has knocked out competitor Toshiba’s ‘HD DVD’ technology. The two formats used different hardware to provide high-def, and Toshiba has just announced they will discontinue all efforts at producing HD DVD products.

The final cards fell when Wal-Mart, Netflix and Warner Brothers all announced they would move exclusively to Blu-ray DVDs.

Winners: Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Dell, Panasonic, and Philips, who backed Blu-ray.

Losers: Paramount, Universal Pictures, Microsoft, Sanyo, and NEC, who backed Toshiba’s HD DVD technology.

In a nutshell, Toshiba was unable to capture the world-wide retail space that Sony commanded. Consequently more consumers acquired Blu-ray technology, leaving HD DVD without a market.

Here’s a recent comparison contrast of the two technologies… now largely moot.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-8900_7-5600201-1.html

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