CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 15

CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 15 • 4/12/2003
20 Years Ago In CED History:

April 13, 1983:
* High ranking Japanese and Soviet government officials conclude two days of
talks in Tokyo without reconciling their major differences. Japan wanted
missiles in Siberia removed that the U.S.S.R. claims are defense against U.S.
submarines.
* In what becomes the best-remembered scene from the TV series
"Dynasty," Krystal (Linda Evans) and arch-nemesis Alexis (Joan
Collins) tumble headlong into a water lily pond after getting into a fight.

April 14, 1983:
* Kenneth L.  Adelman is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as director of the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency, despite a negative recommendation by the
Foreign Relations Committee.
* In response to a flurry of congressional criticism, President Reagan denies
that providing covert aid to Nicaraguan rebel forces is a violation of U.S.
law.
* A giant inflatable King Kong is finally installed and inflated atop the
Empire State Building in New York City, although the balloon would only
inflate to about 85 percent capacity, and it deflated a short while later.
Originally scheduled for installation on April 7, wind gusts, tangled cables,
and punched holes plaqued the effort for days. The event commemorates the
50th anniversary of the original King Kong movie, and RCA issued a
press release on April 6 promoting the RCA VideoDisc release of the movie
being shown on a CED player in the Fifth Avenue lobby of the Empire State
Building.

April 15, 1983:
* A Disneyland theme park opens near Tokyo, Japan, drawing 25,000 visitors on
its first day.
* Future CED title in widespread theatrical release: Flashdance.

April 16, 1983:
* Brazil detains four Libyan planes en route to Nicaragua after finding
weapons, explosives, and ammunition on the planes.
* China shells the Vietnam border in retaliation for raids.

April 17, 1983:
* A New York transit strike that began on March 7 comes to an end.
* Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrive in New Zealand for a two-week visit.

April 18, 1983:
* The U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon is leveled by a car bomb explosion,
leaving 63 persons dead and more than 100 injured. A pro-Iranian group claims
responsibility.
* Fire sweeps through a crowded disco in Taegu, South Korea, killing over two
dozen people.
* Greg Meyer wins the 87th Boston Marathon with a time of 2:09:00. Joan Benoit
sets a new woman's record with a time of 2:22:42.

April 19, 1983:
* U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and other U.S. officials conclude talks
with members of the Cabinet of Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado.
Shultz promises that the U.S. will pay more attention to Mexico's views on
Central America.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dj3928
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 13:14:40 EDT
Subject: RCA CED Player Reconditioning Service
To: digest@cedmagic.com

Hello all,

       Do you have a CED Player that doesnt work! Good News, James and I at CED
Central are pleased to announce that we are now Reconditioning the SFT/SGT as
well as the SJT/SKT Players. For more info on the SFT/SGT Players, contact
Darrell at (dj3928@aol.com)  For more info on the SJT/SKT Players,contact James
at (james@cedcentral.com)
                                         Thanks,
                                               Darrell

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: LULACLAR
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 22:29:50 EDT
Subject: repair
To: digest@cedmagic.com

I HAVE A SELECTIONVISION VIDEODISC RCA SJT-400. THAT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE 
REPAIRED, THE ELECTRONICS ARE OK, BUT IT NEEDS SOME MECHANICAL PARTS AND 
DRIVE BELTS.
MY NAME IS CLARENCE WILLIAMSON, ADDRESS IS 133 ROOSEVELT PKWY J JACKSON TENN
38301 (731)4246970

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 17:46:16 -0400
Subject: Many titles available
From: Ethan and Amanda <ethamd>
To: <digest@cedmagic.com>

Hello CED enthusiasts,

I have the following titles available for purchase.  They are $2.00 each, or
$1.75 each if you purchase 4 or more, or $1.50 each if you purchase 8 or
more.  If you want them all and you are first to contact me you can have
them for $1.00 each.

The Natural
Heaven Can Wait
The Champ
Rocky III
The Longest Yard
Ordinary People
Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip
Richard Pryor Here and Now
Moscow on the Hudson
Private Benjamin
The World's Greatest Lover
Tootsie
Apocalypse Now
On the Waterfront
An Evening with the Royal Ballet
On Golden Pond
The Hotel New Hampshire
The World According to Garp
Midnight Cowboy
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Jane Fonda's Workout

Most of these discs are in great condition.  One or two of them are still in
factory shrink wrap.  If you want a condition report on any disc, please
email me off list.

Just in case you really want the movie and not the case I have these two for
free to anyone who purchases one or more of the above titles.
IN THE WRONG CASES:
Cousin Cousine
16 Candles

These titles are available on a first come first serve basis.  I accept
well-concealed cash, check, money orders or Paypal.  Shipping costs are
added on after you request your titles.  The discs are sent media mail based
on the weight of the package and your zip code.

Please contact me off list at ethamd@rdshft.com with your requests.

Thanks,

Ethan

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 22:31:37 -0800
To: digest@cedmagic.com
From: Tom Howe <tom@cedmagic.com>
Subject:Who's Who in RCA VideoDisc

Hello All:

For the past several months I've ben working on an addition to CED Magic called
"Who's Who in RCA VideoDisc" that provides photographs and
CED-related biographies of a few hundred people involved with the VideoDisc
project, mostly in R & D roles:

http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/whos-who.html

Another thing I attempted with many of the entries in this section was to
include "Where are they now" information when it could readily be
found on the Internet. Many of the people involved with the implementation of
the CED system are famous in their present area of expertise and have a web
presence. Here are a few examples:

John Aceti
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/aceti-john.html

Designed computer-automated inspection devices for CED caddies. In 1999, as a
principal inventor at Sarnoff Corp., he was awarded patents for the disposable
Songbird hearing aid, one of Sarnoff's most prominent consumer products since
the CED itself. He shared some of these patents with Marvin Leedom, who
originally came up with the caddy concept in the 1970's.

Charles Carroll
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/carroll-charles.html

Was on the team that developed SelectaVision Holotape, appearing in a publicity
photo for that system in the December 1969 issue of _Popular_Science_. Later he
developed optical scanning techniques for the RCA VideoDisc. In 2002 he was
awarded a patent for an energy harvesting eel, an eel-shaped device that when
submerged in the ocean generates electricity from the water current present.

Charles Dieterich
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/dieterich-charles.html

Has spent his entire career at Sarnoff, including a Cooperative Master's Thesis
program at MIT. His 1978 thesis titled "Characterization of an
Experimental VideoDisc for Digital Information Storage" investigated
digital (not analog) storage of video on a CED, estimated to be 4.5 gigabits
for the 30-minute-per-side discs in 1978. His thesis provides one of the most
concise explanations I've seen of the NTSC video system, and may be read in its
entirety from a link on the above page.

Rebecca Mercuri
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/mercuri-rebecca.html

Was writing computer music programs when she went to work on software
implementation for the CED system in 1980. This included DAXI, control of CED
players by external computers, and interactive video material. She later became
an expert in electronic vote tabulation, and in 2001, testified before Congress
in the wake of the 2000 presidential election scandal.

Ping Sheng
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/sheng-ping.html

Investigated diffraction from RCA VideoDisc signals. He's presently a professor
at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he has studied the
superconducting properties of single-carbon nanotubes. Nice to see microscopic
carbon may have a future use, as its room temperature conductivity is what made
the manufacture of CED's feasible.

Thomas Stanley
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/stanley-thomas.html

The researcher who in 1959 postulated the theory that a video signal could be
stored capacitively in a vinyl disc if a means could be found to mold
sufficiently small signal elements in the surface of the vinyl. Nothing more
was done with the CED concept until 1964, but in the late 1960's Thomas Stanley
had management positions at RCA Labs which allowed him to press for keeping
basic CED research alive until the first discs could be pressed in 1970.

Ross Youngs
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/youngs-ross.html

Was an Engineering Technician in the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory at
the Rockville Road plant in Indianapolis. In the late 1980's he founded the
corporations Univenture and UniKeep that presently manufacture media storage
products.
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