Annual report pursuant to section 13 and 15(d)

Investments (Detail)

Investments (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
Investments (Detail) (USD $)	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2009 First Half [Member] ZQX Advisory LLC [Member]	Aug. 31, 2009 Second Half [Member] ZQX Advisory LLC [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Investment in Videocon [Member] Old Cost Basis [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Investment in Videocon [Member] New Cost Basis [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Investment in Videocon [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Investment in Videocon [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Investment in DISC [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Investment in DISC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2009 Volga - Svet Ltd [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Volga - Svet Ltd [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Volga - Svet Ltd [Member]	Aug. 31, 2009 ZQX Advisory LLC [Member]	Aug. 31, 2009 ZQX Advisory LLC [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Available-for-sale Securities [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Available-for-sale Securities [Member]
Short-term Investments	$ 500,000	$ 2,249,159														$ 500,000	$ 2,249,000
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis								16,200,000
Cost Method Investments		127,500			7,105,000	5,382,000
Cost-method Investments, Other than Temporary Impairment							(1,723,000)
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments	127,500						10,818,000			63,000
Proceeds from Sale of Available-for-sale Securities									1,000	119,000
Available-for-sale Securities Sold, Shares (in Shares)									917,000	4,219,443
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Investments									1,000	30,000
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired											19.90%			19.50%	19.50%
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Acquisitions (in Shares)											150,000				800,000
Investment Owned, at Cost													128,000
Investment Write Off to Affiliates,at Carrying Value												128,000
Research and Development Expense	2,211,506	3,124,773										326,000	518,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights (in Shares)														500,000	500,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights (in Dollars per Item)			0.37	0.555
Adjustments to Additional Paid in Capital, Other														$ 91,000