Ramanisblog

Tag: IT

  • Microsoft offers Windows XP, Office XP users 50 percent discount to encourage upgrades

    Microsoft officials are well aware that its biggest Windows 7 and Office 2010 competitors are its own previous product iterations (Windows XP and Office XP/2003). To try and wean users away from older, “good-enough” releases, Microsoft is introducing a new licensing promotion.

    The revamped “Up to Date Discount” program is targeted at small/mid-size business (SMB) customers running older versions of Windows and Office. Between January 1 and June 30 of this year, Microsoft is enabling users running Windows XP or Vista (on the operating system side) and Office XP, Office 2003 or Office 2007 (on the productivity suite side) to receive a discount of 50 percent on the cost of their licenses for Windows 7 and Office 2007 (or Office 2010, once it is released by June 2010).
    http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=4867&tag=nl.e589

  • Top 10 tech news stories of the decade

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/31/cnet.top.tech.stories.decade/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_latest+(RSS:+Most+Recent)

  • 2009: A year to remember – or forget

    Microsoft in 2009: It was all about Windows
    Mary Jo Foley: On my blog, there is little question what you wanted to read about: Windows. There were a few other hot buttons. But overall, it was Windows, Windows, Windows

    Oracle buys Sun; Regulatory soap opera ensues
    Larry Dignan: Among all the top stories on Between the Lines in 2009—Windows 7, Google Chrome and Apple’s iPhone and the AT&T reputation hit—Oracle’s purchase of Sun Microsystems gets my pick for the top tech development in 2009.
    So long decade and perhaps good riddance

    AT&T blunders by defending its wireless coverage
    Sam Diaz: The one 2009 story that stuck with me most, largely because it continues to take twists and turns, was the public relations beating that I’ve been giving to AT&T over its wireless service.

    Five Microsoft and Google battlegrounds in 2009
    Garett Rogers: The tension between these two software giants got a bit thicker this year, and it’s certain that it will again in 2010. Here’s a look at who is winning on each front in 2009.

    Steve Jobs was our story of the year for 2009
    Dana Blankenhorn: The Jobs story pressed a whole lot of ethical buttons. What is the obligation of a company to disclose material threats to the life of its CEO? And what of a rich man cutting the queue and getting a liver just in time to save his life?

    The best (and worst) of Tech Broiler 2009
    Jason Perlow: I’d have to rate 2009 fairly high on the annis horriblis scale, for most of everyone I know as well as the rest of the world. But for Year Two of Tech Broiler, I’d have to say it was a pretty good one.

    ZDNet’s The Toybox: Top 15 posts of 2009
    Andrew Nusca: It’s been a heck of a year on The Toybox, ZDNet’s go-to blog for all things gadget. We’ve posted more than 1,000 stories about gadgets in 2009. So here’s a list of The Toybox’s Top 15 posts of 2009

    Top 20 posts of the year from the Apple Core
    Jason D. O’Grady: As 2009 winds down to a close I wanted to take a look back at the 20 most popular posts here on The Apple Core over the past year.
    Top 20 posts of the year – Nos. 11-20

    The battle for your email in 2009
    Phil Wainewright: In 2009, the main battle had Google and Microsoft going head-to-head. But the real carnage has been among the second-tier groupware vendors,

    Fifteen significant social media & security events of 2009
    Jennifer Leggio: New vulnerabilities targeted social network soft spots, while the social engineering of less-than-savvy Internet users reached new heights. The experts say that it won’t get any better next year, either.

    The best and worst Ed Tech of the decade
    Christopher Dawson: Guess what? One single device wins this award in my book. It wins for both best and worst simultaneously. What is it? It’s the OLPC XO.

    2009: It’s been all about the iGeneration
    Zack Whittaker: Suffice to say, it’s been a mixed year for technology, the industry and the people who use it. Let’s have a look at what’s been popular and what simply hasn’t.

    ZDNet’s Enterprise Web 2.0: The top 10 posts of 2009
    Dion Hinchcliffe: 2009 was full of notable developments that will have a lasting impact to way we using technology in business. Here are the stories that you read the most.

    Open source browsers put pressure on IE in 2009
    Paula Rooney: Even as its proprietary browser market share is dropping hard, execs agreed to offer support for competitive browsers with its Windows operating system in exchange for an end to its legal nightmares in Europe.

    Top 10 posts of 2009 focused primarily on ebook readers
    Matthew Miller: In my top 10 most popular posts written in 2009, five of ten were on the subject of ebook readers, two were on MP3 players, and the others on various topics.

    Worldwide cost of IT failure: $6.2 trillion
    Michael Krigsman: Most IT professionals know that project failure is a common and serious problem in organizations of all kinds. New research attempts to quantify the extent of IT failure in the worldwide economy.

    Open source still lacked love for Windows in 2009
    Dana Blankenhorn: Whenever I feel a need for traffic, and talkbacks, I just write something with Microsoft or Windows in the title and y’all come running.

    Most read posts of 2009
    Dan Kusnetzky: I would have expected that posts examining technology, announcements, suppliers’ go to market strategies or consideration of major trends would lead the pack. That’s not what happened. The leading posts were largely off topic rants, complaints, moans and the like!

    Top 10 SOA posts for 2009
    Joe McKendrick: If there’s any way to describe the year just past, it was a battle for the soul of service-oriented architecture.

    Cars, crooks, money and hackers – 2009 was a rich year indeed
    Harry Fuller: Looking back on some of the bigger stories of 2009, I found several topics that ran through blog after blog. Cars and motorcycles are a relevant topic when considering personal energy use.

    Year in Review: 10 most popular camera and camcorder posts of 2009
    Rachel King: A lot has gone on and been covered in the digital camera and camcorder world in the last 12 months. From product releases to reviews to photography tips, here are my 10 most popular posts of the year, according to you.

    Year in Review: DSLRs and compact megazooms popular in 2009
    Janice Chen: As 2009 draws to a close, it’s time once again to take a moment and reflect over the year’s highlights. Here are my most popular posts of the year.

    Creme de la GreenTech: My 10 most-read green IT posts this year
    Heather Clancy: I was gratified and humbled to see that a fair number of you think I actually write about useful things. And my top posts of the year were actually a mix of the above topics PLUS a perennial green topic: the paperless office.

    Enterprise 2.0: The 2009 year in review
    Dion Hinchcliffe: 2009 was an exciting year across the board for all things Web 2.0 in the enterprise and related topics. I often find that it’s when we take time to look back at the big picture that we get the best sense for what’s actually happening in the marketplace today.

    The year in review in Software & Services
    Brian Sommer: 2009 had some interesting twists to it as far as the software and services industries go. Here are the top-5 services stories and the top-5 software trends.

    The decade in tech: Top 5 stories of the ’00s
    Larry Dignan: From the Google IPO, to the rise of social networking, it’s been an important decade for tech innovation, CBSNews.com Executive Editor Charles Cooper and I talk about the five most important tech events of the decade and what they mean for the technology industry going forward.

    Top posts, devices, and smartphone awards for 2009
    Matthew Miller: I wanted to put together another one of my reference posts that looks at the devices I have reviewed over the past year, along with some fun awards for the devices I had the chance to try out.
    http://news.zdnet.com/2463-9595_22-374943.html?tag=nl.e539

  • Technology changes ‘outstrip’ netbooks-BBC

    March of technology is truly astounding and at the same time bewildering.

    Rising prices and better alternatives may mean curtains for netbooks.
    The small portable computers were popular in 2009, but some industry watchers are convinced that their popularity is already waning.
    “The days of the netbook are over,” said Stuart Miles, founder and editor of technology blog Pocket Lint.
    As prices edge upwards, net-using habits change and other gadgets take on their functions, netbooks will become far less popular, he thinks.
    “Technology has advanced so much that it’s outmanoeuvred itself,” he said. “You wouldn’t go for something so basic anymore.”
    His prediction stems from his belief that the netbooks of 2009 are losing touch with what made them so appealing.
    Asus kicked off the netbook trend in 2007 when it launched the Eee PC 700 and 701. The 700 sported a 2GB solid state hard drive, 512MB of Ram, a 900 Hz Intel Celeron processor and a seven-inch screen.
    It was cheap, cheerful and a boon for those wanting to check e-mail and go online while out and about.
    But, said Mr Miles, the success of the small, portable notebook has been its undoing because it has spawned so many imitators.

    E-book readers are starting to do more than just handle text
    Many contemporary netbook models run Windows XP or Windows 7 which has forced the specifications, and price, upwards. Many, he said, now cost at least £350, a figure close to that for a more capable full-size laptop.
    What people are looking for now, he believes, is a machine that can keep up with the demands of contemporary web users – far more than the basic e-mail and web browsing that made the first models so appealing.
    “As soon as you want to do anything else you hit the same problem, it ceases to work,” he said. “It does not have the power.”
    Those changing habits of web users, he maintains, are too complex for those basic machines.
    “It’s the internet’s fault for making us much more multimedia savvy,” he said. Uploading and editing still or moving pictures and handling audio all require far more power than the basic netbook offers, he said.
    This could explain, he said, why many laptop makers are now turning out very thin and light machines that have power but not the shoulder-wrenching bulk.
    All change
    Ian Drew, spokesman for chip designer Arm, also believes netbooks are in for a shake-up. Consumers, he said, were chafing against the restrictions that using a netbook imposed on them.
    “We have failed the consumer because we have imposed constraints on them,” he said.
    Changing web habits and greater use of social media will mean consumers will be looking for gadgets that are tuned to specific purposes.

    The web is the king
    Christopher David, SonyEricsson
    “It will be a lot of different machines for a lot of different people,” he said. “This whole market will be exploding in the next couple of years.”
    Impetus for this change will come, he believes, from the phone world where many, many types of gadgets are already blooming.
    “It’s no surprise that your mobile has changed a lot in the last three years but your PC hasn’t,” he said.
    Arm hopes that many more netbook makers will be using one of its designs as a core processor and turn to Linux as the operating system.
    At the very least a crop of Arm-based netbooks might mean a big boost to battery life. Arm’s mobile pedigree means it is designed to be parsimonious with power.
    Dell already produces notebooks sporting Latitude ON technology that use both Arm and Intel chips so that they can boot into either Windows or Linux.
    Editing tools
    Battery life on Linux is in excess of 10 hours, for Windows rarely more than three.
    Machines sporting Arm chips are also likely to be thinner as they will not need the heat sinks demanded by processors used in desktops.
    Mr Drew said deals Arm has signed with Adobe will help ensure that future devices will be able to use the software maker’s familiar video, audio and image editing tools.
    What will also be worth watching, he said, is what happens when Google’s Chrome OS is launched.
    Many of the devices running that will be Arm-based as Chrome is broadly based on one of the Linux distributions. There are also unconfirmed rumours that either Windows 8 or 9 will run on Arm chips.

    People are becoming familiar with multi-touch thanks to touch screen phones
    Mr Drew also expects to see devices tailored to particular types of user.
    E-book readers were an example of this, he said, and were evolving into devices capable of doing more than just handle text. Many can play MP3s or let owners browse the web.
    Then there is the approaching wave of tablet computers.
    Apple is rumoured to be working on one. Dell and Microsoft have shown off their own ideas of what one will look like and there are bound to be many more from established tablet makers such as Archos.
    Mr Miles from Pocket Lint believes these are likely to take up the mantle from the netbook.
    “I don’t think people will expect it to do much more than you get from a netbook,” he said, adding that they were perfect for those who needed a device that let them get online quickly to satisfy their curiosity.
    They were more likely to succeed now more than ever, said Mr Miles, because of the greater experience people had with using such devices.
    “It’ll be helped by Apple which has educated people how to use multi-touch through the iPhone and iPod touch,” he said.
    Netbooks are also likely to come under pressure from smartphones as they get even smarter, said Christoper David, head of developers at SonyEricsson.
    Phone makers, he said, have to position themselves to be more open and able to support the web habits of users no matter what they were or what they wanted to do.
    “The web is the king,” he said. Handset makers must work with those open web standards to ensure that the software on the phones they make is flexible enough to cope.
    “Though,” he added, “that is only the starting point of the journey.”
    What will not change, he believes, is the importance of the phone as a vessel for data about its owner.
    “We’re going to see phones coming along where the form factor will be less and less relevant in terms of what we carry about with us,” he said.
    Future devices will grab the best resources nearby whether that is a flat screen, projector or thin film display.
    The ID credentials stored on what was our phone will handle all the logins and give access to all the sites and services we use.
    The netbook, and its limitations, will be well and truly left behind.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8421491.stm

  • Convert Cassettes to MP3

    Cassette tapes may not have the high quality sound that you’re accustomed to with CDs and other digital formats, but analog does have its virtues.
    Witness the resurgence of LPs, which have a warmer sound than digital tracks, and often reveal a different, more subtle side of the music. Since many cassettes were recorded from LPs, some of that magic has been preserved on tape. Cassettes were the format of choice for us kids who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, so there are still plenty of them floating around in attics, basements and thrift shops.
    If you want to preserve music that’s on cassette, transferring them to a digital format is the way to go.

    Ingredients

    One cassette player – any kind will do, from an old Walkman to a cassette deck
    One computer with a sound card and input jack
    One male-to-male 1/8-inch mini-jack cord (or an RCA-to-mini-jack cord)
    One digital audio recording program

    Software

    There are a variety of audio recording and editing programs you could use – some free, some not – but for the purposes of this exercise, let’s assume you’re using Audacity, one of the most popular freeware recording programs available on the web.
    Audacity is an open-source audio recording and editing program that works on both Macs and PCs, and creates raw WAV files that you can edit and mix to your heart’s delight. You can also use it for burning CDs and creating podcasts or soundtracks. If you want to convert your WAV files to MP3s, you’ll need the LAME MP3 encoder, a separate plug-in that works with Audacity.
    Recording Steps

    Regardless of which audio recording software you’re using, these steps should work pretty well (there are minor differences in menus and terminology from program to program):
    Hook your tape player up to the computer using a mini-jack cord. There should be a headphone or line-out jack on the cassette deck, and a line-in input on your computer’s sound card.
    Go into the Control Panel and make sure the Line In Source is checked. In Windows, the menu path is Control Panel/Multimedia/Multimedia Properties/Devices. You should also check the input panel in your audio software. In Audacity, it’s the I/O tab in the Preferences dialog box. Also make sure the output is set to go through your sound card.
    Check the recording settings in your software program. If you are recording music, check the Record in Stereo box (for voice recordings, that’s not necessary). Under the Quality tab you need to set the sample rate – the higher, the better. For CD quality, use 44,100 Hz.
    Now that your settings are dialed in, press play on your cassette deck, and press the record button in your software program. Audio should be coming from your PC speakers, if you have them connected. Now click the input level meter and enable Start Monitoring to see a recording meter. Adjust the volume to your liking, and then restart the recording.
    When you stop the recording, go to the file menu and save the file to your hard drive. From here you can edit and convert the file to MP3.

    WAV to MP3

    In order to turn a WAV file to MP3, you need MP3 encoder software, such as LAME. Before doing that, however, you may want to split up the tracks in your recording. In your audio editing software, there will be instructions on how to do this – basically, you look for the flatline (silence) in the sound waves between tracks and manually split it there. Select the flat areas with the mouse, and select “Cut” from the “Edit” menu to remove them.
    Once you have MP3 files saved, you can use a MP3 tagger program to apply tags that will be read by whatever MP3 player you play the tracks on.
    In the Future

    There are already cassette and record players that you can buy with USB outputs, which can be used to record audio directly to your computer without the need for a sound card. Next you will see cassette and record players with built-in hard drives, eliminating the middleman.
    http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Convert_Cassettes_to_MP3?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))#Ingredients