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Tech Talk Radio Highlights
This week Tech Talk reviewed 2003 technology and
career trends, Google's reverse phone number lookup,
voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone options, our favorite
computer game, Microsoft's 2004 top ten challenges,
the truth about MP3 audio quality, and much
more......
Listen now to the latest show in MP3 format.
Check out all the links
referenced during the show.
Tech Talk airs each Saturday at 8 am on
WJFK Radio (FM106.7) and is sponsored by Stratford
University. WJFK is a CBS affiliate and the number one
FM radio station in the Washington, DC market.
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| 2003 Technology Trends | | | We highlighted a few trends that seem to be here to
stay.
- Digital cameras out sold film cameras for the first
time in 2003. This dramatic market shift forced
Kodak to accelerate its move away from film.
- The performance of PCs continued to climb as
prices dropped to their lowest level ever. The heated
battle between Intel and AMD is responsible for this
very pleasant trend. Isn't competition wonderful?
- MP3 file distribution over the Internet is finally
supporting a reasonable business model thanks to
Apple's iTunes Music Store
- In order to squeeze more profits from the highly
competitive PC market, computer manufactures have
begun to offer a broad range of products from digital
cameras to flat-panel TVs. This trend is driving prices
down in these markets too.
- Wireless standards have finally stabilized around
802.11g. Expect wireless network technology to
continue double-digit growth.
- Long-distance phone calls using the Internet have
finally arrived. Expect voice-over-IP component prices
to drop as consumer usage picks up.
Check
out the Popular Science article
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| Google's Reverse Phone Number Lookup | | |
Google,
the number one search engine, has linked its search engine
with published phone directories. Just enter a phone number
into the search field (xxx-xxx-xxxx) and it will provide the
name and address of the owner. It does not work with cell
phone numbers because they are not published. Not everyone
is pleased with this service.
Check
out the Washington Post article
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| Uru: Ages Beyond Myst | | | Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is a winner. This is the
fourth game in the series that began with Myst.
The 3D-worlds are graphically stunning and fun to
navigate. The challenges are complex and deviously
clever. The previous three (Myst, Riven,
Exile) are available as a trilogy for only $19.
Uru retails for $49.
Check out
the Ubisoft Website
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| What about MP3 quality? | | | CD-quality digital-data requires a file size of 10.5 MB
per minute. That assumes two stereo-channels sampled
with 16-bit accuracy 44,100 times per second. In
order to reduce the file size, the "CD-quality" MP3 file-
compression algorithm reduces this digital-data by a
factor of 6 and produces a file size around 1.75 MB per
minute. MP3 compression does not retain all audio data.
It is a "lossy" compression. Sounds which cannot
normally be perceived are dropped.
The loss in quality is noticeable with high-end audio systems.
With such systems, 5% of listeners can detect a quality
loss with 3:1 compression ratio; 10% can detect it with
6:1 ratio; and 50% with 10:1 ratio.
Check
out AudioBoxInc website.
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| Getting Started with VoIP | | | Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology allows you to make
telephone calls using your Internet connection.
Currently 10% of all calls are VoIP. You can try this
new technology out at home, if you have a broadband
connection. There are many options (some free, all
very inexpensive):
- Skype -- Peer-to-peer calls are free to other
Skype-users.
- Net2phone -- Ring any phone in the world with
pre-paid calling, about 1 cent per minute.
- FreeWorldDialup -- Calls are free to US and UK,
super-cheap world wide. Can only talk to other
VoIP-users.
- Vonage -- Reach a conventional phone use your
existing handset (free adapter) $35/month.
- SIPphone -- Free calls anywhere once you buy the
$80 handset. Can only call other IP phones.
Check
out The Wired Article
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