Introduction
The last few years game developers more and more are protecting their games with commercial CD Protections. Until now none of these CD Protections have really helped, in some cases it even can work against you as some CD-ROM players can not handle the protection. So we have to wait before game developers get it that it is a waste of effort and money protecting CD's.
Now the music industry has hopped the bandwagon and now is selling protected audio CD's. These CD's can be backed up using a variety of methods but usually an easy 1:1 backup is not possible. This is exactly what they want, making it harder to make a backup so that people will buy the original. Only they did not think about the fair use laws which are common in most countries, which make it possible to create a backup for personal use!
As CD's are not 100% indestructible many people want to make a backup of their games. Using the backup to play the game thus saving the original. Especially when it involves children it is VERY handy to have them use a backup. Because of these CD Protections it is getting harder and harder just to make a working backup.
Most protection technologies (like SafeDisc & SecuROM) encrypt the main executable using a key, this key is then added to the disc as a digital signature. A software loader program is added to read the digital signature, extract the key and load/decrypt the main executable.
Keep in mind that in most countries you are legally allowed to make a backup of a CD which you legally own. Some gaming companies won't allow you to make a backup and use the argument that a broken (original) CD will be replaced, but in most cases the costs for replacing it is usually more then buying the game again!
This page contains a list of all known CD & DVD Protections which are currently on the market, how they can be detected and how to by-pass many of them.
There are currently a number of tools which are able to detect which CD Protection is being used on you original CD's, checkout the CD/DVD Utilities page to get them! This page also includes tools to create your own protected data & audio CD's!
http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_protections.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
CD player design concept blends ancient and old tech
Here's a charming blend of old and ancient tech, a CD player that looks like it took a few cues from an ancient Victrola from a century ago. Designer Yong Jieyu took the innards of a disassembled CD player and rearranged them, turning the laser upside down and situating it inside an appendage that's shaped vaguely like an old-fashioned tonearm.
It's a completely self-contained unit, with up-firing speakers situated directly underneath the opening that leads to this morning-glory-shaped speaker trumpet. So the music goes round and round, playing back from the spinning CD, and then it comes out here: What did they call that flower-shaped speaker in the olden days, anyway? A horn?
In light of the phenomenal success of online music download services such as iTunes and the Amazon Music Store, the irony of this anachronistic juxtaposition is not lost on us. It's an apt statement on the impending obsolescence of CDs. Long live the music download
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/05/29/cd_player_desig.html
It's a completely self-contained unit, with up-firing speakers situated directly underneath the opening that leads to this morning-glory-shaped speaker trumpet. So the music goes round and round, playing back from the spinning CD, and then it comes out here: What did they call that flower-shaped speaker in the olden days, anyway? A horn?
In light of the phenomenal success of online music download services such as iTunes and the Amazon Music Store, the irony of this anachronistic juxtaposition is not lost on us. It's an apt statement on the impending obsolescence of CDs. Long live the music download
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/05/29/cd_player_desig.html
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
OS Integrated Live CD Player
This appliance allows the end user to automatically boot a Live CD from within VMware in just one step. Rather than make a new virtual machine to test out a Live CD, the user will right click the file in Windows Explorer
(or Nautilus or Konqueror) and from the menu, chose an option to start it right away. This saves a lot of time for those (like me) who test lots of Live CD's. This especially handy for those with VMware Player who want to try out a Live CD and don't want to (or know how to) modify the configuration of an existing Virtual Machine.
To install, follow the instruction in the README.txt file in the isoplayer/ folder in the .zip file. Be sure to read it before attempting to install!
When creating this, I started with a simple Virtual Machine with no hard drive, and then wrote a shell script to modify it with the appropriate CD image, and then start it up in vmware/player. As the script progressed and more options were added, I moved the .vmx file completely into the shell script itself. This was primarily to resolve an issue in which the script was called from the command line in a different directory. I had made an option to give it an alternate directory, but removed it and a few other featured when it began to become too bloated. Once it was thoroughly testing, I ported it to a Windows Batch File.
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/374
(or Nautilus or Konqueror) and from the menu, chose an option to start it right away. This saves a lot of time for those (like me) who test lots of Live CD's. This especially handy for those with VMware Player who want to try out a Live CD and don't want to (or know how to) modify the configuration of an existing Virtual Machine.
To install, follow the instruction in the README.txt file in the isoplayer/ folder in the .zip file. Be sure to read it before attempting to install!
When creating this, I started with a simple Virtual Machine with no hard drive, and then wrote a shell script to modify it with the appropriate CD image, and then start it up in vmware/player. As the script progressed and more options were added, I moved the .vmx file completely into the shell script itself. This was primarily to resolve an issue in which the script was called from the command line in a different directory. I had made an option to give it an alternate directory, but removed it and a few other featured when it began to become too bloated. Once it was thoroughly testing, I ported it to a Windows Batch File.
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/374
Monday, November 12, 2007
CD player
A CD (compact disc) is an optical disc used to store digital information, such as audio, video, or computer programs and data, characterized in the large storage capacity compared to conventional magnetic storage means. A CD player as a playback mechanism of a recording medium is mounted on an instrument panel of a motor vehicle as a mobile unit. The CD player reproduces an audio signal from the digital data stored on the CD. The CD player utilizes a disc upon which digital audio information is encoded in a pre-determined format, which format can then be read by a laser. The digital data is accessed by an optical pickup mechanism in the player as the CD is rotated adjacent the optical pickup. A CD player includes electronics such as a motor, motor drive and control circuitry, decoder logic, and the like to spin the CD at an appropriate speed, read the data off the CD, process the data, and convert it to an analog format to be played through a speaker or headphones. The digital data is organized in sequentially generated sample frames, each sample frame containing both audio information and sample position information. The CD player is operable to provide general information as to relative location on the disc of each sample frame such that it is possible to electronically relocate the scanning device to a particular location on the disc. The increasing popularity of CD players in recent years has expanded their use as an audio component on a vehicle, and in particular, a motor vehicle. A home CD player is designed so as to be horizontally disposed. However, the car CD player is disposed horizontally or vertically depending on the space for arranging the player.
http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com/products/audio-equipment/cd-player/
http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com/products/audio-equipment/cd-player/
Saturday, November 10, 2007
James Taylor Dad Loves His Work Pop Music CD Review
The super talented Pop artist James Taylor has released him most recent CD on the Columbia recording label, entitled That's Why I'm Here.
Unfortunately, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with That's Why I'm Here. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.
Pop music fans will recognize some of the well known guests that have been assembled to play along with Taylor on several of the tracks. Artists like Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar just to name a couple.
If you’re a James Taylor fan this is a CD your collection flat cannot be without. In fact, this is one of those CDs that you don’t even have to be a fan of Taylor, or even Pop to know is good. It’s just good music. Period.
While this entire CD is outstanding the truly standout tunes are track 1 - That's Why I'm Here, track 3 - Only A Dream In Rio, and track 11 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 5 - Going Around One More Time. Wow!
That's Why I'm Here Release Notes:
James Taylor originally released That's Why I'm Here on April 25, 2000 on the Columbia label.
CD Track List Follows:
1. That's Why I'm Here
2. Song For You Far Away
3. Only A Dream In Rio
4. Turn Away
5. Going Around One More Time
6. My Romance
7. Everyday
8. Limousine Driver
9. Only One
10. Mona
11. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
12. That's Why I'm Here
Personnel: James Taylor (vocals, guitar); Randy Brecker (vocals, horns); Airto Moreira (vocals, percussion); Rosemary Butler, Arnold McCuller, David Lasley, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, Don Henley, Deneice Williams, Eric Troyer, Rory Dodd, Kenia Gould, Zbeto, Elaine Eliaf, Frank Filipetti, Peter Asher (vocals); Dan Dugmore, Jeff Pevar (guitar); Kenny Kosek (violin); Gregory "Fingers" Taylor (harmonica); David Sanborn (saxophone, horns); Michael Brecker, Barry Rogers (horns); Billy Payne, Dan Grolnick, Clifford Carter (keyboards); Tony Levin, Leland Sklar (bass); Russell Kunkel, Rick Schlosser (drums); Jim Maelen, Starz Vanderlockit.
Recorded at Right Track Recording, New York, New York.
Unfortunately, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with That's Why I'm Here. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.
Pop music fans will recognize some of the well known guests that have been assembled to play along with Taylor on several of the tracks. Artists like Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar just to name a couple.
If you’re a James Taylor fan this is a CD your collection flat cannot be without. In fact, this is one of those CDs that you don’t even have to be a fan of Taylor, or even Pop to know is good. It’s just good music. Period.
While this entire CD is outstanding the truly standout tunes are track 1 - That's Why I'm Here, track 3 - Only A Dream In Rio, and track 11 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 5 - Going Around One More Time. Wow!
That's Why I'm Here Release Notes:
James Taylor originally released That's Why I'm Here on April 25, 2000 on the Columbia label.
CD Track List Follows:
1. That's Why I'm Here
2. Song For You Far Away
3. Only A Dream In Rio
4. Turn Away
5. Going Around One More Time
6. My Romance
7. Everyday
8. Limousine Driver
9. Only One
10. Mona
11. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
12. That's Why I'm Here
Personnel: James Taylor (vocals, guitar); Randy Brecker (vocals, horns); Airto Moreira (vocals, percussion); Rosemary Butler, Arnold McCuller, David Lasley, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, Don Henley, Deneice Williams, Eric Troyer, Rory Dodd, Kenia Gould, Zbeto, Elaine Eliaf, Frank Filipetti, Peter Asher (vocals); Dan Dugmore, Jeff Pevar (guitar); Kenny Kosek (violin); Gregory "Fingers" Taylor (harmonica); David Sanborn (saxophone, horns); Michael Brecker, Barry Rogers (horns); Billy Payne, Dan Grolnick, Clifford Carter (keyboards); Tony Levin, Leland Sklar (bass); Russell Kunkel, Rick Schlosser (drums); Jim Maelen, Starz Vanderlockit.
Recorded at Right Track Recording, New York, New York.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clyde_Lee_Dennis
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Shopping for a portable CD player with your Teenager
A portable CD player (or any other portable media player) can be a great gift for that special teenager in your life. A little pre-shopping preparation can go a long way to getting the right player for their lifestyle (and in the process up your coolness quotient).
When our daughter's latest CD player died, we decided to go shopping for something better. Since she was eleven, Eva's had a succession of very inexpensive portable CD players. Not surprisingly, none of them lasted very long. Now almost through high school, Eva felt (and we agreed) that she was ready for something a little more substantial than yet another $20 "disposable" player.
Investing more money in a portable player meant investing more time in the selection process. Whatever we purchased would have to last Eva for a long time.
Even parents do homework
The first thing Eva and I had to do was talk money. Between what she'd saved from work, and what dear old Dad was willing to front, we determined we had about $90 to $140 to play with.
Once we'd established our budget, we were ready for the next step. Coming up with the short list players in our price range was a task that Eva was more than happy to let me take care of alone. It turned out to be a pretty simple process. Spending a little time at Crutchfield.com, I soon had a good idea of what players we needed to look at. The site allowed me to pull together the units available within our budget, and do various side-by-side comparisons.
As I looked over the products, some patterns began to emerge. Certain features, such as random play and track repeat, were listed again and again. This consistency helped me get a feel for what was standard for our price range. Some features, such as MP3 CD playback capability, were only available on the higher end models. I made a note to talk with Eva about some of these differences. As the list filled out, two basic questions emerged; why and what. Why a CD player instead of a MP3 player (or some other kind of portable unit), and what kind of player did Eva really want?
Why a CD player?
This was an important question to ask. There's been a significant shift in the buying patterns among young consumers. MP3 portable players are growing in popularity, threatening to supplant CD players as the portable of choice. Looking at the trend a little more closely, though, the majority of these buyers are college students, 18 to 22 years old, who have ready access to fast Internet connections. Downloading MP3s onto their computers, these young adults prefer computer-based technology such as iPods and other MP3 portables to store and manage their music collections.
This change from audio CDs to MP3 files has only just started to move down to the high school level (14-18 age group), and seemingly not to any significant extent in our area. While a few of Eva's friends have the capability to create MP3-encoded CDs, most stick with either audio CDs they've purchased or recordable CDs (CD-Rs) they've burned. From a standpoint of formats, a CD player made the most sense for Eva.
What do they really want?
To answer the second question on my list, I took a look at how I use my portable CD player. I quickly listed what features I thought were important (and unimportant). From there it was pretty easy to go point by point and anticipate how Eva might respond to each one. I wanted to make sure we were really looking for something to suit her needs, rather than mine.
My player is something I take along on business trips, usually for use on the airplane or for relaxing while in hotel rooms. At home, I use it to listen to music without disturbing others — in short, for sedentary personal listening.
I already knew that Eva's usage would be much more social and decidedly more active! She and her friends all consider portable CD players standard equipment for school field trips; they pass time on the bus swapping CDs and CD-R mixes. Eva's on the local swim team and spends a lot of time at the pool. While waiting between events, she does a lot of listening, and trading discs with friends is an important part of that activity as well.
Eva and I tend to listen to different kinds of music (although sometimes not as different as you might think) that place different demands on the player. She prefers a lot of bass, and a LOT of volume! Normally I don't use the bass boost, and find too much distortion and aural discomfort when the volume's cranked to its maximum.
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/reviews/20030826/portable_cd.html
When our daughter's latest CD player died, we decided to go shopping for something better. Since she was eleven, Eva's had a succession of very inexpensive portable CD players. Not surprisingly, none of them lasted very long. Now almost through high school, Eva felt (and we agreed) that she was ready for something a little more substantial than yet another $20 "disposable" player.
Investing more money in a portable player meant investing more time in the selection process. Whatever we purchased would have to last Eva for a long time.
Even parents do homework
The first thing Eva and I had to do was talk money. Between what she'd saved from work, and what dear old Dad was willing to front, we determined we had about $90 to $140 to play with.
Once we'd established our budget, we were ready for the next step. Coming up with the short list players in our price range was a task that Eva was more than happy to let me take care of alone. It turned out to be a pretty simple process. Spending a little time at Crutchfield.com, I soon had a good idea of what players we needed to look at. The site allowed me to pull together the units available within our budget, and do various side-by-side comparisons.
As I looked over the products, some patterns began to emerge. Certain features, such as random play and track repeat, were listed again and again. This consistency helped me get a feel for what was standard for our price range. Some features, such as MP3 CD playback capability, were only available on the higher end models. I made a note to talk with Eva about some of these differences. As the list filled out, two basic questions emerged; why and what. Why a CD player instead of a MP3 player (or some other kind of portable unit), and what kind of player did Eva really want?
 CDs and CD-Rs are still the format of choice for high schoolers. |
Why a CD player?
This was an important question to ask. There's been a significant shift in the buying patterns among young consumers. MP3 portable players are growing in popularity, threatening to supplant CD players as the portable of choice. Looking at the trend a little more closely, though, the majority of these buyers are college students, 18 to 22 years old, who have ready access to fast Internet connections. Downloading MP3s onto their computers, these young adults prefer computer-based technology such as iPods and other MP3 portables to store and manage their music collections.
This change from audio CDs to MP3 files has only just started to move down to the high school level (14-18 age group), and seemingly not to any significant extent in our area. While a few of Eva's friends have the capability to create MP3-encoded CDs, most stick with either audio CDs they've purchased or recordable CDs (CD-Rs) they've burned. From a standpoint of formats, a CD player made the most sense for Eva.
What do they really want?
To answer the second question on my list, I took a look at how I use my portable CD player. I quickly listed what features I thought were important (and unimportant). From there it was pretty easy to go point by point and anticipate how Eva might respond to each one. I wanted to make sure we were really looking for something to suit her needs, rather than mine.
My player is something I take along on business trips, usually for use on the airplane or for relaxing while in hotel rooms. At home, I use it to listen to music without disturbing others — in short, for sedentary personal listening.
I already knew that Eva's usage would be much more social and decidedly more active! She and her friends all consider portable CD players standard equipment for school field trips; they pass time on the bus swapping CDs and CD-R mixes. Eva's on the local swim team and spends a lot of time at the pool. While waiting between events, she does a lot of listening, and trading discs with friends is an important part of that activity as well.
Eva and I tend to listen to different kinds of music (although sometimes not as different as you might think) that place different demands on the player. She prefers a lot of bass, and a LOT of volume! Normally I don't use the bass boost, and find too much distortion and aural discomfort when the volume's cranked to its maximum.
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/reviews/20030826/portable_cd.html
Sony D-NF400 CD Walkman Review
Sony's D-NF400 CD Walkman is a well thought out CD player which supports standard audio, MP3 and Sony's ATRAC3 CDs. It offers long battery life, good button layout, a very useful LCD information display and a variety of control choices to enhance your listening experience. Uninterrupted playback via a memory buffer is offered for those times when the player takes a bump. It also can tune to FM, AM, TV and weather stations, with the ability to program 51 total presets.
Product Review:
It’s small and circular. It plays regular audio CDs as well as ones with music files. It tunes AM, FM, TV and weather band. It even looks good in your hand. Sony’s D-NF400 CD Walkman is one of those portable CD players which stand out above the hordes of cheap imitations in the market. It offers enough features to keep most audiophiles happy and is at a price point almost anyone can love.
The D-NF400 gets high marks from the get go for its sleek, reserved look. The feel of the device in your hand is solid, though the player’s swing up door feels a little cheap. The button layout on the front is well done, with a large, multi-function play button being at the center. A small LCD display, where you can view information on the CDs you are playing as well as the menu navigation for controlling various features, is a nice touch.
As with most portable CD players these days, the D-NF400 supports MP3-encoded CDs in addition to standard, store-bought ones. It also supports Sony’s ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus formats, of which people can burn CDs with this type of music file if they wish as Sony has conveniently included a copy of their SonicStage CD ripping software.
http://portables.about.com/od/cdplayers/fr/sonydnf400.htm
Product Review:
It’s small and circular. It plays regular audio CDs as well as ones with music files. It tunes AM, FM, TV and weather band. It even looks good in your hand. Sony’s D-NF400 CD Walkman is one of those portable CD players which stand out above the hordes of cheap imitations in the market. It offers enough features to keep most audiophiles happy and is at a price point almost anyone can love.
The D-NF400 gets high marks from the get go for its sleek, reserved look. The feel of the device in your hand is solid, though the player’s swing up door feels a little cheap. The button layout on the front is well done, with a large, multi-function play button being at the center. A small LCD display, where you can view information on the CDs you are playing as well as the menu navigation for controlling various features, is a nice touch.
As with most portable CD players these days, the D-NF400 supports MP3-encoded CDs in addition to standard, store-bought ones. It also supports Sony’s ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus formats, of which people can burn CDs with this type of music file if they wish as Sony has conveniently included a copy of their SonicStage CD ripping software.
http://portables.about.com/od/cdplayers/fr/sonydnf400.htm
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Data Storage Media – A Guide to Selecting Media For Storing and Backing Up Computer Data
Data, or information stored on your computer, can either be held on fixed disk drives inside the computer or on removable media such as CD's that can be inserted and removed. Removable media can be used to transfer files between computers or to backup the data already existing on fixed disk drives. There are three types of removable media: Magnetic, Optical and Flash.
Magnetic Storage Magnetic Storage: Hard disks, floppy disks and digital audiotape are examples of Magnetic storage. They operate through a read/write head, which creates and reads magnetic impressions on the disk.
The downside…
* The magnetic impression only lasts for around five years
* The capacity of most removable magnetic disks is too low for many types of files
Optical storage Optical Storage holds information in digital form that is written and read by a laser. All CD and DVD devices are examples of this.
The upside…
* Increased capacity: one Optical disc can store the same amount of data as over 500 diskettes
* Durability: they last up to seven times as long as Magnetic forms of storage
Flash Memory (Solid-State Removable Storage) Solid-state memory (or Flash memory) is a high-performance plug-and-play storage device that contains no moving parts. It is found in digital cameras, video game consoles and digital audio players. You can use it in the form of USB Flash Drives to transfer or backup data. Flash memory is small, light and fast.
Backup Backup is the copying of files onto portable media so that if your computer crashes, data won’t be lost in oblivion. Backup is usually routine in large businesses but is often neglected by individual users. Some suggest backing up data files and duplicating your hard drive weekly. It takes around 45 minutes to backup a 500-megabyte hard disk.
There are two options - local or Internet backup. The following is a list of Local backup options. Most of these also double as devices used to transfer data between computers.
* Diskettes
* Zip Drives
* CD's
* DVD's
* Flash Drive
Internet Backup Another backup option is sending your files to an Internet site for safekeeping. If your computer crashes you can simply download them from the site. Here are a few examples of such sites: Backup Defender (www.backupdefender.co.nz) and My Backup (www.mybackup.co.nz). N.B. The author does not recommend or endorse any of the above service providers.
Diskette A Diskette is a 3.5-inch removable magnetic disk. The older version, the floppy disk, is 5.25 inches square and flexible. Copying to a diskette is quick and economical.
Ideal for…
* Those who use their PC for personal finance - the diskette enables you to retrieve checkbook balances etc.
* Projects that need to be continuously backed up such as a film script, as it is a cheap alternative.
Not so good for…
* Some newer computer and laptop models that do not have a diskette or floppy drive installed.
* Large amounts of data as diskettes don’t have a great storage capacity
Zip Drives A Zip drive is a small, square shaped magnetic disk that is ideal for backing up your PC. The 100-megabyte size holds the equivalent of 70 floppy diskettes. They also come in a 250-megabyte size
Ideal for…
* Duplicating your entire disc drive
* Archiving
* Storing graphic images or other large files
* Transferring large files
* Keeping certain data separate from files on your hard disk
The downside…
* They seem to be a fleeting technology - most computers do not have a Zip Disc drive installed and opinion varies on how long they will be around for.
Compact Disks There are different standards of CD's that have different capabilities. Just to confuse us they are recognized by seemingly similar acronyms; CD-R, CD-RW, CD+RW, DDCD and E-CD.
CD-R CD-R (Compact Disc - Recordable) is a CD that can be recorded to only once. It usually holds 74 minutes of audio or 650 MB of data, although newer versions hold up to 80 minutes of audio (700 MB of data). If your PC has CD burning software and a compatible CD-R or CD-RW drive, the CD-R can be used in the same way as a diskette. However unlike a diskette it cannot be deleted or overwritten. Look out for CD-Rs that have an additional protective layer which make them less susceptible to damage caused through scratching.
Ideal for…
* Making music CD's
* Storing photos
* Storing permanent data
Not so good for…
* Transferring files as they can only be used once
CD-RW/CD+RW A CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable) and CD+RW can be recorded onto as many times as desired. Data can be overwritten and erased. Other than this, the CD-RW is identical to the CD-R. If it wasn't for their finite durability CD-RW’s and CD+RW’s could be reused endlessly.
Ideal for…
* Transferring files
* Holding temporary data
Not so good for…
* Holding important permanent files-in case they are accidentally deleted
Double Density CD (DDCD) This disc has a much greater storage capacity than an average CD-R or CD-RW.
Ideal for…
* Backing up
* Storing archival data
Enhanced CD Enhanced CD (E-CD) is an audio CD with CD-ROM data added. CD-ROM data is added in the space not taken by audio. Recording artists can use this to include videos, lyrics, interviews or promo material. The E-CD can be played on a CD player but to view additional material you need access to a multimedia-capable device, such as a CD-i player, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM drive.
Bridge Disks A CD-Bridge disc holds extra information on a CD-ROM XA track. The disc can be played on either a CD-i player attached to a television, or a CD-ROM XA drive attached to a computer. Software such as Photo or a Karaoke CD player can provide lots of fun with the Bridge Disk.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) Although DVD's have become more associated with video, they can also hold audio and computer data; hence their name Digital Versatile Disk. Like the CD, a DVD is a 120-mm by 1.2mm thick disk. However the DVD has more tracks than a CD so holds far more data. CD's have an unvarying storage capacity of 750MB, whereas DVD's store up to 17GB.
A range of acronyms is also used to distinguish between the different types and capabilities of DVD's available. These include DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-Audio.
DVD-ROM DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc - Read Only Memory) is similar to a movie DVD, but is designed for computers. The DVD-ROM stores data in the same way that the CD-ROM does and is used in the DVD-ROM drive of your PC.
The upside…
* Larger storage space – hold more data than a CD
* Can be filled with nearly everything; video, music or computer specific data
* A base speed of 1.32 megabytes/sec
The downside…
* Many older computers do not have a DVD-Rom drive installed
* Can be recorded on only once
DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is designed for audio data and high-quality music. Its storage capacity is seven times that of a CD and provides at least twice the sound quality. Like the Enhanced CD, DVD-A can contain other data, providing the listener with extra information such as lyrics or images. DVD-A is predicted by many to replace the standard audio CD in the music industry.
DVD-R Like the CD-R, the DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc-Recordable) can be recorded on once.
The upside…
* A DVD-R can contain an assortment of information; video, text, audio and computer data
* A DVD-R can be played on your normal DVD video player but remember, if you have additional data not of the same format e.g. video and audio together, you will need a DVD-ROM or Multimedia player of some kind
* A DVD-R is read at the same speed as commercially made DVD's
DVD-RW and DVD+RW Similar to the CD-RW, a DVD-RW or DVD+RW (Digital Versatile Disc – Rewritable) can be recorded on, rewritten and erased multiple times. Other than this they are identical to the DVD-R. DVD minus and plus are just different versions with the same functionality.
The Future of CD/DVD Storage The majority of the technology industry predicts that soon DVD’s, with their larger storage capacity and faster access time, will replace CD’s. DVD-ROM drives are likely to be sold with new computer systems in the way that CD-ROM drives once were. However we are always on the cusp of newer technologies, such as the HD-ROM.
HD-ROM (High Density-Read Only Memory) HD-ROM uses a more precise particle beam to write data. This enables information to be written on more durable materials such as metal so storage is virtually permanent. HD-ROM has hundreds of times the storage capacity of the CD-ROM.
Flash Drives A Flash drive is a small portable memory stick that holds anywhere from 1Mb to 1GB of data. It is surprisingly lightweight and is often worn around the neck or carried as a funky key chain. They are compatible with any PC that has USB port and with Mac OS 9 and OS X, Windows 2000 and XP or Linux 2.4.17.
The upside…
* Durable - more so than CD's or DVD's
* No need for batteries or a separate power source
* Convenient - your computer should recognize the additional drive as soon as you insert it into the USB port
* Ideal for backup
* Larger storage capacity then many other portable devices
* More portable than ZIP drives, CD's and Diskettes
* Quick transfer rate (approx. 1Mb/sec)
* Edit, rewrite, delete as many times as desired
* Help desk personnel can use Flash Drives as a portable toolkit that includes system updates and recovery tools.
The downside…
* More expensive than other portable devices
* Viruses - The portability and compatibility of the Flash Drive increases the chance of spreading viruses. In many cases viruses carried by a Flash Drive will not be detected as most antivirus software is reactive and only recognizes known viruses
* Theft - a Flash Drive can make it easier for data to be stolen from an unlocked PC
* Little Security - the size and weight of the Flash drive makes it very easy to misplace. Most have little or no security features and data is accessed easily. Some Flash Drives do have built in security; either a password or in some cases a finger print system - but this comes at a price.
Article by David Haysom. David is the eCommerce Manager for OfficeRocket http://www.officerocket.co.nz/. OfficeRocket is an online store that offers a wide range of office supplies including computer data storage media.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Haysom
Magnetic Storage Magnetic Storage: Hard disks, floppy disks and digital audiotape are examples of Magnetic storage. They operate through a read/write head, which creates and reads magnetic impressions on the disk.
The downside…
* The magnetic impression only lasts for around five years
* The capacity of most removable magnetic disks is too low for many types of files
Optical storage Optical Storage holds information in digital form that is written and read by a laser. All CD and DVD devices are examples of this.
The upside…
* Increased capacity: one Optical disc can store the same amount of data as over 500 diskettes
* Durability: they last up to seven times as long as Magnetic forms of storage
Flash Memory (Solid-State Removable Storage) Solid-state memory (or Flash memory) is a high-performance plug-and-play storage device that contains no moving parts. It is found in digital cameras, video game consoles and digital audio players. You can use it in the form of USB Flash Drives to transfer or backup data. Flash memory is small, light and fast.
Backup Backup is the copying of files onto portable media so that if your computer crashes, data won’t be lost in oblivion. Backup is usually routine in large businesses but is often neglected by individual users. Some suggest backing up data files and duplicating your hard drive weekly. It takes around 45 minutes to backup a 500-megabyte hard disk.
There are two options - local or Internet backup. The following is a list of Local backup options. Most of these also double as devices used to transfer data between computers.
* Diskettes
* Zip Drives
* CD's
* DVD's
* Flash Drive
Internet Backup Another backup option is sending your files to an Internet site for safekeeping. If your computer crashes you can simply download them from the site. Here are a few examples of such sites: Backup Defender (www.backupdefender.co.nz) and My Backup (www.mybackup.co.nz). N.B. The author does not recommend or endorse any of the above service providers.
Diskette A Diskette is a 3.5-inch removable magnetic disk. The older version, the floppy disk, is 5.25 inches square and flexible. Copying to a diskette is quick and economical.
Ideal for…
* Those who use their PC for personal finance - the diskette enables you to retrieve checkbook balances etc.
* Projects that need to be continuously backed up such as a film script, as it is a cheap alternative.
Not so good for…
* Some newer computer and laptop models that do not have a diskette or floppy drive installed.
* Large amounts of data as diskettes don’t have a great storage capacity
Zip Drives A Zip drive is a small, square shaped magnetic disk that is ideal for backing up your PC. The 100-megabyte size holds the equivalent of 70 floppy diskettes. They also come in a 250-megabyte size
Ideal for…
* Duplicating your entire disc drive
* Archiving
* Storing graphic images or other large files
* Transferring large files
* Keeping certain data separate from files on your hard disk
The downside…
* They seem to be a fleeting technology - most computers do not have a Zip Disc drive installed and opinion varies on how long they will be around for.
Compact Disks There are different standards of CD's that have different capabilities. Just to confuse us they are recognized by seemingly similar acronyms; CD-R, CD-RW, CD+RW, DDCD and E-CD.
CD-R CD-R (Compact Disc - Recordable) is a CD that can be recorded to only once. It usually holds 74 minutes of audio or 650 MB of data, although newer versions hold up to 80 minutes of audio (700 MB of data). If your PC has CD burning software and a compatible CD-R or CD-RW drive, the CD-R can be used in the same way as a diskette. However unlike a diskette it cannot be deleted or overwritten. Look out for CD-Rs that have an additional protective layer which make them less susceptible to damage caused through scratching.
Ideal for…
* Making music CD's
* Storing photos
* Storing permanent data
Not so good for…
* Transferring files as they can only be used once
CD-RW/CD+RW A CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable) and CD+RW can be recorded onto as many times as desired. Data can be overwritten and erased. Other than this, the CD-RW is identical to the CD-R. If it wasn't for their finite durability CD-RW’s and CD+RW’s could be reused endlessly.
Ideal for…
* Transferring files
* Holding temporary data
Not so good for…
* Holding important permanent files-in case they are accidentally deleted
Double Density CD (DDCD) This disc has a much greater storage capacity than an average CD-R or CD-RW.
Ideal for…
* Backing up
* Storing archival data
Enhanced CD Enhanced CD (E-CD) is an audio CD with CD-ROM data added. CD-ROM data is added in the space not taken by audio. Recording artists can use this to include videos, lyrics, interviews or promo material. The E-CD can be played on a CD player but to view additional material you need access to a multimedia-capable device, such as a CD-i player, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM drive.
Bridge Disks A CD-Bridge disc holds extra information on a CD-ROM XA track. The disc can be played on either a CD-i player attached to a television, or a CD-ROM XA drive attached to a computer. Software such as Photo or a Karaoke CD player can provide lots of fun with the Bridge Disk.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) Although DVD's have become more associated with video, they can also hold audio and computer data; hence their name Digital Versatile Disk. Like the CD, a DVD is a 120-mm by 1.2mm thick disk. However the DVD has more tracks than a CD so holds far more data. CD's have an unvarying storage capacity of 750MB, whereas DVD's store up to 17GB.
A range of acronyms is also used to distinguish between the different types and capabilities of DVD's available. These include DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-Audio.
DVD-ROM DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc - Read Only Memory) is similar to a movie DVD, but is designed for computers. The DVD-ROM stores data in the same way that the CD-ROM does and is used in the DVD-ROM drive of your PC.
The upside…
* Larger storage space – hold more data than a CD
* Can be filled with nearly everything; video, music or computer specific data
* A base speed of 1.32 megabytes/sec
The downside…
* Many older computers do not have a DVD-Rom drive installed
* Can be recorded on only once
DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is designed for audio data and high-quality music. Its storage capacity is seven times that of a CD and provides at least twice the sound quality. Like the Enhanced CD, DVD-A can contain other data, providing the listener with extra information such as lyrics or images. DVD-A is predicted by many to replace the standard audio CD in the music industry.
DVD-R Like the CD-R, the DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc-Recordable) can be recorded on once.
The upside…
* A DVD-R can contain an assortment of information; video, text, audio and computer data
* A DVD-R can be played on your normal DVD video player but remember, if you have additional data not of the same format e.g. video and audio together, you will need a DVD-ROM or Multimedia player of some kind
* A DVD-R is read at the same speed as commercially made DVD's
DVD-RW and DVD+RW Similar to the CD-RW, a DVD-RW or DVD+RW (Digital Versatile Disc – Rewritable) can be recorded on, rewritten and erased multiple times. Other than this they are identical to the DVD-R. DVD minus and plus are just different versions with the same functionality.
The Future of CD/DVD Storage The majority of the technology industry predicts that soon DVD’s, with their larger storage capacity and faster access time, will replace CD’s. DVD-ROM drives are likely to be sold with new computer systems in the way that CD-ROM drives once were. However we are always on the cusp of newer technologies, such as the HD-ROM.
HD-ROM (High Density-Read Only Memory) HD-ROM uses a more precise particle beam to write data. This enables information to be written on more durable materials such as metal so storage is virtually permanent. HD-ROM has hundreds of times the storage capacity of the CD-ROM.
Flash Drives A Flash drive is a small portable memory stick that holds anywhere from 1Mb to 1GB of data. It is surprisingly lightweight and is often worn around the neck or carried as a funky key chain. They are compatible with any PC that has USB port and with Mac OS 9 and OS X, Windows 2000 and XP or Linux 2.4.17.
The upside…
* Durable - more so than CD's or DVD's
* No need for batteries or a separate power source
* Convenient - your computer should recognize the additional drive as soon as you insert it into the USB port
* Ideal for backup
* Larger storage capacity then many other portable devices
* More portable than ZIP drives, CD's and Diskettes
* Quick transfer rate (approx. 1Mb/sec)
* Edit, rewrite, delete as many times as desired
* Help desk personnel can use Flash Drives as a portable toolkit that includes system updates and recovery tools.
The downside…
* More expensive than other portable devices
* Viruses - The portability and compatibility of the Flash Drive increases the chance of spreading viruses. In many cases viruses carried by a Flash Drive will not be detected as most antivirus software is reactive and only recognizes known viruses
* Theft - a Flash Drive can make it easier for data to be stolen from an unlocked PC
* Little Security - the size and weight of the Flash drive makes it very easy to misplace. Most have little or no security features and data is accessed easily. Some Flash Drives do have built in security; either a password or in some cases a finger print system - but this comes at a price.
Article by David Haysom. David is the eCommerce Manager for OfficeRocket http://www.officerocket.co.nz/. OfficeRocket is an online store that offers a wide range of office supplies including computer data storage media.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Haysom
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
MP3 is Music to Ears
Making it that much easier for people to enjoy their favorite tunes MP3 players have revolutionized the music systems. All earlier musical formats, including records, cassette, and CDs could never give the sheer convenience of MP3 players. It enables a listener to create personalized music lists and carry thousands of songs along without having to be burdened by a number of discs in a pack.
The MP3 player, along with the hundreds of songs it can store, is a device tinier than a pack of cards. Compared to a CD player and a case to store the discs, this is more manageable and far more compact.
It is features and advantages such as these that have made MP3 players the toast of music lovers the world over. You could buy MP3 players from a variety of models in different shapes and sizes through which manufacturers try to build a wide and varied customer base. To make the deal even more attractive, players are integrated with some add-ons.
MP3 players makes a disc jockey out of you, letting you pick songs of your choice and arranging them in your preferred sequence the way you would like to hear them. It is the power of having thousands of songs at your fingertips. You can arrange songs in a play list in the order of genre, the singers, or simply mingled randomly. You could start creating a play list by first identifying the songs you want from a sea of sources available on the Net or around.
It is possible also to convert your collection of songs stored in audio CDs into MP3 files using the ripper and encoder software. Quite a few MP3 players available in the market are already equipped with the software required. Aided by a ripper, you could copy a song from the CD onto the hard disk of a computer. With the help of an encoder, the song could be compressed into the MP3 format. Encoded songs can be downloaded on the MP3 player and there you have a treasure of music to enjoy.
Copyrights protected article written by Andrew Stratton for Surveillance Technology. More articles and information about the Music and Entertainment can be viewed easily altogether at this location http://www.surveillancetechnology.com/entertainment-system.htm. Please be free to explore the website for more information on every surveillance products and their features.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Stratton
The MP3 player, along with the hundreds of songs it can store, is a device tinier than a pack of cards. Compared to a CD player and a case to store the discs, this is more manageable and far more compact.
It is features and advantages such as these that have made MP3 players the toast of music lovers the world over. You could buy MP3 players from a variety of models in different shapes and sizes through which manufacturers try to build a wide and varied customer base. To make the deal even more attractive, players are integrated with some add-ons.
MP3 players makes a disc jockey out of you, letting you pick songs of your choice and arranging them in your preferred sequence the way you would like to hear them. It is the power of having thousands of songs at your fingertips. You can arrange songs in a play list in the order of genre, the singers, or simply mingled randomly. You could start creating a play list by first identifying the songs you want from a sea of sources available on the Net or around.
It is possible also to convert your collection of songs stored in audio CDs into MP3 files using the ripper and encoder software. Quite a few MP3 players available in the market are already equipped with the software required. Aided by a ripper, you could copy a song from the CD onto the hard disk of a computer. With the help of an encoder, the song could be compressed into the MP3 format. Encoded songs can be downloaded on the MP3 player and there you have a treasure of music to enjoy.
Copyrights protected article written by Andrew Stratton for Surveillance Technology. More articles and information about the Music and Entertainment can be viewed easily altogether at this location http://www.surveillancetechnology.com/entertainment-system.htm. Please be free to explore the website for more information on every surveillance products and their features.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Stratton
Monday, November 5, 2007
How To Get The Best Possible Used Car Loan
If you want to learn conversational Spanish, the best way to go about it is through an interactive-audio Spanish learning program. There are a number of these teaching tools for learning conversational Spanish that are available for purchase and download on the Internet.
The starting programs can be divided into two categories or "tiers": Full conversational and Quick start. The Full conversational programs will give you the ability to converse freely on diverse subjects in Spanish with a vocabulary of 4,000 to 8,000 Spanish words. Prices for digital versions run $100 to $150.
The Quick start programs will give you the basics, the ability to handle most common situations in Spanish, with a vocabulary of 2,000 to 4,000 words. Digital versions for download generally run from $20 to $50.
The advantages to using interactive audio teaching tools for learning conversational Spanish are many, including:
1. Portability. You download the lessons to your computer hard disk. From there you can offload to your iPod or other portable audio device (the lessons are generally in MP3 format), even burn them to CD's which you can play back on any CD player.
This gives you the ability to listen to and interact with the lesson materials anytime, anyplace. Your choice. You can learn and practice in your car, while exercising, on weekends, any time/place.
2. Excellent instructors. The Spanish pronunciation and accent you end up with cannot be better than that of your instructor. You want to learn from a native speaker. Classroom learning is limited by the linguistic ability of the teacher, which is not always the best. With the audio recorded lessons, generally you get the best.
Also, when you leave the classroom, you can take your notes, but the correct pronunciation, meter and rhythm of the language? With your recorded teaching tools for learning conversational spanish, you always have them with you for a refresher course. Even on the plane to Acapulco!
3. Speed control. You can go as fast or as slow as you like. You can repeat lessons as often as you need to to get the material down pat. You are in charge, you control the learning speed.
4. Cost. Almost any other method of learning will cost you more and take longer. The speed and low cost of making copies, the low cost of the Internet to deliver them to your hands, all work for unbeatable cost advantages!
That is one of the reasons why so many people are learning another language these days. (For the U.S. and Canada, Spanish is the most popular.) It is because the teaching tools for learning conversational spanish have become so economical and convenient.
For more information, follow the links below. The second link takes you to a variety of first and second tier learning programs.
For an excellent Spanish-learning course available at a great price, visit: Learn Spanish Now To learn more about the best teaching tools for learning conversational Spanish and available resources to learn Spanish, visit: Teaching tools learning conversational spanish
Jorge Chavez Learned Spanish after he was 30, now is bilingual, Spanish-English. http://rocket-spanish.ya23.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jorge_Chavez
The starting programs can be divided into two categories or "tiers": Full conversational and Quick start. The Full conversational programs will give you the ability to converse freely on diverse subjects in Spanish with a vocabulary of 4,000 to 8,000 Spanish words. Prices for digital versions run $100 to $150.
The Quick start programs will give you the basics, the ability to handle most common situations in Spanish, with a vocabulary of 2,000 to 4,000 words. Digital versions for download generally run from $20 to $50.
The advantages to using interactive audio teaching tools for learning conversational Spanish are many, including:
1. Portability. You download the lessons to your computer hard disk. From there you can offload to your iPod or other portable audio device (the lessons are generally in MP3 format), even burn them to CD's which you can play back on any CD player.
This gives you the ability to listen to and interact with the lesson materials anytime, anyplace. Your choice. You can learn and practice in your car, while exercising, on weekends, any time/place.
2. Excellent instructors. The Spanish pronunciation and accent you end up with cannot be better than that of your instructor. You want to learn from a native speaker. Classroom learning is limited by the linguistic ability of the teacher, which is not always the best. With the audio recorded lessons, generally you get the best.
Also, when you leave the classroom, you can take your notes, but the correct pronunciation, meter and rhythm of the language? With your recorded teaching tools for learning conversational spanish, you always have them with you for a refresher course. Even on the plane to Acapulco!
3. Speed control. You can go as fast or as slow as you like. You can repeat lessons as often as you need to to get the material down pat. You are in charge, you control the learning speed.
4. Cost. Almost any other method of learning will cost you more and take longer. The speed and low cost of making copies, the low cost of the Internet to deliver them to your hands, all work for unbeatable cost advantages!
That is one of the reasons why so many people are learning another language these days. (For the U.S. and Canada, Spanish is the most popular.) It is because the teaching tools for learning conversational spanish have become so economical and convenient.
For more information, follow the links below. The second link takes you to a variety of first and second tier learning programs.
For an excellent Spanish-learning course available at a great price, visit: Learn Spanish Now To learn more about the best teaching tools for learning conversational Spanish and available resources to learn Spanish, visit: Teaching tools learning conversational spanish
Jorge Chavez Learned Spanish after he was 30, now is bilingual, Spanish-English. http://rocket-spanish.ya23.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jorge_Chavez
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Why A Portable MP3 Player Should Be In Your Future
For many years the music industry dictated to consumers how they could buy the music that they wanted to hear. Did you like only one or two songs by an artist? Too bad. You still had to buy the whole album or tape. But the power to select the music that we want to listen to, and play it wherever we want, has been ushered in by the digital age, and today even cheap portable mp3 players are capable of some surprising flexibility.
For many years in the past there was no credible way to make copies of the music that was sold. That all began to change when tape cassette recorders began to get popular. At last you had a way to record song tracks onto your own tape and take them with you to play while you were traveling. But tapes are not the easiest medium to work with, and they introduced some unfavorable listening characteristics of their own too. But it was all we had for song portability.
Then along comes the CD and it changed forever the way that music is played and heard. CDs could store the huge files needed for digital sound and so the sound quality improved dramatically. They could also be taken anywhere you wanted to go and played in portable CD players. It wasn't long before folks started figuring out how to convert music files from CDs to digital files that could be played on their computers, and that led to the mp3 revolution that we now have in place.
Today portable mp3 players are quickly becoming the standard for listening to music, because all you need is a source that has the digital music files you want to listen to, and you can then download the files onto your mp3 player and take them with you wherever you go. It's simple, easy, and the best rated mp3 players take up very little room, making them perfect for folks on the go.
Actually MP3 is only one of the digital formats used to encode music, but it has somehow become the moniker for all digital song files. The most popular file format these days is WMA(Windows Media Audio). And there are a handful of others too, but they all seem to conveniently fall under the heading of "mp3 files".
Now you no longer have to buy the entire album if you like to just listen to a few songs on that album. You can download those songs individually, save them to your computer hard drive and then transfer them whenever you want to your mp3 player. And you can make several copies of those songs without losing any sound quality, because they are all in digital format and will always sound the same regardless of how many times they are copied.
So as you can see, portable mp3 players have become a powerful tool in the hands of music lovers everywhere. There are lots of cheap portable mp3 players available these days, so if you haven't joined the digital music revolution already, why not give it a try soon?
Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including audio and video. You can find out more about best portable mp3 players and best rated mp3 players by visiting our Home Theater website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thad_Pickering
For many years in the past there was no credible way to make copies of the music that was sold. That all began to change when tape cassette recorders began to get popular. At last you had a way to record song tracks onto your own tape and take them with you to play while you were traveling. But tapes are not the easiest medium to work with, and they introduced some unfavorable listening characteristics of their own too. But it was all we had for song portability.
Then along comes the CD and it changed forever the way that music is played and heard. CDs could store the huge files needed for digital sound and so the sound quality improved dramatically. They could also be taken anywhere you wanted to go and played in portable CD players. It wasn't long before folks started figuring out how to convert music files from CDs to digital files that could be played on their computers, and that led to the mp3 revolution that we now have in place.
Today portable mp3 players are quickly becoming the standard for listening to music, because all you need is a source that has the digital music files you want to listen to, and you can then download the files onto your mp3 player and take them with you wherever you go. It's simple, easy, and the best rated mp3 players take up very little room, making them perfect for folks on the go.
Actually MP3 is only one of the digital formats used to encode music, but it has somehow become the moniker for all digital song files. The most popular file format these days is WMA(Windows Media Audio). And there are a handful of others too, but they all seem to conveniently fall under the heading of "mp3 files".
Now you no longer have to buy the entire album if you like to just listen to a few songs on that album. You can download those songs individually, save them to your computer hard drive and then transfer them whenever you want to your mp3 player. And you can make several copies of those songs without losing any sound quality, because they are all in digital format and will always sound the same regardless of how many times they are copied.
So as you can see, portable mp3 players have become a powerful tool in the hands of music lovers everywhere. There are lots of cheap portable mp3 players available these days, so if you haven't joined the digital music revolution already, why not give it a try soon?
Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including audio and video. You can find out more about best portable mp3 players and best rated mp3 players by visiting our Home Theater website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thad_Pickering
MP3 Downloads
MP3 is a popular encoding and compression format for digital audio. The term MP3 is an acronym for MPEG-1 Layer 3. Using the MP3 format, larger digital audio files can be shrunk to a fraction of their size, losing a little of the sound quality in the process. Compared to the reduction in file size and ease of download, the reduction in quality is negligible and usually not very noticeable.
MP3 downloads are becoming hugely popular these days, because they allow several songs or pieces of audio to be stored without occupying a large amount of storage space.
MP3 files can be played either on a computer, using software applications such as Winamp or Windows media player, or they can be played on specialized MP3 players such as the Apple IPod. MP3 audio files may be played on recently manufactured DVD Players and CD players.
MP3 files are usually downloaded from websites on the Internet. Once downloaded, MP3 files can also be copied to compact discs or to MP3 players, using a data transfer cable.
MP3 files of popular music are available for download for as low as $1. Websites such as the ITunes online music store, operated by Apple, are very popular and boast of a huge library of music that can be purchased online. Even though MP3 files can be downloaded from the Internet for free, downloading copyrighted music without permission is illegal and can be termed piracy.
MP3 downloads help a person to build a music library. MP3 downloads also helps upcoming and unknown artists promote their music cost effectively. All they need to do is to post their music online for free downloads and they can be sure of reaching a large audience.
MP3 Downloads provides detailed information on MP3 Downloads, Free MP3 Downloads, MP3 Download Software, MP3 Download Sites and more. MP3 Downloads is affiliated with CD Covers
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristy_Annely
MP3 downloads are becoming hugely popular these days, because they allow several songs or pieces of audio to be stored without occupying a large amount of storage space.
MP3 files can be played either on a computer, using software applications such as Winamp or Windows media player, or they can be played on specialized MP3 players such as the Apple IPod. MP3 audio files may be played on recently manufactured DVD Players and CD players.
MP3 files are usually downloaded from websites on the Internet. Once downloaded, MP3 files can also be copied to compact discs or to MP3 players, using a data transfer cable.
MP3 files of popular music are available for download for as low as $1. Websites such as the ITunes online music store, operated by Apple, are very popular and boast of a huge library of music that can be purchased online. Even though MP3 files can be downloaded from the Internet for free, downloading copyrighted music without permission is illegal and can be termed piracy.
MP3 downloads help a person to build a music library. MP3 downloads also helps upcoming and unknown artists promote their music cost effectively. All they need to do is to post their music online for free downloads and they can be sure of reaching a large audience.
MP3 Downloads provides detailed information on MP3 Downloads, Free MP3 Downloads, MP3 Download Software, MP3 Download Sites and more. MP3 Downloads is affiliated with CD Covers
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristy_Annely
Looking For an MP3 Player?
If you don’t have an mp3 player, and even if you do, you should check out all the new stuff that’s going on. I’m hoping this article will give you some idea of what kind of mp3 player you want and some tips on what to look for in an mp3 player.
Maybe you work out and need something small and skip-proof for running or lifting. Maybe you have an 8 hour (or longer) plane ride when you go home and need to pass the time. Maybe you want a new one just for the sake of having a new one. Whatever it is, this article should help you choose.
First, for those of you who want something for working out: The two most important things to look for are size/weight and solid state memory, things CD players lack. You want something that you can clip to your shorts or strap to your arm that won’t interfere with your movements, and you want it to be light enough so you don’t even notice it. (Tip: Get a lithium ion battery to save even more weight.) To be sure that your player will not skip if you move too much or too fast, get one with solid state internal Flash memory, which has no moving parts so it can’t skip. These are usually available as 64 to 512 MB models, with a 64 MB model holding roughly an hour of music. Prices typically range from $100 to $300.
On the other hand, you may want to store all 16,000 songs in your collection on your mp3 player so you never hear the same one twice. In this case you need a hard drive based mp3 player, commonly known as an mp3 jukebox, for which you could pay up to $500. It will be a little bigger and heavier than and not quite as durable as a solid state mp3 player, but that isn’t a concern if you just want to sit around and listen to music. And they are still far more portable than a CD player.
Torn between a small, light, solid state mp3 player and a hard drive based player that holds thousands of songs? Well, the iPod Mini may be for you! The iPod Mini is just one model in a new breed of small hard drive mp3 players. They are a little lighter and smaller than normal hard drive players, and hold more songs than the average solid state mp3 player. (Did I mention the iPod Mini comes in blue, green, gold, and pink?) That’s it for the main differences, but here are some more things you should look for when making a purchase: long battery life, an FM tuner, voice recorder, an easy to read screen, and compatibility with your computer.
If you’re looking to purchase online, I recommend www.amazon.com. But first you should check www.mp3-player-guide.com (which has a buyer’s guide and reviews) so you can make a better decision.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Levi_Bloom
Maybe you work out and need something small and skip-proof for running or lifting. Maybe you have an 8 hour (or longer) plane ride when you go home and need to pass the time. Maybe you want a new one just for the sake of having a new one. Whatever it is, this article should help you choose.
First, for those of you who want something for working out: The two most important things to look for are size/weight and solid state memory, things CD players lack. You want something that you can clip to your shorts or strap to your arm that won’t interfere with your movements, and you want it to be light enough so you don’t even notice it. (Tip: Get a lithium ion battery to save even more weight.) To be sure that your player will not skip if you move too much or too fast, get one with solid state internal Flash memory, which has no moving parts so it can’t skip. These are usually available as 64 to 512 MB models, with a 64 MB model holding roughly an hour of music. Prices typically range from $100 to $300.
On the other hand, you may want to store all 16,000 songs in your collection on your mp3 player so you never hear the same one twice. In this case you need a hard drive based mp3 player, commonly known as an mp3 jukebox, for which you could pay up to $500. It will be a little bigger and heavier than and not quite as durable as a solid state mp3 player, but that isn’t a concern if you just want to sit around and listen to music. And they are still far more portable than a CD player.
Torn between a small, light, solid state mp3 player and a hard drive based player that holds thousands of songs? Well, the iPod Mini may be for you! The iPod Mini is just one model in a new breed of small hard drive mp3 players. They are a little lighter and smaller than normal hard drive players, and hold more songs than the average solid state mp3 player. (Did I mention the iPod Mini comes in blue, green, gold, and pink?) That’s it for the main differences, but here are some more things you should look for when making a purchase: long battery life, an FM tuner, voice recorder, an easy to read screen, and compatibility with your computer.
If you’re looking to purchase online, I recommend www.amazon.com. But first you should check www.mp3-player-guide.com (which has a buyer’s guide and reviews) so you can make a better decision.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Levi_Bloom
Friday, November 2, 2007
A Look at the iRiver MP3 Player
Iriver introduced their first product, the iMP-100, a portable CD player capable of decoding MP3 data files on CDs, on November, 2000. In the number one global market, iriver was quickly displaced by the introduction of Apple's iPod. Founded in Seoul, capital of South Korea, iriver makes portable digital audio players, including USB mass storage, multiple codecs, FM tuners, recording capabilities, and upgradeable firmware. Microsoft helped test and market its latest product, the Clix, while specifying upgrades to its graphics engine and chips. Irivers initially dropped UMS support for several of their flash memory based players, in favor of Microsofts's MTP. The company later released an official "iriver firmware updater" that allowed the users to switch between the MTP and UMS interfaces.
Iriver has developed four models for the portable multimedia player, the audio and video market. They are capable of playing several digital video formats, in addition to playing audio and displaying still images, with two models. The G10 is in progress right now, and will play digital music, video, and games. Its hard drives will be available in a 4GB or 8GB, while its size is less than half of Sony's PSP.
There are several MP3 companies that are interested in designing and developing MP3 players, and are capable of supporting a user's entire music library, while others look to create a player that rivals the number one positioned MP3 player - the iPod. After this, a third type of manufacturer arrives, one that looks to create a usable and durable product. This is where the iriver MP3 player enters the picture. The iriver has three basic systems for people looking for a basic digital music player. The iriver T30 series comes in 512MB (120 songs) and 1GB (250 songs) formats with a 24 hour battery life. Both support subscription services, have a voice recorder, and can record directly from a source without using a PC. The T10 has a color display and an unbelievable 45 hour battery life, with the most useful tool on any MP3 player, the FM tuner and recorder.
In an even more dedicated effort to appeal to the athletic, "sporty" type, iRiver designed a MP3 player that the user can take to the pool! An MP3 player with a water-proof cover that retails at $99.99 that is just as compact and easy to use as the regular version. The system has a sleek design and, believe it or not, waterproof headphones that make swimming and enjoying your favorite tunes possible! But some complaints about the iRiver product stem from the lack of data storage and the unfriendly format. When trying to delete a single song it sometime deletes an entire folder or the entire collection altogether.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Singh
Iriver has developed four models for the portable multimedia player, the audio and video market. They are capable of playing several digital video formats, in addition to playing audio and displaying still images, with two models. The G10 is in progress right now, and will play digital music, video, and games. Its hard drives will be available in a 4GB or 8GB, while its size is less than half of Sony's PSP.
There are several MP3 companies that are interested in designing and developing MP3 players, and are capable of supporting a user's entire music library, while others look to create a player that rivals the number one positioned MP3 player - the iPod. After this, a third type of manufacturer arrives, one that looks to create a usable and durable product. This is where the iriver MP3 player enters the picture. The iriver has three basic systems for people looking for a basic digital music player. The iriver T30 series comes in 512MB (120 songs) and 1GB (250 songs) formats with a 24 hour battery life. Both support subscription services, have a voice recorder, and can record directly from a source without using a PC. The T10 has a color display and an unbelievable 45 hour battery life, with the most useful tool on any MP3 player, the FM tuner and recorder.
In an even more dedicated effort to appeal to the athletic, "sporty" type, iRiver designed a MP3 player that the user can take to the pool! An MP3 player with a water-proof cover that retails at $99.99 that is just as compact and easy to use as the regular version. The system has a sleek design and, believe it or not, waterproof headphones that make swimming and enjoying your favorite tunes possible! But some complaints about the iRiver product stem from the lack of data storage and the unfriendly format. When trying to delete a single song it sometime deletes an entire folder or the entire collection altogether.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Singh
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Team Building Games and Adventures
Team Building Games and Adventures come with instructions, but to really get the most from each exercise you need to bring something a little extra: creativity.
The Team Building Adventure I recommend most is called Marooned. I probably recommend it the most, not because it is the best adventure, but it’s the easiest one to run for organizations that have not participated in game scenarios before. The adventures can train groups with hundreds of people, but participating groups break down into about six or seven people.
The basic premise of Marooned is that you have signed on for a cruise in the South Pacific. Your ship visits a small island where people are invited to wander around. The ship heads off to another island leaving a small group of people behind. As part of the group, you need to take inventory, discuss possibilities, and make plans for a stay from a matter of hours to what could be days. Since this is a team building adventure, the main goal is to get people talking, sharing and working together. One of the main lessons to learn is that there are times when people should lead and times when they should follow.
Team Building Adventures are good for combining rank and file employees and management. A good business should welcome input from everyone. These adventures are also great introductions to groups that perhaps have worked together via email, but never met. For example, a non-profit organization might have a Corporate Advisory Board that rarely meets in person. An adventure would be a great way to start a planning session for that group to learn more about each other and begin working together as a team.
The creativity part of team building adventures adds fun into the training recipe. Here are some creative touches to put people in the mood for their Marooned training adventure:
Encourage people to bring their favorite Hawaiian shirts.
Visit the local Goodwill store and buy extra Hawaiian shirts for people who don’t have their own.
At the Dollar Store buy enough leis for everyone to wear.
Serve luau foods for lunch or snacks.
Buy tropical fruits like pineapples, coconuts and guavas for decorations.
Put travel posters on the wall.
Play Tahitian or Hawaiian music on a CD player.
Use another CD player to play waves lapping on the beach.
Spray a tropical air scent in the discussion area (if no one is allergic).
I like to think of Team Building Adventures as a party. I want everyone to have fun, and to have fun they need to participate. Creativity makes connections with people. It draws in their interest and imaginations.
The best parties are those where people take ownership. The guests become the hosts. They want the other guests to feel as welcome as they do. The same goes for Team Building Adventures. As the members of the organization become involved, they share the adventure, they share the fun, and everyone becomes members of the team and enjoy the party.
Don Doman is a published author, video producer, and corporate trainer. He owns the business training site Ideas and Training (http://www.ideasandtraining.com), which he says is the home of the no-hassle "free preview" for business training videos. He also owns Human Resources Radio (http://www.humanresourcesradio.com), which broadcasts HR and business training information, program previews, and training samples from some of the world's great training speakers twenty-four hours a day. You can listen and learn on Human Resources Radio.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Doman
The Team Building Adventure I recommend most is called Marooned. I probably recommend it the most, not because it is the best adventure, but it’s the easiest one to run for organizations that have not participated in game scenarios before. The adventures can train groups with hundreds of people, but participating groups break down into about six or seven people.
The basic premise of Marooned is that you have signed on for a cruise in the South Pacific. Your ship visits a small island where people are invited to wander around. The ship heads off to another island leaving a small group of people behind. As part of the group, you need to take inventory, discuss possibilities, and make plans for a stay from a matter of hours to what could be days. Since this is a team building adventure, the main goal is to get people talking, sharing and working together. One of the main lessons to learn is that there are times when people should lead and times when they should follow.
Team Building Adventures are good for combining rank and file employees and management. A good business should welcome input from everyone. These adventures are also great introductions to groups that perhaps have worked together via email, but never met. For example, a non-profit organization might have a Corporate Advisory Board that rarely meets in person. An adventure would be a great way to start a planning session for that group to learn more about each other and begin working together as a team.
The creativity part of team building adventures adds fun into the training recipe. Here are some creative touches to put people in the mood for their Marooned training adventure:
Encourage people to bring their favorite Hawaiian shirts.
Visit the local Goodwill store and buy extra Hawaiian shirts for people who don’t have their own.
At the Dollar Store buy enough leis for everyone to wear.
Serve luau foods for lunch or snacks.
Buy tropical fruits like pineapples, coconuts and guavas for decorations.
Put travel posters on the wall.
Play Tahitian or Hawaiian music on a CD player.
Use another CD player to play waves lapping on the beach.
Spray a tropical air scent in the discussion area (if no one is allergic).
I like to think of Team Building Adventures as a party. I want everyone to have fun, and to have fun they need to participate. Creativity makes connections with people. It draws in their interest and imaginations.
The best parties are those where people take ownership. The guests become the hosts. They want the other guests to feel as welcome as they do. The same goes for Team Building Adventures. As the members of the organization become involved, they share the adventure, they share the fun, and everyone becomes members of the team and enjoy the party.
Don Doman is a published author, video producer, and corporate trainer. He owns the business training site Ideas and Training (http://www.ideasandtraining.com), which he says is the home of the no-hassle "free preview" for business training videos. He also owns Human Resources Radio (http://www.humanresourcesradio.com), which broadcasts HR and business training information, program previews, and training samples from some of the world's great training speakers twenty-four hours a day. You can listen and learn on Human Resources Radio.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Doman
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Playing Music or Other CDs With a Code Free DVD
The technological jump has been instrumental in revolutionizing the entire home entertainment scenario. Region free DVD players ushered in a new era of change, which has impacted viewing and listening experience the world over.
Now we have all seen CDs. They are present literally everywhere. Our homes, workplaces, inside our computers and laptops, you name it and CDs are there. CDs are in fact similar to DVDs. One of the important things about DVDs is that they are able to store more data than CDs. A code free DVD can, to put it simply, hold around seven times the data that a CD could hold. This is the reason why a region free DVD can store a MPEG-2 encoded movie effortlessly, along with a lot of information.
From the time they hit the markets in 1997, DVDs and DVD players have become remarkably popular. A typical code free DVD can store up to 133 minutes of video. What is more when it comes to storing music also, code free DVDs have the edge over conventional CDs. A DVD can store around six to eight hours of music per side, with a significantly higher quality audio output than a CD.
A code free DVD comes to you with a host of features that you would not find with a VHS tape; the labeled on-screen index, for instance. You can now choose the part of the movie you want to see using your remote effortlessly. When it comes to the features available in region free DVD players, there are plenty. You have Dolby digital sound, surround sound, features for enhancing picture quality, and what not. Most of the region free DVD players are also compatible with audio CDs.
Code free DVDs are manufactured using the same methods as in the case of CDs. They work on the same principle of having ‘pits’ and ‘bumps’. A code free DVD is made up of layers of plastic and is around 1.2 millimeters thick. A code free DVD is able to store more data than a CD, thanks to various reasons like having more area and a multi-layered storage facility. Code free DVD players have extremely sensitive components to read the equally sensitive and small region free DVDs. Region free DVD players have a ‘MPEG- 2’ decoder. This decoder can read compressed data and enables you to watch your favorite flicks.
Many movies are filmed at a rate of four frames per second. Most of the countries around the world like America or Japan have television sets that use the NTSC format, which enables 30 frames per second. Many European countries like Italy, France, Greece, UK, and Spain use the PAL format, with a display speed of 50 fields per second. It is because of these regional differences that a DVD player has to be formatted to be compatible with all or most of the systems. When it comes to the standards, as we have seen there are lots of standards like PAL, SECAM, NTSC, or PAL-SECAM, depending on the geographical location. These standards are subject to varying based on the location. Code free DVD players, however, enable you to play literally any DVD, whatever may be the region of its origin, and support most of or all of the standards. So they are called ‘region free,’ ‘code free’ or ‘zone free’ players.
Modern code free DVD players literally pack a punch and are great at decoding different formats to give you a superior picture quality and an amazing audio output. Since region free DVD players are designed specifically for playing code free DVDs with some special features, many times you will find that even your PC is unable to play a DVD. The reason is the superior processing power of a code free DVD player, which gives it the edge over some computers.
One can find DVD audios flooding the market recently. Although DVD audio players meant to play only audio are rare to find, most of the code free DVD players can play DVD audio discs. The format of a DVD audio disc is different from that of a DVD video. Good code free DVD players have something known as ‘digital to analog converter’ (DAC) in them to play these discs. It is always recommended that you get a code free DVD player with a 192kHz/24-bit converter for superior audio quality.
The DVD audio quality is better than the conventional CDs. They also make for great recording, offering you better accuracy. One can get still enhanced sound quality on code free DVD players by connecting them to a home theater system, preferably with around five speakers. Also check out whether your system is ‘Dolby digital ready.’ If it is, you can have the ultimate movie experience - so great is the sound quality.
The principle on which a code free DVD player works is similar to that of a CD player. Laser beams hit the surface of the disc to read the ‘pits’ and ‘bumps.’ The video signal is then sent to a television set and the audio signal to the speakers, after being amplified by a decoder. Most of the region free DVD players play both movies and music CDs. Similarly, most of the modern day code free DVD players enable you to play recorded content in the form of CD-Rs, which you could have done using your computer. You have the latest code free audio DVD players which handle only audio discs.
Almost all good brands of code free DVD players will have standard features like decoders, Dolby digital decoders, surround sound, and many other things. If you are in the market for a code free DVD player, your options are plenty. You can choose from a wide range from leading names like Sony, Samsung, Aiwa, Apex , Thompson, to mention only a few. There are also a lot of smaller companies who can give you equally good region free DVD players. You can always go through referrals. They may be of great help.
You can also do a bit of research on the Internet and find literally hundreds of models of region free DVD players. The basic models would cost you about $30 - $70. Although they are termed as basic models, the latest models in this segment come with a host of features. Buy the ones with the progressive scan technology as they offer better video quality. If you are willing to splurge a little more than $100, then you can go in for the higher models, which would come to you with a host of other features. You can record with these models. If you are unwilling to let go of your good old VHS tapes, you can always go in for region free DVD player-VCR combos. You can get a good player for around $200.
If you’re an avid gamer, you might find satisfaction in DVD players with ‘nuon’ technology, the latest in the market. These players come with additional features, where you can attach a mouse or a joy stick, enabling you to play interactive games. These game stations could set you back by about $400. Leading brands like Samsung and Sony offer great models in this segment. If you want multi-disc players or ‘juke boxes,’ as they are popularly known for their ability to play both DVDs and CDs at the touch of a button, can go in for these models, which could cost you upwards of $400. And just in case you are one of those high-flying, jet-setting executives, you can always grab a portable model. You can get one of these models for up to $700 or even more, depending on the features.
Where to get REGION FREE DVD players/recorders. To prevent the latest movies from reaching countries where a film has not reached theaters yet, Hollywood studios imposed a block. This regional coding is a digital flag on the disc that tells the DVD player where a particular DVD comes from. This is supposed to prevent the disc from being used by an incompatible player in another country. A normal DVD player can only play discs designated for the player's own particular region. However, a codefree DVD player is a capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere around the world. A codefree DVD player can play DVD discs from all 6 regions and both standards, PAL and NTSC. That's every DVD movie on earth! PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-9945
They have more thank 140,000 consumer electronics including multisystem pal TVs such as plasma, LCD, DLP etc. They also have free standing video standards converters from Tenlab and converting PAL-SECAM,NTSC, PAL-N , PAL-M VCRs and much more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Dulaney
Now we have all seen CDs. They are present literally everywhere. Our homes, workplaces, inside our computers and laptops, you name it and CDs are there. CDs are in fact similar to DVDs. One of the important things about DVDs is that they are able to store more data than CDs. A code free DVD can, to put it simply, hold around seven times the data that a CD could hold. This is the reason why a region free DVD can store a MPEG-2 encoded movie effortlessly, along with a lot of information.
From the time they hit the markets in 1997, DVDs and DVD players have become remarkably popular. A typical code free DVD can store up to 133 minutes of video. What is more when it comes to storing music also, code free DVDs have the edge over conventional CDs. A DVD can store around six to eight hours of music per side, with a significantly higher quality audio output than a CD.
A code free DVD comes to you with a host of features that you would not find with a VHS tape; the labeled on-screen index, for instance. You can now choose the part of the movie you want to see using your remote effortlessly. When it comes to the features available in region free DVD players, there are plenty. You have Dolby digital sound, surround sound, features for enhancing picture quality, and what not. Most of the region free DVD players are also compatible with audio CDs.
Code free DVDs are manufactured using the same methods as in the case of CDs. They work on the same principle of having ‘pits’ and ‘bumps’. A code free DVD is made up of layers of plastic and is around 1.2 millimeters thick. A code free DVD is able to store more data than a CD, thanks to various reasons like having more area and a multi-layered storage facility. Code free DVD players have extremely sensitive components to read the equally sensitive and small region free DVDs. Region free DVD players have a ‘MPEG- 2’ decoder. This decoder can read compressed data and enables you to watch your favorite flicks.
Many movies are filmed at a rate of four frames per second. Most of the countries around the world like America or Japan have television sets that use the NTSC format, which enables 30 frames per second. Many European countries like Italy, France, Greece, UK, and Spain use the PAL format, with a display speed of 50 fields per second. It is because of these regional differences that a DVD player has to be formatted to be compatible with all or most of the systems. When it comes to the standards, as we have seen there are lots of standards like PAL, SECAM, NTSC, or PAL-SECAM, depending on the geographical location. These standards are subject to varying based on the location. Code free DVD players, however, enable you to play literally any DVD, whatever may be the region of its origin, and support most of or all of the standards. So they are called ‘region free,’ ‘code free’ or ‘zone free’ players.
Modern code free DVD players literally pack a punch and are great at decoding different formats to give you a superior picture quality and an amazing audio output. Since region free DVD players are designed specifically for playing code free DVDs with some special features, many times you will find that even your PC is unable to play a DVD. The reason is the superior processing power of a code free DVD player, which gives it the edge over some computers.
One can find DVD audios flooding the market recently. Although DVD audio players meant to play only audio are rare to find, most of the code free DVD players can play DVD audio discs. The format of a DVD audio disc is different from that of a DVD video. Good code free DVD players have something known as ‘digital to analog converter’ (DAC) in them to play these discs. It is always recommended that you get a code free DVD player with a 192kHz/24-bit converter for superior audio quality.
The DVD audio quality is better than the conventional CDs. They also make for great recording, offering you better accuracy. One can get still enhanced sound quality on code free DVD players by connecting them to a home theater system, preferably with around five speakers. Also check out whether your system is ‘Dolby digital ready.’ If it is, you can have the ultimate movie experience - so great is the sound quality.
The principle on which a code free DVD player works is similar to that of a CD player. Laser beams hit the surface of the disc to read the ‘pits’ and ‘bumps.’ The video signal is then sent to a television set and the audio signal to the speakers, after being amplified by a decoder. Most of the region free DVD players play both movies and music CDs. Similarly, most of the modern day code free DVD players enable you to play recorded content in the form of CD-Rs, which you could have done using your computer. You have the latest code free audio DVD players which handle only audio discs.
Almost all good brands of code free DVD players will have standard features like decoders, Dolby digital decoders, surround sound, and many other things. If you are in the market for a code free DVD player, your options are plenty. You can choose from a wide range from leading names like Sony, Samsung, Aiwa, Apex , Thompson, to mention only a few. There are also a lot of smaller companies who can give you equally good region free DVD players. You can always go through referrals. They may be of great help.
You can also do a bit of research on the Internet and find literally hundreds of models of region free DVD players. The basic models would cost you about $30 - $70. Although they are termed as basic models, the latest models in this segment come with a host of features. Buy the ones with the progressive scan technology as they offer better video quality. If you are willing to splurge a little more than $100, then you can go in for the higher models, which would come to you with a host of other features. You can record with these models. If you are unwilling to let go of your good old VHS tapes, you can always go in for region free DVD player-VCR combos. You can get a good player for around $200.
If you’re an avid gamer, you might find satisfaction in DVD players with ‘nuon’ technology, the latest in the market. These players come with additional features, where you can attach a mouse or a joy stick, enabling you to play interactive games. These game stations could set you back by about $400. Leading brands like Samsung and Sony offer great models in this segment. If you want multi-disc players or ‘juke boxes,’ as they are popularly known for their ability to play both DVDs and CDs at the touch of a button, can go in for these models, which could cost you upwards of $400. And just in case you are one of those high-flying, jet-setting executives, you can always grab a portable model. You can get one of these models for up to $700 or even more, depending on the features.
Where to get REGION FREE DVD players/recorders. To prevent the latest movies from reaching countries where a film has not reached theaters yet, Hollywood studios imposed a block. This regional coding is a digital flag on the disc that tells the DVD player where a particular DVD comes from. This is supposed to prevent the disc from being used by an incompatible player in another country. A normal DVD player can only play discs designated for the player's own particular region. However, a codefree DVD player is a capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere around the world. A codefree DVD player can play DVD discs from all 6 regions and both standards, PAL and NTSC. That's every DVD movie on earth! PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-9945
They have more thank 140,000 consumer electronics including multisystem pal TVs such as plasma, LCD, DLP etc. They also have free standing video standards converters from Tenlab and converting PAL-SECAM,NTSC, PAL-N , PAL-M VCRs and much more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Dulaney
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Nature Sounds and New Age Piano
If ever there were two things made for each other, it would have to be New Age piano music and nature sounds. After all, New Age piano gets much of its inspiration from the natural world. There are many CDs available that have this classic combination. Let's look at a few of them.
1. Forest Piano by John Herberman
This CD is in my opinion the best New Age piano CD one can buy. And it has nature sounds too! John Herberman is a very talented pianist/composer who's music seeps into your stressed out psyche and gently massages you. Each piece is a unique composition. Sometimes melodic, sometimes textural, but always beautiful. You'll wear your CD player out with this one.
2. Piano Cascades by John Herberman
OK. I'm a big fan of this mans music. I admit it. In fact, the minute I heard this CD in a Images of Nature store I had to have it. So delicate and beautiful is this music that you'll think you're actually in the middle of a waterfall. The nature sounds, supplied by Dan Gibson are first rate and do not overwhelm the music. In fact, both piano and nature sounds blend together into one magnificent whole creating a fresh ambiance that will revive and cleanse your spirit.
3. San Juan Suite by Michael Gettel
San Juan is an island off the coast of Oregon where the mighty Orca whale is known to live. Michael gets his inspiration from the natural beauty of the area and, of course, this black and white whale. The music is superb with nature sounds interspersed here and there for effect. The music gets first dibs here with the nature sounds delicately placed in just the right places.
If you love nature and music, you will love these CDs. You can find them at Amazon.com.
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html now and get a FREE piano lesson!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edward_Weiss
1. Forest Piano by John Herberman
This CD is in my opinion the best New Age piano CD one can buy. And it has nature sounds too! John Herberman is a very talented pianist/composer who's music seeps into your stressed out psyche and gently massages you. Each piece is a unique composition. Sometimes melodic, sometimes textural, but always beautiful. You'll wear your CD player out with this one.
2. Piano Cascades by John Herberman
OK. I'm a big fan of this mans music. I admit it. In fact, the minute I heard this CD in a Images of Nature store I had to have it. So delicate and beautiful is this music that you'll think you're actually in the middle of a waterfall. The nature sounds, supplied by Dan Gibson are first rate and do not overwhelm the music. In fact, both piano and nature sounds blend together into one magnificent whole creating a fresh ambiance that will revive and cleanse your spirit.
3. San Juan Suite by Michael Gettel
San Juan is an island off the coast of Oregon where the mighty Orca whale is known to live. Michael gets his inspiration from the natural beauty of the area and, of course, this black and white whale. The music is superb with nature sounds interspersed here and there for effect. The music gets first dibs here with the nature sounds delicately placed in just the right places.
If you love nature and music, you will love these CDs. You can find them at Amazon.com.
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html now and get a FREE piano lesson!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edward_Weiss
Monday, October 29, 2007
How CD Players work
Compact discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic coated with a much thinner layer of Super Purity Aluminum (or rarely, gold, used for its data longevity, such as in some limited-edition audiophile CDs) layer which is protected by a film of lacquer. The lacquer can be printed with a label. Common printing methods for compact discs are silkscreening and offset printing. CDs are available in two sizes. By far the most common is 120 mm in diameter, with a 74-minute audio capacity and a 650-MB data (See storage capacity; this form factor has also erroneously been called "CD5" since it is 4 3/4 inches in diameter, about five inches across). Such a standard disc weighs 15 grams. 80 mm discs are also available, a format which is mainly used for audio CD singles in some regions (e.g. Japan), much like the old vinyl single. Each such "miniCD" or "Maxi CD" can hold 21 minutes of music, or 180 MB of data (this form factor has also been called "CD3", since it is about three inches across).
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players-a89.html
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players-a89.html
Saturday, October 27, 2007
How To Copy Music from CDs Using Real Player 10
Real Player 10, like Microsoft Windows Media Player 10, is the latest version of one of the most popular music management programs out there. This program by RealNetworks has, as one of its core features, the ability to copy (“rip”) music directly from your CDs and store them on your hard drive. From there, you can organize them by genre, artist and title, as well as playing the music on your computer or transferring them to an MP3 player. Following the steps below will help you accomplish this.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 to 15 minutes
Here's How:
1. Insert the music CD into your computer’s CD drive. If a window titled “Audio CD” pops up, select “Take No Action” and click Ok.
2. Start Real Player from the Start Menu by locating the icon and clicking on it.
3. With the “Music & My Library” tabbed window showing on the screen, under “View” to the left click “CD/DVD”.
4. Real Player will read the number of songs on the CD and display them as unnamed tracks. You can either right click on each individual listing and manually name it, allow Real Player to automatically download the necessary information if you are connected to the Internet or select “Get CD Info” under “CD Info” if you need to connect online first.
# Click “Save Tracks” under the Tasks on the left side of the screen.
# A box will box up labeled “Save Tracks”. Check to see that all the tracks you wish to save are selected. If not, or if you don’t wish to save all of them, check the necessary boxes next to each.
# In the “Save Tracks” box section labeled “Save To”, you can leave things as they are or click “Change Settings”. If you change the settings, there are several options which you can do in the “Preferences” window which opens. The next three steps detail those options and what to consider if you are going to change them.
# (a) You can change the the music file format you wish to save the tracks as (MP3 is the most common and universally supported by portable audio players).
# (b) You can change the bitrate (this is the audio quality you save the music as – the higher the number, the better the sound but also the larger each individual file is).
# (c) You can change where you wish to save the files (to change, select “General” in the open window. Under “File Locations”, manually type in a folder name or select “Browse” to find a specific location by navigation. To set a specific order by which all your music is organized by – for example, Genre\Artist\Album –select “My Library” and then “Advanced My Library”. This will provide you a preview of what a typical save to folder will look like, as well as allowing you to change it if needed.)
# If you have made any changes in the “Preferences” window, click “Ok” to accept them. Either way, you are back at the “Save Tracks” screen. Before clicking “Ok” to start, you can either check or uncheck “Play CD While Saving” if you wish to listen to the music as Real Player copies it. If you choose to listen, the music which plays may sound slightly choppy as your computer multi-tasks.
# Having clicked “Ok” to start the copying, the screen shows your track names and two other columns. The one named “Status” is the one to watch. Uncopied songs will display as “Pending”. As their turn comes up, a progress bar will appear to show they are being copied. Once copied, “Pending” changes to “Saved”.
# When all of the songs have been copied, you can remove the CD and put it away.
# Congratulations – You’ve copied music successfully from a CD to your computer using Real Player 10!
http://portables.about.com/od/mp3players/ht/howtocopyRP10.htm
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 to 15 minutes
Here's How:
1. Insert the music CD into your computer’s CD drive. If a window titled “Audio CD” pops up, select “Take No Action” and click Ok.
2. Start Real Player from the Start Menu by locating the icon and clicking on it.
3. With the “Music & My Library” tabbed window showing on the screen, under “View” to the left click “CD/DVD”.
4. Real Player will read the number of songs on the CD and display them as unnamed tracks. You can either right click on each individual listing and manually name it, allow Real Player to automatically download the necessary information if you are connected to the Internet or select “Get CD Info” under “CD Info” if you need to connect online first.
# Click “Save Tracks” under the Tasks on the left side of the screen.
# A box will box up labeled “Save Tracks”. Check to see that all the tracks you wish to save are selected. If not, or if you don’t wish to save all of them, check the necessary boxes next to each.
# In the “Save Tracks” box section labeled “Save To”, you can leave things as they are or click “Change Settings”. If you change the settings, there are several options which you can do in the “Preferences” window which opens. The next three steps detail those options and what to consider if you are going to change them.
# (a) You can change the the music file format you wish to save the tracks as (MP3 is the most common and universally supported by portable audio players).
# (b) You can change the bitrate (this is the audio quality you save the music as – the higher the number, the better the sound but also the larger each individual file is).
# (c) You can change where you wish to save the files (to change, select “General” in the open window. Under “File Locations”, manually type in a folder name or select “Browse” to find a specific location by navigation. To set a specific order by which all your music is organized by – for example, Genre\Artist\Album –select “My Library” and then “Advanced My Library”. This will provide you a preview of what a typical save to folder will look like, as well as allowing you to change it if needed.)
# If you have made any changes in the “Preferences” window, click “Ok” to accept them. Either way, you are back at the “Save Tracks” screen. Before clicking “Ok” to start, you can either check or uncheck “Play CD While Saving” if you wish to listen to the music as Real Player copies it. If you choose to listen, the music which plays may sound slightly choppy as your computer multi-tasks.
# Having clicked “Ok” to start the copying, the screen shows your track names and two other columns. The one named “Status” is the one to watch. Uncopied songs will display as “Pending”. As their turn comes up, a progress bar will appear to show they are being copied. Once copied, “Pending” changes to “Saved”.
# When all of the songs have been copied, you can remove the CD and put it away.
# Congratulations – You’ve copied music successfully from a CD to your computer using Real Player 10!
http://portables.about.com/od/mp3players/ht/howtocopyRP10.htm
What features should I consider when buying a portable CD player?What features should I consider when buying a portable CD player?
Portable CD players have been around for awhile now. Led by Sony, the manufacturers of this popular portable electronic device have become quite skilled at churning out players which look strikingly alike and have similar prices. As you wander the aisles of your favorite electronics store staring at all of the plastic packages beckoning your eyes, what features should you consider which will give you the best music experience? Check out our list of recommended ones below.
* Anti-Skipping One of the worse things when listening to a CD is when the music skips, especially when you are jostling your player around. How can you keep your music from jumping around? Anti-skipping technology is the answer and it comes it two flavors for you to consider. One, anti-shock, strengthens the laser which reads your CD so there is less likelihood of it missing a beat.
# The other, a memory buffer, reads the music slightly ahead of what you are hearing and stores it temporarily so that if you hit a bump, you still hear the tunes while the player quickly gets back on track.
# Bass Boost When you are pounding hard on the treadmill or the jogging path, nothing gets your blood pumping harder then a high energy song. Want to take it up even a notch further? Consider bass boost, also known as mega boost, which will highlight the deep sounding parts of your tunes to give it an extra edge and feel.
# Types of CDs Supported With practically ever computer coming with a CD burner these days, it's very easy to copy music onto a CD-R (writable to only one) or CD-RW (writable to multiple times) disc to take with you. Not all portable CD players support MP3-CDs, as they are known, however. Of those that do, they may only support CD-R or CD-RW, but not both. It’s important to know which types your player will be able to read.
# Radio with Presets Sometimes you may just grow tired of listening to the CD you have in your player. Still want some tunes? Consider having a built-in radio with presets so you can always jump to your favorite radio station at the touch of a button.
http://portables.about.com/cs/cdplayers/f/portcdbg.htm
* Anti-Skipping One of the worse things when listening to a CD is when the music skips, especially when you are jostling your player around. How can you keep your music from jumping around? Anti-skipping technology is the answer and it comes it two flavors for you to consider. One, anti-shock, strengthens the laser which reads your CD so there is less likelihood of it missing a beat.
# The other, a memory buffer, reads the music slightly ahead of what you are hearing and stores it temporarily so that if you hit a bump, you still hear the tunes while the player quickly gets back on track.
# Bass Boost When you are pounding hard on the treadmill or the jogging path, nothing gets your blood pumping harder then a high energy song. Want to take it up even a notch further? Consider bass boost, also known as mega boost, which will highlight the deep sounding parts of your tunes to give it an extra edge and feel.
# Types of CDs Supported With practically ever computer coming with a CD burner these days, it's very easy to copy music onto a CD-R (writable to only one) or CD-RW (writable to multiple times) disc to take with you. Not all portable CD players support MP3-CDs, as they are known, however. Of those that do, they may only support CD-R or CD-RW, but not both. It’s important to know which types your player will be able to read.
# Radio with Presets Sometimes you may just grow tired of listening to the CD you have in your player. Still want some tunes? Consider having a built-in radio with presets so you can always jump to your favorite radio station at the touch of a button.
http://portables.about.com/cs/cdplayers/f/portcdbg.htm
What features should I consider when buying a portable CD player?What features should I consider when buying a portable CD player?
Portable CD players have been around for awhile now. Led by Sony, the manufacturers of this popular portable electronic device have become quite skilled at churning out players which look strikingly alike and have similar prices. As you wander the aisles of your favorite electronics store staring at all of the plastic packages beckoning your eyes, what features should you consider which will give you the best music experience? Check out our list of recommended ones below.
* Anti-Skipping One of the worse things when listening to a CD is when the music skips, especially when you are jostling your player around. How can you keep your music from jumping around? Anti-skipping technology is the answer and it comes it two flavors for you to consider. One, anti-shock, strengthens the laser which reads your CD so there is less likelihood of it missing a beat.
# The other, a memory buffer, reads the music slightly ahead of what you are hearing and stores it temporarily so that if you hit a bump, you still hear the tunes while the player quickly gets back on track.
# Bass Boost When you are pounding hard on the treadmill or the jogging path, nothing gets your blood pumping harder then a high energy song. Want to take it up even a notch further? Consider bass boost, also known as mega boost, which will highlight the deep sounding parts of your tunes to give it an extra edge and feel.
# Types of CDs Supported With practically ever computer coming with a CD burner these days, it's very easy to copy music onto a CD-R (writable to only one) or CD-RW (writable to multiple times) disc to take with you. Not all portable CD players support MP3-CDs, as they are known, however. Of those that do, they may only support CD-R or CD-RW, but not both. It’s important to know which types your player will be able to read.
# Radio with Presets Sometimes you may just grow tired of listening to the CD you have in your player. Still want some tunes? Consider having a built-in radio with presets so you can always jump to your favorite radio station at the touch of a button.
http://portables.about.com/cs/cdplayers/f/portcdbg.htm
* Anti-Skipping One of the worse things when listening to a CD is when the music skips, especially when you are jostling your player around. How can you keep your music from jumping around? Anti-skipping technology is the answer and it comes it two flavors for you to consider. One, anti-shock, strengthens the laser which reads your CD so there is less likelihood of it missing a beat.
# The other, a memory buffer, reads the music slightly ahead of what you are hearing and stores it temporarily so that if you hit a bump, you still hear the tunes while the player quickly gets back on track.
# Bass Boost When you are pounding hard on the treadmill or the jogging path, nothing gets your blood pumping harder then a high energy song. Want to take it up even a notch further? Consider bass boost, also known as mega boost, which will highlight the deep sounding parts of your tunes to give it an extra edge and feel.
# Types of CDs Supported With practically ever computer coming with a CD burner these days, it's very easy to copy music onto a CD-R (writable to only one) or CD-RW (writable to multiple times) disc to take with you. Not all portable CD players support MP3-CDs, as they are known, however. Of those that do, they may only support CD-R or CD-RW, but not both. It’s important to know which types your player will be able to read.
# Radio with Presets Sometimes you may just grow tired of listening to the CD you have in your player. Still want some tunes? Consider having a built-in radio with presets so you can always jump to your favorite radio station at the touch of a button.
http://portables.about.com/cs/cdplayers/f/portcdbg.htm
Friday, October 26, 2007
Evolution
A compact disc (or CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. It is the standard playback format for commercial audio recordings today.
A standard compact disc, often known as an "audio CD" to differentiate it from later variants, stores audio data in a format compliant with the red book standard. An audio CD consists of several stereo tracks stored using 16-bit PCM coding at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. Standard compact discs have a diameter of 120 mm, though 80 mm versions exist in circular and "business-card" forms. The 120 mm discs can hold 74 minutes of audio, and versions holding 80, 90 or even 99 minutes have been introduced. The 80 mm discs are used as "CD-singles" or novelty "business-card CDs". They hold about 20 minutes of audio.
Compact disc technology was later adapted for use as a data storage device, known as a CD-ROM.
The design of the CD was originally conceived as an evolution of the gramophone record, rather than primarily as a data storage medium. Only later did the concept of an 'audio file' arise, and the generalizing of this to any data file. As a result, the original CD format has a number of limitations; no built-in track names or disc naming for example. Online services such as CDDB were developed to work around these shortcomings in the computer age.
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players-a89.html
A standard compact disc, often known as an "audio CD" to differentiate it from later variants, stores audio data in a format compliant with the red book standard. An audio CD consists of several stereo tracks stored using 16-bit PCM coding at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. Standard compact discs have a diameter of 120 mm, though 80 mm versions exist in circular and "business-card" forms. The 120 mm discs can hold 74 minutes of audio, and versions holding 80, 90 or even 99 minutes have been introduced. The 80 mm discs are used as "CD-singles" or novelty "business-card CDs". They hold about 20 minutes of audio.
Compact disc technology was later adapted for use as a data storage device, known as a CD-ROM.
The design of the CD was originally conceived as an evolution of the gramophone record, rather than primarily as a data storage medium. Only later did the concept of an 'audio file' arise, and the generalizing of this to any data file. As a result, the original CD format has a number of limitations; no built-in track names or disc naming for example. Online services such as CDDB were developed to work around these shortcomings in the computer age.
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players-a89.html
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Window to the Past
In the early 1970s, using video Laserdisc technology, Philips' researchers started experiments with "audio-only" optical discs, initially with wideband frequency modulation FM and later digitized PCM audio signals. At the end of the 1970s, Philips, Sony, and other companies presented prototypes of digital audio discs.
In 1979 Philips and Sony decided to join forces, setting up a joint task force of engineers whose mission was to design the new digital audio disc. Prominent members of the task force were Kees Immink and Toshitada Doi. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the taskforce produced the "Red Book", the Compact Disc standard. Philips contributed the general manufacturing process, based on the video Laserdisc technology. Philips also contributed the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation, EFM, which offers both a large playing time and a high resilience against disc handling damage such as scratches and fingerprints; while Sony contributed the error-correction method, CIRC. The Compact Disc Story, told by a former member of the taskforce, gives background information on the many technical decisions made, including the choice of the sampling frequency, playing time, and disc diameter. According to Philips, the Compact Disc was thus "invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team."
The Compact Disc reached the market in late 1982 in Asia and early the following year in other markets. This event is often seen as the "Big Bang" of the digital audio revolution. The new audio disc was enthusiastically received, especially in the early-adopting classical music and audiophile communities and its handling quality received particular praise.
The far larger popular and rock music industries were slower to adopt the new format, especially in the huge consumer markets in Europe and the United States. This "highbrow niche" status of the CD format changed dramatically in May, 1985, when UK rock band Dire Straits released the album Brothers in Arms. One of the first all-digital rock recordings and the first by a major act, Brothers in Arms played to the strengths of the CD by offering more and longer tracks, running ten minutes longer than the album's concurrent LP and cassette releases. It spurred the sale of compact disc players like no other recording before it, helped to drive down the price of players, induced other acts and record labels to release more music on CD and firmly established the format in the mind of the average consumer.
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players_Albuquerque_NM-r89-Albuquerque_NM.html
In 1979 Philips and Sony decided to join forces, setting up a joint task force of engineers whose mission was to design the new digital audio disc. Prominent members of the task force were Kees Immink and Toshitada Doi. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the taskforce produced the "Red Book", the Compact Disc standard. Philips contributed the general manufacturing process, based on the video Laserdisc technology. Philips also contributed the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation, EFM, which offers both a large playing time and a high resilience against disc handling damage such as scratches and fingerprints; while Sony contributed the error-correction method, CIRC. The Compact Disc Story, told by a former member of the taskforce, gives background information on the many technical decisions made, including the choice of the sampling frequency, playing time, and disc diameter. According to Philips, the Compact Disc was thus "invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team."
The Compact Disc reached the market in late 1982 in Asia and early the following year in other markets. This event is often seen as the "Big Bang" of the digital audio revolution. The new audio disc was enthusiastically received, especially in the early-adopting classical music and audiophile communities and its handling quality received particular praise.
The far larger popular and rock music industries were slower to adopt the new format, especially in the huge consumer markets in Europe and the United States. This "highbrow niche" status of the CD format changed dramatically in May, 1985, when UK rock band Dire Straits released the album Brothers in Arms. One of the first all-digital rock recordings and the first by a major act, Brothers in Arms played to the strengths of the CD by offering more and longer tracks, running ten minutes longer than the album's concurrent LP and cassette releases. It spurred the sale of compact disc players like no other recording before it, helped to drive down the price of players, induced other acts and record labels to release more music on CD and firmly established the format in the mind of the average consumer.
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players_Albuquerque_NM-r89-Albuquerque_NM.html
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
How much should I expect to pay
These days, CD technology is commonplace enough that you'll actually see portable CD players in the $50-and-under category, which was the going range for low-end portable cassette players some 15 years ago. Don't expect too much from this price range--basic features and less-than-stellar sound quality--but you'll get at least basic CD-player functionality.
The average price for a decent portable disc player is about $100-200, for which you should expect good digital-to-analog converters (the chief arbiter of any player's sound quality), features like programmability and random-play, extended battery life (10 hours or more from two or four AA batteries), and some form of anti-skip protection to guard against interruptions in music playback due to jostling or bumping.
More expensive players will offer more features, better build quality, and sometimes, though not always, better sound. Features can include longer anti-skip buffers, longer battery life, equalization (such as bass boost), AM/FM radio, and spiffier headphones.
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players-a89.html
The average price for a decent portable disc player is about $100-200, for which you should expect good digital-to-analog converters (the chief arbiter of any player's sound quality), features like programmability and random-play, extended battery life (10 hours or more from two or four AA batteries), and some form of anti-skip protection to guard against interruptions in music playback due to jostling or bumping.
More expensive players will offer more features, better build quality, and sometimes, though not always, better sound. Features can include longer anti-skip buffers, longer battery life, equalization (such as bass boost), AM/FM radio, and spiffier headphones.
http://articles.directorym.com/CD_Players-a89.html
Get This to the CD Player, Stat!
Thinking beyond Jay-Z and Coldplay, researchers at Ohio State University have turned a standard compact disk into a biochemical laboratory. Their specially designed CD completely automates a commonly used assay for classifying HIV and some cancers, eliminating many tedious steps and producing results in one-tenth of the time.
As early as four decades ago, researchers at Monsanto tried to use centrifugal force to push liquids through a series of chambers on a plastic disk, says L. James Lee of Ohio State. His updated “lab on a CD” contains a series of wells and channels, each no deeper than the width of a human hair. Blood or cell samples are placed in one set of the disk’s chambers. Test chemicals are then mixed sequentially by changing the speed that the CD rotates: Solutions in wells closer to the outside move outward at lower rotation speeds, while those closer to the center remain in place until the CD spins more quickly.
Besides saving time, the lab CD also uses less of the expensive antibodies needed for common disease tests, cutting material costs by up to 90 percent. Within two years, technicians may be listening to their favorite music CDs while their experiments spin nearby on a similar disk.
http://discovermagazine.com/2004/oct/get-this-to-the-cd-player1006
As early as four decades ago, researchers at Monsanto tried to use centrifugal force to push liquids through a series of chambers on a plastic disk, says L. James Lee of Ohio State. His updated “lab on a CD” contains a series of wells and channels, each no deeper than the width of a human hair. Blood or cell samples are placed in one set of the disk’s chambers. Test chemicals are then mixed sequentially by changing the speed that the CD rotates: Solutions in wells closer to the outside move outward at lower rotation speeds, while those closer to the center remain in place until the CD spins more quickly.
Besides saving time, the lab CD also uses less of the expensive antibodies needed for common disease tests, cutting material costs by up to 90 percent. Within two years, technicians may be listening to their favorite music CDs while their experiments spin nearby on a similar disk.
http://discovermagazine.com/2004/oct/get-this-to-the-cd-player1006
Friday, October 19, 2007
DVD and CD Duplication Services
How to get the best cd duplication service at the best price
If you are looking for a good price on a dvd or cd duplication service, it is worth knowing the difference between duplication and replication. The duplication process uses a recorder to "burn" your data into a pre-manufactured cd or dvd. These CDrs and DVDrs are quite simply blank discs, and your data, whether it is text files, music, computer programs, multi-media or video, is added by using a dvd or cd recorder. This process takes between 3 and 80 minutes per disc (depending on the speed of the recorder). The time factor means that it is less cost effective to use a cd duplication service if you are ordering large numbers of cds or dvds.
Replication - the alternative cd duplication service
DVD and CD replication can best be explained as "stamping" your data into an injection molded cd or dvd. These discs have a silver look to them, similar to the audio CD discs that you would buy in a music store. CD / DVD Replication is used with larger orders, where it is vital to get the "per disc" price as low as possible.
So, if you only require a few copies, DVD / CD duplication is a more cost effective option than replication, because the set-up costs are minimal by comparison. In fact, to complete smaller numbers of discs by duplication is not only less expensive, but the job can be competed more quickly. But if you want more than about 500 copies, you would be better off using the replication process because your data is actually built into the construction of the DVD or CD, and not added later.
To print on to your DVD/CD it would not be advisable to use inkjet printing which smears and smudges, or labels which look tacky, unprofessional and can peel up or jam. Be sure to use a print system that directly prints onto the surface of the CD or DVD. Your discs will look just like the mass produced CD / DVD albums you buy from the shops.
At Deckchair we will offer you a quality DVD/CD duplication or replication service with a fast turnaround. We can help you with all aspects of the process including artwork and package design. We are very experienced in the design of interactive cds which provides a very professional way to showcase your products or information about your company.
Article Source: http://www.kokkada.com
http://www.kokkada.com/Article/DVD-and-CD-Duplication-Services/21631
If you are looking for a good price on a dvd or cd duplication service, it is worth knowing the difference between duplication and replication. The duplication process uses a recorder to "burn" your data into a pre-manufactured cd or dvd. These CDrs and DVDrs are quite simply blank discs, and your data, whether it is text files, music, computer programs, multi-media or video, is added by using a dvd or cd recorder. This process takes between 3 and 80 minutes per disc (depending on the speed of the recorder). The time factor means that it is less cost effective to use a cd duplication service if you are ordering large numbers of cds or dvds.
Replication - the alternative cd duplication service
DVD and CD replication can best be explained as "stamping" your data into an injection molded cd or dvd. These discs have a silver look to them, similar to the audio CD discs that you would buy in a music store. CD / DVD Replication is used with larger orders, where it is vital to get the "per disc" price as low as possible.
So, if you only require a few copies, DVD / CD duplication is a more cost effective option than replication, because the set-up costs are minimal by comparison. In fact, to complete smaller numbers of discs by duplication is not only less expensive, but the job can be competed more quickly. But if you want more than about 500 copies, you would be better off using the replication process because your data is actually built into the construction of the DVD or CD, and not added later.
To print on to your DVD/CD it would not be advisable to use inkjet printing which smears and smudges, or labels which look tacky, unprofessional and can peel up or jam. Be sure to use a print system that directly prints onto the surface of the CD or DVD. Your discs will look just like the mass produced CD / DVD albums you buy from the shops.
At Deckchair we will offer you a quality DVD/CD duplication or replication service with a fast turnaround. We can help you with all aspects of the process including artwork and package design. We are very experienced in the design of interactive cds which provides a very professional way to showcase your products or information about your company.
Article Source: http://www.kokkada.com
http://www.kokkada.com/Article/DVD-and-CD-Duplication-Services/21631
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Linn Sondek CD12 CD Player
A funny thing happened to Linn Product's Brian Morris when he attempted to bring Linn's new Sondek CD12 through Customs as hand-luggage:
Customs agent: "What's in the box, sir?"
Brian: "A CD player."
Customs agent: "Value?"
Brian: "$20,000."
Customs agent: "Who are you trying to kid? I know what CD players are worth—I've got one. Go stand over there until we sort this out."
It took a whole day, Linn's customs broker, and a flurry of phone calls, but eventually Brian did bring the CD12 into this country and deliver it to me in Santa Fe. But the customs agent's question was actually a good one. CD technology is now fairly mature. In fact, some might argue that, with the increased data-storage capacity of the DVD, not to mention the impending DVD-Audio standard, the CD might even be entering its twilight phase. Who on earth would bring a $20,000 CD player to market now?
Linn Products, obviously. As a company, Linn has always gone its own way—at its own pace—and if the idea of producing a no-holds-barred CD player at this particular moment strikes some people as foolhardy, the folks at Linn just don't care. They point out that there are millions and millions of CDs out there that will benefit from a player like the Sondek CD12, and that it will be years before there's anything like that selection on DVD, or whatever the next digital music medium will be. Besides, they point out, the typical Linn customer already has a substantial investment in software and is anxious to extract from it as much musical pleasure as possible, even if that means spending an amount less obsessed observers would label ludicrous.
If this argument sounds familiar, it's because Linn has said the same thing before—specifically, 17 years ago, when, in the pre-dawn of the CD age, people were predicting the demise of the turntable and the vinyl disc. Here we are, nearly two decades into the digital era, and there are more high-end turntables for sale than there ever were during the analog era. No, the LP hasn't exactly triumphed, but there are still a lot of music lovers out there who love their records and are willing to spend "ludicrous" amounts to hear them played properly.
http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/86/
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Sony launches 'dancing' music player
Sony on Monday unveiled a new robotic music player shaped like an egg with flapping wings that can twist to its tunes.
The "Rolly" is a digital music player that plays music through built-in speakers and has colour lights that flash as it "dances".
Users can set the movements along with the music they download from their personal computers and Bluetooth devices, the company said.
The music player, which will go on sale in Japan on September 29, has one gigabyte of memory to store tunes.
Sony, which withdrew from robot technology development due to its financial difficulties, said the new product was an audio product first and foremost.
"The motion control and sensor technologies (developed in earlier robot projects) are applied to Rolly, but this is an audio product," said Sony spokeswoman Saori Takahashi.
Sony developed dog-shaped robots called Aibo and humanoids, Qrio, but withdrew from robot development last year to focus on more lucrative flat-screen televisions.
The company was once a leader in portable music players, bringing the world the Walkman, but it has since fallen well behind rival Apple and its phenomenally popular iPod.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/articles/sony-launches-dancing-music-player/2007/09/11/1189276676793.html
The "Rolly" is a digital music player that plays music through built-in speakers and has colour lights that flash as it "dances".
Users can set the movements along with the music they download from their personal computers and Bluetooth devices, the company said.
The music player, which will go on sale in Japan on September 29, has one gigabyte of memory to store tunes.
Sony, which withdrew from robot technology development due to its financial difficulties, said the new product was an audio product first and foremost.
"The motion control and sensor technologies (developed in earlier robot projects) are applied to Rolly, but this is an audio product," said Sony spokeswoman Saori Takahashi.
Sony developed dog-shaped robots called Aibo and humanoids, Qrio, but withdrew from robot development last year to focus on more lucrative flat-screen televisions.
The company was once a leader in portable music players, bringing the world the Walkman, but it has since fallen well behind rival Apple and its phenomenally popular iPod.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/articles/sony-launches-dancing-music-player/2007/09/11/1189276676793.html
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
How to Transfer Music onto a Portable MP3 Player
You have finally taken the plunge with your first MP3 player and are so excited to use it for the first time. You break it out of the box and your excitement turns to dismay as your realize that you have no idea how to get music on the darned thing. The good news is that, in most cases, getting music onto your player is a fairly simple task. The bad news is that there are many different MP3 players, and not all of them use the same way to get music onto them. However, they all use the same basic principles. Hopefully armed with some basic information, you can figure out how to get music on your player with little difficulty.
The Process
Overall, the process of transferring music files consists of the following:
* Install music management software on your computer
* Determine the source of the music files that you want to transfer
* Create the appropriate music file format for your transfer
* Connect your MP3 player to your computer
* Transfer your music files to your player
* Disconnect your player
Step 1: Install music management software on your computer
In order to create music files from your CDs and transfer music onto your MP3 player, you need to install music software onto your computer if it is not already installed. Usually, the appropriate software for your player is bundled with the MP3 player. If so, install that software, as it is probably the best option for your MP3 player. Two of the more popular examples of music management software include MusicMatch Jukebox and iTunes.
Step 2: Determine the Source of the Music to Transfer
The next step in getting music on your MP3 player is to determine the music that you want to transfer. The music must be owned by you and be in a format that you can easily convert to a format that can be read by your player. The two most common ways are through a music CD that you own or through a download from an Internet music store. Though possible, it is more difficult to use an old album or cassette tape as your source for music. This article does not address these cases.
Step 3: Create MP3s or other appropriate media from the source
If you are downloading from the Internet, your music files should already be in a format playable by your MP3 player. Skip to Step 4.
If you are using a music CD as your source:
1. Insert the CD into your computer.
2. Launch the music management software that you installed above. The application should recognize the CD and if you are connected to the Internet, should provide you with the artist name, album title and all of the names of the songs.
3. Check the preferences for ripping/creating/importing MP3s. This should be under a main menu on your software. For creating basic MP3s, make sure that the selected encoder is for MP3s (Note: almost all MP3 players will play MP3 format, so if you are unsure what format to use, choose this one). Also note the name and the location on the computer of the MP3s that will be created from your CD. For the best sounding audio quality adjust the sound quality to the best option available.
4. Rip the CD. There is usually a button on the software to rip the CD. On iTunes, it is called import and located in the top right corner. On MusicMatch it is called record and is a red record button located on the Recorder window.
5. DO NOTHING on the computer until the rip is complete. This is important because you may create MP3s that skip if your computer is not dedicated to ripping the CD.
http://www.techlore.com/article/10385/How-to-Transfer-Music-onto-a-Portable-MP3-Player/
The Process
Overall, the process of transferring music files consists of the following:
* Install music management software on your computer
* Determine the source of the music files that you want to transfer
* Create the appropriate music file format for your transfer
* Connect your MP3 player to your computer
* Transfer your music files to your player
* Disconnect your player
Step 1: Install music management software on your computer
In order to create music files from your CDs and transfer music onto your MP3 player, you need to install music software onto your computer if it is not already installed. Usually, the appropriate software for your player is bundled with the MP3 player. If so, install that software, as it is probably the best option for your MP3 player. Two of the more popular examples of music management software include MusicMatch Jukebox and iTunes.
Step 2: Determine the Source of the Music to Transfer
The next step in getting music on your MP3 player is to determine the music that you want to transfer. The music must be owned by you and be in a format that you can easily convert to a format that can be read by your player. The two most common ways are through a music CD that you own or through a download from an Internet music store. Though possible, it is more difficult to use an old album or cassette tape as your source for music. This article does not address these cases.
Step 3: Create MP3s or other appropriate media from the source
If you are downloading from the Internet, your music files should already be in a format playable by your MP3 player. Skip to Step 4.
If you are using a music CD as your source:
1. Insert the CD into your computer.
2. Launch the music management software that you installed above. The application should recognize the CD and if you are connected to the Internet, should provide you with the artist name, album title and all of the names of the songs.
3. Check the preferences for ripping/creating/importing MP3s. This should be under a main menu on your software. For creating basic MP3s, make sure that the selected encoder is for MP3s (Note: almost all MP3 players will play MP3 format, so if you are unsure what format to use, choose this one). Also note the name and the location on the computer of the MP3s that will be created from your CD. For the best sounding audio quality adjust the sound quality to the best option available.
4. Rip the CD. There is usually a button on the software to rip the CD. On iTunes, it is called import and located in the top right corner. On MusicMatch it is called record and is a red record button located on the Recorder window.
5. DO NOTHING on the computer until the rip is complete. This is important because you may create MP3s that skip if your computer is not dedicated to ripping the CD.
http://www.techlore.com/article/10385/How-to-Transfer-Music-onto-a-Portable-MP3-Player/
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sony Digital Relay CD External CDRW/MP3 Player Review
With MP3s gaining popularity even among the unwashed masses, demand for CD/MP3 players is rising; with the huge storage capacity of CDs as compared to Flash memory based devices, CD based solutions have a real advantage, but most people don't have a CD Burner installed on their computer. A portable CD/MP3 player/burner seems like a great solution to this problem; plus there's a lot of other target markets for this kind of product, too; as a developer I'm always burning CDs and it's really annoying to have to use a shared computer to burn CDs. A CD burner is a born match for a laptop computer; sharing files with clients is made much easier, plus the MP3 player functionality is useful for those long plane rides. The Sony Digital Relay (or CRX10U) seems like a perfect match for all of these cases.
Features
The Digital Relay I received was a final production unit, but it came in a plain cardboard box (the retail boxes were still in the works) with a driver disk, a CDR containing my utilities and a bunch of cables. When I first took a look at the Relay I thought "Damn, they should have called it the Digital Whale!" because it's at least an inch and a half longer than a normal CD player and makes my poor Rio look like a little shrimp in comparison. Upon further inspection the reason the relay is extra long is be cause it runs off of Sony's camcorder batteries. To get an equivalent voltage out of AA batteries would require a lot more space, and the power is definitely needed: after plugging in and turning on the Relay for a few minutes it got pretty warm; Sony must have a lot of electronics in there because they definitely warm up your pocket. The Digital Relay totally looks like a laptop accessory as it looks good contrasted with classic laptop black, and I'm sure it will color co-ordinate well with a Vaio Laptop. ;) I immediately loved the silver color because it matched my Sony MDR-V300 headphones.
Specs
Here's what Sony says:
Digital Relay CD-R/CD-RW Drive (CRX10U-A2) Sony's first battery-operated, portable CD-R/RW burner can also perform as a stand-alone CD player. The computer peripheral incorporates a USB interface for plug-and-play connectivity, and comes with a complete suite of feature-intensive Macintosh® and Windows® software, an InfoLithium® rechargeable battery, an AC power adapter, a wired-remote with an LCD display, earphones, cables and blank Sony media. The Digital Relay drive will be available in April for about $400.
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/digitalrelay/
Features
The Digital Relay I received was a final production unit, but it came in a plain cardboard box (the retail boxes were still in the works) with a driver disk, a CDR containing my utilities and a bunch of cables. When I first took a look at the Relay I thought "Damn, they should have called it the Digital Whale!" because it's at least an inch and a half longer than a normal CD player and makes my poor Rio look like a little shrimp in comparison. Upon further inspection the reason the relay is extra long is be cause it runs off of Sony's camcorder batteries. To get an equivalent voltage out of AA batteries would require a lot more space, and the power is definitely needed: after plugging in and turning on the Relay for a few minutes it got pretty warm; Sony must have a lot of electronics in there because they definitely warm up your pocket. The Digital Relay totally looks like a laptop accessory as it looks good contrasted with classic laptop black, and I'm sure it will color co-ordinate well with a Vaio Laptop. ;) I immediately loved the silver color because it matched my Sony MDR-V300 headphones.
Specs
Here's what Sony says:
Digital Relay CD-R/CD-RW Drive (CRX10U-A2) Sony's first battery-operated, portable CD-R/RW burner can also perform as a stand-alone CD player. The computer peripheral incorporates a USB interface for plug-and-play connectivity, and comes with a complete suite of feature-intensive Macintosh® and Windows® software, an InfoLithium® rechargeable battery, an AC power adapter, a wired-remote with an LCD display, earphones, cables and blank Sony media. The Digital Relay drive will be available in April for about $400.
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/digitalrelay/
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Explore Sanibel with Sanibel Vacation Rental
Sanibel is situated in southwest Florida, the reason as to why the tourist gets attracted to this place is its shelling beaches, islands, wildlife, outdoor activities such as biking, golfing, bird watching etc. Not only the adventure but it blends its culture in the form of its art, theatre and music.
Sanibel is just as vacation paradise for all tourists as Sanibel provides a complete package of enjoyment and the knowledge of its culture.
There are number of places where the person can accommodate during his vacation at Sanibel. He can use hotels, motels or even vacation rentals. But, the accommodation which is recommended is Sanibel vacation rental as this gives a feeling of home in the holidaying town.
Sanibel Vacation rental can be in the form of small cottages, villas, bungalows, apartments, small inns, condos etc. There are number of vacation rental in Sanibel which serve as a second home to the person. But, on using all the amenities of second home the person is required to pay rent in return. This rent depends on the size, location and number of people who will reside in Sanibel vacation rental.
Today information technology has made it possible that the person can book vacation rental in Sanibel from his home town. The only thing he is required to do is the locating the agents and traveling agencies who arrange holidaying at Sanibel. After locating agents, the next step is to ask them for quote and along with that he will be required to fill an application form asking some personal and location preference detail. Once the application has been filled the agent will let the person know the entire Sanibel vacation rental in respect to his preference and his budget. Thus, the last step will be to choose the location of Sanibel vacation rental but after comparing it with rates of other vacation rental in Sanibel. This will help in availing the competitive and cheap deal.
It is sure that through Sanibel vacation rental, the person can save an amount of money as they are definitely cheaper than accommodating in a hotel or any other accommodation. Above that, though it is cheaper mode but still offers more comfort than any other mode.
In Sanibel vacation rental, the person can enjoy in his living room as it has all spectrum of entertainment such as television, DVD, CD player etc. Or, even the person can relax in his bed room by listening music as he did at his home. Lastly, generally it is seen that the person misses his home made food but now he will be not deprived of that as he can also cook in the Sanibel vacation rental.
Thus, it is absolutely right to say that exploring Sanibel through Sanibel vacation rental will be a great experience of holidaying.
Article Source: http://www.articleset.com
Sanibel is just as vacation paradise for all tourists as Sanibel provides a complete package of enjoyment and the knowledge of its culture.
There are number of places where the person can accommodate during his vacation at Sanibel. He can use hotels, motels or even vacation rentals. But, the accommodation which is recommended is Sanibel vacation rental as this gives a feeling of home in the holidaying town.
Sanibel Vacation rental can be in the form of small cottages, villas, bungalows, apartments, small inns, condos etc. There are number of vacation rental in Sanibel which serve as a second home to the person. But, on using all the amenities of second home the person is required to pay rent in return. This rent depends on the size, location and number of people who will reside in Sanibel vacation rental.
Today information technology has made it possible that the person can book vacation rental in Sanibel from his home town. The only thing he is required to do is the locating the agents and traveling agencies who arrange holidaying at Sanibel. After locating agents, the next step is to ask them for quote and along with that he will be required to fill an application form asking some personal and location preference detail. Once the application has been filled the agent will let the person know the entire Sanibel vacation rental in respect to his preference and his budget. Thus, the last step will be to choose the location of Sanibel vacation rental but after comparing it with rates of other vacation rental in Sanibel. This will help in availing the competitive and cheap deal.
It is sure that through Sanibel vacation rental, the person can save an amount of money as they are definitely cheaper than accommodating in a hotel or any other accommodation. Above that, though it is cheaper mode but still offers more comfort than any other mode.
In Sanibel vacation rental, the person can enjoy in his living room as it has all spectrum of entertainment such as television, DVD, CD player etc. Or, even the person can relax in his bed room by listening music as he did at his home. Lastly, generally it is seen that the person misses his home made food but now he will be not deprived of that as he can also cook in the Sanibel vacation rental.
Thus, it is absolutely right to say that exploring Sanibel through Sanibel vacation rental will be a great experience of holidaying.
Article Source: http://www.articleset.com
Crime: An Analysis
Introduction
It seems that thinkers, philosophers, social critics, and typically anyone concerned with the plight of those who must endure through misery and suffering, usually make references to the poverty, oppression, and crime of those who must go through a harder life. Throughout the ages, the political leaders of a nation, whom have been elected by their campaign funds or their birth rights, have always given great concern to ending crime. Murder, robbery, and rape have typically been regarded as the greatest crimes in society, each one created in its own nature. Murder is the highest form of vengeance, and in societies where feuds and arguments have been the general discourse, there will be this crime. While men and women live together, they have often neglected the articulate nature of science, art, and learning. Instead of decided to advance civilization, change the world, and love each other, they have created war among themselves, for their own reasons. Robbery itself is a crime that is as old as the existence of property. Instead of deciding to increase their own wealth, by the labor of their hands, man decided to benefit from the reward of another man's hand. Rape itself has been detested throughout all of Western Europe, but it is only a recent phenomena that the motive changed. For a great deal of time, rape was simply regarded as expensive property damage. Finally when the people realized that women are themselves capable of independent thought, and a desire to express and experience inner emotions, rape has been changed, from property damage to personal assault. While the monarchs and elected officials of nations, and their countless followers, have endeavored to offer their plans and ideas on ending crime, few have attempted to discover the cause of crime. It has almost always been assumed that the source of crime is a simple disobedience to the law. It was only in the 20th century that the Western world finally discovered that criminal activity was not in fact caused be a diseased brain. It still remains a doctrine of many of today's politicians and their supporters that crime in caused by savagery, an "evil" nature, or simply a disobedience to the law, and this view is expressed in their speeches, their public reports, and their communication with the public.
It is crime that I shall be investigating within this paper. By crime, I mean a violation of either the laws or social customs (new and old) in a society.
A Profile of Crime in America
Before continuing in this piece, it is probably most important to first note the most common types of crime that occur within this nation. In state penitentiaries, 49% were sentenced for a violent crime, 20% were sentenced for a property crime, and 21% were sentenced for a drug crime (for the year 2000). In city jails, a fourth were held for violent crimes, a fourth were held for property crimes, and a fifth were held for drug crimes (for the year 1996). [*1] However, there are overlapping crimes. Robbery, for instance, for something as small as a few dollars, may go unpersecuted, but the crime of assault or battery may end up with the suspect serving several years. Offenders of violent crimes had used a weapon in 46% of all robberies, as an example (for the year 2002). [*2] With that, I continue in my analysis.
Crimes of Greed
Nature of the Crime
When I speak of Crimes of Greed, I want it to be understood that I am speaking of robbery, of mugging, of theft of property in any manner. The desire to steal property can be understood by all. It is but a human desire, one that exists inside all of us, to have the essentials of life, such as food, shelter, and the like. In fact, it is hardly human, and rather completely natural to all forms of life. This instinct to gather the necessities, at all costs, is wholly normal. I am not attempting to justify it, but rather, only understand it. Humans, however, vary somewhat than other creatures of this planet. For some of us, it is not enough to have what is necessary to life. We must have wealth, we must have financial security. A loaf of bread every day while living in the smallest of apartments might very well meet the necessities. Yet, it is as much a dream as it is a desire to think that one day, you can have luxury, and those things you've always hoped for as a child. A loaf of bread and a cockroach infested apartment, sure, they may very well meet your necessities. But what about a television set? A CD player? A DVD player? A stylish wardrobe? A condominium? Maybe your own house? As I said, it is only human to want wealth and possibly extravagance, or the idea that you are "well off" and need not worry about financial insecurities. The instinct to obtain that what you need to survive can be found in all life forms and the desire to become wealthy and even recognized is closer to the human species, though I wouldn't be surprised if similar desires were found in the other creatures of this world.
The instinct for survival and desire of wealth are apparent parts of human society and have found themselves expressed in culture. The question now is, what are the methods by which people go about procuring these desires? Primarily, there are two methods: legal employment and criminal activity (or, Crimes of Greed, "Property Crimes"). On behalf of legal employment, one must first understand that this hardly signifies something worthy, just, or virtuous. The officials of the Nazi army were well-paid and well-respected -- and despite the fact that it may have been their task to persecute those of the Jewish ethnicity, they were legally employed. So, too, were the Roman soldiers, whose task it was to invade foreign lands with the intent to rob and plunder. Only a nominal difference took place when American soldiers are sent world wide, to raid countries like Vietnam, Haiti, Guatemala, Cambodia, Colombia, or others. Millions of lives taken and thousands of homes burned to the ground, all under the banner of legal employment, but not only legal employment, but a job that was respected by society and honored by the government.
These are the two options for a human being's natural inclinations of wealth: legal employment, and the alternative, the alternative going by the title of "crime." Of those who commit crime, statistics show that their ability to generate revenue through legal employment is deficient. In federal and state prisons, 63% percent of jail inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 1996. [*1] The importance of this statistic is the history of racila and ethnic minorities. Less than two hundred years ago, the African race was released from the bondage of slavery, only to be given unequal conditions and poverty. Only some decades ago did they really achieve social, political, or economic equality in opportunity -- and still, even though the opportunity is present, they are in the thick sand of poverty. A black family, with two parents working minimum wage, will have a harder time sending their children to a university, than a white family, with two parents working middle class jobs. And then consider the plight of the Native Americans. They owned the land and the resources that make up virtually all property in this nation -- and it was stolen. In prisons, altogether, an estimated 57% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent. [*1] And, indeed, there is no denying that lack of a high school diploma will prevent acceleration, either with money-making ability or job opportunities.
Nationally, in local jails, over a third of all inmates reported some physical or mental disability. Altogether, only 54% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent. Thirty-six of all inmates were not employed during the month before they were arrested for their current offense. A quarter of the jail inmates said they had been treated at some time for a mental or emotional problem. [*1] There is no denying that all of these statistics debilitates the inmates from acquiring a legal job. Besides those who fall into the category of debilitated, what can be said of those who are on an equal level with others as far as legal employment ability? It is in only one or two instances where the state minimum wage with a full time job is enough to reach the poverty level. The fact that these individuals are not just randomly committing crimes, and that they are in fact acting based on their conditions, is quite obvious. Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime. [*1]
The ultimate cause of the Crimes of Greed is poverty. There is no premeditated motive based on disobedience to the law or disrespect for the law -- it is based on the ability to make wealth. The economy is the cause of crime. This new realization actually throws responsibility from the criminal to the heads of the economy, or to those who sustain the economy. Tens of millions of Africans, for instance, were born in poverty, because their ancestors were bondaged to slavery without the right to freedom. When an man of African descent commits a crime of theft, it may be less linked to his disobedience than his desire for food. And the same can be said of any man who commits a crime of greed. Though it is hardly deniable that poverty is the cause of these crimes of theft, is it justified to state that the economy is the cause of poverty? Any person who understand basic economics cannot deny this. Capitalism has allowed the most extreme wealth to a few and the most extreme poverty to all. Workers are paid only one tenth of the wealth they create. [*3] The rest of the 90% of that wealth goes into the pockets of the Capitalist class. If workers, in fact, were paid all of the wealth that they labored to create, then their revenue would increase by tenfold -- this would mean they could still live in poverty only working 4 hours a week, or double what they are currently making by working only 8 hours a week. More wealth to those who create it, and less work time to the laborers who created all wealth.
There are, of course, various interested players in the system of Capitalism. If the few are the oppressors, and the many are the oppressed, why is it that a revolution has not come? The answer is simple: the oppressed are conditioned to believe that slavery is freedom. From the day a citizen can attend school, they are forced to by law, where they are taught nothing more than lies in an oppressive system that involves torture and abuse. Then the work experience comes where wage-slavery threatens people with starvation if they do not succumb. The media has been purchased by megacorporations and receives grants from the government -- never is the truth wholly told. The government lied to the public during the Vietnam War and in fact, few people know today that the war was an attempt to keep Vietnam as a colony of France -- the same reason why the colonies of America revolted. The next secret war of the US Army is always around the corner, when the US imperialist government overthrows a democratically elected president and supports their own dictator in South American nations. Poverty has never existed in such prevalence, except those nations touched by contemporary Capitalism, a fact that no economist would be bold enough to refuse. The wars go on and the soldiers die thinking that liberty is what they are fighting for, but when they find themselves in a foreign land burning villages, only those who are free in mind will say, "Is this really for liberty?" The next anti-Capitalism or anti-police brutality is met with rubber bullets and pepper spray, as police officers brutalize and murder citizens -- and they think that order is "people not being outraged that 40% of the children here don't have enough to eat." [*4] So when people express an anti-government opinion, they can rest in prison cells while the president delivers another address to the people, arguing that invading and destroying another country so we can exploit them for their cheap labor and resources is the same thing as independence. Because when people fight back against their government, they are called "terrorists" -- and when a person expresses a revolutionary opinion, they are called an "insurgent." The media publicizes it and the people buy. From the first day, people are given the mindset that fighting back is futile.
Maybe a police officer will think it's a lie that "liberty means shooting protestors." Maybe a soldier will think it's a lie that "doing your duty means killing civilians." Maybe a news reporter will think it's a deception that they refuse to cover the stories of soldiers executing civilians. Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli police officer during a peaceful protest. All of the major news networks refused to carry the story. [*5] He was protesting the destruction of a home with bulldozers by a government that oppressed Palestinians. The other 2,500 deaths of refugees, protestors, and political dissidents went uncovered. Carlo Giuliani was shot in the head by Italian police while protesting Capitalism. [*6] Because today, struggling to be free has been labeled as "anarchy and terrorism," because a movement for and by the people is the equivalent of a "terror cell." Why talk about the deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of police and soldiers, when we can raise enough support for another war?
Out of sight. Out of mind. The police and soldiers take on the "insurgent" masses while the media convinces the rest that slavery is freedom.
http://www.articleset.com/Politics-and-Government_articles_en_Crime-An-Analysis.htm
It seems that thinkers, philosophers, social critics, and typically anyone concerned with the plight of those who must endure through misery and suffering, usually make references to the poverty, oppression, and crime of those who must go through a harder life. Throughout the ages, the political leaders of a nation, whom have been elected by their campaign funds or their birth rights, have always given great concern to ending crime. Murder, robbery, and rape have typically been regarded as the greatest crimes in society, each one created in its own nature. Murder is the highest form of vengeance, and in societies where feuds and arguments have been the general discourse, there will be this crime. While men and women live together, they have often neglected the articulate nature of science, art, and learning. Instead of decided to advance civilization, change the world, and love each other, they have created war among themselves, for their own reasons. Robbery itself is a crime that is as old as the existence of property. Instead of deciding to increase their own wealth, by the labor of their hands, man decided to benefit from the reward of another man's hand. Rape itself has been detested throughout all of Western Europe, but it is only a recent phenomena that the motive changed. For a great deal of time, rape was simply regarded as expensive property damage. Finally when the people realized that women are themselves capable of independent thought, and a desire to express and experience inner emotions, rape has been changed, from property damage to personal assault. While the monarchs and elected officials of nations, and their countless followers, have endeavored to offer their plans and ideas on ending crime, few have attempted to discover the cause of crime. It has almost always been assumed that the source of crime is a simple disobedience to the law. It was only in the 20th century that the Western world finally discovered that criminal activity was not in fact caused be a diseased brain. It still remains a doctrine of many of today's politicians and their supporters that crime in caused by savagery, an "evil" nature, or simply a disobedience to the law, and this view is expressed in their speeches, their public reports, and their communication with the public.
It is crime that I shall be investigating within this paper. By crime, I mean a violation of either the laws or social customs (new and old) in a society.
A Profile of Crime in America
Before continuing in this piece, it is probably most important to first note the most common types of crime that occur within this nation. In state penitentiaries, 49% were sentenced for a violent crime, 20% were sentenced for a property crime, and 21% were sentenced for a drug crime (for the year 2000). In city jails, a fourth were held for violent crimes, a fourth were held for property crimes, and a fifth were held for drug crimes (for the year 1996). [*1] However, there are overlapping crimes. Robbery, for instance, for something as small as a few dollars, may go unpersecuted, but the crime of assault or battery may end up with the suspect serving several years. Offenders of violent crimes had used a weapon in 46% of all robberies, as an example (for the year 2002). [*2] With that, I continue in my analysis.
Crimes of Greed
Nature of the Crime
When I speak of Crimes of Greed, I want it to be understood that I am speaking of robbery, of mugging, of theft of property in any manner. The desire to steal property can be understood by all. It is but a human desire, one that exists inside all of us, to have the essentials of life, such as food, shelter, and the like. In fact, it is hardly human, and rather completely natural to all forms of life. This instinct to gather the necessities, at all costs, is wholly normal. I am not attempting to justify it, but rather, only understand it. Humans, however, vary somewhat than other creatures of this planet. For some of us, it is not enough to have what is necessary to life. We must have wealth, we must have financial security. A loaf of bread every day while living in the smallest of apartments might very well meet the necessities. Yet, it is as much a dream as it is a desire to think that one day, you can have luxury, and those things you've always hoped for as a child. A loaf of bread and a cockroach infested apartment, sure, they may very well meet your necessities. But what about a television set? A CD player? A DVD player? A stylish wardrobe? A condominium? Maybe your own house? As I said, it is only human to want wealth and possibly extravagance, or the idea that you are "well off" and need not worry about financial insecurities. The instinct to obtain that what you need to survive can be found in all life forms and the desire to become wealthy and even recognized is closer to the human species, though I wouldn't be surprised if similar desires were found in the other creatures of this world.
The instinct for survival and desire of wealth are apparent parts of human society and have found themselves expressed in culture. The question now is, what are the methods by which people go about procuring these desires? Primarily, there are two methods: legal employment and criminal activity (or, Crimes of Greed, "Property Crimes"). On behalf of legal employment, one must first understand that this hardly signifies something worthy, just, or virtuous. The officials of the Nazi army were well-paid and well-respected -- and despite the fact that it may have been their task to persecute those of the Jewish ethnicity, they were legally employed. So, too, were the Roman soldiers, whose task it was to invade foreign lands with the intent to rob and plunder. Only a nominal difference took place when American soldiers are sent world wide, to raid countries like Vietnam, Haiti, Guatemala, Cambodia, Colombia, or others. Millions of lives taken and thousands of homes burned to the ground, all under the banner of legal employment, but not only legal employment, but a job that was respected by society and honored by the government.
These are the two options for a human being's natural inclinations of wealth: legal employment, and the alternative, the alternative going by the title of "crime." Of those who commit crime, statistics show that their ability to generate revenue through legal employment is deficient. In federal and state prisons, 63% percent of jail inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 1996. [*1] The importance of this statistic is the history of racila and ethnic minorities. Less than two hundred years ago, the African race was released from the bondage of slavery, only to be given unequal conditions and poverty. Only some decades ago did they really achieve social, political, or economic equality in opportunity -- and still, even though the opportunity is present, they are in the thick sand of poverty. A black family, with two parents working minimum wage, will have a harder time sending their children to a university, than a white family, with two parents working middle class jobs. And then consider the plight of the Native Americans. They owned the land and the resources that make up virtually all property in this nation -- and it was stolen. In prisons, altogether, an estimated 57% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent. [*1] And, indeed, there is no denying that lack of a high school diploma will prevent acceleration, either with money-making ability or job opportunities.
Nationally, in local jails, over a third of all inmates reported some physical or mental disability. Altogether, only 54% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent. Thirty-six of all inmates were not employed during the month before they were arrested for their current offense. A quarter of the jail inmates said they had been treated at some time for a mental or emotional problem. [*1] There is no denying that all of these statistics debilitates the inmates from acquiring a legal job. Besides those who fall into the category of debilitated, what can be said of those who are on an equal level with others as far as legal employment ability? It is in only one or two instances where the state minimum wage with a full time job is enough to reach the poverty level. The fact that these individuals are not just randomly committing crimes, and that they are in fact acting based on their conditions, is quite obvious. Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime. [*1]
The ultimate cause of the Crimes of Greed is poverty. There is no premeditated motive based on disobedience to the law or disrespect for the law -- it is based on the ability to make wealth. The economy is the cause of crime. This new realization actually throws responsibility from the criminal to the heads of the economy, or to those who sustain the economy. Tens of millions of Africans, for instance, were born in poverty, because their ancestors were bondaged to slavery without the right to freedom. When an man of African descent commits a crime of theft, it may be less linked to his disobedience than his desire for food. And the same can be said of any man who commits a crime of greed. Though it is hardly deniable that poverty is the cause of these crimes of theft, is it justified to state that the economy is the cause of poverty? Any person who understand basic economics cannot deny this. Capitalism has allowed the most extreme wealth to a few and the most extreme poverty to all. Workers are paid only one tenth of the wealth they create. [*3] The rest of the 90% of that wealth goes into the pockets of the Capitalist class. If workers, in fact, were paid all of the wealth that they labored to create, then their revenue would increase by tenfold -- this would mean they could still live in poverty only working 4 hours a week, or double what they are currently making by working only 8 hours a week. More wealth to those who create it, and less work time to the laborers who created all wealth.
There are, of course, various interested players in the system of Capitalism. If the few are the oppressors, and the many are the oppressed, why is it that a revolution has not come? The answer is simple: the oppressed are conditioned to believe that slavery is freedom. From the day a citizen can attend school, they are forced to by law, where they are taught nothing more than lies in an oppressive system that involves torture and abuse. Then the work experience comes where wage-slavery threatens people with starvation if they do not succumb. The media has been purchased by megacorporations and receives grants from the government -- never is the truth wholly told. The government lied to the public during the Vietnam War and in fact, few people know today that the war was an attempt to keep Vietnam as a colony of France -- the same reason why the colonies of America revolted. The next secret war of the US Army is always around the corner, when the US imperialist government overthrows a democratically elected president and supports their own dictator in South American nations. Poverty has never existed in such prevalence, except those nations touched by contemporary Capitalism, a fact that no economist would be bold enough to refuse. The wars go on and the soldiers die thinking that liberty is what they are fighting for, but when they find themselves in a foreign land burning villages, only those who are free in mind will say, "Is this really for liberty?" The next anti-Capitalism or anti-police brutality is met with rubber bullets and pepper spray, as police officers brutalize and murder citizens -- and they think that order is "people not being outraged that 40% of the children here don't have enough to eat." [*4] So when people express an anti-government opinion, they can rest in prison cells while the president delivers another address to the people, arguing that invading and destroying another country so we can exploit them for their cheap labor and resources is the same thing as independence. Because when people fight back against their government, they are called "terrorists" -- and when a person expresses a revolutionary opinion, they are called an "insurgent." The media publicizes it and the people buy. From the first day, people are given the mindset that fighting back is futile.
Maybe a police officer will think it's a lie that "liberty means shooting protestors." Maybe a soldier will think it's a lie that "doing your duty means killing civilians." Maybe a news reporter will think it's a deception that they refuse to cover the stories of soldiers executing civilians. Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli police officer during a peaceful protest. All of the major news networks refused to carry the story. [*5] He was protesting the destruction of a home with bulldozers by a government that oppressed Palestinians. The other 2,500 deaths of refugees, protestors, and political dissidents went uncovered. Carlo Giuliani was shot in the head by Italian police while protesting Capitalism. [*6] Because today, struggling to be free has been labeled as "anarchy and terrorism," because a movement for and by the people is the equivalent of a "terror cell." Why talk about the deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of police and soldiers, when we can raise enough support for another war?
Out of sight. Out of mind. The police and soldiers take on the "insurgent" masses while the media convinces the rest that slavery is freedom.
http://www.articleset.com/Politics-and-Government_articles_en_Crime-An-Analysis.htm
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