Ipod and MP3s are killing music

Music producers are upset that the fad for MP3s and Ipods is killing off well-made music.They say that most of the files which are being distributed represent less than 10 percent of the original music.

Most of the data is junked during computer analysis and squeezed down until it fits through the Interweb tubes. According to Seattle Pi, a CD contains less than half the information stored to studio hard drives during recording.

And when compressed by MP3 and similar formats only a minuscule fraction of the actual live event survives.

Record producer Phil Ramone, who has recorded everyone from Frank Sinatra to the Rolling Stones, said it is impossible to really appreciate music in MP3 format. He said that his music played on an Ipod was painful.

Speaker designer John Meyer, of Meyer Sound Labs, agrees, telling the paper that it is impossible to appreciate the music on an iPod because it forces the brain to work harder to fill in the gaps in the sound.

Top acoustic boffin, Robert Sweetow, head of the University of California audiology department said that the low-fi music stimulates the brain in different ways. Different neurons are stimulated and fewer cortical neurons connected back to the limbic system, where the emotions are stored, apparently.

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Microsoft Writes Off DX10.1 Fears

Microsoft’s DirectX lead program manager has set the record straight on reports that DX10.1 will render the current crop of DX10-compatible hardware “obsolete.”

Microsoft’s Sam Glassenberg told Next-Gen in a phone interview, “DX10.1 fully supports DX10 hardware. No hardware support is being removed….It’s strictly a superset. It’s basically an update to DX10 that extends the hardware functionality slightly.”

He said that the update is similar to what Microsoft did with DX9. “We did make updates to [DX9] that extended the supported feature set.

“All the hardware is still supported, all the games still run, all the features are still there, we’ve just simply extended the feature set and the lifetime of the API,” he said.

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Symantec, Intel work on security on microchips

Symantec and Intel are jointly developing security products that could be built into tiny computer microprocessors, Symantec Vice President Rowan Trollope said on Tuesday. The program, dubbed Project Hood, is part of an effort by both companies to expand their use of virtualization technology, or using software to replicate entire computer systems.

They are developing software security “appliances” that would work with virtualization technology that Intel is already incorporating into its computer chips, Trollope said. Instead of designing the security software to run on Microsoft’s Windows or another operating system, Symantec and Intel are building it so it can directly interact with the Intel chips.

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Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse Announced

Today Logitech announced to launch the V470 Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks. The new mouse is supported by Bluetooth Technology.

The Bluetooth-enabled V470 Cordless Laser Mouse can be connected with MacBook computers and even with Windows-based notebook PCs, without any external receiver.

The V470 mouse sports Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology along with laser tracking.

Besides, the mouse allows users to scroll horizontally as well as vertically.

The V470 Cordless Laser Mouse is powered by 2 AA batteries and rates battery life of up to 4 months. Besides, a battery indicator is provided that tells you the status of the battery.

Logitech will ship the V470 Cordless Laser Mouse in Europe and US by September beginning. The mouse will be available in two colors high-gloss blue and white at the price of $49.99.

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Yahoo puts the yokel in Local

Yahoo is making its biggest update in the last two years to its local search site, allowing customer reviews and proximity to influence results.

To start with, the Yahoo Local site gets a whole new look. It’s better organized and more visually appealing than before. The home page shows a customized skyline for 20 cities (in San Francisco it’s the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and the Transamerica Pyramid Building), along with local weather.

The top center portion of the site features rotating links to the most popular reviews, events, maps and buzz, or the most popular search terms used on the site. There is a section listing recent reviews for local spots and the ability to browse by category. Up at the top is a link to a new Weekend Guide page that offers a package of information to help people plan their weekend, including movie and DVD releases, Flickr photos, and events from Yahoo’s Upcoming.org database.

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Microsoft and Xandros Expand Collaboration

Today, Microsoft Corp. and Linux platform provider Xandros announced a messaging protocol license and collaboration agreement that will enhance the interoperability of Scalix e-mail servers with various mobile and personal computer-based e-mail applications that utilize Microsoft e-mail protocols. This agreement expands on the ongoing Microsoft-Xandros collaboration.

Both companies’ commitment to protocol licensing and technical cooperation will help to provide more e-mail choices and value. By continuing their focus on mixed-source solutions, Xandros and Microsoft are demonstrating how protocol-level collaboration can benefit customers who rely on a mix of Windows-based and Linux systems.

By licensing the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol and the Outlook Exchange Transport Protocol, Scalix Mail Servers can now synchronize data over wireless networks with Microsoft Exchange Server as well as various e-mail clients that use these and other Microsoft protocols.

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Ipod and MP3s are killing music

Music producers are upset that the fad for MP3s and Ipods is killing off well-made music.They say that most of the files which are being distributed represent less than 10 percent of the original music.

Most of the data is junked during computer analysis and squeezed down until it fits through the Interweb tubes. According to Seattle Pi, a CD contains less than half the information stored to studio hard drives during recording.

And when compressed by MP3 and similar formats only a minuscule fraction of the actual live event survives.

Record producer Phil Ramone, who has recorded everyone from Frank Sinatra to the Rolling Stones, said it is impossible to really appreciate music in MP3 format. He said that his music played on an Ipod was painful.

Speaker designer John Meyer, of Meyer Sound Labs, agrees, telling the paper that it is impossible to appreciate the music on an iPod because it forces the brain to work harder to fill in the gaps in the sound.

Top acoustic boffin, Robert Sweetow, head of the University of California audiology department said that the low-fi music stimulates the brain in different ways. Different neurons are stimulated and fewer cortical neurons connected back to the limbic system, where the emotions are stored, apparently.

[ View ]

Microsoft Writes Off DX10.1 Fears

Microsoft’s DirectX lead program manager has set the record straight on reports that DX10.1 will render the current crop of DX10-compatible hardware “obsolete.”

Microsoft’s Sam Glassenberg told Next-Gen in a phone interview, “DX10.1 fully supports DX10 hardware. No hardware support is being removed….It’s strictly a superset. It’s basically an update to DX10 that extends the hardware functionality slightly.”

He said that the update is similar to what Microsoft did with DX9. “We did make updates to [DX9] that extended the supported feature set.

“All the hardware is still supported, all the games still run, all the features are still there, we’ve just simply extended the feature set and the lifetime of the API,” he said.

[ View ]

Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT with 1GB of Memory Hit the Market

Gainward announced that they have begun manufacturing a new modification of their GeForce 8600 GT based graphics card for computer enthusiasts. It differs from the regular models not only by higher working frequencies, but also by a gigantic amount of onboard graphics memory: 1GB. This graphics card is called Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD and the remarkable thing about it is that no other Nvidia GeForce 8 series graphics solution can boast that much graphics memory, including the top of the family GeForce 8800 Ultra.

Such huge amount of onboard memory seems to have mostly marketing roots: a lot of users care for this particular feature. At the same time, the performance advantage provided by 1GB of video memory over the standard for GeForce 8600 256MB can hardly be critical for those video modes where the use of this GPU is justified. Large amounts of memory for texture storing are usually required in professional applications, but not 3D games.

Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD will come equipped with 1GB of DDR2 memory with 2ns access time working at 1GHz (2GHz) frequency. The chip will run at 600MHz speed. This way both: GPU and memory on this graphics card will be overclocked above their nominal speeds of 540/700MHz. the card will also be equipped with the brand name quiet dual-slot cooling solution.

Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD is expected to start selling next week and will be priced around $250.

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Microsoft: Windows XP Product Keys Running Out

In yet another sign of Windows XP’s refusal to quietly slink away and make way for Windows Vista, Microsoft has announced that it is releasing another version of XP Professional because it’s run out of product keys.On a TechNet Blog, Microsoft stated that XP Pro, service pack 2c (SP2c) exists for no reason except to provide a way to get new copies of the OS. SP2c doesn’t include any new features or functionality.

Microsoft said that SP2c will be released into the system builder channel in September. “Due to the longevity of Windows XP Professional, it has become necessary to produce more product keys for system builders in order to support the continued availability of Windows XP Professional,” states the blog entry. Other versions of XP, including Home, Media Center, Pro in the 64-bit configuration, and Tablet PC still have keys available, and aren’t part of the new release.

In the meantime, XP Pro will be available in multiple sales channels until Jan. 31, 2008, when it reaches its product end-of-lifecycle for everyone but system builders. After another year — Jan. 31, 2009 — it will stop being available altogether.

Its strength, however, has surprised many, including Microsoft, who expected to see more uptake for Vista, at XP’s expense. Dell, for instance, recently started offering XP again on systems in response to customer demand. And Microsoft revised its desktop sales figures for FY 2007, predicting that XP will sell many more copies than anticipated, while Vista sold fewer.

OEMs especially need to heed the somewhat ominous warning Microsoft relayed in its blog posting: “System builders must update their images to Windows XP Professional SP2c. End users will not be able to successfully complete installation of Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2c if they do not have updated images.”

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