Now Sony will give Video Walkman!

It is now the time of total war in portable media players market. Yes because now Sony strikes back with its first digital video product: the NW-A800 series Walkman will hit Europe in April. Releases to other markets are expected, but timing is currently unknown. For Europe, there are three models: the NW-A805 (2GB), A806 (4GB), and A808 (8GB). The screen is a 2-inch LCD panel with QVGA resolution (240 pixels by 320 pixels). It has a portrait orientation, although videos can be viewed with the device either held vertically or horizontally. The NW-A805 is listed on Sony's online store for €180 ($237), the NW-A806 for €230 and the NW-A808 for €300.

Audio playback in a number of flavors of Sony's ATRAC compression is possible, and Sony supplies software for converting Windows Media Audio, MP3 and WAV files to ATRAC. It's also possible to directly load MP3 files onto the Walkman, but battery life will be shorter. For video the Walkman plays back MPEG4 H.264/AVC encoded files. According to Sony's figures, playback time on a fully-charged battery for audio is roughly 30 hours for ATRAC files encoded at 132Kbps while for video its seven hours for MPEG4 files encoded at 768Kbps. The 53-gram Walkman measures 44 millimeters wide by 88mm high and is 9mm thick.

All these big companies are launching portable players.Now its better for the customers/users. They will get more options in market and also in various price range. Also, with this big companies, some local or Desi companies make players in very low price range. And tell you, most people are using local players because they want same features in low price. But where Quality matters, people go for these higher range players. Anyways, choose your price and features for it!

Source: InfoWorld

Sun releases Java Enterprise System 5.0

This news is mostly interesting for Java developers. As i am a Java Developer i am glad to tell all the Java Community that Sun Microsystems has released a new version of its Java Enterprise System (Java ES) set of subscription-based enterprise middleware with the emphasis on making the offering more modular. The vendor unveiled Java ES 5.0 Thursday, the first major release of the bundle since October 2005. The offering brings Sun's infrastructure software, support and training together into a single product and is aimed at companies looking to purchase the vendor's middleware at a gradual, predictable rate. Java ES is also available in the form of individual software suites known collectively as Java System Suites.

In 2003, the vendor introduced what became Java ES as Project Orion as a way for customers to buy an integrated middleware stack made available on a regular quarterly release cycle. Users can begin by buying the Java ES 5.0 Base for $100 per employee per year, which includes Sun's application, portal, and Web servers, and then choose to add on subscriptions for Sun's Java System Identity Manager or its Java Composite Application Platform Suite (Java CAPS). Adding in identity management brings the annual cost per user to $140, which then increases to $200 when Java CAPS is also included.

Source: InfoWorld

Antivirus - is it really needed? If yes then which?

Is it really needed?or we just install it because others use them? No, it is true that AV is required but you must choose it according to you system. Say i have no Internet connection and only uses my PC for programming,Audio,Video and games then i can install any good AV which takes less memory and having periodic updates about say 20 to 30 days. I means its enough for it.But if i heavily use Internet and download lots of stuff then i should install it with web and mail and other security filters also. Also you should install spy ware removal tools.

Finally i just got a good anti virus software.I was stuck with Norton Anti virus,because it needs subscriptions(i mean its paid which i don't want to do for my home usage) and above all,Norton takes lot more memory.So whatever your memory or processor is,it will slow it down.I am not saying this because i hate Norton.it is a good piece of software but for those who are having good hardware with lot of memory.so i was very confused.

so when yesterday, when i got my new broadband connection, i have downloaded Avast!Home Edition.It seems to be fine.I have searched for free anti viruses and found,

1.AVG Home Edition (Grisoft.com)
2.Avast!Home edition
3.Anti virus Personal Edition (i forgot the name, may be wrong)
4.Kasperkey
5.BitDeffender Free version
6.Claim-win

and some others also but i didn't remember it.

Now i have to choose one of them.I have used AVG Anti virus before, so i tried for others and found Avast! better then others.So i installed it and its working fine, without any memory issues or slowing down my PC!so it is your choice that what your PC needs?You also can install some spyware removal program.some good spy ware removals are,

1.Spy ware Blaster
2.Lavasoft Adaware free edition

and many more... i can list all of them here,but it doesn't mean.You can get list on Google.So main thing is what you feel great for your pc,you can use that thing.i have use both spy ware removal tools.but i think spy ware Blaster is best.

so go ahead and choose your choice!

regards,
Parth Barot.

Low-cost, home-built 3-D printer

The Altair 8800, introduced in the early 1970s, was the first computer you could build at home from a kit. It was crude, didn't do much, but many historians would say that it launched the desktop computer revolution.

Hod Lipson, Cornell assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, thinks a little machine he calls a Fab@Home may have the same impact.

Some day, Lipson believes, every home will have a "fabber," a machine that replicates objects from plans supplied by a computer. Such devices could change how we acquire common products, he suggests: Instead of buying an iPod, you would download the plans over the Internet and the fabber would make one for you.

Such machines could evolve from the 3-D printers currently used by industrial engineers for "rapid prototyping." They design parts in computer-aided design programs and feed the designs to 3-D printers to make working plastic models. A 3-D printer has a small nozzle that scans back and forth across a surface, depositing tiny droplets of quick-hardening plastic. After each scan, the nozzle moves up a notch and scans again until it has built up the complete object, layer by layer. With multiple nozzles or a means of swapping supply cartridges, the machine can create objects made of many different materials. An electronic circuit, for example, can be made by combining an organic semiconductor, metallic inks and ceramic insulators.

Price tags for these machines average around $100,000, but you can build your own Fab@Home for about $2,300 worth of off-the-shelf parts. The prototype, designed by Evan Malone, a Ph.D. candidate in Lipson's Computational Synthesis Laboratory, is slower than the commercial models, and its resolution, or ability or produce fine detail, is lower, but people are finding practical -- and often unexpected -- uses for it.

Commercial machines can't be modified, which, Lipson says, impedes the progress of the technology, but the Fab@Home is "open source." Anyone can download the plans at http://www.fabathome.org, which is getting about 20,000 hits a day. The site also includes construction hints, ideas for applications, notes on the history of 3-D printing and discussion groups. People are invited and encouraged to make improvements, and a sort of cult is slowly forming.

So far, Lipson says, about a dozen people have said they are building one, and he knows of three that are actually up and running -- two at the University of Washington and one in Innsbruck, Austria. Lipson's group has built several and lent a couple to other researchers.

Source HomePage

CSS(Content Scrambling System) Protected DVDs

According to reports, the DVD Forum has announced its support for the Content Scrambling System (CSS) protected content on DVDs during the 36th Steering Committee meeting in Tokyo.

To be more precise, the DVD Forum has approved the technology that allows users to burn and download copy-protected content from both DVDs as well as CSS-protected downloads to a special type of DVD for use in set-top DVD players. And this technology will require DVDs that will be a little different from those typically used these days.

It is, meanwhile learnt that this technology was proposed by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA), which is responsible for licensing the CSS copy-protection system used on most commercial DVDs.

The DVD CCA claims that these special DVDs will be compatible with a majority of DVD players available in the market today. The association further pointed out that the technology would be initially available only for professional use, which includes kiosks in retail stores where consumers will be able to buy fully CSS-complaint DVDs instead of a vague format that is not even compatible with most normal DVD players.

The DVD CCA added that if such professional applications turned out to be successful, then further services that allow consumers to download and burn from the comfort of their homes, would follow suit.

Meanwhile, the DVD Forum is also considering a special logo for CSS-capable devices.

Source

Build a live Fedora CD using Kadischi

Kadischi was created in 2005 by Darko Ilic specifically for creating Fedora based Live CDs. Although it is still in active early development, it is still quite usable. What this means to the average user, is that there currently are not any RPMs for Kadischi; it is only downloadable from CVS.

Basic setup

This tutorial assumes that Fedora Core 6 is already installed on a system with a graphical interface. There needs to be a software repository of between 3 GB and 5 GB as well as a build directory of approximately 2 GB ( or 8 GB for a DVD build).


Install necessary utilities as root or using sudo


[root@buildhost ~]$ yum install fedora busybox-anaconda syslinux
mkisofs squashfs-tools zisofs-tools e2fsprogs createrepo yum-utils
gnome-python2-extras cvs

Be sure you have the space available for the build directory (/LiveFC6 in this case)

[root@buildhost ~]$ df -h /
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 48G 9.0G 36G 21% /

In this case, there is plenty of room (36 GB) to place our build directory under “/”.
Create and populate your repo from the ISO images for Fedora Core 6. In this example the DVD ISO was used to save time by not having to continually mount and unmount the CD ISOs.

[root@buildhost ~]$ mkdir /LiveFC6
[root@buildhost ~]$ cp -av /media/FC6/Fedora/ /LiveFC6
[root@buildhost ~]$ cp -av /media/FC6/repodata /LiveFC6

Checkout Kadischi from cvs

[root@buildhost ~] $ cd /LiveFC6
[root@buildhost ~] $ export CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs.fedora.redhat.com:/cvs/devel
[root@buildhost ~]$ cvs -z3 login
[root@buildhost ~]$ cvs -z3 co kadischi

Note: The “export” line above should be all on one line, not broken up.
Build and install Kadischi

[root@buildhost ~] $ cd /LiveFC6/kadischi
[root@buildhost ~] $ ./autogen.sh
[root@buildhost ~] $ make
[root@buildhost ~] $ make install

Configure Kadischi to use your preferred Live CD bootloader (GRUB and isolinux are the choices)

[root@buildhost ~] $ vi /etc/kadischi/kadischi.conf
~snip~
BOOTLOADER=isolinux

Build the live CD

The build process follows similar steps in building a system from CD. It uses anaconda to detect hardware, and the same dialogs are used to make selections like packages and localization.

See the Full Article Here

Why Compress/Convert Videos to MPEG4?

Now a days mp4 is very popular.On every site you will get links related to tolls,videos,tutorials for mpeg4 compression.

why people use it?why it is so popular? I think everybody knows the answer.But let me write it here.

Todays many DVD/CD hardware players (almost all) supports mp4 (divx,xvid) video formats.That means you can convert your 4.7GB (or dual layer also) to 1CD AVI(may be xvid or divx) file.That saves a lot space and also lessens a wreck of CD/DVDs.So now you can put minimum 6 avi video files in one 4.7GB DVD. So just think about it. its easy to maintain because now you have more data in less space.isn't its great? But it sucks also!

why it sucks? because it takes a hell lot of time on a old slower pc to convert a whole DVD to 1CD rip.Because,

1st You need to rip CD to PC.
2nd You need to compress it with some tool.

Now 1st step is easier but in 2nd step...oh god..it really sucks if you do it on your own PC. I have Pentium 3 1GHX with 256 MB RAM. I have compressed 2 movies and ya FYI, i have done it from 2CDs to 1CD.And it has taken more than hour for 1CD,means 2.5 hours minimum for 2CDs.

If you have latest PC, then you can do it in less time.The whole DVD in a small size.And ya, the quality will be nearer to the same uncompressed files on DVD.I mean in mpeg4,it will do the things in such a manner that a human eye can not see (or can not find) the changes in original and compressed version.Its a change of bits.

Say you have taken VBR(Varialbe bitrate) and suppose a scene in a movie in which there is no or less motion then it will set frame's bitrate to very low and for the motional scenes set the bitrate nearer to highest. So final output video have a good average bitrate.Same thing happens in Audio compression also.

The ideal choice to view is MP4 but i suggest not doing it yourself.Just fins on Internet.Today you will get lot of full videos in mp4 in torrents and p2p downlaods.But ya, takae care that it is legal,otherwise you can be in trouble.Afterall, it is your choice that what you want. If you can't find then buy a DVD in bulk (borrow money or together with friends) and then share them, then you don't need mp4,but if you want to store(backup) movies in DVDs or Hard Disks then MP4 is better.And you can also see it on TV with you latest DVD/CD player which supports MP4.Put one DVD and enjoy 6 movies in one go!

Tools which are very useful for video conversion/compression,

1.Virtualdub
2.AutoGK (Auto GordianKnot)
3.SUPER
4.K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (having almost all the codes for video and audio)
5.DVDShrink (backups DVDs in small sizes)

And many more tools...just visit www.doom9.org and www.videohelp.com

Please review this article,submit your comments on Video/Audio Compression/Conversion or mail me.

regards,
Parth Barot.