Toshiba's New Twist on the Cathode Ray

By any measure, HDTV (High Definition Television) is in its infancy. The primary technologies of Plasma, LCD and DLP, are still evolving, and exciting new developments are already on the horizon. At the last two CES (Consumer Electronic Shows) Toshiba and Canon, in a joint effort, touted a new way to approach the old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube). It is called SED, (Surface conduction Electron emitter Display) and it could revolutionize the High-Def world. In the same manner as the old CRT’s we all knew, electrons are shot at phosphors on the screen, and then emit the proper reds, greens, or blues. The difference with SED is that each pixel has its own dedicated electron emitter and that makes all the difference! This not only saves electrical energy, and increases the performance; it enables a very thin display as well as a large screen. Experts in the flat panel world formed long lines at the last CES in Las Vegas, to compare the Toshiba SED picture quality to other HD models.

SED provides an astounding 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio; most plasma sets can only manage 3000:1! Visitors at the show were treated to a 36-inch model and later this year Toshiba will release a 55-inch model to the public. Each SED TV has over 6 million electron emitters! This venture represents a joint effort between Toshiba and Canon, with Canon the brains behind ability to fabricate the micro-electron emission technology. There is evidence that this type of display could be much less expensive to produce than the current Plasma HDTV’s, yet offer at least the same picture quality. Toshiba is already phasing out their line up of Plasma models, thinking that this may be their main focus in the area of television displays. Toshiba's Vice-President of marketing, Scott Ramirez, said, “SED is going to be the new standard in flat panel; it’s going to change the way you look at flat panel”. SED will apparently make its debut later this year. SED can deliver the current Holy Grail in HDTV, the 1080p standard. 1080p is an abbreviation for the number of colored dots or pixels on High-Def screens: (1920 x 1080). That’s 1920 dots across the screen and 1080 lines of those dots in the vertical dimension. SED is apparently able to handle fast motion on the screen since each tiny electron emitter can respond one thousand times a second. Moreover, the screen delivers the same bright picture quality from virtually any viewing angle. What’s not to like about this new twist on a proven technology? Lower energy bills, a really big screen, fairly thin module, and great brightness and superior contrast. SED is definitely something to anticipate. Initial prices will be high, but they could quickly compete with the Plasma and LCD market. And better yet, this new technology could help drive down the cost of existing Plasma and LCD models.

A leader in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue her dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.

Municipal WiFi Technology A Good Idea Everywhere

Sometimes high technology crops up in unlikely places. This would definitely be the case if Mexico City ends up providing widespread wireless Internet access to its residents. While obviously a long way off, turning Mexico City into an enormous wireless hot spot would obviously have a large number of benefits.

As with most municipal WiFi projects, the idea would be to provide Mexico City with widespread Internet access as a way of allowing for greater intercommunication of government employees. It would also allow the government to monitor things like security cameras more easily. As a spillover effect, municipal WiFi would give businesses and individuals cheap ways to communicate and get information over the Internet. For example, schools would also be included in the plan.

Of course, some critics have been quick to point out that Mexico City doesn't even provide consistent electricity and running water to its population. Some areas go entirely without utilities and even the better neighborhoods have frequent and unexpected power blackouts.

Mexico City has additional problems that have yet to be solved. These include, but are obviously not limited to, rampant air pollution and traffic problems.

Despite the problems that Mexico City has with maintaining basic utilities, providing municipal WiFi is still a good idea. For one thing, wireless technology is easier to install and maintain in many ways than electrical infrastructure. That's because it's wireless by definition. That translates into bring able to supply numerous households and businesses with wireless Internet access without having to run any kind of cable to them. It's also a lot less to trouble shoot when something goes wrong.

Wireless Internet access could also provide a lot more educational and economic opportunities to the residents of Mexico City. After all, if a family can get a computer with wireless capabilities, there free or low cost access to the Internet could provide children with access to some of the best sources of Information in the world. The online educational resources would probably improve literacy just by providing the population with more content to read and more reason to know how to read.

Widespread WiFi access could also alleviate a lot of other ills in Mexico City. For example, it might allow some people to telecommute which would decrease congestion in the city's streets and smog in the air. Considering that Mexico City has a population of almost nine million people even if one percent of them could telecommute rather than driving to work, that would make a large difference.

A municipal WiFi project in Mexico City is also a good idea because it can be seen in an investment that will allow for greater investment. For example, low cost Internet access could allow people to use Voice over Internet Protocol technology in place of normal phone service. This will allow businesses and families alike to save money that can be spent on growth or education, respectively. Widespread wireless Internet access would also make it easier to start online businesses.

There are a lot of reasons that municipal WiFi is a good idea, and those factors apply even more in less developed parts of the world.

A leader in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue his dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.

HP's New Voice Gadget Has Impressive Features But Doesn't Bring It All Together

Voice recognition software and voice synthesis software are both finding their ways into more and more gadgets from navigational systems to cellphone, but sometimes this feature doesn't really work out all that well. That's the case for Hewlett Packard's new HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger. The HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger has high ambitions but doesn't quite meet them in a way that makes it a practical choice for most people. The HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger is basically a smart phone with some pretty impressive features. It has a two inch color LCD screen, a pretty standard keypad for a normal mobile phone, a one point three megapixel digital camera built in, and comes with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.0. The HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger also has a fast and easy to initiate WiFi connection that can allow the built in mobile version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer to explore the Internet with ease.

Most of the HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger's design emphasis was placed on its voice recognition and voice synthesis features, and in many ways that was the source of the device's failing. For example, like many other voice recognition systems, the HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger doesn't to a very good job of recognizing voice commands in places with a lot of background noise and unusual word- especially names- are often misheard by the device. This is pretty much par for the course with most voice recognition systems whether they're part of a portable device, a full blown computer system, or an automated customer service call center. The real failing of the HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger though is the fact that the device relies on voice commands to initiate a lot of functions and doesn't come with an alternative way to initiate those same functions with something like a track ball or scroll wheel. The fact that the unit lacks the controls to make it work without voice commands obviously makes it difficult to use under conditions where the voice commands aren't as effective.

The other problem with this device is that it relies on voice to compose emails. Besides the problems already discussed with using voice in a crowded area with lots of background noise, this is even more frustrating because of the fact that instead of converting voice to text, the messages are simply recorded in WAV format and attached to the body of the email. This would obviously be frustrating for anyone receiving such a email, and the fact that the device doesn't have a good physical or virtual keyboard really doesn't leave much of an alternative. The HP iPAC 510 Voice Messenger also has voice synthesis capabilities which can be used to read emails, but with a very robotic and flat female voice, this will hardly be a pleasant experience.

It's kind of a shame in many ways that this device isn't better thought out. After all, it does have excellent Internet browsing capabilities and even the voice features could come in handy under a lot of circumstances, but the lack of a decent pointing device as a back up for when the voice features don't work, is a serious omission.

A pioneer in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue her dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses his expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming and convoluted information out there let Julia show you the way.

Electronics Industry Invests In Fashion Conscious Gadgets

While gadgets have traditionally been attractive because they do novel or impressive things, many gadgets these days are designed with thought put into how they look. This is true for mobile phones more so than any other type of gadget. For example, the Motorola Razr phone was as much of a fashion statement as it was a useful device. "Was" is the operative word when discussing the Razr because it has recently gone out of style and the number of units of the model sold have plummeted. That's illustrative of one of the dangers of making electronic devices that are designed to satisfy the fickle notions of fashion that many people have. That said though, a lot of companies are doing it anyway. For example, LG electronics which is based out of South Korea has jumped onto the fashionable mobile phone bandwagon. LG- which has been known for producing low cost handsets in the past- has more recently collaborated with Prada to produce a handset that bears the Prada name. The Prada phone was developed with image in mind when it came to everything from the look of the actual phone to the icons that go on the screen to the ring tones and to the hard leather case and lint cloth that comes with it.

The Prada phone also has a fair amount of functionality built into it including the ability to take digital photographs. It also has touch screen features and can be used to surf the Internet. The Prada phone is also a multimedia device that can be used to listen to music, look at digital photos, and watch video.

Another venture into the fashion world of LG can be seen in its newer sliding phones. With these gadgets the screen on the phone slides up to reveal the keypad. In addition to being flashy, these phones have some practical benefits as well. The most obvious benefit of this design is the fact that it allows for a larger screen on a more compact device.

In addition to practical concerns, this device also has a fair amount of flair built into it as well. One model has a polished black casing, buttons that glow red, and a screen that becomes a mirror when it's turned off. There's another model that features a shiny metal casing along with similar features to the one mentioned above.

There are a number of problems associated with making phones that are stylish. One problem is economic in nature. Namely, because fashion trends are so fickle and change so quickly, a company that focuses on making fashionable electronic products could quickly see all of its efforts go the way of the Razr phone if the winds of style blow the wrong way.

The other problem with fashionable electronic devices is that in many ways, achieving a certain look presents engineering problems. For example, polished metal is stylish these days, but metal doesn't allow mobile phones to transmit and receive signals as well as plastic does. Overcoming problems like that can contribute to the cost of the phone and therefore to the loss of time and effort in developing it if it falls out of favor too quickly.

The fact that all of these things are concerns clearly show that gadgets have left the fringes of society.

A pioneer in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue her dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses his expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming and convoluted information out there let Julia show you the way.

Server Monitoring Tools - Are You Overspending On IT Infrastructure?

Many organisations have over spent on hardware without realising it. About a year ago I looked into proper server monitoring tools, and of course being Linux servers I wanted to monitor I found some very capable free open source solutions. First is munin, which runs over a web interface, but has standalone server which means you can monitor Apache, along with mail services and any other services you may need to keep an eye on. It also emails when a service restarts or dies. Using an email server like postfix it is possible to send a text message alert by piping the email content through a Perl script and sending SMS (this does require an online service that has an API for Perl, I have used the o2sms package, which in Ireland covers all the cell networls). Also it is posssible to monitor server via a WAP gateway for munin to allow us to check and restart services and server status when an internet connection is not otherwise available.

Another nice piece of software is monit, which generates reports on just about every aspects a sys admin would need to know about a system, CPU, disk usage, tasks, mail queues and a host of other useful tid-bits along with a full historical graphing for most too...this can easily identify bottlenecks or under usage of server resources. In particular it is useful for monitoring mail queues and mysql queries which can be stress points from time to time.

Plenty of details on setting these up and getting started can be found on howtoforge.net

Diarmuid Ryan is the Managing Director of Blue Star Technologies specialising in web site database-driven applications. Blue Star Web Design

International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) - A Measure of Competence in Computer Skills

International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) is a worldwide qualification which is used as a measure of competence in computer skills. It has become the standard qualification used for non-European countries. ICDL is open to anyone regardless of age, gender, education, experience or background and is designed to help people both at work and at home.

The ECDL Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping to raise the general level of computer skills in society and providing access for all to the Information Society. Over 5 million people in over 140 countries are ICDL candidates and 15 million tests have been administered to date.

In the United States, ICDL is used by schools and academic institutions, corporations, Workforce Investment Boards, and government economic development programs to help prepare individuals for success in a world where proficient use of information and communication technology is critically important.

ICDL has enabled significant organisations across many sectors to drive sustainable revenue growth and enhance differentiation and competitive advantage. ICDL provides evidence to clients of an organisation ability to deliver effectively and helps to reduce IT support costs.

ICDL is a highly effective and innovative model for education and training which helps to motivate staff and complements an organisation’s investment in people. ICDL helps provide proof of competency in the computer skills of potential employees.

The ICDL certification program focuses on a candidate’s knowledge of basic computer skills in seven key areas that are necessary for success in today's digital world: Basic Concepts of IT, File Management, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases, Presentations, Communication and Information. Candidates who pass all seven module tests receive an ICDL Certification card, to be shown to prospective employers as an achievement of fundamental knowledge in all seven computer skill areas.

Testing can only be conducted at an Authorised Test Centre so if you would like to achieve the International Computer Driving Licence certification, all you need to do is look for an Approved ICDL Training Centre or an Approved ICDL Test Centre nearest to you.

Jenny is a freelance journalist and has written numerous articles on ICT qualifications. Visit her site at http://www.icdl-direct.com

Google Adsense Is Essential For Content Sites For 3 Reasons

To know why Google Adsense is essential for your content oriented website is first to know how this works.

The concept is simple if you think about it. The publisher or the webmaster inserts a java script into a certain website. Each time the page is accessed, the java script will pull advertisements from Google's Adsense program. The ads that are targeted should therefore be related to the content contained on the web page serving the ad. If a visitor clicks on an advertisement, the webmaster serving the ad earns a portion of the money that the advertiser is paying the search engine for the click.

The search engine is the one handling all the tracking and payments, providing an easy way for webmasters to display content-sensitive and targeted ads without having the hassle of soliciting advertisers, collecting funds, or monitoring the clicks and statistics, which could be a very time-consuming task in itself. It seems that there is never a shortage of advertisers in the program from which the search engine pulls the Google Adsense ads. In addition, webmasters are less concerned by the lack of information search engines are providing and are more focused in making cash from these search engines.

The first reason why Google Adsense is essential for content oriented websites is that it already has come a long way in understanding the needs of publishers and webmasters. Together with its continuous progression is the appearance of a more advanced system that allows full ad customization. Webmasters are given the opportunity to choose from many different types of text ad formats to better complement their website and fit their webpage layout.

The different formatting enables the website owners the possibility of more click-throughs from visitors who may or may not be aware of what they are clicking on. It can also appeal to the people visiting thus make them take that next step of looking up what it is all about. This way the people behind the Google Adsense will get their content read and make profit in the process.

The second reason is the ability of Google Adsense publishers to track not only how their websites are progressing but also the earnings based on the webmaster-defined channels. Recent improvements in search engines has given webmasters the capability to monitor how their ads are performing using customizable reports that has the capacity to detail page impressions, clicks and click-through rates. Webmasters and publishers can now track specific ad formats, colors and pages within a website. Trends are also easily spotted.

With the real-time reporting at hand, the effectiveness of the changes made will be assessed quickly. There is time to sort out the contents that people are making the most clicks on. The ever-changing demands are met while generating cash for the webmasters and publishers. The more flexible tools also allow webmasters to group a website's pages by URL, domain, ad type or category, which provides them some accurate insight on which pages, ads and domains are performing best.

The last and final reason is that the advertisers have realized the benefits associated with having their ads served on targeted websites. Thus increasing the possibility that a prospective Internet surfer will have an interest in their products and services. All because of the content and its constant maintenance. As opposed to those who are not using Google Adsense in their websites, they are given the option of having other people do their content for them, giving them the benefit of having successful and money-generating websites.

Google Adsense is all about targeted content. The more targeted your content is, the more targeted the search engines’ ads will be. There are some webmasters and publishers who are focused more on their website's content and how best to maintain them rather than the cash that the ads will generate for them. This is the part where the effectiveness is working its best.

There was a time when people were not yet aware of the money to be achieved from advertisements. The cash generated only came into existence when the webmasters and publishers realized how they could make Google Adsense be that generator. In those days, the content was the most important factor that was taken seriously. It still is. With the allure of money, of course.

Larry Schierling is an entrepreneur. Generating high income on the Internet and sharing proven effective techniques with new marketers in a step-by-step manner. Your free bonuses are waiting. To realize your full marketing potential and increase your own income, take action now, go to http://doughvault.com