COMPUTER SPECS - 10 years ago many technological advances had been made including computer specifications. Alot has been changed in the past few years which could be memory size like how small the ipod is now a days compared to a computer and how much memory it holds. Also there is the factor of speed which has dramatically increased at least 2x along with the memory capacity every year according to moore’s law.

COMPUTER SPECS 2000
Minimum Requirements
Computer/Processor 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU
Memory 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum; more memory generally improves responsiveness
Hard Disk 2GB hard disk with a minimum of 650MB of free space
CPU Support Windows 2000 Professional supports single and dual CPU systems

COMPUTER SPECS 2009 –
Dual-core Intel processor (Core 2 Duo or greater preferred) (desktop)
Intel Centrino or greater w/ 802.11g wireless connectivity (dual-core or greater preferred) (notebook)
2 GBs RAM (both notebook and desktop, recommend room to expand in desktop)
128 MB graphics card, dedicated RAM (256 MB or greater preferred)
80 GB SATA Hard drive
DVD -/+ RW drive (data backup and transfer)
19” color monitor – desktop / 14″ display for notebooks
Keyboard and mouse
10/100 network card (3Com or Intel recommended)
Windows Vista Capable

CELL PHONES – In the year 2000 you would never beleive the things that were created today such as touch screen cell phones and who would have ever thought of text messaging or video games on your cell phone! There are much better advances in the cell phone industry like the graphics on each and every cell phone.

<img alt="" src="http://z.about.com/d/cellphones/1/0/Z/8/motorola_talkabout_t8160.jpg" class="aligncenter" width="139"
the year 2000

VIDEO GAMES – Alike the cell phone video games have dramatically changed when it comes to graphics and gameplay because the creators of the video games had focused more on the players and less on other things. The reason for them to do this is obviously to attract more people to purchase their product but also to please the people that play it therefore making them want more.

DIGITAL CAMERA’S - Camera’s have different advances some slower then others. In January 2000 the company casio beat canon to the 3.34 megapixel mark while in the year 2010 there are some camera’s that are around a whopping 27 megapixels showing alot of improvement in the past 10 years. The developing of photos and adaption of certain camera’s to other computers has a big affect on the people that buy certain types of cameras as well.

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Moore’s law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware, in which the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years. The capabilities of many digital electronic devices are strongly linked to Moore’s law: processing speed, memory capacity, sensors and even the number and size of pixels in digital cameras. All of these are improving at (roughly) exponential rates as well.This has dramatically increased the usefulness of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy. Moore’s law precisely describes a driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The trend has continued for more than half a century and is not expected to stop until 2015 or later.The law is named after Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, who introduced the concept in a 1965 paper. It has since been used in the semiconductor industry to guide long term planning and to set targets for research and development.

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=5826

MW2 SELLS 7 MILLION COPIES IN DAY ONE

This article interests me in many ways. I myself had bought a copy of modern warfare 2 not thinking anything about the sales. The way they advertised for modern warfare 2 was great. The reason I am writing about this because of how people and companies etc come up with new advertising ideas and plots everyday. Giving someone a bite of a slice of pizza and then taking it away is basically what infinity ward did with call of duty modern warfare 2.

In a way I think that Trey Arch and call of duty WAW helped with the release of modern warfare 2. This is because of the fact that  many people including myself were disappointed with the gameplay of WAW. So many call of duty players had gone back to call of duty 4 because of their dislike to the game. As time went on people had gotten tired of the call of duty online gameplay including myself which kept people wanting for more and that is where modern warfare 2 came into action. In conclusion there is many ways people use to advertise for modern warfare 2 now a days and this is one of them.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/18/iphone_approved_in_south_korea_china_mobile_talks_continue.html

IPHONE TO BE RELEASED IN KOREA

This article stood out to me because of the following reasons. 1) The fact that Korea, China, and Japan are more technologically advanced then the world in a way and them having a later release date for the iPhone then other countries and 2) The control the Korea communications committee has over Korea.

In the beginning of the article it shows how the communications committee had to approve the iPhone before it was released in Korea. This somewhat shows a type of dictatorship in my book because of the fact that they are taking away peoples rights to buy certain objects which can be bad because we have rights to do certain things. Also the idea that Most asian countries like mentioned in the first paragraph are honestly the most technological advanced in the world. The iPhone being released late in South Korea as the title just shocked me and that is why i had to write about this article, it jumped out at me.

MPEG-1

H.264 Overview H.264 is also known as MEPG-4 AVC. H.264 uses the latest innovations in video compression technology to provide consistently crisp and clear video for the best possible viewing.

Pros H.264 delivers incredible video quality at data rates one-fourth to one-half the size of previous video formats H.264 offers dramatically lower bit rates and better picture quality than MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or H.263+ It is 2X times more efficient than MPEG-4. and file size is 3X times smaller than comparable MPEG-2 Codecs It is easy to integrate and covers wide range of picture format. Hence used in large application segment.

Cons H.264 requires longer encoding time It is certainly not constricted and low-bandwidth friendly More Hardware overhead is also one of the limiting factor Licensing agreements are complicated.

Overview MPEG-1 provides excellent image quality at CD-ROM data rates. One of the most popular uses of MPEG-1 is the VCD, or “white book” video CD. MPEG includes both audio and video compression. The biggest problem with MPEG is that it has high requirements for playback. Either a dedicated MPEG decoder card must be installed, or a high-end CPU is required for software-only playback. Because of this limitation, MPEG-1 has not gained wide acceptance in consumer titles.

Pros Excellent image quality

Cons Very high playback requirements Majority of installed base not capable of viewing MPEG Licensing fees (typically US $0.04 – $0.40 per unit) are required to distribute MPEG-2 video. There may also be fees for MPEG-1; there is some uncertainty regarding this. Not well-suited to WWW video (the upcoming MPEG-4 standard will address this)

MPEG-2 Overview MPEG-2 is a standard for broadcast-quality digitally encoded video. It offers outstanding image quality and resolution. MPEG-2 is the primary video standard for DVD-Video

Pros Excellent image quality

Cons Very few people are currently capable of viewing MPEG-2 Licensing fees (typically US $0.04 – $0.40 per unit) are required to distribute MPEG-2 video.

Adobe Flash Player Pros Browser Penetration: The Flash player is installed on a higher percentage of end user computers than any other video format. Although not all end users have the latest version installed (so they may not support the latest Flash video codec), Flash still enjoys the best overall support. If you want this level of compatibility without Flash, you will need to make at least two versions of your video available (Windows Media, Quicktime and/or Real Media). Consistency & Compatibility: Flash files look the same and work equally well on PCs, Macs, Linux, etc. Flash files are completely consistent, so once you test and implement your Flash video, you can be confident that it will function the same way for all end users (apart from obvious variables such as connection speed). It’s hard to overstate the importance of this for web designers. Advanced Features: Flash provides unparalleled options when it comes to interactive content and other advanced features. Even Quicktime pales in comparison.

Cons Less Maturity: Flash video does not have the same depth of history as the other major formats and it has experienced some “growing pains” in the last few years. Between versions 5 and 8, Flash video went through two major changes which required a lot of upgrade work for producers. We do feel that Flash has now settled down and there should not be any more big changes on the horizon, but Adobe/Macromedia has yet to prove that the format can go for years at a time without requiring producers to play catch-up. Initial Difficulty: Although it’s possible to publish your first Flash video in less than an hour with no previous experience, you can do the same with other formats even faster. For example, you can embed a Windows Media file in a few minutes by copying and pasting some HTML. Even the simplest Flash installation is a little more complex. If your only concern is to get video up and running immediately, and you already have your clips ready in another common format, then you might want to stick with your existing format. Working with FLV Files: FLV is the Flash video file format. There’s nothing wrong with the format itself but because it’s not a common distribution format like Windows Media or Quicktime, you may find that you often have to convert files from other formats to FLV. This takes time and any extra conversions between compressed formats will reduce quality. Another minor annoyance is that FLV files aren’t as easy to preview. If you double-click a Flash FLV file on your local hard drive, there’s a good chance that your operating system won’t know what to do with it until you assign a player application.

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Stealth bomber photographed breaking sound barrier

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5315480/Stealth-bomber-photographed-breaking-sound-barrier.html

Red Laser: The First Accurate iPhone Barcode Scanner

http://www.ismashphone.com/2009/05/red-laser-the-first-accurate-iphone-barcode-scanner-hits-the-app-store.html

26 Creative Chairs Made from Recycled Materials view!

http://www.home-designing.com/2009/03/recycled-chairs

Hands on: Canonical aims for the cloud with new Ubuntu

OneOne/arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/hands-on-canonical-aims-for-the-cloud-with-new-ubuntu-one.ars

Brain scans being tested by EU to catch terrorists

http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/eu-tests-brain-scanning-to-catch-terrorists-597786

2 of the articles i found interesting were the red laser one and the brain scans to cacth terrorists.

Red Laser Iphone scanner

Beyond the fact that it’s the first accurate iPhone barcode scanner for UPC and EAN, probably the most noteworthy thing about RedLaser is that the developers are not keeping the technology locked in their own products.  Instead, they’ve made an SDK available so others can integrate it in their apps too. The RedLaser application allows you to use Google product search to find online prices, and allows you to keep a list of all your scanned items

 

Brain scans being tested by EU to catch terrorists

The EU has been testing new ways to catch terrorists, and a method of brain scanning could be the way to weed them out.Developed via the Humabio (Human Monitoring and Authentication using Biodynamic Indicators and Behaviourial Analysis) projects based in Greece, the scans would search for distinctive brain patterns as people pass through checks.

SketchUp is a 3D modeling program designed for architects, civil engineers, filmmakers, game developers, and related professions. It also includes features to facilitate the placement of models in Google Earth. It was designed to be easier to use than other 3D CAD programs. A feature of SketchUp is the 3D Warehouse that lets SketchUp users search for models made by others and contribute models.
This can be used for rough drafts of future models. It can also be used for designing or redesigning a building or structure. Lots of playgrounds, kitchen scenes, inside of buildings, etc… are first designed and made in Google SketchUp.

Also google sketchup could be very useful for things such as redecorating ur house or say if you would want to build your own house , you could use this program to plot this all out and then get down to the building part of the house.

 

MS Windows XP -  Hardware support is one of the advantages of windows xp, along with games , security, wireless networking was also a big part in the Windows XP empire. You would not have to fiddle around with those pesky acess codes. Software availability like office and all of their products. Availability of community help , price on computer, plug and play which means it is easy to set up and guarenteed availablilty which means that you can almost guarentee there will be one of these on the shelf . It could do either 32 bit or 16 bit. Windows XP can hold up to 3.24Gb of RAM. It can read and write fat 32 files.

Windows Vista – is windows xp with a fresh new look and some new security stuff. Some advantages of windows vista is the improved graphical user interface and being able to search the net without the worry of needing to check up on internet security. Knowing the time across the world, being able to edit photos and stuff and also it has a total diffrent experience. 32 bit can hold up to 4 gb of ram and 64 bit can hold up to 8 gb of ram. A file system that windows vista can hold is the Windows NT file system.  Windows vista also has a search option on the start menu.

Ubuntu Linux – One advantages is that it is “eye candy”  it is an easy to install aplication, secure , easy to change options, Free, Simple networking, Mozilla firefox , it’s fast, and it updates every six months. The max amount of ram it can hold is 1.7 GB. It can support ZFS file systems. Also uses FAT file systems. It is also free.

 

BeOS

BeOS was an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing modular I/O bandwidth, pervasive multithreading, preemptive multitasking and a custom 64-bit journaling file system known as BFS. The BeOS GUI was developed on the principles of clarity and a clean, uncluttered design. The API was written in C++ for ease of programming. It has POSIX compatibility and access to a command line interface through Bash, although internally it is not a Unix-derived operating system.

BeOS was positioned as a platform which could be used by a substantial population of desktop users and a competitor to Microsoft Windows and Linux. However, it was ultimately unable to achieve a significant market share and proved commercially unviable for Be Inc. The company was acquired by Palm Inc. and today BeOS is mainly used and developed by a small population of enthusiasts.

Be Inc. sued Microsoft claiming that Hitachi had been pressured to dissuade them from selling PCs loaded with BeOS, and that Compaq had been pressured not to market an Internet appliance in partnership with Be. BeOS also claimed that Microsoft acted to artificially depress Be Inc’s IPO. The case was eventually settled out of court with no admission of liability on Microsoft’s part.

MAC OS X (latest version)

 

Mac OS X  is a line of computer operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., and since 2002 has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems. Mac OS X is the successor to the original or “classic” Mac OS, which had been Apple’s primary operating system since 1984. Unlike its predecessors, Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system, built on technologies developed at NeXT between the second half of the 1980s and Apple’s purchase of the company in early 1996. Version 10.5, while running on Intel processors, is certified UNIX 03.

 

Google Latitude- Something you can put on your mobile device so you know where that mobile device is at all times. Basically like a tracker of some sort which you can tell where it is at anytime. You can also not only see where the mobile device is but you can also see where your friends and family are if they have this application on their mobile device.

Privacy Concerns- Something that could be a sort of concern would be that people could possibly follow your every move in a sense because all they would have to do would be google latitude you and they know where you are at all times because of this application.

Facebook privacy concerns- A concern with this facebook site would be that anything that you put out there most people can see just like say if you were to put things on a website people could see it and therefore any comments you make and pictures you post could be acessible to everyone.

Pictures- If you are on a social site where you post pictures of yourself and others it is very easy for people to save the picture and use it on any website and which is then acessible to the public and anyone who visits this site.

Employee’s- No i do not think it is a good idea for people who need employment to use the internet because it could be a type of fraud. If you were to plug all of your personal information in on the internet they could possibly steal your identity and your going to be mad!

When any website is typed into the address bar, it is sent into the Domain Name Server. Or the DNS.The DNS takes a look at the address name and matches it to an IP. Computers see addresses and IPs. For example, http://holycross.bc.ca is matched to 23.45.239.70. Or Sfu.ca’s ip address is 142.58.190.134. The Tracert is the path that is taken to the destination IP address or website. It is the command given that takes a browser to the site and changes with different companies. whenever you type in a certain address it brings u through a series of diffrent sites before getting to your destination.

 

The touch screen computer came out in 2008 and it impacted the electronic world because it made the computer easier to use depending on what you used it for. http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/19/touch-screen-computer-from-hp-but-look-for-apple-to-gain-massiv/ -> is a link to an article outlining the touch screen computer from Hp.It certainly was very late entering the cellular market but did it spectacularly with a game changer. Portable music devices were around for years and the iPod was the ultimate game changer. In fact, the continued iPod dominance with this mature of a product is simply shocking. I could give more examples but the point is made.

Another peice of electronic equipment i thought impacted the electronic world substantially would be the iPhone because like all of the iPod products from apple it was a big hit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone -> is the link outlining the iPhone from apple.The iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007. Apple closed its stores at 2:00 pm local time to prepare for the 6:00 pm iPhone launch, while hundreds of customers lined up at stores nationwide.^[1] On launch weekend, Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first thirty hours.^[15] The original iPhone was subsequently made available in five other countries: Republic of Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, and Austria

A new product coming out in 2009 that i think will revolutionize the electronic market in general will be touch screen televisions.