Confused about Wireless?
With so many wireless devices and systems available, how can a computer user decide which could be of benefit and how can it be used? It is probably easiest to understand what each can offer by grouping them by the range or distance over which each operates.
- The shortest range device is the wireless mouse with a range of about 1 metre. It operates
by communicating with a special USB adapter. Being wireless, the mouse requires a
battery, either a replaceable type or rechargeable. It is simple to operate, install and use.
- At the next level are Bluetooth devices (strange name), which have a range of about 5
metres. Bluetooth devices are often used for microphone/ear pieces or microphone/speaker
units linked to mobile phones. These provide hands free operation and are legal for use in
vehicles. Other devices such as Global Positioning System devices, cameras and printers
can use Bluetooth for transmission to computers. Recent notebooks are often Bluetooth
enabled.
- The next level of range is the WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). These systems have a
range of about 50 to 100 metres. Often used for communication between an ADSL
broadband phone termination point and one or more computers (most notebooks now come
with wireless facility). Often called ADSL Wireless, it is not Wireless Broadband . Either a
Wireless Router or Access Point is required to provide the WLAN distribution point. These
can be combined with an ADSL modem either as separate or combined units. A single
combined wireless ADSL/Modem/Router is the best solution for ease of use and setup.
An important fact about WLANs is the need for security to avoid intrusion by anyone within
range. A WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Wireless
Encryption Protocol) or WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) code should be implemented to keep a
WLAN secure.
- Wireless telephones also use somewhat similar technology and have similar ranges.
- Wi-Fi Access Points using WLAN to access the Internet are often provided by cafes, airport
lounges and similar meeting places as a service to customers. Some are free, some charge
by time. These are generally open systems. Anyone within range can access them, hence
the inclusion of wireless devices in current notebooks.
- The final type is Broadband Wireless. This is provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and is accessed by a small wireless modem which plugs into a USB, PCMCIA, or Express Card port. It has a range of several kilometres, from the nearest ISP access tower (similar to a mobile phone).
An important point to note is that the first 5 types all function on the same wireless band used by other domestic devices such as microwave ovens, some remote controls etc. While not often a problem, there can be interference between these devices. Also wireless devices are somewhat slower and less reliable than hard wired components.
Once again we are indebted to Lynton Bradford from ARV Residents Computer Club for sharing his valuable technical information which was written for the ARV Bits & Bytes Newsletter in June.
Music, music, music
John Fragiadakis (or 'Dr Frag' as we call him) is Samsung's Technical Marketing guru and it's his job to demystify Samsung's technology and explain it in everyday language for all people to understand.
What is MP3?
MP3 is short for MPEG-3 which is a digital audio format and allows for a greater number of songs to be stored in a given space. It does this by removing the frequencies from music that the human ear cannot detect and then squashing the file size. A typical audio-encoded CD (700MB capacity) can store up to 80 minutes of music, the same CD with MP3's would have around 10 hours of music.
How to make an MP3?
You can make audio music into an MP3 by using a 'ripping' software program (such as Audiograbber or Windows Media Player 10 and above)*. Simply insert the audio CD into the CD/DVD drive on a computer, select the music tracks that you want to convert and rip them. The quality of the sound is affected by what 'bitrate' you use to rip the MP3, the higher the bitrate, the better the sound but the MP3 file size is also larger. The typical bitrate to encode an MP3 is 128Kbps. There are also other formats that can be played on a Samsung MP3 player such as Windows Media Audio (WMA), OGG format and AAC (Apple iTunes format ? on the S5 model only). * Samsung does not endorse music piracy or breaches of copyright.
Internet Explorer 8 is coming.
IE8 has passed the "Acid2 Browser Test" from the Web Standards Project, which shows whether a browser renders a Web site in a certain way. If the browser renders the site correctly, it means the browser supports certain accepted Web standards.
Microsoft posted a video about the browser passing the test on its Channel 9 Web site.
Microsoft developed IE before some Web standards, such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and RSS, were developed, and so older versions don't support some current standards. Developers would write applications to work with IE rather than to support Web standards because the browser was the de facto standard for surfing the Internet for so many years. Microsoft also was lax in updating IE to meet the demands of Web standards because there was little competition in the browser market for years.
With the release and subsequent popularity of open-source browser Mozilla Firefox three years ago, a browser's need to stay current with Web standards once again moved to the forefront. When Microsoft developed IE7, released in October 2006, the company had good intentions and decided to improve support of Web standards with the new release.
However, Web sites that were created for older versions of IE didn't work properly on IE7. Microsoft hopes to remedy this problem so the situation is not repeated with IE8, according to an IE Blog posting attributed to Dean Hachamovitch, a Microsoft general manager on the IE team.
Source: Infoworld
