New Technology Gadgets Trends

New Technology: Gadgets & Trends David Bott Manager, IT & Networks St. Catharines Public Library Gadgets Digital Content •MP3, MP4, WMA, WMV, AAC, FLV, OGG, DivX •What is it & where do I get it? Web 2.0 – The Interactive Web    Blogs, Wikis & RSS Podcasting Social Networks – – – www.facebook.com www.myspace.com www.secondlife.com Picasa Google Earth  Cool Applications – – Operating Systems & Security Gadgets: Memory  Memory Storage – Floppy disks are slow, low-capacity (1.44 MB) and unreliable Faster, higher capacity & more reliable Replacing floppy disks and CD-R / DVD-R U3 and PortableApps.com Applications run right from the drive Require storage for content     USB Thumb Drives – –  New generation of USB drives – –  Cameras, MP3 Players, Phones – Compact Flash SD Cards MMC USB Thumb Drive with U3  Stores data & applications – – – – Office applications & documents E-mail, browser & bookmarks Passwords, anti-virus Free & commercial applications Proprietary software preinstalled on certain models Free alternative that you can install on any USB drive  U3 –  PortableApps.com – Digital Cameras       Point-and-shoot Digital SLR Get that perfect shot – Instantly preview every shot Edit & print your own digital pictures Make digital movies Post pictures online – – – – Flickr.com MyPhotoAlbum.com Facebook.com Weblogs (aka “blog”) MP3 Players   iPod, Zune, Zen, Yepp Purchase & download music from online music stores – – iTunes, AOL Radio, Puretracks.com Rip from your own CDs Podcasts, vidcasts  Download free content – Digital Video Recorders & Players   Not your father‟s VCR – – – Pause & rewind “live” TV TiVo*, AppleTV ExpressVu PVR Cogeco DVR Sony, Panasonic, Phillips MythTV, Windows MCE iPod, Archos Cell phones Sony PSP Appliances: – –  PC-Based: – –  Portable – – – GPS Devices  Global Positioning System – – System of 24 GPS satellites Device uses Trilateration Factory-installed devices for cars After-market installations Portable Units Laptops, Palm Pilots & iPAQs  Various Implementations – – –  Software & USB GPS Receiver – PDA – Personal Digital Assistant      PocketPC, Palm Pilot & even Linux E-mail & Internet Address Book Calendar Task List Applications – – Word processing Spreadsheets Audio & Video  Media –  Digital Camera Fun & Games  For the serious gamers: – – Sony PSP Nintendo DS Built-in web-browsers Wireless Media Player for movies and music  Some devices have: – – – Cell Phones - Convergence   One device to do it all! Krzr, Blackberry, iPhone – – – – – – – – Phone Audio & Voice Recording Video & Pictures Internet E-mail PDA Camera Games Wireless Technology  802.11 a/b/g/n – – – Computers, PDAs WLAN - 30m up to 100m 11 Mbps, 54 Mbps, 108 Mbps+ Keyboards, mice, headsets, cell phones PAN - 10m Cell phones PC Cards (for laptops) Must be in digital coverage area for enhanced services  Bluetooth – –  CDMA & GSM – – – Digital Content   How do I get it? Subscribe (RSS - Push) – – Requires RSS Reader RSS Owl, Sage     iTunes (Download – Pull) Direct from website (twit.tv) Some content is free Some is paid Web 2.0 – The Next Generation  Interactive Websites – – Slashdot.org Digg.com MySpace.com Facebook.com SecondLife.com YouTube.com  Social Networking – – –   User-Created Content – Dynamic & Customizable Content – iGoogle.com  Mash-ups Mash-ups?  Many developers publish their API: – – Google Maps, Amazon Can provide maps for real estate listings, restaurants, etc.  Combining content from different sites or services into a new site: – – maps.google.com MTO camera feed Up-to-date traffic information with pictures http://toronto.ibegin.com/traffic/  Mash „em up – Putting Mash-ups to Good Use Putting Mash-ups to Better Use Blogs, Wikis & Podcasting  Blogs – – “Web logs”, online journals Amateurs to professionals (Anderson Cooper, Rick Mercer) Websites that allow visitors to add, edit and delete content Great for collaborative authoring Wikipedia.org User generated audio or video content Resides at a unique web feed address Users can subscribe to content  Wikis – – –  Podcasting – – – Cool Applications  Google Earth – – Hi-res sat images Layers of data       Roads Parks Restaurants Landmarks Terrain Etc.   Picasa – – Organize photos Floating Desktop Icons      Widgets Weather News Stocks Clocks Photos Operating Systems  Microsoft is Dominant on the Desktop – – Security has always been an issue Viruses, Worms & Spyware  Apple has a small niche market – Very secure And it‟s free!* Free as in beer and free as in speech Dell has recently started offering Ubuntu on their systems  Linux is another alternative – – – Windows XP    Dominant desktop OS at present Most hardware and software support Security** is an issue – – Most users run as “admin” Can be made secure Mac OSX  Innovative Graphics & Features – – – – Aqua & Quartz The Dock Widgets Exposé LUA Few viruses Built on BSD  Better Security** – – –  Inter-operable with Windows Windows Vista  “Eye Candy” – – Aero Glass Sidebar and Gadgets   Improved Security (LUA)** Hardware and Software Compatibility Issues Linux     Free* & Opensource Thousands of free applications Secure** – Few viruses Many different distributions KDE, Gnome, XFCE, Fluxbox Choice – –   Inter-operable with Windows “Live” CDs Important Notes  Free*: There‟s nothing preventing anyone from charging money for the software. Some do, as they may provide support or regular upgrades. Free-libre open-source software (FLOSS) permits the end-user to modify, upgrade or build-upon existing software, as long as they return the modified code to the community Important Notes Security**:  No computer is really secure  Any time your computer is connected to a network, you are vulnerable  Security vulnerabilities occur in: – – – Operating Systems Applications Programming Languages  Users can be tricked into phishing scams or unknowingly install malware. Security - What You Can Do     All Operating Systems are vulnerable Security requires a layered approach Turn on firewall / Get a router “Least-privileged User Accounts” – Don‟t use “root” or “admin” accounts      Keep OS and Applications up-todate Turn off unneeded services Use Firefox Anti-virus and Anti-spyware Don‟t eat yellow snow on the internet Links  Social Networks – – –  Linux – – www.facebook.com www.myspace.com www.secondlife.com www.youtube.com www.itunes.com www.puretracks.com GoogleEarth, Picasa, GMail, Blogger www.google.ca/intl/en/options/ www.digg.com www.slashdot.org http://toronto.ibegin.com/traffic/ http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/searc h/label/Toronto www.distrowatch.com www.ubuntu.com www.getfirefox.com Extensions for Firefox  https://addons.mozilla.org/enUS/firefox/browse/type:1 www.rssowl.org www.twit.tv www.itunes.com http://www.u3.com/ http://portableapps.com/   Firefox Web Browser – –  Audio & Video – – – RSS Readers  Google Products – – –  Podcasts – –  User-driven Content – –  U3 & PortableApps – –  Mash-ups – – Questions?  This presentation can be downloaded from: www.stcatharines.library.on.ca/content/present