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