The wave of new technology!

There was a day that my grandpa once stated that they had to "walk up hills both ways in the ice cold winter with 5 feet of snow on the roads in their underwear to get to school". Well if they had to do this, what about having to get to libraries or the mill to get a paper or book. They did not really have television at that time yet, and they surely had never come across a home computer, for the costs were very excruciating on the pockets of average households. I believe that with the opportunities to now read/listen to books on the computer from companies is a wonderful idea, as well as the use of podcasts that let you listen to news, recaps of sports and other neat topics that may of some interest to you. These are neat features because it allows individuals to hear what is going on when they have the time, without recording shows or missing an episode.

The three podcasts that I enjoyed listening to were from tsn, Leafs game recaps, and IGN game reviews (they are from i-tunes). The use of podcasts I found intriguing because for certain things that I have no idea what is going on, and may not be on T.V, it allows me to hear what others think about what they feel is happening. For instance the latest tsn broadcast had a review on a hockey player David Boougard drawing a relationship of Vancouver's Captain and their twin players to Pinky and the Brain. This happened after one of his players got a vicious slash to his ankle, and it was more like a threat to know that he is there and they should watch out for his presence. I missed this the other night because of school, so it was nice to be able to catch up. Same with the hockey, it gives me a full depth post game recap rather then a 10 second clip that the T.V broadcasts. This will be something that I will use on a regular basis, just so I can listen to new things and get a full version of what is going on rather then a quick snippet.

I find that podcasts is a better source to get information then blogging to a certain parameter. If you are looking for something that maybe a few minutes long, or it deals on certain topics that people talk about rather then write, it is the way to go. Podcasts are nice to listen to get information from the outside world of news on certain things quick. It is not better or worst then newspapers or blogging because it has a different cross section. Newspapers give us a broad understanding of different things that are happening in the world, T.V's do the same, but if you miss it, you wont be able to see it again unless you record it. Blogging is more of a personal experience that people experience and want to share. So all options are a good source of information, and they both are ideal to be used if you want a bit of everything.

Another useful tool for people that enjoy books are the use of audiobooks. Personally what I like about the audiobook industry is that they have a good variety of books, especially ones that maybe hard to find in a book store in certain areas because of the popularity value or country restrictions. They give a reasonable pricing for the books as well, in some instances they are the same price as a book that you buy from a store, or might be cheaper depending on the book and plan that you may buy as well. It is nice also if you are working and want to hear a nice book and for people that can not read that well but understand the language, having someone else read the book to you is a nice treat, and some people also are able to sink into a book better with hearing rather then reading. The disadvantages in my opinion for audiobooks is that some of the people that read the stories seem bland and may cause the listener to become bored of the book because the reader does not seem to add emphasis where they expect. They can be more costly at times depending on the books, and it loses the touch of a book when it on a CD because you do not have a physical object to hold on to. I like being able to read a book on the run or away from my computer, but with a CD you need a CD player, a car, or your computer to hear it, so it becomes more of a problem to get into a book.

I-tunes has audio books that you can buy, they are usually ranging from $13.00 + depending on their books, but i-tunes is good for having the same price or cheaper of a song or audiobook as the store might sell it for. Other companies that have audio books are audiobooks.org which have links to sites that have prices, but they also offer free samples of books that are a good length. This site for audio books has nice plans, they make it that 1 credit is equal to one audio book, and they have different plans like one right now where you pay $7.95 per for 3 months and can get 3 credits, for 3 books. So you can get a book for 40 dollars at that price. A pretty nice deal I would say. A final place I checked out was Librivox, here audiobooks are in mp3 format and are free for people. So it may not have the biggest selection but it is nice to be able to listen to a book on your free time without having to buy it all the time. I feel that the free site will be most useful until they really are looking for a book that in unavailable there and then they may go the second site where it has the nice deals going on to get books.

Youtube and Google Video are both two services that allow people to post videos and music videos on the site for people to use. Google video is not as popular as Youtube and the videos they have usually are linked from sites on peoples myspace, and mostly youtube, they sometimes have their own work, but not as much. Youtube and Google video both allow people to embed videos on their blogs. Google video in my opinion is also more choppier and not as good quality, the buffering speed is pretty slow as well. Also Google does not show different links that are related to the movie you are watching on the side like youtube, and the search engine is not as simple. The search engine does not find the proper movies that you are looking for the same. Youtube I believe is the better online video broadcaster, because the quality on it is so much clearer, and it is rarely ever choppy. Although Youtube maybe powered/owned by Google now, it is not the same, youtube just overall performance is nicer, it allows people to leave comments and rate what they think of the movie, and by rating it, it makes it easier for people to find the video. This site explains it so well on why Youtube has grown and Google video seems to be like the backlash where people go for odd reasons. Youtube in my opinion also seems to have blossomed as Nate Elliot has shown, they were the first source of uploading videos that allowed others to embed them into their posts.






There are many different forms of high definition, ranging from 480p all the way to 1080p. The biggest differences between Standard deviation and High def is the ratio of the screen size, SD (Standard Deviation) is 4:3 and Hi-Def (High Definition) can be up to 16:9. SD has up to 480 pixels in height and 640 in width. While Hi-Def can have up to 1080 pixels in height and 1920 pixels in width. The amount of pixels allows for more detail to be projected because they have more dots to construct an image and so they are not as stretched out. With more pixels it allows not only for more detail on texture but more colors are displayed allowing for a more crisp and clear picture. The article by Michael Miller shows the comparisons with a clear table.

When I watch the trailers of movies, there is a significant difference between Standard and High Definition quality. The high def resolutions show more detail on objects, and it makes you feel like your closer to the experience then in standard quality. Both are fine, but when you watch High Def it seems like you were lost before and will never be able to go back to a normal setting, just the color differences, texture and overall picture is brighter and more intense.

The trailers that I took a glance at were Beowolf, I am Legend, Golden Compass, and Jumper (link on side). From what I have seen I am Legend, and Beowolf look to be really good and ones that I would go see in the theaters. Jumper I will wait because the trailer was nothing fantastic but it has Samuel l. Jackson, who is a great actor and the directors from Bourne Identity which are great movies did it, so it will be one I see. Golden Compass is one I would take my little sister to watch in the movies but not for me. Having trailers in high definition is nice because you see a nicer picture and you feel more in depth with it, rather then it be blurry. Every little bit of quality counts and marketing companies know that this will make people want to see the movie more when they seem to get more into the trailer.