Current cite-ings from the popular and trade computing press

Citation

Trapasso, L. (2011), "Current cite-ings from the popular and trade computing press", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 28 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2011.23928eaa.004

Current cite-ings from the popular and trade computing press

Article Type: Column From: Library Hi Tech News, Volume 28, Issue 5

Again mobile devices and tablets such as iPads, Motorola's Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy and the just announced Blackberry Playbook are at the forefront in personal computing. On airplanes and conferences, the use of tablet devices and twittering from mobile devices are quite common. Libraries need to think strategically about mobile content and service to stay relevant to users who are more than ever before, on the move.

Mobile devices and tablets

For mapping out a mobile strategy, Peggy Ann Salz, Founder of MsearchGroove has some good things to say. She says that you must bring together delivery and content to create more value for the end-user. People should not believe it is another screen. You have to consider the experience. If we are going to be consuming content across time, space, and platforms, what are you going to do with the platform? You also have to think about how to slice and dice the content for various experiences - you just cannot put all the content on mobile the same way, it looks on a web site. You have to think about how people are going to want to interact with it. This paper goes on to explain different projects by various companies (Dye, 2011).

For a review on the iPad 2 look to MacWorld. A review of the Apple iPad 2 reveals some improvements. It is faster, smaller, and lightweight. The general model costs $499. It uses a dual core speed chip called the A5. It has two cameras to facilitate face-to-face video-chatting. It has a faster data connection via the 3G network. The iPad 2 Apple Digital AV Adapter lets the iPad send high-definition video as well as Dolby digital surround sound. A standard high-definition multimedia interface cable is needed to hook to your high-definition television. The iPad 2 case is smarter. When it locks, it shuts down the system, and when it opens, it turns it on. Two recommended apps for this device are MOVIE and GarageBand (Snell, 2011). The VMware View Client for the Apple iPad allows users the ability to view their Windows desktop and to run Windows applications, without having to carry a PC (Sturdevant, 2011).

An article reviews Motorola's Xoom "Honeycomb" operating system (OS) tablet. It has a speedy tegra 2 dual core processor. It has a 10.1 high-definition screen and is fantastic at multitasking. Verizon has also promised a free 4G long-term evolution network to work with the device. Widgits on the screen can be dropped and dragged to tap into favorite web sites. The camera is 5 MP. Google chat works great on the device too (Boulton, 2011).

In the smartphone wars, Motorola, Google, and Verizon teamed-up together to produce the Droid smartphone. It halted Apple's march towards smartphone dominance. The showdown now is between Apple and Google, including tablets released with their respective OS (Vogelstein, 2011).

For the best bluetooth gadgets, an article describes the top monoaural bluetooth headset as JawBone Era. The top bluetooth speakerphone is Jabra Cruiser 2 (McEvoy, 2011).

Software

An article by Noyes (2011) reviews open source alternatives to Microsoft Office including Google Docs, LibreOffice, Softmaker Office, and ZOHO.

Platform as a service is a development platform for building software in the cloud. It includes different languages and differing functions. IT, custom applications and software as a service will be built on it. It is the transition from OS-based features to network-based features (Taft, 2011).

Security, availability, and accountability of data are considerations for the public cloud. Two new models have emerged. They are the hosted private cloud, and the hybrid cloud. This paper highlights projects by different companies (Schultz, 2011).

Web

A potential new blockbuster web site has hit the market. It is called Quora. Quora engages experts to answer questions, and provides the answers on its web site. It may surpass wikipedia by filling in the gaps that the encyclopedia does not address. It has been said that Quora may soon be one of the top ten leading sites (Rivin, 2011).

An article talks about some of the new and most interesting application programming interface (API) released in 2011. In advertising, Revolve is a hyper-local platform that lets advertisers target their advertisements to a local audience. Quora stimulates questions and answers. The Quora API is in alpha release. It is made specifically to help developers create browser extensions so that their web site can interact with the Quora community. LiveChat uses an API that returns a list of operators who have connected with customers, and get a list of chat transcripts. Other areas where API are developing are dictionary, e-mail, events, file-sharing, domains, jobs, messaging, music, payments, information management, recommendations, and social (Prestipino, 2011).

According to Brooks (2011), the latest version of Firefox is faster than Google Chrome. It boasts tabbed browsing. Also Firefox Sync allows users to synchronize their browser settings and passwords in encrypted form from a central server.

WebM is an HTML5-compatible format open sourced by Google in 2010. It uses VP8 video codec, and the open source Vorbis audio codec. WebM provides a high-quality open source alternative for browser vendors such as Firefox and Opera. These free browsers do not have to pay the high-cost of H.264 (Ozer, 2011).

On developing cyber partnerships, there are three area of immediate focus. First, the public and private sectors need to share more information. Second, they must pay attention to defending against attacks that threaten critical IT infrastructure. Third, the collaboration must be pushed up to the next level by moving security practices from being defensive to becoming proactive and preemptive. This paper discusses the different collaborations taking place. There are some laws that address this such as the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010. This act will give the president some authority to institute needed net security measures. Other laws are the International Cyberspace and Cyber Security Coordination Act and the Cyber Security Enhancement Act (Bartaller, 2011).

The time for transition from Ipv4 to Ipv6 has come. In February 2011, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority's supply of Ipv4 addresses was fully allocated. In order to facilitate it, all IT departments must embrace a dual stack IP world (Levy, 2011).

Multimedia

"Digital Media", the ultimate guide tells you how to rip, convert, store, and stream all your media. For the most part, if you are not pirating content according to the Digital Millennium Copyright ACT, you can achieve the tips this paper provides. The paper tells you how to copy audios, CDs, DVDs, and Blue Ray Video. A side bar is included for choosing the best file formats for mobile devices, Digital Living Network Alliance, XBOX 360, and for PlayStation 3. The paper says a network-attached storage (NAS) is the best way to centralize your media. It recommends NAS that is a certified digital media server. For PC-based files, it is recommended to use Windows HomeGroups or Windows MediaPlayer, or Windows Home Server. To stream your data, use DLNA. Most consumer electronic devices support DLNA out of the box. Finally, there is a side bar that provides five ways to access your media library through the internet. These include Windows Home Server, PogoPlug, ORB Live, Tonido, and Skifta (Herron, 2011).

Tablet computers will be leading the way for portable audio video (AV). Portable videoconferencing is being talked about. As AV continues to merge with IT, AV-techs will need to know about transmissions and networks, and how to operate them securely (Derringer, 2011).

Misc

An article highlights that a very low percentage of IT staff work on innovative products. A sidebar gives steps to achieve innovation. First, foster openness to innovation. Second, expand the pipeline of new ideas. Third, triage the most promising ideas. Fourth, adopt a "test and learn" approach (Murphy, 2011).

Lois Trapasso