Langa Letter: Converting Audio Files?

Some time ago, a reader wrote in with a problem: He was having a heck of a time trying to process audio files and burn them to CD.

He's not alone. With the explosion in interest in tiny MP3 players, lots of people are converting CDs, tapes, and other music sources to the compact MP3 format to bring with them for use at home, on trips, at work, and elsewhere. What's more, many of the tiny "memory stick" type of MP3 players also feature tiny condenser microphones and built-in audio compression so that you can record a huge amount of speech on the device -- phone calls, training sessions, roundtable discussions, even all-day meetings can fit on a little $100 stick-type player! But what do you do with the files once they're recorded?

Spurred by the reader's original problem (which you can read about here if you wish), I asked your fellow readers to suggest tried-and-true, known tools for converting, ripping, and burning audio files. By the time the dust settled, I'd gotten well over 1,000 replies; far more than I'd ever anticipated. Thanks you to all who sent in suggestions!

In spare moments over the last few months, I've read all the E-mails, and selected a representative sampling of the top four-dozen products mentioned.

Lossless digital audio

Welcome to etree.org, http://etree.org/, the award-winning leader in lossless digital audio distribution on the Internet! We are a community committed to providing the highest quality live concerts in a lossless, downloadable format.

You can find nearly every band that allows taping in the jambands community on etree.org, including Phish, The Grateful Dead, The Seth Yacovone Band, String Cheese Incident, The Slip, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Umphrey's McGee, The Big Wu, Amfibian and The New Deal.

To be a part of the etree.org community, you'll need a high-speed Internet connection (cable modem, xDSL, T1, or Ethernet), an FTP client to download the files and a CD-R writer. All necessary software is available for free at the GreenSite. Etree.org uses the Shorten (.shn) audio compression format because it creates an exact clone of the original source.

We do not distribute MP3 due to its lossy compression scheme which greatly degrades the quality of the audio. If you trade a CD-R's from MP3 audio, you are polluting the CD-R trading community.

online word processor

This website http://www.goffice.com/ can be compared to sites such as Salesforce.com, QuickBooksOnline.com and Hotmail.com. All those sites are online applications that take the place of or supplement legacy software applications.

This website is an online office suite. You can think of it as a software application you use to accomplish work, like writing letters and creating greeting cards and business cards. You probably already use Microsoft Office to do such work. This site is like an online version of a conventional office suite. Just as you now use Hotmail, GMail or Yahoo mail to send email, you can also use gOFFICE for office tasks. This site creates Adobe PDF format document files, so you can print them with outstanding quality, and send them to anyone. You can also edit the documents you create here. We have business features as well, such as the ability to upload and use your own signature and company letterhead. This site is free for personal use, and $1 per month for business use, with no contract.

RSS Screensaver

Download of the Day: RSS Screensaver
See headlines from your favorite sites in your ‘saver

Synchronize Your iPod

PodSync.com - Synchronize Your iPod: "PodSync
PodSync is free software for Windows that makes it easy to sync files between your computer and iPod. PodSync simplifies this process by providing a single window where you can drag and drop files to the appropriate categories (files, calendars, contacts, notes), and next time your iPod is connected the new files will automatically be copied to your iPod. There's no need to search around through iPod's directories to find where you want to put everything, PodSync does it for you.

See the PodSync features page for a list of everything you can do with PodSync."

Google Desktop Plugin: DNKA

Google Groups : Google Desktop Plugin: DNKA

RemoteDesktopSearch BETA is a free tool that enables you to host your
Google Desktop on your personal computer and securely access it from
any other computer connected to the Internet.


There is no need to enter the IP address of the remote computer or
modify any firewall settings. Try it out at: http://www.RemoteDesktopSearch.com

nothing used with permission

tetka
via mike drinksalot at http://blort.meepzorp.com/

The road to today's electronics

The road to todays Electronics
Johann Gutenberg	Charles Babbage	Andre Ampere	Louis Daguerre
Alexander Bell	Alessandro Volta	James Dewar	William Crookes
Henry Ford	George Ohm	Hans Oersted	Isaac Newton
Denis Papin	Joseph Thomson	Valdemar Poulson	Electronic vacuum diode
The Transistor

The Feds can own your WLAN too

Millions of wireless access points are spread across the US and the world. About 70% percent of these access points are unprotected—wide open to access by anyone who happens to drive by. The other 30% are protected by WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and a small handful are protected by the new WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) standard.

At a recent ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) meeting in Los Angeles, a team of FBI agents demonstrated current WEP-cracking techniques and broke a 128 bit WEP key in about three minutes. Special Agent Geoff Bickers ran the Powerpoint presentation and explained the attack, while the other agents (who did not want to be named or photographed) did the dirty work of sniffing wireless traffic and breaking the WEP keys.

This article will be a general overview of the procedures used by the FBI team.

Microsoft has an excuse!

Chaotic Computers
Imagine a complex microchip like the one in your computer. Do you picture a model of supreme deterministic precision? If so, think again, because researchers in France claim the way that microchips work is much closer to "deterministic chaos". They say a modern chip's behaviour is inherently unpredictable and chaotic, just like the weather. However, within the irregularity there is a pattern... MORE

Default usernames and passwords

Here you will find a list with default usernames and passwords to Routers, Printers etc. This list is usefull for system engineers and administrators, and let them easely find security holes, and provide unknowing customers with a little bit tighter network. If you have one of the items in this list, check it out and be sure to change user/pass to something not known by every hacker on this planet.