Richard Farrar's Blog

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My home network was never planned (it just kind of happened), but since its inception it  grew rapidly to meet my ever expanding needs. For along time it more than met my requirements, but as is inevitable,  I began to demand more of it than it could comfortably provide. So after much deliberation I have just completed a long awaited and much needed upgrade.

My home network originally grew from having a single Laser printer connected directly to my PC, to having my house wired throughout with CAT5e network cable, with every room having potential access to the Internet and a central file server. The file server was responsible for storing all of the household’s data (user files, music and pictures etc.).

My file server (an old 300MHz Compaq) was probably passed its sell by date when I first installed it, but after 5 years of continuous use it was certainly struggling to keep up. This, coupled with the fact that my storage capacity of 100GB was almost maxed out, meant that it really was time to upgrade!

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Object Oriented Programming represents a paradigm shift away from the traditional modular programming methodologies that have prevailed since the advent of computers. While today’s computer scientists are undoubtedly clever chaps, the intrinsic concepts underpinning Object Oriented Programming were actually considered almost 2,500 years in the dialogues of Plato!

Now, it is extremely doubtful as to whether the architects of Object Orientated Programming (OOP) were aware of these prior concepts, as the stereotypical computer scientist is not normally renowned for his classical education. However, even if they weren’t aware, there does seem to be a remarkable correlation between the thought processes of Plato and the later day software architects, even separated across the millennia.

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Like many people, I’ve used Microsoft Windows operating systems exclusively for more years than I care to remember. Now, while I’m not about to abandon my comfort blanket entirely, I’ve decided it’s about time to poke my nose out from under the Microsoft blanket and explore the world of Linux; to see what all the fuss is about and if it’s something that I can put to good use.

For the average user, the only serious contender to a Microsoft based desktop PC for regular daily use is an Apple Mac computer with their proprietary operating system. However, if you already have standard PC hardware then Apple’s operating system isn’t really a viable option as it only runs on their hardware.

For the more adventurous however, a third, lesser known alternative exists that also runs on standard desktop PCs: Linux. While Linux is becoming a popular operating system for the new wave of notebook PCs, it’s probably better known as a server based operating system (servers running Linux form much of the backbone of the internet, particularly web servers).

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Every time you use an MP3 player or an iPod, you’re using compressed audio files, whether you realise it or not. Whilst MP3 is probably the most common compressed audio format, it’s certainly not the only one available.

Manufacturers like to develop and retain technologies that gives them a commercial and technological advantage over their competitors. To this end we as consumers have ended up with a collection of competing, but unfortunately technically incompatible, solutions to the same problem; that of storing large amounts of audio on portable audio players.

Thankfully the majority of manufacturers (but by no means all) of these portable audio players have eased our potential incompatibility problems by making sure that their players can play the majority of compressed audio formats that are in common usage today.

So what are these common compressed audio formats, why do we need them and what are the associated problems with having so many different formats?

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By now you’ve probably heard of the term “bit rate” used in connection with MP3 tracks and podcasts, you may even know that higher bit rates give better quality audio. However, like most things in life, nothing is simple and we can further complicate the whole bit rate discussion with variable and constant bit rates. So, what are the pros and cons of these constant and variable bit rates?

Choosing a bit rate for a podcast, or an MP3 track, is a bit of a balancing act at the best of times. On the one hand, higher bit rates (variable or constant) give improved audio quality, whilst on the other they lead to bigger file sizes.

Introducing yet another variable into the equation, that of constant or variable bit rates, only serves to confuse the situation even further. What then are the relative pros and cons that may affect your choice of type of bit rate to use?

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