Networks

NORTEL

Solutions for Nortel^®

AMC solutions for Nortel provide pre-packaged, server-based integration that delivers real-time connectivity with leading CRM applications. Contact centers can improve call management and enable full CTI ********ality in their CRM desktop including softphone controls, caller identification, and screen population. Agents can place, receive, and transfer customer interactions with full, real-time access to CRM customer data.

As a Nortel Developer Partner, AMC provides solutions for Nortel Symposium Call Center Server, Nortel Communications Control Toolkit (CCT) and Nortel Business Communications Manager (BCM) LAN CTE. Pre-packaged integration is available for leading CRM applications including mySAP™ CRM, PeopleSoft^® CRM, and Microsoft^® CRM.

Used everyday by thousands of agents around the globe, AMC solutions help more than 75 innovative organizations to work more effectively and deliver higher levels of customer service.

MİCROSOFT

Solutions for Microsoft^® CRM

AMC solutions for Microsoft CRM provide pre-packaged, server-based integration that delivers real-time connectivity with leading contact center solutions. Contact centers can more efficiently manage customer interactions and deliver superior levels of customer service.

Through this integration, contact centers can enable multi-channel ********ality in Microsoft CRM desktop including telephony (CTI) softphone controls, caller identification, and screen population. Agents can place, receive, and transfer customer interactions with full, real-time access to Microsoft CRM customer data. Call routing can be enhanced using business rules and customer data residing in Microsoft CRM to ensure that the right customer reaches the right agent at the right time.

As a Microsoft Certified Partner and a Beta Program participant, AMC has been working with Microsoft CRM since its inception. The AMC product suite offers a contact center framework that delivers interaction controls and contact center ********ality built into the user's Microsoft CRM desktop. The open platform design supports pre-packaged integration of telephony (CTI), email and web-chat solutions from leading contact center solution providers including Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and others.

Used everyday by thousands of agents around the globe, AMC solutions help more than 75 innovative organizations to work more effectively and deliver higher levels of customer service.

ORACLE

Solutions for Oracle's PeopleSoft^® Enterprise CRM

AMC solutions for Oracle's PeopleSoft CRM provide pre-packaged, server-based integration that delivers real-time connectivity with leading contact center solutions. Contact centers can more efficiently manage customer interactions and deliver superior levels of customer service.

Through this integration, contact centers can enable telephony (CTI) ********ality in the PeopleSoft CRM desktop including softphone controls, caller identification, and screen population. Agents can place, receive, and transfer customer interactions with full, real-time access to PeopleSoft CRM customer data. Call routing can be enhanced using business rules and customer data residing in PeopleSoft CRM to ensure that the right customer reaches the right agent at the right time.

As a Oracle Certified Partner, AMC develops solutions for PeopleSoft Enterprise CRM. Through the standard PeopleSoft Multi-Channel API (PSMCAPI) in PeopleTools, AMC provides pre-packaged integration for leading telephony solutions including Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and others.

Used everyday by thousands of agents around the globe, AMC solutions help more than 75 innovative organizations to work more effectively and deliver higher levels of customer service.

SIEBEL

Solutions for Siebel^® 7

AMC solutions for Siebel 7 business applications provide pre-packaged, server-based integration that delivers real-time connectivity with leading contact center solutions. Contact centers can more efficiently manage customer interactions and deliver superior levels of customer service.

Through this integration, contact centers can enable telephony (CTI) ********ality in the Siebel 7 desktop including agent login, work mode, softphone controls, caller identification, and screen population. Agents can place, receive, and transfer customer interactions with full, real-time access to Siebel 7 customer data. Call routing can be enhanced using business rules and customer data residing in Siebel 7 to ensure that the right customer reaches the right agent at the right time.

As a Siebel Software Partner, AMC develops solutions for Siebel 7 business applications. Through the standard Siebel Communications API in the Siebel Communications Server, AMC provides pre-packaged integration for leading telephony solutions including Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and others.

Used everyday by thousands of agents around the globe, AMC solutions help more than 75 innovative organizations to work more effectively and deliver higher levels of customer service.

Tactical Network Security Monitoring Platform

I am working both strategic and tactical network security monitoring projects. On the tactical side I have been looking for a platform that I could carry on a plane and fit in the overhead compartment, or at the very least under the seat in front of me. Earlier in my career I've used Shuttle and Hacom boxes, but I'm always looking for something better.

People often ask "Why don't you use a laptop?" Reasons to not use a laptop include:

• Laptops don't have PCI, PCI-X or PCI Express slots to accommodate extra NICs, especially for fiber connections.
  
  
• Laptops are not designed to run constantly.
  
  
• Laptop storage is not as robust as server storage, since laptops usually accommodate up to two internal hard drives, with some capacity for external storage.
  
  
• Laptops are consumer devices and not generally built for server-type operations.
  

Today I think I found the device I needed: NextComputing NextDimension Pro, pictured above. The specs are as follows:

• Single dual-core 2.2 GHz AMD Opteron 275/940
  
  
• 4 GB RAM (2 GB x 2, PC3200/400 MHz DDRAM)
  
  
• Two Marvell Yukon 88E8052 Gigabit Ethernet
  
  
• One NVIDIA nForce4 CK804 MCP9 Networking Adapter (Marvell 88E1111 Gigabit PHY)
  
  
• Two 160 GB 7200 RPM SATA 2.5" Seagate Momentus HDDs connected to on-board four port SATA controller
  
  
• Four 160 GB 7200 RPM SATA 2.5" Seagate Momentus HDDs connected to PCI-X four port SATA RAID controller
  
  
• Four USB 2.0
  
  
• Two external SATA ports
  
  
• One RS232 serial port and one RS232 serial port with RS422/485 adaptor
  
  
• DVD drive
  
  
• Two PCI-X slots OR two PCI Express slots OR one PCI-X and one PCI Express; not sure what mine has yet
  
  
• Graphics out via Nvidia
  

I tried FreeBSD 7.0-CURRENT-200709-amd64-disc1.iso on this machine and it installed flawlessly. If you want to see dmesg output please visit Dmesgd courtesy of NYCBUG.

Check out the storage available. If I need to I could combine /nsm1 and /nsm2 into /nsm using Gconcat.

$ df -h
Filesystem     Size    Used   Avail Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/ad4s1a    989M    194M    716M    21%    /
devfs          1.0K    1.0K      0B   100%    /dev
/dev/ad4s1e    9.7G     24K    8.9G     0%    /home
/dev/ad4s1f     77G    4.0K     71G     0%    /nsm1
/dev/da0s1d    577G    4.0K    531G     0%    /nsm2
/dev/ad4s1g    9.7G     12K    8.9G     0%    /tmp
/dev/ad4s1d     39G    1.2G     34G     3%    /usr
/dev/ad6s1d    144G    258K    133G     0%    /var

I am really pleased FreeBSD 7.0 installs on this machine. I may try the i386 version at some point, but I hope to stick with the AMD64 version if possible.

Review of Snort IDS and IPS Toolkit and One Prereview

Amazon.com just posted my three star review of Snort IDS and IPS Toolkit. From the review:

Syngress published "Snort 2.0" in Mar 03, and I gave it a four star review in Jul 03. Syngress followed with "Snort 2.1" in May 04, and I gave it a four star review in Jul 04. I recommend reading those reviews, since the latest edition -- "Snort IDS and IPS Toolkit" (SIAIT) -- makes many of the same mistakes as its predecessors. Worse, it includes material that was already outdated in BOTH previous editions. If you absolutely must buy a book on Snort, this edition is your only real choice. Otherwise, I would stick with the manual and online articles.

SIAIT looks impressive page-wise, but it suffers from the multiple-author, no-editing, rush-to-production problems unfortunately inherent in many Syngress titles. One would think that including many contributing authors (11, apparently) would make for a strong book. In reality, the book contributes very little beyond what appears in "Snort 2.1," despite the fact that "only" chapters 8, 10, 11, and 13 appear to be repeats or largely rehashes of older material. Comparing to "Snort 2.1," these compare to old chapters 7, 10, 12, and 11, respectively.

The absolute worst part of this book is the re-introduction of all the outdated information in chapters 8 and 10. It is 2007 and we are STILL reading on p 353 that XML output is "our favorite and relatively new logging format" and on p 367 that "Unified logs are the future of Snort reporting." (I cited both of these as being old news in Jul 04!) I should note that these chapters are not entirely duplicates; if you compare output such as that on page 335 of "Snort 2.1" with page 365 in SIAIT you'll see the author replaced the original 2003 timestamps with 2006! This is the height of lazy publishing. Chapter 10 features similar tricks, where traffic is the same except for global replacements of IP addresses and timestamps; notice the ACK numbers are still the same and the test uses Snort 1.8.

You can read my reviews of Snort 2.1 and Snort 2.0 for reference. If I see Syngress publish another Snort book based on this line of material, I won't bother next time.

On a more positive note, thank you to O'Reilly for sending me a review copy of Security Power Tools. This book looks like it deserves a grunt from Tim the Toolman Taylor. The book appears to have lots of useful information, although why in Pete's name is there a chapter (11) on BO2k? Let it die, already. It's 2007.

Using that 8Gbps

Symantec/Veritas announced this week the release of Netbackup 6.5. It seems to me like the company has been talking about this version of the product forever and as is mentioned on other blogs, there are lots of new features to play with.



The ones I've been looking forward to are called SAN Media Server and SAN Client. These allow the SAN to be used (via FC/SCSI) as the transport method for backup data between the client and the media server.



For Symantec, implementing this feature is more difficult than it sounds; A standard HBA operates as an initiator with a storage device (disk or tape) acting as the target. I/O operations are instigated by the initiator to the target which then replies with the results. With the SAN Media Server, Symantec have had to re-write the firmware on the HBAs in the media server to act as a SCSI target. This allows it to receive backup data from the client, from when it is then handled as normal by the media server.



This option has a huge number of potential benefits; If you have already provided a SAN connection to a host (and possibly a production IP connection), there's no need now to provide a backup LAN connection too; just use the SAN. On new installations, this could save a fortune in network ports and would use a lot of potentially wasted fibre channel bandwidth. Throughput could be vastly improved; most fabrics run at 2Gbps today compared to host 1Gbps (OK, the data has to be read from the disk too, but most hosts have two HBA cards, so 4Gbps of aggregate bandwidth). Fabrics tend to be more well structured and therefore suffer less with bottleneck issues.

The only downside I can see is the need to provide one honkin' great media server to suck up all that backup data!

Port Indexes on Cisco Switches

I spent today building some Cisco MDS9513 switches. It's good to get into the nuts and bolts of technology once in a while. They are big beasts - 2nd generation technology and with 11 usable slots, the biggest available line cards (48 ports), 528 ports in a single chassis. However the build had one fly in the ointment. As part of the (inherited) design, the chassis included a "generation 1" eight ethernet port IP line card for implementing FCIP.

The issue revolves around a feature called port indexes, which are used to track the ports installed in a MDS chassis. Generation 1 chassis have a maximum of 252 port indexes, generation 2 technology supports up to 1020 port indexes. However, a generation 1 line card inserted into a generation 2 chassis dumbs down the whole switch to generation 1 port indexes. So, with 252 indexes, 32 taken up by the FCIP card, only 240 port indexes are left which directly translates to 240 ports - less than half the switch capacity! If line cards are installed that take the port count above 252 then these additional cards won't come online - they will initially power up then power down.

In this instance the solution will be to move IP services to another (smaller) switch and hopefully Cisco will bring out a generation 2 version of the IP blade soon. There is a bigger problem though, and that is for any customers looking to take 9513s and use them with the SSM module, which supports products such as EMC Invista and Kashya (now EMC RecoverPoint). As far as I am aware, there's no plans for a generation 2 SSM module any time soon, so using the SSM module in the 9513 chassis will create the same port restriction issues.

I don't see why Cisco couldn't simply produce a gen 2 version of the old gen 1 blades which did nothing more than re-jig the port indexing. Come to think of it, surely they could patch the firmware on the gen1 line-cards to fix the problem. Obviously it is not that simple, or perhaps not that many people are using Invista and RecoverPoint to make it worthwhile.

Cisco Acquires Social Networking Company

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), whose core business is selling the routers and switches that direct data traffic over computer networks, said it has acquired a small social networking company that allows businesses to create MySpace-like communities on their Web sites.


Cisco said Friday that it was paying an undisclosed amount to acquire privately held Five Across Inc., an 11-person San Francisco company whose software allows companies to add user-interaction functions and multimedia-sharing capabilities to their Web sites.


Five Across' publishing platform allows users to create personal Web pages and post photos, videos and audio clips, much like the proprietary system used by News Corp. (NWS)'s MySpace.
Cisco said the acquisition, its 116th since 1993, is the company's first in the social networking space but likely not the last. The deal is expected to close within the current fiscal quarter.
Analysts said the acquisition helps further Cisco's expansion beyond its role as purely a network equipment provider and into helping distribute the media that drives bandwidth consumption and even more network upgrades.


Danielle Levitas, a senior analyst at market researcher IDC, said the Five Across acquisition could help Cisco win greater access to a wide range of companies, particularly those in media and entertainment, looking to upgrade their Web sites to connect with customers.
"I actually see this as benefiting their core business - if they can promote users using their broadband more, that's huge for them," Levitas said.


Cisco has profited mightily in recent quarters from surging sales of its routers and switches as service providers and other companies scramble to upgrade their networks to prepare for the next generation of video and other bandwidth-intensive downloads.
Cisco, which was sitting on nearly $21 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter, has been rapidly expanding by acquiring companies that capitalize on the products and services that utilize the network itself.


The company's largest recent acquisition was its $6.9 billion purchase last year of Scientific-Atlanta Inc., the world's second-largest cable television box seller.
Last month, Cisco also announced it was paying $830 million in cash and stock to acquire IronPort Systems Inc., a maker of anti-spam and antivirus security products. That deal is also expected to close in the current quarter.


Investors have cheered the San Jose-based company's robust earnings growth, sending its shares up 45 percent from a year ago and creating more than $51 billion in additional shareholder wealth.


Cisco's stock closed up 5 cents to $28.14 on Thursday before the acquisition was announced.


Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO, SEHK: 4333) is a global company headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, that designs and sells networking and communications technology and services under three brands: Cisco, Linksys, and Scientific Atlanta. Initially, Cisco manufactured only enterprise multi-protocol routers, but today Cisco's products can be found everywhere from the living room to the enterprise to service provider networks. Cisco's vision is "Changing the Way We Live, Work, Play and Learn." Cisco's current tagline is "Welcome to the human network.".

Corporate history


Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner (Bachelor of Science from California State University, Chico, Masters in Econometrics from Claremont University, Masters in Statistics and Computer Science from Stanford University), a married couple that worked in computer operations staff at Stanford University, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software originally written by William Yeager, another staff employee who had begun the work years before Bosack arrived from the University of Pennsylvania, where Bosack had received his bachelor's degree.


While Cisco was not the first company to develop and sell a router (a device that forwards computer traffic between two or more networks), it did create the first commercially successful multi-protocol router to allow previously incompatible computers to communicate using different network protocols. As the Internet Protocol (IP) has become a standard, the importance of multi-protocol routing as a function has declined. Today, Cisco's largest routers are marketed to route primarily IP packets and MPLS frames.


In 1990, the company went public and was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Bosack and Lerner walked away from the company with $170 million and later divorced.


During the Internet boom in 1999, the company acquired Cerent Corp., a start-up company located in Petaluma, California, for about $7 billion. It was the most expensive acquisition made by Cisco at that time. The only bigger acquisition is Scientific Atlanta.


In late March 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalisation of more than $500 billion. In 2007, with a market cap of about $165 billion, it is still one of the most valuable companies.


Using acquisitions, internal development, and partnering with other companies, Cisco has made inroads into many network equipment markets outside routing, including Ethernet switching, remote access, branch office routers, ATM networking, security, IP telephony, and others. In 2003, Cisco acquired Linksys, a popular manufacturer of computer networking hardware and positioned it as a leading brand for the home and end user networking market (SOHO).
Cisco has set up Cisco Networking Academies in 150 countries aimed at teaching students to design and maintain computer networks.


Cisco provides certifications to professionals in the networking field. These include:
CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert)
CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
CCDP (Cisco Certified Design Professional)
CCIP (Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional)
CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional)
CCVP (Cisco Certified Voice Professional)
CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate)
CCSI (Cisco Certified Systems Instructor)


The company has its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California, and also many outposts in other countries. The company was a 2002-03 recipient of the Ron Brown Award. Origin of the Cisco name

Cisco Logo used until 2006

The name "Cisco" is an abbreviation of San Francisco. According to John Morgridge, employee 34 and the company's former president, the founders hit on the name and logo while driving to Sacramento to register the company -- they saw the Golden Gate Bridge framed in the sunlight.

The name cisco Systems (with the lowercase "c") continued in use within the engineering community at the company long after the official company name was changed to Cisco Systems, Inc. Users of Cisco products can still see the name ciscoSystems occasionally in bug reports and IOS messages.
The company's logo reflects its San Francisco name heritage: it represents a stylized Golden Gate Bridge. In October 2006, Cisco publicly launched a new logo that is graphically simpler and more stylized than the original.

A partial list of products


Hardware
Application Network Services
Broadband Cable products: uBR7100 series, uBR7200 series, uBR10012 CMTSes. A line of Cable Modems, the uBR900 series and CVA122 series, were also made in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but have since been discontinued.
Clean Access Server
Content Networking
DSL & Long Reach Ethernet
Interoperability Systems
Cisco LocalDirector load-balancing appliance
Optical Networking series: 15xxx Series: 15302, 15305, 15310, 15327, 15454, 15600, 1580x, 15900(wavelength router, but end for sale)
Routers: SB107, 700, 800, 1000, 1600, 1700, 1800, 2500, 2600, 2800, 3600, 3700, 3800, 4500, 4700, 7000, 7100, 7200, 7300, 7400, 7500, 7600, 10000, 12000, and CRS-1
Security & VPN products: Anomaly Detection and Mitigation Appliances, Cisco AVS 3110 Application Velocity System, Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances, Cisco PIX 500 Series Security Appliances, Cisco VPN 3000 Series Concentrators, Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series/7600 Series WebVPN Services Module, IPSec VPN Services Module (VPNSM) for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches and Cisco 7600 Series Routers
Server Networking & Virtualization
SPA Phone Adapters
Storage networking
Switches
Catalyst series: 500 Express, 1200, 1600, 1700, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2800, 29xx, 3000, 35xx, 37xx, 40xx, 45xx, 5xxx, 6xxx, etc..
Metro Ethernet ME 3400 Series Access Switches
MGX 8800 Series Multiservice Switches: MGX 8830, MGX 8850
MDS 9000 Series Multilayer SAN Switches
Universal Gateways & Access Servers
Video
Voice & IP Communications: 7900 Series IP Phones: 7936, 7906G, 7912G, 7911G, 7920, 7921G, 7911G, 7921G, 7931G, 7940G, 7941G, 7941G-GE, 7960G, 7961G, 7961G-GE, 7970G, 7971G-GE and 7985G
Wireless: Wireless Integrated Switches and Routers,Wireless IP Telephony, Wireless LAN Access, Aironet Wireless Bridges and Workgroup Bridges, Cisco Wireless LAN Client Adapters, Wireless LAN Controllers, Wireless Network Management, Wireless LAN Management, Wireless Security Servers, Wireless IP Phone 7920
Software
Cisco CallManager
Cisco Emergency Responder
Cisco IP Transfer Point (ITP)
Cisco Multimedia Conference Manager (MCM)
Cisco Fabric Manager
CiscoView
CiscoWorks Network Management software
IP SLAs
Cisco Intelligent Contact Management
Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS)
Cisco Access Registrar (AR)
Cisco Security MARS (Monitoring, Analysis and Response System)
Cisco Clean Access Agent, Cisco Clean Access Manager, Cisco NAC Appliance
Content Loadbalancers (acquired from Arrowpoint)
Content Engine
Wireless LAN Solution Engine
VPN Concentrator
Packet Tracer
Cisco IP/TV
Cisco IP/VC
Cisco CallManager Express (CCME)
Cisco Unified Contact Center
Cisco MeetingPlace
Cisco Unity
Cisco Unity Express
Cisco Secure Desktop
Cisco Security Manager
Cisco Transport Manager
Cisco Router and Security Device Manager
Cisco Enhanced Device Interface
Wireless Control System

We don't need no TV on our Phone

We don't need no TV on our Phone

Today's Guardian reports that we are not a nation of Television addicts when it comes to watching on your mobile.

Now I have long said that Mobile TV is this years MMS, Gaming ...... in that this is an application that the user has not asked for but rather the Marketing Department thinks we will pay for. When you look at the Far East mobile TV works because the population density is such that choice is limited when you live in a tiny apartment and the nature of work means that watching TV when you are having lunch works. The content you have to remember is not broadcast but side loaded on the whole.

Now the Networks are not interested in side loaded content because it does away with the network and stops the user from using the phone to send texts etc.

Perhaps a few more reports that show Mobile TV is a dead donkey and the networks will drop the idea and focus on improving the voice quality. I have to report that too many calls have been dropped or of poor quality on my 3G handset this wonderful English summer. At the height of the flood watch I had to revert back to my land line because I needed to make a call and could not relied on Orange to maintain the call.

Opera Mini Beta 2 Available

Opera Mini Beta 2 Available

Opera Mini has long been a favourite app of mine, and the latest version of the new Opera Mini beta is now available for download. Opera Mini works fine on smartphones as well as many other java enabled phones. Some of the new features include browsing in landscape mode, a multi search start page and the option to choose your search engine in the same way you can on the Opera desktop browser.

Just enter http://www.operamini.com/beta/ on your phone browser to download the new version. Some screenshots from Opera Mini on the N95 below:

Sun and Microsoft making announcement tomorrow

Sun and Microsoft making announcement tomorrow

Some kind of press event at 10 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday. Low-level execs, no Ballmer or Pony, so probably not a big deal. They just put it out to the hacks in the press, who immediately reported in to our PR department, as they are required to do under terms of their contracts with us. No idea what the hell the Borg and the Pony have cooked up. But Katie says even if it's a small deal MLP must be nuts to be getting in bed with the Beastmaster. She says whatever goodwill My Little Pony has managed to get from the freetards will be gone by this time tomorrow. Just wait for the howls. We're already monitoring Slashdot.

Sony Ericsson Hotaru with DramaVIEW concept

Sony Ericsson Hotaru with DramaVIEW concept

WhiteEye is back again with another beautiful kick ass concept. This time it's a stylish and emotional clamshell with light effects which he calls DramaVIEW. I must say that not only is he awesome with his concepts, he his awesome with the making cool features with cool names and cool descriptions. Great work WhiteEye! Here is his description of his concept.

About DramaVIEW™
It's a herd of 25 "living" fireflies on the exteior surface of the handset. It's more than an animation, it's alive. Your fireflies always continuously move here and there, all the time! When the night comes, their shows just get more and more attractive. You can set them according to your mood, e. g. sad, serious, aggresive, etc (22 preset "emotions" available) then they will adjust their formation, speed and orientation of the movements.




When you get new message, or call, or any notification, the fireflies automatically will arrange themselves into a representative icon.



This is DramaVIEW™. So emotional to view. So dramatic to feel.

Available in Apocalypse Black and Borneo Orchid, Sony Ericsson Hotaru always be your timeless companion--and your best friends' jealousy as well.

New Nokia N95 8GB edition

New Nokia N95 8GB edition

A new Nokia N95 was found on Nokia's site

http://nds.nokia.com/uaprof/NN95_8GB-1r100.xml

The highlight being the 8 GB storage. This could be branded music edition meaning that it could be in all black. I would upgrade my N95 to this black N95. This is possible...a 8 GB N95 can battle Apple's iPhone and Sony Ericsson's W960. Boy, are there alot of phones found at Nokia's site these past two days. We have this N95 8 GB edition, 3G Vertu, 5310 Xpress Music and 3555.

Nokia Maps Application Upgraded

Nokia Maps Application Upgraded

Ok Nokia E90 users, It's time to upgrade your Maps application. Nokia introduced a new version of its widely popular Nokia Maps, an application for routing from A to B in an earth browsing experience that allows you to zoom in from the globe to a desired destination.

It is free to download from the website of the Finnish company but at this stage the amount of compatible phones is rather limited. These include a number of N-series models as Nokia N70, Nokia N72, Nokia N73, Nokia N76, Nokia N93i as well as the company's flagship Nokia N95, naturally. The owners of the two messengers Nokia E61 and Nokia E61i as well as those of Nokia E65 and Nokia E90 will also be able to enjoy the benefits of the updated Maps application. The only two devices outside the N and E series mobiles that support the new version are Nokia 6110 navigator and Nokia 6120 classic. We are yet to see if more phones are going to be added to this list by the Nokia developers.

The Nokia Maps application itself is improved by a new streamlined user interface and a data download counter to help tracking the used data. A highly appreciable GPS status indicator is the final extra in the new pack. Not a bad effort at all, having in mind that only about six months have passed since the initial version was released. The bad news is that voice turn-by-turn navigation is still charged, but with the new version the application is available free three-day trial. This should be fine for a user to put Nokia Maps application on a test and decide whether it does well and is worthy buying.

The Map Loader application, which allows the maps to be uploaded to the device, is also enhanced with voice guidance files, enabled for upload. Other than that, Nokia claims the upgraded software is up to 10 times faster than the original version. The extended map coverage has now grown to 150 countries, with more than 50 of them navigable.

Via: Gsmarena.com

SmartPad: Stick Nokia E90 to Your Dash

SmartPad: Stick Nokia E90 to Your Dash

If you like to use Nokia E90 as GPS device in your car, but want keep your dashboard clean from any hole or glue, this product maybe suit for you. You can secure your cellphone to your dash with the SmartPad. SmartPad use the magic of modern technology to keep your cell phone and other items that slide around in the car secured to your dashboard within easy reach! Amazing SmartPad works on horizontal, vertical, and slanted surfaces; won't scratch or leave a residue. No glue necessary! Amazing silicone/rubber material is reusable; when items stop sticking, simply wash SmartPad thoroughly with water to restore it. Heat resistant to 392° F (200° C); cold resistant to -45° F (-50° C).

Sezaryenin Riski

Sezaryenin Riski

Son yıllarda, pek çok kadının tercih ettiği sezaryenle doğum yönteminin açık riskleri, uluslararası bir jinekoloji dergisinde yayımlanan araştırmayla gözler önüne serildi.

Doktorlar her ne kadar normal doğumu önerse de, çok sayıda kadın bazen saatlerce süren acılar çekmektense sezaryeni tercih ediyor. Ancak uluslararası bir jinekoloji dergisinin yayımladığı çalışma, sezaryenin ciddi sakıncalar yaratabileceğini somut bir biçimde ortaya koydu.

5 milyon hamile kadınla ilgili bilgilere dayanan araştırmaya göre, ilk doğumunu sezaryenle yapan kadınlar ikinci hamileliklerini riske atıyor. Zira, araştırmaya göre, kadınların ikinci hamileliklerinde plasentanın döl yolunu kapaması ya da plasentanın rahimden ayrılması gibi sorunlarla karşı karşıya kalma olasılığı, normal doğum yapanlara göre neredeyse yüzde 50 daha fazla.

Riski artıran unsursa, rahimde ilk doğumdan kalan yara izi.

Uzmanlar, hamilelikte kanamaya yol açan bu sorunların hem anne hem de bebek açısından çok tehlikeli olduğu uyarısında bulunuyor ve sezaryen isteyen kadınların bu riskler konusunda uyarılması gerektiğini vurguluyor.

Bir ayda kekemelikten kurtulmak mümkün

Bir ayda kekemelikten kurtulmak mümkün

Düzgün konuşamadığı için toplumdan uzaklaşan, içine kapanan kekemeler artık geliştirilen bir eğitim programı ile bir ayda bu sorundan kurtulabilecek. Doğru nefes alma, ayna terapisi ve özgüven geliştirici faaliyetlerle yapılan eğitim sonunda kekemeler için yeni bir hayat başlıyor. Hayatı korku ve endişe içinde geçen talebeler eğitim sonunda rahatlık yaşıyor.

Isparta'da yaşayan 10 yaşındaki Akif Dürüz, kendisinden 2 yaş küçük kardeşinin konuşmaya başlaması ve anne-babasının ona olan ilgisinin artması üzerine 4 yaşında iken bebek gibi konuşmaya çalışarak dikkat çekmek istiyordu. Ancak zamanla bu yanlış konuşma diline yerleşip alışkanlık haline geldi. İlkokuldan sonra buna heyecan da eklenince Akif, doğru konuşmayı tamamen unuttu. Diyarbakırlı 15 yaşındaki Kadir Aslan da, hızlı konuşurken bir sorun yaşamıyordu; ancak kısa cümleler kuracağı zaman zorlanıyordu. Ailesinin söylediğine göre, bu sorunun sebebi küçükken korkmuş olmasıydı. Lise 2. sınıf öğrencisi Muhammed Karataş'ın kâbusu Anadolu lisesine adım attığı ilk gün başlamıştı. Arkadaşlarının önünde şiir okurken heyecanlanmış ve o günden beri konuşurken kekelemeye başlamıştı. Muhammed, bu yüzden okulunu değiştirmeyi bile düşünür hale gelmişti. 8 yaşındaki Latife'nin sorunu ise çok hızlı okuyup konuşmasıydı. Doğru nefes almayı bilmediği için bir nefeste her şeyi anlatmaya çalışıyordu. Onun da 2 yaş küçük bir erkek kardeşi vardı ve bu sorun 3 yaşında başlamıştı. Kekemeliğin bir 'psikolojik temelli yanlış öğrenme alışkanlığı' olduğunu söyleyen Beyaz Sanat Kekeme Eğitim Merkezi'nin kurucusu İsrafil Hancı, özgüven eğitimi ve ciddi çaba gösterilerek sorunun bir ayda çözümlenebildiğini belirtiyor. Kekemeliğin oluşumunda ilk sebebin korkular olduğunu ifade eden Hancı, "Çocuklarımızı cinden, periden, öcüden, köpekten her şeyden korkutuyoruz. Doğrudan anlatmasak da ortamda duyuyor, yalnız kaldığı zaman duyduklarını hatırlayıp korkuyor. Ayrıca baskıcı bir aile ortamı da kekemeliğe sebep oluyor. Çocuğun özgüveni zayıflıyor. Yeni doğan kardeşe gösterilen ilgi büyük çocukta özgüven sorunu oluşturuyor. Bu da konuşmasına yansıyor." diyor.

Türkiye genelinde 2 milyona yakın kekeme olduğu tahmin ediliyor. Kekemelik büyük oranda 2-7 yaş arasında oluşuyor. Eğitim programı, okuma-yazma bilenlere yönelik olduğu için 8 yaşından küçükler eğitime alınamıyor. Zaten Hancı, bu yaştan önce çocuğu eğitmenin doğru olmadığını düşünüyor. Hancı, bu yaştaki çocukların ailelerine ücretsiz danışmanlık yaptıklarını söylüyor. Merkezde, Rusya'da uygulanan bir yöntemin Türkçe versiyonu olan ve kısa sürede eğitimi hedefleyen Beyaz Sanat Key (www.beyazsanatkey.com) programı uygulanıyor. Merkezde, Mediha Güney ve Abdülhalim Hancı gibi alanında uzman isimler görev yapıyor. Gelen öğrenciler, önce eski konuşma alışkanlıklarını unutmak ve yeni bir alışkanlık kazanmak için iki haftalık susma eğitimi alıyor. Toplumda ve aile içinde hiç konuşmuyor; sadece her gün merkeze gelerek bilgisayarda en az 5 saat yavaş ve melodili bir sesle metin okuyorlar. "Susma" döneminden sonra doğru nefes almayı öğrenme ve konuşma dönemi başlıyor. Bu sürede öğrencilerin özgüvenini artırmaya yönelik sosyal aktiviteler yapılıyor. Programı ciddiye alıp tembellik etmeden çalışan öğrencilerin bir ay sonunda yavaş ve melodik bir sesle normal konuşmaya başladıklarını belirten Hancı, şu bilgileri veriyor: "Kekemelerde ağız hareketlerinde kasılma, el, ayak hareketleri gibi tikler oluşur. Ayna terapisinde kendilerini görerek bunu nasıl düzelteceklerini öğreniyorlar."

Susma döneminin 8. gününde olan Akif'in büyük ilerleme kaydettiğini okumasından anlayan anne Mine Dürüz, "Düzelmesini çok istediği için kurallara uyuyor. Önceden dışarı çıkıp çocuklarla oynamak istemezdi. Şimdi konuşmadığı halde çıkıp oynuyor. Onun mutluluğunu görmek her şeye değer." diyor. "Aslında bir gün geçeceğini biliyordum. Bundan sonra başka bir Kadir olacak." diyen Kadir, memleketine daha güzel konuşarak dönecek olmanın sevincini yaşıyor. Muhammed ise, "Susma döneminde biraz zorluk çektim; ama buna değdi. Artık daha büyük hedeflerim var. Oraya doğru ilerleyeceğim." şeklinde konuşuyor.

Şemsinur Özdemir
Zaman Gazetesi, 18.08.2007

FlashFXP Ftp Programı

FlashFXP Ftp Programı

Şuana kadar bir çok ftp programı kullandım. Bunlar arasında en kullanışlı ve gelişmiş olanını sizinle paylaşmak istedim; FlashFXP. Gerek görünümü gerekse kullanımı açısından tüm isteklerime karşılık veriyor diyebilirim.

Tüm ftp programlarında olduğu gibi bunda da site yöneticisi bulunuyor ve girmiş olduğunuz sitelerin kaydını tutuyor. Bununla birlikte bir çok farklı özellikler barındırıyor.

Sözü fazla uzatmaya gerek yok. Ben bunu kullanıyorum, tavsiye ederim

http://www.flashfxp.com

Bugün Sitenizin Trafiğini Artırmanız için, 21 Anahtar [Çeviri]

Bugün Sitenizin Trafiğini Artırmanız için, 21 Anahtar [Çeviri]

İnternette gezerken makale buldum. Elimden geldiğince çevirdim ve sizlerle paylaşmak istedim.Gereksiz gördüğüm bazı yerleri de sildim İlk makale deneyimim. Umaım devamı gelir. İyi okumalar...


İnternette bir şeyi sunmanın veya pazarlamanın en önemli kilit noktası insan potansiyelidir. Materyale olan ilgi ne kadar çoksa, değeri de bununla doğru orantılı olarak artar. Peki herşey hazır fakat ziyaretçi yok, ilgisini çekebileceğimiz kişiler yok diyorsanız, altta sıralayacağım 21 maddeyi uygularsanız bu sorunu da halletmiş olacağız.

Ve o önemli maddeler

Madde 1;
Konu ile ilgili özgün makaleler yazın. Ve bu makalelerinizi makale sitelerine veya diğer sitelere yazarak, o sitelerden kendi sayfanıza link alın.

Madde 2;
Hiti yüksek, içeriği sizinkiyle uyumlu bloglarda veya yorum yazmaya müsait diğer sitelerde yorumlarınızı yazdıktan sonra sitenize link veriniz. Fakat "Teşekkürler" veya "Merhaba" gibi yorumlar olmasın bunlar...

Madde 3;
Bir haber açıklama yap ve onu PRWeb::The Online Visibility Company adresine yolla.

Madde 4;
www.Craigslist.com sitesinde doğru kategoriyi seç ve siteni duyur.

Madde 5;
Forumlara üye olarak oralarda aktifleşin. Daha sonra da imzanıza sitenizin linkini ekleyin. Fakat bazı forumlarda imzalara link eklenmesi yasaklanmıştır. Bu yüzden sitelerin kurallarını okumanız önemli... Bulduğunuz forumlar sizin sitenizleilgili olmalıdır. Diyelim ki balıklarla ilgili site açtınız. Google'da "balık" + forum şeklinde aratırsanız gerekli siteleri bulursunuz.

Madde 6;
Bloğunuzu oluşturun ve bloğunuzu yüzlerce blog dizinine ekleyin.


Madde 7;
Bloğunuza RSS eklemeyei unutmayın sakın.

Madde 8;
Banner ve Link değişim programlarına katılın.

Madde 9;
Kendi bülteninizi oluşturup yayınlayın.

Madde 10;
Başka sitelerden reklam satın alın.

Madde 11;
Sizin yerinize otomatik olarak geri cevap verilmesi için autoresponder kullanın.

Madde 12;
Satış sitelerinde küçük ilanlar vererek bu sitelerde linklerini yayınla.

Madde 13;
Ürününüzün bir kopyasını diğer sitelere yollayınız, nede olsa makale yazdınız. Bu sizin vaktini alacak fakat sitenizin hitinde büyük bir darbe yapacak.

Madde 14;
Sizin sitenizle ilgili diğer sitelerle link değişimi yapın. Bunun çok yararınız göreceksiniz.

Madde 15;
Bazı sitelerdeki yazılara link verince o sitelerden sizin sitenize backlink sağlanır. Bu tür siteleri bularak linklerini ekleyip kazançlı çıkın.

Madde 16;
Popüler haber bültenlerinden reklam alın.

Madde 17;
Seminer, konferans gibi zamanlarda sitenizi başkalarına duyurabilirsiniz. Ya da kartvizitinize sitenizin adresini ekleyiniz.

Madde 18;
Ücretsiz bir e-kitap yazın ve bunun ücretsiz e-kitap sitelerinde yayınlanmasını sağlayın.

Madde 19;
Diğer ürünlerin teşekkür sayfalarına reklam verin.

Madde 20;
Seçtiğiniz alan adı akılda kalıcı ve kolay hatırlanabilir olmalıdır.

Madde 21;
Listene mail yolla.Eğer bir listen yoksa, başlamak için hiç geç değil...

Keyword Nedir ? Açıklama

Keyword Nedir ? Açıklama

Anahtar kelimeler sitenizin içeriğini hakkında arama motorlarına ve dolayısı ile hedef ziyaretçi kitlesine fikir veren kelimelerdir. Yani sizin sitenizin özetidirler…

Doğru anahtar kelime nasıl seçilir?

Doğru anahtar kelime seçmenin en kolay ve sağlam yolu bununla ilgili hizmet veren sitelerden kelime yoğunluğunuzu ölçtürmenizdir. Lütfen bu konu ile analiz yapmaktan çekinmeyin yani kendi hislerinize güvenerek anahtar kelime seçimi yaparsanız yanılgıya düşersiniz. Örnek olarak kitaplar ile ilgili bir site hazırlamıştım. Bu sitede sadece kitap özetleri bulunuyordu. Kitap özetlerinden başka bir şey bulunmayan bu siteme kitap, özet ve benzeri bir çok anahtar kelime seçtim fakat sonuç hüsrandı.

En sonunda anahtar kelimelerin analizlerini yaptım ve büyük bir şok yaşadım. Sitede kullanılan kelimeler arasında kitap ve özet çok aşağı sıralarda yer alıyordu. Evet problem belirlendiğine göre çözümü kolaydı. Hemen gerekli sayfalara o sayfalarda en çok kullanılan kelimeleri yerleştirdim ve tekrar analiz ettirdiğimde bu sefer gerçekten de sonuç iyiydi… Kiminiz neden doğru anahtar kelime seçimi bu kadar önemli diyeceksiniz.

Yine günlük hayata dönelim. Televizyonda reklamları izliyorsunuz. Muhteşem bir kitap mağazası açılmış ve büyük indirim var. Siz ertesi gün vakit kaybetmeden mağazanın yolunu tutuyorsunuz ve bir bakıyorsunuz ki karşınızda bir manav hem de öyle kocaman da değil! Evet çok absürt bir örnek oldu yalnız inanın bana internette daha saçmalarına bile rastlamak mümkün. Hal böyle olunca arama motorları da buna önlem amaçlı içerikle uyuşmayan anahtar kelimeleri kullanan siteleri pek sevmiyor ve yükselmesine pek de olanak tanımıyor.

Yani sizin anahtar kelimenizde yumurta yazıyorsa arama motorları sitenize uğradığında orada yumurta görmek isterler. Eğer bulamazlarsa hayal kırıklığı yaşarlar ve inanın size de yaşatırlar. Bu noktada tedbirli olmalıyız. İçeriğinizi yazarken ağırlık oluşturan gereksiz kelimelerden kaçının ve sitenizi ne üzerine inşa etmek istiyorsanız ziyaretçiyi çok rahatsız etmeyecek şekilde ilgili kelimeleri daha fazla kullanmaya özen gösteriniz.

AdSense Kazancınızı 6/7 Kat Artırmanın Yolları

AdSense Kazancınızı 6/7 Kat Artırmanın Yolları

Günümüzde , Google AdSense, webmasterlar için, sitelerinden para kazanma yollarından birisidir. (Hatta en iyisi.. )
AdSense kullanan siteler arttıkça, sitelerinizden en iyi sonucu elde edebilmeniz için, kodlarınıza hükmetmeniz, en iyi şekilde optimize etmeniz gerekmektedir.

Halen çoğu yayıncı, günde 5/10 $ gibi rakamları zorlukla yaparken, iyi düşünebilen bazı yayıncılar için de günde 100 / 300 $ gibi rakamları yapabilmek hiç de zor olmuyor.
Peki bu farkı oluşturan etmenler neler ? .. Onlar farklı düşünüyor.. Bilinen yollardan değil de, en zor yollardan gidip, en iyisini kazanıyorlar.

Şimdi size, günde 5/10$ lardan, kazancımı nasıl 6/7 kat arttırdığıma dair ipuçlarını paylaşacağım. ( Ben değil, yazıyı yazan paylaşıyor )

Bunlar 5 maddeden oluşuyor, eğer sizde bu yolların izini sürerseniz, kazancınızdaki farklılığı göreceksiniz.

İpuçları:
1- Siteniz için bir format tipini benimseyin. Gerekirse başka formatlardan da takviye yapın ancak, bir format kullanıp onu optimize ederseniz en iyi CTR değerlerine ulaşabilirsiniz. Hangi formattan mı bahsediyorum ? Tabii ki Large Rectangle (336x280). Neden mi bu format ? Çünkü bu format, sitenizde normal linkler gibi duruyor, ve kapladığı alan açısından + içeriğinize göre alakalı reklam çıktığında en iyi CTR değerlerini elde edebiliyorsunuz. Örn. http://www.markcarey.com/adsense/formats.jpg

2- Siteniz için elle yapılmış renk bileşimlerini kullanın. Sitenizin arkaplanına göre, reklamınızın arkaplanını ayarlayın. Ben genelde beyaz kullandığımdan, % 90 beyaz yapıyorum. Bu adım, reklamları içeriğinizin bir parçası gibi göstermek adına doğru bir seçim. ( Bu arada galip.com olayını hala yasak diye adlandıranlar yanılıyorlar, biraz araştırma sonucu bunu anlayabilirsiniz. )

3- AdSense kodunu, içeriğiniz ile sırıtmayacak şekilde en üste yerleştirin. İlk kullandığım zamanlar, sürekli sayfanın altına yerleştiriyordum kodları. Bir gün, üst kısımlarda, içerik ile birlikte sununca farkı anladım !

4- Genelde sitemin üst kısımlarında, sitemin içeriği ile alakalı linkler yayınlıyorum ve adsense kodlarını bunların en üstüne koyarak, en iyi sonucu elde ediyorum.

5- Sitemin text ve link renklerini, mause üzerine gelinceki değerleri aynı yapın. Adsense kodunu da aynı şekilde. Bu durum, en iyi CTR değerinizi almanıza yardımcı oluyor. Bunun yanında makalelerin arasına, yanında gösterilen AdSense de en iyi sonucu almanıza yardımcı olacaktır. Tracker yazılımları kullanarak, boş gösterim yapan, ortalama oranınıza ihanet eden sayfaları tespit edip, bu sayfalardan AdSende kodunu kaldırın.

Son olarak,
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/inte...se-diagram.gif

Google servisleri

Google Servisleri

Google Adsense

Google Adwords

Google Analytics

Google Answers

Google Base

Google Blog

Google Bookmarks

Google Books Search

Google Calendar

Google Catalogs

Google Code

Google Deskbar

Google Desktop

Google Directory

Google Earth

Google Finance

Google Groups

Google Images

Google Labs

Google Local

Google Maps

Google Mars

Google Mobile

Google Moon

Google Movies

Google Music

Google News

Google Pack

Google Page Creator

Google Personalized Home

Google PErsonalized Search

Google Reader

Google Scholar

Google Search History

Google SMS

Google Suggest

Google Talk

Google Toolbar

Google Transit Trip Planner

Google Translate

Google Video

Google Web Accelator

Google Web API

Google Web Search

Advanced Audio Coding

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. AAC is promoted as the successor to the MP3 format by MP3’s creator, Fraunhofer IIS.

(Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) , Türkçe anlamıyla Gelişmiş Ses Kodlama sayısal ses için kayıplı sıkıştırma yapan kodlayıcı ya da çözücüdür.)

Depending on the encoder used, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at the same bitrate, particularly below 192 kbit/s.^[1]

AAC’s most famous usage is as the default audio format of Apple's iPhone, iPod, iTunes, and the format used for all iTunes Store audio (with extensions for proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM) where used).

AAC is also the standard audio format for Sony’s PlayStation 3, the MPEG-4 video standard, and HE-AAC is part of digital radio standards like DAB+ and Digital Radio Mondiale.

History

AAC was developed with the cooperation and contributions of companies including Dolby, Fraunhofer IIS, AT&T, Sony and Nokia, and was officially declared an international standard by the Moving Pictures Experts Group in April 1997.

Standardization

It is specified both as Part 7 of the MPEG-2 standard, and Part 3 of the MPEG-4 standard. As such, it can be referred to as MPEG-2 Part 7 and MPEG-4 Part 3 depending on its implementation, however it is most often referred to as MPEG-4 AAC, or AAC for short.

AAC was first specified in the standard MPEG-2 Part 7 (known formally as ISO/IEC 13818-7:1997) in 1997 as a new "part" (distinct from ISO/IEC 13818-3) in the MPEG-2 family of international standards.

It was updated in MPEG-4 Part 3 (known formally as ISO/IEC 14496-3:1999) in 1999. The reference software is specified in MPEG-4 Part 4 and the conformance bitstreams are specified in MPEG-4 Part 5. A notable addition in this version of the standard is Perceptual Noise Substitution (PNS).

HE-AAC (AAC with SBR) was first standardized in ISO/IEC 14496-3:2001/Amd.1. HE-AAC v2 (AAC with Parametric Stereo) was first specified in ISO/IEC 14496-3:2001/Amd.4. ^[2]

The current version of the AAC standard is ISO/IEC 14496-3:2005 (with 14496-3:2005/Amd.2. for HE-AAC v2^[3])

AacPlus v2 is also standardized by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) as TS 102005.^[2]

The MPEG4 standard also contains other ways of compressing sound. These are low bit rate and generally used for speech.

AAC’s improvements over MP3

AAC was designed to have better performance than MP3 (which was specified in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2) by the ISO/IEC in 11172-3 and 13818-3.

Improvements include:

• More sample frequencies (from 8 kHz to 96 kHz) than MP3 (16 kHz to 48 kHz)
  
• Up to 48 channels (MP3 supports up to two channels in MPEG-1 mode and up to 5.1 channels in MPEG-2 mode)
  
• Arbitrary bitrates and variable frame length. Standardized constant bit rate with bit reservoir.
  
• Higher efficiency and simpler filterbank (hybrid → pure MDCT)
  
• Higher coding efficiency for stationary signals (blocksize: 576 → 1024 samples)
  
• Higher coding efficiency for transient signals (blocksize: 192 → 128 samples)
  
• Can use Kaiser-Bessel derived window function to eliminate spectral leakage at the expense of widening the main lobe
  
• Much better handling of audio frequencies above 16 kHz
  
• More flexible joint stereo (separate for every scale band)
  
• Adds additional modules (tools) to increase compression efficiency: TNS, Backwards Prediction, PNS etc... These modules can be combined to constitute different encoding profiles.

Overall, the AAC format allows developers more flexibility to design codecs than MP3 does. This increased flexibility often leads to more concurrent encoding strategies and, as a result, to more efficient compression. However in terms of whether AAC is better than MP3, the advantages of AAC are not entirely conclusive, and the MP3 specification, while outdated, has proven surprisingly robust. AAC and HE-AAC are better than MP3 at low bitrates (typically less than 192 kbit/s).

How AAC works

AAC is a wideband audio coding algorithm that exploits two primary coding strategies to dramatically reduce the amount of data needed to represent high-quality digital audio.

1. Signal components that are perceptually irrelevant are discarded;
   
2. Redundancies in the coded audio signal are eliminated.

Furthermore:

• The signal is processed by a modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) according to its complexity;
  
• Internal error correction codes are added;
  
• The signal is stored or transmitted.
  
• In order to prevent corrupt samples, a modern implementation of the Luhn mod N algorithm is applied to each frame

The MPEG-4 audio standard does not define a single or small set of highly efficient compression schemes but rather a complex toolbox to perform a wide range of operations from low bitrate speech coding to high-quality audio coding and music synthesis.

• The MPEG-4 audio coding algorithm family spans the range from low bitrate speech encoding (down to 2 kbit/s) to high-quality audio coding (at 64 kbit/s per channel and higher).
  
• AAC offers sampling frequencies between 8 kHz and 96 kHz and any number of channels between 1 and 48.
  
• In contrast to MP3's hybrid filter bank, AAC uses the modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) together with the increased window lengths of 1024 points. AAC is much more capable of encoding audio with streams of complex pulses and square waves than MP3 or MP2.

AAC encoders can switch dynamically between a single MDCT block of length 1024 points or 8 blocks of 128 points.

• If a signal change or a transient occurs, 8 shorter windows of 128 points each are chosen for their better temporal resolution.
  
• By default, the longer 1024-point window is otherwise used because the increased frequency resolution allows for a more sophisticated psychoacoustic model, resulting in improved coding efficiency.

Modular encoding

AAC takes a modular approach to encoding. Depending on the complexity of the bitstream to be encoded, the desired performance and the acceptable output, implementers may create profiles to define which of a specific set of tools they want use for a particular application. The standard offers four default profiles:

• Low Complexity (LC) - the simplest and most widely used and supported;
  
• Main Profile (MAIN) - like the LC profile, with the addition of backwards prediction;
  
• Sample-Rate Scalable (SRS), a.k.a. Scalable Sample Rate (MPEG-4 AAC-SSR);
  
• Long Term Prediction (LTP); added in the MPEG-4 standard – an improvement of the MAIN profile using a forward predictor with lower computational complexity.

Depending on the AAC profile and the MP3 encoder, 96 kbit/s AAC can give nearly the same or better perceptional quality as 128 kbit/s MP3.

AAC Low Delay

The MPEG-4 Low Delay Audio Coder (AAC-LD) is designed to combine the advantages of perceptual audio coding with the low delay necessary for two-way communication. It is closely derived from the MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format.

The most stringent requirements are a maximum algorithmic delay of only 20 ms and a good audio quality for all kind of audio signals including speech and music. The AAC-LD coding scheme bridges the gap between speech coding schemes and high quality audio coding schemes.

Licensing and patents

No licenses or payments are required to be able to stream or distribute content in AAC format. ^[4] This reason alone makes AAC a much more attractive format for distributing content, particularly streaming content (such as Internet radio).

However, a patent license is required for all manufacturers or developers of AAC codecs, that require encoding or decoding. ^[5] It is for this reason FOSS implementations such as FAAC and FAAD are distributed in source form only, in order to avoid patent infringement.

AAC requires a patent license, and thus uses proprietary technology. But contrary to popular belief, it is not the property of a single company, having been developed in a standards-making organization.