Where’s the Other Half of Your Music File? - New York Times

Where’s the Other Half of Your Music File? - New York Times

The New York Times had good article explaining bitrates, which is worth reading.

I largely agree with the findings. It has been long established that Apple's AAC format and Microsoft's WMA both give better sound quality than MP3. While MP3 remains the most interchangeable format, it is definitely showing its age. I am not the most "musical" person on earth, but I can hear the difference.

Second, to my ears AAC its highest quality settings (256 or 320 kbps) is nearly indistinguishable from CDs -- in the typical personal listening environment. You can hear a difference. But it's not one that leaps out at you, and it's magnitude will vary depending on how high end your audio equipment is.

Finally, while compressed formats still are needed for efficient use of portable music players, these days the cost of adding addition storage to a computer is cheap enough that lossless formats are a practical choice for home use. I expect multi-disk CD changers to go the way of eight-track tapes, replaced by lossless formats on hard drives.

Digital Fears Emerge After Data Siege in Estonia - New York Times

Apparently the scare stories aren't overblown after all...

Digital Fears Emerge After Data Siege in Estonia - New York Times

Minimalist Schlepping

Then again, you can simply lighten your load by carrying less.

WaterField Bags’ (sfbags.com) Vertigo takes the minimalist approach. It will hold just your notebook and a couple of accessories. As the interior picture on the right below shows, the bag has a couple of pockets for a few small items. But mainly it will accommodate your laptop inside one of WaterField’s protective sleeves and one of the company’s pouches for power chargers and like accessories.



(Best way to buy is to get the bag, sleeve, and pouch as a bundle, which WaterField calls a “mambo combo.”)

You can get in your iPod and maybe a couple of pens. But don’t expect to be able to take files and books along. WaterField has other bags for that purpose. You also really don’t want to use this for larger notebooks. It works best with the kind of thin laptop pioneered by Apple and Sony and now made by practically everyone.

Vertigo holds the laptop vertically (doh!), which gives it an even smaller profile. By holding its width to the narrow side of your laptop, it minimizes the number of “oops, sorry about that” moments you have when the usual horizontal bag bumps into a bystander.

With this bag, less is more.