Tech Talk

Great news: The complete Beatles collection is now available for download.

The Fab Four’s 13 legendary remastered studio albums, the two-volume “Past Masters” compilation and the classic “Red” and “Blue” collections are available for purchase and download on Apple’s iTunes.

Single albums are available for purchase and download for $12.99 each, double albums for $19.99 each and individual songs for $1.29 each. The “Beatles Box Set,” available for $149, contains the 13 remastered studio albums with iTunes LPs and all mini-documentaries, “Past Masters,” and the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film, a worldwide iTunes exclusive which captures the Beatles’ very first U.S. concert in its entirety

“We’re really excited to bring the Beatles’ music to iTunes,” said Sir Paul McCartney in an Apple press release. “It’s fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around.”

“I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes,” added Ringo Starr. “At last, if you want it — you can get it now — The Beatles from Liverpool to now! Peace and Love, Ringo.”

“We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes ten years ago.”

Beatles fans wishing not to spend any money right now could enjoy an early holiday gift from Apple. The technology company is allowing iTunes users to watch the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film for free for the remainder of the year.

This decision is a smart one for both the Beatles and Apple.

For the technology giant, it fills the one big hole it had in its music collection.

For the legendary rock band, it ensures their epic sound continues to resonate long into the future.

It will also undoubtedly lead to yet another spike in their popularity — and lead to even more record sales.

One of the smartest people I know and Stamford’s own Matthew T. Comer once hypothesized that if time travel will ever be possible, it has already happened. He went on to explain that chances are a time traveler from the future would likely want to explore history hence going to a time earlier than today. Logical. So is time travel possible? Comer believes so.

If he is right, and he almost always is, then why hasn’t a time traveler been identified yet? Perhaps at least one has.

The Web is alive in talk about a man captured talking on what appears to be a cell phone during the filming of Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 silent movie, “The Circus.” You can read more about it in this New York Daily News article.

Of course, if it is a cell phone, Tech Talk would have to believe it is far from the distant future as there would not be the satellites or towers to allow for conversation and it would need to have technology within it to do without them. And one would think it would transcend transcontinental communication. It would very likely be transtime chat — and just imagine the possibility of that.

Above all, it is a fun idea to think about. Similarly seemingly irrational ideas have been proven possible. So why not this?

The Sony Walkman ushered in a new generation of technology — and with it a definition of what it means to be cool.

Thirty-one years ago the world was a different place.

Among the goings-on in 1979:

• Margaret Thatcher became prime minister of the United Kingdom;
• The Soviets invaded Afghanistan;
• Tom Wolfe had “The Right Stuff”;
• Three Mile Island threatened to have a melt down; and
• The world’s masses was first able to transport their most happening tunes with them wherever they went.

Of course, the Walkman’s quality was nowhere near the digital purity Apple’s iPod would offer a generation later — nor would it risk unspooling listeners’ favorite beats. But it nonetheless revolutionized our music-listening habits.

And for all of that, the world has moved on. And Sony has announced that it would no longer be manufacturing the cassette-playing device, according to media reports.

However, all is that not lost. While Sony may no longer be manufacturing the universe-shifting device, several companies in China will continue to under licensing agreements. But still, an era has ended and the world will never be quite the same.

Verizon Wireless customers who have wanted an Apple iPad, but not the headaches that came with having to deal with two wireless companies should get their credit cards ready. Verizon will begin selling the gadget on Oct. 28 at more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores across the United States.

According to Verizon Wireless:

Verizon Wireless will offer three bundles, all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for just $20 a month. In addition, Verizon Wireless will also offer all three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis.

Although GeekOSystem is quick to note:

Verizon will be selling the Wi-Fi model only, and not ‘true’ 3G: For 3G-like service, you’ll need to but the iPad bundled with a MiFi mobile hotspot, the data plan for which is $20/month for one GB of data.

However, the most significant part of the announcement is the growing relationship between Verizon Wireless and Apple. This is not a good day for AT&T.

Social media often shines the brightest during the darkest times — particularly in terms of Twitter.

Of course, it’s always nice to use the network to learn the latest sports scores, headlines, menu options and weather patterns, but that information could be easily gathered in other places.

The place Twitter really stands out is in terms of breaking news and, as some exceptional Connecticut journalists are demonstrating this week, riveting trials. Tech Talk highlighted another moment of social media triumph last year during the violence following the Iranian presidential election.

Reporters from across the state converged Tuesday in New Haven Superior Court to hear Dr. William Petit’s heart-wrenching testimony of his family’s final hours together and what it was like during and following the brutal attacks that would leave his wife and two young daughters dead.

Among the tweeters of note:

• Diana Perez, of NBC Connecticut
• Helen Ubinas, of the Hartford Courant
• The New Haven Register
• News 8, Connecticut
• Alaine Griffin deserves credit for feverishly updating the Courant’s story more quickly than any other known outlet.

Tech Talk encourages you to follow these talented journalists, but know that some of the details being shared may be difficult to read given the nature of the brutality of the slayings.

Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky are charged with murder, sexual assault and other crimes stemming from the July 2007 killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela. Hayes is currently on trial. Both men face the possibility of being executed, if convicted.

A century ago, the public would have to wait for the next day’s newspaper to learn what was said in court.Three quarters of a century ago, the public could hear a news update on the radio — after the reporter was able to leave the courthouse during breaks in testimony. Even as recently as a decade ago, the majority of the public would have to wait for the evening news to learn the latest. Today that has all changed.

Now, thanks to our forward-thinking state press, anyone could follow the trial in real time — and read what they have missed by simply scrolling down. It’s as incredible as it is heart-breaking. The press ought to be commended for their efforts.

Of course, wired justice isn’t blind. The judge must make clear that jurors must sign off of social networks, like Twitter, until the conclusion of their service. Avoiding traditional media is no longer enough, as Tech Talk stressed late last year.

In this NASA photograph, Neil Armstrong is seen on the moon.

Forty-one years ago, one American stepped out of a small lunar module known fittingly as “Eagle,” and realized the dreams of the world.

After hundreds of thousands of years of gazing toward the heavens and at the large heavenly body, man had finally stepped foot on it — a men with an American flag embroidered on his arm.

Despite trailing the Soviets in the space race for the larger part of a decade, the United States successfully soared past its rivals to score an awe-inspiring come from behind victory.

At 4:18 p.m. Eastern Time, Neil Armstrong announced to an anxious world: “The Eagle has landed.”

Less than seven hours later, he secured his place in human history when he hopped down a small ladder and onto the moon — and said: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin followed shortly thereafter.

Five Apollo missions would follow before the sun set early on the program. Eugene Cernan became the last man to walk on the moon on Dec. 14, 1972.

A successful Apollo 11 mission, however, was by no means a given.

Any of the astronauts could have become trapped on the barron landscape unable to ever return home — and yet that did not keep America or NASA’s courageous men from taking the leap.

The dangers of the Apollo 11 mission were so serious that a speech had been crafted for President Richard Nixon that would have been delivered if Armstrong and Aldrin were marooned.

Revealed in 1999, the address stated:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

America needs to to remember and recapture that drive. We must again dare to send our sons into the unknown so that the people of the world are stirred and can feel as one. It is a continuation of our manifest destiny. Staying at home, playing it safe and passing the keys to space exploration to the rest of the world be a major disappointment. We must continue the work of Armstrong, Aldrin, Cernan and the others — they looked risk in the face and did not blink and neither should we.

At a time when NASA’s future — and America’s role in space exploration — is in question, President Barack Obama, Congress and indeed the American people by in large should come together to ensure our leading role.

We mustn’t allow any nation or entity — whether it be Russia, China, Japan, India or the European Union — overshadow the dreams, ambitions or progress of this great nation.

The United States should be committed to returning to the moon by decade’s end — and to Mars early into the next decade. It will be as dangerous as it will be expensive and challenging as it will be ambitious, but we must persevere — an untold number of advancements, pride and jobs are at stake.

In the words of the late President John F. Kennedy:

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Let’s let the dream live.

From the Tech Talk archives:

• Do you know where your moon rocks are?
• Remembering an out-of-this-world walk
• Rocket launch marks significant step forward
• Take an out-of-this-world tour of the Olympics cities
• NASA launches commemorative shuttle patch
• We can’t stop now
• One small step for tweeters, one giant leap for mankind?

Supreme Allied Commander U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks with 101st Airborne Division paratroopers before they board airplanes and gliders to take part in a parachute assault into Normandy as part of the Allied Invasion of Europe, D-Day, June 6, 1944 in this U.S. Army photograph.

Sunday marks the 66th anniversary of the Allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy, France.

One-hundred-sixty-thousand troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of the French coastline to fight Nazi Germany, according to the U.S. Army. More than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the invasion — and more than 9,000 Allied troops were killed or injured in pursuit of freedom. It was a pivotal victory that ought to never be forgotten.

Unfortunately with each passing day, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn about the historic event from the men who risked it all for America and her allies.

Fortunately, the Internet offers countless resources to acquire information about the build-up, the invasion, its significance and the aftermath.

Among the best resources Tech Talk has discovered:

• The U.S. Army
• PBS’ American Experience
• D-Day, Normandy and beyond
• National Geographic
• CCNY’s archives
• D-Day Museum
• The White House
• The National World War II Memorial
• The National D-Day Memorial Foundation

While many people worked Friday afternoon, space history was made.

The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, known simply as SpaceX, launched a privately-developed 180-foot, 735,000-pound Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Eastern Florida.

The rocket may one day carry cargo and astronauts to space.

The nine first-stage engines ignited at 2:45 p.m., and after burning for three minutes, the first stage dropped off into the Atlantic Ocean while the second-stage engine burned for about six minutes to propel a capsule 155-miles into orbit, the New York Times reported.

Check out the take-off:

NASA praised SpaceX’s efforts.

“Congratulations to SpaceX on today’s launch of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. “SpaceX’s accomplishment is an important milestone in the commercial transportation effort and puts the company a step closer to providing cargo services to the International Space Station.”

The launch comes after some delays.

The successful mission will likely help President Barack Obama push his proposal to turn over the launching of astronauts into space to private industry.  The debate over the future of NASA’s human space program will likely continue through the summer as the White House works with Congress toward a compromise.

Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder, told reporters that exciting, innovative times are ahead.

“This is the dawn of a new era in space exploration,” the Associated Press quoted Musk as saying. “I think a very exciting era and one which I think will lead to the democratization of space, making space accessible to everyone eventually … Yeah, I think this is really a historic moment.”

SpaceX plans to launch a second Falcon 9 in the coming months, according to the Times. The launch will be an effort to show the space agency its abilities to transport cargo and supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX will attempt to use use the Falcon 9 to compete against United Launch Alliance — a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, according to Wired. The company was awarded $3.5 billion in contracts by the American space agency to deliver cargo to the International Space Station through 2016, the technology publication reported. Other companies are also vying to secure a government contract to transport people and supplies to the ISS and elsewhere in space.

Flights carrying cargo to the ISS are scheduled to begin in 2011,  the Times reported. SpaceX has has indicated that it could build a version capable of transporting people within three years of getting a contract.

“This launch of the Falcon 9 gives us even more confidence that a resupply vehicle will be available after the space shuttle fleet is retired,” Bolden said.

The shuttle program will end later this year. NASA will then focus its efforts to sending man to a nearby asteroid and eventually Mars by the mid 2030′s.

From the Tech Talk archives:

• NASA launches commemorative shuttle patch
• One small step for tweeters, one giant leap for mankind?