Mashups, 'Weirduary', bitrates, neverending betas, 802.11n and much more in this week's section

It's our biggest-ever section, physically - 10 pages to get stuck into. Let's dive in:

• It's all in the mix
  What do you get if you combine the output of one site with another? A software mashup, one of the hits of Web 2.0, writes Jack Schofield.
• A strange time of year for buying
  Every February, the games industry turns surreal, reports Kieron Gillen. Plus: Nine months lost in translation - a games developer explains how hard it is to 'translate' games from one country to another.
• At any rate, it's a bit of a rip-off
  The boom in downloaded music has obscured one thing: the quality of the sound hasn't improved, and finding high-quality versions isn't easy. Adam Webb explains
• Are you a dummy for beta software?
  With so many programs supposedly stuck in 'codevelopment' for anything from a few months to five years, has this phase lost its purpose? Danny Bradbury investigates
• Dreams of faster TV streams meet nightmares of reality
  Something so brilliant as a wireless network that runs as fast as something with wires could be made pointless by bad software, writes Charles Arthur.
• The long and winding road
  Electronic vehicle licensing is the latest e-government project - but do the benefits outweigh the costs? Mike Cross puts his head under the bonnet.
• Surfing the airwaves with the new wireless
  Digital radio, and especially internet radio, is gradually becoming more of a database experience than a serial one, explains Vic Keegan.
  
• Technobile
  Why do fax machines still exist when the recyclable electrons of scanners do the job so much better, asks Mat Smith.
• The focus on light ushers in a bright new day
  Gamesblog: In the future, we're going to see videogame artists using light in the same way as great chiaroscuro painters and cinematographers, says Keith Stuart.
• Read this week's letters
  Send your letters, comments, questions and rants to tech@theguardian.com, and please include your address and telephone number (for our reference), else we might not publish your letter.
• Ask Jack
  Send your questions and comments to Jack.Schofield@theguardian.com. Published letters will be edited for brevity, but include full details with your query. Please visit our Ask Jack weblog for daily updates.
• Recently asked questions
  • If I misspell my company name will it be an internet hit?
    The classic example is Google, an intentional misspelling of 'googol', the number represented by a 1 followed by 100 zeros.
  • Why did Sony kill off its Aibo robot dog?
    Because Aibo isn't a band or a film, and it can't play or record music or films.
  • Should I Photoshop my passport picture?
    Soon, all new British passports will be 'e-passports' with embedded biometric data, based on such things as the distances between the eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
  • Should doctors use mobile phones in hospitals?
    Both patients and staff are usually banned from using mobiles in hospitals because of fears that their radio output will interfere with sensitive medical equipment.
• Short shrift
  BlackBerry ups the ante with more storage | Powerful speakers help define the media player | Google Toolbar 4 - will it keep your favourite sites in line?