Leo Laporte
The Tech Guy
2–5p EDT Sat/Sun
- Home
- Saturday Show
- Sunday Show
- Past Shows
- Audio Archives
- Stations
- Chat
- Watch Live
- Forums
- Listener Map
- User Groups
- Tips
- FAQ
- Glossary
- Contact Leo
Sponsors
Leo Links
 |
For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
|
|
Sunday, June 5, 2005
Show #150
I’ll be taking calls at 1–800–520–1534 from 2–4p today. Call in with your questions to help me tape the July 2 show ahead of time (so I can take a Geek Cruise June 29-July 10).
toc | toc
11a-Noon
Peter in North Hollywood - thumbprint recognition in XP
XP has the hooks built-in for fingerprint recognition. You can use a device to unlock the PC. Either buy a keyboard with built-in fingerprint recognition or use a USB fingerprint plugin like APC’s Biopod. There are even . The field is called Biometrics.
Ross in Monrovia adds: For lots of coherent discussion about good passwords, their use and how to generate one, check out the site www.diceware.com. Personally, I remain extremely skeptical about biometrics as marketed today. It seems that they are oversold as a solution. Fingerprint sensors as recently as only a couple of years ago were foolable with Jello… in one example a latent print from a glass was lifted and used to make a mold for a Jello finger which was able to unlock several manufacturer’s sensors. A paper and discussion is at http://cryptome.org/gummy.htm. For the caller’s needs as described, he may find that a physical security measure such as storing his work on an external USB drive that can be placed in a locked drawer or safe is easier to implement and demonstrate to be secure.
Michelle in Eagle Rock - better to buy bundled AV?
No - I think you’ll get a bunch of extras you don’t need. Buy a simple inexpensive AV (I recommend NOD32 from Eset)then add free anti-spyware and a hardware firewall. No need for the bundle.
pixel writes: If you are looking for a lightweight software-based firewall, try Sygate Personal Firewall. It’s an excellent solution, but it does take some configuring and understanding. It’s a really excellent firewall, however - and does not give any problems or conflicts.
Jeff in Phoenix - buying cell phones
Roger in Winnetka - When Viruses Attack
Gateway hard drive had an XP install on it. Reinstalled AVG. Uninstalled Roxio.
Jim2 writes: says that the missing CDROM/DVD-ROMs this is a known problem with Roxio Easy CD Creator. Fix is at http://www.roxio.com/en/support/kb/ecdc/eez000005.jhtml
Noon-1p
PC Magazine Columnist John C. Dvorak discusses the Apple move to Intel
Read John’s column on PC Mag. His column tomorrow deals with this.
John C. Dvorak’s blog is at www.Dvorak.org/blog
A listener writes: Apple PPC —> x86. It seems to me that Apple’s recent rise in popularity has been primarily due to two factors. One is certainly the iPod. The other is what marketer’s can’t pay for but would love to…”word of mouth”. Because now the Wall Street Journal is reporting this makes it that much closer to “reality”, why would Apple risk the good word of mouth that its loyal customer base has always provided?
Blue Sky Mining in LA writes:
Regarding the very long winded discussion about Mac switching to Intel, or anything else for that matter, … Macs are only 2% of the market, who cares? All this concern over a platform which what amounts to the equivalent of being used by the entire population of Delaware (it’s a tiny state folks) compared to the rest of the US ? I seriously doubt that what ever Apple does is going to convert the vast plurality of computer buyers because they have a history of switching gears too often already, leaving legacy users high and dry (I was one of them, twice in 20 years). Franlky OS X is buggy in each and every release (I’ve switched to running YDL Linux on mine). Mac help sites are flooded with calls for help (sorry Leo) and complaints. - just my humble oppinion
Ps. I used to do OS 7 - 9 application development years ago, Apple alienated me and a lot of others and I vehemently agree with Leo that developers are NOT going to find platform jumping a pleasant thought nor easily done. It is NOT a porting issue. Just ask ANY Game developer.
Joshua from California writes:
The most important thing to consider about this is Transitive’s QuickTransit technology. It allows emulation of one architecture within another, with around 80% of the performance of the host processor. That is, one could run unchanged PPC OS X binaries on an “Mac OS x86″ with a 2ghz x86 chip at the equivalent of 1.6ghz. And, considering that Intel chips, especially the Pentium M, are pretty speedy, new Macs would get a speed boost. Current OS X apps would work, and new ones would be written specifically to take advantage of x86.
Note this interesting quote from Transitive’s website:
“Initially, Transitive is focusing on providing its product to computer OEMs. To date, the company has engaged with six of the world’s largest computer companies. Each of these companies is seeking broad ISV and customer-written software support for their platforms.
“To date, Transitive has publicly announced production deployment of its products with one computer OEM customer. Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) began shipping QuickTransit on its Prism™ Visualization System for Linux in May 2005.
Transitive expects to announce that a second computer OEM will deploy products enabled by its technology during the 1st half of 2005 and that others will deploy QuickTransit before the end of the year. Unfortunately, strict confidentiality obligations prevent us from discussing these relationships in any detail.”
(http://www.transitive.com/customers.htm)
It all starts to add up…
UPDATE
An alliance between Apple and Transitive is (practically) confirmed by a lawyer’s CV:
“Transitive Technologies: Represented Transitive Technologies in a co-development and licensing agreement with Apple Computer”
(http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3340942_1?&channel=CCC)
As a recent purchaser of a 12″ Powerbook, I’m a little disappointed. Its value will surely go down now. Steve’s RDF (reality distortion field) better be on the “Super-Extreme” setting tomorrow…
Gill Amellio, formerly from Cupertino, writes -
Now that Steve Jobs has fomerly committed product suicide by announcing that Apple would be switching in a year to two years to Intel Processors (which Stevie has BASHED for years as being inferior”), Anyone wanting to buy a Mac should wait just a couple months because a brand new G4 or G5 Power Mac or iMac will be down to only a few hundred bucks as Apple inventory swells to door busting preportions becuase no one will want to by DEAD END G4 or G5 Technology now. Keep an eye on Home Shopping Network, OverStock.com and the Bluelight Specials at K-Mart.
Good work Steve Jobs, your arrogance is astounding! Now all the Mac Heads might want me to come back for my old job!
Pretty Funny Gil. You know us zealots including Lapdog Leo still worships the ground that Steve walks on. We are committed to blindly buying anything Steve TELLS US. This is why both Dvorak and Lapdog are both wrong. Fanatic devotion knows nothing about ‘dem CPU gizmos and this announcement is neither the death blow, nor the greatest move in history. Instead, it’s just another test to see who is absolutely faithful to Steve.
Mark - getting Outlook to use your personal address book
For some reason Outlook doesn’t default to your Outlook contacts for its email address book. But you can add the contacts by clicking Tools→Email accounts… and adding your Personal Address Book. Follow the instructions here.
Timm in Lancaster - Internet broke after he turned off machine
He can’t get online. He’s got DSL. I suggest uninstalling the DSL software and reinstalling it.
sverrocchi writes: Make sure you are using your full login name. A friend was having the same problem, as it turned out on 06/02/2005 SBC changed the login in procedure to the full login name. YOURNAME@sbcglobal.net or whatever SBC wants you to use. For me its @sbcglobal.net, my friend is @pacbell.net we both use SBC DSL. Hope this helps.
Lee_O says:
Also try resetting the modem after power outages by unplugging the power for about 30 seconds. If nothing helps, call your isp, get these problems documented, and ask for some sort of reimbursement for services that you’re paying for and not getting.
Herbert in Klamath Falls, OR - can’t access video.msn.com
The web otherwise works. First open your Tools→Internet Options… click the Privacy tab and press the Sites… button. Make sure that the MSN site isn’t one of your “managed” sites. You might also want to check the c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file to make sure there’s not an entry for the inaccessible site.
pixel writes: Blocked sites are often a side effect of spyware. Make sure you’re running antispyware solutions. Three good ones are from Anonymizer, Safer Networking (the creators/maintainers of the infamous Spybot: Search and Destroy), and Microsoft’s AntiSpyware (as of this writing in beta and only for Windows XP, 2000, and 2003 Server).
Wmtblke writes: I had a similar problem I went to Start > Run > winipcfg (for Windows 98) and hit the Release and then the Renew buttons. This gave me a different IP address in the router and I was able to get to the site.
pixel’s adds: For Windows 2000/XP, you’ll find that winipcfg doesn’t exist. Go to Start > Run > cmd. Then type in ipconfig -release, hit Enter, then ipconfig -renew and hit Enter. This will do the same thing.
Steve in Crestline - GoToMyPC for Mac?
There are several remote access solutions for OS X.
Apple’s Own Remote Desktop
Timbuktu
RealVNC
Chicken of the VNC
Jeff in Yorba Linda - PDA recommendations
PocketPC Dell Axim or iPAQ
Palm Tungsten
1–2p
Tim in Palm Valley - small software developer won’t make move to OS X Intel
Cost his company $1 million to convert from 9 to X.
Gary in Santa Clarita - SD card is slooooow.
digital camera, 16MB SD memory card. His new card is very slow. Make sure you’re USB 2.0 all the way: computer, hub, card reader, and card.
CF 80x = 12MB/sec, 40x 6MB
John Cooper adds: Something else to consider. If the card reader is really old, it may not be able to properly address a card which is 512MB. It may only work up to 256MB, or less. It sounds like the reader is struggling to read the card, and older readers may not be able to address 512MB of space properly, or at all.
Lee_O says:
Your SD card may just be old. They now sell SD cards with high data transfer speeds (hi-speed, 40x, etc.).
Alfred in Irvine - cracking software authentication
He’s in an interesting position. He has a program that requires online authorization to install, but the company that published it is defunct and he can no longer install it. He wants to upgrade his computer, but can’t move the program. You’ll need to do some online research for cracks for the program.
Alan in Phoenix - IE won’t work on MSN, Firefox will
Windows 98 - I suggest a reinstall.
Tony in Pensacola - Do not reinstall quite yet… although it can never hurt… who doesn’t like a fresh Windows installation!?!?! ;)
Try this first. It has been a long time since I used 98. But go to start, settings, control panel. Click on Add/Remove Programs, then look under windows setup, (man it has been a long time!) then I believe it was Internet tools. Make sure you are in details view, so you have a list of things to uncheck. Uncheck Internet Connection Sharing(ICS) first. I think that this should fix your problem.
I am not exactly sure what causes this problem in 98, but I think that it gets confused communicating with IE somewhere. I hope this will work for you, please post a reply if it does not work and maybe a link to a PrintScrn of what your settings look like under Internet Tools.
Bouna Fortuna,
Mark in Covina - not getting audio when capturing video using S-Video cable
He’s using WindowsXP Media Center Edition and Windows Movie Maker, and capturing the video via S-Video and audio cables. Microsoft says this is supposed to work but since he has a DV camera I’d try the firewire cable instead.
Robert in Los Angeles - somewhere I remember reading that in some applications an svideo cable carries pix only, and not audio. The solution in that case would be to use a pair of audio cables to move the audio. The S cable should carry the video without any problem.
Tony in Pensacola - Hmm yes I agree with Robert, I really never heard of audio being transfered through S-Video. I also recommend using a pair of audio cables (usually Red and White) you can get an stereo adapter that will run your left and right audio cable to a single “headphone like” stereo cable. With the adapter attached you can hook it up to the back of your input on your computer. The adapter is called a Y-CABLE,
So you will use S-Video for Video, and the RCA cables with adapter for audio. You can buy these cables at any electronic store or walmart.
Be sure that if you edit videos this way, instead of the “recommended” Firewire, that your audio settings in windows has Audio Input Volume un-muted and turned up. Buona Fortuna
Walter in NY - repairing permissions on OS X
Do it if programs fail unexpectedly, it’s harmless to do, but not necessary for every update.
Regarding upgrading to a more powerful video card for Tiger - I see no reason to do so. Motion requires 128MB of VRAM, so it’s worth upgrading for that. Otherwise I don’t think it’s necessary.
Bill in Dana Point - techie gift suggestions
Going to technical conference, corporate with 1500 super techies, he needs a cool techie giveaway worth $500–1000.
I suggested a Garmin StreetPilot GPS. What would you suggest??
I would give a go for wireless weatherstations or a Suunto wristop computer such as the X9 which has GPS. - Buzzrr
How about a Roomba vacuum cleaner? A lot of techies loathe housework, but might be entertained by a robot doing it for them… With accessories, it should work out pretty close to $500. - Tim
Chat Logs and Show Audio
|
Show Archives | |
 |
