Sunday, June 25, 2006
Tech News
Is Viral Video Dangerous? The NY State Board of Consumer Affairs thinks so.
Viral Videos We Like
Lazy Sunday, the one that started it all
Evolution of Dance
“Pump It” sped up
Russian Climbing
Patrick Norton and the Mac
Cat swinging on a fan.
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
The Shining Edited Preview
Montage of Isuzu Gemini commercials
Troops (Cops/Star Wars)
Cat playing with a laptop
Juggling to the Beatles
Honda Accord dominoes
An unfortunate popup on TechTV
Leo in a sumo suit
A Bot Named Anna
And while we’re talking don’t forget about Call for Help, my Canadian TV show, now available for 99¢ an episode on Google Video!
11a-Noon
Q Jim - Playing Music Remotely from the PC
There are several ways to do this. If you’re looking for the best one out there, it’s the Sonos. With it, you get a remarkable remote control, and TWO units. It’s got a great user interface, and it’s extendable. One unit connects to the network via a wire, and the other one can be wired or wireless. If you’re looking for something cheaper, check out the Roku SoundBridge. You can also look at Slim Devices: such as the Squeezebox The Airport Express does not, however, have a user interface like the others. You can, however, get the Keyspan remote control for the Airport.
Q Tom from Costa Mesa - Laptop not turning on
You may want to try replacing the tiny lithium ion Memorysaver battery inside. All laptops do eventually die. The Cristina Foundation takes old laptops, repairs them, and gives them to people who need them
Q Richard from Fullerton - Notifications (spam/phishing)
You are getting several phishing scam and spam emails. Ignore these. They are trying to get your personal information, and then they take advantage of that. It is dangerous for you to be reading email as HTML. I generally tell people to turn off the preview pane. Only open emails from people you own. Also, try disabling HTML email. Opening attachments and opening links from unknown people are equally dangerous. Do not do it! Here is an archive of real phishing emails.
Noon-1p
Q Pat from Bishop - ISPs and Privacy
The first thing to know is that the Internet is never private, unless you go to an encrypted/secure site. Not only your own ISP, but all the ISPs that your connection goes through to get to a website sees everything. It is safe to say that everything you do on the Internet is being watched by an automated system looking for keywords. The iPhantom does encrypt your data. However, once it leaves your ISP’s server, it’s out in the open. Whatever you do, at one point or another, your data will be out in the open. I use a program called HotSpotVPN which scrambles (until it leaves their servers) and anonymizes your data.
Q Cheman from Diamondbar - Digitizing/Organizing documents
Right now, I know of no good way to do this. There are great scanners that can organize receipts and business cards. So far, without human intervention, the technology to make it completely automated is not possible. The closest thing I can think of is NeatReceipts.
Q Ed - Shuffling through videos on a media center
I’m not entirely sure. If you try putting all your media into a playlist in Windows Media Player and try the shuffle feature in the program itself.
Q Jerry from Palace Verdes - Connecting a computer to the Net
The network settings in the computer are probably messed up. You want to configure the wireless settings. You do not need .Mac to connect to the Internet. To get your email from mac.com and click mail.
Q Leslie from Long Beach - Printing from Macs to PCs
Just get a printer and hook it up straight into the Airport. On the iBooks, the kids will have to add the printer in the System Preferences. The printer should show up as a Rendesvous/Bonjour printer. Once you connect the printer to the Airport using USB, connect the desktop machine to it using Ethernet. Here’s a link to the Bonjour software for the Windows PC.
1–2p
Q Todd - Firewire stopped working on camera
Bad news. If you put the firewire port in wrong, the firewire chip in the camera probably got fried. If it’s still under warranty, just send it in.
Q Les from Anaheim - Viruses/spyware on MySpace
Use Firefox, and you should be alright. It is an offical, mainstream website.
Q John from Beaumont - Playing DivX files on other computers
There are several DVD players that can play DivX files. To play the DivX files on any computer without installing anything, you may want to try out the “portable” version of VLC, which can play virtually any video file. You’ll want to convert it into a standard MPEG2 file so it can play in any DVD player or computer. I would suggest looking for a DivX to MPEG2 transcoder. You can use Dr. DivX Then you’d use Nero or Roxio to author a standard DVD which will play on anything.
Q Christopher from Los Angeles - Windows required in law school
There are a couple sites I would recommend for running Linux on laptops. Check out TuxMobil or linux-laptop.net.
Chat Logs and Show Audio
Listener Comments
24 June 2006
19:44 by anonymous.
hi,
I’m having some trouble with the hosts file. i downloaded one from mvps.org, one that’s supposed to prevent your computer connecting to those annoying ad sites, but it won’t let me replace the hosts file. At first I thought that it was Windows Defender, so I killed the process, and tried again. No luck. So I tried copying and pasting the data from the hosts file I downloaded and into my original one, and notepad wouldn’t let me save it. i went in the propperties, and the file was not read only. Does anyone know how I can modify the hosts file? Any help would be greatly appriciated.
22:37 by anonymous.
One more thing. The hosts file came with a .bat file, mvps.bat, which automatically backs up the existing hosts file and replaces it, and that doesn’t work either.
25 June 2006
10:09 by anonymous.
Sounds like your hosts file is write protected right click and select properties then unclick the write protect box.
10:47 by anonymous.
Hi,
There is no write protect box. What’s the command for disabling write protect on a file in Command Prompt?
Command Prompt DOS File Attribute command
From the prompt > type “attrib filename.ext” to see the attributes
From the prompt > type “attrib +r filename.ext” to Write Protect the file
From the prompt > type “attrib -r filename.ext” to Remove Write Protection
Type only the commands enclosed within the quotes.
I use my TIVO to get my internet audio to my stereo. Why buy anything else if you already have tivo?
11:43 by anonymous.
Still no go I’ll try doing it in safe mode.
11:44 by w?.
some of those video are so dumb
INTERESTING! Once again Leo recommends another Apple Product - the Airport Express - BUT doesn’t bother to WARN you that there are many reports of PREMATURE FAILURES RIGHT AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRES of the Airport Express!!
Oh YES, there is even a Separate sublisting on the APPLE Discussion Site of all the Airport Express owners with THE MORE views on ANY Apple Forum Sites!! 10,517 VIEWS!!!
“ Topic: Dead Airport Express - no light at all”
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=222954&tstart=0
And here’s Australia coverage - http://www.appletalk.com.au/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t18914.html
“Dead Airport Express?”
Get the IDEA?? Apple MAKES CRAP! And the Media Pimps Cover it UP!
The CMOS battery can be removed by taking out the main battery and checking it for 3 volts. Replacements are on ebay. If it isn’t that and the AC adapter is good the motherboard is likely to be bad. The configuration memory chip that holds settings can fail and then it won’t turn on.
A bad ram stick or the wrong type of ram can also keep the T22 from coming on so try ram that is known to work.
THIS TIME HIS NAME IS LA IT
12:03 by anonymous.
For verifying web sites you can use callingID. It says about this site - leoville.tv, Owner: Hides its identity, Server location: United States. www.callingid.com is the site and it is free.
Can’t dispute the facts, huh Apple Droid “Lowenbrau Kid” … so dismis it with your usual juvenile retorts …. if these words are too difficult for you to understand, we can get you an adult translator.
12:11 by anonymous.
At least THE TROLL is a fan of the show. Why else would he return every week?
How do I configure Thunderbird by Mozilla? I have a stand-alone XP Media Edition; the fastest Verizon DSL connection. Please do step-by-step. I’m a newbie.
Leo, what about the phoney work at home scams advertised on KFI that feature illegal pyramid schemes? They were pushing one pyramid scheme called PAS, Prosperity Automated System.
They doen’t even have a product, all they do is sign up new members for $3895 each who have
to sign up more new members at $3895 each. That’s plainly illegal even if they call it an MLM.
Yea I think the TROLL returns to torture himself
****************************************************
another fishing schem to be aware of:
starts out like all others, but they also give a link to your bank (through them) your real bank comes up and they hope that you will log in, becayse they are recording your keystrokes.
KFI Scams don’t count…..
Otherwise this Apple Infomercial show wouldn’t be on the air.
But the obvious KFI scams are anything Bill Handel hypes, the usual Diet Suppliments (KFI was the BIGGEST promoter of the infamous Cortislim scam that is now under FTC investigation) and NOW KFI has a new one, then there’s the “Tax Free Nevada Corportation” Scam (ask ANY IRS or Calif Tax Board agent about that one!). KFI is FAMOUS for their Ad Scams …. if it means Ad Income, KFI will Pimp it!
12:29 by anonymous.
PLEASE PLEASE, GO BACK TO THE CITY DUMP WHERE YOU BELONG !!!!
Why does this guy even listen to kfi? it must be klling him
You can comment all you like about the TROLL, etc., but a visit to the links he provided indicate a real problem with the product. Check it out before you kill the messenger!
Leo notes: this is the same guy using a pseudonym, by the way.
IBM laptop gone dead: I had the exact same problem recently with a Tabletpc. Try removing your main battery and plug into AC without the batttery. If the unit starts and boots this way, then, install the battery while on!
12:41 by anonymous.
Jet audio Player WILL randomly PLAY VIDIO or AUDIO
PaperPort from Nuance (formerly Scansoft) will manage, scan, convert and share documents. It does take some human interaction
Have you ever noticed that the stupidest people call Leo with problems like this dope who thinks “dot mac” is an Internet service! Figures …. a stupid Mac user…. that’s why Macs are around, for stupid computer users.
12:46 by .
>>Q Cheman from Diamondbar - Digitizing/Organizing documents<<
I use PaperPort 11 by www.Nuance.com to organize my paperless medical office and home. My scanner is a Xerox Documate 262; scans 60 pages a minute duplex.
12:48 by anonymous.
With Jet Audio just go to the file of Videos select all ,right click play with Jet audio , then when the player comes up select Random Play
The guy trying to get the HP online is too dumb to use a computer!
12:50 by anonymous.
La It, go back to the kindergarten classroom where you belong.
Hey TROLL bet your blood pressure runs pretty high when you listen to Leo’s show
Leo: Regarding the move from paper to digital, I’m a proponent of this since a lot of my work involves writing in a lab notebook. Might I suggest Evernote (www.evernote.com) to start. It’s a notes software similar to OneNote, but much more versatile and free! Drag and drop images and documents with relative ease. In the case of incorporating text-only documents scanned as an image, I use single-word tags to facilitate searches. To date, I’ve converted all my lab notes to digital. And the best part, it’s ALL searchable!
-Rod
www.quantumBlog.com
A note on the Roku Soundbridge. It will work with Itunes, but it will not let you play DRM protected songs that you buy at the Itunes Store. I guess that is one way for Apple to protect its’ investment in Airport Express.
LA IT, Wow, according to you, all of Apple of products are bad and all of Windows products are perfect. I looked at the site, and I am an memeber of MacFixit, they do not use the words, “his TYPICAL piece of crap from Apple “. Yes, MaxFixit does talk about the problems, few that are serious, but most that are bugs, which if you had 20% computer know-how, which is typical in ALL computer products, (Apple, Unix, VAX, Window, Linux). Every item you give about Apple have a bad product I can provide a 5 for Windows. If you want to go head-to-head on it, I be glad to. Also, you seem to forget, there are much more great Apple products than there are bad products. Also, who pays you for your pimping and distortions for Apple? What Windows informercial do you work for? You are sooo one sided that it is not funny. You want a adult, fair, rational discussion, be and act like an adult, fair and rational person.
Leo: I use a program called IrfanView which is a pretty old program to look at video’s and jpeg files. There is a feature in the program which would allow you to add all of the files from the folder into a slideshow file. When you run the slideshow file you have to ability to shuffle the files being played back in a random fashion.
12:58 by Mel?.
Windows Media player will play a play list of videos. Click on file-open. Select all the videos you want to show. Then select play and Shuffle.
I think LA IT,Maximillium, and Boogie Woz are all the same IDIOT aka. TROLL
Try winamp for all your video shuffling, just add the dir with drag n drop .
Teacher with the Airport …. trash the Airport Base Station, it’ll be dead right after the warranty runs out anyway.
A BETTER way to go and get 125Mbps wireless (oh yes, Apple is STILL floundering around at 54Mbps … some “innovator”) … get the US Robotics # USR5461 Wireless MAXg Router which provides FOUR Ethernet Ports (not ONE like an Airport) and HAS A USB Printer Port too!
http://www.usr.com/products/networking/wireless-product.asp?sku=USR5461
And you won’t pay the APPLE PREMIUM PRICE like the Apple Airport either …. the US Robotics is $60.99 at NewEgg Electronics!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833135113&
ATT=33–135–113&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r
For the Mac Droids out there …. dismiss this factual Gem:
Friday, June 23 2006 @ 08:30 AM PDT (macfixit.com)
MacBook 13″ More on trackpad button clicks not registering — Apple fixing SOME; more
More on trackpad button clicks not registering — Apple fixing some We continue to report on an issue where the MacBook trackpad button does not respond to clicks on every attempt, and/or feels “mushy.”
Yesterday we posted a workaround that involves modifying a specific part of the battery bay, either through pressure or with the use of a small folded piece of paper. It now appears that the issue is caused by a malformed piece of top casing, which Apple is replacing on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, units themselves are exchanged. (Imagine that, with Apple’s you HAVE to use “workarounds”!!!)
MacFixIt reader Mark writes:
“I purchased a Black MacBook (week 20 build) a couple weeks ago. When I got it home I quickly discovered the trackpad button didn’t register clicks unless I was very specific about where I clicked. It had to be dead centre, or on either side, anything between or close to the top or bottom edge wouldn’t work.
“I tried to adapt to it thinking it was normal with these new MacBooks. Unfortunately even holding the button down to drag and drop something rarely worked unless I concentrated on keeping the button pushed.
“A few days later I went to the Genius bar so they could have a look. After a quick demo the technician said “this is the worst one I have seen” indicating to me that he had seen a few with the problem. He explained to me that the problem was the top part of the bottom casing that was causing it and it would have to be replaced or re-seated. He also said that it probably wasn’t worth the effort and just to ask for a new one as it was only a few days old.
Just think of me as the Masked Avenger of “Pimped Recommendations” from the media and radio whores everywhere. Z
13:22 by .
Both Sony and Canon have great send in servicing. Usually you get your camera back in under 7 days. Just fill out a web form, and send the camera in. This is better than standing in line at a Best Buy or other big box store.
LA IT why don’t you start your own PODCSAT, that way you could Compete with Leo !!
It’s easier for the TROLL to come here and trash others than to start his own podcast.
troll is a hars word spammer would be better u must got lame word from chat room
Try and see if you can construct a sentence Waldo
Leo:
I thought this would be a place where people could spend time sharing what they know and helping each other. What I found was a flame war.
Maybe I’ll “tune in” again some other time and see if things are a little more civil.
Thanks for the radio show. I’m a regular listener and appreciate your knowledge and suggestions.
‘Bye for now….
13:52 by Jeff.
It only takes one unruly OCD child to ruin an otherwise good class. Just ignore LA IT.
la it go some where eles and post your trash on another site
For converting divx to DVD, my favourite program is Roxio’s Divx to DVD Creator. It will convert Divx files into a DVD with the push of a couple buttons. It will put 5 TV shows on a DVD at good quality and on my 3ghz processor, it encodes at 1.5X realtime. It’s part of Roxio’s Easy Media Creator Suite. I don’t like the latest version because it is so bloated but Version 7.5 can be had on eBay for $20.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=roxio+7.5
So Leo was I the Inspiration for wearing that Sumo Suit TSS on Halloween??
18:29 by .
Leo and Cheman:
I use a program called PaperMaser Pro which does an excellent job. I create folders for all of my documents just like a file cabinet and when I scan documents I can place them in the proper folder in a file cabinet. Another great feature is it’s ability to OCR the text right when you scan. So if I’m looking for all document from a client, I can do a search and it will scan all folders in a drawer or all drawers and find all documents with that client’s name on it.
For example, I have a drawer called Deposits then folders for each bank and a folder under each back for each year. If a client calls and states that he paid a bill, I can easily search for all checks written by him and easily find his check.
Hope this helps.
23:12 by man?.
good for you mac troll
26 June 2006
With regard to viral videos causing people to do stupid things, check out the recent story from Onion Radio news about back yard wrestling http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49618 It turns out that back yard wrestling and other similar activities are a self correcting problem. This makes a good case for natural selection.
28 June 2006
about John from Beaumont - Playing DivX files on other computers
I found a program called VisualHub that takes DivX and many other formats, converts it to DVD. It can even pack up to 18 hours on one DVD with each file as a “chapter” on the final DVD.
http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/
is the site.
I’m not affiliated in any way, just a happy, paying customer.
-Carrie
My computer is working fine. But if I suspect a weak bios battery can you put in a new battery (very carefully with the power turned on) so as to not loose the settings?
Use “CallingID” It lists the show as High Risk as the show hides its identity. While this is true the feature is still valid for other unknown risk shows/sites and remains a good check of risk.
29 June 2006
For “Ed - Shuffling through videos on a media center”
Windows Media player will shuffle videos. Add the videos to your media library and randomly click on any video to start playing your library, then turn on shuffle. I use it all the time works great.
I want to say the new comments only kind of sucks since you have to search through all the comments to find one related to a specific question. Oh well.
about John from Beaumont - Playing DivX files on other computers
I’m a grad student teaching at a university where they lock down the computers pretty strongly. However, I have found that VLC will install on the XP machines and it runs nearly everything. You can also get around some limitations by installing things to your My Documents folder on the computer.
On macs you can download and run nearly every program right from the desktop unless they have a full installer.
16:57 by .
In regards to the gentleman seeking a method to randomly shuffle videos on a Windows XP machine:
My personal solution is through the use of a popular media player, WinAmp. I have been a satisfied user of this free media player for many years. It is stable, is not a resource hog and has an excellent playlist editor that includes the ability to shuffle.
I use WinAmp for mp3, m4a, avi, DivX and most other common media formats. The player is highly customizable with an excellent skinning feature, and a wide variety of user-created plugins for special uses. For media playback, I highly recommend visiting www.winamp.com and downloading the free version.
02 July 2006
Actually parkour and freerunning are more directed to getting from point a to point be in the straightest path possible. and such having to tackle urban obstacles like fences and walls.
the biggest diff between the two is that parkour focuses on getting from point a to point b in the most fluid and efficient way while freerunning focuses on the looks/ aestethics of the run.
03 July 2006
Great collection of videos!
06 July 2006
14 July 2006
