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Saturday, August 5, 2006

Keep those phones ringing! I’ll continue taking calls for a couple of hours after the show ends at 2p today. We’re pre-taping for episodes later this month. So keep calling 1–800–520–1534 through 4 this afternoon!

Tech News

Defcon, the “cheap seats” hacker convention is going on right now.

At the earlier high-priced convention, Black Hat, some people hacked a Macbook in 60 seconds.

Microsoft is using a new network stack for Windows Vista, and Symantec is reporting that there are several flaws in the new stack.

People are making humorous reviews for a gallon of milk

11a-Noon

Q Charles from Los Angeles - Can’t decide what MacBook to buy

The easiest way to decide and compare would be to go to the Apple Store website. The biggest difference between the Macbook Pro and Macbook is that the Pro has a higher end video card and a larger screen. I have a MacBook and am very happy with it. What you will want to do is put more RAM into it. I got my RAM from Newegg; at least 1gb. The MacBook has a 1280×800 screen which is just a bit taller than what you need to play a DVD. Wait till Monday and see if Steve Jobs announces any new MacBook Pros though with the new Core 2 chip. Never buy an Apple product the day before a conference!

Q Chad from Anaheim - Does NOD32 scan emails from Mozilla Thunderbird?

Yes it does.

Q Carl from North Carolina - Looking for an mp3 players that will “resume” mp3s

The iPod does it. The PSP, Creative Zen, Dell DJ, Archos players, the Rio Forge, and PalmOS handhelds do this as well.

Q Dillon from Oklahoma City - Gigabit ethernet

When you get the normal ethernet (10 megabit), it’s fine for Internet access. However, when you’re connecting computers together, gigabit ethernet is a great way to connect them. It will be as if you’re moving files around on the same computer. To run gigabit ethernet, you may want a better cable (CAT6 or CAT6E) to get the full throughput and just connect the computers together and file sharing will work normally, just faster. In the future, you can get a gigabit switch or a gigabit router.

Noon-1p

Q Vance from Chino Hills - Nintendo DS and WPA encryption/Windows on the Mac

You would have two wireless routers hooked up. If the WPA router has a hardwire port, you can connect that directly to the older WEP router. Do not allow the older router to assign addresses.

Q Jamie from Corona - Machine that will copy/fax/scan

Inkjet is a good solution if you don’t mind a slower speed. You want to look for one that will have built-in faxing capabilities. Go on over to PC Magazine and read their printer reviews. Look at the editor’s choices. What you want is an all-in-one printer. They like the Brother laser, and the Canon Pixma all-in-one.

Q Steve from Irvine - Two separate libraries for iPod

iTunes will notice that you have a second iPod. It will then create a separate folder for the iPod. In the settings, select the option so it only copies songs from a certain folder. The library is both your wife’s and your own songs.

Q Larry - Grainy LCD screen on camcorder

It may be that the crystals got damaged or a wire to the lcd screen got damaged in the seven years you’ve owned it. The cost of fixing it would be more than a new DV camera. The move is to digital video in every respect. As long as your camera is working, you may want to transfer the tapes to DVD.

Q Eric from North Hollywood - Is it worth it to get a Dell XPS?

I like the laptop. You can get cheaper laptops, but I think some people cheap out on laptops. You get what you pay for. You get a lot of stuff with the XPS, it is about right for $1700. If you wanted to cut the price, you’d end up sacrificing something vital.

Q Mike from San Francisco - Camera lense extenders

I’m not entirely sure on what effect lense extenders have. Maybe in the next hour someone will call in about it.

1–2p

Q Christina from Glendale - Moving TiVo recorded shows to DVD

It’s a major process to do this. Most TiVos have analog outputs. All you need is a DVD recorder or a video capture card and connect the analog output to that. I covered this topic in my book: Leo Laporte’s Guide to TiVo.

Q Al from San Diego - Core 2 Duo in a new laptop

The 1.83ghz Core Duo is still faster than the 2.0ghz Pentium M you’re looking at. Clock speeds do not matter anymore. The speeds are dropping and processors are getting more efficient. It would be even better if you could wait a little bit longer for the Core 2 Duo chip to be released.

Q John from Grenada Hills - Voice chat over LAN for gaming/Animation program

I like . You can install the server software and use a separate computer on the network as a server. Chat during gaming is just VOiP. Everyone playing the game that will log into that server. You got to make sure that you’re wearing headphones that don’t feed back into the microphone. If you’re still getting lag, use a lower codec or faster network. Wired networks are much, much faster.

Chat Logs and Show Audio