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Sunday, September 3, 2006
Tech News
Singularity is arriving! By 2020, it is expected that a machine as bright as a human if not exceeding in intelligence will cost a mere $1000.
11a-Noon
Q Robert from Huntington Beach - Caller ID becoming unblocked
For some reason, his Time Warner caller ID anonymizer is not working as well. 911 and other companies (such as telemarketers) use a different caller ID system so that is why they can call you directly. These companies use a system called ANI. Call Time Warner and tell them that their anonymizer is not working well because the reason you have it on is to block telemarketers.
Q Dennis from Marina del Rey - Do you need a firewall with DSL?
He is going to get DSL. You don’t need a firewall if you are using a ROUTER with DSL. The modem that DSLExtreme will give you converts the signal from the copper to ethernet. I like a routers because they are first and foremost a hardware firewall, but they also do the PPPoE connection. For routers, go with a cheap Linksys router.
Q Craig from Brussels, Belgium - Free program to burn slipstreamed bootable CD
You need something that will take your folder and burn it to a disc to make it bootable. If it was an ISO file, you could use a variety of free CD burning applications. CDBurnerXP Pro is absolutely free and it should do the job. Also, try out Drive Snapshot Tom’s Hardware has a great guide on how to create a slipstreamed disc.
Noon-1p
Q Douglas from Minnesota - Speeding up boot times
He wants to know if there’s a way to put the operating system on RAM in order to boot up near instantaneously. You used to be able to buy PCI cards loaded with RAM. The question is how to make it bootable. I’d imagine that it is possible, but the costs would be through the roof. The problem is not the hard disk with slow boot times. It is the operating system waiting upon drivers and such. Gigabyte’s GC-RAMDISK is a PCI card that acts as a SATA card.
Q Mike from New Jersey - High Definition Radio
High definition radio is not stereo AM. High definition radio is the way of the future. It is here to stay. Since it is a standard, any company that makes high-def radio will do. I like the Boston Acoustics HD radio.
Q Johnny - Doesn’t know where to start with a new computer purchase
She and her family is not tech-savvy. I would consider getting a separate computer for the kids. Whatever computer you get right now, you can give it to them a couple years down the line. You want a desktop. You’re going to get an LCD screen, you probably want a 19″ screen. You want a big hard drive: 200–250gb. Also, you’re going to want at least a gigabyte of RAM. For the processor, I like the Intel Core 2 Duo chips. The best deals are from Dell online. The best way to shop is to go to Dell and configure them. Computers usually last 4–5 years. Seven years is way out in the future. Take a look at the Dell XPS 410. Account software in your budget and your project will come around to $2000.
Q Eric from Bakersfield - What to replace Javascript with on websites
He is asking this because Steve Gibson has stated that Javascript is prone to some hacks. If you’re secure in other ways, the Javascript hacks shouldn’t be too bad. I wouldn’t go out and turn off Javascript everywhere.
1–2p
Q Charlie from Mississippi - Viability of OSX on regular PC hardware
This may be possible. It can be done right now, but it illegal. It is not going to be widespread. Apple’s business is selling hardware, not software. The margins on hardware for Apple much larger than any other company. One of the reasons why Windows has so many issues is because they cannot control the hardware. If you want to be kept up on this news, go to OSx86project.org
Q Jan from Oceanside - PDF files opening with Excel
You can throw away the trial of Microsoft Office. When you open a file, the computer goes into a database that finds what program opens .pdf files. You have to find any pdf file and click “get info” and make it so all pdf files will open with “Preview”.
Q Tom from New York - Advertisement Aggregators
He wants to start a record label that will give away music for free, but he needs ads to support it. Digg uses Federated Media as well as Boingboing. Try contacting them.
Q Buzz from Huntington Beach - Browsing the web anonymously on a Mac
Try out Tor. It goes through a variety of servers and eventually randomizes your location. However, it is going to slow you down. If you use iPhantom, it won’t slow you down because it is hardware. The problem is that it is subject to subpoenas.
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