Sunday October 1, 2006
Tech News
Security holes galore. No sooner does Microsoft patch the VML flaw, then news of a new flaw emerges. Microsoft is investigating.
And according to two hackers, Firefox has 30 unpatched flaws, including a Javascript flaw they demonstrated yesterday. I recommend the NoScript extension.
No gloating Mac users. Apple shipped a patch for 15 exploits on Friday. Run Update now.
11a-Noon
Q Larry in San Diego - converting VHS to DVD
There are four ways to do this. Which way you choose depends on what hardware you want to be stuck with after the project is done. The concept is the same for all four: you’re converting the analog VHS video to bits that can be burned (with or without editing) to a DVD.
1. A video capture device like the Formac, TV Eye, or Pinnacle Studio Movie Box. These require a computer and a DVD burner, but allow you to edit the video before burning. Do get a Firewire device if you can.
2. A standalone VHS/DVD recorder. Great if you don’t have a computer, or have a lot of tapes to convert, but there’s limited editing. Afterwards you’ll have a DVD-recorder DVR.
3. HP’s Moviewriter DVD-Burner, it requires a computer but has the analog inputs built-in. Good if you have a computer but not a DVD burner
4. A DV camcorder with analog pass-through.
Noon-1p
Q Joe from Idaho Falls - Getting rid of “jerks” in comments and chatrooms
This is hard unless you have software to do this. What cPanel is doing is that it is giving you a nice front-end to Apache’s capabilities. If he’s using dialup, AOL, or any other service with a small number of IPs, his IP constantly changes. There is no substitute for constant supervision. I would deputize a few people as moderators. The more opportunities you give to the spammers, the more often he will post. Publicizing this will only fuel the fire.
The Tony Robbins talk at TED that I mentioned is available here. Or you can subscribe to them on iTunes.
And Jeff Han’s amazing user interface demo from TED is also online. Check it out!
Q Coverting cassettes to MP3s
The PlusDeck 2c is $89 from Geeks.com.
1–2p
I use, and recommend, this web password generator.
Chat Logs and Show Audio
01 October 2006
Unhappy Mac Owner,
There are similar stories for Dell with the Toshiba since they have to replace so many batteries (not typical but expected with such great numbers). It is expected and normal in business. Don’t forget, overall Apple has won awards for customer service recently (yes you don’t feel it but nothing is ever 100%). Also, I know other are not happy with Apple’s customer service but they are not happy with any company’s because how many companies are cutting back on it. Look at the bright side, at least you computer does not blow up in flames like a few Dells. LOL. Look at the big picture, the macro, not just you.
Calling the Apples owners that responded to the PC Magazine as liars, you can not say that since you do not know them. That would be as wrong as I would call you a liar and say you don’t own a Mac and are only a troll but I would not do that without any facts. Enjoy the OS, not the company. :)
/| some people complain to much /|
12:34 by anonymous.
Maybe for the comment box technology need keyword or phrase filtering to stop spam and unwanted posters.
12:39 by anonymous.
In Leo’s case maybe limiting char length of post could help.
Despite what Leo said, Norton was the likely suspect when the caller lost his restore point utility. Uninstalling and reinstalling Norton AV and especially Internet Security almost always destroys the system. That is why they have NOD32 et al.
I always recommend AVG Free for all my friends or if they are willing to pay, then NOD32. AVG is good but is a little intrusive. NOD32 is barely noticeable and I’ve tried lots of AV software over the years. The main advantage of theAVG that you buy is that the license is for 2 years.
12:59 by anonymous.
macbreak video will not copy to my video ipod. before itunes 7 and updater 1.2 macbreak videos copied. message says the video
format is not supported by this ipod. what’s going on? other video
podcasts copy to my ipod.
intel imac 5g 60gb ipod
13:16 by anonymous.
KeePass can generate secure passwords and store them encrypted. An extention can be added to automatically backup your file after each save (and keep revisions). Free & Open source http://keepass.sourceforge.net/
ATTENTION, LEO LAPORTE!
Regarding your Mac troubleshooting advice today…
I hope you read this before the end of today’s on-air radio show, so you can issue corrected advice on-air.
1. Re: The very recently released Mac OS X 10.4.8 update:
This update is for ALL Tiger users, both Intel Macs and PowerPC Macs. (The confusion might’ve been caused by the fact that there are two separate versions of this update, one for Intel, and one for PowerPC.)
2. Re: Problems with system Sleep, not sleeping, not waking from Sleep, etc:
The advice given to the caller to log in to a “test” or “ghost” OS X user account is good advice in many troubleshooting situations, but NOT IN THIS SITUATION! Reason: The power management settings, being system wide, are not stored in the usual HOME > Library > Preferences file for each user. Rather, they’re instead stored in Library > Preferences, a collection of preferences settings that are system-wide, and common to all users. The preferences for system Sleep, and other energy-related settings, are stored in the file Library > Preferences > com.apple.PowerManagement.plist. The caller might try dragging that file to the Desktop, then re-starting the Mac, then checking to see if the symptoms can be made to reappear.
As for the advice to restart in “safe mode” by holding down the Shift key while starting up, well, that, too, is good advice for some troubleshooting situations. And, indeed, it might uncover the problem here, too. But, I’m betting that a corrupt preferences file is more likely than some problem with a system extension.
—Mac guy bruceb
If you never accept HTML, or attachmens just go back to faxing. I compose most e-mail tesxt only using the native e-mail function from DSL Extreme, however in my job I have to send CAD Drawings, reports generated by other software (usually as PDF) and pictures. If the antivirus software isn’t protecting this why have it? Not many viruses are sent in pure text files.
passwords - handy little freebie program - keepass. i keep the entire file and application on my thumbdrive - accessful whichever computer i’m using. currently tracking over 150 separate passwords in categories i created.
http://keepass.sourceforge.net/
FREE.
How do refomat a drive after you installed ubuntu.
My 45 gb hard drive now has only 8gb. I have tryed fdisk delete partion set new partion formated the drive run scandisk and it still shows only 8gb.
HELP
13:42 by anonymous.
We could eliminate spam if the ISP provided a digital signature for your email address, and then they only accepted emails that you sign and your computer will only accept emails that you have a white list of signatures. The rest fall into the spam bucket. If everyone did this only spam would hit the spam bucket or get dropped by ISPs because they are unsigned or not validly signed.
Vista runs fine with a 64Mb or even 32Mb video card, just won’t have Aeroglass as an option and looks like Windows XP. It only seems to have Aeroglass available if you have an expensive new nVidia or ATI card that will run the special drivers.
14:32 by dan.
keep the great work up Leo
we are all counting on you
have a great day
What’s a splitter? I need to buy a router to run my mini mac on occassion,using dslextreme.com, and I’m a novice on hook up.
leo were you going to list the name of the password software that required only one password but created a unique one for each site
Truth In Radio = Unhappy MacOwner
02 October 2006
01:48 by Mike.
To the poster above: If you just want to re-size existing partitions on that install, use a tool like Partition Magic. If you want to get rid of Ubuntu, the easiest way is simply to put your Windows (or recovery) CD in and boot from that and re-install. An occasional re-install - say, once a year - is a good thing on Windows anyway, and you’ll never get rid of the bootloader otherwise. (Well, you can but, IIRC, you’d need to extract a cab file of the CD to do it, anyway.)
On another note, I’m not sure what the constant fuss about Macs is here. It’s extremely tiresome, and mostly irrelevant to the calls or the requests for help.
FWIW, I despise Apple for many reasons, and they have the most vocal, ignorant, and annoying fanboy “community” going, but I think Leo is quite right to say that a Mac is currently a good choice for most home users who don’t need specific programs that aren’t available on that platform. It’s eminently sensible advice. What particularly annoyed me about Apple was when they refused to replace a faulty logicboard in my iBook. It was out of warranty, but it was an admitted faulty part, with the serial number actually in a band listed on their website. They were replacing them, but they suddenly changed their policy at the beginning of the year and wouldn’t. Their fault; their faulty part.
I’ll never buy another machine from shysters like that again. That said, that’s personal. Leo’s advice is still good advice for most home users, and I’m right behind him. He says what he thinks is best for most people, and more power to his elbow.
12:11 by .
>Joe from Idaho Falls - Getting rid of “jerks” in >comments and chatrooms
>This is hard unless you have software to do >this. What cPanel is doing is that it is giving >you a nice front-end to Apache’s capabilities. >If he’s using dialup, AOL, or any other service >with a small number of IPs, his IP constantly >changes. There is no substitute for constant >supervision. I would deputize a few people as >moderators. The more opportunities you give to >the spammers, the more often he will post. >Publicizing this will only fuel the fire.
I run a “sucks” website with a chatroom. The system is phpBB running on Apache. In the “help” files is a clue to ridding idiots from the group. A “command” line typed in the “send” box will do the trick. Just type the following (minus the quotes, of course) “/ignore ‘username’” and the system will ignore any input from the idiot. The drawback is that it must be done every time the chatroom is activated and the individual shows up.
In my experience, several “spies” from corporate headquarters were trying to see what we were talking about. I set the system to ignore the users, and they quickly and quietly disappeared.
Regarding iTunes tags…
Make sure all the songs of that album have the correct track number. Track 5 will be above 1 if 1 doesn’t have a track number. Also make sure all the album info (artist, album, etc.) match!
:)
Leo you ned a Karma system for comments in the worst way.
03 October 2006
To Mark in Santa Anna: The remote control system easiest for the user to initiate is SingleClick, available at http://www.uvnc.com/addons/singleclick.html. Mark would follow the directions to customize an exe and host the file on his website. The remote user downloads and runs one program on their PC and it automagically connects back to Mark’s computer. The user does not have to make any router changes. Once connected Mark can view the client’s PC using UltraVNC.
Someone asked about HTPC in the show, WinTV USB 2.0 TV is on sale right now at Circuit City for $20 after rebate. Though of course PCI card is much better choice. I use WinTV−150 and GB-PVR, but the card comes with program for watching and recording shows, it and use TitanTV for TV listing and remote recording.
Now my problem, I have 2 SATA drives in my HTPC running Windows XP, both are partitioned into 2 parts. But for some reason last partition want to take up 2 lettters. Some part of the system think it’s G: other think its H:, so it lists both in My Computer, eventhough its the same thing. I tried reformat, repartition, reboot…
To Mark in Santa Anna:
I Use RealVNC, you can point the person you are helping to realvnc.com, or just host a copy on your website. Have them download the full version, and install the server. Once the server is installed. they can riht click on the VNC icon in the system tray, selest the “Add New Client” option and enter in your ip address, or domain name and hit enter.
On your side you need to have the VNC full version installed, atleast the full viewer. Run the “Run Listening VNC Viewer”. You must have port 5500 forwarded to your system. Once they go to add client, enter your ip address and click enter their screen pops up on your system.
I move frequently with my laptop and my ip changes and I don’t always have the port forwarded. I have OpenSSH running on my server set up to allow port forwarding. When I need to connect this way I make a connection to my server with PuTTY with the settings to forward remote port 5500 to localhost port 5500.
With this setting I can move anywhere in the world, make the connection to my server with PuTTY and they can still make the connection.
04 October 2006
to Larry in San Diego - converting VHS to DVD:
A good choice of Mini DV camcorder for acting as an analog-digital passthrough is the Canon ZR700 (also called the MV960 in Europe). We bought one of these recently, partly for this very purpose. Very capable camera generally and works very well with iMovie.
One note, if you want to send video to the Mac without DV taping it first, the camera manual tells you to just switch A-D passthrough on, but for iMovie’s benefit you also need to put the camera on Record-Pause (iMovie prefers to be in control of the tape, so this way it thinks the tape is ‘in the loop’). I’ve seen this workaround useful for other A-D camcorders also.
05:18 by Ron?.
I just listened to 288 this morning and have a comment about RDP (Remote Desktop Connection for Windows XP).
It is a slick way to connect to another computer to fix it; however, it blanks the screen of the computer you are accessing and doesn’t allow the user to learn from the experience. Remember the old adage about teaching them to fish or giving them a fish.
I recommend something like VNC which works much better on both sides.
Just my two cents.
Windows XP has a Remote Assitance system built into it which is available by e-mail, IM or in the Help and Support center. We use this all the time in a company. It allows you to see the user’s desktop and what he is doing or take over the session.
regarding itunes tags:
in addition to making sure that the track tags are correct, check to make sure the “of track” tag is the same for all the songs in an album.
i.e., Track # of #
if tracks don’t have the of #, itunes gets confused
05 October 2006
To the second guy about the Outlook email auto suggestion fill in thing. If you don’t want to turn it off but want to get rid of an email that it is suggestion when you type part of it just use the arrow key to go down to the one you want to get rid of and press delete. Then it won’t suggest it again.
To “twodogies”
When you open fdisk, one of the first screens asks if you want to enable large disk support. Make sure it says Y (for Yes), before you continue.
let us know if that doesn’t fix it.
To “Never2old”
The router you buy should have multiple output jacks on the back, which will act as the “splitter” you enquired about.
There should be a port labeled WAN, which you connect to your DSL modem. Your computers then connect to the ports labeled LAN.
Note: that on some routers, the WAN and the LAN jack right next to it share internal circuity, and you can use one or the other, but not both at the same time. Read the manual that comes with the router.
To “twodogies”
Also, in fdisk, look for any Non-DOS partitions and delete them. Ubuntu is probably in a Non-DOS partition.
Ubuntu WPA tip from show 287 hasnt materialized as of yet…anyone please? Many of us are waiting for it.
07 October 2006
