Sunday, October 8, 2006
Tech News
The Wall Street Journal is claiming that Google is in talks to acquire YouTube.
11a-Noon
Q Louie - How to create an “unattended” installation of an OS via USB
He wants to know how to do an “unattended” installation of Windows Vista via a USB drive. Supposedly, an unattended install of Windows Vista is much easier because it is an ISO file. You can try out the Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows Vista. This is what businesses really want because it is simple and quick. I’ll ask Paul Thurott on my podcast Windows Weekly. He has an article about Windows Vista deployment tools.
Q Nicholas - Cannot access “My Documents” Folder on external drive/DVD Authoring Program
You have to change the permissions. Here’s a Microsoft document on permissions.
Q Ken from San Diego - Outputting computer video to flatscreen TV
There are 2 types of outputs on computers: VGA and DVI (digital). You want to look at the “native resolution” of the television. Your computer screen is at a higher resolution than most televisions. You want to connect the computer using DVI because the TV is digital. If you get a 720p screen, you’ll have a screen with less resolution than a normal 17″ or 19″ screen. However, if you get a 1080p screen, it will look great. If your computer only outputs to VGA, there are VGA to DVI converters out there.
Noon-1p
Q Stephanie from Anaheim - Nvidia graphics card drivers corrupted
There is any easy way to fix it: go to Nvidia’s or the card manufacturer’s site and download the drivers. Open your browser, go to nvidia.com, and right on the top is a link to download drivers. Select “geforce” drivers, download, and install.
Q Eric from Bakersfield - Macs vs. PCs for video editing/Getting motherboard error
It depends on what software you like on the PC. However, the Mac comes with a very decent editing software called iMovie. I also have to mention that most TV and film studios use Macs to edit their video. Also included is iDVD to author DVDs. So yes, I think Macs are better.
The error you’re getting is because your power supply is not powerful enough. With three hard drives, yeah you need a new power supply.
Q Brian from Santa Margarita - USB not working on Windows 98 machine
I bet your driver is still there. Open the device manager and look for USB devices. I want you to select all the USB devices and delete them all, then restart the computer. This just tells the computer to start over. After reboot, it should rediscover the USB ports. Make sure all your devices are unplugged from the computer when you reboot. Then one by one, connect the devices and Windows should install them. If the drivers are corrupted, throw in the Windows 98 disc and reinstall.
Q Bob - What equipment to use to record lectures
Some people use iPods and iRivers to record. I refer people to transom.org for more information. What I use is the $500 Marantz PMD-660. You can use a good lapel microphone and you will get superb recordings. However, if you wish to record on an iPod, make sure you have one of the new Nanos or 5th generation iPods. Look at the ExtremeMac Micromemo or the Belkin TuneTalk
Q Joe from El Segundo - Anonymous Bittorrenting
He wants to be able to run bittorrent anonymously. The newer Bittorrent clients support encryption. You can also use an anonymizer like the Tor services, but they will slow you down. If you’re using Azureus, look at the Safepeer plugin. There are also anonymous newsgroup services like EasyNews which cost only $10 monthly.
Q Microsoft USB Intellimouse not working
Go to the Microsoft site and download the drivers. Try uninstalling the Intellimouse and reinstalling.
1–2p
Q Walter from Tijuana - Uninstalling Office 2007 Beta
He began having problems after installing Office 2007 Beta. You can easily uninstall it, and you can go to the restore point from before you installed it. When you install Office 2007, it does not over-write Office 2003, but now you have both. To synchronize two separate folders, try out Microsoft’s Synctoy.
Q Barbara - Moving eBook reader files to a USB flash drive
Yes, this is possible
Q Can’t connect to wireless network using WPA encryption
The router is using MIMO as a G router instead of an N router. I’ve heard all sorts of strange things about this RangeMax. Sometimes the neighbor can interfere. You also want to make sure other 2.4ghz devices are out of the way. You might want to try another channel. Sometimes there is interference on the default channel. Sometimes Windows itself has a problem with WiFi. You can disable Wireless Zero Config in Windows.
Q Frank from Northridge - Antivirus software
Both Norton and McAfee keep adding feature on top of feature making them sluggish. Try out NOD32 (Disclaimer: they’re an advertiser) which is completely lightweight. If you want to go back to Norton, uninstall both pieces of software, get the newest version of Norton to renew your subscription, and reinstall.
Q Lee from San Diego - Telling the difference between writable CDs/DVDs/DVD+R/DVD-R
Writable DVDs are generally purple and writable CDs are generally green. There is usually an emblem for DVD+R or DVD-R on the center of writable DVDs. If not, trial and error seems to be the only way.
Q Tom from Pennsylvania - Good, reasonably priced recording program
Musicmatch is free. Many people think of it as a jukebox, but it does not have any editing features. You can use Musicmatch to record and then Audacity to edit.
Chat Logs and Show Audio
08 October 2006
How To End the Mac vs. PC debate
(sorry if this is a bit long - my next ones will be shorter :)
There is no place in the world for Mac OS, Linux, or any other of the minor players. As a former Amiga user, I know.
A computer is not about what it IS, it’s about what it DOES.
There was a time back in the early ‘90s that the Commodore Amiga was the only reasonably-priced computer that could do non-linear video editing, real-time video switching and overlay, and 3D design and animation. Those days have long gone, and the Amiga has been replaced by Windows-capable computers that do all of the above.
There are lots of t.v. manufacturers, but when you turn it on, other than minor differences, you don’t have to adjust the way you operate it depending on brand. You pick up the remote, press the on button and change the channel to what you want to watch. You don’t have to say “Oh, this one’s a Mac tv, it doesn’t work that way…”
There are lots of telephone manufacturers, but again, other than minor differences, you don’t have to totally adjust your telephone usage depending on brand, you just pick it up and “dial” it …
Leo has often said that Apple is a hardware company. Well, that’s true, but not the whole story. HP, Acer, Toshiba, etc. are hardware companies … they only make the hardware that the software runs on.
Apple is a hardware company that makes computers that, until recently, they also had to make software that would run on them….. And that’s the key!
Now that Apple has taken the step of providing a way to run Microsoft’s Windows on their hardware, they are only one step away from being an actual hardware company, like the others.
Leo says that he thinks the biggest problem that PC users have lies in the hardware … the fact that Windows runs on computers that are not built by Microsoft (as Macs are built only by Apple). As Microsoft long ago allowed other hardware manufacturers to develop components for Windows computers (“PC’s”), they have no control over the conflicts that that engenders.
I called Leo a couple weeks ago about running Windows on the new Macs, but I guess I wasn’t clear in presenting my question. I wanted to know if the new Intel based Macs can run Windows WITHOUT first loading something like BootCamp … can they just load Windows directly, like most of the other computers on the market?
If so, then Apple is after all, just another hardware company. If not, then they are a “proprietary” hardware company …. you still have to load some Apple thing before you can load Windows.
Mac OS is pretty, but pretty isn’t productivity. Again, computers are not about what they look like, but about what they DO!
Macs have the reputation as being well-built … that’s good. Apple needs to take the next step and provide hardware that loads Windows directly, not after loading some proprietary conversion software first. Then let Apple compete on the world market as just another hardware company.
If their hardware is that good, maybe then they’ll be able to break out of their 4 - 5% market share. The Mac OS is what has held them back all these years … if they were “just another hardware company”, they would have had a much greater market share since 1984.
When a person sits down at a computer, they don’t look to see if it’s a Dell or HP or eMachine … unless it’s a Mac … If it is, you better already know how to work the Mac OS, or you’re lost …. Leo says there’s about a two week (or more) adjustment period for people changing from Windows to Mac (that’s not direct quote), but why should there be?
Someone sitting down at a Mac who’s never used one before should see no difference in what they’re used to … and in today’s world, that is Windows.
However, it should only be Windows because 90% of the world’s computers already use it, not because it’s better than anything else, just because it’s the most universal.
If you turn on a lamp in Europe, do you first look to see if it’s 120v or 240v, A.C. or D.C. ? Of course not, you just turn on a lamp (anywhere in the world) so that you’ll have light. You don’t look first to see who it’s made by, and then adjust you usage to match.
Apple needs to take that last, final step to become a major player in the computer market.
Just my two euros worth …
12:57 by Jay.
If you steal music or movies, you are breaking the law.
Courts around the world — including the United States Supreme Court —
have ruled that businesses and individuals can be prosecuted for illegal
downloading.
You are not anonymous when you illegally download copyrighted material.
Your IP address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx and has been logged.
Respect the music, download legally.
13:00 by anonymous.
The best anonymizing measure is WiFi hopping. :) That is why you should lock down your WiFi.
please put in 150 word limit. After seeing susan’s recycled “amiga” arguments by another person who knows nothing about macOS-X; and it seems darn little about computer history.
13:09 by anonymous.
The long posts, I just scroll past, looking for tech content.
Thanks Shoobie for all you do.
13:13 by anonymous.
Vista RC1 & 2 is about 2.5GB, I wonder what verision Leo downloaded.
13:13 by anonymous.
Can I use my comp. as a fax machine?
13:14 by DV?.
Spybot-Search & Destroy working fine on Vista build 5744.
Anyone know what PC users use with a person using the iSight camera and iChat AV
Thanks
I noticed also that the RC1 was much smaller than the Beta2, which was a big disappointment as far as the Beta2 OS goes, so far RC1 is MUCH better…make that 2 MUCHES better. As it does Leo, the far fewer password oks is concerning in so far as the user developing the “OK without thinking” clickthru. Maybe it should be an option that can be disabled by those who are sure of thier cognitive attention spans. Of course its only RC1 and I’m a good week’s worth of downloading from getting RC2.
It does look gorgeous though—makes the best Stardock theme look like a somewhat poor emulation. No probelms installing either B2 or RC1 on two different systems and completely unattended. Like I said though RC1 actually seems to know what a computer is once its running.
Wirless problem:
Don’t use auto for your rate on your wireless connect utility.
Turn down the rate from 54Mbs to something like 18Mbs.
This worked for me on my linksys where I had the same problem.
RangeMax Wifi problems…
The caller also mentioned week signal 5 feet from his previous Linksys. I’ll bet anytghing that he has an interference issue. Usualy changint the TX channel to 11 will help alot.
Another precaution is to make sure the router has a unique SSID and not the one that shiped from the factory. Will make a very big difference if a neighboor is using the same SSID.
Hope it helps
Susan, that’s a real joke. Mac OSX a minor player? LOL. Keep dreaming that OSX is a minor player. But you will be very disappointed.
About the Microsoft USB Intellimouse issue:
We had the had the exact same problem on dozens of computers at work: When the computer booted up, the mouse wouldn’t work until you unplugged it and plugged it into another USB Port…
The fix is to install Windows XP SP2. As soon as we rolled out SP2 on the computers, this USB Mouse issue was solved.
I don’t know if it makes a difference in this case… But at work we used the “Full” version of SP2 (ie: the 270 meg download), NOT WindowsUpdate.
13:43 by anonymous.
You can always use a free antivirus.
I would like to see a store, something like CompUSA, take a 20 iMac and load Windows XP via Bootcamp, plug in a Microsoft Mouse and park it in the middle of all their Windows PCfs c donft make a big show about it, just do it and see what response they get c
Horvatic, GrampaBigAL:
Leave the Troll alone. Don’t feed it.
I know it is hard for Mac FanBoys like you to keep quiet when someone assaults the Big A (Apple). But just remember that whenever you feed a Troll, it only encourages them to come back for more later…
Sorry about my last post.. it didn’t come out very well. I meant to say:
I would like to see a store, something like CompUSA, take a 20″ iMac and load Windows XP via Bootcamp, plug in a Windows mouse and park it in the middle of all their Windows PCs … not make a big show about it, just do it and see what response they get …
I’ll bet they quadruple their iMac sales!
Use a program like roxio or nero there will be components in the program that will tell you what type of media is in the drive. It will even tell you who made the media.
Leo,
You can tell the type of media using a utility like DVDINFOPRO, found at http://www.dvdinfopro.com/
I think this info is encoded on the disk.
Hope this helps
Be very careful when uninstalling Norton or Macafee. Be sure to have current back ups of all irreplaceable data. Have your install disks and all program install cds. It is very likely that you will need to wipe the entire system and start over. Norton in particular leaves fragements everywhere. I had annoying messages popping up in the boot up before windows started because of files ripped out by the Norton uninstall. I could boot but had to hit yes for each message (4 or 5) to continue booting.
Roxio has trail versions of there software.
If you use sonic program to record CD’s and DVD’s you can tell just by putting the disk in the drive after the program is loaded
13:54 by Dan.
Thanks Leo and Peter M,
Changing the tx did help, and I now have excelent singals on both my XP machines, but still nothing on my Macbook using the built in airport. Any final thoughts?
13:56 by anonymous.
The caller is looking for a way he could eyeball a disc to see if it is DVD/CD or DVD- or DVD+. He has a DVD+ drive and when he put a DVD- in the drive, the drive reads no disc. The caller just didn’t want to have to stick each disc in, but just by looking at it tell if it will work or not.
Leo needs to teach his chat mod manners. This is what happens when you have kids manage your periferal accounts. Hard for them to get past the emotional and remember that everything they do reflects on Leo professionally.
Dan,
it’s my pleasure. Two resources at your disposal are firmware updates from the router’s manufacturer and then you have an excellent forum at www.dslreports.com
Having said that, if you use WPA or WEP encryption to secure the router, try using more standard characters. https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm This site generates 3 random key for you and the third one should be easier for fussy wireless cliets.
Another thing to consider would be updating the drivers for fussy Macbook.
Hope it helps
Question re: Outputting computer video to flatscreen TV
So if 720p and 1080p are referring to the Vertical Resolution of an HD Device… What is the Horizontal Resolution of an HD Device?
Excellent page, thanks Peter M!
For anyone else who wants to know:
720p = 1280 x 720
1080p = 1920 x 1080
14:46 by anonymous.
So now what do we do?
Debating over which is better, the Mac or the PC, is like debating over which screwdriver is better, the phillips or the flathead.
Hi “Doctor”
I think it’s more like debating over which brand of screwdriver is better, Craftsman or Proto or whatever. If you just want to turn a screw, you shouldn’t have to check which brand you have in your toolbox, first.
15:53 by Mike.
Linux a “Minor player”?
The whole of the computing world doesn’t revolve around the home-user desktop. Try Netcraft’s “What’s that site running?” tool:
http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph
Look at a really big business - Google, say - and you’re far more likely to find Linux, Solaris or BSD servers than Microsoft’s IIS.
No one has to _like_ Unix, but it’s completely false to say it is “minor”. The friggin Net is built on Unix servers.
I like the Phillips type screwdriver because then you can’t accidentally overtighten your fasteners as easily.
I like the flathead screwdrivers for digging out the unsightly build-up in the corners….and for starting my car.
Mike, you’re absolutely right!
But I get a different interpretation, for loss of a better word, from that person’s long message.
I don’t think she was saying one OS is better than another, but rather that there isn’t any need for more than one OS. She said something about it’s not what you got, it’s what you do with it.
Mac’s OS isn’t even Mac anymore, it’s Unix. Windows Vista is supposedly a complete re-write. Maybe we seeing the early stages of a type of convergence, where after a few more versions, they will be one?
scary ..
TjP - Crossville TN: Skype Mac Beta 2.0.0.2 works very well with my Mac PowerBook iSight and brother’s PC HP notebook and Logitech webcam. SightSpeed also works, try both. I prefer Skype at the moment. I think both are betas at the moment.
I haven’t caught the Sunday show yet but maybe it’s fair for me to mention now that the earlier Firefox exploits that were so royally claimed by Spiegelmock and Wbeelsoi were “just a joke” and neither hacker has been able to execute code using the exploit. I think Firefox is still as safe as it ever was!
09 October 2006
I wished leo would have mention this Tower Record sGoing Out of Business Sale, Everything Must Go Story on the KFI Today
Gurfein said Great American plans to begin the liquidation process and going out of business sales on Saturday, which eventually will result in the elimination of the jobs of some 3,000 Tower employees.
Tower Records, which has 89 stores in 20 states and owes creditors about $200 million, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in August. In its filing, the company said it has been hurt by an industrywide decline in music sales, downloading of online music and competition from big-box stores such as Wal-Mart.
Sioxmoux,
I think retail music stores are hurt by Wal-mart and even Costco (in my area). Heck the same applies to any specialised as soon as a giant offers the same products/services.
Scarry!
I agree with Susan. There is no reason that we need to have so many competing operating systems. If we had 1 operating system that took the best bits of Windows, OSX, Linux… and stuffed them into a single operating system, the only thing that would matter is the hardware.
Its becoming less important already what operating system your using anyway. What really matters is what internet browser you are using. New so called web2.0 (what an awful name) sites are already allowing basic video editing and other full applications and they run on both Windows and Mac - for example www.eyespot.com. I’m convinced that this is the future for all applications - they will be run using a web browser and connect to a remote server either onsite or across the internet.
I do technical support in a large corporation and we use both PC and Apple for different tasks. I’m of the opinion that Microsoft software is of a much better standard than what Apple produces. When the Apple works its really very good, but when there are problems its a real pain.
I’m sure someone will come up with the argument that “apple computers don’t have viruses or spyware”…well…there is a reason for this - if you were a virus writer, would you spend your time writing a virus that would affect 4% of all computers in the world when you could be writing a virus just as easily that would affect 80% of computers. If Apple manage to increase their market share it is likely that you will see more and more viruses appear. Maybe Apple will try to sue those writers…they seem to be good as suing people.
Finally, remember…Apple are a corporation of Lawyers who ocassionally write software…
FYI Leo —
Windows Vista X64 can not be upgraded on your PC, It must be loaded as a new machine. Adobe Acrobat is not compatable with Windows Vista (won’t create a postscript printer). Nero does not have software for it either… still testing it though.
I do not believe susan nor glenn are trolls. their points of view are from a different angle. It seems to stem a pc-centric paradigm similar to the right-handed teachers who slapped left-handed children (like myself) with a ruler in sbhools during the ‘20s, ‘30s ‘40s, & ‘50s. They thought left-handedness an abomination to be stamped out; not a valid alternative.
I’m left-handed by birth but a Macuser by choice in a free country; thank GOD.
Leo - speaking of Sony’s E-ink reader, I saw one today at the Sony Store. Oh man, is it awesome! It has an mp3 player built in. My only complaint is that the page refresh/turning was very slow. But like you said, the screen is crisp, almost like looking at actual printed paper. It is very slim and small, but the retail is $350, so I’ll be waiting till the 2nd gen before buying one.
To Glenn:
Yes, interesting that we may be moving in the direction of having all our apps on the Web somewhere, and our computers will assume the role of “dumb terminals”, which is where they started out, years ago.
I think Larry Ellison predicted this awhile back, but he seemed to think it would happen in the next few years (from then), but it didn’t …
the problem is in transfer speed… accessing your apps over the Internet (or Web 2.0, or whatever) is only viable if you can do it as quickly as you would if they were loaded on your own computer.
Now that AT&T, and others, are in the process of upgrading their copper lines to fiber optic, the day may be approaching that Ellison predicted.
10 October 2006
11 October 2006
I got one dvd-r and a dvd+r the diffence is the dvd+r has two numbers and the colour is blue. The dvd-r has one number the colour is purple.
Probabley the best line-in recording program that I have ever used is Audiograber from:
http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/
It is now freeware, and has never crashed on me. It is extreemly flexable, and is made for long recording sessions.
As to comparing Win vs Mac, it’s more along the lines of chosing between getting poked in the eye with a red hot phillips or a red hot flathead. Just remember that Gates is the major stock holder of BOTH Microsoft and Apple.
