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Sunday, November 26, 2006

Tech News

We have to realize that in this day and age, with sites like YouTube and the numerous blogs, there is no privacy on the Internet. Something like Kramer’s racist remarks may have been covered up years ago, but now that it is incredibly popular on Youtube, the mainstream media has to cover it.

Windows Powershell is Microsoft’s response to the UNIX command line.

Mac Myths Busted

Not a target for viruses
Less prone to attacks because it’s based off of UNIX
Comes with all the software you need
You pay more, but get more
Apple Stores offer very good support
Apple has phone support
If you pay Apple a few hundred bucks extra, you’ll get three years of phone support.
You can run Windows on a Mac if you have certain programs that only work on Windows.
There’s a Mac version of Office.

11a-Noon

Q Jeffrey from Van Nuys - Email form will not send email correctly/Favicons

An email form he has on his website is opening an email program with the information included on the form instead of using the server to send it. Here’s what his code says:

<form action=“jeff@advantagecatering.com” method=“POST”…

That action should be changed to point to a CGI script or some other server side mailing command. mailto: tells the browser to launch the user’s email client. Not what you want.

A favicon is a small icon that will display near the address bar at a website. Click here to generate a favicon.

I took his original hamentashen image:

ran it through their processor to produce these excellent favicons:

Mmmmm.

Q Rick - iTunes won’t run correctly & Quicktime does not work

Apple has numerous problems on the windows version of iTunes. At this point I would uninstall everything. Then, I would install iTunes and Quicktime separately. First, install Quicktime 7, and then install iTunes 7.

Q Andy from Ridando Beach - Deleting songs from the iPod itself/Deleting duplicate songs

No can do buddy, sorry.

Q Rusty from Corona - Streaming video from a PC to a television wirelessly

Apple is coming out with something called the iTV that will do this. However, on the Windows side, you could try Windows Media Center Connect using the Xbox 360. D-Link has a product called the Medialounge that will do this. In the future, though, the ratification of 802.11n wireless networking will introduce an advent of these media “bridges” because it is much faster than 802.11g.

Noon-1p

Q Jane from San Diego - Looking for a new laptop

She’s looking for a laptop where someone will give her all the security software and set it up for her. In terms of Dell vs. Toshiba, I think Dell is better, but all PC companies are going downhill in terms of customer support because the margins are so darn thin. Make it Work, our sponsor, will completely set up the computer for you. This is the reason why I tell “newbies” to get Macs so they don’t have to worry about security. There is a lot of Mac support online. In your community, however, there may not be. On the other hand, relying on your community makes them 100% dependent on them.

Q Neil from Costa Mesa - Computer rebooting continuously

In the past, there was a virus called Sasser that did this. But since the computer is rebooting during BIOS config, there is probably a hardware problem. Likely, it is a bad power supply. It could also be an overheating problem. If for some reason, if the chip’s cooling has died, the chip will overheat and the computer will halt. Make sure the thermal grease is still making contact with the heatsink.

Q Cody from New York - Upgrading from Vista Home Premium to Ultimate/Battery life using Core 2 Duo

He ordered a Dell laptop with a coupon to get a free upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium. Windows Vista Ultimate is $500 if you go into the stores and pick up the disc. Microsoft has not announced the electronic upgrade prices yet. I am willing to bet that the price will not be more than $100.

Q Scott from Spokane - Connecting Linksys router to iBook

It should not be an issue. WiFi is WiFi. I would not recommend getting the Apple Airport. You want to turn on WPA encryption. The nice thing about WPA is that it’s just a password compared to a long string of letters and numbers like WEP. Make sure you have the latest Airport drivers and it should work just fine.

1–2p

Q Dave from Valencia - SDTV content doesn’t look good on HDTV

What you’re seeing is what you’re getting. On an old TV, content is smeared. Your HDTV is very high in quality, you’re seeing how the content really looks like. Once you get your high definition receiver, you won’t want to go back. Also, you’ll want to get an upscaling DVD player. DVDs are recorded at 480p. High definition is 720p or 1080i. Don’t worry about 1080p. I’ve read numerous articles that state that 1080i looks just as good as 1080p.

Q Peter - Some recorded CDs don’t play in certain players/Windows Updates “missing”

This is because blank CDs are recorded differently from pressed CDs. Trying different media may work. Try buying different CD-R manufacturers. If you find one that works, just keep using that manufacturer. But in the end, it may not work.

Q Pat from Upland - Looking for a portable GPS

She’s looking for a GPS that she can carry around and use in the car. The Garmin Nuvi. It has lots of memory so you can load up all your maps and still have space to put music and Audible files on for playback.

Q Mike from Ventura - Boosting WiFi signal

You can get a directional antenna (which is cheap, but less effective). However, if there is a wall socket nearby, you can get a second router and try something called WDS. For 250 feet, I think you’ll need an 802.11n router. Metal in the wall makes WiFi transmission come to a halt. In the end, if you don’t have the ability to get a router to put in between, you’ll need an N router. The Belkin Draft-N routers are great.

Q Computer reboots when phone rings or a text message is received

That makes no sense at all, absolutely bizarre. GSM phones put out quite a nasty signal that can interfere with electronic equipment. All I can come up with is that there is something inside the computer that is particularly sensitive to the phone’s frequency. I would suggest protecting the computer. Try wrapping the computer with tin foil. I have to say, I’ve never heard of something similar to that ever.

Q Kirk from San Diego - Cannot recover encrypted files

If you used the Windows encryption, you’re out of luck. Windows uses a hidden certificate file. If you did not back up the certificate, you’re without hope. Sorry. In the future, use the open-source Truecrypt.

Q Bob - System idle process in Windows

The system idle process in Windows is just a loop that is idling waiting for you to do something.

Show Audio

26 November 2006

27 November 2006