Saturday, December 23, 2006
Tech News
11a-Noon
Q Robin - Pictures on DVD becoming blurred or pixelated
What’s happening here is that your computer is compressing the MPEG-2 wrong. Somewhere, the picture is being degraded. You may be capturing a very small size. It is pretty clear that your capture card is capturing at a smaller size than needed. You want to capture at 640×480. Look at the file you’re capturing and get the properties. If it is at 640×480, but still looks blurry, then the transcoding is going wrong.
Q Chuck from Riverside - Computer for $600
He’s looking for a cheap computer that he can add to in the future. You get better deals on Dell. Their E series would be a good choice. You’ll get a Pentium 4, 512mb of RAM, 15″ flat panel monitor, keyboard, mouse, DVD player (I would recommend upgrading to a CD burner with DVD player). At that price, you’ll get something with little frill.
Q Phil from the 101 - ISPs slowing down service
DirecWay began to gate his Internet service, and he quit. Now, his new ISP Verizon has cut off his service. According to Verizon, he broke the “unwritten” rule where he downloaded too much. These companies are disconnecting him for downloading too much even though they claim to have unlimited programs. Leo would post this on broadbandreports.com. He recommends reading up on the site for a new ISP as well. You’ve got Leo’s complete sympathy.
Q Kate - Vista on Parallels
There’s no need to wait. So long as you have the hard drive space, you can create as many virtual machines as you want. You can either upgrade the current virtual machine you have or create a new virtual machine. For your needs, once you see how easy CD authoring and burning is on the Mac, you won’t need Roxio.
Q Rodney from Los Angeles - DVD editing with movie clips
He wants to take some clips from a DVD and put the clips into the DVD project he is creating. You’re going to have to rip the DVD using something like ShrinkTo5. Then you will want to demux the .vob files. You can use Adobe Premiere Elements to import and edit the .vob files. Rodney used DVDFab Decryptor.
Noon-1p
Q Bill from San Jose - Website filtering/Private browsing
His neighbor agreed to share the WiFi with him, and he wants to get around website filtering. If your neighbor is using something like the iBoss, there is no way to get around it. If he is filtering using software, it shouldn’t be too big a deal. In terms of security, tell your neighbor to DMZ your computer.
Q Robert from Apple Valley - Separate iPhoto libraries/Backing up
He doesn’t want his wife dumping her pictures into his own iPhoto library. To solve this, just create a new user account for her. iPhoto has several organizing tools.
Take a look at
Chronosync that has scheduling features.
Q Hidden registry keys
A rootkit is a hacker technology that will hide hacked files from you. However, not all the programs that use this technique are necessarily bad. Rootkits gained prominence with Sony who used them for copy protection. It sounds like you have malware. Check out Rootkit Revealer. The only reasonable thing to do if you find a rootkit is to format and reinstall.
Q Michael from Thousand Oaks - Malware
Something is making his mouse in Firefox move around automatically open pages. It’s just some spyware that’s compromising your system. The best thing to do would be to format and reinstall.
Q John from Woodland Hills - Antivirus/Printers
Dell is offering him McAfee. Leo doesn’t like McAfee or Norton. From DSL Extreme, you get an online antivirus. However, it cannot be too aggressive. Leo recommends Windows OneCare. Both McAfee and Norton are incredibly bloated.
Epson is a great brand. If you’re doing light printing, inkjet is fine. Laser is faster, the color isn’t as rich though.
1–2p
Q Terry from Seal Beach - Laser TVs
There are a number of new technologies on the horizon. However, they usually take longer than the estimates predict. An Australian newspaper claims that laser televisions will be the death of plasma. Leo has yet to see anything that will knock him out. CES is in January. If they really can get these out by later next year, they’ll have some at CES. One thing that is guaranteed is that prices are going to drop.
Q Chuck - System not powerful enough to run fiber Internet access
Leo does not think that is true. The connection is only fiber optic on the outside and then ethernet inside. However, your OS is outdated and browsing will be very slow. It’s time for a new computer. Stick with the Mac. You’re going to get a MacBook if you want a notebook or an iMac if you want a desktop.
Q David - Windows 98 will not see USB drive/Free AVG
You’re going to have to look for a mass storage class driver for Windows 98. Lexar has a driver download page. The trick is to install the driver before you connect the device.
The free AVG can be found
here.
Q Gary from San Marcos - Running out of room to defragment
He cannot defragment his C drive that is full. You can copy some folders over to the D drive. TweakUI will allow you to specify to Windows where certain folders have been moved. Partition Magic will allow you to non-destructively repartition your hard drive.
Q Mike - Olevia LCD HDTVs
The panel’s probably made by one of the three main manufacturers. Read the reviews, and try to go to the store and ask them to feed standard definition content and high definition content on the television. Take a look at how it manages to upscale SD content.
Show Audio
|
Edited Audio
|
|
Posted one week after broadcast…
|
23 December 2006
Take a look at what I can do: http://www.MandiCall.com
Use my service for both privacy and convenience. Give out your Mandi phone number and you can be reached wherever you are. If you decide not to take the call, then I’ll take a voice mail message and email it to you.
Podcast Moguls, your days of fame are unfounded -
April 05, 2006
“Forrester podcasting report - just 1% use podcasts”
http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli/2006/04/forrester_podca_1.html
“We just released some new data on podcasting, in a brief “Podcasting Hits The Charts” (available only to clients). Here’s the summary:”
“Podcasts have hit the mainstream consciousness but have not yet seen widespread use. One-quarter of online consumers express interest in podcasts, with most interested in time-shifting existing radio and Internet radio channels. Companies that are interested in using podcasts for their audio should focus not only on downloads but also on streaming audio as a means to get their content and ads to consumers.”
“Our survey showed that only 1% of online households in North America regularly download and listen to podcasts.”
Just like Macs, your podcasts are inconsequencial .
11:56 by .
People who want wireless internet like Phil might be surprised to find that most RV parks offer wi-fi. I can get about a dozen from my roof and all I need is a cheap wi-fi ethernet card, not an expensive wireless or satellite setup. Search Google with something like “rv wifi” and you’ll find several that sell service for $25 a month. The speed is faster than wireless or even DSL or cable using an 802.11b card too.
Also, it helps to have a high gain directional antenna to use with the wi-fi card but they are cheap on ebay or one can be made from a tin can.
12:03 by anonymous.
Maybe instead of a wiki word of the week, there could be a comment word of the week. That way if people want to post, they would need to listen and enter the word for their comments to be posted. That or one of the “human readable only” graphics.
12:12 by anonymous.
To remove copy protecting for ripping personal copies of DVD uou might want to try Slysoft AnyDVD. Driver based. They use any DVD program to rip.
http://www.slysoft.com
Ironic First Post Was Spam
12:17 by anonymous.
at least they were smart enough to create a profile, funny.
For the Person Having Trouble With Recording DVD’s — I use Nero , Record Direct To Disk
12:21 by anonymous.
? is not A Profile Just an Author Name No ? is a Profile
Any one know of a MAC software program that i can use to burn my personal DVD movies. needs to break copy protection??
Gracias
12:29 by anonymous.
For the guy who is using a friends wifi, he could use TOR, or iPhantom. For iPhantom, he would need a wifi bridge.
12:33 by anonymous.
You’re right about the profile. Sorry. Don’t know what I was thinking.
12:36 by pam?.
Does anyone know about aqusition for pc? Good or Bad?
12:37 by pam?.
acquisition
Root kit Reavealer Is Now Owned By Microsoft
12:42 by pam?.
yep, do you like the program?
12:45 by anonymous.
Never Have used Aquisitionp2p i dont Own a Mac
Re Update Key found by Root Reveal — If the hidden registry key was not found later, it’s possible that the key was created by windows in between the two rootkit scans and caused a false positive.
12:49 by anonymous.
If you need to reload Windows XP, you can save the wpa.dbl file off the hard drive for you format. After the reinstall, put the file back in the same location and Windows will be activated. This only works on the same computer if you didn’t change the hardware. That way MS won’t flag you for activating Windows too much.
12:53 by anonymous.
For the Firefox user, if you start in safemode, it will disable all extensions. I have downloaded extensions that took over Firefox and uninstalling the extension fixed it.
12:53 by Bob?.
If you are using NOD32, upgrade to the new version (v2.)
Anti-Stealth Technology (Rootkit removal)
Rootkits are now frequently used to hide malicious processes and files. The Anti-Stealth technology in ESET NOD32 v2.7 helps the on-demand and startup scanners to see the “real world” instead of false one presented an active rootkit. NOD32’s ThreatSense can then use signatures and heuristics to detect and remove these threats. It is transparent to users, and it is turned on by default.
12:56 by anonymous.
If the system files get modified, you could give a shot with system restore. It did save my butt once, though it didn’t more often.
13:02 by anonymous.
Laser printers are good for people who print infrequently and typically won’t print color, because ink cartridges dry out too quickly for my like. Toner cartridges cost more, but they will stay good longer. Low end laser printers can be found <$200.
Bob, thanks for the mention of ESET NOD32 v2.7. I’m currently using v2.5 and didn’t know about the update.
13:20 by anonymous.
Hello everybody!!
“Unlimited” is rarely really unlimited.
A friend signed up for SBC’s unlimited long distance and was disconnected because they said he used it too much.
Here’s a GREAT reason to switch to a PC from a Mac!!! Leo LOVES his MacBook, he’s PAID to -
Tuesday, December 19 2006 @ 04:00 AM PST
MacBook Pro battery swelling: Second in-house unit fails; battery or system cause?
In-house, our second MacBook Pro battery (for an original revision, Core Duo MacBook Pro) has severely swollen and failed to operate properly. This battery was an Apple-supplied replacement for our original swollen battery [see pictures here].
As noted our previous coverage noted, in mild cases, batteries swell but remain functional. In these cases, keyboard and/or trackpad functionality is sometimes affected by the rising of internal components. In severe cases, the swelling is visually striking, and users are eventually left with non-functioning batteries. Sudden shutdowns while charge remains are usually precursory to such failures.
This second failure calls into question the cause of the issue: are the batteries defective and failing, or is the MacBook Pro itself delivering a somehow faulty charge to the battery and therefore causing the swelling? With two failures, the verdict is out, but a third failure would almost certainly indicate a systemic cause (three swollen batteries in a row would be a statistical anomaly since the vast majority of users are not experiencing this issue).
and this -
MacBook Falling Apart.. 2 months old (a testimonial)
http://www.appledefects.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=283
smoger: Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 8:22 pm
Let me start this by saying i am by FAR not a Mac guy. I’ve never liked macs. Never felt comfortable using them, and everytime I did they seemed to lock up immedately. But as luck would have it, my Information Science degree landed me a job with a publishing company that uses only Macs(and ive grown to respect them a lot!). For all intents and purposes, I am the entire IT department for this small company. Among our hardware are 3 G4 XServ’s, 40 or so 1.25ghz G4 eMacs, and maybe 20 1.25–1.42ghz G4 mac minis, as well as a handful of laptops for certain people, me being one of them.
My laptop is a 1.8ghz/13.3″ MacBook and I have to admit that I loved it upon first receiving it. Now I am 2 months into ownership and realizing this thing is a total dud, like many of yours seem to be.
Here are my issues:
1. Excessive Heat .. of course
2. Random shutdowns(suposedly fixed by yesterdays update.. we’ll see)
3. Battery Issues…
3a. Battery charges to 100% and does not hold it. Drops to 99%, then charges again to 100, continually as long as it is plugged in.
3b.Battery charges to between 40 and 70%, then stops.
3c. After recalibrating battery as per apples website(in an attempt to solve 3A and 3B), battery is no longer detected AT ALL! Computer must be run off AC adaptor, powers off if the plug is pulled.
4. 10.4.8 borked Airport.. im lucky if i can detect a nearby network, and if I can, speeds are horrible i just downloaded a file at a brisk 2.6kb/sec.
Those are my rants.. Ive searched around and tried the fixes.. none have worked. Will get it to the apple store this week to see what they say. Along with this, I have 5 or 6(maybe more!) eMacs at work that need to go in for the swelling capacitor on the logic board issue.
Leo: Why not mention the Mac Mini as an option to either the MacBook or the iMac?
The iPod Death Clock
When will YOUR iPod Croak? Depending on how you use (or abuse) it, we can take a guess at how long your little friend has left in this world. Curious? Type in your serial number.
http://ipodmechanic.com/ecroak/index.php
13:48 by anonymous.
Another think Leo may be able to do to help spam is add filtering. It looks like some robo postings are the same, or have the same phrases. If phrases were banned because of abuse, that would help.
AVG (Grisoft) never said they were not going to be free. They said that they would no longer support the earlier versions (for updates) and that you would need to update to version 7.5. This applies to all users, the free version and paid version alike. I have several friends using the freebie and I have the paid version at home and the network version at work.
Nobody seems to mention Grisoft’s free spyware scanner also at http://free.grisoft.com. I have it on all of my systems, but it’s never found anything that Adaware or Spybot didn’t find. Anyone have any success storeies using AVG Anti-Spyware?
14:00 by anonymous.
The Windows XP “compatibility mode” was in Windows 2000 SP2, all you needed to do was register a dll for it to show up in the properties.
@DarthDemo.
I started using Ewido right before Grisoft bought them. They were & still are my favorite. Even when the free trial ends, you can still manually update and manually scan your system with this program : http://www.ewido.net/en/buy/
