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Saturday, 27 January, 2007

Keep those calls acomin’! Even though the show ends at 2p Pacific. I’ll be answering your questions through 4p today. We’re pre-taping for Saturday, February 10th.

1–800–520–1534

Show Audio

Tech News

According to Microsoft, 22% of all Windows installs are non-genuine. They have also stated that 500 million computers have run Windows Genuine Advantage. However, WGA has been falsely accusing millions.

Starting tonight, you can order a computer from Dell, and it will have Windows Vista pre-installed.

Hackers nabbed €800,000 from an online Swedish bank. The bank is blaming its customers.

11a-Noon

Q Paypal credit card transactions

Leo is a very active Paypal user. The only issue with them is their history. In their early days, there were some problems. However, now that they’re owned by eBay, it’s fine. There are no problems on Paypal’s end. If you don’t want the Paypal logo, there are services that will allow you to accept credit card payments and invoices on your own. In fact, Freshbooks may be a better option for invoicing.

Q Michael from Chicago - Podcast post-production tips

What really makes podcasts great is your ability to communicate your passion. The first thing to do is to clean up the audio so you don’t hurt listeners’ ears. Podcasts are not listened to in ideal listening environments. Compress the audio so everything is equally loud. What you’ll notice that if the audio is compressed, people will hear your words easier. Also, by removing uhms and awkward pauses, the show will seem a lot more professional.

Q Craig from Boston - iBoss showing “interesting” unattended data

The iBoss is showing him some data about ID theft while the computer is unattended. Anytime you put a firewall or a similar device, it will show you data that will scare you a bit. You are always getting a constant barrage of Internet “background radiation”. Frequently when you get a phishing email, it goes to a simple web address. There’s nothing abnormal about making contact with the outside world even when you’re not sitting at the computer.

Noon-1p

Q Jim form Chula Vista - Unlocking cell phones/Treo 750 vs. Blackjack

There are sites online that will sell you unlocking codes. You can also go to an independent reseller, and they may unlock it for you.

Q Nate from Timecula - Windows Vista Upgrade

Anytime you install one operating system over an old one, there will be some old things left over that may interfere with operating Vista. From Leo’s talks to people, it seems to be that about half of the people that upgrade are failing. Back up your data, reformat, and then install Vista fresh.

Q Bruce from Los Angeles - Barcoding software for inventory

There is open source barcoding software that will allow you to use a camera. Take a look at Batoo, or Delicious Library on the Mac.

Q Ted - OCR problems

He has a couple hundred thousand documents in TIFF (converted to PDF) that he’s trying to change into editable text. You’re already in PDF format, don’t try to change it into basic text. Vista has built in PDF search! On XP, use X1.

Q Jim from Irvine - Running 3–4 instances of Parallels on an Xserve

He wants to be able to do backups on the Xserve on Parallels. He wants to know what performance specs he would get. Leo thinks you’ll be very happy with the performance. Running multiple copies may be an issue. The main thing will be that you’ll need enough RAM.

1–2p

Q Norton messages popping “A remote system is trying to connect..”

This is Internet background radiation. Leo doesn’t recommend Norton. You can disable the notifications. The truth is that Norton’s trying to advertise how “good” it is. Leo recommends that you get a router. With a router, you won’t need Norton’s firewall because the router itself is a hardware firewall. Go ahead and uninstall Norton’s firewall after that. If you want an antivirus solution, our sponsor NOD32 is lightweight. AVG is free though. For antispyware, look at Windows Defender.

Q T-Mobile Dash WiFi/New Sci-Fi book to read

The Dash is not running so hot on his Belkin 802.11g plus router. It is probably the non standard MIMO technology in the router that is slowing down the device. Try turning off the MIMO.

Q Jeff - URL used as spam URL

Spam companies are using his nonprofit organization’s URL for spam purposes. Spammers have been doing this more often. However, there’s nothing you can do right now.