Leo’s Six Rules for Safe Computing

6. Never run as an administrator in any operating system. Administrators have way too many priveleges that malicious people/code can take advantage of. Run as a limited user as much as possible. Windows Vista, Linux, and Mac OSX allow you to run a majority of features, but with some additional safety, as a limited user.

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The fact that it happens at exactly the same time every morning is a little weird. I’d suspect that there’s some program that’s running on a schedule and is waking your system up at 1:32a. Check to see what it’s doing when it wakes up - that might be an indicator of what woke it up. You are probably getting miniscule power outages at 1:32am. This induces a reboot in the system because computers are very susceptible to even the smallest power changes.

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Jon Kingston writes with a free recommendation: the open source Maccam. He says it works great with his $20 Creative webcam.

Q XP and Linux on the same laptop

Our caller wants to run Ubuntu Linux on her desktop, XP on her laptop, and occasionally connect the laptop to the PC to run Ubuntu on the laptop screen. You could use RealVNC to do this, but the performance is going to be poor. Better to use Ubuntu to insall a dual-boot on the laptop, so you can run both Windows and Linux on the same machine. Ubuntu can automatically partition your laptop hard drive and install itself on the second parition, to create a dual-boot system.

He wants a 64-bit processor. Nearly any processor you can buy today is 64-bit, but that’s not all that important. Unless you need more than 4GB of RAM, a 32-bit system is fine for most uses. Better in most cases, in fact. I do not recommend the 64-bit versions of Windows, XP or Vista. There are just too many hardware and software compatibility issues.

Q Matt from Hemet - My computer is spontaneously waking from hibernation at 1:32am

The fact that it happens at exactly the same time every morning is a little weird. I’d suspect that there’s some program that’s running on a schedule and is waking your system up at 1:32a. Check to see what it’s doing when it wakes up - that might be an indicator of what woke it up.

He uses the Airport Express units to extend the range of his Airport network. When he replaced his old Airport Extreme with Apple’s new 802.11n Extreme, the WDS stopped working. Apple’s own manuals say the old Express routers should work fine with the new N router, but you will have to recreate your network from scratch. Instructions are available for download (as a PDF) from http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/DesigningAirPortExtreme802.11nNetworks.pdf.

He has a computer at work and a computer at home, but can’t get Remote Desktop working on the Internet. It works when he’s inside the LAN, just not over the Internet. That’s almost always because a router is blocking incoming Remote Desktop traffic. You’ll need to forward TCP port 3389 - you’ll find instructions here. If you still can’t connect, consider putting your systems into the router’s DMZ.

Pete was sitting on the Apple web page, ready to press the BUY button, but before he does he wants to know if he should buy Apple RAM or save money buying third-party RAM. In the past I’ve recommended doing just that because of Apple’s pricing. Apple is getting better, but after checking the most current prices, it still makes sense buying RAM from someone else, especially if you don’t mind installing it yourself.

For example, beefing up the MacPro to 4GB of RAM costs $1099 from Apple. The same RAM from Crucial is $980. From TransIntl it’s $678. I’ve bought lots of Apple memory from TransIntl and can recommend them.

Adding a gig of RAM to the iMac costs $175 from Apple, $100 from TransIntl, but of course you’ll have to install it yourself.

Q Jeff from Temecula - my video file is missing

He’s created a video podcast, but the link is showing up as a 404 when he clicks it. That means that there’s no file there - in all likelihood the link is incorrect. Check it again. I recommend using an RSS feed generator when creating podcast feeds. For Mac users, try Feeder and on Windows, FeedForAll.

Q Alex from San Bernadino - stepping up to HDTV

Alex is ready to step up to HDTV and he has two questions: LCD vs Plasma and BluRay vs HD-DVD.

Plasmas look great, especially in a darkened room. When it comes to plasma remember the two Ps: Pioneer and Panasonic. Prices are down dramatically. I purchased the 50″ Pioneer HD5070 for around $3000 and have been very happy with it. LCD is good for day to day use in brighter rooms. I recommend Sharp Aquos LCDs.

Who’s going to win the HiDef DVD war? These days my money is on HD-DVD. HD-DVD players are much cheaper than Blu-Ray players unless you buy them as part of a gaming system, the Xbox 360 has a $200 HD-DVD add-on. The Playstation 3 comes with a BluRay player. You should consider which format has more of the movies you want.

LG does make a dual-format player for a whopping $1200.

Q Victor from Anaheim - what’s the best cell provider

That depends on what you’re looking for.

• If you’re looking for the best coverage Verizon is tops with Cingular a close second
• High speed data? Verizon and Sprint win there with their EVDO technology. HSDPA is coming soon and that will be even faster.
• If you travel outside of the US, you are going to want a GSM phone. That means T-Mobile or Cingular.
• Looking for the coolest phones? T-Mobile has the edge there, but if there’s a specific phone you want check to see which carriers have it.

Q Enrique from Pomona - How much hardware do I need for Vista

I like Vista a lot. It’s prettier and more secure. It is pretty demanding on hardware, though, especially if you want the cool looking Aero interface. It should run fine on any machine with 512MB of RAM and a 1+ Ghz processor. For best results get 1GB of RAM, a 2+ GHz processor, and a fast video card with at least 128MB of RAM (more video RAM means you can run at higher resolutions).

Q Jeff - looking for a USB camera for Macintosh

OS X will support any Firewire camera, including your DV camcorder, but there aren’t many good USB choices. Ecamm sells a USB driver that should work with most USB cameras. They also sell their own camera.

Show notes updated 2/19 by Leo.

He wants to know why Leo likes JVC’s HD-ILA televisions over Sony’s LCoS rear projection units. Both are good. LCoS or liquid crystal on silicon has some advantages over tradition LCD rear projection sets - chiefly the lack of the so-called “screen door effect.” That’s those lines you see around each pixel. LCoS has a much smoother appearance.

The JVC sets are less expensive than the Sony sets, and offer an excellent picture. The D-ILA chip does a great job of upscaling lower resolution video. That’s important to you if you watch a lot of standard definition television (and we all still do). It’s a good idea before you buy an HDTV to check out how normal TV looks on it. Some sets do a surprisingly bad job of upscaling.

Q Cliff from Santa Barbara - Looking for a new smartphone and ultralight notebook

Choosing a smartphone has a lot to do with your carrier and what you want to do with it.

If email is the most important application for your smartphone (after phone calls, that is) the Blackberry is the way to go I like the 8700 and the new 8800 looks great. We’ll have a review from Ron Rosberg, the Gadget Hound, next week.

If you want the best possible interoperability with Windows, try a Windows Mobile-based phone like the T-Mobile Dash and the Motorola Q.

The Blackberry is traditionally not a very good media device. If you want a camera with a Blackberry, there’s the Pearl, but I prefer a QWERTY keyboard to that weird hybrid on the Pearl. The new 8800 doesn’t have a camera, but it does play audio.

http://leoville.com/uploads/Appearances/x60.jpg%%As for the notebook, you might want to look at a tablet convertible. Our caller wanted to use the notebook to show screens to clients. The tablet is great for that because you can hide the keyboard and annotate your presentation with the stylus.

Lenovo’s X60 Thinkpad convertible tablets are a good choice. However, if you’re not up to buying from the Chinese, take a look at Toshiba Portege R400. I like Dell notebooks a lot, too. I just bought an XPS M1210 for Vista and it’s very nice.

AOL has a great homework helper service, but I don’t have any direct experience with these new online tutor sites from India, etc. Anyone have any input?

Show notes updated 2/19 by Leo.

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Zillow claims to publish the true value of every home in the US. It’s great fun, but how accurate is it? According to a recent study of 1000 Zillow listings by the Wall St. Journal, it’s pretty good. With the exception of some real clunkers, nearly all the listings were within a few percentage points of actual sales prices. Combine that with programs like Pocket Express and its reverse directory, and Zabasearch, which digs through public information for dirt on anyone, and one wonders what privacy means in the Internet age.

The Hyatt hotel chain is now offering Blackberry massages for executives who spend too much time on their handheld email devices. The Sheraton hotel in Chicago will take your Blackberry from you and lock it up if you want. You’ll have to pry mine from my cold, dead, fingers.

A New York senator wants a law banning iPods and portable devices on the streets of New York City. He claims that people have died crossing the street because they weren’t paying attention. But this fellow is known for proposing kooky laws to get attention from the media.

A security expert, Bruce Schneier says that Windows Vista has copy protection features you don’t need. Furthermore, Microsoft is doing it not because Hollywood is making them, as they assert, but because they want to dominate online content distribution just as they have the computer desktop.

The AACS encryption that’s on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs has been cracked for real. That didn’t take long.

Does email drive you crazy? Are you getting too much? Worse, are you addicted to checking your mail. Electronic musician Moby, among others, are trying to give up email cold turkey. I shudder at the thought!

The new Windows Vista no longer allows you to use the Upgrade Version to perform a clean install. Fortunately, our Windws expert, Paul Thurott has a workaround. Looks like Microsoft made a boo-boo.

She’s using a video editing program called Showbiz from Arcsoft to convert tapes to DVD. She has 145 edits in a 15 minute video and the software is beginning to choke. Well no wonder! You need a fast hard drive and a 2Ghz+ CPU for speedy video editing, but good software will help, too. Showbiz is not my first choice. I think you’ll get better results with Adobe’s Premiere Elements.

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Q Storm from Los Angeles - WDS not working with new 802.11n Airport Extreme

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He’s trying to get the older b/g Airport Express routers to work with his new 802.11n Airport Extreme to extend the range. There will not be a workaround if the chipsets are not compatible.

Q Bill from Rancho Cucamonga - Remote Desktop problems

He cannot connect to other computers over the Internet. The problem resides in the router. If you can’t figure out which ports to forward, try to DMZ the computer which will take off the protection that computer.

Q Matt from Hemet - Computer getting itself out of hibernation

It depends a little bit on how it is set to wake. Hibernation offloads the contents of the RAM to the hard drive. The same thing that can wake up sleeping computers can wake up hibernating computers. In the BIOS there are sometimes settings to wake up on ring or ethernet. Try checking if there are any programs set to run on a schedule.

Q Storm from Los Angeles - WDS not working with new 802.11n Airport Extreme

He’s trying to get the older b/g Airport Express routers to work with his new 802.11n Airport Extreme to extend the range. There will not be a workaround if the chipsets are not compatible.

Paul Thurott has a tutorial teaching you how to do a clean install of Windows Vista using the upgrade media.

Q Sergio - 32bit vs. 64bit processor

Though the Core Duo is 32bit, it does not really matter because the 64bit Vista is not faster and you probably are not even taking advantage of a huge amount of RAM. The 64bit Vista is more secure because it insists on signed drivers. It also has a new kernel protection called Patch Guard. Everybody Leo knows who tried the 64bit version regrets it because of the hardware and software compatibility issues.

Q Putting Ubuntu on a desktop machine

She wants to be able to use a laptop’s keyboard, trackpad, and monitor to control Ubuntu on a desktop machine. To do this effectively, you’d have to do something like VNC. It is fast enough to give you okay performance, but you’ll definitely see some lag. RealVNC is a good starting point. In fact, VNC is probably already included on Ubuntu. It is also possible to dual-boot Ubuntu. The disc is a LiveCD allowing you to play with it before you install.

Five Things to Do to Protect Yourself

1. Don’t open email attachments; even if it’s from someone you know. If you do get something from someone you know, make sure that they really sent it to you.

2. Don’t click links in email. That link could lead you to a phishing site, or the link may lead you to install malicious software. Copy and paste links instead. You can avoid this if you disable HTML email. Use plain text email.

3. Don’t download files from places you aren’t absolutely sure are safe. Stick with the well known sites.

4. Update regularly! There are problems with software that occur. If there’s a patch out, you better apply it. Even MySpace can infect you. There was once a banner ad that had malicious code that took advantage of an Internet Explorer flaw that Microsoft had already patched. However, over a million people still got infected.

5. It is absolutely necessary to have a firewall. The best firewall is a hardware firewall: your router. It keeps your system clean of worms. There are worms that are network viruses. If you don’t have a firewall on the Net, the worms will get you right away. You can also turn on the Windows or OSX firewall.

He just realized that the iSight has been discontinued. Go with a Firewire-based webcam. If you want to use a USB camera still, check out Ecamm.

Q Victor from Anaheim - Best Cellular provider

Best can mean several things. If you travel outside of the US, you are going to want a GSM phone. That rules out Verizon and Sprint. However, if you’re looking for the best coverage and data, Verizon is probably a safe bet. For gadget hounds, T-Mobile has a great choice.

Q Enrique from Pomona - Vista is a pig

Vista will run on a computer with 512mb RAM and such. However, you may not get some cool features like Aero. If the machine is a later model, you won’t experience much slowing down. The bigger question is if it is worth upgrading an existing machine. A late model machine should run fine. Vista is Windows in a pretty dress. There are definitely several security features; it demands that you pay attention.

Q Jeff - iSight replacement

He just realized that the iSight has been discontinued. Go with a Firewire-based webcam.

The Sheraton hotel in Chicago offers Blackberry detox.

Email is a huge problem, and several email junkies are suffering.

Q Alex from San Bernadino - HDTVs/Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000G835DA.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg%%
He wants to know if plasma TVs are good. Leo’s a fan of rear projection, but if you want an excellent experience in a dimmed room: Pioneer and Panasonic plasmas are fantastic. The burn-in problems have been somewhat alleviated. The prices are dropped sharply as well.

A security expert, Bruce Schneier, has said that Vista has several copy protection features you don’t need.

The AACS encryption that’s on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs has been decrypted.

A Hyatt Hotel is now offering Blackberry finger massages.

A New York senator wishes to ban portable devices on the streets.

Q Cliff from Santa Barbara - Portable devices

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000C1DOU0.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg%%
If you’re looking for a phone that does the job, Blackberry is the way to go. There are also Windows Mobile phones like the T-Mobile Dash and the Motorola Q. The Blackberry is traditionally not a very good media device. If you want a camera with a Blackberry, there’s the Pearl. However, Leo’s not a fan of it because it does not have a full keyboard. In terms of a computer, look at a tablet. Lenovo’s Thinkpad tablets are great. However, if you’re not up to buying from the Chinese, take a look at Toshiba. Also, if you don’t want a tablet, look at Dell. Dell may give you the option of installing XP if you’re hesitant to use Windows Vista.

Q Paul from Laguna Nigel - Online math tutoring

AOL has a great homework helper service. Leo does not have any experience with these outsourced services.

Q Pete from Manchester - Buying a Mac Pro

He wants to know about the Apple RAM. Apple finally realized that people are buying RAM from other places and have reduced the prices. It also turns out that the Mac Pro uses a special kind of RAM with a heatsink. You can take a look at Trans International and Crucial. If you want peace of mind with a top of the line system, go with the Apple RAM which is competitively priced.

Q Jeff from Timecula - Video podcasting

He’s made the videos, but is having trouble getting people to see the feed. If you’re getting the 404 error, there is absolutely nothing by that name on the server. For Mac users, there’s a program called Feeder and on Windows, FeedForAll.

Q Sue from Carlsbad - Showbiz slowing down

She’s using Showbiz to convert tapes to DVD. However, the software is beginning to choke. The hard drive should be fast enough to keep up with the video. Also, the processor speed could be part of it because it needs to keep track of all the video. In fact, you may want a more powerful program. Adobe’s Premiere Elements is much more powerful software and you may be happier with it.

Q Steve from Agora Hills - LCOS Televisions

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000FE7DCY.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_AA160_.jpg%%
He wants to know why Leo likes JVC’s HD-ILA televisions over Sony’s. Leo likes JVC because the HD-ILA chip that they use is a marginally better than Sony’s circuitry. Whenever you watch standard definition television, the software or circuitry inside is in charge of upscaling the content. He suggests going to the store and asking the employees to feed standard definition content into the two televisions and then let your eyes decide.

http://www.zillow.com/static/images/logo.gif%%

Discover the values of houses at Zillow. Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal has reviewed the service.

Pocket Express will do a reverse lookup on phone numbers.

Zabasearch allows you to search through people and public information.

Our new IRC chat channel is #techguy. We have a new phone number, too. You can now call the show toll-free at:

Our new IRC chat channel is #techguy. We have a new phone number, too. Please call the show at:

Our new IRC chat channel is #techguy. We have a new phone number, too. Please call in with your questions, comments, suggestions at:

1–888–8 ASK LEO

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Our new IRC chat channel is #techguy. Please call in with your questions, comments, suggestions at:

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1–888–8 ASK LEO

Our new IRC chat channel is #techguy. Please call in with your questions, comments, suggestions at:

!!1–888–8 ASK LEO

Please call in with your questions, comments, suggestions at

1–888–8 ASK LEO

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Please call in with your questions, comments, suggestions at 888–8 ASK LEO!

New IRC chat is #techguy. Come and join us!

New IRC chat is #techguy Come and join the chat!

New IRC channel at http://irc.dslextreme.com is #techguy Come and join the chat!

Welcome to our new listeners from KPRC-AM Talk Radio 950 Houston, WMEQ-AM NewsTalk 880 Eau Claire, KWDJ-AM 1360 Ridgecrest, and KBBW-AM 1010 Waco. It’s great to have you aboard!

Welcome to our new listeners from Talk Radio 950 KPRC Houston, NewsRadio 1200 WOAI San Antonio, and Newsradio 970 WFLA Tampa. It’s great to have you aboard!

Welcome to our new listeners from Talk Radio 950 KPRC Houston, NewsRadio 1200 WOAI San Antonio, and Newsradio 970 WFLA Tampa. It’s great to have you, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Saturday 17 February 2007

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