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Saturday 26 May 2007

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Tech News

La Fonera aims to provide free WiFi to the entire world by distributing routers.

A Michigan man has been arrested for using a cafe’s free WiFi from his car. This is similar to a Florida, Washington, and Alaska man being arrested for the same reasons.

If you’re driving a 2007 Infiniti G35 or Nissan Altima, do not place your cell phone http://news.com.com/Nissan+Dont+mix+cell+phones+and+car+keys/2100-11389_3-6186547.html near the electronic keys. Incoming or outgoing calls will erase them.

Male partial nudity is the cause of the impending Halo 2 PC launch.

A Symantec update has crunched all PCs running the Chinese version of Windows.

It has been 30 years since the release of the first Star Wars movie.

Guests

Q Chris - Camera histograms

• Basically statistics of the image you are seeing
• Horizontal axis
  • Graph is # of pixels from dark to bright colors
• Does not give indication if picture is good or not
• Can use it to tell camera how to expose a picture

Q Rick Alber - Joost

• Was in private beta
• Now in “now for friends” beta
  • Everybody who has account has unlimited invites
• Very easy to use
• You download application and install
  • Uses broadband connection
• Quality is great
  • Ran fine on Rick’s older machine
• Not much content available yet
• About 1 minute per hour of content
  • Ads
• Founded by same people as Skype and Kazaa
  • Uses P2P technology
• Can even chat with other users watching same content
• Can add application “widgets” to run simultaneously with video
• Content providers counting on fact that content is not stored

Q Dick DeBartolo - Tundra Fire Extinguishing Spray

• Fire extinguisher in aerosol can form factor
• Has more propellant than a real extinguisher
• $20 in Wal-Mart
• Demonstration video available on website

Hour 1

Q John from Beaumont - Vonage 911/Skype

• Wants to know about emergency systems on Skype
• You cannot dial 911 using Skype
• Would have to leave a computer on 24/7
• Too early to rely completely on VoIP
• Recommended that you keep at least one landline in the house to call 911
• Numerous Skype accessories available for use with phones
• Sunrocket is also a great Vonage alternative

Q Garret from Pacific Palisades - Cannot go to web pages

• Connected to the network, but cannot load up pages
• Error in the registry is the problem
  • Problem with file assocation
• Fixing it is quite complicated
  • Microsoft has an article regarding the issue.
  • Several users in the chatroom are also pointing to an article by InfoPackets

Q John from Glendale - DVD Camcorder

• DVD Camcorders not great for users with PCs
• They record to MPEG-2 which is lower quality
• Only can view recorded DVDs by finalizing
• Great for novice users like your mom

Hour 2

Q Phil from Great Falls - XP Professional vs. Vista for MacBook Pro

• Wants to run on Parallels
• Vista will take more resources
• Don’t have to worry about vista compatibility with Parallels
• Won’t get cool Aero glass effects in Parallels
• Snap up XP ASAP
  • Newegg has it for sale
  • It is also available on Amazon

Q Chris - Did not get all system files in backing up system

• Try out Super Duper
  • Will make direct image of the drive

Q Noleen - Develop website on Mac, view on PC/Blue dots on Cinema Display

• You can network the 2 together
• Use KVM switch to switch between 2 machines
• Mac has built in windows networking
  • You then map the networked folder
• Turn on Samba in the system preferences
• About.com has a tutorial
• Try changing the resolution and changing it back

Hour 3

Q Chris from Chicago - No sound from Xbox 360 Elite

• Composite audio working though
• Seems like it simply died on you
• Best Buy will probably swap it for you

Q Jay from Encino - Cannot get in contact with Go Video support/Scanner for $200

• Seems like the company has gone out of business
• Websites go on even if the company has gone down
• Take a look at the Epson Perfection 4490
• It is $189.99

Q Trevor from San Francisco - Mac Mini vs. iMac

• There is a rumor that the Mac Mini will be phased out
• Mac Mini aimed towards switchers
• Mini has 5400rpm drive
  • Can get external drive and boot off of it
  • Look at the miniStack
• There are performance drawbacks on the Mac Mini
• Wait till you absolutely need the computer

Q Terry from Torrance - Application can’t access the Internet

• Norton Internet Security is most probably blocking it
• Go into its settings and disable it temporarily to see if it fixes it
• Make sure to let it allow your application to access the Internet
• No need to run a software firewall
• You’re dead anyways if a hacker gets on your system
• To remove Norton, try the Norton Removal Tool