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Saturday 1 September 2007

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Tech News

Are thieves hacking into security cameras? An unidentified man called a Wal-Mart demanding $10,000 be wired to his bank account, and he was observing the store through security cameras.

A man emailed Leo regarding a scam email he received. The email he received was supposedly from a contract hitman set to kill the recipient unless $20000 be wired to his account.

The MPAA is actually employing DVD-sniffing dogs now

Scientists have found a method of developing an unbeatable videogame by putting sensors on your skin to predict a mouse click up to 2 seconds before.

Guests

Q Scott Wilkinson - THX sound

• Created from George Lucas’s first movie THX1138
• Idea was that Lucas wanted a set group of standards for audio
  • So reviewers could hear exactly how the mixers and sound engineers created the sound
• Eventually expanded to home theater and cinema
  • Certifies projectors, screens, audio systems
• Recommends all speakers to be classified as “small”
  • And all sounds 80Hz and lower to be on subwoofer
• Also certifying DVD mastering processes
• THX optimizers help consumers adjust TV sets
• Also began to certify car audio

Q Dick DeBartolo - Peel & Stick Chalkboard/Inka Pens

• Vinyl chalkboards that you can stick on the wall
  • Easy to get off
• Great for kids’ lockers, rooms, offices
• Comes in four colors: slate gray, schoolhouse green, blueprint blue, and grape
• Doesn’t come with an eraser, but can easily clean it with a paper towel
• Small enough to put on a keychain
• Pressurized cartridge allowing youto write anywhere
  • watertight, and can write at any angle

Q Steve Gibson - Flash padlock

• USB thumb drive
  • Can program a number into it to unlock it
• Will not be recognized by computer unless you unlock it
• Completely machine-independent
• Completely blocks access
  • Not encrypted data
• Comes in 1 and 2gb versions

Hour 1

Q John from Richmond, VA - Looking for a new camcorder

• Looking for memory card or hard drive based
• Newer AVCHD recording cameras are great
  • Canon HG10 is hard-drive based
    • But has a CMOS sensor
    • Leo isn’t a big fan of hard-drive based cameras though
      • Can’t pull anything off until you connect to computer
  • Leo just purchased the Panasonic SD5
    • 3CCD
      • Better quality than CMOS
    • Records straight to memory cards

Q Reuben from Santa Monica, CA - XP jumping WiFi networks/Leaking G5 Mac

• Simply turn off wireless zero config
• Can also turn on the Wireless Client Update
• Computer now overheating and video card malfunctioning
• Apple took very good care of him and decided to replace the parts
  • If parts aren’t here in 2 weeks, they will send him a Mac Pro

Hour 2

Q Jordan from Simi Valley, CA - Wireless network slow for games/Crossover cables

• Draft N is great
• Leo isn’t a fan of using wireless for such high intensity activities though
• Current Draft N is probably going to be the final N anyways

Q Downloaded spyware

• Thought he was downloading antispyware
  • Cannot remove it
• Be careful to avoid these popups and emails in the future
• Bleeping Computer has several guides on how to remove spyware

Q Brett from Los Angeles, CA - Unlocked his iPhone for CNN

• iPhoneSIMFree owners connected to iPhone via Internet
  • Because installer app is not done yet
• Completely unlocked
• Youtube and visual voicemail don’t work
  • Youtube has a special key for every phone specific to AT&T network
  • Visual voicemail only works on AT&T
• This call was done on an iPhone via the T-Mobile network

Hour 3

Q Max from Durango, CO - Card reader made pictures unreadable on card

• Cards do go bad (it’s not unusual)
• Camera is saying that there are no pictures on the drive
• The free PC Inspector will help recover the files off that card
  • So long as PC can see the card as a drive
• Card may have been bad
• If it’s bad, throw it out

Q Robert - Wireless speakers for outdoor porch

• There are several wireless speakers
• Could build a small box around the speakers
• Certainly weatherproof speakers as well
  • Not sure about weatherproof wireless speakers
• Leo uses Altec Lansing iM7 portable speakers for his iPod
  • Carries them in and out
• Acoustic Research has wireless outdoor speakers running $69.99
  • Uses 900MHz wireless
  • Water resistant
  • The reviews are great

Q Mark from Thousand Oaks, CA - Looking for a laptop for wife

• Wife does light photo editing
• If you’re going to choose Vista, go with at least 2gb of RAM
• Hard to judge things by mail order
• Nice to go into the store and actually try the laptop
• Also need to choose between glossy and matte screens
  • Glares in bright lights
• Dell is great
• So is Lenovo
• Leo does not recommend HP
• Apple and Dell have the best customer support

Q David from Ladysmith, WI - iTunes alarm clock with remote control

• ATI used to have a
• Many laptops have infrared ports
  • If there is one, there are numerous remotes

Q Bill from Palace Verdes, CA - Audio in flash not working if mouse isn’t moving

• Problem is only in Pandora
• Sounds like a bug in Pandora player
• Pandora is a very cool Internet radio station
• There is a standalone Pandora player called PandoraBrowse that may help in listening to Pandora
• It sounds like the browser is timing out in some strange way