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Sunday 30 December 2007

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Today’s show is pre-recorded - but Leo will be back live next Saturday.

Show Audio

Edited Audio

Posted one week after broadcast…

Guests

Q Ron Rosberg - Gadgets

• Sprint Touch
  • Smaller than the iPhone
  • Windows Mobile-based
    • Allows you to use the Office products
  • Very lightweight
  • Phonescoop review
  • About $249 (With contract)

• Verizon Voyager
  • Check out this review compared with the iPhone
  • 2 screens
    • Outside is touch, inside is a smaller screen
  • Folds out to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and stereo speakers
  • $249 with new contract if purchased online
• Komfort Pets Climate Controlled Carrier
  • Crate that cools as well as heats
  • Great for when taking pets on airplanes
  • $299-$399
• Pivot Vacuum by Black & Decker
  • $49-$69

Q Chris Marquardt - Foreground & Background

• When we take a picture, we want to focus solely on the subject
  • But it’s easy to overlook what is around it
• Cameras lack the depth perception that we have
• Make sure to look at what is going on in the background through the viewfinder first
  • That way you can avoid problems

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News of 2007

When hackers began to unlock iPhones, Apple’s next update to the device ended up “bricking” unlocked devices.

Yeah Windows Vista sold 100 million copies, but 200 million PCs were sold this year. That means half of PCs sold had a different operating system on it.

When Halo 3 launched, it was deemed the single most successful entertainment release in history. $170 million was made in the first day!

2007 was a bad year for Palm. They announced a product called the Foleo, and then killed it because they decided it was distracting from the company’s focus. Soon later, Asus released a similar product called the Eee, and it has been selling like hotcakes.

Amazon’s Kindle attempted to change book reading the same way the iPod changed the way people listen to music. Jury’s still out on that, but Amazon has been unable to keep up with demand right now.

w00t ended up becoming the word of the year.

2007 was definitely the year of the Wii. It has definitely been the hottest product of the year. Try stepping into any store to purchase a Wii, and you won’t be able to find one anywhere.

This was also the year of social networking, and definitely the year of Facebook. Towards the end of last year, Facebook opened up and new users signed up in droves. Then, the site allowed for 3rd party developers to create applications for the website.

This was the year that both founders of Google got married. The 2 also got flack for their huge party airplane parked at NASA.

A 22-year old intern lost a backup hard drive with 770,000 taxpayers’ social security numbers.

VoIP has sort of fizzled this year. Sunrocket, one of the large VoIP companies, went out of business. Ooma opened up for business to little fanfare.

2007 was the year the game of checkers died. Researchers at the University of Alberta have created a computer that can play an absolutely perfect game of checkers. It is impossible to win against it.

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Hour 1

Q Chuck from Ridando Beach, CA - Picture-in-picture uncommon nowadays

• Wants to know why picture-in-picture isn’t as much a focus on TVs now
• If a TV does not have multiple tuners for PiP, the only solution would be to send letters to the manufacturer
• The removal of extra tuners was probably a cost-cutting measure

Q Chris from Covina, CA - Wall-mountable TV for home theater & videogames

• Looking for a 50-inch TV to hang on the wall
  • If you’re sitting 10-feet away, you’re looking for a 60–70 inch TV to fill your vision
• DLPs have absolutely no problems with burn in
• LCD TVs have greatly improved on response time
• You will also have a problem with wiring (they will hang off the wall)
  • Unless you break open the wall and run them through the wall
  • Some wireless solutions have been introduced

Q Marty from Anaheim Hills, CA - DVDs not looking good on Sony HDTV

• Using an HDMI switcher
• The only thing new in your system is a receiver
  • Problem is probably in receiver
  • Could be double processing of upconversion of the video
    • Try turning off the upconversion in either the DVD player or receiver

Q Julian - Nokia N95

• It is a wonderful and powerful phone
• Be careful about what applications you put on it
  • Leo uses Jaiku and Shozu (both drain the battery life)
• Could always get a 2nd battery

Q Rick from Corona, CA - Importing DVDs into iMovie

• Try using Handbrake to create an actual MPEG-4 video file
• You can open the MPEG-4 file up using Quicktime Pro and then convert it into any format
• If MactheRipper can rip the DVD, Handbrake should be able to as well

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Hour 2

Q Lee from San Diego, CA - Outlook Express rejecting settings

• Wants to use Outlook as a contacts manager, but Outlook requires him to put email account information in as well
• If you have a paid email account, go to the Yahoo mail settings and you should get POP information
• Enter the POP information into Outlook and you’ll be able to use the program as a contacts manager

Q John from Pueblo, CO - Yahoo Mail interface pushing processor to 100%

• Probably the Flash player being damaged
• Simply update your Flash player

Q Doug from Saratoga Springs, CA - Importing DVD movies onto iPod

• You will have to break the copy protection on the DVDs to copy the video onto your computer
  • It is technically illegal
• You will need software that will crack the copy protection, and then convert the video on the DVD into a MPEG-4 Quicktime file
• Handbrake will do all of this for you
  • It has a “convert to iPod” selection

Q Ann - Would an infected computer be able to infect her computer via email?

• The real rule is don’t open executable attachments rather than don’t open any attachments
• Because of flaws in software, data files can be manipulated to infect a computer
• Anytime there’s a critical update from Microsoft, update immediately
• For photo management on the PC, try out Picasa
• As long as people are sending you solely JPEG images and they are sharing via Picasa, you are safe
• Picasa has a photo sharing service called Hello

Q Ted from Costa Mesa, CA - TWiT website saying he needs to install plugins

• You can install the Flash Player from the standalone download
• Sometimes the browser-based installation will not work correctly
• Adobe has 2 ways of installing Flash
• If you are not able to install via the standalone installer, then you will have to remove all traces of the failed installation from the browser-based installations
• Reboot before you try installing again
• There is a Flash uninstaller available

Q Ronda from North Tustin, CA - Looking for a new HDTV

• Looked at a 46″ Sony Bravia HDTV
• That TV is very, very good
• They are getting better and better
• Not cheap, but you’re getting a good TV
  • Partly paying for the brand name

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Hour 3

Q Ann from Simi Valley, CA - Websites saying her Gmail address is invalid

• Some websites may be rejecting free webmail addresses because that is what spammers use
• They may want you to use an ISP-based email
• You can set Gmail to pick up the DSL Extreme email

Q Judith from Acton, CA - Importing vinyl albums into iTunes

• The Stanton T.90 has a USB output as well as a stereo output into your audio system
• You can use Garageband to import and edit the music
• Any sound editor will work
  • Audacity or Amadeus Pro will work

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