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Late last night word started circulating that Sony’s suits decided that delivering crapware-free PCs was a great idea, particularly if they could get consumers to pay $50 for a PC free of the bloat.
Engadget reported that Sony was going to allow consumers a “Fresh Start” for $50, an option to pay Sony for the pleasure of not having a lot of useless junk installed on your PC. Readers across the Internet were incensed to see Sony try and monetize this, although a lesser contingent were open to the possibility.
Earlier this week, Apple Updater ran on Windows machines asked users if they wanted to install Apple’s Safari Browser. It was more of an ad.
40 Years ago, the Office Cubicle was invented. In celebration, office designers IDEO have teamed up with Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, to create the ideal cubicle.
Google lost the Spectrum deal. Large cell service providers won almost all of the licenses in the recently concluded FCC spectrum auction. Google didn’t get any and won’t be entering the wireless business. Verizon Wireless was the big winner, laying out $9.4 billion for enough regional licenses in the “C” block to stitch together nationwide coverage, except for Alaska.
AT&T paid $6.6 billion, and Qualcomm picked up a few licenses, and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Spectrum LLC won a pair of licenses in the “A” block. One analyst called Google a “happy loser” because it got the openness it had pushed for. The AP’s coverage does some more of the numbers.
Q John - Wireless Camera with Monitor
It may be the fact that the camera doesn’t have that feature. The compression algorithms on the camera may be the cause of the problems.
You might want an RF Connected camera to a wireless monitor within 50ft.
There is wireless TV. You want something that uses RF to broadcast and not use the Internet. You can get a small RF Transmitter for $50. It’s certainly worth a try.
Take a look at the Aerial Video System (900MHz) from Range Video.
Q Debbie - iPod Touch Dock Extender
Because Apple own the trademark, no one is really allowed to sell them. There’s a person who makes them (Mike Kruckenberg), and he has a guide to make them.
CableJive.com make them. Also take a look at the Sendstation.com Dock Extender
Q Michael - What Video Camera do you recommend?
Leo uses two video Camera. Leo uses an old Canon DV cam for the live streaming. Leo took that tour with a Logitech USB Webcam. USB is limited in bandwidth. Firewire is really made for faster.
These cameras have to compress a little more. The Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 is a great little camera and would be perfect for what you want to do.
It has a great quality built in Mic. The Ultra Vision SE camera from Logitech is also very good.
uStream.tv and Stickam are great for doing live webcam broadcasts.
Q Brad - Laptop DVD Drive stopped working
You could just go on eBay and buy a new DVD Drive for your laptop. The key is finding one that’s an exact match. You could also get an external hard drive.
Almost certainly you should get the iMac. The Towers are really made for Pro’s, but the iMac’s are great. You should really choose the iMac for Screen Size. Don’t buy Apple RAM. 4GB of Ram will be great on your Mac.
Eventually you’ll want more software, but don’t buy software at once.
Q Lindsey - Driver for a Keyboard
The real key to the whole thing is the fact it’s a USB device. So if your using FL Studio, Garageband or SONAR, then you can use it to control the program.
You do need some software to get it to work. It is supposed to be Plug and Play with Windows XP and Mac OS X. Windows does not come with an ASIO driver. If you do a Google search for that driver, you should be able to find it.
The drivers are free, you could also check the manufacturers website for the drivers. Try it with Ableton. You could also check ASIO4All.com which has the driver free.
Q Ken - Use PDA for free wifi?
If the 8520 does do WiFi, then you could login to that hotel WiFi with the phone. T-Mobile don’t charge you airtime when using WiFi. Their not allowed to charge you airtime if your using WiFi on your phone.
They have no right to charge you data if your using WiFi or Ethernet and it’s not their equiptment in any way. If you take the Sim card out, and you use the WiFi, then they have no way to charge you.
Q Shaun - What Mic do you have?
Leo has the Heil Mic and Arm, and your able to slip the flag over the connector over.
If it’s all solid you won’t be able to get the flag on there. There’s a lot of companies who make these. KFI’s flag is from White Manufacturing. You can Google them and you’ll get a lot of results.
Depending on where it’s going to be displayed is the quality you should get. If it’s just going to be on the web, then Leo recommends the Panasonic SD1, he uses the SD5. The SD1 lets you hook up an extra Mic.
They both record to SD Cards and are both 1080i Output. You should import at 540p. iLife 08′ can understand the new format, but all the new HD Cameras record in a new H.264 format, that some programs can’t use.
These custom firmware solutions are hacks, and there’s a back and forth game between Sony. Take a look at PSPHacks.net.
Q Jim - Online Document Storage?
Word isn’t exactly made for this. Google Docs would be a great solution for this. Your files are stored online, but you’ll have to get into the mindset of uploading the files before you leave a location.
When programmers do this, they use something called version control. Leo uses SVN. Linux folk use something called GIT. These solve exactly that problem.
You could also use online file storage like Windows Live SkyDrive.
A better way to Rip DVD’s for the iPod is Handbreak. It’s free and is great for Mac and Windows.
You put the DVD in and you select which file you want off the DVD (so the Movie) and you tell it what to play on. It’ll turn it into a file that’s appropriate for those, and it’ll even add it to iTunes for you.
You might want to backup your data and reinstall Windows due to the fact your PC is slow.