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Sunday 13 July 2008

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Tech News

A flaw makes the Internet vulnerable to Hackers.

Yes, the ENTIRE Internet. There’s a flaw in DNS Name servers which could allow hackers to take over the Internet and forward users to impostor sites. It’s called “cache poisoning.”

And many of the major DNS companies aren’t protected. Cisco, Microsoft, AT&T, Comcast (in some areas). Companies that use OpenBDS servers are protected as is DSLExtreme. If you’d like to know if your servers are safe, head over to DOXPARA.COM. If you’re vulnerable, you don’t have to use your present DNS server. You can use OPENDNS.COM it’s easy to configure to make your browser safe … and it’s fast too. And for parents, OpenDNS will even block adult sites. Just that alone makes it worth it. And it’s free!

For more information, you can listen to the latest NetSec Podcast.

Leo broke down and bought the Iphone.

Got the 16GB G3. Installed the AOL Radio app and says it’s THE killer app. You can listen to internet radio. Killer App and broadcast should be worried.
What Leo doesn’t like is the battery life. MasterZap recommends you need to fully charge and deplete the battery several times to break the battery in. But still, keeping everything on will drain your battery in a few hours.

Remember though, if you’re connection is slow, it’s a shared network and sometimes even 3G may be slower than EDGE if tons of people are using it.

Most annoying way to annoy coworkers - EMAIL!

ABC News has the story. Upper Caps. Passive-Aggressive copy, reply to all. There’s a list of “netiquette no-nos” we all could learn from.

Leo Defends Steve Wozniak

CNet slimed Woz for special treatment by an AT&T store. It’s not true. Woz was signing autographs, talking to fans, pressing the flesh with other geeks, and being a great guy. Then, when the time came, HE GOT IN LINE. And Leo spoke to him about it FROM THE LINE.

If anyone deserves better treatment, it’s the man who invented the Apple in the Apple in the first place. CNet, and Greg Sandoval particularly, owes Woz an apology.

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Hour 1

Q Phil, Downey, CA - Thoughts on the 24″ iMac?

Rumors abound that there may be a price drop. But Apple is great at rumor control and disinformation. Leo doesn’t think there’s a reason to assume the rumor is true. It may be, but don’t wait. There are two 24″ screens and Leo isn’t sure paying an extra $400 for .2 ghz is worth it. But the video card is superior in them.There may be some screen issues, but a fix has been made.

Get it with the base RAM and then go to a third party for your RAM. MACSALES is what Leo recommends. And suggests 4GB, which is about $100.

GelaSkins is a cool place to give your MacBook a makeover. Leo loves them.

Q Jerry, Huntington Beach, CA - Can he improve the Ion Stylus?

He has an Ion USB Turntable to rip is albums and wants to know if he can improve the stylus? Stanton makes a high quality USB Turntable with better stylus cartridges. Or, take your standalone and preamp and hook up the amp to your sound card. Record direct to a CD uncompressed. Then, rip as a wave file and clean it up.

Q Gary, Laguna, CA - Thoughts on how to fix the out of focus slide issue.

Take the slides out of the cardboard mount CAREFULLY. Use gloves. But you could scratch the slide. Gary says to go to a company that uses a drum scanner to scan and just bite the bullet and pay for it. Leo recommends Legacy Digital Productions.

Q Sam, Downey, CA - RAID drive error on his Dell.

He’s getting a RAID error every time he boots up his Dell. Leo says the RAID drive is bad. Verify it by using SPINRITE by GRC and you may be able to fix it.

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Hour 2

Q Stacey, Thousand Oaks, CA - Can’t backup to her CD on Vista.

She can read commercial CDs, but not burned ones. Leo says that closing the disc in the old computer (like finalizing DVDs) will solve the issue. Track it Once is the way you want to burn until packet writing software is installed on the Computer. Packet writing will enable the drag and drop option. Leo says all are terrible. Nero used to be good, but became bloatware. Still, their burning ROM utility is great.

Another option is Roxio Easy Media Creator.

From the Chat Room: UltraISO is another cheap alternative. But does it support packet writing?

Q Kate, Lancaster, CA - Her Internet access is slower than dial-up.

Can DSL Extreme really give her 10 times faster access? Well, DSL can get slower in rural areas. The problem is the farther from the hub you are, the slower the access is. Call DSL Extreme and ask them to test the access and request faster service.

Q Ashley, Newcastle, AUS - Can’t get his video off his flash cards.

Cards do go bad. Files get corrupted, sectors go bad. Leo recommends using PC Inspector. It’s free. There’s a Smart Recovery utility which will go through the card and recover the files - if the card can be recovered that is.

Don’t fall for the bait and switch recovery programs which extort your files in order to get you to pay to recover them.

Q CJ, Palo Alto, PA - Bad activation story on the 3G iPhone.

His experience activating his phone at AT&T was awful. Seven hours in line, forced to upgrade his service. But once he got it activated, it was great. He loves the iPhone.

Q Ed, Harrisburg, PA - Got a suspect third party warning from AOL.

Worried that when he went to a free Internet TV site to stream TV, AOL warned him the player was suspect. Leo says there’s probably nothing to worry about. But there’s not much to watch there. It’s mostly international channels that are unencrypted on the Internet. So in this case, heed the warning as there’s little value to you there.

Q Marco, Los Angeles, CA - Safe to stay signed into webmail?

Leo doesn’t think there’s a problem to stay signed into your web mail. Marco also wants an answering service for multiple lines. Leo recommends GotVMail. From the Chatroom, Joey says Ring Central is great. Course, you could set up your own PBX. Check out Asterix. Unlimited mailboxes. Checkout also Trixbox which makes Asterix easier to install.

From TWITTER:

Q Chris - what would you change on the iPhone?

Better Battery Life. Period. You gotta get through a day, Steve, come on. Leo also thinks it’s crazy it doesn’t have cut and paste. And it won’t let Leo spell his name.

Leo also says you can get 90% of the 3G phone functions simply by upgrading to 2.0 for $10. No real need to buy the new one.

Q Kevin, Temecula, CA - Where can he buy affordable video cables?

MonoPrice.com for cheap cables. You’d be crazy to pay retail for any cable.

Q Dee - How to get started in writing a book?

She’s writing a book and needs guidance. Leo suggests starting a free blog at WordPress, Tumbler, or Vox.

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Hour 3

Q Bill, Denver, CO - Internet access in a rural area.

Has trouble getting decent high speed internet access in his area. He’s way outside the city and can’t get it. But there’s wireless options. MMDS (a microwave service), requires line of sight. WiMax (Chatroom: check out Clearwire) is an up and commer. Check out Broadbandreports.com to find out what’s out there.

The thing is, unless the federal government does a digital version of the Tennessee Valley Project, there’s not alot of hope.

Q Greg, Lynchberg, VA - Trouble with Windows activation.

Had to change his motherboard. The Microsoft rep says he has to pay to activate his Windows! Leo hates this silly Genuine Advantage nonsense. GA doesn’t work right and Redmond knows it.

Leo says to call them back, pretending it’s the first time. Tell them you’ve replaced the motherboard and request a new activation code.

He also wants to do some ancestry stuff and start a website. He wants to create a forum for family members. Leo recommends going to GENI.COM. You can create a family tree that all family members can add to, provide pictures and stories, etc. Also, create a blog at wordpress.com, or even create a family group at Yahoo Groups.

Q Herb, Rancho Santa Fe, CA - G5 Blue Screen of Death

His G5 crashed on shutdown and he got a “cat’s head” icon. Leo thinks it’s a normal crash and that the icon is probably from a program that ran in the background and crashed. Check out “Little Snitch” which will tell you of any suspect programs on your Mac. Free for 30 days.

Q Janice, Rancho Cucamonga, CA - Video Chatting from MAC to Windows.

She wants to chat with family out of state. Leo recommends Skype. OOVOO. iVisit and even iChat on the Mac with AOL IM on Windows can work sometimes.

How to Tweet Leo? While on Twitter, type @leolaporte in the “what are you going” box and send him a question.

Q Gary, Santa Clara, CA - Moisture in his camcorder

His moisture light is coming on in his camcorder. James recommends placing the camera into an uncooked bag of rice for a few days to dry out. But since it’s been a few years, it’s probably the sensor. Time to upgrade, Gary! There’s some great camcorders out there.

Q Chris, Birmingham, AL - More iPhone thoughts. Battery life one of them.

Charge it for 12 hours, drain it, charge it for 12 hours, drain it again. But you need to turn off some stuff, like “ask to join WiFi networks.” That will drain the battery like crazy. It’s in the setup. And don’t download your email every 10 minutes. Careful tweaking like this will dramatically increase your battery life.

Also, recommendation for a good $1000 Mac? Leo recommends getting a Mac Mini. Add 4GB of RAM from MacSales. It’s a very powerful option. The 32 Bit version of Windows will only see 3GB (some is for video ram), but don’t worry. It’ll be there.

That’s it!

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