For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the TWiT Netcast Network

Sunday August 3, 2008

«Previous Show

Next Show»

Show Audio

Edited Audio
64kbps MP3	16kbps MP3

Tech News

The Sirius/XM merger is a go.

The FCC has approved the merger between Sirius and XM. They seem to have been easier on them with the thinking that one strong satellite network can compete against broadcast radio better than two networks on the verge of going under. But can they compete with Pandora, LastFM and every other Internet radio station?

Monday, a federal judge will rule in RIAA case.

The RIAA has sued 20,000 people over alleged music piracy. Only one has gone to court. Jammie Thomas, single mom drew a line in the sand and was found guilty after a five minute jury deliberation. Now, a federal judge will consider on Monday whether to overturn the verdict.

Guests

Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor

Keeping track of your photo data. The thing that’s different, obviously, about digital photography is that you have to keep track of your pictures on your computer. And as cameras get larger in megapixels, the picture files get larger and larger. So, managing your data becomes more important. And more people are taking more pictures because they can always delete the ones they don’t like. But the question is … DO THEY?

Chris recommends flagging your pictures to delete them, and then check them once more before tossing them. Backing up those photos are even more important since if the hard drive crashes, you can lose those precious memories. Leo recommends an external hard drive and backup them regularly with a simple drag and drop. And having an off site backup, maybe like Carbonite, is a good advice as well. As Alex Lindsay says “if you don’t have two copies, one off site” it doesn’t exist. Also, SmugMug will allow you to backup RAW pictures which is cool. For MACHEADs, there’s the iDisk and MobileMe.

RAID systems like the DROBO are good. But they aren’t cheap. Thankfully, the drives are.

But will the data be “future proof” as time goes on? Keeping your RAW/DNG files are like keeping your negatives. Then, converting them to a format like TIFF will keep all the data you need. But you also need to keep an eye on what’s current.

Lastly, printing. Only about 20% of those using digital cameras actually print them. And printing your pictures is still the longest lasting way to keep your photos as time goes on.

---

Hour 1

Q Ty, Vancouver, CA - WordPress plug ins.

Ty is running a WordPress blog and wants to know what plug-ins would be best to include. Wordpress is a great blogging platform and it has a lot of great plug-ins. But you want to be careful against overdoing it. The heavier it gets, the more likely you can break it. The key is to use a plug-in based on what you’re doing.

Leo suggests plug-ins for Recent Comments, Categories, Popular Topics, Kizmet for antiSpam, Discuss for comments by user, Flickr for pictures, “On This Day” if your blog has been around awhile. Others include Share This (great for encouraging your fans to DIGG your blog) Twitter Tools, the WordPress Database Backup (which will also email it to Gmail - COOL!), WPPrint by Lester Gamers Chan. It’ll print the blog post in an easy format. WP Touch for mobile reading.

In fact, you may want to consider including a colophon, which tells users everything you use on your blog. Leo does and it can be really helpful to others like Ty who are just starting out.

Ty’s blog is Ask About Tech

Q Norman, Los Angeles, CA - Transferring files from administrator to limited user.

Norm uses XP and can’t transfer his files from his administrator account to the limited user account. Leo says that XP is a hassle for this. It can be done, but it’s a tad tricky. Log in as an Admin. Take the files into the new my documents folder of the limited account and then tell each file that’s its owned by that new owner.

You can put them into a Shared User folder, you’ll need to log in as an admin and then take the files you want to transfer and tell the folder who owns it.
For a step by step, go to WinXPTutor.com

As for programs, you may have to reinstall and open them up for all users.

Q Rob, Tarzana, CA - How to protect his network from his son’s internet activity.

Rob has a business network. Leo recommends “Sandboxing” him. VMWare. He can operate inside it without messing up the network. Another option is “Steadystate,” by Microsoft. If it gets messed up, you can reboot and it’ll go back to the way it was. Another great idea is to make sure all computers are running firewalls. This will protect each computer should one get infected.

Leo also recommends getting him his own PC and keep it off the network. That’s really the safest way.

Q Wendy, Silverlake, CA - Should she buy a MagicJack?

She hears there’s a few cons with getting MagicJack to save on long distance phone calls. Should she get it? Leo says at $60 it’s not bad if you’re willing to risk the cash.

Better yet, Leo recommends Skype. It’s free, you can use it anywhere. Sure, sometimes connections are buggy because of how many people are using it at any given moment, but it works a lot better. You can get “Skype Out” and “Skype In” for the same price.

---

Hour 2

Q Ron, SoCal - Dealing with computer viruses & spyware

Uses BitDefender and gets warnings about a virus. Worried.

AVS will give warnings of potential viruses, they use “heuristics,” which looks for a virus profile and virus like behavior. So, it may not be a virus, but it’s acting like one.

Leo recommends Eset Nod32. Also, check out Convar PC Inspector for recovering files that have been erased.

Ron also uses magicJack overseas, and he thought it worked very well. But when he got into trouble was when he was at locations that had slow broadband.

Questions from Twitter:

Q Rob - magicJack has a Mac driver.

Q Coach Jeff - needs a money program for MAC, not Quicken!

ChaChing is shareware which is fun. Chad P recommend GnuCash (open source). But Leo still recommends Quicken and QuickBooks.

Back to the phones:

Q Richard, San Diego, CA - His router messes up XBox Live!

Richard can’t join online games because XBox Live says he has the wrong router. Microsoft is going for convenience, not security. Xbox Live wants it wide open and Richard’s router is protecting his system! Universal Plug and play is what’s causing the problem because Xbox wants to open it wide open without warning.

Go into your router and open ports directly. Microsoft has a paper on it here.

Q Joe, North Kingston, RI - Moving iTunes from a Mac to PC.

Unfortunately, the iTunes has no vehicle for this. However, there are workarounds. iPod Access is about $20. iPod Rip on the Mac. They copy the music and then the tag information, which will work for it. But they won’t work with protected DRM’d music that you’ve bought from the iTunes music store. And make sure you don’t use them to pirate music.

Joe also uses the magicJack. He likes it for faxes.

Q Brenda, Arkansas - Thoughts on the iPod Touch?

Brenda is thinking of getting an iPod Touch. Thoughts? Leo loves it. It’s an iPhone without the phone. Can use the applications, has WiFi connectivity, GPS. Great for watching movies. Negatives - no controls on it. Works with multi-touch. No built-in speaker. Potential trouble with docking stations and noise.

Q Steve, San Diego, CA - Phone recommendation

He’s running on Verizon. Should he go with the iPhone or Blackberry? He wants them for his family. The iPhone is AT&T only. BlackBerry works on Verizon. Warning, only AT&T company stores or the Apple Store sells iPhones. And TERRIBLE battery life! And you can’t get it insured.

Leo is an iPhone fan, but there are negatives. Easy to break that glass front. It has an on screen keyboard which is rather frustrating. But those third party applications have really made the iPhone a must have phone. And don’t forget, it’s also an iPod. What you really want to check is coverage. Verizon is better in Southern California. And frankly, AT&Ts coverage isn’t all that.

So, on balance, the BlackBerry is a more robust phone if you’re hard on it. But on the other hand, you may be more careful with the iPhone because you could break it. Bottom line … all Leo can say is, he loves his iPhone.

---

Hour 3

Q Brian, Agoura, CA - Surfing Net as a limited user. Safe?

I can be, but if you download something bad, it’ll escalate. You can “sandbox” yourself (see above) using Sandboxie.

He also ran into a virus during system restore. How does that happen? When you first install Windows, and don’t have the Windows firewall on, worms like SASSER can infect your machine IN MINUTES.

The safest thing to do is go to Windows Update and do a “network install.” Download the updates - SP2 and now, SP3, burn them to CD and install them before going online. Use Administrator Options in Windows Update and select “update multiple operating systems” to do this.

And download the updates on Update Tuesday!

Q Jeff, Ontario, CA - 64-bit operating systems

The only real advantage to a 64-bit OS is you can use more RAM. Disadvantages is that it can run slower than 32 bit systems. You need signed 64 bit drivers.
The good news is that most of the hard core games can use that extra RAM the 64Bit gives you.

Jeff also wants to know about the iPod Touch. Leo things they’re way too expensive for the 32GB versions. The 16GB is just fine for the average user. You just need to be more selective - unless, of course, you want EVERYTHING on it.

But Leo doesn’t really recommend the Touch unless you’re watching video.

Q Aaron, Irvine, CA - Flash problems in YouTube.

Aaron’s having trouble using flash on the Internet. Leo recommends reinstalling it. But don’t install it in your browser. Install it as a standalone installer. If that doesn’t work, then you need to uninstall the existing flash and reinstall.

You can also right click on the video and go to the flash advanced settings and either enable or disable hardware acceleration, clear your cache, and even your flash cookies (they have their own cookie cache).

Q Bob, Ventura, CA - Needs virus definitions, but how?

Webroot is asking for new virus definitions, but he can’t find the button to press in order to do it. Check your system tray for your AVS and right click it. You should be able to run it that way. Or, go into Programs and you’ll find it there. ALWAYS update it. In fact, update it automatically.

Q Rick, Los Angeles, CA - Persistent Virus Trouble.

He’s having trouble with it. Leo suggests reformatting the hard drive (backup your data first) and then reinstall the O.S.

Rick is still having trouble though. Leo suggests he may have a hidden partition in the Master Boot Record that isn’t going away. Reboot from a GENUINE Windows CD. Then, Go to the command line and type FIXMBR. It’ll rewrite the master boot record. Then, format the drive.

---

«Previous Show

Next Show»