Leo Laporte
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For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
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Sunday October 5,2008
Show Audio
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Edited Audio | |
Tech News
Google celebrates 10th Anniversary
The Internet search giant revolutionized search, but also advertising on the World Wide Web. What’s their second act? Well, there’s the new Google Phone. But also, Google is partnering with T. Boone Pickens on “Clean Energy 2030,” which they say will wean America off dependence on foreign oil. It will cost 4.4 TRILLION dollars (yikes), but they say will be offset by 5.5 trillion in energy savings.
The idea is to move from oil and coal production to solar, wind and geothermal power with the goal of reducing fossil fuel development by 38%.
Apple Finally drops their NDA on Developers
Seeing the “wisdom of the crowds,” Cupertino has finally put to bed the iPhone non disclosure agreement they have shackled developers with so that they may collaborate on software development. Could it be that Apple sees how Android’s open source approach is not only more friendly, but will yield some friendly competition with the iPhone?
Apple Threatens to drop iTunes
The National Music Publishers Association wanted to double the royalty rate on online music sales. Saying it would completely evaporate any profit margins, Apple threatened to close iTunes doors. Conveniently, the Copyright Royalty Board denised the NMPA’s request.
Congress saves Internet Radio
In a slightly related case of the tripling of royalty rates paid by Internet Radio Stations, Congress passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, which will green light a deal between Internet Radio Stations and the organization that collects royalties sometime this Spring.
Another Steve Jobs phoney heart attack report
An unverified rumor posted to CNN’s iReport citizen journalism site caused Apple’s stock to tumble. It was a bogus rumor and the SEC is investigating to see if there was market manipulation at work. The same report was attempted at a few MacRumor sites, but was caught and removed before it could be seen. What’s up with CNN swinging at a pitch in the dirt?
Today is BACKUP SUNDAY!
Guests
Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor
Chris Marquardt is still recovering from Photokina. What did he ultimately take with him? The Megapixel race is definitely not over. Some great stuff he found … it’s not necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a lens when something as simple of a pinhole will work. The advantage is unlimited depth of field as it has no aperture. Another cool thing he saw was the “Lens Baby.” A bendable lens that will skew the photo, almost like looking around the corner.
Hour 1
Q Jay, truckin’ in Mass. - Printer trouble with his laptop
He has an Asus laptop computer and can’t print to his HP printer. Leo says there’s trouble in the “print spooler” (it’s like a buffer for a printer). Clear jobs out of the spooler. Anything pending, delete. Then, uninstall the printer driver and reinstall. This will wipe out a corrupted spooler and replace it. Also, update the drivers from HPs website. Don’t forget to match the driver with your OS.
From the Chatroom - you need Microsoft Unix for Services to connect.
Q George, Los Angeles, CA -Hardware for a new online business.
George is starting a business. Needs a laptop for on the road. Leo says most laptops have wireless hardware, but not wireless service. You need a laptop with wireless internet. You can subscribe to TMobile’s Hotspot service. But access everywhere, then the cell networks are the way to go. Nowadays, laptops are coming with EVDO or HSDPA built in. And the newest is GOBI - which let’s you use any carrier you have a subscription to. Cost is about $60 a month. Leo likes the Panasonic Toughbook paired with either the Canon Inkjet or Epson Photo printers. Dell is doing a GOBI, and Lenovo may also. GOBI notebooks have great flexibility, work all around the world. Definitely the way to go when you’re on the road.
Q Jesse, Simi Valley, CA - Tablet laptop issues
Jesse has the Acer tablet. Screen replaced after a year. But pointer issues still abound. And there’s some strange smears and streaks on the screen. Replacement #2 ensues. Leo suggests also trying to wipe the drive and reinstall. This eliminates software trouble as the culprit. Jesse tried to boot it up with a Linux boot disc and had the same trouble. So, it’s definitely a hardware issue. Leo thinks it’s maybe the video card or logic/mother board. Sadly, this will cost as much as buying a new computer.
Q Peter, Van Nuys, CA - OSX Leopard and file sharing
Using OSX Leopard, Peter can connect to other PCs by typing in their IP addresses manually, but he can’t print from them. His Mac went to sleep one day and the connection was broken. Leo suggests turning on print sharing in the system preference pane. If the printers don’t show up, then, the Mac can’t see them. Since Peter is using XP, upgrading to Vista will help. It’s improved sharing. Leo also suggests trying “Bonjour.” Zero Config is the idea behind it, printing via I.P.
This may be a security issue. If you have a strict AVS, the software may be prohibiting print sharing. Try turning it off briefly to see if it works. It could also be the firewall in the mac. Try disabling it and allowing all traffic briefly. If it works, then you know there’s an issue with the firewall.
From the chatroom - the consensus is that security software like PANDA is hard to turn off and get rid of. It’s very restrictive and intrusive. And the bad guys can disable it easily. So removing the Panda suite that Peter uses will probably solve the issue.
A good place for network troubleshooting is PracticallyNetworked.com. There’s also this from About.com.
Hour 2
Q Tony, Chester, PA - Doing his first podcast
Tony is using a camcorder to record. He then wants to split out the audio. How? Leo says an easy way is to open the movie in Quicktime Pro or iMovie and export audio only. Nice and Easy 104. Then you can move it into Garage Band to edit and output to mp3.
Q eBook recommendation for a gift.
eBook competitors - Amazon Kindle and the Sony PRS700 eBook reader. The Sony is nice because it has a touchscreen which actually lets you turn the page, which is cool. And it has a book light. And word is that the next Gen Kindle is forthcoming.
Q John, Sacramento, CA - Problems with Adobe Audition
Just bought a new PC and is using Audition 1.0. He’s demo’ing Audition 3.0 and is getting input device errors. Leo thinks it’s a driver issue and John should look for an updated audio driver. From the chatroom - make sure the EV device is the first on your list for “audio ordering” in the Mac.
Adobe Audition is a great program based on the classic Cool Edit Pro, popular with audio editors everywhere. Audacity is a great free program which will teach you about 80% of Audition functions. Great for cutting your teeth before you lay out $300–400 on Audition.
Q Jean Paul, Ontario, CAN - Backing up movies on hard drive.
Jean Paul wants to back up his DVDs. But they’re so huge. Leo wonders if he wants a mirror image for later, or can he settle for just the movies? Then, using programs like Handbrake (Win/Mac) will enable you to rip the DVD and compress the movie to a manageable size (like around 700MB). The more compression, though, the lesser the quality. Using H.264 compression is the best balance of the two.
Note - in the US, it is technically a violation of the DMCA to circumvent copy protection, which means making a backup is illegal. So much for Fair Use.
Q Kevin, Pasadena, CA - New computer for Photoshop work
With Photoshop CS4 just released, Kevin wants a computer that can handle it. First off, you’ll need a computer with a TON of RAM since Photoshop is a memory hog.
Using a 64 Bit system will enable you to have as much RAM as you want. At least 4–8GB. Processor - the more level 2 cache, the faster the processor. Leo suggests going to Dell, where you can specify what processor you want.
Q Steven, Perth, AUS - High quality earbuds.
In ear monitors. These are the new earphones. But some gag on it. Leo recommends Ultimate Ear. To check out the best, go to Headphone Fanatics.
He also wants to know if it’s a bad idea to spend more on a digital camera lens than the body. Leo says it’s a smart thing to spend more money on the glass simply because the body will be replaced as the technology matures. He wants to get a Canon 450D/XSi with an EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS lens.
From the Chatroom - The EF-S lens will not work with a full frame censor body like the 5D Mk. II.
Hour 3
Q Richard, New Jersey - Mac falls asleep on monitor switching from PC
Richard shares his monitor between his Mac and PC and his Mac goes to sleep when he switches. Leo thinks it’s a bug and Apple needs to fix that. He thinks that perhaps it’s written in the code to put the Mac asleep when you switch away from it, the thinking being that the Mac isn’t needed at that point. So, unfortunately, you have to pray that Apple realizes is a silly idea and fixes it in the firmware.
Leo says going to discussions.apple.com and post about it. Apple monitors those discussions and often, solutions are gleaned from it.
Q Laurie, SoCal - Her MacBook email address book is having trouble
Laurie can’t use her web email with her MACBook on AT&T. Leo thinks it’s a browser issue in Safari. Safari may be having communication trouble with Yahoo. Try using Apple Mail and import your address book there. It’s alot more efficient at auto completion.
Q Dennis, Murietta, GA - Thoughts on HP
Leo is not much of an HP fan. Thinks they started out great, but grew too fast. They, they’re a “consumer product” rather than a serious computer company.
To be fair, there’s no real to tell which computer is great and which one is bad. You can’t test every single computer. However, experience is an easy barometer. And when Leo hears from a lot of people all the time about HP problems, it gives him pause. The problems - a lot of junkware put on them, and lackluster support.
Q Dean, Anaheim, CA - embedding video in Go to Meeting
Dean wants to embed his video image in the Go to Meeting screen. Absolutely, you can. The frame rate won’t be great. You should try it out first. It will be dependent on bandwidth. Use a good Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000. Built in audio, auto focus. Great software.
