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For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
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Sunday October 26, 2008
- Show Audio
- Tech News
- Guests
- Hour 1
- Hour 2
- Hour 3
- Alan, Leeds, AL - Needs a new cheap computer for digital video.
- Brenda, Fairfield, CA - Internet connection trouble
- Stephen, Orange County, CA - Ripping DVDs
- John, Camarillo, CA - syncing audio to video of Christmas lights
- Richard, Los Angeles, CA - getting rid of Norton, getting Eset
- Rick, North Hampton, MS - Needs a phone that does everything
Show Audio
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Edited Audio | |
Tech News
Microsoft to announce Windows 7 at the WDC
Microsoft will be announcing Windows 7 at the Windows Developers Conference. The time is about ripe for it. And even though Microsoft had a good quarter, sales of Vista haven’t been that stellar. The word on the street is that Windows 7 will be much better at this stage then people would think and will be given to developers on a 500GB hard drive.
But Microsoft is also heading towards “The cloud.” Microsoft calls it “Live Mesh” but the rumor is it may be called “Strata.”
Apple announces results as well, better than expected
Thanks to brisk sales of the iPhone 3G, Apple’s sales were excellent. But the stock dropped in price because Cupertino also admitted that they expect sales next quarter to drop.
Layoffs coming
With the economy slowing down, and gadget companies relying heavily on the holiday season, layoffs are beginning to happen as companies prepare for the coming downturn. Tech Crunch has a layoff tracker which has tracked over 20,000 layoffs so far in the tech industry.
Guests
Dr. Web, Rick Albert, reviews the T-Mobile G1
Rick has had the G1 for about a week. Rick has found it’s comfortable to hold or keep in your pocket. It’s pretty rugged. Uses the new Android open source interface. Intuitive. iPhone users will find it a little awkward at first. But it’s very similar.
It’s not as sleek or sexy as the iPhone. A tad heavier and fatter. But it has just as good a screen as the iPhone. Just as fast as the iPhone touch screen. It doesn’t support multi touch, however. Blackberry users will like the trackball buried in the raised edge of the phone. And it’s real advantage its slide up qwerty keyboard, which is a lot easier ot use than the iPhone virtual keyboard. But what’s also annoying is that the accelerometer isn’t as functional or automatic as the iPhone. It has a compass built into it, which is cool, especially when you’re using Google Maps in street view.
Other great Google apps incorporated into it, Gmail - you can do just about everything you would on a desktop. Google Calendar. Full search. But it doesn’t have Google Reader just yet. Look for it in later versions. And it has cut and paste!
Leo says what’s holding it back are the lack of apps at this stage. He thinks the G1 won’t really take off until developers begin to port applications over to it. If you go to the Android Market and get the free “AnyCut” application, you can create shortcuts to phone calls in less than a minute.
Another useful feature is the “Notification window.” Icons appear for voice, text or email messages. Put the finger on it and brush down and it activates.
Big thumbs up!
Hour 1
Q James, Palo Alto - Photos missing from iPhoto
iLife has a new library folder system that places all files into a single file. Browse to the CD, you’ll see an icon for iPhoto Library. It’ll look like a single file. Command/Click, select “show package contents.” Then, you’ll see all the photos you burned to disc. You can then drag the contents to your hard drive and then import it into iPhoto.
Q Tim, Los Angeles, CA - Getting new iMac
Buyin’ the new iMac. Should he wait for Snow Leopard? It won’t be out until 2009, so there’s no need to wait on buying the Mac. But you will want to upgrade, and chances are it’ll be pretty cheap to. But there is a reason to perhaps wait. There’s a new rumor of yet another iMac coming out. If they don’t announce one by Thanksgiving, then go ahead an pull the trigger.
Q DJ, Ventura, CA - G1 Bricked already
T-Mobile sent them a defective G1 and he can’t get a new one for a week! Leo asked if he tried his old SIM, but they wont’ activate his old SIM since it’s shown as canceled. Leo says that’s typical of the terrible service of cell phone companies. And that stinks.
Q Josh, Auburn, AL - DRM on the MAC
Josh wants to play lectures from Windows Media on the MAC. The problem is the DRM. You can, however, take advantage of the analog hole. Contact the school and ask them to make it open for the MAC. It may be that they are just doing it by default, or that they are using some copyrighted sections in their lectures.
Also, his girlfriend has a Blackberry and needs to sync to the Mac. Get Pocket Mac. It’ll work great. You can also sync Google Calendar to the MAC and then have Google push it down to the Blackberry.
Hour 2
Q Lisa, San Jose, CA - The Kindle
Lisa is thinking about getting a Kindle, but is worried she’ll miss the “feel” of a book. Leo says you will, but that’s not what the Kindle is about. It’s about convenience, portability. The downside is that it’s hard to hold, butt ugly. Pretty lite though and it’s wireless network capability makes for easy book & newspaper downloads in seconds.
Video wise, Lisa needs a new camcorder. Two options Leo likes. Solid State flash media and tape. Leo doesn’t like DVDs as they are a pain for those who want to edit the video. The advantage of flash video cameras like the Panasonic SD5, is that they are easy to put onto your computer. But Leo still likes using tape. It’s advantageous for archiving. Cheaper to use. You’ll need firewire on your computer to capture the video. For tape camcorders, Leo likes the Canon HV30. And since she needs low light performance, Leo thinks the HV30 is the way to go.
Q Mark, Los Angeles, CA - Buying a laptop from Overstock
Mark wants to get a laptop and is looking for a deal at Overstock.com. Leo says that’s a great deal, as is going to the computer maker and looking for refurbished products. Refurbs are great because they’re cheaper, have the same warranty, and are often brand new, but opened boxes, so have no real use on them.
Leo likes Overstock. Often, they can be refurbs, but new in box where they simply made too many for the orders. You can get some great deals and computers that still have XP installed.
Theresa got a new laptop. Needs help porting over AOL. Leo’s not a fan of AOL software. Too much bloatware. If you’re going to use it, get the latest version. The best way to do it is in a virtual machine. You can get VMWare. You install another virtual copy of Windows and you can toss anything bad or infections and start over.
Hour 3
Q Alan, Leeds, AL - Needs a new cheap computer for digital video.
For video, the iMac is a great choice because it comes with all the software you need. But there’s also some good choices on the PC side. Vista comes with Windows Movie Maker, which has improved, and it’s free. But Adobe Premiere Elements will allow you to burn to DVD as well.
Leo recommends Dell. Good service, support, and if you go to the Dell Outlet you can get a screaming deal on new computers that are refurbished, new computers that have been returned unused. You’ll need it with Vista. 2–4GB RAM. Nice 24″ display.
Q Brenda, Fairfield, CA - Internet connection trouble
She has DSL. Reboot your DSL modem. Leo says you need to reinstall the dialer software. Leo isn’t a fan of it. He recommends a broadband router which will enable you to bypass the terrible dialer software. Brenda also says her computer isn’t seeing her IP address. Leo says that’s a nothing statement.
Leo suggests that a security suite will prevent access to the internet. Disable or remove temporarily the software. See if it works without it. If so, then reinstalling the AVS will help it.
It could also be spyware that has attached itself to a critical system file and when it was removed, it took away the access. At the point, you could back up your data and then format the hard drive and reinstall the OS through the restore disk.
Q Stephen, Orange County, CA - Ripping DVDs
Stephen wants to rip DVDs to his PC. They’re easy to copy. 1) Copy the whole thing or b) just the movie. Leo needs to say that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it illegal to do. Leo thinks, however, as long as you own the DVD, it’s fine - fair use - and upholds the spirit of the law. Google “copy DVDs” and you’ll find dozens. Leo likes HANDBRAKE. Leo also likes DVD Shrink. DVD Smith. Slysoft makes some good software as well.
But never ever copy rental DVDs! That’s piracy!
Q John, Camarillo, CA - syncing audio to video of Christmas lights
John does computerized christmas lights and wants to record it. But he’s running into problems with audio sync when he puts it on youtube. Leo says the compression can toss the audio out of sync. Recommends using Adobe Premiere Elements to edit and keep it in sync.
Q Richard, Los Angeles, CA - getting rid of Norton, getting Eset
Leo says you can uninstall it the best you can, and then use the removal tool that Norton provides to get rid of the rest of it. Then you can use eSet on both your computers with the multiple computer license. Easy to do. But remember, no AVS will protect you from yourself. Your online behavior is the last line of defense to protect your system.
Q Rick, North Hampton, MS - Needs a phone that does everything
He wants email, internet, sync with the Mac. Leo suggests taking a look at teh Bold when it comes out tomorrow. But there’s always that iPhone. But Rick wants to copy and paste and hates the virtual keyboard. Look at the Bold, Leo says. It’s the one you want.
