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Saturday 3 January 2009

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Tech News

Digital TV Conversion right around the corner.

February 19, 2009 is digital conversion day. Are you ready?

The Day the Zune stood still

The Zune suffered from a strange bug which froze the Zune. The Code written for a chip inside the Zune had the bug issue, which no one noticed. The bug meant that the Zune didn’t know that last year was a leap year (366 days). So, when it came to midnight, Dec. 30th, the Zune had nowhere to go and gave a blue screen of death.

Microsoft’s response, it’ll fix itself when Jan 1st rolled around. But it’ll all happen again in 2012. Redmond says it’ll release a patch, but will it?

Leo also says this same bug could happen again, but to 32 bit Unix computers. But we have some time … it won’t happen until 2038.

MacWorld and CES begin next week

There’s usually a lot of announcements, but the huge news is that Apple is pulling out of MacWorld Expo after this year and Steve Jobs will not be delivering the keynote. The thinking is that they no longer need the publicity of trade shows and have been gradually scaling them back in favor of more special events put on by Apple.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), however, is Disneyland for techies - which will announce new gadgetry coming out later in 2009.

Guests

Scott Wilkinson, Ultimate AV Magazine

Scott is talking CES today. He’s leaving early to make it for press day. He’s expecting fewer attendees, fewer companies, less announcements. Leo says most companies are cutting way back because of the economy and CES will be no different.

What to expect? Scott says that LG? is introducing a 480hz LCD TV, twice as fast refresh rates as Sony’s recently announced 240hz. The higher the Hz means better detail and sharpness, especially with action oriented HDTV shows. Will it look better? Scott isn’t sure as 120hz looks pretty good.

There’s also wireless HD coming. Getting rid of the connection wires - which can be an advantage for those having to run long lengths of HDMI cable, which can be expensive. There are three competing technologies at the moment, including one from Belkin, called the Flywire.

Then, there’s the “who’s got the largest screen size war.” Panasonic currently rules the mountain with a 150″ plasma announced last year.

3D ready TVs? Scott things that 3D is going to be huge this year or next as Hollywood is seriously behind the technology now that it’s matured.

Leo’s not going to CES. It’s too difficult to see everything, too expensive, and you can get the same exposure online. He have Scott and a few other guests report next week.

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Hour 1

Q Caleb, Beaufort, SC - Camera recommendations

Caleb looking at the Nikon D40. Leo says it’s a very good entry level SLR camera. Better quality images over point and shoots with the advantage of changing lenses. Read reviews at digitalcamerainfo.com and dpreview.com. Leo says the D60 is also a great deal, but to save money on the body by going with the D40 is fine since the best thing about the D40 is that for $300, you’re buying into the SLR world and can use the rest of your budget on better lenses.

Caleb is also having power shutdown issues on his PC. Leo says the issue is that something is running in the background that Windows doesn’t want to shut down. It could be an AVS or security software that doesn’t release it’s memory. Try shutting them down. Or, pick up a copy of AutoRuns (free by Microsoft) and turn whatever’s off in the background one at a time until you narrow it down to the culprit.

There’s also Steve Gibson’s Wizmo which will simply turn off everything in the background with one button and shut the computer down.

Q John, Fullerton, CA - Using HDTV as a primary display

John wants to use his 52″ LCD HDTV as his primary display for his laptop. But there’s a stutter. Leo says he can go into the display settings, under advanced settings, and un-check the “accelerate video” option. Also, change from extended screen mode to mirrored mode so that it only has once display and the video card isn’t doing double duty.

Scott Wilkinson also says you want to be sure the resolution fits the TV.

Q Ryan, Attascadero, CA - streaming video from the internet

Ryan wants to stream video. Leo uses Stickam, but there’s also UStream, Justin.TV, etc. They use flash to stream the video. CamTwist (for Mac) is a utility that processes the flash video and buffers it so the video is smoother. It also allows to add title graphics. But is there another competing option? ManyCam, Webcam Max are PC options.

Ryan also needs a good camera in the $200 range. Leo says that the Canon Powershot is an excellent option as is the Nikon Coolpix. Fuji’s Finepix and the Pentax Optio line are also excellent. All three are good for basic camera. Outside of that, there’s whether if they have image stabilization.

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Hour 2

Q David, Los Angeles, CA - Hooking up an Aquos as a PC monitor

David has his 30″ Sharp Aquos hooked up as his primary PC monitor, but he’s getting over sized text. Leo says it’s probably set at the highest resolution the computer is driving at - 1280 x 768. This is because the resolution is blowing up to twice it’s size. If you change the DPI settings and the ICON sizes in the appearance control panel, David can alter the look. But with the age of the HDTV and the power of his PC, that’s probably the largest resolution he can get.

Q Mike, New Bedford, MA - Spyware forum site

Mike wants to know if Leo has heard of BleepingComputer.com. Leo thinks that at this stage of the Spyware wars, it’s just easier to get your data off and start over, rather than try and take spyware off piecemeal. But Mike uses ComboFix first and then Adaware or Spybot to mop up the rest. He says afterwards, he rarely sees a reinfection.

The best solution, though, is to be proactive. Leo suggests getting your computer the way you like it and while it’s still clean, use Drive Snapshot to image the hard drive. Then, if you get an infection, you can just blast the image back onto your hard drive in minutes, not hours.

The thing is that the guys who write spyware have as their goal to hide the spyware to the point where you can’t disinfect your PC. They can attach to system files and it just makes it impossible. So nuke it from orbit and start over.

Q Aaron, Chino, CA - World of Warcraft for kids

Aaron has a 14 year old neice who plays World of Warcraft all the time. He wants to know about WoW for kids. Leo says it appeals to kids who have little social interaction and it gives them a social outlet. But Leo worries that they don’t learn anything of value or skillset. It’s just pure escapism. Better to plug the kids into MySpace or Facebook where they can find kids who have similar interests. WoW is just addictive and has no endgame. Leo recommends limiting game play and getting them interested in other things like video or digital photography, see if it peaks their interest.

Q Angelo, Cucamonga, CA - What happens if offsite b/u option dies out?

Angelo is concerned that if the off-site backup option fails, what then? Leo quotes Alex Lindsay when he says “if you only have on copy of something, it doesn’t exist.” So make multiple backups. Sounds extreme, but in an absolutely worst case scenario, you’ll be glad you had extra backups. RAIDS were created for that reason, as does Networked Attached Storage like DROBO. Windows Home Server is a good option, but not necessarily cheap when you add the hardware. But you can use an older computer as your server, not a bad idea either.

Can a computer with multiple drives be vulnerable to attack? Of course they can. If the OS can see a drive, a virus can see it.

Q John, Pasadena, CA - Video editing with Canon HG20

John just picked up the Canon HG20. How to edit? He has a 1.6 Ghz dual core. Is it fast enough for editing? Leo says it’ll be a tad slow, but it can work. More important is the RAM and how fast your hard drives are. Leo says that to be serious, avoid using the Pixela software and pick up a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements. Best $80 you’ll spend.

The Vixia shoots high def in AVCHD and takes a lot of processor power. But instead of importing at 1080p, import at 540p. Half the resolution (you won’t even notice btw) and half the size. This will take great strain off the processor and the best part is, you’ll get about 95% of the quality for half the space.

Q Rocko, Los Angeles, CA - DVD projector recommendation

Rocko wants a DVD player that projects onto a blank wall. These are DLP TVs, much like a Powerpoint projector with a DVD player built in. Pros - the screen can be REALLY big. Cons - you have to darken the room - mostly for home theater. You want one that’s really bright. Epson makes them for the affordable crowd. High end - Christie DLP projectors, but they costs thousands. Read plenty reviews before you buy. Check out Ultimate AV Magazine for reviews. And don’t forget screen cost in your budget. You want a good, quality screen for the best image and they can cost you.

For 3–4K, the Epson Cinema Powerlight Pro is a good one, works on LED not DLP.

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Hour 3

Q Gina, Walnut, CA - Her Bank account may have been hacked

Gina has had two bank accounts hacked and had it confirmed by the bank. Apparently there was an external account created. Somewhere, somebody got her information. There are “phishing” emails that lure people to click on links that look very official. Leo says that Gina shouldn’t assume she’s the leak of the hack. Banks get hacked all the time and merely pretend it hasn’t happened and they cover the loss. But since it was two separate banks, it may be a keystroke logger that has been installed on your machine. She may also have been “click-jacked,” where an invisible layer has been put over the web page and has harvested her information.

Close the accounts and open new ones. Use difficult accounts that you change REGULARLY. Leo suggests having the banks to send you a text message with a code that will be needed to log in online. (called multi party or three way authentication) That way, you need both your password and your cellphone text code to log on. This is an extra measure of protection. Answer no emails OR phone calls. Social engineers are very slick at getting your information.

Q Mike, New York, NY - Backing up data on a RAID

Mike day trades and is concerned about backups. What’s the best way - RAID or imaging the drive? RAID has multiple drives where the files are saved. It’s a good concept, but it shouldn’t replace multiple options including an off site backup. If the controller card fails, you lose the data. It’s not a true backup so much as a first line backup. You still need a backup that’s outside of the box and off site.

Q Ron, Camarillo, CA - Learning to use his iMac

Ron just got a new 24″ iMac and wants to know what options he has to really get to know how to use his MAC. Leo says that a local community college may have a mac specific class. But he also recommends a Mac User Group. Southern California Mac Owners Group (SMOG) is a good one, meets on the second Saturday of the month. These are enthusiasts who will welcome you and help you to learn the MAC up close. But in the end, using the MAC is going to be much easier and faster to know your MAC up close and personal.

A good pair of books, is entitled The Little MacBook/OSX missing manual. You can get them both for about $40 from Amazon.

Q James, Cheyenne, WY - DVD movie play on the MAC

James is using his MAC, but in Windows XP Pro. Can’t play or burn a DVD. Leo says you need a DVD player software utility. Leo likes Cyberlink’s PowerDVD. or better yet, Roxio’s Easy CD & DVD Creator.

James is also having trouble accessing his Audible Account through iTunes. Leo says it’s a copy protection issue. Authorize Audible in iTunes under the Advanced menu (authorize Audible account).

Q Scott, San Diego, CA - Portable sound card trouble

Scott is trying to rip his albums using a IConnects preamp/soundcard by iKey Audio. But as he’s using Audacity, he’s not getting any sound. Leo says you need to make sure that Audacity is looking at the right device. Look in your audio settings in Audacity to be sure that it’s properly chosen. Leo suspects it’s a USB issue. Go into the device manager and remove the USB drivers. Then reboot and let Windows reacquire it.

From Twitter:

Q The Jesterman - safe to use a MAC to backup to a Windows NTFS drive

Yes, because it’s a network, it just appears as a hard drive. So yes, using network attached storage is a great idea,Mac or Windows.

Q Brian, Simi Valley, CA - Cat 5 able question

Brian wants to know if a Cat 5 cable can be used for both Internet and Networking. Leo says that to a Cat 5 cable, data is data. Doesn’t matter what it is. The extra pairs of cable are to eliminate interference. If you want to see a breakdown, check out Wikipedia’s Cat 5 article. There is excess capacity and you could separate pairs and share, if you know what you’re doing.

Q David, AmericaFort, UT - HDMI output

He has a DVD/VCR combo with HDMI, but he all he gets is snow. Leo says David should select the right HDMI input. Even though it says it can “autoselect,” Leo says not to trust that. Manually select it and make sure the TV is monitoring it. Also make sure the resolution matches. Outside of that, it could be broken.

See you tomorrow!

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