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Saturday 28 March 2009

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Tech News

Economic slowdown even hits Google

Google had to lay off 200 employees this week, about 1% of their total workforce. The New York Times just let go of about 2 1/2% of their workforce. Amazon has let go of about 1% this week. And although things are fairly bleak, Leo has high hopes the turn around is coming.

Game Developers conference this week

Nintendo says that over 50 million Wiis have been sold, the fastest selling game platform in history. Updates to the platform will provide for downloadable games, SD storage options, and more. Nintendo is hot again. The WiFit balance board has sold more than other game platforms alone and there’s a new rocking climbing interface coming.

“On Live” promises to be the future of video gaming, where you could play high end games on a TV or even older machines thanks to the Internet and powerful servers which will handle most of the work. So the future of gaming may be in “the cloud.” E.A., NVidia, and a host of others are coming on board. Software developers like the idea because it will combat piracy since all the software is in the cloud.

Conficker to strike April 1st

Make sure you update your OS. Conficker is a “worm” which will co-opt and zombie your PC on April fool’s day if you’re not updated. It takes advantage of a flaw in the Windows remote access services. To date, it’s infected over 8 million computers worldwide. So, turn automatic updates for Windows on right away! If you think you’ve been infected, download and run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. It’ll clean it off.

Then, share the MSRT link with all friends and family before April Fool’s Day.

Canon announces new Digital Rebel T1i

The Canon T1i has 15mp and costs under $1000. But what’s really sweet is that it has HD video at 1080p 20 fps or 720p at 30 fps. Not too bad for the price, and since you can change lenses, you can do what the pros do in motion pictures for a very affordable price.

MACHEADS coming to SoCal this week

TWIT friend Deborah Shadovitz will be screening for MACHEADS: The Movie, to various MAC User meetings in SoCal. West Orange County Mac Users Group (WOCMUG) will show it Tuesday in Seal Beach. The MacValley Users Group in Northridge is showing it on April 1st. And at the San Gabriel Valley Mac User Group (SGVMug) on May 18th as well.

Guests

Scott Wilkinson, Ultimate AV Magazine

With all the obsession on home theater, what happened to the audiophile world? Scott says that the audiophile world is alive and well. Stereo is rather an old phrase now as it generally pertained to two channel stereo reproduction. Now, we’re up to 5.1 and 7.1 Dolby which is even more. But stereo fans still spend tons of money on stereo equipment to get that original, and some say pure, two channel stereo music.

But on the other hand, Blu-ray has opened up very interesting audio options. Live concerts recorded in Dolby 5.1 on Blu-ray can be way more interesting for the audio as opposed to the Hi-Def video advantage.

In the chatroom though, some posit that a good quality set of stereo speakers can be just as good as the 5.1 Home Theater set that has 4 or 5 cheap speakers. Scott says he can see that, but a real good set of stereo speakers can cost you over a thousand dollars, where home theater in a box sets run half that and they’re pretty good.

Scott also says you want to tonal quality of the speakers to match going from speaker to speaker. Speakers that don’t match can really pull the viewer out of the experience. Ideally, that’s why a home theater in the box option has the advantage.

The bottom line is, if you’re listening mostly to music, then having a stereo with two speakers is fine. But watching movies with sweeping soundtracks, a surround sound experience is best watched with a home theater system, even if they cost less than an expensive pair of quality stereo speakers which are better sounding.

Leo said he just learned of the new MP3 surround format. But Scott says there’s little recordings that take advantage of it.

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Hour 1

Q Brad, Tampa, FL - WiFi/Cordless problems

Brad has a cordless phone which kicks his wireless Internet connection off. Leo says it’s because your 2.4 Ghz phone is on the same frequency. And easy fix is to get a new phone that is more powerful. But you can also change the channel in the router setup. Generally, your router is configured to channel 1, which is close to the phone frequency. Go into the router settings (Try 192.168.1.1 in your browser to access it) and then try going to 11, then back down until you get a connection that doesn’t fall off when the phone rings. You could do the same thing on the phone, but it’s more permanent on the router.

Q Eagle, St. Louis, MO - Transferring files over networks

Eagle just got the new Mac Book Pro Unibody. But he’s having trouble transferring large files. Leo says it’s because the drives on the Mac Pro are formatted to FAT32, which won’t take a file over 4GB. Macs can read NTFS files, but they can’t write to them. A free program called MACFUSE with the NTFS plugin will allow you to read/write to NTFS enabling you to format your hard drive to NTFS and not have that transfer issue anymore.

Q Aaron, Irvine, CA - Lifespan of Home recorded DVDs

Aaron is concerned about how long a burned DVD will actually last. Leo says we dont’ really know how long they do last, but that David Pogue’s article on trying to play older burned DVDs and not being able to read them sounded quite an alarm. So backing up the Wedding or family videos onto hard drive is a wise idea.

Pre-recorded DVDs are pressed and as such, last much longer. But they can “rot.” Physical bumps and pits can actually rust in the metallic backing if the DVDs aren’t properly sealed. But it’s very rare.

Burned DVDs are actually done by manipulating a chemical dye by burning into it with a laser. The dye can fade, backing get scratched and there’s no standards on the dye. So it’s always best to backup your precious videos and redo them when new technologies come up. And always have an off-site backup copy.

Q Jay, Providence, NC - running old hard drive as a Secondary drive

Jay took an old hard drive and plugged it in as a secondary drive. But he’s concerned that it’ll have problems in the new computer. Leo says the problem may be the drivers. The data will be fine, but you’ll need to update all the drivers on that secondary drive since they’re tied to the old motherboard.

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Hour 2

Q Ed, Orlando, FL - Streaming Skype audio over Stickam

Ed wants to take calls via Skype on his video podcast, but doesn’t know how to route the calls over UStream or Stickam. This is what Leo does on the show. The trick is using a mixer. Leo feeds the Skype audio through the mixer. You can’t really have it going on because the only one channel can broadcast to protect from echoing. There’s a few ways to do this with software on the MAC - Audio HiJack Pro takes the audio and reroutes it through the brower so you can send it live over the Net. There’s an entire section devoted to this in the AHP manual.

Q Crystal, San Diego, CA - iPhone, G1 or wait for Palm Pre?

Leo says that between the iPhone and the G1 is no contest. The iPhone. The G1 is underpowered and has terrible battery life. The Android OS is great, and they’ll be better handsets down the road. But the G1 isn’t one to buy. The iPhone has been terrific and keeps getting better. There should be a new model coming out in June, if you can wait. While waiting, the Palm Pre could be a must have if they can get it out. So pay attention to that. But the iPhone is still the king of the hill.

Q Theresa, Enon, OH - Laptop recommendation for school

Is an Netbook a good buy for school? Will it do everything she needs? Leo says you won’t be able to edit video or play games, but if you’re doing school work and connecting on the Internet, it’ll work fine. The only issue would be, if you can live with a smaller keyboard than your average laptop. And the screens on a netbook are really small. So if you’re reading a lot of documents, it could be challenging. Leo says Theresa can get a decent full sized laptop for just a tad more, about $500–600. A netbook is a good second or backup computer. But for a main PC, it’s a tad too small.

Cleaning off a hard drive, Leo says that Windows Washer is the best you can do to clean off any questionable content. Erase the history, delete cookies, etc. But just to be safe, you can pull off the data, reformat and reinstall the OS.

Q Clark, Thousand Oaks, CA - Speeding up PC performance

Clark wants to know how to speed up his wife’s PC. Doubling the RAM will help and it’s a cheap fix (like $20). Getting rid of programs running in the background can help. Computers run the fastest the day you get it home. Clean it out every once in awhile. Reformat and install the OS once a year. So, after doubling the RAM, start over and restore the system to it’s original configuration. You can also get a wireless router (which is a hardware firewall as well) and it’ll protect you from most attacks online. And if you practice Leo’s Rules for Safe Computing, you won’t need to run your AVS in the background all the time. Just run a scan once a week. This will speed up your computer. But double the RAM is the cheapest and most immediate way to boost your PC performance.

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Hour 3

Q Angelo, Rancho Cucamonga, CA - Alternative to his Palm

Angelo loves his Palm, but it’s wearing out. And with Palm abandoning the Palm OS, what does he do? Leo says he could see someone writing an emulator that runs on an iPhone but is Palm-like. It’s possible. But in the end, you’ll probably just need to get your data, save it, and evolve. The iPhone is really good possibility and if you wait long enough, the Palm Pre may just be what you’re looking for.

Q Deborah, Phoenix, AZ - MP3 problems

Deborah updated to Vista but it doesn’t play well with her three Creative MP3 players. She has a Creative 8, 4 and Stone. And she wants an MP3 player that has a larger hard drive and a huge LCD screen. Leo says that the biggest player is from ARCHOS. They have huge screens and large hard drives, wifi, etc. The only thing that gives Leo pause is that they aren’t very automatic. Movies have to be formatted for the proper ratio, etc. But a great player.

Aside from that, Zune or iPod? Leo says that although he’s not really a fan, the Zune will definitely work better in Vista. The iPod Touch has a gorgeous, widescreen, but the hard drive only goes up to 32GB. The iPod Classic has a hard drive up to 160GB, but it’s got a tiny screen.

In general, the easiest to use is the iPod. The Zune, though has a subscription music service which is an advantage when you’re on the road all the time. But generally, Leo says there’s a reason why the iPod has 90% of the mp3 market.

The other option is the iPhone and listening to internet radio via Pandora. You can create your own station based on the music you like. With the 3G network and unlimited bandwidth data plans, you can listen all day and the hard drive can be used for video and audio books.

Q Pastor Rich, Edmonton Alberta, CAN - Podcasting

Pastor Rich followed in Leo’s footsteps and tomorrow will be posting his 100th episode. He posts sermons, news items, and even restaurant reviews on VOX or Blogger. He wants to know if he should run his own site using Wordpress or just use the current hosted services like through VOX, Blogger, etc.

Leo says if you’re interested in learning how to run and maintain a website, then doing your own thing is a great way to do it. But if the message is your priority, it can impede your message being bogged down in administrating your own site. And then, there’s the bandwidth costs. Not cheap if you’re really popular. On the other hand, you have no control over advertising using hosted service providers. So make sure you have a hosted service which allows you to limit the kind of advertising to family friendly ads. Leo likes VOX for this reason. Another advantage is that using hosted content services means you have to be a member in order to comment, which gives you some protection and control.

What it comes down to, is what your mission is. And Leo thinks that if they’re giving you what you need, there’s no reason to get bogged down in a DIY solution.

Pastor Rich’s site is Sacred Energy.ca

Q Judd, Los Angeles, CA - using Wordpress to write a book

Judd is using Wordpress to write his first novel because he wants to create an audience. Leo thinks this is a great idea and the Wordpress publishing platform is customizable, powerful, and makes great pages.

Judd’s novel can be read at lvdiii.com

Q Mike, New York City, CA - Online meetings and screen clarity

Mike dayt rades and wants to use Skype to do an online meeting with other day traders but they can’t see their desktops with clarity. Leo says that he uses a TriCaster, but since that’s $10,000, he doesn’t think many would spring for that. Software wise, on the MAC, you can use CamTwist. On the PC side, there are a few - the chatroom says that Webcam Max or MiniCam. The clarity issue comes from Skype sending low resolution video online live.

Leo says that if clarity is the issue, you could blow up the screen. In a browser, you can just hold control and hit the “+” sign. If you can make your text and images larger, even on Skype, you can see it pretty well. Try GoToMeeting. It can do it as well since it’s designed for it.

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