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Sunday May 10, 2009

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Tech News

Star Trek Movie getting geeky

Leo loves the enthusiastic geek-ism of Star Trek fans who showed up dressed out in their Starfleet best! It really made it fun, with an event. Who cares if they don’t “look cool …” in a geeks world, it IS cool!

Leo doesn’t consider himself a “trekker,” but he thinks that this film is pure Star Trek and that it will appeal to both die hard fans, and new viewers. The effects are pure digital - which is a departure historically from previous films that have filmed models and incorporated digital effects.

What makes it real fun is that the story takes place when the crew of the Enterprise first meet up for their first adventure fresh out of Starfleet.

Make March 14th Geek Day!

3–14, “Pi” day. Leo wants to make it Geek Day. We missed this year, but let’s get a movement going for next year. Hallmark needs time to make the cards anyway!

Win 7 RC1 is out

The release candidate of Windows 7 is now available. The RC1 (near done Beta) will work free for a year and is completely reliable. Leo says its the best Windows EVER and everyone should download it and try it out. Here’s how: Google “Technet Windows 7.” The first thing will be the result. Select and then scroll down to select either the 32 bit or 64 bit. What’s the diff? If you have 4GB of RAM or more, choose the 64 Bit. The 32Bit can’t access any RAM above 4GB. Then download it. You will need a Hotmail account, but those are easy to get.

Understand though, in a year you’ll either have to buy Win 7 or downgrade.

Cyberbullying Bill too over-reaching?

Leo understands the reasons behind the Megan Meier CyberBullying Act (HR1966), but it’s terribly simplified and over reaching. Rep. Loretta Sanchez says it about protecting young people online, but Leo says they aren’t mentioned. And will it censor speech? The Bill has very broad and that’s what makes Leo so nervous. We don’t really need it.

New Beatles Rock Band edition coming and it’s exciting

Three mics for three part harmony, two different classic guitar interfaces, and some of the greatest hits of the 60s. The Beatles Rock Band makes the Fab 4 hotter and more relevant than ever.

Kindle DX Released

The Amazon Kindle DX has been released with a larger screen for magazines, newspapers and textbooks for college students and professors. But Leo’s annoyed with the fact that a newer, better Kindle has come out a month after the last one. Come on, Jeff. What’s the deal? Amazon should give those who bought the Kindle 2 a $100 credit towards the DX or some free books. Something, else it may give customers pause when upgrading again.

Why the rush to announcement? In the chatroom, there’s speculation that Apple may be coming up with a book reader. They’ve ordered a significant number of 10″ touch screens. A NetTab with eBook capability? Will the iTunes store come with books? A great supposition. Imagine the huge advantage with full color, animation, video. It could be a serious threat if they announce it at the upcoming WWDC in June.

Following Leo on Twitter & Facebook

If you’re still using Twitter and you can’t get through to the show on the phone, you can pose a question to Leo on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/leolaporte. Just type @leolaporte and then your question. And if you use #techguy Leo will be able to filter it much easier and see your question.

You can also follow Leo at Facebook by joining his fan page at http://www.facebook.com/LeoLaporte

Guests

Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor

Today, Chris is talking from Everest Base Camp! He’s talking about what makes a good subject? Leo’s thought is something that grabs the eye, makes you think, and tells a story. But how do you know? Chris says that it’s something that stands out, is different from the rest. Like repetition and then with something missing that breaks the cycle. Or something larger and sticks out from smaller items. And if there’s some communication going on even better. Like a kid eating ice cream next to a dog that’s seriously eyeing it. That tells a story.

Abstracts can also be good subjects. Multiple subjects. Group shots are great if they’re overlapping into one master shape. That makes a group interesting.

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Hour 1

Q Donald, Walnut, CA - Cleaning out a computer installing Win 7

Donald had some “scuzz” in his memory slot which was preventing him to access his RAM, so he blew it out with canned air. Leo says it’s important to use short bursts of air so that you’re not exposing your slots to condensation from the pressurized air. SHORT bursts.

Donald also wants to know about Windows 7. But he’s having trouble upgrading. Leo says NEVER upgrade new Windows. Always do a CLEAN install so it doesn’t give you fits down the road.

Q Mike, Newport Rhode Island - Powerbook install update issues

Mike as a 17″ Macbook which won’t let him install an update. Leo says to run disk utility and repair permissions. This will fix the permissions of who can install what, and will repair any locked critical system files. Boot holding down the shift key to go into Macs “safe mode,” maybe that’ll help to update it.

Q Jaegar, Southbend, NC - Problem with Win 7 on DVD

Mike’s Dell PC has been installed with Win 7 and it now won’t read any DVDs. Leo says that Dell may need to give you an update that addresses the conflict. Something similar to that happened to Leo and he had to install supplimentary files from Dell.

Q John, Las Vegas, NV - Wife made the Switch

John’s wife bought a MacBook. John loves it. He wants to get a Mac. Which one should he get? He doesn’t want the same MacBook. Was thinking about the Mac Mini since he wants a full keyboard and monitor option. Leo says that for John’s preferences, the Mac Mini could be ideal. It was created to give Windows users an inexpensive way to try the Mac. Make sure you get it with 4GB of RAM. It’s not easy to add stuff to, so you may as well get it going out.

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Hour 2

Q Polly, Los Angeles, CA - Error messages on memory sticks

Polly’s San Disk memory sticks get error messages about 1/4 full. Leo says that before you give up on it, format it. Right Click on the memory stick and select “format.” Choose a FAT32 drive and it may hold it’s maximum. Understand though that any files you want to keep need to be taken off BEFORE you format the drive.

Q Jody, Mendecino, CA - Virus software recommendation

Jody has a bunch of Windows opening to the same site. A virus? Leo says that it could be. He recommends NOD32. Make sure you remove the one you have now before you try the new one. You can also do an online anti-virus screen for a second opinion. Also, you may want to download Malwarebytes. Lastly, if you’ve been updating Windows regularly, you can use the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. Click on Start. Run. Type MRT. Enter.

Q From Twitter - Auto Star Thumb Drives?

Leo likes ThumbDrives, but cautions against buying the U3 autostart versions. Way too risky if it has malware on it.

Q Mia, Calabassas, CA - Making the Switch

Mia is worried that if she makes “the Switch,” that she’ll have problems transferring and using her files. The Good news is that Microsoft Office for MAC is 100% compatible. Just place them all on a thumbdrive or external hard drive and them drag and drop them over. You should be doing that to backup anyway. You can also uses Microsoft’s “Sync Toy.” That will work for backing up external drives and it’ll only back up what you change and you will always have everything. Then, take the external drive and drag them into the docs folder on the MAC. It’s nice and easy 104.

What MAC for a newbie? Leo says the 20″ iMac is the way to go. It’s all in one, easy to use. Elegant. Lack of wires.”

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Hour 3

Q Steve, Scottsdale, AZ - Automating his business

Steve is a long haul trucker and wants a programming recommendation to automate his business. Leo says it’s a great challenge if you have as much time as Steve does. For Windows, Leo recommends Visual Basic for starting from scratch. It’s very easy for rapidly developing Windows programs. The free version is Visual Studio Express.

Also, Steve wants to know if there’s a “Hulu” for European stations. Leo says that the common problem is that many Euro players (like the BBC iPlayer) can’t be watched outside of the country. Even Hulu can’t be watched outside of the US. But in the chatroom they say that Hulu went international. Joost is another option.

Q Joe, Knoxville, TN - Hackintosh Netbook

Joe wants to try putting OSX on Netbook. Leo says Apple considers it illegal, but this Boing Boing article has tested it out and has come to the conclusion that the MSI Wind and the Dell Mini can take OSX quite well. Check out this Boing Boing article.

Q KDF Omar, from Twitter - Hard drive sizes

Why does a 500GB hard drive has less than that after formatting. Leo says it’s rather sketchy as they use fuzzy math to prove the capacity. They rely on decimal, rather than binary bites to prove the case. And how an OS defines GB and how a drive maker defines GB is a bit different. But when you look at the OS, it’s somewhat less. And with formatting, it takes less because of the formatting.

Q Donald, Fall River, MA - Video problems

Donald is having trouble finding video files on the internet that aren’t compressed. And the ones he does find he can’t play because they’re XVID. Leo suspects he doesn’t have the right “codec” like XVID. Leo recommends the VideoLan VLC Player. It plays everything.

Q Rob, Fairfield, CA - Video Podcast from Mac to Windows

Rob created a video podcast for a client in his Mac and sometimes he hears that viewers are complaining they can’t play them on Windows. Many Windows users don’t have Quicktime installed and if the Vodcast is in .Mov, they won’t be able to view it. Leo recommends using a more common format like MP4. The future, however, will be H.264 which is a flavor of mp4 and will end up being the mp3 of video.

Q Keith, Talahassee, FL - Installing a backup

Keith says Windows won’t let him view his backup files. Leo says after you drag and drop, you need to “take ownership” of the files. Here’s a technote how to do it. Leo also says that backup software really isn’t needed anymore. Just get a backup hard drive and drag and drop.

Q Ellie, Honolulu, HI - Stamps.com and the MAC

Ellie wantss to use stamps.com, but can’t use it on the MAC. Leo agrees. He’s going to be talking to Stamps.com about becoming Mac compatible.

Have a great geek week!

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