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Sunday July 26, 2009

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Tech News

Bill Gates gives up Facebook

Gates has been inundated with thousands wanting to be his friend on Facebook and he’s just backed away from his online presence. Gates goes so far as to say that all these hitech tools can be great, but they can waste our time if we’re not careful. Interesting considering he’s made his fortune on technology.

PCWorld has a dummy Bill Gates Facebook page which is fun to read.

White House bans Twitter

The White House has blocked Facebook and Twitter for all staffers. What happened to transparency?

More Anti Virus False Positives

McAfee found key system files to Windows and quarantined them as viruses, crippling Windows. McAfee says it only happens with older versions they don’t support. But it happened against a day or so later. Prompting concern of
false positives wreaking havoc in anti virus software. Don’t freak out if your AVS says you have a virus. Use online Virus scans to get a second opinion.

Facebook Caves in, allows Vanity page editing

There is now an option in the Facebook settings area to change your user name. You get one chance to change it, so don’t mess up! Also, in the privacy settings, then newsfeed & wall, under Facebook Ads, you can change the option so they can’t use your images in ads by selecting NO ONE.

Netflix offering million dollar prize

Netflix is having a contest where users can make the Netflix Recommendations interface more efficient by 10%. A team from BellKor has already surpassed that limit and another team called The Ensemble has improved it further
by .01%. With today being the deadline, the clock is ticking as to who will win out this horserace. Check out NetflixPrize.com to follow the action.

Report said hands free cell use was dangerous when driving 7 Years ago

According to MSNBC, as long as 7 years ago the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration recommended never using a cellphone, even with hands free capability, because it isn’t safe. The question is, why wasn’t this report released? Lobbying by cell phone companies, perhaps? Another reason? Voters didn’t want to hear it. They’d do it anyway.

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Hour 1

Q Louis, Virginia Beach, VA - Improving quality of YouTube videos

Louis wants to make the quality of his Youtube videos better. Leo says you can force embedding of high quality youtube videos. Check out this article for details.

The key is, that when you embed the text - in there is a link to the video. Add “&fmt=6″ (for a clearer, 448 x336 pixels image) or “&fmt=18″ (for H264 with AAC audio encoded at 480×360) at the end, or “&fmt=22″ is 720p HighDef quality. But understand, that it won’t make standard or lower quality video better. If you want high quality video embedded, you need to upload high quality video.

Now you can go into your playback settings and set for high quality playback as default whenever possible.

Q Rick, North Hollywood, CA - Cellphone recommendation for Verizon

Rick is “stuck” with his Verizon account. What cellphone does Leo recommend. Leo says that Verizon is pushing hard to get the iPhone and they’re rushing to upgrade their data network to accommodate it. Leo says that wait for the iPhone to come to Verizon. What you can do is get the iPod Touch and just get a Verizon phone. The BlackBerry is a good choice. But not the Storm. That was a failed attempt to syphon off from the iPhone. But the BlackBerry Bold is the best they’ve ever made.

But what about surfing the net? The BlackBerry doesn’t have a real browser. You can use the Opera Mini, but the sites are cached, so you’re not going to want to do anything private or online banking. The new BlackBerry Tour is good. 3.2MP camera. Nice, excellent choic. But that iPhone may be coming REAL soon (like Jan/Feb). So keep your powder dry.

Q Rob, Oakland, CA - networking computers

Rob has several computers networked. He’s included a new Vista machine, and he can see the older machines, but the older ones can’t get files from his new box. Leo says a Vista creates an account that you need to log into in order to access the computer. Go into the accounts/users control panel to see them. If you don’t have a password, put one in. Then you should be able to log into it on the network.

Q John, Rancho Cucmonga, CA - HP 64 bit vs. 32 bit

John has an HP 64 bit machine running Windows Media Center in 32 bit. Leo says that while all processors have been 64 bit compatible for years, most don’t really need it if they have under 4GB memory. You need 64bit Windows to access RAM from 4GB and above. So if you have over 4GB or RAM, then you need 64 bit OS to use it all. Leo says that he believes the default version of Windows 7 will be default. There are downsides, like you can’t use flash in 64bit, and some compatibility software issues. But as more companies update their drivers, that compatibility issue will go away. There’s no real hurry to run 64 bit.

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Hour 2

Q Bob, Las Vegas, NV - Improving audio in your TV

Leo says that most HDTV makers figure that users will also be getting a Home Theater so the speakers built in aren’t that great. You need to split out your audio from your HDMI. Check out the back of your cable box for a separate audio channel and run that to your speakers - turning down the volume in your HDTV. Or, plug your HDMI into an AV Receiver and it’ll split it out.

Q Seth, Modesto, CA - HDTV recommendation

Best selling HDTV in the US is Vizio. They’re not top tier, but they’re pretty darn good. You want to check for artifacting, blurring, etc. during action scenes before you buy. And try to see how good the blacks are. But it’s a very good HDTV for the money.

Q Doug, Gulf Port, FL - Lost password in XP

Doug has lost the password into XP and can’t log in. Leo says his favorite way is to get a BootDisk which will zap the Windows password and clear it out. Leo uses Ultimate Boot CD but if you want a CD, you have to buy it. You can download and burn your own for free. Hiren’s Boot CD is free, but he’s not sure all the utilities it includes are legally there. Either way, boot into the CD and one of the options is password recovery.

Q Steven, Bornmith, UK - How do you promote his podcast online?

Steven has a podcast and how does he get people discover him? Leo says content. Keep doing it and word of mouth will happen, people will find you. Also, participate in similar communities. Comment. be a part of it. Get on
Twitter, Friendfeed, and Facebook.

Steven’s podcast is called Digital Pulse.

Q Richard, Detroit, MI - Slow running desktop

Richard has run anti virus, anti spyware, etc. But it’s still running slowly and his clock is completely wonky. The system clock has a battery on the motherboard. Watch battery type. It’s probably died and you need to replace it. It’s fairly easy to remove. Silver one about the size of a Nickel.

But that doesn’t really affect your system. What’s causing your system to slow down is bit rot. Backup your data and reinstall your OS and programs. Then, run Windows update to bring the OS up to it’s current configuration.

This may take time. Leo does this about twice a year. But in the end, the reality is that Richard’s computer is 7 years old. It’ll only be so fast.

Q Mike, Louisville, KY - Replacing his router

His old router is acting up and he needs to upgrade. What he wants is a dual band N/G with a gigaport. But he hears bad things. Recommendations? Leo says that routers are so cheap and common now that they get fairly suspect in quality. Leo likes DLink. Very affordable, great results. Leo also uses the Gamer Gear router by DLink which offers great quality of service features to prioritize packets. Check out the DGL4500. Leo also doesn’t recommend dual band as it eats up frequency space and slows other routers down. Just settle on the 2.4 Ghz N router. But in theory, it’s doable. But in practice, it can slow down a lot.

Q Roland, Talasheek, LA - Phone recommendation

Roland wants to know what Leo thinks of the Verizon’s Windows Mobile phones. Leo prefers the BlackBerry on Verizon as Windows Mobile is clunky and slow.

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Hour 3

Q Joe, Nashville, TN -

Joe just got his new 13″ MacBook. Loves it. He uses Virtual Box, which allows the Mac to run Windows 7. He can’t get the Window to resize. Leo says that virtualization software requires special drivers in order to resize it using your mouse. The software is included. Look under “Tools.” It should actually be in the Virtual Box menu under “Guest Additions.” This will allow you to install the mouse control drivers and the Windows drivers in order to change the Windows sizes.

Q Craig, Illinois - Digital SLR recommendation

Craig’s daughter is going to college and will be taking digital photography. What camera should she get? Leo says that the Canon Rebel XSi is a great start to digital SLR photography. And the nice thing is that once you get into the system, any lenses you buy for it will be able to transmit over to the more advanced bodies as she gets further into it. Another option is the Canon T1i, which has the added benefit of shooting 720p video. Get the basic, Canon Only kit which gets you the body and one lens. Avoid any attempts at huge kit add-ons like filters, wipes, and all that nonsense. Reason for Canon only is that you want the best glass you can which you can move on to other bodies and still be able to use them.

If you need a good point and shoot camera, Leo likes the Panasonic Lumix LX3, and so do pros who are buying it for a pocket sized backup camera.

Q Dennis, Glendale, CA - Laptop wireless connection issues

Dennis is having trouble connecting to wireless at the library. He’s even tried changing his card. Leo says Netgear makes good cards and he’s not sure that’s the issue. He thinks that maybe it’s a driver issue. But it’s also possible that the library is the problem and that their router may be failing or is too old to connect to a faster card.

Q Brock, San Diego, CA - Administrator password

Brock says that he doesn’t know why he has an extra Administrator password. It may be that the company that installed your Windows has created an additional administrator. Unusual, but there you go. If you use the Ultimate Boot CD, you can reset any administrator Passwords.

Q Gary, Beverly Hills, CA - Changing hard drives, moving data

Gary’s hard drives are filling up and he needs to move them to a Seagate 1TB hard drive. How can he merge both his drives into a larger drive? Leo says the first thing you want to do is use your drive utilities to copy the boot disk onto the new hard drive. Then, you’ll want to make a partition and hand copy everything else. Using Vista, there’s a Disk Management solution to re-size the partition. Then, you can copy everything else over.

Programs on the same drive is trickier. They need to be on the same drive and even then, they may not work. You need to maintain the drive letters from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. Sometimes, if the program installs by the drive ID, they won’t work. So you have to be careful.

Don’t forget to backup, and have a great geek week!

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