Leo Laporte
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For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
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Sunday August 23, 2009
Show Audio
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Edited Audio | |
Tech News
Leo’s Favorite new App
Reqall.
Apple’s Google Voice issues compounding
The FCC’s investigation of Apple’s cancellation of the Google Voice app., has found that the cancellation of the App. was solely by Apple, and not AT&T according to a released Apple Memo.
Apple claims they didn’t reject the app., per se, but that they have held off approval until they are confident that the Voice app won’t affect Apple’s Visual Voice mail feature. Apple claims they are “protecting freedom” by closely guarding the application process. HUH?
Google, on the other hand, redacted Apple’s reason for canceling the app. and won’t talk about. AT&T claims they had nothing to do with it.
And who’s out in the cold? Well, customers who want a choice, of course.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and his YouTube message to Zappos Fans
Amazon recently bought Zappos Shoes and Amazon pres. Jeff Bezos taped a message to Zappos fans about the five things he’s learned from Amazon. You can see it here.
Hour 1
Q Mark, Santa Ana, CA - Online video MIA
Mark had a video on Grouper. Then it changed to Crackle, and his video’s are M.I.A.! Leo says that Grouper was a great idea - a Sony product. But lately, Sony is unable to provide any decent customer service. He says that if you read the fine print on Crackle, they probably have a provision for all videos being property of Sony and they aren’t responsible for any videos that are lost.
Mark also has a restart issue on his PC. He’s sick of it and wants to make “the Switch,” to a Mac Mini. Good idea? Leo says it’s a great idea since you already have a monitor and keyboard. A tad pricey, but a good option. But it also makes the case for using an online source like Google Documents, which stores your data “in the cloud.” That way it doesn’t matter if your PC reboots on you or not.
Q Glenda, Virginia - Slow DSL Internet issues
She’s paying way too much for internet and still can’t get access in her room. What are her options? Leo says you can get a separate line into your room, sure. It’ll cost you. And it’ll be slower. Or, you can add another ISP to the mix. But not on DSL since it uses only one line. You could get a separate phone number and go with DSL. Then you can use a different service. WiFi would be an option but in this case, the roomie doesn’t want it. You could get cable, which will be far faster, and get a TV line at the same time.
Q Joyce, Apple Valley, CA - Upgrading to iPhone 3Gs
Joyce says that AT&T won’t let her upgrade to the iPhone 3Gs because she still has time on her 3G. Leo says you can, but you’d have to pay full price for it. Leo suggests getting a hold of the retention department and tell them your leaving AT&T for the Palm Pre. They have already subsidized your 3G and need to recoup that before you can. But tell the retention specialist you want to leave over it. They’ll grumble, offer you different deals, etc., and eventually give you what you want. But you’ll probably have to pay something. It isn’t likely you’ll get it for completely free.
Hour 2
Q Janice, Oakland, CA - Connecting an analog TV
Janice got a VCR connecting to an Analog TV. Will she have trouble in the digital age? Leo says no. Janice wants to convenience of modern technology but she’s stuck with analog options. It’s time to get a new TV which will work with the digital recorder and your converter box.
Q Melissa, Vaca, CA - Email and Mobile Me
Melissa has Mobile Me and she’s getting her email through it. She has a thief stole her MacBook Pro? and has access to email account via Mobile Me. Leo says change your password. You can then prevent any future email from getting seen. Also, while you change that password, turn off auto login. Also, assume ALL your passwords are compromised and change them.
On her new MacBook, the language settings in Mobile Me are randomly switching from English to Swedish! Leo says it’s a cookie that’s causing the language settings to change. Mobile Me stores information in the browser in the form of a cookie. Delete your cookies and see if that solves the issue. In Safari, options, security tab. In Firefox - Tools. Clear Recent History (that’ll clear everything, but you can limit it to time). Go to preferences, show cookies. Look for the me.com that you can delete. If it’s a flash cookie, and it may, you’ll neewd to go into flash and clear the cache there.
Leo also recommends trying Mobile Me’s “Back to My Mac” feature where you can then remotely access the computer and format over the hard drive. Also, in the future, put a copy of Undercover on your new Mac.
Q Brian, Ontario, CA - Web programming
Brian wants to write a software app to parse text on his site. Leo says PHP is a popular programming language for the web. WordPress, various forum software is written in it. But Leo believes that Ruby, Python and Pearl would be better. Especially Pearl. CPan is a collection of modules that use what other programmers have written and builds on them. Ruby on Rails has very elegant language and a framework which enables you to quickly develop language that interfaces with mySQL. It’s called “Scaffolding” and is great for Rapid Application Development (RAD). Best part is, all of this stuff is open source and free. Great documentation online as well.
Python is used by Google’s App Engine.
Q Sylvia, Riverside, CA - wireless modem recommendation
Sylvia’s AT&T wireless modem died and she wants to know what she should get. Leo says that you’ll need another DSL modem and get a router with it as well. Leo prefers to get his own router so he can configure it separately and control it. The easiest, being an Apple person, is to get an Apple router. But it’s also more expensive. The software is better and easier to configure, especially with Time Capsule. There is a cheaper option like D-Link, but it’ll be harder to configure. But getting your own option presents support issues. Checking DSL Reports, you can find out what model AT&T uses and just get that.
Sally says to talk to customer retention and tell them you’re bolting if you don’t get a new modem. Worked for her.
Hour 3
Q Sally, Los Angeles, CA - SP3 upgrade, worth it?
Sally has an older computer running XP Pro SP2. Worth upgrading to SP3? Leo says you should always get the security updates. They plug flaws that bad guys find and exploit. SP3 was a “roll up,” so as long as SP2 is updated with all patches, then you’re okay. Sally also wants to know if she can eliminate all the other language files in a program to save space? Leo says you can, but they’re very small. Just text. So you wouldn’t really save that much space deleting them. And the chances of you messing the program up doing so is higher than the space you save. And hard drives are huge these days.
Q Carrie, Los Gatos - browser issues
Carrie can’t open her browser. It crashes. Yahoo Messenger is very demanding and she’s probably using IE6. It’s probably screwed by Messenger. Run an update and upgrade to IE8. Faster. More Secure. Plus, also get any available critical updates. This will take awhile and you’ll reboot machine multiple times. Also, try Firefox. Also run Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool (mrt). Do a full scan of your hard drive. It’ll probably take a bunch of bad things off your software. Start. Run. MRT.
Q Bud, Burbank, CA - Dell support hassles
A virus problem with Bud’s computer prompted him to call Dell for help. Leo says Dell has the worst support in the industry, which is sad because their hardware is really good for the price. Leo says the best thing to do is backup your data and rebuild the OS from scratch, formatting the hard drive. The support guy should’ve known that was an option. Also, make sure your AVS is updating consistently. The guy also said his wireless card was dying, which is ridiculous because Leo says there’s no way he can know that. He may have been trying to sell you something.
Does Mac have trouble with viruses? Leo says no. Which would you use for college, Mac or PC? Leo likes the 13″ MacBook Pro. Also, get her external speakers and it’s her entertainment system as well. Check what student discounts you can get at the college. You may be able to get a free printer. But at college, the network may have printers she can print to.
Q Dennis, Huntington Beach - Video card died on laptop
Dennis has an Dell XPS 1710 laptop with a stand alone video card that died. A replacement is very hard to find. Leo says it’s good news that he has a stand alone card. If it were on-board video, you’d have to replace the motherboard. But you’ll have to have someone who really knows how to work on a laptop to fix it. What you can think about is to find someone who’s selling a similar laptop on eBay for parts. Also, for CAD, you should probably think about going desktop. Faster, more powerful, etc.
Q Maurice, Fontana, CA - Video Card
Maurice has a video card which is “flashing.” Leo says you could have bad memory on the video card. You can also try and update new drivers. There’s a reference driver and a Windows certified driver. The company that made the card may have a few drivers. Try them all. If that doesn’t work, you may have a bad card.
Have a great geek week!
