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For more Leo and friends all week long, listen to the
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Sunday October 4, 2009
Show Audio
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Edited Audio | |
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Posted one week after broadcast… | |
Tech News
Microsoft Introduces Security Suite
Microsoft has released an AntiVirus Suite called Microsoft Security Essentials. It’s a very competent AVS which may be firing a shot across the bow of the antivirus industry. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have “heuristics,” which looks not only for things that are viruses, but may be viruses. Down side, it’s SLOW in scanning. But it’s the best of the “freebies.”
But now that Redmond has released this Security suite, will “bundling” AVS programs like McAffee become a thing of the past?
Google Wave comes out
Also out this week is Google Wave, but only by limited invitation. Think of it as email meets chat. It’s an exciting “toy,” but the jury is still out if it’s going to be innovative or confusing. Could make for a good business and collaborative tool, however. So only time will tell how widespread it’s appeal will be.
Leo’s going to Dubai
This week, Leo travels to Dubai to deliver a speech at TED X. Fear not, if all goes well, Leo will be doing the show live from Dubai on both Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully, even from the conference on Saturday.
Leo will also be blogging as much as he can via Posterous, which Leo thinks is a fantastic way to blog your travels. You can also follow Leo’s travels via TripIt.
Engadget breaks new Mac story thanks to Google
Slimmer, lighter, and cheaper. Even the Mac Mini gets a price break. And Leo suspects these will be officially announced just before Windows 7 launches on October 22.
Guests
Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor
Chris joins us to talk about Canon’s new 7D DSLR. And no, it doesn’t replace the 5D. In fact, it isn’t full frame like the 5D. It’s more an upgrade to the 50D. 18MP. 5 FPS. Cropped censor. But what’s really cool is that it does 1080p HD video with adjustable frame rate to 24 fps. Which means the video will look more and more cinematic.
And it also has a Speedlight transmitter so you can take the flash off the hot shoe and trigger it remotely. Very nice. 19 AF sensors. Chris thinks the 7D is a great value and some filmmakers are starting to use it over the RED ONE, which is amazing. Leo laments, that if only it had a full frame censor. But it’s great for the sports and indy film market. Cost is about $1700 for the body.
Don’t forget our assignment … PRESSURE. Take a picture that shows our theme and upload to flickr tagged for the Tech Guy Group. In a few weeks Chris will be back and we’ll choose the best to talk about!
Hour 1
Q Jay, Providence, NC - Emailing photos from smart phones
Jay is wondering if it’s better to save pictures to smart cards and transfer using a memory card reader or just email them. Leo says some downsize the photo while emailing. You have to set the phone to uncompress the image, though. Check the size of the photo you email to see if it is compressed or not. A way around it is to copy and paste the image into your email. And Bluetooth is a good option if your PC has that capability.
Q Mike, Denia Beach, FL - Embedding video on a Website
Mike has a website and wants to embed video that automatically plays like a host greeting. Leo says what Mike is asking for is “Flash embed,” and you can set it for “autoplay” in the Flash parameters. But sometimes, automatic playing can be annoying.
Mike’s frustration, though is that he’s getting an ActiveX warning when he tries to play it. Leo says to make sure to get the latest flash player as being out of date can cause those type of errors. Also, your security settings can cause this type of error as Active X does take over your browser. Leo says that’s one of the problems with Active X is that it’s poorly written and allows bad guys to take over using it.
There are services out there that provide this service for you, one is called Live on Page. It can be cool in that the video is floating over the page like a weather man pointing at a national weather map, but it’s fairly annoying. Leo played it for 5 seconds and was ready to bolt.
Q George, Houston, TX - computer running slowly
George’s computer is just running slow. In addition, he doesn’t get task manager anymore than he presses “C-A-D.” It’s normal for computers to slow down over time (it’s called bit rot). The best fix is just to backup your data, format the hard drive and reinstall the OS again. Particularly if you’re getting issues like your task manager disappearing, it could be a virus has gotten a hold of it.
Hour 2
Q Alex, San Bernadino, CA - GPS and the iPhone
Why don’t they put GPS chips in MacBooks and iMacs to find them once they’re stolen. Find My iPhone is a great idea, but you need to subscribe to mobile me to use it. This ia great tool if you misplace or lose your iPhone, but if someone stole it, you’re better off handing the information to the police. There’s also a technology called Skyhook, which maps wifi access points. If you can see an access point, you can triangulate your location.
For computers, there’s a solution for MAC called Undercover, which takes pictures of the thief using the laptop camera and phones home to the Apple Store with the information. For Windows, Lojack for Computers.
Q Nick, Pittsburgh, PA - Getting the word out …
Nick has a cool podcast called Teen Tech Radio Podcast and wants to know how to get the word out. Leo says content is still king. Putting out great content will build your audience and make them want to keep coming back for more. Also, participating in communities where you are a contributor to one community and linking back to your site can draw new eyeballs. But you need to be an active participant. Also, create a forum, a central hub where kids can congregate and be a part of a community. Don’t compare yourself to the big time either. Compare yourself to yourself, your community. And go for it.
Q JC, San Diego, CA - Teaming?
JC just got a new motherboard with suppoort for “teaming.” Huh? Leo says this supports “link aggregation,” where it’ll bond data together for great speed. Could work for huge video downloads, etc., but it’s not really something to get obsessed over.
Q Yvonne, Glendale, CA - Tethering
Yvonne is thinking of getting a BlackBerry and wants to know if she can tether the BlackBerry to her laptop and dump her Wireless network card. Leo says it’s about the same speed. The issue is, will Verizon let her tether, and they may charge you as much as you’re already paying. Recommendations? Leo doesn’t like the Storm. Period. The Storm 2 is coming out really soon, hopefully, they learned from the mistakes of the Storm 1. Now, word on the street is that Verizon is getting the iPhone next year sometime. But if you can’t wait, the BlackBerry Bold or the new Tour is a great option, probably the best BlackBerry to date.
From the Chatroom, there’s a great program called TetherBerry, which tricks your BlackBerry into thinking the phone is getting the Internet data and not your tethered PC, thereby not needing to pay extra for the priviledge of tethering. It’s $50.
Q Tim, Los Angeles, CA - Motherboard errors
Tim has an ASUS SLI motherboard and he keeps getting an overclocking error, but he doesn’t overclock it. Overclocking means running your processor faster than it’s rated for. The error message could be overheating or low voltage. You can go into your BIOS setup and turn up the voltage.
CyberRoger in the chatroom says it’s a common ASUS error due to improper shutdown or an inadequate power supply. Getting a stronger one will help. Leo says taking out one of the SLI cards could help as well.
Hour 3
Q Aaron, Irvine, CA - Digital Audio Recorder recommendation
Aaron is a student looking to get a digital audio recorder for lectures. Leo says the Olympus Audio Recorder is pretty popular. But you’d need it right there to record. One way to go this is to Pear Note on the Mac, Evernote may be able to do it for the PC. But Leo recommends getting a USB directional Mic to plug in, so you don’t pick up typing noise. Pear Note also lets you record video and powerpoint presentations. From the Chatroom - the Zoom H2 Handy Recorder works, it’s about $200. It also plugs into your laptop via USB, which would be ideal.
Your iPhone may also be a good choice.
QGreg, Napa Valley, CA - NTLOADER file missing
Greg updated Windows and now the NTLoader is missing. Leo says put your Windows install disc in and reboot. It’ll ask you if you want to repair the install. Say yes and it should (we hope) reinstall the NTLoader for you.
Q Kate, Newport Beach, CA - Laptop screen glare
Kate does a lot of work outdoors and has a problem with glate using her laptop. She’s used just about everything, even wearing black shirts! What can she do? Leo says some laptops are better than others in sunlight. From the Chatroom: the Dell Latitude E648 works good in the sun. Hoodman, a company that’s made camera hoods for movie and video cameras has one called the Eclipse that’s designed for laptop screens.
Q Ralph, Fresno, CA - Tricastin’
Ralph is a podcaster who uses the same Tricaster setup as Leo. What’s the best video format for putting up to the Internet? Leo says that the Tricaster records in a custom version of MPEG2. Moving from there, Leo has tried several different encoded formats, and DV format was the best.
Q Ed, Tijuana, MX - Trouble with BitGravity
Watching Leo’s show online, Ed is having trouble with the BitGravity feed over at twitlive.tv. Leo says they’re putting out a far more high quality stream these days and it just may be that the connection Ed has won’t handle the bandwidth. But that’s the reason Leo still uses UStream and Stickam, for those who don’t have as large of a pipe. Bitgravity also has a manual quality button you can switch to a more compressed feed. It adjust automatically to your feed, but if it doesn’t, you can change it manually.
Q Logan, Yorba Linda, CA - Slow computer
Logan’s computer is slowing down. Leo says that’s not unusual. It’s called “bit rot.” This is where the process of uninstalling and installing programs, surfing the Net, etc. Once a year, it’s a good idea to back up your data, format the hard drive, and reinstall the OS. And if you don’t have the discs, you can get the Student edition of Windows 7 for about $30. Family pack is $150 for 3 licenses. And it’ll speed everything up lickety split.
HAVE A GREAT GEEK WEEK GANG! See you next week from Dubai!
