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Sunday February 7, 2010

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Posted one week after broadcast…

Tech News

Apple, Google and Amazon in a “shooting war,” while Microsoft looks on

With Eric Schmidt resigning from the Apple Board, Apple refusing to carry Google Voice, then Google coming out with a host of Android phones including the Nexus One(Leo’s favorite phone now), Steve Jobs saying Google’s “do no evil” theme as a “load of malarky,” and now the iPad is changing the face of eBook publishing, a “shooting war” is erupting between Apple, Google, and Amazon.

But that’s not all, Jobs has started a war with Adobe over Flash and HTML5. Jobs calls Adobe “lazy,” for not refining Flash, which he claims is buggy and “more often than not” crashes Macs more than any other cause. Leo says THAT’s a load of malarky! Having said that, Flash is a resource hog.

Google released the Nexus One, with Android, omitting multi-touch with the assurance to Apple they wouldn’t add it. Then, a few weeks later, included multi-touch anyway in a recent update! So Apple responds by forcing a developer to drop his boast of being an “Android finalist,” from his application submission or risk having his application disapproved.

Man, it’s getting nasty. And where is Microsoft in all this? On the sidelines looking on like the rest of us.

Twitter breaks news that Google buys a Super Bowl Ad

Google CEO Eric Schmidt “tweeted” that for the first time in their history, Google will be airing a commercial - in the 3rd quater of the Super Bowl. And at $2.6 Million for 30 seconds, here’s hoping it’s a good one.

In fact, after the Super Bowl, you can rewatch all the commercials on Hulu!

Guests

Scott Wilkinson, Home Theater Magazine

Scott heard the question yesterday about plasma lifespans and wants to address how long they can live and if “outgasing” is still an issue. Scott says outgassing is a commonly held myth. The gas didn’t leak, but it would become less responsive electricity, causing them to dim.

Scott adds that the number of hours you use the plasma TV is the issue and not how long you have it. Most plasma’s today are “spec’d” for 60,000 hours (that’s about 20 years at 8 hours a day). So a plasmas have a good long lifespan and you have no worry about gas leakage.

Secondly, Samsung vs. Panasonic (now that Pioneer has left the field). There’s also LG. Scott says that up until this week, Panasonic was his preference. Then along came a problem with Panasonic plasma TVs where the black levels become significantly higher. Panasonic says it’s by design to battle the aging of the gas by increasing the voltage. But there has to be a bug in the firmware because instead of gradually rising, the black levels jump significantly making the image VERY dark.

This leads Scott and the gang at Ultimate AV mag to come up with a testing spec in order to see how widespread it is.

So now, Scott’s thinking Samsung. They make beautiful LCDTVs, and they even make shiny screens for deeper black levels ala plasma TVs, but that also leads to glare. Their plasma’s are very good, and either one is a great product.

What about the plasma “buzz?” Scott says that they do buzz, but usually only at high altitudes. And there are some TVs that buzz more than others. But he’s never really experienced it himself.

What to get for Super Bowl Sunday? Get the largest screen you can afford, and Samsung (the 8500 is a best, but pricey) and Panasonic’s are still king for flat panels. Another option is the Vizio 551 55″ LED Backlit screen for under $2,000 is not a bad way to go.

Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor

Image Data workflow. How to get through all the pictures you have, save the images you want. Chris marks bad images he wants to toss. Images that are out of focus, pointing to the floor, etc. Just blaze through them. It’s like photo triage looking for the obvious junk. Second pass, give your images ratings based on a 5 star system. 1 star for some you won’t show, but are too good to dump. 2 stars for some that need work but can be saved. And 3 stars that are ideal but need a little post processing. Once that’s done, you can promote any images you’ve touched up to 4 or 5 stars.

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Hour 1

Q Brett, Post Falls, ID - Carbonite

Brett is thinking about giving Carbonite a try, and wants to know if he can back up multiple computers with one Carbonite account. Leo says the basic consumer account is unlimited for $59 a year for one computer. But they now have a professional grade account which allows to backup multiple computers, but it is more expensive overall, but about the same price per computer. Leo recommends a Central Network drive to backup all your computers, and then back up that central network drive to the cloud.

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Hour 2

Q Gary, Santa Monica, CA - backing up

Gary has been on a crusade to get his friends and family to back up their data. He says that most people just won’t do it. He says that Mac fans have Time Machine and an external drive, which Leo agrees is a great solution, but what about Windows? Leo says that Windows 7 does it with “Volume Shadow Copy.” You need to have Windows Home Server running as well to make it swing. And you can hook up the HP Media Smart Server quite easily.

Gary also says that he’s heard that Time Machine drives are dying at an alarming rate. Leo says he hasn’t heard that, but since they are always on in an enclosed space, it’s not surprising.

There’s a great article on backup at dpbestflow.org which talks about the “321 backup rule.” 3 copies. Two different media styles. One off site.

Q Gabriel, Monrovia, CA - Bluescreen installing Windows

Gabriel is trying to install windows on his Dell and he’s getting the dreaded BSoD. The error’s he’s getting are RAM and BIOS errors. Leo says that’s it’s likely that the battery backup on the CMOS is dead. This is on the motherboard. So, as a result, the CMOS settings are bad and it’s preventing installation from continuing. Look for the small watch battery size battery on the motherboard, pop it and replace it. Then, go into the BIOS before installing Windows and make sure the settings are correct, including resetting your ESCD data. In the chatroom - Dell comes with a utility disc that you can run to see what’s corrupted.

Q Douglas, Van Nuys, CA - speeding up your PC

Douglas’ computer is slowing down and he wants to know if he can use a system utility to speed it up. Leo says that most of this stuff is snake oil. There is no magic program that will speed up your computer. Leo says that once a year, backup your data, wipe the drive and reinstall Windows. Then reinstall your applications and update Windows. Then restore your data and scan. Once you have it all the way you want it, image your drive so that when it slows down, you can restore the image in no time.

Q Lucy, Moab, UT - Video on her website

Lucy has a website and wants to know what’s the best format for a website that runs video as well as HTML/CSS. Leo says we’re in a state of “flux” right now. Leo says that uploading the video to YOUTUBE and embedding code on your site that points to YouTube is the best way to handle video because you’re not hosting the video, nor are you dealing with the bandwidth costs. Plus, you get search traffic from youtube that way. There’s also Vimeo and Viddler (viddler has popups which are cool).

What about people who view sites on their iPhone and now the iPad? Well, you can’t with them because they don’t support flash. HOWEVER, both have separate youtube players. And YouTube is now supporting HTML5 and Leo thinks that’s the future of online video. What video format is best for youtube? H.264 is what youtube prefers.

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Hour 3

Q Mike, Wyoming - eBook reader recommendation

Mike is a truck driver and he’s looking on getting an eBook reader. He’s thinking about the Kindle, but what about Barnes and Noble’s Nook? Which one is better? Leo says that the Kindle is far better. Both use the eInk screen. Gray background, black text. Barnes and Noble’s number has a lot of public domain books by Google. So it’s sort of misleading. In the end, it depends on what you want to read. And you while you can change the battery in the Nook, so what? By the time you have to change the Kindle battery, it’ll be obsolete. But Leo also says you may want to wait a few months for the iPad. Publisher’s are salivating over Apple’s new “agency” business model. So Leo advises patience.

Sony has announced a new eBook reader with wireless capability, but if you need something today, get the Kindle.

Q Ken, Fairfield, CA - upgrading to Windows 7

Ken wants to upgrade to Windows 7, but he’s concerned with upgrading using the Windows recovery discs. Leo says no worry. Windows 7 will verify the existence of the previous version of Windows. It just needs to see it. Then it’ll wipe your drive partition and start installing Windows 7. No worries there.

When backing up his data, what does he need to save? Leo says you’ll want to backup documents and settings, but sometimes programs don’t save in documents, so you’ll want to scan around for data which may not be where you expect it.

Q Juan, Sherman Oaks, CA - Offsite backup

Juan teaches others about backup and wants to know about Carbonite and difficulties restoring data. Leo says you can test restoring data by logging onto Carbonite from another computer and get a file. Carbonite doesn’t create a “ball of data,” but rather, they backup individual files so you can pick and choose to restore. But Leo says that Carbonite isn’t the only option. Leo also uses a ReadyNAS and backs up to the cloud using Amazon’s Jungle Disk as well. Carbonite has the advantage of being automatic and a $59 unlimited back up a year.

Have a great Geek Week!

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