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Sunday April 4, 2010

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Posted one week after broadcast…

Tech News

Leo’s iPad Arrives

Leo got his iPad, and after playing with it for 24 hours he has come to the conclusion it’s certainly a significant step in technology. But only time to tell if it’s a step “forward” or not. It’s certainly causing debate. Some say it takes the audience back to consumption only and as such, is a step backward.

Pricey. Sure. But people are saying it’s fun to play with. But what does it really mean as a gadget? But it doesn’t have to be “grandmas computer,” as David Pogue puts it. Leo had an “epiphany” last night that comparing to a computer is the wrong way to look at it. If you compare it to your TV set, then it suddenly makes a bit more sense. Then it becomes an entertainment content consumption device that replaces your entertainment tools, rather than your computer. Twitter, Facebook, Email, all work quite well. Great for reading books, comics, magazines (Popular Science was stunning). And remarkable battery life! Leo used it non stop all day and didn’t run out of battery life until he plugged it in at 11pm. WOW.

It feels a little heavy in the hand, which will cause some to stay with the Kindle. The interface is very responsive and apps open very quickly. 140,000 applications all ready to use from iPhone store, plus 2,000 specific iPad apps already.

Is it as easy and satisfying to browse as a real newspaper? Leo says yes and it’s a huge success (analysts say that Apple sold nearly 3/4 Million iPads yesterday), 7–8 million in the first year!

Guests

Scott Wilkinson, Home Theater Magazine

Scott joins us to answer some listener questions from his colum “Ask Home Theater.” Christian just bought a PTAE4000 Projector with a Sony PS3. He wants to configure them for best quality. Scott says there’s a few things you want to keep in mind. Scott says to make sure your player encodes the audio, not your receiver so you can get the “secondary audio” (i.e. commentaries, etc). Will HMDI 1.1 be compatible for multi channel PCM audio? Scott says yes. What about letting the projector decode the video? Scott says you have no choice to let the PS3 do it. If you’re watching a Blu-ray disc in 24p, you may get some “jutter,” which is why the Panasonic will compensate for that by projecting at 96 fps and you can zoom in the lens to fill the 2.35 aspect ratio and avoid letter boxing. And the projector remembers widescreen thanks to it’s on board memory, which is cool.

David is looking for a 46″ LCD TV with LED Back lighting. Recommendations? The Samsung UN46B8500 is Scott’s current favorite. And it’s a 2009 model, so you may be able to get a screaming deal. Secondly, LG has a great 46″ LCD with . Has beautiful black levels, wonderful off axis performance to 45 degrees. List price $2800!

What about the new Sharp Quatro with a fourth color? Well, it’s looks impressive but a bit misleading. First off, you don’t need that fourth color. All video material is created using a specific color gamut and you want the same color gamut to display the image for accuracy. When you have an expanded color gamut, then the reproduction is going to be inaccurate in it’s presentation. So Scott isn’t a big fan, though the Takei commercial is hilarious.

Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor

Chris is preparing to go back to Mount Everest for more high climbing photography.

Leo’s Canon 5D Mk II got a firmware upgrade that allows for 24p recording. Isn’t that a downgrade? Chris says no. It’s not like a video camcorder. With 24p (23.976) functionality, you get some manual exposure options that you didn’t have before. And the standard in the video production world is at those rates, so for the professionals using the 5D Mk. II, it gives you near film look quality. And that gives most professional video producers great options for shooting low budget films and videos. You also get a histogram, audio adjustment options, and more.

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Hour 1

Q Lance, East Hamption, MA - Restore options w/out discs

Lance got an ACER PC from Walmart without restore discs. What can he do? Leo hates it that Microsoft doesn’t allow restore discs thinking it’s a stupid anti piracy measure. What’s the big deal as long as you have your Key? Leo also says that Windows is far cheaper to vendors who offer PCs without the discs, and with margins so slim, it makes sense for the vendors. In a way, we’re all to blame for demanding PCs cheaper and cheaper. If you don’t have a Windows Install Disc, look for a hidden partition that allows you to make a backup restore disc. Call Microsoft and explain the situation, maybe they’ll buy you one.

Another option is to make an image of what you have now and you can use that. EaseUS.com has a free disc imager called ToDo backup.

What about backing up his external drive with Carbonite? Leo says that the consumer version of Carbonite only backs up what’s internal to your computer. To get external backup capability, you need to get the pro version.

Q Dustin, Vacaville, CA - Video import problems

Dustin got a Sanyo Xacti camcorder and when he imports the files, the video lags. Is that a processor issue? Leo says that the problem is that the camera uses a special brand of H.264 (known as AVC/H.264) as a compression format and the software probably doesn’t support it. So you need software that supports and understands this flavor of H.264. Leo recommends Adobe Premiere Elements. Windows Movie Maker for Windows 7 might also support it. On the Mac, iMovie and Final Cut Pro also supports it.

Q Will, Detroit, MI - Internet connection problems.

Will has a Dell Mini 10 running Windows 7. He can’t connect to the Internet. Leo says that sometimes you lose the date and it breaks the browser certificates. So make sure you have the correct date and time in your computer. Also, make sure you can run your antivirus software. Will says he can’t. That means you’re infected and you need to backup your data, wipe the drive and restore from a known good source. You can’t really rely on restore points because hackers alter restore points as well. If anything, Will’s lucky he was able to catch it. A good hacker likes to stay on a computer unnoticed.

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Hour 2

Q Chance, Huntington Beach, CA - Webhost recommendation

Chance has created a book and wants to know who to have a webhost with? Leo recommends going with Lulu because you get a “landing page” for your book that has information about you and your book. But since you have to make your own page, Leo doesn’t recommend GoDaddy to host, as Leo isn’t a fan of their business practice. Most web hosts have a site builder program. But Leo prefers a content management system like at WordPress.com which you can create a blog. For a little more money, especially for selling things, SquareSpace.com is a great site, and Leo prefers it. Easy design, e-commerce options. Other higher end options - Dreamhost, SoftLayer, and Liquidweb.

Q Pierce, Novato, CA - Changing laptop hard drives

Pierce has a 15″|Unibody Macbook Pro and he wants to replace the hard drive. Will it void your warranty? Leo says that no, it won’t. Just open the back, take out a few screws, remove it and replace. Nice and easy 104. Leo recommends a Hitachi or Samsung SATA laptop drive. Best play to get them is at NewEgg.com. Chatroom says there’s even a 1TB drive and you want at least a 7200 RPM. Get the WD Scorpio Blue. But you should double check your warranty just in case.

Q John, New York City, CA - Using an iPad instead of a laptop

John has a Macbook that he never uses outside the desk and is thinking about getting an iPad to work in concert with an iMac. Leo says you may want to wait for the 3G version, which will come in a month though. And understand there’s no multi-tasking, no flash, no camera. You should spend time really paying attention to what you use your Macbook for to see if you’d be missing anything by going iPad exclusively. It may be ideal, but it’s not really meant to replace the Macbook entirely.

Leo says that it’s probably a good idea to play wait and see.

Q Richard, San Rafael - running Windows on the Mac

Richard wants to upgrade to Windows 7 and wants to know if it’ll run better on a Mac. Well, Leo says that upgrading to a Mac to run Windows is an expensive way to go just to run Windows. And it won’t save you from infection just because it’s a Mac. You could run it virtually using Sun Virtual Box, VMWare or Parallels. Problems running on a Mac? No. It runs quite well. In fact, Walt Mossberg say that the Mac is the best Windows computer ever. But you’re paying a premium. Get a MacPro? Absolutely. Apple has the Nehalem chips in them and it runs great.

Q Marisa, San Dimas - Trouble with After Effects on the Mac

Marisa just got a 13″ MacBook Pro and is running CS3 Design Premium and CS4 Production Premium. She’s having trouble running After Affects in Snow Leopard, but it runs fine on her iMac. Leo says you want to be sure you have versions 9.0.4.2 in After Effects. Run the Adobe Updater and you should be good to go.

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Hour 3

Q Dean, Long Beach, CA - Backing up

Dean got a virus and was in the middle of backing up his data when it got corrupted as well. Yeah, that’s what can happen. But for a virus to infect you, either you have to run a program that infects you, or the virus author creates a program that will run independently. But your data files don’t generally contain viruses. So you’re safe backing up solely data. The virus can store itself on the hard drive, but until you activate it, you’re relatively safe. Leo says if you put all your efforts in the front line of defense, follow Leo’s Six Rules of Safe Computing (run Windows Update, don’t open email attachments, don’t click on popups, etc.).

Q Lewis, Cupertino, CA - Wireless web services

Lewis uses Boost and he wants to surf the Web. Leo says you need a smartphone like the BlackBerry and get a data plan. Leo also recommends you want 3G access with a CDMA phone. If Boost offers that, you’re good to go.

Q Jeff, Oahu, HI - Tablet PC options

Jeff is looking for a tablet he can use in the medical field. He’d like the iPad, but he really needs a Windows supported tablet option. Should he go with the HP Slate or try and remotely compute using the iPad. Leo says that Windows is so dominant that it’ll just be easiest to use the HP Slate. You could potentially run desktop remote on the iPad and connect to your Windows machine, but you’ll run slower and it’s really a square peg in a round hole.

What about voice dictation? Leo says that Dragon Dictation has an iPhone app that does a fast, great job. It doesn’t even use the processor, choosing to stream the voice to an online server to process and then download it back to you. So that’s a possible option.

Is an HTML editor a good way to make a website? Leo says that nobody really does it that way anymore. The trend is a content management system like Word Press. There’s also Drupal and Jumla for the more advanced user. Can he use Dreamweaver? Leo says you can, but it’s by hand. With a CMS, it’ll be nearly automatic once HTML5 gets popular.

Q Jerry, Concord, CA - installing a backup drive

Jerry has gotten a pair of WD 1TB drives but he’s having trouble recognizing it in Windows 7. Jerry says it’s got a partition with some software already on it out of the box. Leo says that could be the problem. Try wiping the drive (r/c my computer, manage, storage) and delete all the existing partitions, reformatting. You’ll be able to see it then.

Q Scott, Florence, SC - issues with a competing website

Scott has a website with his company and he’s got a competitor website that is slandering their business. How can he use the Net to defend their site against such bad competitors. Leo says that one of the problems with the Web is that you can’t really control what others are doing - even using bad feedback about you. And you can’t really do anything about it except seek legal action. You can register and control negative domain names to tie those up. Many corporations do that.

Course, if you improve your search results by getting more customers to post positive feedback, that’ll certainly help you. That’s one of the reasons why many companies are now on Twitter and Facebook - to respond to and fix customer concerns and get positive feedback posted as a result. In the long run, that’s what’s going to contribute to your Internet “Street Cred.”

Q Jerry, New Jersey - stolen laptop

Jerry just bought a new laptop and it was nearly instantly stolen! What can he do? Leo says you can get a “lojack for laptops.” Leo also says you should talk to your credit card company to see if they have a replacement option if it’s lost or stolen. If so, you’re covered.

Happy Easter, everyone! Enjoy the Spring day!

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