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Sunday June 13, 2010
Show Audio
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Edited Audio | |
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Posted one week after broadcast… | |
Tech News
Is the Internet making us dumber?
According to the New York Times, the Internet may be making us dumber, not smarter. Struggling with a deluge of data causing short attention spans, scientists say the Internet is actually making us dumber and changes the way we think and behave.
Other experts like Clay Shirkey say that it’s making us smarter in that it teaches us to be more creative - a creative explosion brought on by digital technology and the Internet gives us a world wide audience. The difference is that you see more stuff not as good because people are learning in public, not private, so the mistakes they make are for all the world to see.
Guests
Chris Marquardt - Tips from the Top Floor, @ChrisMarquardt
Hour 1
Q Mason, Dallas, TX - Search engine optimization
Mason makes youtube tutorials for Final Cut Express and wants to know how to optimize search results so more people will see his videos. Leo says Mason has taken the first step by getting his plug on a nationally syndicated technology show!
Using social networks like Twitter and Facebook to create a word of mouth for your content is beneficial. Search Engines aren’t enough anymore. And Google knows this. But creating Word of Mouth is the key these days to getting your name out there. It’s called “going viral.”
Mason also says the Internet makes us smarter because of it’s free flow of information. However, the problem is the vast amount of new information causes important matters get lost in the shuffle. Leo agrees but says that’s why “curation” is important. Applications like Twitter and RSS Readers help in that regard as does quality content which Leo believes rises to the top.
Q Kristy, Seal Beach, CA - Crashed computer, lost data
Kristy’s MAC crashed a few days ago and she’s lost everything. The worst part is that even her Time Capsule died! Kristy says that luckily, technicians were able to save half her photos on her Time Capsule. Leo is mystified as to why both the originals and back ups went dead at the same time.
There are two different ways to drives go bad. One is a hardware failure, which is where the timing chip goes bad (you can replace that) or the drive simple fails. Not much you can do other than have them fixed in a clean room by a company like DriveSavers, which costs thousands. The other, is a soft error and they are fairly easy to recover. Leo recommends SpinRite on a PC. Once you’ve repaired any physical errors by SpinRite, then you can use something like Norton Disc Doctor to recover lost files. Find a really smart tech who can connect it and run SpinRite to recover and fix the data. A smart one will make a copy of the drive and not mess with the original.
Leo also says this is why a 3–2−1 backup protocol is beneficial. Three copies, on two separate media formats, one off site. Carbonite is a good option for saving in the cloud, but you can also save your images on Flickr, SmugMug, and others which will store the originals uncompressed so you can access them any time.
Hour 2
Q David, the Ocean Doctor, Washington, DC -
David is interested an Asus UL30V, but the problem is it has no way to add anything like Firewire for capturing video. Leo says it does have SD card ports which you can access. Another option is an analog to video converter or even a DV to USB converter. The Neuros OSD is a good option as it’ll capture and store to an SD card. The quality isn’t broadcast or anything, but it’s okay for the Web. Hauppage’s HD PVR is another. For Macs, ElGato’s HDITV connects to USB and also a USB card which encodes H.264.
Check out 1Planet1Ocean.org for information on the gulf spill and restoring coral reefs in the world’s oceans.
Q Tom, Berkeley, CA - Windows 98 Installation
Tom needs to reinstall his OS but doesn’t have his Windows 98 serial number. Leo says there’s a program which you can run which will recover your serial number. Another option is to buy it on eBay and then you’ll have a disc with a serial number. It’s pretty cheap. But Leo also cautions that Windows 98 has been dropped from Microsoft support and won’t be protected against viruses, et al. With an old computer like Tom’s Leo recommends Ubuntu or Xubuntu which is specifically designed to work on older machines.
Q Robert, Baton Rouge, LA - Getting smarter socially online
Robert is a regular in our TWiT chatroom and thinks it’s relationships forged in chatrooms that help keep people informed and smarter. Leo agrees. They become fellow curators and information finders and who’s to say those relationships aren’t as valid as any others?
Q Phillip, Oceanside, CA - LCD Screen problems
Phillip has a vertical band on his laptop screen that he can’t get rid of which is blocking out a large portion of his screen. Leo suggests trying to connect to an external monitor via the port to see if you see the same issue. If not, then you know the LCD screen itself is damaged - probably from a frayed ribbon cable. If you have the same problem, then it could be a failing motherboard, video card, or even bad drivers.
Phillip also has stuttering on his CD, what can he do? Leo says that’s likely due to scratching on the CD itself. or it could be that the computer isn’t able to keep up with the data stream due to it’s age. Reinstalling your OS may help.
Q Wayne, Silverado, CA - Stalled Windows patch
Wayne says he’s got a stalled update which is preventing him from getting all the patches he needs to stay current. Microsoft has a technote on how to clear a stalled update here.
Hour 3
Q Bruce, Winterhaven, FL - The Pogoplug
Bruce wants to know about the Pogoplug. Leo loves the Pogoplug. You can connect as many hard drives as you need and then you can access them over the Internet and share files. It’ll also give you a local file backup option It’s a great resource! It’ll also serve as a Network attached storage so you can transfer files across multiple formatted computers.
Bruce also wants to resurrect and old computer and wants to know what would be best OS to put on it. Leo says Ubuntu or Xubuntu which is specifically designed to work on really older machines.
And the beauty is, you could also run dual boot with Windows or Linux. Cool, eh?
Q John, San Diego, CA - accessing eBooks on the iPad
John just got a new iPad. He installed a few new apps and some eBooks. John wants to know he can move the eBook over to his desktop? Leo says it is store on the iPad itself, rather than online, however, it’s more than an eBook and as such, you can’t really access it outside of the book reader. This is a security and copyright feature.
Q Eddie, Bronx, NY - Trouble syncing iPhone
Eddie has an iPhone and iTunes doesn’t recognize it. Leo says that what’s likely is that the computer isn’t seeing the iPhone. Try resetting your iPhone (hold down the on/off switch and phone button). This will reset it. Next, you’ll want to run DFU mode, which will force a Device Firmware Upgrade reset but you’ll lose everything in the process. This is a really good reason to backup your music regularly when you buy through the iPhone. Leo suggests trying to take it to the Apple store to see if the genius can help you avoid the DFU. If you have to go DFU, then you may need to please your case with Apple iTunes to download your music again.
From the Chatroom - a critical service may not be running on your PC.
Q Clive, California - router drop outs
Clive keeps losing his Linksys router wifi connection forcing him to constantly reset it. Leo says it’s not uncommon. You’ll need to update your firmware. Download the file from Linksys and install it via the router interface. You’ll can also try moving the location of your router. Another option is to disable “Wireless zero config,” which makes your computer “promiscuous,” causing your computer to change to another router it sees. R/C my computer and select manage then uncheck that option.
Q Ryan, Indianapolis, IN - what to do with an old Mac
Ryan has a real old G4 Mac and he wants to know if he can use it as a streaming rig. Leo says you’ll need a USB WiFi adapter that supports PowerPC. But the real issue is having an N USB adapter supporting a G4. What about the PCMCIA slot where the AirPort went? Leo says avoid that an plug in to the ethernet. You can also try powerline networking where you use your electrical grid to network computers. But Ryan is right, options are limited.
From the chatroom - try using an Ethernet bridge. It’ll plug in and create a native 802.11N receiver.
Q Roy, Orange County - Dual booting Ubuntu
Roy is going to run Ubuntu and wants to manually set his partition so he doesn’t lose his Windows partition. Leo says it should see the Windows partition automatically. But if the hard drive you’re using is too small, Ubuntu won’t be able to run dual boot.
Have a great geek week!
