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Sunday, November 14, 2004

Show #92

I’m just ending my Geek Cruise today. I’ll be flying home tonight. Today’s show was taped ahead of time, so don’t call in. But Internet willing, I’ll be sending in some interviews from the cruise for today’s show.

[UPDATE]: Hour three will feature a one hour interview with Apple founder, Steve Wozniak, recorded aboard the ms Oosterdam somewhere in the Caribbean.

 toc | toc 

Today’s news items

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Noon-1p

Richard in Big Bear - Saving video broadcasts

His church broadcasts the services over the net - how can he store it?
SDP is a free program with a timer that can be used to record anything sent to a Windows Media Player from a Windows server. Sermon Audio has recordings of sermons from all over the world.

Ryan in Newport Beach - Internet Explorer problem

Ryan can use his laptop at work but when he tries to access TrendMicro from home, he can’t
Your Hosts file has been altered and you need to clean this file out. Use F3 and look for the Hosts.sam file and copy it, then paste that into your Hosts file.

Tim in Banning - eMac digitizing audio

Tim wants to digitize his audio for his student’s projects using their eMac
If you have audio-in port you need to connect your source to the computer then use GarageBand or the free program from Audacity, an open source application that works for Macs, Windows, and Linux.

Eunice in Agoura Hill - Windows problem

Eunice’s son tried to get online and he got a black screen with an intermittent beep, could a power outage cause this problem?
The intermittent beep is a POST code that defines the problem that the computer is experiencing. The video card could be the problem based on the description; an excellent source for POST code information is PC Guide.com.

Candice in La Palma - copy VHS to DVD

Candice wants to move her VHS collection to DVD
If you have a video capture card you will need to connect the source to the computer and you’ll capture this to your hard drive. Then you’ll use another program to edit and record a DVD. Burnworld.com has tutorials on the how-to of this project. Converting analog content to digital can open up a new world for these old movies.

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1–2p

Larry in Edwards - Altec Lansing speakers

Larry’s speakers won’t work on a PC but work elsewhere, what’s wrong?
Suspect the audio card. Start by testing it with headphones.

Ted In Chino - Mac and Windows cross platform chatting

Ted wants to audio chat with his daughter using his PC and her Mac
A cross-platforms program that will work for you is iVisit.com. You could also try Skype.

Chet in La Canada - partitioning strategies

Chet’s needs to move some files on his old hard drive to partitions with more storage room
TweakUI will let you modify the locations of special folders like Program Files and My Documents.
Go to: TweakUI» My Computer» Special Folders

Update: The Program Files default path cannot be changed using TweakUI.

Larry in Hawthorne -refurbished computers

Larry wants to know about refurbished computers
If the vendor is reputable this is often a great purchase if it has the same warranty the manufacturer offers for their new computers; also make sure it is the current model they are selling. If any of the above conditions are not present, skip the purchase.

Bob in La Jolla - Mac vs Windows

Bob is wondering which platform is best for his child
The Laporte Family uses Macs, but Leo uses PCs and Macs everyday. The PC runs on the X86 architecture (AMD and Intel) and the Mac runs on the PowerPC architecture and each of the systems have different user interfaces. Apple has a reliability and security advantage over the Windows systems, but many programs are not available for Macs; computer-aided design and games are two examples. Content creation is easier using Apple’s built-in software. Apple’s are more expensive in most cases but is a probably a great choice for Bob’s children.

MikeMac says: Check the prices on the eMac which are used in many schools and competitively priced with many PCs.

Mike in Glendale - File backup strategies

How can you make a backup before installing Service Pack 2?
Most often, the best method is a direct copy, where you drag your My Documents folder to a CD and burn it. Windows users can also use their Backup Program. The third method uses an Imaging Program that is like freeze-drying your hard drive. The problem being it can carry in problems that existed previously on your system including viruses.

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2–3p

Apple founder, inventor, and Segway fanatic, Steve Wozniak.

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Chat Logs and Show Audio

Show Archives
Hour 1 Chat	Hour 1 Audio
Hour 2 Chat	Hour 2 Audio
Hour 3 Chat	Hour 3 (Woz Interview)

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