Audience Questions

Audience QuestionsHour 1

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

Will Starlink Satellites Ruin the Sky for Astronomers?

Watch Louis from Hollywood, CA Comments

Louis wants Leo's thoughts on the Starlink project by Elon Musk and SpaceX. Leo says he has mixed emotions. He likes the idea of gigabit speeds anywhere in the planet, but he's not sure he's supportive of 42,000 satellites in low earth orbit. They are already interefering with astronomy, and there's less than 125 of them so far. Astronomers are already complaining, and SpaceX is working to make changes to the reflectivity of future satellites to be launched. Gwen Shotwell, of SpaceX said that nobody thought of that problem when they first conceived of it. So Leo says that there will be a tradeoff. Good for some things, bad for others.

How Can I Recover My Gmail Account?

Watch Thomas from Riverside, CA Comments

Tom moved to another state and his Gmail account has been locked out. How can he get back control of it? Google says he has to go back to the old location to recover it. This is why you use an alternate address for recovery. But if that doesn't work, you may be out of luck since there's no support. Leo says before anything happens, to do the security checkup. Turn on 2-factor authentication, and set up a secondary email that isn't Gmail for recovering it. Also, periodically, back up your email through Google Takeout. But Leo also suspects that Thomas' Gmail account may actually have been compromised, with spam being sent from it. That would prompt Gmail to lock the account.

From the chatroom - https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/7299973?hl=en. http://gmailaccountrecovery.blogspot.com/. The chatroom also says to try "tweeting" google support. There's also https://www.google.com/contact/.

Audience QuestionsHour 2

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

Will the Tech in My Old Flip Phone Expire Soon?

Watch Richard from Long Beach, CA Comments

Richard wants to know if the technology in his very ancient cell phones expires or not. Leo recommends calling directly since the functionality is specific to the carrier.

Richard is also curious about Rich Demuro's iOS book, and Leo suggests the modern edition since Richard should be running the latest iOS anyway.

How Can I Play Music To All My Rooms?

Watch David from Anaheim, CA Comments

David wants to stream music to multiple rooms in his house. MultiRoom music is a challenge because it has to sync from room to room with no latency. But it is doable with Amazon Echo. He can get a dot in each room and add some speakers and it'll work. The Echo is smart enough that he can even command it to play in different rooms as well. The Amazon Echo Input connects to one's own speakers, and right now it's only $10.

Audience QuestionsHour 3

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

What's an Affordable Option for Noise-Canceling Headphones?

Watch Ronnie from California Comments

Ronnie would like to buy active noise-canceling headphones, but the Bose headphones are way too expensive. Is there a more affordable option? Leo says that there are far better options now that don't cost an arm and a leg. The WireCutter says that the Bose 700s are the best, but they are costly. Anker's Soundcore Life Q20 is around $40 right now. Audio Technica makes a good pair!

Leo actually prefers in-ear monitors from Etymotics. They are cheaper and seal your ears from ambient noise. 

How Do I Replace Storage in My Surface Pro 2?

Watch Jeff from Thunder Bay, CAN Comments

Jeff has a Microsoft Windows Surface Pro 2 and he wants to know how he can change out the storage memory for a larger one. Leo says that he can clean out the hard drive to get rid of unwanted cruft. Look for a folder called Windows.Old and get rid of that. Run Windows Disk Cleanup. Windows Key, cleanup.

He's not sure that he can replace the storage. Leo says it's mostly solid-state RAM that's likely soldered into the motherboard. But according to the chatroom, IFixIt can show how - https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+2+SSD+Replacement/21078

 

What is a Good Laptop for School?

Watch Rick from Victorville, CA Comments

Rick's son is about to start school and wants a laptop. He wants a 15" screen, running Windows 10. Leo says that almost all laptops have a touchscreen. But Leo recommends the Lenovo Thinkpad T-series. They have no-touch screen options. He will want a mini 8GB RAM. Another option is the Dell XPS 15. Microsoft's Surface Pro Laptop 3 business model is also good.

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