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Episode 910 September 16, 2012

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Audience Questions

Audience QuestionsHour 1

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

Why wasn't the Screen Savers a viable TV program? (Part 1)

Watch Steve from North Hollywood, CA Comments

Steve wants to know why TechTV didn't make it in a gadget obsessed society, especially the Screen Savers. G4 has decided to abandon technology programming altogether and is going for eyeballs with what they call "GQ programming." The reason is economics. A cable channel like TechTV lost $100 million a year. Leo is doing the same thing eight years later, he has a larger (but more narrow) audience, and is profitable because his costs are lower.

How can I get notified on my iPhone of new voicemails on my standalone voicemail service? (Part 2)

Watch Steve from Hollywood, CA Comments

Steve's wife has a standalone voicemail service that would page her Blackberry whenever she'd get a new message. Now that she's switched to an iPhone, that doesn't work anymore.

Leo recommends using Google Voice. She can port her number to it, and Google Voice will send her a text and transcript of the message. The chatroom also says there's an AT&T app on the iPhone called VM Viewer that can do this too.

What PC should I get to switch away from Mac?

Watch Doug from Pasadena, CA Comments

Doug makes industrial videos and he's fed up with the changes in Apple's Final Cut, breaking of camera's connectivity, and being on Apple time when it comes to updates. So he's moving on to PCs and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Leo says in the office, TWiT has Dell computers, and he recommends paying extra for the Gold support. Dell will let him configure the machines.

PadreSJ, in the chatroom, says that Acer is another good choice if price is an issue.

Check out Roger's web series The Unemployment of Danny London.

Audience QuestionsHour 2

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

How can I improve Skype quality for recording podcasts?

Watch David from Canada Comments

David wants to improve his sound quality on Skype so he can record it, but he's finding he has to ask the person on the other end to record their side of the conversation. Leo says that's called double ended recording and it takes a lot of effort. It also doesn't work well half the time, but it is the best way to get professional broadcast like quality. Leo doesn't do this though.

David should try adjusting the Echo Cancellation in Skype. There are also recorders like Pamela that may be better at recording.

The Chatroom says that MP3 Skype Recorder is another good option, and it's free. He should also check out the Netalyzer at UC Berkley, so he can analyze his connection and check for problems like buffer bloat.

For more information, check out our Wiki on How to be a Guest on TWiT. There's some great Skype tips there. But at the end of the day, the best thing he can do is have a wired connection and a lot of bandwidth upstream.

Why are my ripped DVDs playing fine on my PC, but not playing audio when I burn another disc?

Watch Shelley from Agoura Hills, CA Comments

Shelley is ripping her DVDs using WinX DVD Ripper. It plays fine on her PC, but when she burns it in Roxio, there's no audio. Leo says that her settings in Roxio is likely the issue. Leo advises burning in the MPEG2 format instead, with AC3 for audio. It needs to be in that format for the DVD to play correctly.

Should I switch to Android or get the iPhone 5?

Watch Tom from Grand Rapids, MI Comments

Tom is thinking of switching to Android after having the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 isn't thrilling him, and he's thinking of the Samsung Galaxy SIII or the Droid Maxx.

If he can wait until October, there's new versions coming out of some great phones. Since he's already invested in the iOS ecosystem though, it may make more sense to just go to the iPhone 5.

As a Verizon customer, he won't be able to do both data and voice simultaneously. Leo says that isn't the problem of the iPhone, it's the problem of Verizon's network. The only way that Samsung's Galaxy SIII can do it is because it has three antennas - two LTE and one CDMA. Leo also says that if he travels internationally, getting a GSM "Burner" phone is probably easier.

He won't be disappointed with a Galaxy S III, though, and won't take too big of a hit replacing his iOS apps with Android ones. They are inexpensive.

Audience QuestionsHour 3

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3

Why won't the digital copy of Blu-Ray movies play back on my iPod classic?

Watch Von from Laguna Nigel, CA Comments

Leo says that's because the format of it has changed, and the older iPods won't support it. He can transcode it, but it is copy protected. Von could try VLC Media Player. If it plays in VLC, then Handbrake can encode it.

Why is Facebook authentication not working properly with the app I need?

Watch Henry from Huntington Beach, CA Comments

The idea behind authenticating through Facebook Connect is that it doesn't require users to have an additional account - it can just use their Facebook account. This is a problem with the app he is using, and unfortunately the only thing he could do is go back to the app developer.

Is there a less expensive network monitoring utility for remote access?

Watch Jason from Sunrise, Florida Comments

Jason has started a computer repair business using remote access to fix computers. He needs a utility to monitor his network and he'd like a more affordable option. He was looking into OpManager, but it's expensive. Leo suggests looking into GotoAssist.com. (Disclaimer: GoToAssist is an advertiser).

The chatroom suggests a couple of free alternatives: Nagios and SpiceWorks.

Why am I getting ad pop-ups from linked words on my website?

Watch Don from Monrovia, CA Comments

Don is noticing a lot of underlined and linked words that trigger pop-ups on his website. There are some sites that will underline keywords that trigger pop-up ads when the pointer moves on top of it. However, Leo says if he's seeing it on his own site, then it's malware and it's probably doing even worse. Leo says to make sure his OS (Windows 7) is updated regularly. It may have come with a download. Leo's opinion though is to back up his data, format the hard drive, and reinstall Windows. That's the only way he can be sure it's clean.

The other school of thought is to try and clean it. He can run a antivirus program or malware scanner like MalwareBytes. He can also run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (Click start, select "Run", type "MRT", hit enter) or (Windows key + R).

Should I be concerned about some of these things I'm seeing in my event logger?

Watch Pat from Anaheim, CA Comments

No. The event logger just logs things that happen on your computer, and he's worrying over things that are normal. Sometimes too much knowledge is a bad thing when it comes to computing.

Wasn't the iPad Mini supposed to come out Wednesday?

Watch Johnny from Mountain View, CA Comments

Johnny heard from Kim Kommando that the iPad Mini was going to be announced on Wednesday, but it wasn't. Leo says that Kommando isn't that knowledgable when it comes to products that are about to break. The truth is, Apple doesn't say anything about what's coming up. The conventional wisdom, however, is that Apple will announce it in October. It will likely be 7.85 inches, and have the same specs as the iPad 2.

How can I install an older version of an app from the App Store for my older Macbook?

Watch Dave from Bimington, NY Comments

The latest version of Aperture only supports Mountain Lion, and since Dave's Macbook can't run Mountain Lion, he'll need to find that older version. Leo recommends he makes an appointment with the Genius Bar at an Apple Store, and maybe they can help him get his older version back.

Should I be worried about messing things up by trying to set up my tech hardware?

Watch Joan from Sacramento, CA Comments

It's often a good idea to label cables so she would know what belongs to what, but Joan shouldn't really worry about it. They're pretty much built to be plugged in without incident, as long as she's not trying to force it into a recepticle it's not designed to go into. It'll either fit or it won't. Many cables are also color coded, so she should make sure to check for that. To be safe, Joan could probably get a college or high school geek to set it all up. They'll know how.

Why won't iPhoto burn to DVD?

Watch Sandy from California Comments

Whenever Sandy tries burning photos to DVD in iPhoto, she just gets error messages. She even had her Superdrive replaced, and still has the issue.

She should try to burn something other than photos to see if it will burn. If it does, then the issue is her iPhoto library.

Next, she should rebuild her iPhoto library from scratch:

  1. In the "Pictures" folder, Control + Click on "iPhoto Library"


  2. Select "Show Package Contents"


  3. Copy the "Masters" folder


  4. Paste the "Masters" folder onto the desktop


  5. Go back to the "Pictures" folder, and move "iPhoto Library" to the desktop


  6. Launch iPhoto, and import photos from "Masters"

This will rebuild the library from scratch. Now she should be able to burn her photos.

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