Feb 9, 2011
There should be some talk about Verizon's iPhone
Audiophiles that hate Digital Music Read HERE
My Internet's Not Working (SouthPark) Thanks, Dennis B!
Apple's 9.7" iPad is getting Increasing Competition from "Android Pads" for as little as $149.00such as these Coby Models
AutoTune Pitch Quantiser – Any better than Lipsyncing or Sid Vicious's Bass Playing
the Photoshop of the Audio World? Haters will always Hate…
Mesnwhile: Get the iPhone App!
Additional notes
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Paul said the next show, in 2 weeks, will be 2 hours long.
2 pieces of free software were mentioned:
Cobian Backup can backup to just about any drive except a CD, and it runs in the background. It's open source and is available on Sourceforge and comes with good tutorials. It also has compression & encryption options. It has a nice balance between simplicity of use and the ability of the user to configure it.
More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobian_Backup
The other free software is Synchback to synchronize folders which, in effect, backs up the files. It does require some configuration for your preferences.
The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and not necessarily KVMR its board, staff or contributors.
Glenn talked about Teamviewer, a program that allows 2 computers to communicate such that a user on one can run the other computer remotely over the internet. There are free and commercial versions. Security is provided by a password and an ID number.
Glenn offered kudos to Norton Securities because they were able to quickly solve a problem his friend was having which Glenn, try as he might, was unable to solve. This allowed a newly purchased CD drive to install the new System Works 2011. Norton used a remote access program, similar to Teamviewer, to effect the fix. Such remote software is much easier to use than it used to be, though using a satellite service for your ISP may cause it to be sluggish.
Paul again mentioned the 2 hour show coming up in 2 weeks.
Paul talked about Microsoft Essentials, which is an anti-virus, but not an internet security, program. Paul thinks anyone with Windows XP (with service pack 3) or later operating system has adequate firewall protection. And, he said, modern browsers have fine anti-phishing protection.
So, he said the only other necessity is an anti-virus and recommended AVG for the job. And, he said, all anti-virus programs can fail 1% to 5% of the time. AVG comes in free and commercial version. You can find it here.
About 2 years ago Microsoft bought an anti-virus company and tried to sell the software itself. Glenn thought it ironic that Microsoft was selling software to protect its own operating system.
Paul went on to say that Microsoft Essentials will only work on legitimate versions of Windows — not pirated versions.
<This looks like the link to Essentials>
Paul mentioned that AMD is no longer making 32bit CPUs, only 64bit. Microsoft Essentials is optimized for 64bit machines though it runs on 32bit hardware too.
Feb 10 marks the start of sale of the Verizon iPhone for new customers. Current customers were able to order it last week. Though coverage is better with Verizon, the big gottcha is that it doesn't use the world standard GSM network. Instead, it uses CDMA which does not use a SIM card. As such, it's activated by taking it to the retailer, not by changing the SIM card. World travelers should find it easier to get their GSM phones working in foreign markets just by changing the SIM.
Paul went on to say the Verzion phone can be jailbroken — you will be able to load third party software. Unlocking means you will be able to use it with various providers, but you'll not be able to unlock the Verizon phone to use it on the AT&T network.
Glenn bought the Coby Kyros 7" tablet for someone else. It runs version 2.1 of the Android operating system. He's a bit disappointed because the apps for the Android phones may not run on the tablet. For instance, he tried to get Skype for the tablet but it required the mobile number — which the tablet doesn't have. So, it's unlike the iPod Touch, the later generations of which can use Skype if you plug in an external mic and headset. See the above links for Coby.
Glenn also said there was a problem with the Kyros not being able to send new email, though replying to email worked fine. And when typing a reply, it would put occasionally "ANDROID" into the text of the message. Paul suggested an upgrade of the operating system.
Paul said that Nokia market share has dropped from about 30% to around 25% due, in part, to the popularity of the Android market.
The Android operating system is being used in many products by many manufacturers, unlike Apple's operating system, which is limited to Apple products.
Nokia released their operating system, called Symbian, as open source so developers wouldn't have to wait for the licensing agreements, but this was after the Android OS came out and they couldn't overcome Android's popularity.
Don called to say that the quiz show Jeopardy will match their 2 best former contestants against the IBM Watson computer. <From what I can tell the broadcasts will be Feb 14 thru 16.>
Paul told a story of an early research project for translating English into Russian. The test phrase was "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". When it was translated back from Russian to English the result was "the vodka is good but the meat is off"
John called with a question about different USB connectors. Does it matter which cable to use as long as it fits?
– There are 3 different type of connectors for such things a cameras and mp3 players. If it doesn't fit don't shove it.
– High power devices don't like skinny cables.
– Some of older cables were designed for USB-1 or USB-2.
– Some cables were made just to provide power and not transfer data.
– Some cables have a cylinder at some point along the length. It's a ferrite core to filter out radio frequency noise. These are a better quality cable.
– The cables operate on 5volts and up to about .5 amps.
– If you plug in many devices into the USB, you may not have enough power for all of them.
John also asked if there was a danger of over charging while using a solar charger.
– If it has a regulator on board there shouldn't be that danger.
Joshua called wanting to know how to use a 3 year old MacBook Pro to drive a TV display.
– On Ebay you can find a cable with mini DVI on one end (connect this end to the MacBook) and HDVI on the other (goes to the TV). A 6' long cable like this cost about $3.
– Modern MacBooks have 2 types of connectors — about 3mm & about 7mm. Make sure the measurement matches your computer before you buy.
– Using such a cable you can connect extend your Mac desktop. <See the show notes of 12-8-10>
Laurel called. She has Windows 7 and is using Gmail. She's having trouble attaching a Word document to her email. Paul walked her thru the process.
When Gmail asks her for the file to attach, she thinks she needs to open Word. What she needs to do is find the files that Word created, and attach that. She thinks she needs to open the Word program when in fact she needs to find the file created by Word.
She was invited to use the Zentech email to continue the tutoring — zen at kvmr dot org
Ellen called to comment about Verizon. She has trouble getting a signal in the house.
– Glenn said the signal strength depends where you are.
– He wondered if Verizon's performance will degrade when they get a lot of new iPhone users.
Ellen is trying to configure her Blackberry email. She said she receives mail just fine but "it will only save return responses as draft".
– Try att.blackberry.com
– Update the Blackberry.
– Use the Blackberry desktop.
– If you've done the above (she has), it's time to call Blackberry for help.
– Glenn thought the SMTP setting might be wrong.
Last updated: 9:00 PM 2/9/2011