Apr 5, 2010
IPAD from Apple ($499) Jailbroken
Gas Price Survey , our area, from MotorTrends
Defer Tax Payment? Forms/Info from IRS Here
Using HUGHES.NET Satellite? Try this free utility to monitor Usage on a PC
http://sourceforge.net/projects/hnfapmon/
Additional Notes
Editor's comments delimited by < >
Notifications of new show note and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart
They're tagged with #Zentech
Today, Glenn was at the controls and Paul called in from England.
Both mentioned using Facebook, a social networking service. Paul can be found there by searching for Paule Castro. <A previous show listed his URL>
Facebook has changed their privacy policies numerous times. It's a good idea to check their terms of service periodically and the privacy setting for your account.
Glenn also has an account at Facebook.
<Facebook was talked about in previous shows here and here.>
The Zentech site started using a content management system called Joomla 4 years ago. The site has now had a makeover and is more user friendly.
Apple's iPad started selling this weekend at a starting price of $499. It looks like a blownup iPhone and is used more like an iPhone, not so much like a computer.
It's been jail broken; see the above link. Apple wants users to buy apps from them and jail breaking allows one to run apps acquired elsewhere and to do things like load your own ebooks into it.
There is a "clone" of the iPad from China. It doesn't run iPad apps. See the above link.
Glenn mentioned that a couple of years ago he saw a Chinese clone of the iPhone. But it too didn't run iPhone apps.
Paul said the iPad has proprietary chips in it and, though the Chinese clone has only off the shelf chips, it may actually be more useful for running common software like word processors since it's more or less a PC made to look like an iPad.
Glenn had wondered how the iPad screen is protected from damage and learned that it may come with a cover. Paul said the after market would likely provide add-ons like cases.
Paul added a link at the top to find the gas prices in area around Nevada City. Enter your own Zip Code to personalize the results.
Bob called to ask if one can load their own photos into the iPad from a camera.
– Glenn said, as far as he knows, there are no input ports or USB on the iPad but you may be able to do it if the camera has wi-fi.
– Paul said you may be able to get pictures in thru your computer if it has wi-fi.
Bob goes on to ask if there is a universal wi-fi connector for cameras
– Glenn thought, that if it were possible at all, it would be so costly it would be cheaper to buy a camera with wi-fi.
Technical specs for the iPad are at apple.com/ipad/specs.
<Also see David Pogue's iPad FAQ>
Nick called. He has a Netgear router and he loses his connection when his wife tries to use it.
– Paul said check the configuration to be sure it's not configured as a bridge. Set it for NAT or address translation.
– Call Netgear for support. Wireless router makes generally have good support.
Paul came back with an answer for loading pics into the iPad. You can link it to a Mac and use iTunes to do the transfer. Also, Apple sells an iPad Camera Connection Kit to do the job if your camera has USB; it can also read SD cards.
There is also an iPad Keyboard Dock to connect an Apple keyboard.
Glenn mentioned that a stylus can't be used with the iPhone. Paul thought it was because it has a capacitive type of input that requires something more bulky like a finger.
Using a stylus on a physical keyboard, like on a Droid, may damage the keys because it's easier to apply too much pressure.
It's tax time and a link to IRS is provided above. There, you can find a form allowing you to defer filing (not defer paying) your taxes.
And how do you confirm the authenticity of such a site? Paul said if it ends in .gov you can be pretty sure, but not completely sure, that it belongs to the US government.
The next show on Apr 19 will have Mikail talking about sound and sound recording on a computer.
The HUGHES.NET Satellite service is mentioned. Such connections have latency <due to the distance the signal has to travel> and often have a cap on the total amount of data transferred. When you exceed the cap, your connection speed is throttled back. The above link is to free software that tells you when you're approaching the allowed limit. The software is for a PC not a Mac.
Thor called and said he was using a satellite service similar to HUGHES.NET.
– Glenn suggested using a wireless service such as Digital Path or Smarter Broadband. Glenn is using Digital Path and said it's 3 megabytes/sec and no limits <no data cap>.
Thor said he used to use a provider call Sonic in Sonoma County and was very happy with them. He also likes Black Mountain Communication, a wi-fi provider.
Thor said he has a client with a "slab" Mac but the LCD monitor is too bright or washed out and it can't be corrected by adjustment.
– That can happen as the monitor gets old or damaged by heat.
– Attach an external monitor. There's a video port on the back but it needs a particular adapter (iMac VGA adapter) to allow use of a common VGA monitor.
Ralph called to ask about the router usage monitoring software. Does the machine doing the monitoring <always> have to be on?
– Some routers can determine which machine is doing the monitoring and provide the usage information. You may possibly be able to run such software on multiple machines without much harm.
– Call the maker of the router to see if the router already has monitoring functions.
Ralph wondered if the usage caps apply to wireless services as well.
– The previous conversation was about Hughes.net in particular. Wi-fi & DSL don't usually have caps but 3G phone connections do. Smarter Broadband does have limits depending on the package you buy.
Lisa called to say her father gave her a computer with Norton <anti-virus> on it. She doesn't want to hurt his feelings by deleting Norton even though she's learned, from Paul, that it's a resource hog. She'd like to install AVG but keep Norton around.
– You can try to disable it but it can still "get in the way".
– Go ahead and delete it but say it was done during servicing.
Last updated: 8:44 PM 4/5/2010