Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They're tagged with #Zentech.
– When what's said is unclear to me (or I'm unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (" ") verbatim.
– Editor's comments are delimited by < >

 

Glenn & Mikail were in the studio. Paul is traveling to other parts of the world.

As with other recent shows, the Pentatonix song was played during the intro. Glenn said it is one of his favorite groups. He said the video is "gorgeous" and suggested listeners look it up on Youtube — it's called "official video of daft punk Pentatonix". Mikail noted that the Russian Police Choir performed the song during the Olympics.

They quickly went to the phone calls. John called from American River College. He recently got a refurbish Dell desktop. About once a week it won't start up after a shutdown or from sleep mode — he has to keep it unplugged for a few hours before it will start.
– It could potentially be a bad power supply.
– A graphics card "can go weird and cause some of these issues".
– Mikail suggested a "really good PC guy" in Sacramento — Ed Barns of Computer Hub, located on J street 916-441-1880. "He'll do a consultation for you and tell you what the problem is at no charge"
– Ultimately, Mikail thought it's an intermittent power supply problem.

Hugh called. His iTunes sometimes automatically launches when he starts his computer and he wanted to know how to prevent it. He has a Mac running Snow Leopard version 10.68.
– Mikail asked him to go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu in the upper left corner). Then he asked him to find the line that says Users & Groups but Hugh said it wasn't on that page. However, on that page is the item 'System' and under that is 'Accounts'. Under 'Accounts', Mikail had him click on 'Login Items' to find the iTunes setting. After clicking on iTunes there should be a minus sign down below. Click on the minus sign to change the setting.
– Mikail asked Hugh what else is on that page. When Hugh told him, Mikail surmised that Hugh has "a bunch of customized stuff in there" and that's why the menus weren't showing up the way Mikail expected.
– Mikail asked Hugh to send him the serial number of his Mac so he can determine the latest version of the operating system it can be upgraded to. It's likely that Lion would run on it and possibly Mountain Lion.

Caroline called. She had been running Microsoft Security Essentials and found out that it won't be supported on Windows XP after Apr 8. That's because XP itself will not be supported after that date. She's happy with XP and noticed other companies will continue to support that operating system. She asked about here options.
– Like Hugh's Mac 10.68 operating system, XP is a steadfast workhorse, you just won't be able to update it.
– Glenn said don't look to virus protection and security software <from any company> to make up for the loss of support from Microsoft.
– Make sure to install any updates that are offered before the end of support. <There should be 1 more set of patches for Patch Tuesday in April>
– Check with HP & Dell to see what kind of continuing support they offer.

The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and not necessarily those of KVMR, its board, management, staff or contributors.

Ross called. He also has a Mac running 10.68. He said up to 8 gig of RAM can be put into it, though he hasn't yet done that.
– Mikail said that if it's not a "unibody", the maximum memory you can put in it is 6 gigs. If it's a unibody it can go up to 8 and sometimes the newer ones can go up to 16 gigs.

Ross also said that the menus in his Mac have not been modified and they are like those that Hugh described. Mikail was surprised because menus in the Mac he uses in his shop don't look that way at all.

Ross said the enlargement feature in his Snow Lepoard Mac is different from Lion or Mountain Lion or Mavricks. <This is to zoom into an area of the screen> Using the track pad he can zoom by 10 times but most of the newer operating system allow only 3 times. <I think his statement was based on his girlfriend's later-generation Mac>
– You can use the keyboard to zoom. Use the Command Key + the Plus key or Command Key + the Minus key allow you to zoom in and out any amount you want.
– You can customize how the track pad works if you go to System Preferences -> Track Pad.

Peter sent in an email asking about what options there may be after the end of Windows XP support. He's currently using and old IBM Thinkpad running XP and is considering using it offline for word-processing. He also has a HP Mini that he might upgrade to Windows 8 but Microsoft wants $120 for the upgrade.
– Mikail has heard rumors that the Microsoft will be doing away with the fee for upgrading to Win8.
– Mikail likes Windows 7 but doesn't care for Win8. And Windows 8.1 "brings more chaos and havoc".
– In his email, Peter said he had heard that Microsoft is offering $100 off of a variety of new computers, to XP users. Glenn suggested he wait a bit to see if Microsoft will drop the price.
– Check with HP to see if they can offer you a deal on a Windows upgrade.

<3 easy Linux alternatives for Windows XP refugees>

"Professor" called. His computer with Windows XP died recently. He has a newer computer — a Lenovo with Windows 8.1. He's been doing some research into Linux Ubuntu and had heard rumors that computers bought thru a big-box stores may have problems if you try to install another operating system.
– Paul talked about this on recent show. The BIOS in newer machines is more difficult to get into and make it boot from an external drive.
– Go online and search with your particular model number to find if anyone has been successful in installing Ubuntu.
– Write to zen at kvmr dot org so Paul will see the message. He may be able to help. And listeners are welcome to call with suggestions.
– "Professor" said he's heard that computers bought directly from the manufacturer don't have this problem. Its all about the licensing deal Microsoft made with the big-box stores.

Glenn said he found music from the Russian Police Choir – Get Lucky from Deft Punk. It will be played to end this show. To find it, do (as Glenn did) a Youtube search with the words: russian daft punk get lucky olympics

Monty called about a presentation of music at a local venue. Tomorrow night <3-27-14> at 7pm there will be "experimental open mike" at the Off Center Stage at the Center for The Arts in Grass Valley.

Mikail said people have been upgrading their iPhone to iOS 7.1. He's not done it himself. He's heard of people having problems with it <he gave no details>. And he doesn't like some of the change in appearance — the keyboard for example.
– If your phone is jailbroken, you'll lose the jailbreak and there is no jailbreak for 7.1.
– The last jailbreak is for 7.06 and if you didn't get it then, you're out of luck until version 8.
– If you haven't upgraded to 7.1 yet, Mikail said don't bother unless you have a important reason.
– Some people with iPhone 4S have lost access to Siri "and all kinds of crazy stuff" after the upgrade to 7.1.
– Glenn upgraded to 7.1 on his iPad and hasn't noticed anything horrible with it.
– To Apple's credit, many of the advantages that have come with jailbreaking have been incorporated into the later versions of iOS.
– Mikail uses an iPhone 5 and doesn't think the 5S is worth trading up to. He'll be interested in the iPhone 6, which he speculated will come out in the Fall.
– He's heard rumors about: a Mac Book Air Retina, a 12" Mac Book (which won't have a fan), a new Mac Book Pro line

Mikail recently upgraded to the Comcast X1 platform.
– An app on his iPhone controls what he sees on the TV. He can say "Mad Men" into the phone and it will come to his TV.
– There's a device that plugs into it <the X1> that lets you "watch shows from the main DVR in other parts of the house without having a second DVR".
– It records 4 programs at a time.
– It's much quieter, "much cooler".
– It has a 500gig drive, "or something like that". He expected it to be larger. But, it's bigger than his old setup where he didn't have the time to watch all the recorded shows anyway.
– It's software-upgradable to the X2.

Glenn wondered what the Apple Comcast deal is about. Mikail said they want to have "iTunes streaming media on the Apple TV so that they can have content from Comcast".

There's talk of Apple going the route of Roku by having a dongle replace the Apple TV unit. Mikail spoke highly of the Roku unit — if you don't have one you're missing out, "it's a cool piece of tech".

Glenn complained that when he has a movie on his iPad, he can't "mirror it onto Apple TV". It will only show on his iPad.
– Mikail said it's the "limitation of some of the content media. They put hooks in there that say yay or nay". It's all about copy protection <to deter piracy>. It's not a bug but a (unwanted) feature.
– Mikail said he doesn't see the point of Apple TV when the Roku can do so much more — it's small, gives you so many channels including hidden or private channels (for people with "exotic tastes") and full Youtube access. It's under $100. And if you go with the dongle, it's even cheaper.

Last update 10:55 PM 3/26/2014