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Both Paul and Glenn were in studio

During the show, Glenn said he will post the audio for this show. You should be able to find it here.

It wasn't until well into the show that Glenn tried to create a Google Hangout to broadcast this show. He was not successful — he's still experimenting with this service.

 

Glenn thanked supporters of KVMR. If you'd like to become a supporter, please visit KVMR.

Glenn noted that a pair of tickets to the Maker Fair was given away to Doug during the last show. Another pair will be given away today. The Maker Fair will be at the San Mateo County Events Center this coming weekend — Sat the 17th 10am to 8pm and Sun the 18th 10am to 6pm.

There will be a shuttle (Maker Fair event bus) between the Millbrae "transportation hub" and the fair. Public transportation options are recommended because parking at the fair is very limited. More info and an app for your mobile device can be found here. People who would like to carpool to the maker fair call Glenn or Paul at KVMR 530-265-9073 and leave a message or contact Paul using zen at kvmr dot org.

Glenn talked about a KVMR volunteer who used a KVMR computer to log in to either Yahoo or Google using Google Chrome and was given the option of using her son's or husband's account. She was surprised at being given access to other people's accounts on something other than her home computer.
– It's a new feature that when you "sign into Google Chrome, the browser, you suddenly now have synchronicity between all of your computers". Synching means information (e.g. bookmarks) is available wherever you login.
– Glenn warned, "Don't log into your Google Chrome account".
– When you first install Chrome you're given the option to create a login to the browser itself. Paul said Chrome is usable without a login.
– Be careful when using a public computer with Chrome. If you used a login, go to settings, look for your user name and sign out ("disconnect account").
– Paul's used the search terms: chrome login credentials sync, and I think this is what he found: Protect your synced data
– Glenn said he'll do more research on this.
– Paul said he uses a bogus, throwaway Gmail account to try things out. He sometimes uses it to "see what Google Plus looks like to a stranger that's not subscribed to anything".

Mac users have a app called Apple Keychain that manages username and passwords.
– Only one master password is needed to accesses the Keychain.
– Various applications on the Mac — Thunderbird, Safari, network logins etc. — can use the Keychain for signing in.
– You only need to remember the master password
– Those using the Mavericks operating system (10.9) will find that the Keychain can be stored in the cloud in encrypted form. But there's the potential of havoc if it's cracked. When a company provides encryption, they guaranty only that it hasn't been broken into YET.
– The Heartbleed defect (from the 4-30-14 show) could have, but not necessarily did, compromised your Keychain's master password, if you typed it in and was sent thru a vulnerable SSL connection.

Projects that Google is working on can be found at their Labs site.

A few years ago they launched a project called Google Expert where you can pose a question to real people and obtain an answer, at a cost.
– Some people have provided technical computer support thru Google Expert at a rate of $30/hr, as Paul remembered.
– More recently, people have been using Google Hangouts to provide support using the remote desktop and remote viewing features of Hangouts <mentioned in the 4-23-14 show>.
– Google is buying up companies to add various feature to Hangouts — teleconferencing, chat etc.

Paul said various KVMR programs are available as podcasts. Go to kvmr.org and click on 'Podcasts'. For legal reasons, podcasts with substantial music content can't easily be provided — there is a "2 week moratorium" on music programming.

Paul is doing some work on his house and mentioned the ReStore on Loma Rica Drive, which he likes a lot. He recently got a garbage disposal there. He talked a bit about how the blades in it worked, and about getting it choked up and having to take it outside to clear it out.

Paul said the internet is great for the videos and animations that explain how things work or how to fix stuff. <Youtube should be a good place to start>

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

Brian called. He has a couple of iMacs that are 3 or 4 years old. He upgraded them to the Mavericks operating system and new he gets the "spinning beach ball all of the time".
– Mavericks, itself, won't install on underpowered Macs so that shouldn't be the problem.
– Go to the application folder -> utilities -> disk utilities and check the disk for "permission problems".
– Also, in the upper right, there is what's called Searchlight (or maybe Spotlight). Type 'console' into the box. Console is an app from the Unix days that will show you the error messages. Look for the message 'disk io error'.
    If there is no other disk other than the internal drive, that message means there is something physically wrong with the drive. If the disk utilities are unable to fix it, the console will say 'unable to repair disk' and the disk is toast.
– A less likely fix, and more applicable to laptops, is to reset the programmable random access memory when you start up the computer. There is a setting that Paul didn't explain. He asked Brian to message him if the first 2 things didn't solve the problem.

At this point, Glenn asked people to call in to win the Maker Fair tickets. The first caller and winner was Karen.

Finally, Paul talked about fixing a misbehaving Mac laptop by resetting the SMC (System Management Console). Unfortuately, MacBooks made in the last 3 or 4 years have a built-in battery.
– First of all, don't open the Mac to pull the battery unless you have a serious problem.
– What you do is turn the machine off, if you can. Then press the Left-shift + control + option key and the power button all at the same time.
– For more information, search for the words: macbook reset fix battery. Make sure you only look at the search result that point to apple.com — others may be misleading.

Last update 10:23 PM 5/14/2014