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The archive at KVMR seems to be having a problem. I didn’t see today’s show there. If it shows up, it should also be here along with past shows. At that point I’m guessing the link for the audio will be here.

 

Glenn was in the studio and Paul called in while RVing at Morrow Bay.

Paul has been suffering from a flu-like virus but he’s recovering now.

Paul said Windows 10 is far worse than he imagined. The anniversary update is causing problems. One problem is with DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), which gives you a unique number on your local network (internet protocol address). If this happens to you, you’ll get a little icon or indication that the network is connected but “you’re not going anywhere”. The fix is to turn off your router, then turn off your computer <then turn them back on, I guess>. If it still says “no IP address” you can give it an address to use. He didn’t give any details.

Another problem with Win10 is when it “performs an upgrade, reboots itself and then sits there looking lame at you, going “windows has encountered a problem” and gives you a whole bunch of very misleading statements about what to do”. He didn’t give any more details about this either. But he indicated that he might put up a article that explains more.

If you’d like to talk to the guys during a Zen Tech show, call 530-265-9555. Or you can send an email to zen at kvmr dot org.

Paul noted that it’s possible to switch to cellular providers like Puretalk or H2O by putting in a SIM card into your phone. But if you use an iPhone you will not be allowed to tether the phone. “What that means is my iPhone right now that I’m talking on has 3 gigabytes of data which I can’t use on my computer because it’s constrained by the company to not allow it to be shared with anything else”, he said. <It’s designed that way by Apple, as I understand>.

<I think Paul used the word unlock when he meant jailbreak, when he talked about the iPhone>. To use a SIM card from a provider other than the one you bought the phone from, you have to unlock the phone. But unless you jailbreak <he said unlock> the phone, you can’t use apps that aren’t provided by the [Apple] app store.

One such app is called Tether (a tether provides a mobile hot spot). You’re not allowed to tether the iPhone unless you unlock <jailbreak?> it and use the tether app, or unless you hack the phone “in ways that then allow you to provision H2O <or other provider> to give you tethering”. Alternately, you can buy a plan that allows you to do tethering, but expect to pay twice as much.

Paul said that no one has succeeded in unlocking <jailbreak?> an iPhone that has iOS newer than about 9.3. And even older phones can have problems if unlocked <jailbreak?> them. He said he wouldn’t downgrade to 9.3 to make the unlocking <jailbreaking?> possible because it’s not a reliable unlock <jailbreak?> and every time you start the phone, you have to do it again. If you have an old 3GS iPhone that has iOS 6.1.8, you can experiment with unlocking <jailbreaking?> it. An Android phone is a lot easier to deal with, Paul said. “It’s not tied down nearly as tightly as that”. <From what I can see, tethering is built into Android, but I haven’t tried it>.

The Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on KVMR are those of the speaker only and not necessarily those of KVMR management, staff or underwriters.

The guys upgraded the ASUS EPC laptop belonging to Glenn’s friend. They replaced Windows XP & a power supply, which Glenn took from his own identical model. From his description, it was the AC transformer that had the problem because it was getting hot. They then installed the latest version of Lubuntu, a version of Linux.

Paul said people get confused about the various versions of Linux. Lubuntu is a flavor of the Ubuntu operating system, which is a flavor of Linux. The L in Lubuntu means it has a lightweight windows manager called LXDE, if Paul remembered correctly. The manager basically gives you the user interface.

Paul spoke of someone who did a speed test of Windows compared to Linux on the same machine. Windows was faster but it’s generally known that it slows down as time goes on, Linux doesn’t. Also, the test was without an anti-virus program. Windows should always be used with an anti-virus and that results in about 10% speed penalty. And there’s a penalty of about 3% per week of continual use <without rebooting, I assume>.

Paul said, Firefox is getting “top heavy” and “still requires the presence of the Adobe Flash player in order to look at a fair number of sites”. Chrome, on the other hand, has built-in video rendering, which while not a complete replacement for Flash, does play videos. A lot of websites don’t require you to use Flash, they use HTML5 instead. But some still require Flash, and Chrome can handle those. Also, Paul thinks Chrome is somewhat faster and definitely more secure.

Glenn noted that unlike other browsers, you can log in to Chrome and once you do it’s very difficult to log out. Someone using the computer at a later time may be able to see your personal info. Glenn referred to such an incident at the KVMR office <see the 4-27-16 show notes>. He said he hasn’t had the time to figure out what’s going on and asked if listeners have a solution.

Paul thought it has to do with the single sign in (SSI) where the name and password are stored in the “default profile” for the Chrome browser. To be sure you’re logged out he said you have to kill or uncache each session by clearing the history, he believes. And if you let someone use your computer, have them use the incognito mode, which you find by clicking the 3 horizontal bars. <I assume this is to prevent them from leaving their personal info on your machine>. Similarly, if you use Chrome on someone’s machine, use the incognito mode and close the browser when you’re finished.

Firefox has a similar incognito feature called “private window”. You can find it under the ‘File’ menu at the top, Glenn said. In Safari it’s called ‘privacy’ and you get to it by clicking on icon in the lower right the “shows multiple pages”, Paul said.

Paul once again explained that on the Apple mobile devices, the only browser available is Safari. Even though you may think you’re using Firefox or Chrome, it’s only the user interface that looks that way, underneath it’s Safari that’s running. Apple made it that way to have better control over security. For similar reasons Flash is not available on Apple’s mobiles.

Sheree called. She has a home accounting business for which she uses a web-based program. She has Hughes Net satellite for her internet provider. She wants to know how to keep track of how much data she uses so she doesn’t exceed her data allotment.
– Paul said that data usage should be minimal in her case. Essentially, don’t worry about it.
– Go to the Hughes Net website and you should be able to see your data usage. But be aware that it may take several hours for that info to be updated.
– Also be careful to observe the timestamp in the Hughes Net info, it may not be for your time zone.
– Watching video is the big data consumer, followed by audio.
– Hughes Net gives you free time after midnight. Schedule your heavy usage after that time. This is especially true when you’re doing big updates when you can leave the computer unattended.
– Hughes Net has the option to send you notification about your data usage.

She also asked about other internet providers in the area.
– Much depends on the line-of-sight. There are terrestrial wireless providers but she seems to be in a bad area to take advantage of providers like Smarter Broadband or Digital Path.
– Periodically check with AT&T for their plans to bring broadband to your area.
– Spiral is expanding with gigabit internet. Visit spiral.com to see their plans for your area.

The guys wished the listeners happy holidays

Last Updated 12:55 AM 12-15-2016