Glenn will talk about Google Offers and their refund policy

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Glenn was in the studio and Paul called in Casper CA near Point Cabrillo on the North coast.

 

NOTE: There will not be a show on the 5th Wed this month (10-30-13) due to the membership drive. There will be special programming in its place.

Glenn thanked current KVMR members for their support. To become a member, please visit the KVMR website.

Glenn said he's gotten complaints from 2 iMac users about not being able to get the KVMR Flea Market website to display properly while using the Safari browser.
– He recommended they use the Firefox browser and that solved the problem.
– Paul tried to replicate the problem but it worked fine for him.
– Besides using a different browser, Paul suggested an upgrade to the operating system. He sees no compelling reason not to get the Mountain Lion OS, if your machine is compatible. It's about $19. Glenn thought you'd need at least a Core 2 Duo processor to run Mountain Lion.

Paul said some early Macs, typically from early 2007, with a Core 2 Duo couldn't run Mountain Lion because the graphics processing was not fast enough. He mentioned a website where you can enter the serial number of your Mac and find the date of manufacture as well as other info.

Paul reminded listeners that you can put the Ubuntu operating system (a version of Linux) on a Mac as old as the G4 <later he said G5>. Go to Ubuntu and download the G5 or Power PC (PPC) version and follow the instructions. Older laptops with an Intel processor work even better, using the Intel version of Ubuntu.

Glenn asked Paul if he knew what the critter is on the Firefox emblem. According to Glenn, it's a red panda. Paul remembered that the original Mozilla project had a gecko for its logo

The forerunner of the current Firefox browser was based on Netscape code (though the code itself was not copied). Netscape eventually became the property of AOL (America On Line). <The Netscape browser was popular during the 1990s>

Paul noted that the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse had its foghorns silenced by the Coast Guard. He then talked about sound propagation as well as progress that's been made in marine navigation.
– High-pitched sounds are more directional than low-pitched sounds.
– However, the high frequency sounds don't travel as far as the low-pitched sounds.
– It's harder to tell where low pitch sounds are coming from. The strategy had been to not go in the direction where the fog horn gets louder because your going toward the horn & hence toward land.
– Glenn speculated that the horns at Point Cabrillo were shut down because sailors now use GPS. The lights of the light houses as well as an older navigation system called Omega are being phased out slowly because it's not clear who may still depend on them, Paul said.
– Paul said the sailors now download their charts rather than use printed ones.
<From today's All Things Considered: NOAA Says No More Paper Maps Of U.S. Waterways>

Brother Free called. He has an Emachine PC with a Pentium processor E5400 and Windows 7. He defragged the hard drive and consequently lost all of the icons on the desktop. Otherwise it works fine.
– Press F5 to refresh the desktop. He tried that but it didn't help.
– Right-click on desktop -> View -> Show Desktop Icons. That solved his problem.

Patricia called. She lives in Browns Valley where she doesn't have any internet service except dialup. She wanted to know what options she has for a broadband service. She said the Verizon cellular service is available to her and Jetpack from Verizon (in conjunction with a smartphone) had been recommended to her.
– Ask Verizon how much extra it would cost to use a smartphone as a hotspot for your computer. She already did and was told it would cost $100 per month for 2gigs of data.
– Dish Network & Direct TV have satellite service that might work for you.
– Digital Path might also be an option. Call them at 800-676-7284. Digital Path was installed at Glenn's property for an initial fee of $250 and subscription fee of $50 to $60 per month for unlimited service.
– Paul said, go to a Verizon store and ask about mi-fi. It's just a black box that converts cell phone signals into wi-fi signals. You don't need a cell phone to use it. Make sure the Verizon store you go to is a company store not an independent store.
– If your computer doesn't have wi-fi, you should be able to plug it directly into the mi-fi box. Or, you can add wi-fi to your computer with an adapter for about $6.
– Other cellular providers have a similar product. Ask your neighbors what cellular service they're using, to know what works in your location.
– Words to remember when asking about these services are 'mi-fi' and 'tether '. Tethering is where a cell phone converts cellular signals to wi-fi.
<A review of Jetpack>

Bongo called. He uses an amplifier to boost his cellular signal and has antennas in the house to distribute the signal. He wanted to know if there is something he can do to boost the signal to increase the range, or should he continue adding antennas throughout the house.
– Glenn suggested using a wi-fi router to distribute the signal that's coming into the house. Additionally, you'll probably need a modem to take the cellular signal and pass it to the router. The modem would come from AT&T and may commit you to a contract.

Bongo is using an iPhone 4 and Paul suggested he go into Settings and look for something that says 'tethering'. If that's not there, you don't have that plan from AT&T. Bongo said he already jailbroken the phone and Glenn suggested he go to Cydia and look for an app that does tethering or acts as a hotspot. Glenn once used an app called TetherMe which costs $5.

Bongo went on to say that he doesn't hang out at wi-fi hotspots so he doesn't use the cloud to backup the files from his phone. As a result, he doesn't have enough available memory to upgrade his phone to version 7 of iOS. He wanted to know how to get the data off his phone. He doesn't have a computer to back it up to.
– Ask a friend with a computer, who's not already using it to backup an iPhone, if you can backup your phone on their machine. Use iTunes on the friend's computer to select what you want to keep. iTunes will also tell you how much memory you've freed up. Once you have transferred the date to their computer, you can then put the data on a flash drive.
– Since you only have a cellular plan at home, it can get expensive to backup to the cloud.
– Read up on other suggestions – google the words: ios 7 upgrade insufficient space.

Mary called to say she uses a mi-fi device from AT&T and it has worked wonderfully for her. Paul added, the cool thing is you can use the mi-fi device anywhere you can get a cellular signal from the provider, not just at home. And you can connect to it from any wi-fi enabled device (smartphone, tablet etc.).

Matthew called. He said he's simplified his life by selling his computer & cell phone. He wanted to know the cheapest way to receive messages.
– Try something like the GoPhone or TrackPhone. Check with Walmart or Best Buy and ask for a plan with just text (txt) service.
– You can use cell phones without a cellular plan by using it only in a wi-fi mode. You just need to find a place that has wi-fi: McDonalds, Flower Garden, an AT&T store, etc.
– Freedom Pop is another option. Their minimum plan is about $18/mo. See the show notes from 10-9-13 for more info.

Bill called with a comment. He uses Mac OS10 Snow Leopard. He was about to pay $29.95 to get Mountain Lion but then found out that the latest OS, called Maverick, is free. He said one of the improvements is longer battery life for those using a laptop. Visit the Apple site.
– Paul cautioned that if you go from version 10.6 to 10.9 of the OS, Power PC applications will no longer work.
– To tell which apps will have problems with Maverick, google the word: maverick compatibility applications

Last update 9:46 PM 10/23/2013