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 < >

There will not be a Flea Market show tomorrow (9-10-15) at 1pm. There will be a special broadcast on homelessness.

Both Paul & Glenn were in the studio today.
You’re welcome to send them email: zen@kvmr.org

Glenn started the show by telling us about new Apple product announcements. There’s the new iPad Pro. It’s about 12″ in length and uses a new processor. It starts at $799.

Paul noted that the iPad is still running iOS, not Mac OS — Apple has not yet merged the two operating systems. And, unlike Windows, there seem to be no plans to make the Mac OS touch oriented.

Paul never met anyone who thought the touch-oriented Windows 8 was a good idea. His review of Windows 10 can be summed up by “I don’t hate it”. Coming from him, he said, that’s “not bad”.

In Win10, Microsoft moved things around. He compared it to rotating your car’s tires and imagining having a new car. On that sidetrack, he noted that if do a polarity tire rotation, you’ll go from having white walls to not having them and the tires will spin in the other direction. <The side with white walls no longer faces outward>. Paul wondered if this type of tire rotation is advisable. With modern tires, you’re not supposed to do that, Glenn said. “How ever you install the tire, as I understood it, is how it should remain for it’s life”, Glenn added.

Glenn wondered if people eligible to get Win10 should download it now even if they plan to install it later. Paul said he clicked the Windows 10 upgrade icon on a client’s computer and, past a certain point, you can’t turn back. He noted that the ability to do the free upgrade will exist thru July of 2016 and there’s no reason to do it now.

If you have Windows 8 and like it, just keep it. If you want to upgrade, be sure you have you important files backed up first.
<There are several articles about the Win10 update in the show notes for the 7-29-15 show>

Glenn thanked the supporters of KVMR. <If you’d like to become a supporting member, visit kvmr.org.>

Glenn had more to say about the iPad Pro.
– It has a 12.9″ screen.
– You can edit 4K video.
– You can design presentations and run a business on it.
– The screen has what’s called 3-D touch, it responds differently according to how hard you press. Paul said that would make it more like the current Wacom tablet that graphic designers use.
– Besides the full-sized software (on-screen) keyboard, there is an external keyboard available. Glenn said he uses a PC with a regular keyboard, if he needs to do much typing.
– Models with cellular network capability <Verizon, AT&T, etc.> in a wide range of LTE bands, are also available.

Paul went to apple.com/ipad and found more info. He said the Apple Pencil is now available. It allows for more precise touch control and should be handy for those doing technical drawings.
<Here’s the breakdown of the new $800 iPad (picture) (picture)>

In about 2008 or 2009 Microsoft started using a standard called XML — Extended Markup Language. XML had been around for quite a while but didn’t get much traction. Now when you save a document in Office (Word, Excel etc.) you’ll see filenames ending in .docx, for example. The x means it’s using XML.

Paul had to do some trouble shooting for a volunteer at KVMR who couldn’t get an Office 2013 document to open. He looked at the .docx file closely and found that it’s actually a .zip file. He renamed the file from .docx to .zip and then opened the file to discover it was composed of .xml files and directories with images etc. that all go into making the complete document. The .xml files are readable with a simple text editor and look similar to HTML files. He never did figure out why the document couldn’t be opened.

In an Office program <like Word> you can go to the ‘About’ menu item <I think it’s usually under ‘Help’>. Then look for an item that says something like ‘check and repair this installation’. This will verify if all the components of this program <like Word> are working correctly without have to reinstall it. Paul tried this without success.

He then used Revo Uninstall to remove all trace of Word and then reinstalled it. But it still wouldn’t work. He finally was able to open the file using Wordpad on a machine running Windows 7. Wordpad is a simplified version of Word but is not able to render all of the components of a Word document. Paul asked the listeners for a solution.

Paul suggested OpenOffice or LibreOffice for those who don’t have or want to buy Microsoft Office. These are open source projects and are free to download. They create documents that have much compatibility with MS Office. In fact, Glenn creates spreadsheets in LibreOffice for this Flea Market show and they open just fine in MS Office.
<The last I heard, LibreOffice gets updated more often than Open Office. I suggest going with that first.>

William called. He uses Thunderbird (a free email program) on a PC and he wants to transfer its address book elsewhere. Thunderbird exports an .ldif (Lightweight Directory Interchange Format) file and he wants to convert it to a vcard file.
– Paul thought he found an addon (plugin) for Thunderbird that does the conversion. It’s called Thunder Synch. William had already tried it but it seems to only synchronize 2 computers running Thunderbird but doesn’t export in vcard format.
– Paul thought he needed to restart Thunderbird to get the addon to work. Then look for the export option under ‘Tools’ or ‘Export’. However, it looks like you can only import vcard files, not export.
– There are other addons that allows you to save your address book in an email message format. It’s a specially formatted message that then can be imported into Thunderbird on another machine. <But this doesn’t meet his need to have it in vcard format>.
– Keep experimenting with other addons. Hopefully you’ll find one that does vcard.

William’s other question is how to synch address books on 2 PCs that both run Thunderbird. He wants the one with the older address book to gain the addresses from the newer address book.
– Thunder Synch will merge the address books.
– Then you’ll need another addon that will remove duplicate addresses.

Paul talked about paid ads on various sites like Facebook. Some of them entice you to click on something that initially seems interesting. While you’re waiting for that to load, your browser is told to go to dozens of websites in succession (if you use Firefox, you can see their names in the flash by in the lower left of the screen). Each of these sites sends you a single pixel image and loads a cookie onto your machine. You can’t see the pixels go by so it seems like the original page is just taking a long time to load.

So, now you have all of these cookies on your machine and a third party site that keeps track of them. When you go to one site, you may be sent an ad from another. They don’t know who you are unless you’ve filled out a form using your name on one of the websites. If you do, you might then be greeted by name on another site. For amusement, Paul will sometimes give an funny name to see how it propagates among the affiliate sites.

To avoid being tracked you can use the incognito mode of your browser. In Firefox go to the ‘File’ menu -> ‘New Private Window’. Other browsers have a similar function. Using this mode won’t save any cookies, sessions or history — they’re cleared when you close the window <or tab>. Incognito doesn’t mean you’re anonymous. Any bookmarks you made or links you dragged onto a toolbar are saved,

The ‘Do Not Track’ function in browsers is just a request — the websites you visit are not required to comply.

Speedtest.net has been recommended to test your internet connection speed but it requires Flash. Paul has found the new site speedof.me that doesn’t need Flash. It uses HTML5 instead.
– It forms 4 or 5 different connections to different locations to give a more ‘real world’ test.
– It keeps running to produce a continuous graph.
– Don’t forget to turn it off because it eats up the bandwidth

Last Updated 11:04 PM 9/9/2015

Last Show Here

What’s with all this Flash Crap?

What’s with Windows 10? Should I Get It? then how to get my PRIVACY BACK?!

Internet and home network speed tests https://iperf.fr

 Psst wanna See Unix on yer MAC?! Try Terminal– Then try free MACPORTS

 How To Be Tracked by “Ten Best” type sites and “Do Not Track” requests.

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 < >

Both Glenn & Paul were in the studio today.

Talk of staying cool lead to a couple of observations…
– Any more than 12 or 15 feet underground the temperature, as miners have found, stabilizes and stays in the upper 50s for several thousand feet downward.
– Even in a crawlspace, as Paul has under his house, the temperature is noticeably cooler. The air there provides some insulation from the heat of the day.
– Paul cautioned that crawlspaces, especially in Nevada County, should be ventilated because of a toxic gas called radon.

Glenn highly recommended the Miners Picnic at the Empire mine that will happen this weekend. Even when there’s no picnic, it’s a good place to visit when the docents are present.

Eventually, talk turned to the early electrification of houses…
– In the early days, electricity wasn’t on all of the time. When it was on, it was used just for lighting. There wasn’t enough energy to do much more.
– Back then, you had about 1 to 5 amps available. Today, Paul guessed, 200 to 300 amps are available. <I don’t think house wiring can handle more than about 30 amps>.
– The original Edison power plants that were put into cities were franchises. They produced DC current that couldn’t travel more than a few miles. The more efficient AC current, promoted by Tesla, eventually supplanted DC.
– Today, some trains use diesel & electricity to produce power. The diesel runs the generators that produce electricity, which then runs the motors. Diesel engines run most efficiently in a narrow rpm range that’s not great for turning wheels. On the other hand, the electricity generated from diesel can be switched in such a way as to produce optimum torque.

Glenn reminded listeners that they can email their questions and comments to the station using the address zen@kvmr.org. Or you can call in at (530)-265-9555.

Paul thanked those who made the last Zen Tech broadcast possible. They were at the Nevada County Fair at the time. He noted that they went off the air for about 9 minutes due to a power loss at the fairgrounds.

KVMR broadcasters are increasingly using software for meant DJs. During the last show, Paul didn’t get a chance to talk about a free program mentioned in the last show notes.
<Excerpted from those notes…
Be your own MAC DJ for Free!|
http://mixxx.org
Available for Windows 32/64bit and Linux, you aren’t limited to the Mac.
Download page…
http://mixxx.org/download/#stable
>

KVMR has the ability to play audio from a playlist, but the DJ software allows more flexibility. You can preview a track on a playlist thru your headphones before it plays. Or you can crossfade between tracks or control the mic volume, etc.

There are many DJ programs available. Many of them work with iTunes and can arrange your music into folders named according to the artists, albums, songs, etc. There is a database created by iTunes called iTunes.xml that has this information and is read by the DJ programs. iTunes compiles the .xml file into a file called itunes.itbl for faster access. Don’t mess with these files, Paul said.

This is the 24 anniversary of the Linux operating system. It was designed by Linus Torvalds of Finland, but he wasn’t the one who came up with the name. He was given some space on a server for his files and a folder called ‘Linux’ was created for him. The name is a combination of his name and UNIX, a proprietary name & operating system.

Paul talked about the Flash player. See the above link.
– There are still many sites that use Flash.
– Glenn often visits a website that requires flash though the iPad can’t run Flash.
– There’s a popular website run by Jacquie Lawson who creates animated Flash Christmas cards.
– If you use Youtube, you don’t need Flash. They use HTML5 now.
– The Chrome browser is able to natively, internally play Flash but it’s turned off by default. To turn it on, Paul suggested you do a Google search with the words: flash in chrome turn on.
– Flash has been a vector for many malware infections.
– Flash updates have been so frequent and people become too complacent that it’s become easy to mistake an update link that takes you to malware.
– A better explanation of Flash problems can be found by following the link at the top of this page.

About Windows 10…
Glenn said if you’re getting a new computer with the option to download it, go ahead and download it. Paul said a new computer will likely have Windows 8, which many people don’t like. The sooner you can get away from Win8, the better. Win10 is not as bad as Win8 and is on par with Win7, he said. You have until the end of July 2016 to do the upgrade.
<There are several articles about the Win10 update in the show notes for the 7-29-15 show>

Hardware requirements for Win10 have not increased. If your machine can run Win7, that makes it a candidate for Win10.

Jeff called. He’s starting to look for a new computer, which he plans to get after Window 10 has been out for a while. He’s seen an all-in-one computer that has no keyboard. It was bigger than a laptop with a 19″ monitor. He wondered if the guys have seen such a thing.
– Paul said there are machines that use Windows Runtime. They are essentially tablets that you can use vertically. Microsoft pushed the idea of large tablets and geared Win8 for people who’ll want to use a touch screen.
– Personally, Paul doesn’t particularly like the touch screen, preferring a keyboard instead.
– Check to see if it has an Intel CPU and a regular Windows operating system, or if it has the Runtime Window (Windows RT).
– Glenn recalled that Windows RT can’t be upgraded to Win7, Win8 and likely not Win10 either.
– Jeff said the one he saw had Win10 on it. Paul guessed that it might be running a specially made Win10 — a Win10 RT.
<My understanding is that the RT version of Windows was developed to run on CPUs other than Intel compatible. You may have trouble finding the wide selection of software that’s available for the standard, Intel-based Windows.>

Glenn mentioned that Jeff donated some of his hair to Locks of Love. Glenn wondered how long the hair has to be to qualify for donation and asked listeners who know to call in.

Pam called. She has a laptop with Windows 8.1 and uses dialup for her internet. She hasn’t been able to connect to Yahoo, Google and some other sites because there is “no security certificate”. But if she goes to a wi-fi hotspot in town, she’s able to get to those sites. She’s been told that it’s because dialup is too slow.
– At first, Paul thought it’s not a speed issue.
– Glenn said, just by visiting those sites on wi-fi she should be getting the certificates. So he thought it might in fact have something to do with her connection speed.
– Paul backtracked a bit and talked about the extra time it takes to get redirected from http://www.google.com to https://www.google.com. This is done automatically but may take so long on dialup that the certificate has a chance to expire. He suggested she test this by typing directly into her address bar https://www.google.com so there is no extra time needed to do the redirection.
– Another way to speed things up is to use the mobile version of websites. Many sites use “m.” in the URL to take you to a simplified webpage that loads faster. For instance, to get to Yahoo try https://m.yahoo.com.
– Using an dialup accelerator can interfere with certificates. Accelerators compress data at the ISP and decompress the data after it gets to your computer, so you get faster throughput.
– In you browser settings, turn off the loading of pictures. That will speed things up. You’ll end up seeing rectangles where pictures would ordinarily be.
– There may be a plugin for your browser that keeps the images turned off and allows you to load an individual picture if you really want to see it.
<Other things you can do to speed things up is turn off Javascript and style sheets (CSS) in your browser settings>

Caroline called. She’s using a PC with Windows 7. When she edits a photo in Picasa and tries to attach it to an email or post it to Facebook, the original pictures is used, not the edited version.
– Be sure you have the latest Picasa — version 3.9. Use the ‘Help’ menu to find the version number.
– Paul asked listeners familiar with this issue to call in.
– Paul speculated that Google, makers of Picasa, might want you to save the picture to their online service and use its address in your email.
– After you edit the picture in Picasa switch to Facebook (use Alt + Tab) and pick ‘upload image’. Now instead of ‘browse’ or Control-E, go to Picasa and drag the image to where it says ‘drag images here’. For more information, Google the words: drag and drop from picasa, or the words: picasa drag and drop images.
– Try the similar process for email. In Thunderbird you can drag the image directly to the ‘attach’ button itself.
– A good thing to know — often you can drag things to items on a menu that have names like ‘attach’, ‘open’ or ‘export’
– Paul said he’ll do some more research on this a post what he finds on the Zen Tech website.

For sponsoring today’s show, Glenn thanked…
The Cell Phone Repair Shop
534 Brunswick Rd. in Grass Valley
They fix cell phones and other personal electronics. They also sell used phones and pre-paid cellular.
Website: thecellphone-repairshop.com
530-278-8864

Paul said that on the next show he’ll talk about the items at the top of this page he didn’t have a chance to get to.

Last Updated 11:55 PM 8/26/2015

Be your own MAC DJ for Free!
http://mixxx.org/
Available for Windows 32/64bit and Linux — you aren’t limited to the Mac. Download page…
http://mixxx.org/download/#stable

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 < >

The guys were broadcasting from the Nevada County Fair today.
Listeners were invited to visit the KVMR booth at the “back of the fair”

There wasn’t as much tech talk as usual so the notes will be sparse.

Paul talked briefly about LPs (music records) and hi-fi aficionados.
– Having left & right speakers set up correctly matters especially with classical music because the various orchestral instruments are expected to be on the correct side.
– When the Beatles recorded their albums, they used, at most, 4 tracks which were mixed together to produce a mono recording — their early stuff was in mono. But later, because of their foresight to record 4 tracks, they were able to create stereo recordings.
– Original records, going back to Edison were in mono and the needle went up and down. When stereo came out, the grooves were made with lateral movement, which still allowed mono players to play the record.

Glenn got an email saying the 32kbps audio stream of the KVMR broadcast isn’t working. Normally KVMR sends out 2 live streams of their programs on the internet — 32kbps & 64kbps. The 32kbps stream is used by those with a dialup connection that’s still popular in the rural areas around Nevada City and the foothills.

Glenn brought up an email he got during the last show. A listener who’s using Windows 8 was trying to do an update and “it will not go”. Sherri was wondering if she should do a system restore — she meant reinstall Windows and all of her programs.
– Paul said that without more info about how the update is failing, he wouldn’t recommend a full restore.
– When you get an error message, it’s a good idea to take a picture of it. <Use the printscreen button (prt scr) or even a camera>. Don’t try to second-guess what it means, when you ask for help.

The guys talked about portable battery packs for mobile devices. Glenn has one that’s rated at 5 amp hours — enough to charge his iPhone twice. Paul said some people don’t realize that their mobile device can be charged when it’s not on, when the screen is black. It will charge slower when it’s on because some of the current goes to run what ever you’re using it for at the time.

The portable battery packs aren’t expensive. Glenn paid $11 for his and it came with a double-headed LED flashlight. He recently saw 2.5 amp hour units on sale at he’s favorite store, Fry’s, and was thinking they would make good stocking stuffers.

These units generally come with standard USB A type port and they work with all sorts of gear that requires up to 1 amp at 5 volts. The iPhone & iPads require special connectors, which you’ll have to buy separately.

Paul said you can put together a road warrior charging kit which will include a USB car charger, 2 USB cables (an A connector on one end and 1 each with a mini & micro plug on the other), the two types of connectors for the Apple products, a portable battery pack and a wall charger (get one rated at 2 amps, to get a faster charge).
<How to make lithium-ion batteries last for years
 I’ve found much useful info at Battery University, too
>

Glenn was disappointed that there was no wi-fi at the KVMR booth at the fair so he could use his iPad. Instead, he was getting a 4G cellular connection from PureTalk on his iPhone. He said he pays either $40.95 or $41.95 <per month>. He’s been with them for at least 2 years. So far, he’s been able to avoid overage charges even though he has only a 500meg data plan. He uses free wi-fi when he can.

A young fair attendee and 4H member named Alison came to the microphone to tell us that she’s raising a male lamb named Guppy. He’s a Hampshire breed and he was 2 weeks old when she first saw him and was impressed. Paul mentioned the website backyardchickens.com, which he’s used to learn about domestic fowl.

Paul responded to an email from someone using Windows 7 on a computer that’s connected, by Ethernet, to Smarter Broadband. The user complained that sometimes the computer doesn’t register keystrokes or mouse movements. It happens in all programs.
– Paul thought it was because the computer was too busy doing other things.
– To see what’s taking up the CPU time, press Cntrl + Alt + Delete to bring up the task manager. Click on the tab called CPU <‘Processes’ on the XP>.
– Often it’s an anti-virus program that’s putting a great demand on the CPU.
– It’s safe to kill processes even if you can’t identify what they are. But first, make sure you don’t have anything important running. Save your work before proceeding.
– The busiest thing on the process list should be Idle process. The machine should spend more than half of the time just waiting.
– The second busiest is the Task Manager itself.
– If there’s anything as busy as the Task Manager, try to identify it and decide if you need it running. If it’s an anti-virus, try to temporarily disable it to see if the problem goes away. <I’m guessing he meant using the anti-virus program’s settings to suspend it — not the Task Manager>.
– Check how much hard drive space you have remaining. If it gets above about 90% full, both Macs and PC will start to slow down.
– Paul likes to use Crap Cleaner (Ccleaner) to get rid of unnecessary files that accumulate over time.

<At about 1:41p the internet feed cut out and came back on at about 1:49. I suspect the over-the-air broadcast did as well. There wasn’t anything particularly useful after the signal was restored.>

For sponsoring today’s show, Paul thanked…
The Cell Phone Repair Shop
534 Brunswick Rd. in Grass Valley
They fix cell phones and other personal electronics. They also sell used phones and pre-paid cellular.
Website: thecellphone-repairshop.com
530-278-8864

And…
Beam Easy Living Center
A purveyor of whole-house fans and air purifiers
Website: beameasy.com

Changelog:
added links: caring for your Lithium-ion battery, here

Last Updated 5:11 PM 8/13/2015

MacPaint OSX Drawing Program Clone! Free!! http://paintbrush.sourceforge.net
More advanced needs? Try the Gimp. (Also for MAC & PC)

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 < >

Both Paul & Glenn were in the studio today.

Noting the he and Glenn are not early adopters of technology, unless it’s free, Paul said he still has an iPhone 3GS. Glenn has an iPad 4 that’s almost 3 years old, And his iPhone 4S is showing its age — its battery runs out in less than 3 hours after a charge.

For sponsoring today’s show, Paul thanked…
The Cell Phone Repair Shop
534 Brunswick Rd. in Grass Valley
They fix cell phones and other personal electronics. They also sell used phones and pre-paid cellular.
Website: thecellphone-repairshop.com
530-278-8864

Glenn had an issue with doing a backup of his Apple devices to iCloud. His iPad has not been backing up and Paul helped him discover that he had only 1.6gig of the original 5gig of free space available on iCloud — which isn’t enough to backup his iPad. He went to iCloud and under ‘Storage’ found out how much space was available. Many people who use Apple products find they can’t upgrade their mobile operating systems without freeing up memory. And they can’t off load their data to iCloud because there’s not enough room there either.
– If you’re using Photostream, You can turn it off to conserve space. BEWARE, you can lose the photos on your device and possibly on iCloud, too.
– You can buy more space on iCloud. “It’s not that expensive”. You can get an additional 20gig for $.99/mo.
– Remain aware of what’s being backed up or that extra 20gig will fill up quickly and you’ll be looking for even more space.

Assuming most listeners are using some form of Windows, Paul admonished those using XP to avoid using Microsoft’s anti-virus program and Internet Explorer. Get a third party anti-virus. And be aware that soon there will be no more Flash updates.

Windows 7 & 8 users may have noticed a blue icon in their system tray at the bottom of the screen that offers a free copy of Windows 10. If you click on it, it allows you to reserve your copy, which when available, will be download to your computer. It’s about 2gig in size but it won’t be installed until you decide. Paul said Win7 still has a lot of life left in it and will be supported for quite a while.
<Here are some Windows 10 article links I’ve collected in the past few months. I didn’t read them all but hope someone will find them useful.
You don’t need the Windows 10 free copy icon anymore

Can I Cancel my Windows 10 Reservation and Reserve Later

How to Clean Install Windows 10 using Windows 7, 8 License

Will Windows 10 Install Automatically; or wait for Windows 10 ISO

Windows 10 Upgrade: Can I choose 32-bit or 64-bit

How long will free Windows 10 upgrades last?

Which Version of Windows 10 Will I Get
>

Apple users are allowed to turn on or off the “Find My Phone” option. When it’s on, the GPS on the device will relay to Apple the current location of the phone. <Keep in mind the issue of privacy>.

If you lose track of your device, you can go to icloud.com and sign on with your Apple ID. One of the options there is to find your device — including a Mac, Mac Book, Mac Mini, iPhone and iPad, as long as it has wireless and logs on to iCloud.

Using this service, you can cause your misplaced iPhone to emit a sound to help you locate it. You can remotely lock the phone or wipe out all of its data. The phone can be in sleep mode but must not be off to do this.

James called. He tried logging on to a government website to renew a FA Medical and kept having his password rejected. He found out that they don’t support the iPad. He had the same problem at the “My Healthy Vet” website. At this point Paul pushed the wrong button and dropped the call. James called back later, see below.

Jeff called with more details about the Win10 upgrade.
– It’s coming out on July 29 (today). You can download it immediately or choose different time.
– It’s available free for a year, after which it’s $119.
– There will not be new version numbers (Windows 11, Windows 12 etc.) — Win10 will be perpetually updated.
– Paul suggested going to a local retail store (Best Buy etc.) and having a look at it before deciding to upgrade.
– The update is irreversible. You’ll lose the Win7 or Win8 you have now. So, reserve it now and decide to update later.

James called back and said the websites he mentioned only support Firefox or Internet Explorer. He couldn’t find Firefox at the Apple app store. Paul explained that Apple restricts mobile email programs and web browsers to using Apples webkit. Where such apps are available, they only change the appearance; underneath they all use the same webkit. He added that the Apple mobiles do not support Flash.

Paul noted that Apple Macs are more expensive that other brands with the same horsepower, even in the used market. However, things are starting to change because around 2006 or 2007 Apple switched over to using an Intel CPU. Now those older machines are showing up on the used market. He’s seen a 13″ Mac Book capable of running the Yosemite OS (version 10.10) for $229 with a 90 day warranty (extended warranty is available). It comes with version 10.6 and with the software it had on it the day it was originally sold new. He found it at macofalltrades.com. With a $5 adapter from China ($49 from Apple) you can use a DVI display with it. The hardware is PC compatible and you can install Windows on it.

Paul told us about his two favorite sites for used Mac computers: powermax.com and macofalltrades.com. They sell used reconditioned Macs, not refurbished, though macofalltrades uses that word. Refurbished means the computer went back to the manufacturer to be reconditioned.

Martin called to complain about the Magsafe power adapter for the Apple products. He thought they are pretty shoddy because the cord tends to fray. At $80 each, he expects better quality. He asked for some tips to deal with the problem.
– There was a recall of some Magsafe versions.
– Paul said suggested using Shoe Goo, either preemptively or after the fraying starts.
– Martin said, handle the adapter gently — no twisting or bending. They’ll go bad without any external signs of damage.
– Paul’s seen after-market adapters that are cheaper, but their magnet is not as strong.
– There are 2 types of adapters — 65 & 85 watt. It’s ok to use the 85-watt adapter on a machine that only requires 65 watts, but not the other way around.
– Search on the internet for the ‘pigtail’ (that’s just the Magsafe piece). Then you can resolder it yourself using heat-shrink tubing.
– Paul searched the net for the words: Magsafe pigtail fix. He found, on instructables.com, instructions to fix a Magsafe connector.
– Paul cautioned those trying their own repair against the possibility of shorting out the power supply or ending up putting too much current thru the computer.
– Glenn thought that the Maker Shed might have what’s called something like Sure Goo. It’s putty that hardens after you mold it around what you’re repairing.
– Listeners were asked to mail in better suggestions.

Matt called. He’s been using Windows 10 for a few months and gave his opinion about it. He said he really likes it.
– If you’re using Windows 8 or 8.1 then definitely upgrade. It’s much easier for mouse and keyboard users. Win8 and 8.1 were designed for the touch screen and are a bit tricky to use with mouse & keyboard.
– The Start menu is back and the ‘apps’ run in their own windows. They don’t take over the whole screen, as in Win8.
– The apps you get from Microsoft (some free & some not) are checked for viruses.
– Besides ‘apps’, you can run regular Windows programs. Matt hasn’t run into compatibility problems with older programs.
– If you’re a Win7 user who is a techie type, then you’re the right person to upgrade. If not, then wait a few weeks.
– If you plan to get a new computer, wait until mid August. Intel is coming out with a new CPU called Skylake. That will cause retailers to discount existing computers.
– Best Buy and Fry’s are a good place to shop, but Microsoft has their own stores — at the Westfield Galleria, for example (off highway 65 in Roseville). They can give demos of Win10. And the PCs they sell don’t have bloatware on them (pre-installed promotional programs). Microsoft’s online store is at microsoftstore.com.

Someone called to complain about the 2.1 amp limit for charging iPads. He asked if there’s a faster way to charge. Paul said that charging at higher rate could destroy the battery.
<Here’s a droid widget to keep track of charging and usage current: CurrentWidget>

Changelog
added Win10 article links here.

Last Updated 1:53 PM 7/30/2015

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 < >

Both Glenn & Paul were in the studio today.

When New Horizons spacecraft was launched in 2006, Pluto was still thought of as a planet. Shortly afterward it was demoted to planetoid. The some of the ashes of its discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh are on board.

Paul reminded us that comments are welcome at the Zen Tech website. You first have to show that you are not an automated bot by passing the captcha test. Captchas are meant to stop computers but don’t do so well against cheap overseas labor that’s hired to defeat them. Ultimately, they may not always stop the miscreants, just slow them down.
<I’ve had varying degrees of difficulty with the Zentech captcha. Paul has tweaked it to make it easier. Remember, you can keep reloading a different captcha image until you see one that’s less challenging.>

Jake called to say the word ‘planet’ meant wanderer in Greek. They wandered or moved among the stationary lights in the celestial sphere. Paul noted that if you live long enough, you’d see that the stars also move around. Paul’s found a free program called Celestia that shows what the sky looks like in the future or the past. You can use it to animate the stars’ motion over the eons.

JC called and asked Paul what surprised him about Pluto. Since it’s essentially an asteroid, Paul was impressed by its roundness. JC was surprised by the heart-shaped region.

A NASA researcher was repeatedly asked why the craft couldn’t linger in the vicinity of Pluto, instead of rushing by in a matter of minutes. It’s because it would have taken an Atlas 5 rocket, its original launch vehicle, to slow it down enough to enter orbit.

<Some resources for those interested in the Pluto mission…

New Horizons Delivers First Close-Up Glimpse of Pluto and Charon

Slide show including historic images:

A recent NOVA episode, “Chasing Pluto“, was about the New Horizons project.
Or see it on Youtube if you’re thinking about downloading it:
>

Because the signal from the craft is weak, it has to be transmitted at a slow pace. <About 4000 bps, I heard>. And since it takes about 5 hours for the signal to reach earth, the data is sent in big chunks before error correction is applied.

Glenn thanked loyal listeners who’ve supported KVMR. If you’d like to become a member, please visit the KVMR webpage.

Scott called from Topanga in Southern Calif. He once met and shook the hand of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto. He worked at Hughes Aircraft at the time and attended a lecture Tombaugh gave. Scott said Tombaugh had to flip back and forth between photos <in an image comparator> of the night sky taken at different times. If a point of light seemed to jump during the image flip, that would indicate a moving object and potentially a planet. There’s a good article about this in the current issue of the National Geographic, Scott said

Paul asked Scott how well he receives KVMR broadcasts. He said it’s pretty good now but he gave up listening yesterday because it was “dropping out” too often.

Scott said there is a delay between what he’s now hearing over the phone and the KVMR signal he’s receiving. Paul explained that what said in the studio is delayed by a couple of seconds as it’s digitally is sent to the broadcast tower and out thru the FM radio signal. If you listen over the internet, the delay is 15 to 30 seconds.

Marilyn called about a problem she’s since resolved. But last night she was getting an error and “cgiredirect.ha” in the address bar. Neither the Mozilla <Firefox> nor Chrome browsers would allow her to go to any website. She cleared her cache & cookies to fix the problem. She wanted to know what caused the problem and how to avoid it.

Paul explained that if her particular router loses the internet connection it will bring up a redirect page that says your broadband connection is down. It does this with a scirpt <a program in plain text>, which ends in “cgi”. CGI means common gateway interface and is a scripting language. The script, which in this case, “resides in the router whose purpose is to bring up a page saying there’s a problem with your internet connection”. When this script was created the programmer neglected to keep it from being cached so it persists in a browser page. That’s why it went away when she cleared the cache. Paul said it may also be necessary to restart the browser. This is a bug in a couple of specific types of routers that are provided by the company with whom she has a DSL account.

Marilyn also asked if router can wear out and needs to be replaced periodically. Paul said it can and there’s no good way to tell if it’s about to fail except to replace it and note if performance improves. They are reasonably inexpensive and he’s had good luck with buying them over the internet.

Paul asked Glenn if he’s done any upgrades recently. Glenn said he doesn’t do much upgrading and he just gets by with his iPad that he’s had for almost 3 years. He rarely uses a computer anymore. Paul said he’s recently been taking things apart, mostly because he likes to tinker and fix things. He suggested ifixit.com as a great source of information for such projects. There’s much info about taking smartphones apart.

Paul had a chance to tinker with a 2006 era Mac Mini. Original versions had a Motorola CPU. Around 2005 or 2006 Apple started using the Intel CPU. Paul discovered that the Intel Core Duo & Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs are pin compatible and there are instructions at ifixit to replace one with the other. Some salient points…
– Do not try this at home, it’s not for the faint of heart and you may break it.
– The difference between the 2 CPUs is that one can run in 64bit mode full time.
– You’ll need a silver thermal paste to use with the heat sink.
– You’ll need spring-loaded plastic clips to hold the heat sink down.

Paul bought a set of jewelers tools from china. The set included drivers for torque screws. He noted that tools are way cheaper than they used to be.

He suggested that hobbyists invest in a magnifying glass — one made of glass not plastic. He also mentioned a UVC USB microscope that magnifies 300X. It plugs into the USB port of a computer and doesn’t need any drivers. Most cameras are now UVC, too — he wouldn’t buy any other type.

During the show, Glenn encountered a problem with his iPad. He went online to do a search and it locked up with a square on the screen saying “facebook.com claim price dot click”. It said he won a price and to “click here to get it”. He couldn’t do anything, even after restarting the iPad and the Safari browser. He’s going to consult with Paul to resolve the problem after this show.

Glenn said Apple TV is coming out. According to rumor it’s “going to replace everything” — home TV, cable, satellite, all the way down to local TV broadcasters. All you’ll need is the internet. Apple is still negotiating with the major networks.

Paul talked a bit about IPTV and that Netgear is selling a device to providers like Netfilx to cache and stream video content from different locations around the country. This is to reduce the delay caused by sending data over a long distance from one central location.

By email, Marilyn asked for opinions about RabbitTV.
– The guy tried it at one time. Glenn paid $5, Paul $1.
– It’s a device that you plug in and it takes you to a page with a bunch of links you could just as well have found on your own.
– Many of the links don’t work. Many are worthless.
– It’s not really free TV, as advertised.

According to this review, Rabbit TV is dropping the USB stick and becoming online only as RabbitTV Plus:

<I haven’t tried and can’t vouch for this, but IPTV looks interesting.>

Last Updated 11:00 PM 7-22-2015