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 < >

Podcasts of some Zentech shows are here.

NOTE: According to Glenn, there will not be a Zentech show next week on 12-31-14

Happy holidays everyone!

Both Paul & Glenn were in the studio for today's show

Glenn has been trying to update the operating system on his iPad to version 8 and found that he'll have to delete a bunch of files to make room. Some of his apps aren't updating either.

Paul has a 3GS iPhone, a model that's 4 or 5 years old. He hasn't had a problem updating the apps he's using, but the phone is noticeably bogging down. The 3GS model can't be upgraded beyond version 6 (iOS6). Some of the newer apps require iOS7, at least.

Paul had some suggestions for offloading files from an iDevice.
– Use a cable or wi-fi to connect to a Mac and use iPhoto on the Mac to bring in the pictures from the iPad.
– Plug the iPhone <iPad too, I guess> into either a Mac or PC. Then, launch iTunes and tell it to backup the iPhone. That will back up the data and settings.
– Next, press the 'restore' button on the iPhone to wipe out all of the data, but first try to insure your backup can be restored.
– Finally, upgrade to iOS8 and restore what you've backed up.

Paul said if you have Yosemite (version 10.10) on your Mac and iOS8 on your mobile device, they will cooperate nicely.
– You'll get Drivespace — Apple's attempt to mimic Dropbox or Google Drive for storage in the cloud.
– You can start doing your emails on one device, quit part way through and continue on another device.

Marilyn called with a question concerning her brother's 3-year-old Apple computer. Up until recently he's been able to play videos from Youtube, but now he's getting a message saying "go to the library and delete the older version of Adobe Flash player".
– Apple is sending down what's known as killbits that prevents the particular version of Flash from working because it's "defective" <vulnerable to hacking, I guess>.
– On the Mac, search for the words: download flash. Marilyn said he's been updating Flash, but Paul said updating won't work, you have to download a newer version of Flash.
– "There is no upgrade path anymore on the Mac for the very simple reason that's another path that virus writers use to break into your computer". The hackers would cause a popup to appear saying you need to update your Flash player. When you click on the popup, a virus would download.
– So be sure you download a newer Flash directly from Adobe at get.adobe.com/flashplayer. That webpage will determine if you're using a PC or a Mac and send you the correct version of Flash.
– Be careful of using a search engine for finding the webpage. Virus writers are able to get their bogus websites to display in the search results.
– Adobe will offer additional software with the Flash download. If you don't really need it, uncheck that option.
– The new version of Flash will overwrite the old version. You shouldn't have to delete it. The 'library', which was in the message Marilyn saw, is hidden. Paul the 'library' is hidden and you have to hold the Option key when you access the file menu. He couldn't quite remember the exact procedure but suggested it's best not to mess with it — it's hidden for a reason.

Aaron called. He has a ZTE smartphone that doing some strange things, like the photos not being displayed. He wanted to know how to reset the phone and start from scratch.
– A reset should be the last resort. Try other things first…
– Go to the Google Play store and find applications that clean an Android device. This should free up memory. Operating systems, in general, start to act up when there's less than about 10% space left.
– Not all of the cleaning apps do a good job. The one Paul used before worked well but he couldn't remember its name. It was a free one that had some 10 million downloads. Search for the words: android cleanup. An app with that many downloads is generally safe to use. Paul said he'd find the name of the app and post it to this page.

Aaron also wondered if there was a way to charge his flip phone from a smartphone's battery, in the same way he uses a laptop to charge the phone.
– Glenn didn't think that was possible. Smartphones aren't designed to send power out.
– There are battery packs available just for this purpose. They range in price from $5 to $30.
– Paul implied there are charging units that work off a car's battery to charge cell phones. <From the cigarette lighter, I guess>

William called. He finally bought a PC, with Windows 7, after 25 years of using a Mac. He needs the PC because of the programs he uses. He wanted to know how to transfer data from another Win7 PC to the one he just bought.
– Don't try to transfer the apps themselves (Microsoft Word, Firefox, Thunderbird etc.). Do a fresh installation of the programs on the new machine.
– Google the words: windows Easy Transfer. Go to the Microsoft site that tells you how to use the Easy Transfer app. That website will have the program for you to download, but it's meant only for Window XP & Vista. Win7 has the program built in, so you only need to read the instructions.
– When the program runs, it guides you thru the process and offers alternatives — like transferring to a hard drive.
– Using an Ethernet cable to connect the machine is preferred. Wi-fi can have dropouts. And don't interrupt the process once started. It may take several hours for the 70 gigs he needs to transfer.

William asked about transferring the data from the Thunderbird email program.
– The data and settings for Thunderbird are stored separately from the program itself, and will be transferred together.
– After the data transfer, do a fresh install of Thunderbird. After the installation, Thunderbird will find the data and start using it. But you have to do the data transfer before installing Thunderbird.

William next asked about getting the data from the Chrome browser on the old machine to the new one.
– He has a Gmail account so Paul suggested he sign in, using those credentials, on the old machine when using Chrome, creating a Chrome account. Then, when he signs in using Chrome on the new machine, the data will download from the internet. <Google stores your bookmarks, passwords, etc. I guess>
– Alternately, using the Easy Transfer program 'should' also transfer the Chome data to the new machine from the old one.
– You can tell if you're already signed in with Chrome if you see your name in the upper right corner of Chrome, just below the 3 horizontal lines.
– Do a Google search for how to sign in to Chrome. It's Chrome you want to sign into, using your Gmail account info. You want to create a Chrome account. <As I understand it>

Lastly, William said he's having trouble getting used to using the Left/Right click buttons next to the trackpad on his new laptop.
– Glenn suggested he use a wireless mouse instead of the trackpad.
– You should be able to tap the pad itself to click or double click.

The guys tried to gave away a pair of tickets to the Tech Museum in San Jose. They were to go to the first caller, but no one called for them.
– The tickets expire on 12-31-14.
– Check the museum's website for holiday hours.
– At the end of the show they said they would give the tickets to the first one who emails them at zen at kvmr dot org.
– Don't do it if unless you have a good chance of using them.

Aaron called again. He said he's having problems with some of the apps on his smartphone. In particular, he can't get Firefox to remember the pages he tries to bookmark.
– Paul said he likes Firefox but it doesn't work so well on an Android machine. He said Chrome works very well.
– If you use Chrome on both a desktop & mobile, they will synch their data.

Pam called. Her daughter got her a laptop and put Panda Free anti-virus on it. She heard mention of malware, spyware & other stuff, so she wondered if Panda Free will take care of all this threats.
– Most anti-virus programs cover different types of malware but Paul isn't familiar with the Panda brand.
– The guys suggested using AVG and Avast anti-virus programs. Both have free versions.
– Ask your daughter. She put Pand on the machine, she may know more about it.

Other security tips:
– Don't expect protection from phishing attacks.
– Remember, no anti-virus is 100% effective.
– Emails are notorious for infecting machines. Don't open emails when you don't know the sender. Don't click the links in an email.
– Even when the email looks like it's from someone you know, it may not be. Yahoo accounts get hacked often. The bad guys may be using your friend's account to send you email.
– Paul suggested that people close their Yahoo accounts so no one can hack it and spam your friends <from your contact list>. Don't just abandon the account. Pull the email off of it and kill it.

The guys mentioned the Sony hack. Paul thought it might have been facilitated by a disgruntled employee or someone at Sony who got paid off. Paul also said that most security breaches are not high tech but result from theft of equipment.

Haphazard called. He has an iMac and ever since a DVD was put in it, nothing works and the DVD is stuck. <There was a Mac with a stuck disk on the 11-26-14 show. See below for the resolution>
– Shut it down for an extended period of time and pull out the power plug.
– Hold down the mouse button as you put the plug back in and as you power it up. That should send an eject signal to the DVD drive before the operating system boots. If it doesn't eject, then it's physically stuck in there. Try this first before resorting to what's described below or before taking the drive apart.

They eventually figured out what went wrong with Connie Coale's Mac, which had the stuck CD. When she reached for the last CD in the stack to burn data to it, she also picked up the protective plastic sheet below it, which was the same shape as a disk. She inserted both the disk and the sheet into the drive and that caused the jam. The slot in the Mac is designed to the width of 1 disk and a bit more. That little bit more was enough to accept both disk & sheet. They had to use a long paper clip with a loop formed on the end to pop the disk off the spindle.

Changelog:
added links to: Thunderbird, Chrome, Easy Transfer, Tech Museum, Firefox, Panda Free, the 11-26-14 show

Last Update 4:49 PM 12/26/2014

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 < >

Podcasts of some Zentech shows are here.

Both Glenn & Paul were in the studio for today's show

Next Zentech shows are on the 24th & 31st of Dec. There may be changes and I'll tweet them out if I'm notified in time.

The show started with talk about small tags that can be attached to items like keys so you can easily find them. Glenn thought that batteries powering these tags can be problematic. <Adding bulk to the tag and limiting the time you have to find the object, I guess>

Paul said that they do require batteries. The one he found at thetileapp.com, which started as a Kickstarter project, is white, about 1 square inch, and uses Bluetooth. Bluetooth allows it to communicate with a mobile device like a cell phone. You can then use a phone with Bluetooth to make the tag emit a sound, making it easy to locate.

iCloud can be used to locate an iPhone. The iPhone will submit it's location to iCloud and, when you login to iCloud, it will show you the phone's location on a map. You can then do a number of things.
– If the battery on the phone has run out, you can see, on the map, its last location before the battery quit.
– If the battery still has juice, iCloud will tell you how much battery life is left.
– If you've lost the phone and it's nearby, you can make it beep so can locate it. It will override the mute setting.
– You can send a text message to the phone, even if the screen is locked. So, if you left it at a friend's house, they will still get the message.
– If it's been stolen, you can delete all of the data on it remotely.
– You can send it a command to lock it. And you can change the lock code.

A similar service is available for Android phones. On both types of phone, the GPS location service has to be turned on.

Paul said he's not heard of law enforcement using the GPS location information as evidence to convict anyone. He said you can always argue that just because the phone's location is known that doesn't mean you were there using it.

Nick called. He had more info concerning what the police know about where your cell phone is. He had been perusing the county website and had been reading police dispatcher notices. He found that the police have access to a service, which gives the location of cell phones. <The location of the phones that call the police, I assume>.

Paul tried to remember the name of the service. It has a mysterious name, something like E9. It lets emergency dispatchers locate the caller using cell tower triangulation. It's not especially accurate, like GPS. But it can locate phones that don't even have GPS, like the flip phones, reasonably well. So, be aware that you (your phone) can still be found, even if you turn off your GPS location services.

If you don't want to be found by your phone, wrap it in tin foil or place it in a can or a wire mesh bag — a Faraday cage.

William called. He wants to replace his Toshiba laptop and wondered how hard it would be to replace or downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7.

– Glenn said it could be a challenge and might not even be possible if the machine has the newer BIOS. And you would lose and bonus software that came with the new Windows 8 machine. <I think he was talking about UEFI OR Unified Extensible Firmware Interface BIOS>
– If you're going to downgrade, consider having a professional do it.
– Considering the cost, you could be better off buying a machine that comes with Windows 7.
– If you get a Windows 8 machine, you can try software from classicshell.net. That will make Win8 seem more like Windows 7.
<More about UEFI on the 3-13-13 show>

William also had a question about web cameras when he's shopping for a machine. He sometimes sees that a webcam is listed in the specs for a computer, and sometimes not. He wondered how careful he has to be to insure the camera is included.
– It's uncommon for a laptop not to have a webcam. Paul said. Glenn said he doesn't know of a machine that doesn't come with one. Just because it doesn't say it has one doesn't mean it doesn't.
– Contact the seller and ask if it has a camera.

Next, William asked about how much RAM is adequate. He sees many laptops are coming with 4gigs but some people say they're happy to have gone with 8gig.
– Glenn thought 4gigs is plenty.
– Keep your options open by buying a machine that can be upgraded with more memory.

Finally, he asked about solid state memory (SSD). <This is a hard drive that uses a chip instead of spinning platters.> A lot of machines are coming with SSDs now.
– A 128gig SSD is more than enough for most people if they're not going to store a lot of photos, movies or music. This is becoming more the case as cloud storage (storage on the internet) is being used more. Paul has put much of his music collection online and uses Google Play to pull down a subset of it thru a playlist.
– If you get a machine with a SSD you won't be able to replace the SSD with a conventional hard drive — not enough room inside.
– SSDs are very expensive if should later want to upgrade it to a larger size.
– SSDs have no moving parts and transfer data very fast.
– SSDs do 'go wrong'. When they go wrong, they do so completely and without warning — no noises or bad sectors.
– There are hybrid drives — a smaller SSD and a large platter hard drive combined. They are a compromise between speed; storage capacity and price. But they won't fit a laptop meant to take only an SSD
– If you have (or bought) a laptop with a conventional platter hard drive, you should be able to replace the drive with a hybrid drive.

Glenn mentioned the HP Stream laptop that's selling for $199. It comes with a modest size SSD, 1 year of Microsoft Office 365 and 1 year of 1 terabyte of cloud storage. He said the trend is to have software programs like Microsoft Office and Photoshop run in the cloud and charge the user 'rent' to use them.

James called to suggest that those who use a Faraday cage test its effectiveness. He said to put the phone in the cage (or tin foil) and then try calling it. If it rings, the cage is not adequate.

James also said that he's used the "locate my iPad function" with his cell phone and he was shown a satellite map of his house with the cross hairs at a spot that was within about 3 feet of it's actual location. Paul said the function is executed a few times and an average is taken to improve the accuracy.

Pam called. She has a Windows 8.1 laptop that her daughter bought for her. She had been using dialup internet on her old XP machine but it's extremely slow on the Win8 machine. She had been doing updates for Win8 using wi-fi when she came into town an thought they all finished. Paul determined the setting for her updates was wrong. There are 3 settings 1) Automatic updates 2) Download the updates but ask me before installing 3) Don't download updates, I'll do it manually. She had option 2 set and there were still more updates being sent to her. That's what was slowing it down when she was on dialup. He said to use option 3 until she gets back to a wi-fi hotspot, and only then do the updates. Paul suggested she set her anti-virus software to manual update, too. Anti-virus programs try to update frequently.

Pam also asked about accelerators to speed up her connection when she's on dialup. Paul said he's seen a review of these services, they do work but they're not worth the trouble. The accelerators compress the data before sending it to you and decompress when you receive it. <I've used an accelerator provided by basicisp.net along with their service and it more than doubled the throughput on non-binary data — general web pages but not things like .zip files or music>

Paul recalled that there's a program that monitors the data coming to you and displays the speed as a graph. He thought it's called Netstat.
<This MIGHT be the program Paul mentioned. It's called NetStat Live: (I can't vouch for this program. I know nothing about the company):
Download it from this page:

I also found NetWorx Free bandwidth monitoring and usage reporting (again, I can't vouch for it).

There is also the netstat command line program that comes with XP. Here's some documentation:

Here are some tweaks you can use to improve performance for both dialup & DSL (Probably more than you want to know):

Pam mentioned she uses Yahoo. Paul suggested she use the Yahoo version meant for mobile devices m.yahoo.com. This should bypass a lot of the graphics and advertising and will speed things up.

Janet called. She has an expired Flash player on her Mac Air and has tried to update the player. At the end it tells her to close the following programs: Safari and Google Chrome. She's tried clicking on the 'X' thinking that would close the program. But Glenn pointed out that closes only the window, not the program. He said go to the File option at the top and then click on Exit or Close. Paul said a different way to do it is to use the keys Option + AppleKey + Escape. That will give a list of the running programs that you can then kill.

Paul said most of the virus invasions now days are coming thru the Flash player. Flash is being updated frequently and you'll often see a notification that the player needs to be updated — ignore that, Paul said. Do not rely on websites or emails that tell you to update. Do a Google search for Plugin Check and use that to check all your plugins for updates.

The disclaimer (paraphrased):
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and not necessarily those of KVMR, its board, management, staff, contributors, or broadcasters. Furthermore, we provide information and suggestions but are not recommending anything.

Ross called to clarify which version of Plugin Check Paul was talking about. Paul said it's the one at mozilla.com/en-us/plugincheck. He said it works with browsers other than Firefox but wasn't sure which ones.

Ross said his Silverlight plugin is updated but Plugin Check keeps saying it needs to be updated.
– Note the name of the plugin and then do Google search for: download Silverlight. Then go to Microsoft site to download it. Sometimes doing the update directly from the Plugin Check screen is faulty.
– Get the latest Mac operating system your computer can take. Ross has been using 10.68. That will insure you'll be allowed to get the latest Silverlight update.

Ross was concerned that the latest Mac operating system will use up a lot more of his hard drive space. Paul said it shouldn't use up much more space and is worth it.

Last Update 11:32 PM 12/10/2014

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 < >

Podcasts of some Zentech shows are here.

Both Paul & Glenn were in the studio for today's show

Connie Coale, who contributes to the Music Magazine show on KVMR, came into the studio with her Mac Pro that has a CD stuck in it. She went online and got some tips to eject the CD but none of them worked. Later models of the Mac have a motor that pulls the CD into a slot, unlike older models, which had a drawer.
– Be sure there really is a CD in there.
– It's possible to get 2 CDs into a 'slot loading' type of drive, if you quickly put in the 2nd one before the mechanism, that's designed to prevent that, has a chance to engage.
– When the CD goes in, it goes down onto a spindle. If you use a bent wire to pull it out, the wire has to be pretty stiff so you can lift the CD off the spindle before pulling it outward.
– Check Youtube for videos of a disassembled drive to get a better idea of how CDs are positioned inside. It doesn't just sit on the spindle, the spindle actually holds the disk so it needs to be pried upward.
– Check to see if some foreign object got into the drive. Try shaking the laptop.
– In cases like this, try progressively more forceful methods, up to the point of damaging the CD disk. Start with the least invasive remedy.
– Also check if you have a warranty still in force — Apple Care, for instance. <Should probably be the first thing to do>

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

Someone called in with a tip to eject a CD in a tray type of drive not realizing Connie had a slot type drive.

Glenn asked if it's easy to take the back off of a Mac Book Pro. Paul said it is easy except that newer models use proprietary screws — pentalobe screws. <Mentioned during the 8-27-14 show> The pentalobe screwdrivers are cheap and it may be hard to tell that's what you need — not a Phillips driver. You can get to the Mac Book Pro battery after taking off the back, but taking out the CD drive is harder. When buying a replacement drive, as with batteries, get a new one, Paul said. He mentioned ifixit.com, which has instruction for various repair jobs.

Paul said that as product designs become more efficient & compact, they also become harder to repair. He gave the example of Volkswagen engines that he used to work on. He used to be able to repair the 1600 engine with conventional tools. Then came the 2 liter fuel-injected, air-cooled engine, which was more complex and required special tools. The 1969 1600 engine had 40 brake horsepower and got 20 mile per gallon. Whereas 10 years later the 2 liter engine weighed only 1/5 more, had 5 times the number of components, with many things not repairable, but it had 60 brake horsepower and still got 20 miles per gallon. So it's not for nothing that things get more complex, he said.

The guys wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving. And Paul noted that Canadians also have Thanksgiving, but on a different date and for a slightly different reason. Their Thanksgiving follows a harvest festival, he said.

Paul mentioned a turkey recipe that involves putting a beer can inside a turkey. He cautioned people to make sure the beer can is opened first. One year he put leftover turkey bones in a microwave to make a stew. The marrow in the bigger bones expanded and eventually exploded the bones.

Paul went on to talk about microwave ovens.
– Microwaves heat by exciting the water molecules. Dry food has trouble cooking.
– The ovens need something in them to absorb the microwave energy. Empty ovens or dry food can damage the magnetron.
– Microwave ovens don't like to have conductive foil inside.
– If you want a demonstration of the wavelength used by these ovens, which are about 2.5 to 3 cm, put a piece of cheese on a slice of bread in the oven. Then run the oven without using a turntable. The standing microwaves will make the cheese melt in a pattern, leaving some parts unmelted. Then measure the distance between adjacent melted areas to get the wavelength.
– The wire mesh on the oven door prevents the microwaves from escaping.
– For those worried about EMF radiation, consider that the transformer, which supplies the magnetron, is where the bulk of the energy is. Those work at a much lower frequencies and don't produce ionizing radiation.
– You can order EMF meters from China that show you the frequency and intensity, if you're really concerned.
– Remember, you're almost always surrounded by man made EMF radiation from many source. Even if you can get away from that, there's always radiation coming from space.
<Much of this was covered during the 9-10-14 show>

Neil called. He's having trouble with his Internet Explorer browser on his Windows 7 computer. When he goes to some websites it says "Page cannot be displayed".
– If you have trouble starting IE, Paul suggested starting it in safe mode. <A couple of ways of doing it were discussed on the 6-18-14 show>. Starting IE wasn't Neil's problem.
– Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced and at the bottom it says Reset to default conditions. That should change errant setting to their default without changing the home page or passwords. The buttons you see in the settings depend on which version of IE you're using.
– If that doesn't work, there is button above it that says "restore advanced settings", which does a more aggressive reset.
– Go to Connections -> Lan settings and under Local Area Settings, none of the boxes should be checked. This should correct any problems with proxy servers.

Neil said that when using the Firefox browser, he gets a lot of advertising pop-ups. Glenn said there is a setting in Firefox to turn them off. Neil said he's tried that setting and it didn't help.
– Neil might have some malware on his machine and that may be the reason he's having problems with Internet Explorer, too.
– Update your anti-virus program and do a full scan. See if it comes up with anything interesting.
– In Firefox go to Tools -> Addons. Something may have installed itself there. If you see something that's not familiar, either Disable or Remove it. You may want to google an unfamiliar addon's name to see if it's been reported as malware.
– Try using the Chrome browser. Glenn said he doesn't think it even allows pop-ups.

Paul went on to say that laptop computers can be a fire hazard. Their Lithium-ion batteries are a liability even though there are failsafe features designed into them.
– The batteries are very vulnerable if they are physically damaged — dropped or bent. They may seem to work ok but they are subject to ignition because the insulation inside may have failed.
– Keep the batteries in a moderate temperature range — not over 70C, and don't put them in the refrigerator.
– Higher temperatures shorten the battery life.

Yvonne called. She had dropped her Mac laptop and damaged some of the cable connectors. She also said the battery doesn't hold charge like it used to.
– You can buy cheap a Chinese battery for about $30 and it may last a few months.
– You can buy a Chinese battery with a brand name on it and it may last 2 years and cost 3 times as much.
– You don't need a battery if you don't go anywhere. <Use the A/C wall plug>
– Eventually they determined her battery performance is actually quite good for being a few years old.
– For a new computer with an LED screen you can get several hours between charges. For machines 4 or 5 years old and a new battery, expect 2 or 3 hours. She gets more than the 2 to 3 hours, so she actually doing quite well.

She thought it was the Ethernet plug that's bent and the cable doesn't plug in. But they determined she has wi-fi so she shouldn't be using the cable. Then she clarified that the cable with the problem is the one that goes from the laptop to the tv — likely the VGA connection (not HDMI), considering the laptop's age.
– Since it's a Mac, Paul suggest she get Apple TV for under $99.
– By itself it can play Netflix content on the TV. It comes with a remote control.
– Using it with the Mac, she'll be able to send anything to the Apple TV and never have to worry about cables.

Paul then talked about inductive charging of mobile devices. This uses coils of wire in the charger and the device to transfer energy without wires to charge the battery. He discovered by accident that his 2013 2nd series Nexus 7 tablet has the ability to use the industry standard called Qi (chee) to charge inductively. Any Qi compliant charger should be able to charge it. He has one on order from China for $12. There are retrofit kits to install an induction loop into a device that didn't originally come with it.
More about Qi from the Wireless Power Consortium
Compatible products

He also discovered the Nexus 7 has the ability to read radio frequency ID tags (RFID) like the kind used to tag your cat and dog or the kind used on shipping containers and pallets of merchandise. Go to the Google Play store and search for RFID.

Additionally, there is a device available for the USB slot on the Nexus to allow it to send HDMI signals
— used for sending video to a TV.

Last Update 11:22 PM 11/26/2014

I missed this show. There wasn't supposed to be one on this day. Sorry I don't have notes for you.

– Alix

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 < >

Podcasts of some Zentech shows are here.

Both Glenn & Paul were in the studio for today's show

Paul alerted us that, despite the end of support for Windows XP, there is another update for it to deal with a serious threat. To do the update, go to Start -> Programs -> Windows Update

Paul further suggested that XP users…
– Take the XP computer offline. Physically unplug the Ethernet cable.
– If you really need to use XP online, don't use Internet Explorer — use some other browser.
– Don't rely on Microsoft Security Essentials. Use some other anti-virus program. Try avast.com or avg.com for free versions or versions with more features, which come at a price. The free versions may be a bit hard to find and you may have to click thru a few pages. <AVG Free should be here.>

Remember that no anti-virus program is 100% effective. Additionally, Paul said, most security breaches are a result of the computer being stolen (along with your sensitive data).

Further tips on protecting your data:
– If you sell or decommission your computer, you can take out and keep the hard drive. The buyer can get a hard drive on Ebay, to replace it.
– You can put your old drive into an enclosure with a USB port and use it externally.
– It's a good idea to back up your data before doing any of this.

Paul talked a bit about browser plugins or add-ons. These are additional programs that work with a browser to extend its functionality. He said the Flash plugin has been a serious problem. <A security problem, as I understand it>
– Many websites on the internet use Flash to enhance your experience — Youtube and Facebook, for example.
– HTML5 is poised to take over the job that Flash does now. To a large extent Youtube is viewable without Flash, but not entirely.

Java is another plugin that's had security problems. In fact, some browser manufacturers are now not allowing Java to run as a plugin. Some people will see a box saying something like "Plugin has been blocked" when they access a webpage where Java is required. But, beware that this warning can be faked by those intent on doing you harm. In this case you may see a box that says something like "Plugin has been blocked, Click here". Clicking can then lead you to all sorts of trouble.

If there is a remedy to apply, go to the website of those who created the plugin, instead of "clicking here". To get Flash, go here. He also said that Adobe and Oracle (makers of Java) no longer allow you easily update their plugins using the plugin itself, because alert boxes saying "click here" are so easy to fake. So, go their websites to update. He also said the webpage for the Java update is very confusing. He said do a search for: jre. Or search for: download java.

Before updating Java, make sure you need it. Paul said there's no harm in uninstalling Java and seeing if you can get by without it. Most people don't need it. Do the same with Flash.

Kevin called. He has a HP laptop that's about 4 or 5 years old. When he tries to access Google mail he gets a window that says "File not found. Do you want to cancel or wait". A few seconds after clicking "wait" his email page comes up. Everything else seems to be working normally. He uses Windows 7, the Chrome browser and a Verizon Air Card for his internet.
– Paul asked if he's done a total restart of the computer recently. He says he does a total shutdown, and subsequent restart, every day.
– Paul had Kevin type in www.google.com directly into the address bar instead of clicking the Google icon he has on his desktop. But he clicked the icon anyway and this time the problem didn't appear.
– Glenn thought the home page setting wasn't right. In Chrome, click the 3-bar icon in the upper right and go to settings to change it.
– Paul said that 3G & 4G (cellular) connections can take a few seconds to reconnect after starting up the computer. He may not be waiting long enough and that's the reason he's not going to the website he wants.

There are a couple of ways to change your home page.
– Type an address into the address bar. Find the small logo that looks like a page or a "miniscule icon".
– Either right-click on it an choose "make this a home page". Or you can drag it onto the home button.

The guys talked about batteries — alkaline & rechargeable. Paul got curious about how much energy is in a standard AA battery and found this link where someone researched the subject.
– It turns out that rechargeable batteries can keep up with a fairly heavy current demand.
– The 2 amp NiMh batteries are comparable to the alkaline type, though their voltages are a bit different
– NiMh batteries may not work in some equipment as Paul found out when he tried to use some in a camera he had. The curve of the current per volt was different than what the camera expected. Eventually he found out that the camera had a setting for the type of batteries he wanted to use, and it solved the problem.
– Paul found a voltmeter designed for battery testing. It puts a load on the battery to simulate a real-world situation. See the link at the top of this page.

Glenn talked about battery packs that can recharge a cell phone battery while you're on the go and without having to find a place to plug it in. <This was discussed on a previous show along with tips for conserving your battery.>

Paul mentioned Mac Power Books and Mac Book Airs have a tiny button at the left-hand corner. Pushing it brings up a display that tells you the "capacity of the battery".

The guys talked about Bluetooth speakers ranging in price from $5 for an Enerplex up to about $12 that sound very good.

Marilyn wrote in about needing to get data off of a hard drive without having to install it into her computer. Glenn said this can be accomplished with an external enclosure that has a USB connector. These units are made so you can put a hard drive into it and read and write to it like any other hard drive. He said it's not a simple procedure to put a different hard drive into a computer. It has to have an operating system on it, and even then, it won't have all the drivers and such that are particular to that computer.

If you want to change a hard drive, you can usually find videos from someone who's done it, on Youtube. Search for something like "removing laptop hard drive toshiba satellite 1500" <use the name & model of your machine, of course>. Youtube videos are a great resource for all sorts of repair.

Glenn helped someone who had a problem with an AT&T copper DSL internet connection and a standard telephone. Her modem turned out to be bad and wasn't supported anymore. He got her switched over to AT&T Uverse and she ended up saving $5 per month on her bill, a faster internet speed (758bps doubled to 1.5 megabits per second) and unlimited phone calls in the US.

Paul noted that in the Nevada City area, there is no Uverse movie on-demand service, yet.

Glenn wondered if and how the California Lifeline service provides for people who use Uverse for their phone, because Uverse uses VOIP rather than a plain old telephone <POTS> for the connection. He asked listeners on Lifeline to share their experience in switching to Uverse. Paul noted that VOIP has many points of failure and had doubts about its reliability in emergency situations. <See the notes for the 7-30-14 show where Lifeline was mentioned and a link given.>

Glenn said that if you qualify for the Lifeline subsidy, you also qualify for a free cell phone that comes with about 200 talk minutes and about 200 texts per month. <I don't think you can get both a landline subsidy and a cell phone at the same time, though>.

Paul played a bit of audio from South Park illustrating what can be done to create and edit music using programs like Autotune and Fruity Loops.

Last Update 11:29 PM 11/12/2014