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 < >

Glenn and Mikail Graham were in the studio.

There will NOT be a Zentech show on Apr 10 due to the membership drive.

For his cell phone service, Glenn switched from T-Mobile to Pure TalkUSA, which uses the AT&T network. He pays $45/mo and is happy with it. The plan he's on offers 600 megabytes/mo of data thru the cellular network. He tends to use the wi-fi option that comes with it so as not to use up his alloted data limit. The plan had unlimited talk and text.

Mikail said T-Mobile will be carrying a special version of the iPhone5 that Verizon & AT&T do not have. Its new technology allows it to work on T-Mobile using a broader range of frequencies. Next versions of the AT&T iPhone5 will also have the newer chip.

Mikail said T-Mobile is "not doing subsidised phones anymore". "You go and buy your 16gig iPhone5 for $579 thru them, as oppossed to $649, which is what you'd pay if you bought it at the Apple store…you put down $100 and you pay $20/mo for 2 years, but it's all up front, so your price of your actual monthly deal comes down. Whereas, with AT&T and Verizon you get a phone for $200…but…if you don't get a new phone in 2 years, they're still making money off the subsidy that you're paying for in your contract because your contract cost you more and you get less"
<I haven't had a chance to read these articles about T-Mobile's new plan. Hopefully, they'll be clearer than what was said on today's show…
T-Mobile to offer unlimited, no-contract plans — and the iPhone
T-Mobile's New Contractless Data Plan Debunked (FAQ)
The Fine Print on T-Mobile’s New No-Contract Cellphone Plans>

Glenn mentioned, again, his contract troubles with T-Mobile — he was put on a 2 year contract without being told. After canceling his contract they still want $277 that he's going to dispute.

Mikail went over some of the cell phone contracts, I think he was talking about the phone only.
– For T-Mobile it's $100 no contract
– For AT&T it's $200, $300 or $400 with a 2 year contract depending on the <memory> size of the iPhone. Verizon & Sprint are similar.

For the data plans:
– T-Mobile 500meg or 2.5gig and unlimited text & voice starts at $50/mo.
– AT&T 300meg/mo for $20/mo and that's on top of your voice plan.
– Verizon $40/mo for 300meg/mo.

Mikial on the overall costs..
– T-Mobile is $1780 (500meg/mo & voice on a 2 year contract).
– AT&T $1640 (300meg/mo & pay-as-you-go texting for 2 years).
– Verizon $2120 (300meg/mo for 2 year contract).
– Sprint $2120 (450 min & unlimited data for 2 years).
– Pure TalkUSA looks like a great deal. Glenn said it's $43.95/mo $1078.80 for 2 years.

Mikail noted that, unlike in Europe, cell phone users here have to pay to both receive and initiate a call and he doesn't understand why people are so accepting.

Glenn said Pure TalkUSA gives you unlimited talk & text (txt), 600meg data and 600 multimedia messages (MMS).
Mikail said they've got affordable plans starting at $10/mo. 130 minutes with rollover, Glenn added.
Additionally, you don't have to unlock you phone if you're already with AT&T.

Lorraine called to say AT&T and Verizon are notoriously horrible politically, especially for women. In Hawaii she used Credo Mobile "1% of everything goes to the progressive cause of my choice" and the customer service is great, she said. She has a minimal plan for $40/mo. Her son's plan "has everything" for $90/mo.

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

Jerome called about a plan he said is cheaper than those mentioned so far but he doesn't know if it supports the iPhone. He has a Verizon pre-paid data plan at $20 or $25/mo that gives him 1gig of data. In addition, he has Line 2, an app that gives him a phone line, voice over ip <VOIP>. Line 2 can use wi-fi to avoid cell phone charges. The Line 2 service cost him $10/mo. Mikial noted that audio quality can sometimes drop with VOIP services. Jerome was surpised to find that Line 2 works while driving down the freeway (in this case it uses the Verizon cellular 1gig data plan). Essentially, he gets unlimited voice & text when he can get a wi-fi connection (he doesn't have to use any of the 1gig of data in this case) and uses Verizon cellular when there's no wi-fi. There is no contract for either Verizon or Line 2 — he pays month-to-month.

 Shiloh called, She's been using Verizon for a very long time and she was grandfathered-in at $14.95/mo. She gets 3500 night/weekend minutes and 10 daytime minutes. From what I can decipher, she got another phone, which she thinks is crappy, and signed a service contract. She doesn't do texting but would like to have voice mail. She tried a TracFone but reception was poor. She'd like to get something with a wide screen and a decent camera
– Mikail said you can get a free iPhone 4 with a contract from Verizon or AT&T. (But she's already signed a contract)
– Glenn suggested she buy a separate camera. You can get a really nice one for about $100. If you don't have a data plan, you can't do anything with a phone camera except transfer the pictures to your computer <there's no advantage over a regular camera>. From there, of course, you can upload them to the web.
– For voice mail try Google Voice. That's what Glenn uses, He enters a special code he got from Google Voice into his phone, which deactivates the Pure TalkUSA voice mail and allows Google Voice to receive the message. Mikail uses YouMail (as well as Google Voice), it has greetings that are personalized to the particular caller. Both Google Voice and YouMail have free versions.
– With either of these services, you can access your messages from your computer, store them or have them converted to text.
– You can get an iPod Touch. It has a camera and all of the smartphone features. You won't have a cell phone but will be able to use VOIP over wi-fi — the way Jerome just got thru telling us. Of course you'll need wi-fi in your house if you want to use it at home.

John of Spiral Internet called to update us on the fiber cable being laid in the Nevada County area. It's meant to connect 3 schools and a library — won't go to houses. Spiral Internet intends to "extend from that" and bring "fiber to the home" and possibly provide better backhaul to the local wireless providers (Smarter Broadband & Digital Path). John said it will take a while — 2 years for phase 1 and 7 years for further deployment. Those who are interested can contribute to a survey at spiralinternet.com/survey.

Doug called. Like Shiloh, he seldom uses the cell phone. He used to have a Verizon plan, then went to TracPhone but had problems. He was initially told it can use the Verizon network but later found out it can only use the AT&T network. He gets poor reception with AT&T. He heard that Walmart has a service called StraightTalk that works thru Verizon and asked if that's correct. He also wondered about the Net10 service.
– Net10 is another Walmart product.
– Glenn didn't know anything about StraightTalk but said to give them a call.

Doug also wondered if some cell phones are better at receiving weak signals.
– They're all pretty good these days
– Check with Consumer Reports for comparisons. If you don't subscribe to them, a local library may have access.

James called. He read a news item about T-Mobile offering a new plan. <Apparently he didn't listen to the first part of this broadcast>
– Mikail reiterated: "You're not locked into a contract when you do that. When the phone's done <paid for> you own it and you're not paying any extra premium a month for that subsidy, which is what's happening with AT&T or Verizon". You get an iPhone or Galaxy 4 for $200 and think that's cool, much better than $600 at full price, but you pay for it in your contract and "that doesn't go away at the end of those 2 years".
– Again, check out Pure TalkUSA.

Ken called. He likes Apple and would like to get an iPhone. He wanted to know what carriers he could use that take a SIM card.
– Your options (not exclusively) Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Pure TalkUSA. You can use these without having to jailbreak or unlock the phone.
– Glenn thought some iPhones don't take a SIM card. Mikail said they all do. <They 'take' SIM cards but still have limitations>
– Glenn said he previously bought an iPhone 4S that had been used with the Sprint system and found it was impossible to make it work on other systems.
– Mikial: You can use a Verizon iPhone with GSM on the AT&T network. You have to get it off the Verizon contract. This is true for the iPhone 5, not the iPhone 4S.
– Glenn added that those who travel abroad should look for a GSM phone. It's what's used in most of the world. Mikail thinks CDMA is being supplanted by GSM. He said the new Qualcom multi-band chips can accommodate almost anything and you should start seeing them on more new phones.

Mikail played with Siri, asking it "what's the best cell phone on the market". Siri replied "Wait, there are other phones", He then went on to demonstrate other voices that Siri can use — British, Australian and French (others are available). He said when you first start to use Siri the voice sounds odd, but it gets better as it learns about your environment and adapts to it. To change the voice go to settings -> general -> siri and choose your language.

Glenn thanked the KVMR members. To become a member, go to KVMR.

James called to complain about cell phone quality. He gets annoyed when people call in to radio talk shows and their cell phones betray them.
– HD Voice is on the horizon. More cell phones are starting use it. The newer Samsung & iPhones are starting to support it, but it may be another year before it becomes ubiquitous. It's currently available only thru the T-Mobile carrier network, others should follow.

Megan called asking about any good places to donate cell phones.
– Check places that sell phones for a donation bin.
– Check with DVSAC. <I think that's what was said. It's a domestic violence organization>

In closing, Mikail spoke about Mailplane, an email app. <Looks like it's only for the Mac>
– It works with IMAP. <a mail protocol> It's "like having a browser separate from your browser"
– It's primarily for Gmail. All of it's features are there, like "undo send" to call back unintended emails.
– It supports other Google services like calendar.
– Mikail thinks it's fabulous.
– It's $24:95

Last updated 11:04 PM 3/27/2013

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

The guys talked about the recent switch to Daylight Savings Time. Paul noted that those running older versions of Unix, which hasn't been updated recently, may find that it uses the wrong date to do the time change. There is a database of world timezones called TZdata that keeps track of the latest changes to timezone laws. <Keep your software updated>

Speaking of updates, Paul said nothing older than Windows XP should be on the internet. Anything older is not supported with patches and might be ignored by some anti-virus programs, too.

KVMR has a new low-power translator (boosts the signal for a local area) in Woodland at 104.7 FM. Listeners were asked to try it and report their results to David Barnette via email to: engineer at kvmr dot org

Glenn said AT&T internet service is available along Highway 49 North of the South Yuba river. He's not sure if it's U-verse or DSL. To find out if it's available to you, go to att.com -> shop -> internet -> check for new service. He said it is available at the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road & Hwy 49.

Paul lamented that Firefox updates its browser so often. When he upgrades, the settings sometimes get changed from those he prefers.

Glenn said KVMR's office computer currently has a virus on it, possibly due to someone carelessly clicking in a popup window. He said the virus would sometime pop up a box saying something like "did you forget your password" and asking that a link be clicked to resolve the issue. But instead of solving your problem, it takes you to some advertisement. Paul called that a "link redirection virus" and said some of them could be very nasty.

He said some viruses come as a "blended threat" with multiple components. You might run an anti-virus check and get rid of some of it but other parts remain to reenable the threat. He recently had to deal with the pihar rootkit. Sometimes a rootkit is just one element of a virus. Rootkits infect "behind or below" the operating system making them more difficult to remove. On previous shows, Paul talked about Tdsskiller and Blacklight, which can be used to remove rootkits. Paul said Symantec also has a tool to remove pihar. <I think this might be it (NPE, Norton Power Eraser). Be sure to read the warning on that page>

Paul said Thunderbird (an email, RSS, newsgroup reader) now has the ability to put in Facebook messenger and a number of other thngs".

Paul noted that various versions of Windows are not true multi-user systems — they only seem that way on the surface. Linux, PS2 and Macs, on the other hand, do keep users completely partitioned off from each other.

Pam called. She's in the process of moving and wanted to know how to find out what choices she'll have for internet service.
– Ask the neighbors.
– Go to the websites of various providers and use their facilities to find if service is available. Try AT&T, SmarterBroadband, Spiral Internet (an agent for Digital Path). SmarterBroadband and Spiral Internet both offer line-of-sight wireless.
– Low on the list is satellite broadband thru Hughsnet and maybe DishTV.
– Internet thru your cell phone service is another possibility, but can be costly and have a limited data allowance (data cap).
– Be aware of the "get out" time, within which you have the chance to try the service and end it without penalty. Also, check the contract to be sure you're getting what you expect. Get it in writing — don't rely on verbal promises.

Paul said callers who didn't get their question resolved on air can email the guys at zen at kvmr dot org. In the email, note if you want your name mentioned during the show. In fact, you can email questions during the show, if you don't want to talk on air.

KVMR has a schedule of its broadcasts here. Glenn thanked all of the KVMR broadcasters & volunteers.

Ellen called. She has dead external drives and an old computer. She wanted to know how to scrub the data off the drives. She took a hammer to her drives, but wanted to know if there's a better way.
– There are software programs to do that but the drives have to be working. They scrub by overwriting the data several times with random bytes. Be sure you get such software from a trusted source — there may be some that harvest your date for nefarious reasons.
– Take the drives apart to get to the platters & destroy them. Some drives may require a special screwdriver called Torx, which you can get on Ebay for $8 or $9.
– Alternately, you can use the platters for wind chimes. Hang them on fishing lines and you might be pleasantly surprised by the sounds they make.
– If you want to scrub the drive in a computer you're selling, a reasonable approach is to reformat the drive & reinstall the operating system.

The Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and not necessarily those of KVMR, its board, managers, staff or contributors

Michael called. He wondered if microwaving a hard drive would destroy the data. Paul suggested putting a container of water in there too. He thought that the ovens need to dump their energy into an energy sink (the water) to prevent damage. Paul also suggested lowering the drive into a bucket of vinegar while it's connected to a power source and is spinning. The reason for vinegar is because it's conductive.

Michael said he has XP Home Edition and when he right-clicks, sometimes the context menu just briefly flash on and then goes away. He can't get it to stay open on the screen.
– Paul suggested he try a different mouse.
– If you find the mouse is the problem, try cleaning the inside.
– If you decide to replace the mouse, consider the optical type as they have fewer moving parts.

Michael also said he's not had internet service at home because his only option is to use dialup and he's gotten frustrated waiting for pictures to load. Now that he finally has wireless internet available in his area, he and wanted to know if he has to buy a bunch of hardware.
– No. They should provide an antenna modem, which goes on the outside of the house. That will service 1 computer.
– If you want to distribute the wireless signal to multiple devices inside, then you'll need to get a router.
– <For dialup users: you can also turn off image loading in many browsers. You may be surprised how little images add to the content. If you need to see an image, it's usually easy to load just that one.>

Paul searched for the words: windows xp no right click. He found some information at Microsoft in a forum called "groups microsoft public windows xp help". He said Microsoft is more trustworthy than other sites that offer help.

The instructions he found involved editing the registry. He said it's absolutely important to follow instructions when dealing with the registry. And, when reading forum messages, don't stop at the first proposed fix, read the follow-up messages before trying a remedy.

Glenn said his Asus netbook needs to have the operating system reinstalled because it running so slow. He said he found out the it doesn't have a partition from which he can do the reinstall and Asus wanted $50 to send him an installation DVD. He said he'll try to install from an after-market version of XP.

Paul wondered about the experience people have had with Windows 8. You can get a licensed version of Win8 for $39 but he didn't look favorably on the tiling system it uses. The tiles are similar to the apps on the mobile phones but many people hate them on a desktop computer. He said there is an app called Desktop that's supposed to replace tiles with the familiar desktop. There's something similar already built-in to Win8, but you have to look for it.
– If you have the Vista version of Windows, you'd do well to get Win8.
– If you have Win7, he doesn't see a compelling reason get Win8.
– If you have XP, hold on to it as long as it's working.

Glenn asked if one could buy a Windows 8 machine and put XP on it. Paul said it's not easy. Older versions of the PC had only a BIOS (Basic Input Output System), which handled the input/output of the keyboard, mouse, drive, etc. With Win8 Microsoft requires manufacturers to have additional firmware called UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). He said it keeps your product code in firmware to make hacking and stealing more difficult.

Paul said one could put Win8 on machines that don't have UEFI if they have enough horsepower to run it. It's just that Microsoft does not allow manufactures to distribute Win8 unless the machine has UEFI.

Daine <day.nee> called. She just got a MacBook Pro with Mountain Lion (operating system) and wanted to know if she can put Windows 8 on it.
– Glenn said Macs that use the Intel processor can handle any version of Windows.
– Paul said he'll have a more detailed answer for her next time.

Paul asked how do you tell if a program you're about to download is not adware or just a demo version.
– Glenn said, if he does a Google search, he looks at the URL of the link to give him a clue about the website it goes to. Otherwise, it's hard to explain what to look for.
– Paul didn't have a good solution either. It seemed all he had to suggest is that past experience with bogus downloads helps to build an intuitive sense for these things.

Last updated 11:16 PM 3/13/2013

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 < >

ISPs (internet service providers) are poised to implement a warning system for those suspected of illegal downloading. The ISPs include 5 or 6 of the largest like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Cox Cable. "They will, to some extent, permit the monitoring of the traffic coming and going from your internet connection and will launch a complaint against you if one of the copyright stakeholders discovers their movie or intellectual property being pirated". It's called Six Strikes or the Copyright Alert System (CAS).

Paul said a third party is authorized to log into pirate sites like Pirate Bay and monitor traffic. They will look for pirated works and possibly even put up fake content to see who downloads it, though the entrapment issues may limit use of that ruse. "Normally, there's a slap-on-the-wrist fine of $35 if you keep doing it". They may also throttle your connection speed. But you can then get your privileges back after viewing an educational video — similar to driving school after getting a speeding ticket.
<There's a bit more about CAS toward the end of this page.
Articles & radio shows about the CAS…
The Copyright Alert System and Six Strikes (audio & transcript):
Related: They Might Be Pirates: Who Is Really Sharing Digital Media (audio & transcript):
Article: US Adopts 'Six Strikes' Internet Piracy Policy

Piracy Alert System Raises Concerns About Fair Use, Misidentification (audio):
More info about the copyright warnings (CAS):
Resources & FAQ (CAS):

Glenn asked for clarification about who does the monitoring.
– The copyright holders gained permission from the ISPs to have contact information of suspected violators provided. <The copyright holders will use this contact info to issue warnings to the violators, I presume>
– The jury is still out about the consequences for the violators.
– Search Google for the words: ISP piracy warnings.
– Pay attention to any warnings you receive.

Be careful about clicking links in emailed warnings — they may be phishing attacks. There's often an increase of such attacks after the news of initiatives like this Copyright Alert System (CAS). In fact, this applies to all email you get. If you get a email warning or notification from your ISP, the alternative to clicking a link is to place a phone call to your provider. Rather than clicking on links in emails, type in the known, good web address for the website in question.

On a related note, Paul again mentioned that hundreds of thousands of Yahoo mail accounts have been broken into. Be suspicious of mail from a Yahoo account even if you know its true owner, as their account may have been compromised.

Over the years, Paul had done an informal survey about what people think is the number 1 security problem. Most got it wrong. From what Paul learned, the number 1 security problem is physical theft — stolen hardware. With the recent increased popularity of flash drives, theft of media is now #1. Be careful what you backup to flash drives — account numbers, passwords and such.

Glenn noted that with their increase of quality and decrease in price, surveillance cameras in the home are a good idea.

That led Paul to talk about the recent Russian meteor and the number of videos documenting it. Due to their failing judicial system and the need to make a case in court after traffic accidents, car dashboard cameras are very popular there. Some use the camera in an Android tablet pointed out the window. The tablet's built-in GPS and clock document the exact location and time of an accident.

Paul again mentioned that he's no too happy with the Android tablet he bought recently. But, he likes the Android on a Stick, which he talked about on the last show and on 1-23-13.

Glenn said he got the Vizio Costar he talked about on last week's show. It's a Google TV device selling for $99. He's not happy with it. He tried to download an app to play content from NBC but got the message that the app was not compatible with his device. While on the air, he got a reply from Vizio saying the apps for NBC & ABC will not work on the Costar because both companies have all of the Google devices blocked. Paul thought that's because the Costar is identified as a Google TV device, not a <generic> Android device (Android is the operating system by Google as opposed to the service called Google TV). It's a branding or licensing issue.

While playing a movie from a flash drive, the Costar would only allow him to Play, Stop and Pause — no fast forward/backward. Paul said there are different movie-playing apps at Google Play and since the Costar is an Android device, he implied an alternate player might work better. Paul said Android has to support so many platforms and so many devices, not all of the apps will work all of the time on all of them.

Paul noted that for Android & iPad you can get the free Kindle app. <It's available for the desktop PC, too> You don't have to have the Kindle to read books, newspapers etc. With the app & an Amazon account you get much of the same content — even a lot of free books. The quality of the display will vary, of course, with the device on which you install the app — it may not be as good as the Kindle.

Glenn wondered if the new Kindle Fire, with its color display, is as good for reading as the regular Kindle. Paul said he's seen one only briefly and he wants to evaluate it further, but the text does look good. Because the Kindle Fire (and its HD version) is pricey, he suggested that a lower-priced tablet <using a Kindle app> may be adequate. And, he said, the Kindle is more like a reading device with Android capability rather than an Android device with reading capability.

Glenn thanked the supporters of KVMR. <To become a member, visit KVMR>

Bonnie Lee called. She wanted to know what information is stored in digital photos and how to access it.
– When you take a picture with an iPhone, there is extra info stored along with the photo called exif data.
– Part of the data is the latitude & longitude of where the picture was taken.
– You can turn off that feature on the iPhone, it's under 'Settings' — look for location services.
– Bonnie is using a regular camera so it probably doesn't store the location data, though a few high-end cameras might.
– Some websites where you upload photos, Ebay or Craigslist, may strip out that data, but check with them to be sure.
– Paul found the website exifdata.com. You can upload a photo and it will tell you what info is stored with it.
– Some software will let you examine a photo's exif data using your home computer. Glenn found Picture Information Extractor at download.com.

Paul offered a tip for those with a smartphone but who want to use a quality camera that doesn't have the exif. Take the same photo with both. The smartphone will record the time & location and the camera takes the picture you'll want to keep. You can match them up later.

When Paul wants to get reliable details on some tech story, like the Copyright Alert System, he'll do a Google search and look for results that come from PC Magazine, Cnet or Techcrunch. Google tends to list the more reliable sources near the beginning.

Continuing the discussion about Glenn's Vizio problems, Paul said he download the Google TV app for his Android device and it works fine. He pays for each video he wants to watch. Downton Abbey is $1.99 per episode, he said, but he doesn't know if you get to keep it or only watch it for a limited time.

Ross called to ask about ZRTP by Phil Zimmerman (creator of PGP). It's supposed to encrypt data between 2 computers on the internet (both have to be running ZRTP). He wondered if it can be used to circumvent the Copyright Alert System (CAS) by disguising the size of the data being sent.
– Paul said that's one of failures of cryptography — it's not straightforward to mask the size of the message. Extra (useless) data would have to be inserted between the useful data.
– Ross said that, supposedly, is what ZRTP does. In that case, Paul said, you have to be careful about exceeding the data limits (caps) imposed by your ISP. <The inserted data adds to the file size>
– Paul said the Copyright Alert System is designed to detect who you're connecting with (your peer in a peer-to-peer connection) but not look at what data is being transferred.
– Paul: "if you encrypt something you better encrypt everything". You'll draw more attention if you look like you made a special effort than if you encrypt everything by default <I think is what he meant to say>.
<General info on ZRTP; see "External links" on that page.
This place has ZRTP apps for Android; iPhone; PC desktop (I'm not endorsing this site — buyer beware)>

There was some talk about anonymity and trust. Some highlights…
– Anonymity can come from disappearing in the crowd. By not having a phone or the internet, etc. you draw attention to yourself.
– Use your judgment about giving true information when signing up for some internet services — they're likely to let you in anyway.
– You can be more revealing in proportion to the trust you have. <Banks, utility companies, close friends>
– You don't always know how much to trust. Yes and No are not the only answers to the question of trust. Error on the side of caution.

Last updated  11:31 PM 2/27/2013

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 < >

Paul & Glenn were in the studio with their guest Andrew Lauder of myLanguage

myLanguage makes language translation applications for mobile devices. Their new app is called Vocre, which facilitates vocal conversations between people who speak different languages. <More about that later>

Paul followed up on the PD10 Android tablet he mentioned on the 1-23-13 show. <See those notes for details> He admonished listeners to be careful what website you get the feature list from. He made the mistake of getting the info from the manufacture's site: info predicated on buying 10,000 units. That webpage said the unit included both front & back-facing cameras and GPS. The unit he bought from a vender had neither.

He also talked about "Android on a stick" on the 1-23-13 show and today he added more details.
– It takes about 45sec to boot up.
– It can take up to a 32gig micro SD card. He found such a card for $19.
– It can access the Google app store called Google Play.
– To use it you'll need to have a USB port to supply the required 5 volts of power, an HDMI monitor/TV and a USB mouse. You don't need a keyboard because "Android pops up a keyboard as required on your screen". <TV screens are not multi-touch capable so I guess you have to use your mouse to click on the letters>
– It has BlueTooth so you can get a cheap BlueTooth keyboard for it.
– If you want multi-touch, you can get a multi-touch mouse pad.

Glenn mentioned that Vizio, the brand of his TV, offers a smart-TV add-on called Costar for $99, which has a touch pad. However, there may be some problems with it and Amazon has put sales on hold.
– It has Google TV.
– It has the Chrome web browser.
– It can run various apps.
– Its main purpose is to bring smart-TV apps like Netflix, Voodoo, Youtube to your TV.

Paul got a similar smart-TV device for $55, which he identified only by what's in it: RK3066 (the number of the chipset in the device). He went on to say many TVs you buy these days have network capability to receive services like Netflix, but "they're usually proprietary". A friend of his bought a smart-TV thinking he'll be able to plug in a USB camera, but it turned out he'd have to buy a particular camera from the TV manufacturer.
– It can take flash memory (where you can store your movies).
– He recommended a free app called X-plore to go with it, so you can see and manage the files you have stored. It also shows the contents of your web-based storage: Picasa, Google Drive and many others
– He said he's "never seen this much horsepower in a small package"……
– The unit has a 1.6 gigaHz duo-core RISC processor licensed by ARM and a "respectable graphics processor" for 3-D rendering.

Paul said he loves the latest WordPress. It's entirely web-based where it can update itself. And you can use plugins or webapps. You can install it on your computer or use the version on the WordPress website. He said it seems to have pulled ahead, in popularity, of competing platforms like Joomla.
<For more about WordPress, see the notes for the 8-22-12 show>

Andrew Lauder was reintroduced and he spoke a bit about his Vocre app. It does language translation as you speak to someone on your mobile device. You push the record button and speak. It does the translating and sends the result to the other person in their own language. They, in turn, follow a similar process and you can carry on a conversation.

Glenn had a chance to try it last night and found it to be very speedy. He's planning to go to southern Europe and tried translating into Spanish & Greek, but he had no foreign speakers to evaluate the accuracy of the translations. He sent the result to a couple of Greek speakers but hasn't heard back yet.

Paul said the pronunciation is good. The voice doesn't sound synthesized. Andrew said it's based on actual human speech and mimics the flow of the speech by matching, and then using, the appropriate phonemes.

He said Vocre uses the Nuance speech recognizer. What you say is sent to Nuance (on the web) where the recognition is done. Nuance converts what you've said to text, which is then sent to another business partner called iSpeech to convert the text into a human-sounding voice. And that eventually is sent to whom you are speaking in their language. Vocre is available at the iPhone app store and the Google Play store for $2.99. In the Google Play store, browse the Travel category, it's pretty highly ranked there.

The guys did a brief test of Vocre by translating an English sentence into German and then translating it back to check the accuracy. It did pretty well.

Andrew said they started the development of the Vocre app in 2008 and it came out for the iPhone first. His inspiration came when he visited Greece and had only moderate success in carrying on a conversation.

While the others were talking, Glenn pasted some English text into the app and had it converted to Spanish. He then played it on air and asked any Spanish-speaking listeners to call in to give their impressions. <No one called during the show>

There was some talk about the algorithms used in translation: how similar common phrases <"hello, how are you" "how do you do" etc.> are mapped to one phrase in the foreign language.

Paul said there is a free developer tool called Xcode Tools <apparently for Apple only> for developing mobile apps. He wondered if Vocre was written using Xcode. Andrew said the iPhone version was, but not the Android version. The Android version was written in Sencha: an HTML5 tool.

Talking about the developer environment, Andrew said the Apple community seems more supportive in sharing code and such. He also said it's easier to try an app and get your money back from Google Play, whereas that's quite difficult to do at the iPhone store.

Paul talked a bit about Youtube moving to HTML5 and away from Flash. He tried using it with Flash turned off and only using HTML5 and said it's currently unusable because it kept nagging him to download a plugin. Andrew suggested he change the "User Agent" setting to make it look like he was using an iPad and thus forcing Youtube to use HTML5 to stream the video. There are several extensions for Firefox & Chrome that allow you to change the User Agent.
<User Agent setting tells the website that you're visiting what type of browser you're using.>

Andrew said there is an app for iPhone & iPad that allows you to use website with Flash content. It converts the Flash content to a form that the iDevice can then display. He wasn't sure about the name but thought it might be SkyFire. <Apparently it's a browser & available for Android too>

Glenn said he'll be talking about the jailbreaking of his iPhone 3GS and that Skype & Direct TV no longer work. He expects to do that on the next show.

Paul mentioned evasi0n.com <He really butchered the sentence and didn't say what it was, but from what I've, heard it's a very popular jailbreak for Apple's iOS 6>

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

Paul said the podcast of this show MIGHT be put up on KVMR. Go to kvmr.org and look for the podcast link.

Last updated 10:29 PM 2/13/2013

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.

Glenn was in the studio. Paul was in the Bay Area but didn't call in.

Hugh called. He recently went on to Google Earth and found he couldn't access Street View, as he had been able to before.
– Use Google Maps to access it instead.
– Glenn did a search using the Safari browser on his iPad and found a discussion on Google groups dated Oct 8, 2012 where it said "street view is no longer available on older versions of Google Earth, so you may need to upgrade". So, upgrading may be the answer

Glenn made a pitch for membership to KVMR.

Neil called in with a networking problem. He has computers in both his shop and house which has a printer attached, and both are using wi-fi. He had to reinstall the XP operating system on the shop computer and now can't get it to use the printer in the house.
– At this point Buzz, an engineer at KVMR, joined Glenn in the studio,
– "Search for that computer on the network and then once you find the computer, find out about its shares".
– <Using the Control Panel> Go to 'Printers and Other Hardware' -> 'Add a Printer' and checkmark "A network printer or a printer attached to another computer". Neil said he tried that and it couldn't find a printer.
– That being the case, Glenn suggested, find the name of the printer and enter it where it says Connect to this printer.
– Buzz said, make sure both computers are in the same workgroup, which he thinks is the default condition.
– Glenn said he'll be in the KVMR office after the show and suggested that Neil call him for further trouble shooting. The office phone is 530-265-9073.
– After Neil hung up, Buzz said make sure both computers are using the same router.
– Glenn added, if the router has a printer port, connect the printer to it directly. Or use the printer's wireless connection, if it has one.

Glenn noted that, sales-wise, tablets overtook cell phones as gifts last Christmas.

That led Buzz to wonder about ChromeBooks. Glenn said a recent caller had a ChromeBook and was asked to call again, after he had formed an opinion, to give a review. That was a stripped-down model costing $249. He asked listeners who have a ChromeBook to call in.

Ross called in to say he's heard of legislation making it illegal to unlock a cell phone.
– In the past the carriers were under no obligation to unlock, until about a year ago.
– Since about April or May of this year, AT&T will unlock your phone after your contract expires or if you're going abroad. You have to call AT&T or do it on their website; It takes 24 to 96 hours for them to complete the process.
– Glenn thought the legislation might have something to do with jailbreaking a phone. If you jailbreak a phone, there are then 'unlocks' available for that phone.
– Buzz said there is the right way and wrong way to unlock a phone and the carriers don't want stolen phones being unlocked (the wrong way).
<A Right to Unlock Cellphones Fades Away>

Buzz went on to say that jailbreaking allows you to get root access to the phones operating system to do things the manufacturer didn't want you to do. As an example, he said a lot of phones have an FM chip inside but it's not built to receive radio signals. In some cases, jailbreaking can allow you to activate it.

Ross then asked if there's a website where one can find out what these hidden features are for various phones. He thought it would be good to know the full potential of a phone when shopping for one. Buzz said he didn't know of such a website and that it would probably take a lot of searching. He found out about the FM chip at radio-discussions.com. Buzz said things change so quickly that a lot of hacking information becomes obsolete or unreliable and that he wouldn't choose a phone on its hidden features.

Ross wondered of it's possible to ruin a phone doing these hacks. Glenn said it's possible though it typically would not.

Ross thought the companies engage in planned obsolescence. Glenn said they don't want you to be able to do something that a carrier can charge you for. For instance, if you activate the FM chip, you wouldn't buy an app that lets you receive internet radio and you wouldn't use, and pay for, the carrier's network.

Glenn said most phones have the ability to be a personal hotspot. Setting up a hotspot can be done thru jailbreaking or you can pay the carrier to set it up and then be charged a monthly fee to use the hotspot.

Joshua called. He prepared a presentation using Keynote and now the pictures are missing, there are only box outlines where the pics are supposed to be.
– Glenn thought that Keynote, like many programs, uses aliases (also known as a shortcut) to reference the pictures and that something got moved. Aliases just point to the pictures but are not pictures themselves. So Glenn thought something got moved so the aliases are pointing to the wrong location.
– He suggested that Joshua go back into Keynote and there might be a place where Keynote can be made to locate the pictures.
– He said give that a try and if he needs more help to call the office after the show.

Peter called to talk about he ChromeBook 5 (the 2nd generation, not the current one). He likes it.
– It's light.
– It comes on instantly.
– It can access most of the things he wants to do.
– One drawback is the battery is built-in so he can't take it out when using AC, He use to do that with his laptop to prevent the battery from wearing out. Built-in batteries seem to be the trend with a lot of portable devices.
– Glenn asked if it's a tablet or a PC. Peter said it's a clamshell PC.
– It's like a PC with the Chrome browser always open. But it still allows you to open some types of files.
– It has a 16gig solid state hard drive and a SD card slot.
– Unlike his iPad, it does run Flash content.
– It opens .pdf files within the browser.
– It can open Excel and Word files if they're not too complex. He writes academic documents and cross references and footnotes are problematic.

Marilyn called. She had data recovered from old hard drive that crashed. She had been moving the recovered files to a new computer but didn't want those files to overwrite any new files she's created on the new machine. She heard about a program called Ztree. It's supposed to be able to prevent overwriting. The recovered data totals 83,000 files in many subdirectories and wondered if Ztree is up to the task.
– Glenn looked up their website and noticed they have a tutorial that might help her.
– In the future look, for a backup program that does incremental backups where only the part that changes gets backed up, not entire files. But Marilyn said that was the type of backup program she was using and when she tried to retrieve the files, their names were just numbers and she couldn't relate them to the names she used when she first created the files.
– Glenn asked her to email him so they can deal with it later…Paul might have some suggestions.

Ed called. He has Mac. Any folder he tries to open has a random selection of photograph icons on the top bar. He doesn't know how they got there or how to get rid of them.
– Glenn thought he has the computer set to display thumbnails when there are pictures in the folder.

Ed also asked about how file sizes are displayed when he burns a CD. When he drags a file, the alias is reported as being about 3K but the running total reflects the actual size of the file (20meg, for instance). He wanted to know if the actual 20meg file will be burned, or only the alias.
– Glenn thought the real file would be burned, as expected. He should give it a try: at worst he'll waste just one CD.
– He suggested Ed call him after the show.

James called. He uses a HP laptop and his Firefox browser won't open. When it does, it works for 3 or 4 days and then stops.
– Glenn speculated it might be a hardware issue, but didn't have enough time to continue. James was asked to call after the show.

Last updated 10:24 PM 1/30/2013