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.

In a commercial, Glenn heard that Verizon has a plan where up to 10 devices can have unlimited voice minutes & unlimited text (txt) but the data part of the plan is shared between the (10) devices. So, rather that have a separate voice, text and data plan for each device, they are all on one plan.

Paul remembered back to 1999 when KVMR got DSL service thru AT&T. Third party companies started selling routers that could be hooked to the DSL modem so more than one device can use the DSL connection. AT&T didn't like that because they assumed only one device would be attached to each DSL modem that AT&T sold.

Glenn said that KVMR now has both the DSL connection and the Comcast cable internet service as a redundant backup. Paul noted redundancy is not additive. If the DSL & Comcast each have 98% reliability, combining them will get you maybe 99% reliability. He also said that Monday morning between 6am & 9am is when there's a wave of internet usage going from the East Coast to the West as businesses start their day in each time zone — this is when reliability problems are most noticeable.

Paul mentioned that KVMR attempted to get a dual WAN router to improve redundancy. The 'dual' in the name means it can connect to the internet thru 2 providers at the same time — in this case AT&T & Comcast.

Paul said about 9 months ago the AT&T line between Auburn & Nevada City got cut and the entire community lost phone service, dialup, DSL and cell service. He lamented that AT&T didn't have redundancy.

The guys rambled on a bit about fireworks. Glenn said the 4th of July fireworks display in San Diego went off all at once because of computer error. Paul said that Spanish fireworks displays, during fiestas & saint's days, start with "the grand finale and get worse" — they end with an artillery barrage — Spaniards enjoy the noise and don't wait for nightfall to celebrate.

Thomas called to say that when he clicks on My Computer in the Start menu, he gets the message "The disk in drive A is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?". His machine is running Windows XP that he bought it used.
– When it asks to format the disk, answer NO. Then follow the next 2 steps
– It's possible this machine has a floppy drive. A disk may be in the drive, so try to eject it by pushing the button next to the drive slot.
– You can change the setting in the BIOS to make the computer ignore the floppy drive, if you don't need to use it. You can get to the BIOS settings when the machine first starts up <follow the prompts on the screen>.

Another problem Thomas has is that when he downloads a file from the internet, the window that show a list of files downloaded is blank. He uses the Firefox browser.
– When installing Firefox over a earlier version of itself, there can sometimes be an error. Uninstall Firefox and then reinstall it.
– But before uninstalling it, be sure to download the latest version.
– The new installation shouldn't delete the data <passwords, history etc.> that goes with it.
– This was talked about during the last show — see the notes here.

The Adobe Flash player gets frequent updates. Flash plays animations or videos like the kind you find at Youtube.
– There are 2 components installed, the Flash player itself, that's used by the web browser to play video, and the Adobe Flash Updater. The updater has a tendency to crash even though the player works fine.
– Viruses can get into your computer, bypassing any virus scanner, thru programs like the Flash player that hasn't been updated.
– The Java runtime environment is another program to keep updated in order to avoid malware. The current version is 7 release 5.
– To keep abreast of needed updates you can use a program called PluginCheck.
– As mentioned before, anti-virus software can't keep up with the variety of malware — none of them will catch 100% of the viruses.
– When an update is offered to you, go online & check for yourself that it's not a bogus request. <There is malware designed to get you to click a link, ostensibly to do the update, but in fact will load a virus onto your machine>.
– The other 2 programs that are updated often are Adobe Reader <for .pdf files> and Flash for Director. Again, go to the product's website to confirm or do the update from there, or use PluginCheck.

Ralph called to say AT&T has been offering, for some time, to put multiple cell phones on one bill. <referring to the Verizon plan mentioned above>
– Glenn said that's true but each phone had its own data plan. He expects the other cell phone providers to offer an option similar to Verizon's.

Ralph also said he likes the Magic Jack he bought after he heard about it on a previous show. There are substantial savings over a traditional phone service. But…
– When calling out, you have to dial the area code even for a local number.
– Glenn said he has cordless phones and "if you have a setting in there where you've included your area code, then it, when it redials something either from your phonebook or from your caller ID list, does not include the area code when it's redialing. So if you go into the menu and go to the area code and just delete the 530 or whatever it might be, then when you do redial a number from your call ID or your phonebook it will include the area code for calling out". <That wasn't clear to me but may make sense to someone in a similar situation>
– Glenn as also noticed a problem with jitter. <past shows mentioning jitter here and here> If your voice is breaking up it may not be due to a lack of bandwidth. Paul explained, latency is how long it takes a packet <of data> to go from one end of the connection to the other. That should be below 20 milliseconds. Jitter is what happens if the latency varies a lot and the circuits can't cope with it so the voice seems to break up or stutter.
– To check your connection for these conditions got to speedtest.phonepower.com
– If you're watching a movie or doing other things that use a lot of bandwidth, it's a good idea to stop that activity before making or receiving a phone call.

Magic Jack prices: $69.95 for the hardware (requires Ethernet cable), $30 per year service. <I think there are 2 versions — one requires a connection to your computer and the other connects directly to a phone line>

Paul recently went over to a system competing with Magic Jack called NetTalk. it costs about the same.
– As with Magic Jack, you can port your phone number to it. <use the same number you had with your landline>
– Paul found a cheaper price for NetTalk at Amazon.
– You can take it with you if you go abroad. As long as you have an internet connection your local number goes with you.
– One downside is that your caller ID does get sent out when you make a call, though your name does not.
– These companies make iPhone apps so you can make calls with an iPhone thru these VOIP units, using wi-fi or 3G.
– Glenn said Magic Jack has poor support — there's no phone number to call for support. NetTalk does have phone support and their website has a lot of troubleshooting tips.
– If your phone is used for any life-critical applications, lifeline for the elderly, alarm system, surveillance system etc. you still need the copper wire type of connection.
– With Magic Jack or NetTalk you register your address with them, then if you dial 911, the company forwards your address to the authorities. So, be sure they have your latest address, this is important if you start using the device at a different location — like when you're traveling.
– Related to this, Paul once dialed 911 on his AT&T cell phone and got "nothing", indicating that the good old landline is superior for this service.

Paul read the disclaimer:
The views expressed on this show, and probably some others too; are those of the speakers only, that's myself and Glenn Farr and not necessarily those of KVMR, the heroes who work here, it's board, management, staff or contributors.

Sharon called. Her Motorola Atrix cell phone was dropped into a lake and now the display is hard to see.
– Chances are it's not worth having it fixed…unless it's a smartphone.
– For a phone or similar device that's been in water, take out the battery (if possible) and put phone & battery in a bag of rice for about 4 days. The rice draws out the moisture. Even though her phone is working now, Glenn suggested she try that anyway.
– Get another phone on Ebay (a GSM phone that works with AT&T) . Then take the SIM card out of current phone and put it into the one you bought.
– Craigslist is another place to get a used phone. Try to get one from a seller who's near you so you can complete the deal face to face.
– Be sure the phone is unlocked or can easily be unlocked.

Sharon ask for an opinion on the Samsung Galaxy S3 phone.
– Go to a store and handle the phones to find one right for you and take advantage of any trial period that's offered.
– You can get your data transferred to the new phone at an AT&T phone store.

On Monday there was an outbreak of a virus called Alureon or TDSS rootkit. It subverts the DNS (domain naming system). <When you enter an address like 'yahoo.com' a DNS server converts the name into an number which is then used by your browser, or other programs that use the internet, to connect to the destination you want. But, the TDSS rootkit would send the conversion request to server run by the bad guys. Their server would then return the number of whatever website the bad guys wanted you to go to>

When the FBI busted the bad guys, they also took over the nefarious servers, but the FBI made those servers do the correct conversion. On Monday, the FBI finally shut down those servers, after a number of years — enough time for people to have rid their computers of the rootkit. Those who still have the rootkit will notice that their computers can't go anywhere on the net.
– You can google tdss killer and you should find a link that takes you to the Kaspersky website and there you can get a free rootkit hunter. <Presumable you'll do this from an uninfected machine>
– Paul said Microsoft Security Essentials will catch if you have the latest update.
<Related articles:
Don't Lose the Internet in July! FBI Repeats DNSChanger Warning
Malware Targeting Multiple Operating Systems Detected: In the wake of DNSChanger

>

Glenn made a pitch for membership to KVMR.

Hazel called for a friend who put a picture on Ebay but the picture gets fragmented.
– Ebay may be compressing the picture to reduce its size. Try taking a picture with a different camera.
– Use a different computer to look at the problematic picture. Maybe the particular computer is having a problem displaying it.

Last updated: 9:18 PM 7/11/2012

Additional notes

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.

Next show is expected to be on July 11

Paul brought up the question — does technology have style?
People have been modifying their computer cases to make them look more stylish or look newer than they really are. Known as modding, it was mentioned in last week's show <but not in then notes because they didn't really say much about it>.

Then there's the retroactive style called Steampunk.
– It's what Victorian era objects would look like if they had the things we have today. <I.e. a modern object made to look Victorian>
– It can also involve an anachronistic setting. Paul gave the fanciful example of photoshopping a picture of a nuclear power plant so it would look like it has polished brass and finely veneered oak.
– Often there's argument as to what is or isn't Steampunk and Paul played the audio from a humorous Youtube video describing what is not Steampunk. <I presume it's the link given above>

Glenn mentioned the recent Nevada City soapbox derby had an entry by The Curious Forge that, he thought, qualified as Steampunk.

<Here's a Steampunk project that brings old typewriter keytops to a computer keyboard:
http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml>

Paul: Steampunk is almost like the Society For Creative Anachronism — the past as it should have been

Glenn mentioned the Firefox browser has been updated recently. If you're using Thunderbird (email, RSS, newsgroup program), you may not get an automatic update notice — check for updates manually.

After version 3, Firefox has undergone updates at a fast pace — it's gone up to version 13 in about 18 months. He recommended uninstalling version 3 of either Firefox or Thunderbird, and installing the latest versions. When uninstalling Firefox, the data <passwords, history etc.> it uses is left intact and the newly installed version will be able to find that data. <Be aware when uninstalling, I think there's a box you have to check or uncheck to keep it from being deleted>

According to Paul, "If you follow the Mozilla project and get the program itself to perform the update, it can mess up the application sometimes. Firefox update doesn't do a clean job."

Recently Facebook changed their users' email addresses from what was entered in the profile to a Facebook domain <so it now ends in facebook.com, or something similar>. This was done without permission <and, as some have complained, without notification, so check your settings>. The email address can be changed back.

Paul had a problem with Paypal recently. He had trouble transferring funds because his credit card expired. The credit card normally doesn't have anything to do with the transfer — Paypal interacts with the bank account directly. <Paypal charges the credit card in when the bank doesn't have sufficient funds, so the card has to be current>. He tried tried to get help from Paypal and the ensuing online chat with a computer lead to the quote Paul posted near the top of this page.

Paul installed a whole-house fan recently. It has a 30" blade and required using a reciprocating saw to cut a hole in the ceiling.

Thomas called to ask how to uninstall Firefox on Windows XP.
– Before uninstalling, download the latest version of Firefox.
– Then click the Start button -> Control panel -> Add Or Remove Programs. Find Mozilla Firefox in the list and click uninstall.
– Then restart your computer.
– Finally, run the file you downloaded to install the new version.

<A large portion of the rest of the show was about fans and other ways to stay cool>

A caller recommended an alternative fan for Paul. He said…
– Tamarak Technology Inc has a unit with 2 8" fans that fit between cieling joists
– It has 2 doors that you can close during Winter and it has a remote control.
– The HB1600 model will handle a 2000 square foot house.
– Their website has a calculator to find the Q factor <I think he said Q, maybe skew).

Another caller said he measured the temperature of his roof and it was about 135 degrees during the hottest months. He then bought a "mushroom fan" from Home Depot and it brought the temperature down to 113. Later, when the fan broke, he found that the temperature would still get to only 113. He speculated that just making holes to install the fan made the biggest difference. Now he only opens the ceiling vents when the outside temps are lower than inside — no fan required.

Paul mentioned thermometers are available that show the attic temperature by using a thermocouple at the end of a 10' wire that you can poke up into the attic.

Paul said many energy-monitoring devices have gotten to be cheap. He found an infrared sensor gun for about $25. You can point it at an object to find its temperature from a distance. You can point it at a wall, ceiling or a doorframe to see where heat may be leaking or the insulation is inadequate.

Listeners were invited to email their tech questions to zen at kvmr dot org

Charlie called. He used picnic table umbrellas above the south side windows of his house. He said they work better than awning.
Glenn saw a 6' umbrella, what he called a golf umbrella, for $4.99 and an 8' for $8.99

Paul found an Oregon Scientific weather station for $1 at a thrift store. It has the ability to record air pressure, humidity & temperature.
– He talked about misters and swamp coolers <evaporative coolers> and noted they are not very effective in areas of the country with higher humidity — East Coast & South. There's less evaporation in high humidity and evaporation is what allows heat to be carried away. Given that, he said misters are extremely effective around here.
– Glenn said hand-held spray bottles work well too. He's even seen some that have small plastic fans attached.
– Paul was surprised to see swamp coolers costing around $600

Another relatively inexpensive device is the Kill-A-Watt. It plugs into the electrical wall socket and measures the electrical energy used by an appliance that's plugged into it. Paul loves his unit.
– You only need to program with the cost of the electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour).
– You then allow it to monitor the usage over a period of time to average out the energy consumption of a device — especially important for something that cycles on & off like a refrigerator.
– It will then tell you the cost of using the appliance for a year.
– The Kill-A-Watt cost about $30 and have been seen on sale for $15.

Steve called to say he installed a whole-house fan and emphasized the need to open a door or window to avoid air being sucked in thru a chimney. He added that the life span of roof could depend on ventilation.

He also thanked the guys for steering him Radio Shack for an AM/FM amplifier antenna. That solved his problem with receiving the KVMR signal.
– Sacramento listeners are known to have reception problems.
– Paul said there are 2 factors for good radio or wi-fi reception — the strength of signal and interference (from cordless phones & other wi-fi devices, both of which tend to use the 2.4 gigaHertz band).
– For better reception, one of the first things to try is to move your device or antenna around to see if you can get a better signal. That entails moving apart those devices that use the same frequencies (cordless phone & wi-fi router).

Paul is a long-time aficionado of slope soaring & gliding (radio-controlled aircraft).
– The speed record for a slope-soaring glider, with a 7' wing span, is well over 400 mph.
– As wind comes in from the open ocean it accelerates up and then, due to the Venturi effect, as it crosses over the top if a ridge it accelerates down. The pilot takes advantage of both the acceleration of the wind and gravity on the down slope to achieve the record speeds.

Tony called asking about GPS tracking devices. He'd like to track the device in real time, not just have a record of locations that he would retrieve later.
– The iPhone has an app for that. But then you'd lose the possession of the phone.
– Most GPS units have flash memory for storing location data. <But he needs to track in real time>
– The unit he needs will have to have some sort of radio link (using the cellular network or satellite) to be able to send data back in real time.
– At garmin.com Glenn found a unit that keeps tabs on children & pets. Glenn thought that might work. Their GTU-10 has a web-based GPS tracking service. It's $199, which includes 1 year of tracking service.

Paul said the Kindle ebook reader uses the cellular network when you buy content, you don't have to pay for the connection. You pay $80 or $90 for the reader and when you buy a book, part of the price goes to offset the cost of the network connection.

Paul has seen video from a camera that was attached to a hawk that show the hawk in flight going thru narrow gaps in trees. He said he'll put the link to the video into the show notes.

Last updated: 9:12 PM 6/27/2012

Additional notes

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.

NOTE: Glenn said there will be a Zentech show next Wed, 6-27-12

Paul stated the disclaimer before any tech talk:
"Views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and don't necessarily represent those of anybody, anywhere, anytime you've seen for any reason whatsoever."

The Bike Talk show had a broadcast in place of Zentech last week to cover a bike race and a soap box derby. Glenn was at the derby and he mentioned that the local Maker group, The Curious Forge, was involved.

Paul reminded us that the Summer solstice happens today. The length of daylight hours is at a maximum and will start getting shorter, slowly at first and then at a quickening pace.

Glenn has had trouble coordinating (synching) his calendar & contact list between his PC netbook, iPhone, iMac and a cloud service that he uses.

Glenn said his iMac's Duo Core Intel processor may not be able to run the Lion operating system (version 10.7). He thinks a Core 2 Duo processor is required. Paul confirmed that there is a work-around that Glenn can use as long is it isn't anything later than version 10.7.3 (approx.) that he's trying to install.

Paul said you can access your iCloud service with any machine by going to icloud.com. But to do so, you had to have previously synched at least once with an Apple device. Paul suggested that Glenn use the "backup" option to send his calendar data to iCloud; Glenn said he couldn't find a "synch" option.

Paul suggested Glenn login to his iCloud account and check the calendar to see which of his calendars are synched there. Also, Paul thought there is a PC app that lets you synch a Gmail account with Outlook, and a couple of other applications.

Paul said that people sometimes blame technology for problems they're having when, often, there was a design choice between mutually exclusive, but equally valid, methods. Paul's example: if you have 5 devices, should they have their own calendar or share only 1 calendar. There can be a complex logistical problem rather than a design fault.

Paul mentioned that RIM (Research In Motion) had made some poor choices and it's Blackberry is struggling to stay relevant, along with Nokia. Initially, Paul liked a physical keyboard of the Blackberry but it didn't take long to get used the touch screen keyboard, and he'll never go back.

Glenn got a message from T-Mobile stating that their merger with AT&T is off. In spite of that, they are expanding their 4G network, they said. However, Glenn's phone is the 3GS iPhone which can't take advantage of that, it only uses the EDGE network.

Paul said Cricket is offering a pay-as-you-go prepaid phone service. You buy a SIM card <along with the phone> from them and then buy as much usage as you need.
– You buy the iPhone at full price, unlike other carriers who sell the iPhone at a discount and then charge high monthly fees while under a 2 year contract. In the long run, you can save yourself significant money with Cricket or the similar service called Virgin Mobile USA.
– Beware that the phone you'll be buying is specifically designed to be used with a particular carrier (e.g. Cricket) and you can't take it to an AT&T plan.
– AT&T also offers a pay-as-you-go service but you have to buy voice, text (txt) and data separately, and the total you'll pay is close to their full service plan.
– In Europe you only have to buy the SIM card and put it into any GSM phone. Unlike the USA, they've decoupled the service & the phone.
– CDMA phones (Verizon, Sprint) require you to take it into the retailer to switch carriers. GSM phones (AT&T, T-Mobile) make that easier — they use the easily switchable SIM card.
– When Paul switches SIMs, he keeps the unused one taped (electrician's tape) to the inside of the back cover. Another thing to keep there is a SIM extraction tool.
– Glenn mentioned something called the SIM tray. He didn't describe it well but said it contains the IMEI & serial numbers for the phone and admonished listeners not to lose it.

John called. He has an old Claris Works document and he can't get it to open "in pages". For years, he's been transferring it from one Mac to another but his latest iMac desktop won't open it.
– Use the free Open Office suit for the Mac. That will open it.
– Once open, save it out in another, more common format.
– There are some converter programs you can buy.

Murdock called wanting to know how to convert audiocassette tapes to CDs.
– Many cassette players have a "phono" output <or a line-out jack> that you connect to your computer's line-in jack.
– Use Audacity to set the proper volume and clean up any noise. Audacity is a free sound-editing program.
– Get a tape head demagnetizer from Ebay, Amazon or Radio Shack and, following its instructions, demagnetize the heads in the tape deck. Also, clean the heads with alcohol. Do this to minimize distortion.
– As he was talking, Paul found, on the internet, the GGI USB Cassette to MP3 converter for about $28.. This may be a simpler solution.
– The music on your tapes may be available by other means <as music files on the internet, with possibly better quality>.

Ray sent in an email asking for an opinion about E Ink book readers. He thinks they may be a bit sluggish. And what about using an iPad as a book reader?
– The $400 to $600 for an iPad is pricey for a book reader unless you can take advantage of its other features.
– Paul finds it easier to read on an E Ink device. They simulate the experience of ink on paper as opposed to a lit screen.
– E Ink works better in bright outdoor conditions.
– E Ink doesn't use much energy so batteries last much longer.
– E Ink does indeed respond slowly. That's fine for reading but you're not going to play video games with it.
– Whichever device you get, it's likely able to read .pdf files — you're not limited to buying books. You can put the manuals (in .pdf format) for all of your devices on a reader to make them easily available, just as an example.

Ray, who wrote the email, called. He's wants the device for his mom who forgets to recharge her phone. He thought she would be happy with the 1-month battery life of an E Ink reader.
– Paul thought it would be easier to remember to charge a device if it came with a stand.
– Ray found a basic Kindle or Nook costs in the $80 to $100 range, and the Kindle comes with free cellular connectivity to facilitate buying books.
– Paul said the advantage to book readers is the ability to zoom in on the text <for people with eyesight problems>.
– Web pages tend to look crummy on book readers. If surfing the web is important, you may want to get 2 different devices.
– Check the return policy. Often you have 15 days to evaluate the product.
– Ray noted that the iPad can have a Bluetooth keyboard attached to it.
– Ray also noted that the Kindle has the ability to read aloud. <Wasn't clear if it needed additional hardware>
– Paul said, if reading aloud is desirable, there is a service called Audible that sells audio books.
– Ray said he's leaning toward the Nook because it has a SD slot.

Lastly, Paul said don't Yahoo! He's seen so many people who've had their accounts broken into, even those using recently changed, strong passwords. He thinks someone has stolen the password database. People using SBC Global and AT&T Net are included — those services use Yahoo.

Last updated:  9:23 PM 6/20/2012

There was no show on 4-25-12 — the show Adios Babylon was extended to 2 hours.

Next show is on May 23.
But on May 30 (the 5th Wed) is the membership drive and there will be NO show

CrashPlan.Com Backup free to your own equipment OR pay for their.s
All Platforms!

Google Drive http://drive.google.com and it DOWN sides in End User License.

 StuxNet – a virus to attack industrial systems. Cloak & Dagger stuff!

Linux + Andoid? Ubuntu!

Exciting 3 hr video of Logs Burning In Fire . HMMM!

High Dynamic Range (Hypereal?) photographs…

Online Multi Virus Scanner http://virusscan.jotti.org/en

Additional notes

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 reminded us that KVMR is a community-supported radio station. You can become a member by following a link on the main page: kvmr.org

Paul mentioned that KVMR has podcasts of some of the broadcasts. Check them out here. "click on the word 'podcast'. They are arranged chronologically.

Glenn said AT&T will now unlock your out-of-contract phone.
– Some of their people don't know about it or know how to do it. <Be persistent, I guess>
– Glenn was able to have AT&T contact the original owner of his second-hand iPhone. They verified that the phone was sold to Glenn and that it was not lost or stolen.
– Eventually, AT&T told him to go to iTunes and his phone will be unlocked with the next update/restore.
– Glenn is now using the unlocked phone with T-Mobile and he's paying $65/mo for unlimited everything.

Paul doesn't have a data plan with his phone so he uses the Tom Tom GPS software, which can be bought for $39. It's a large download of about 1.5gig. <More about it in 12-28-11 show notes>
– With that, you get all of the maps of the USA.
– Unlike Google maps, which entails connecting to the Google server, the Tom Tom software comes up faster and it works in places without a cell connection.

If you can do text (txt) messages, you can send to Google words similar to: directions Nevada City Rocklin. Google will return a text message giving the directions. The number to send it to is the word "Google" represented by the numbers on the keypad.
– First of all, send the word "help" to Google and you'll get a list of commands to use.
– One of the commands is "location". If you send the command location 95945, from then on Google will reference further queries to that location. E.g. you can text "here to Charmichael" and Google knows that 'here' means the zipcode 95945. Or text "Thai restuarant" and it will locate one nearby.
– This only requires the SMS service and not a full data plan.
– Paul said it works pretty well and has saved him the cost of a data plan.
– Don't do this while driving.

The disclaimer:
Any opinions you hear on KVMR and especially this show is that of the speaker and not that of the station, its staff, board, volunteers and underwriters.

Glenn talked about CrashPlan, a backup service. See the above link.
– The paid version allows you to back up your data to their servers. The free plan will back up your data locally: on a USB flash drive, for instance.
– CrashPlan allows you to send your data to a third party via the internet. E.g. you can send it to friend's hard drive for storage, if they give permission.

Paul said that programs like CrashPlan would usually require one to configure their local router & firewall. But CrashPlan uses a proxy server: a computer that intervenes between the source of the data and its destination (your friend's hard drive), so no geeky configuration is required.
– Paul brought this up because there is a privacy issue: a proxy server allows someone to see anything going thru it.
– To insure privacy, he said, store your data on a flash drive and put it in a safe deposit box.
– Glenn added that you can also encrypt the data first. He also said that CrashPlan similar to the Carbonite service.
– What you back up shouldn't be near the machine that has been backed up, so they wouldn't be subject to the same catastrophe.

Google Drive is a new service that gives you 5gig of free storage. Similar to other Google services like docs.google.com, mail.google.com, voice.google.com, calendar.google.com, you get to Google Drive with drive.google.com.
– When you activate the service, you'll be asked to download a piece of software to facilitate its use.
– You can pay for additional storage capacity.
– The downloaded program creates a folder in My Documents and its icon sits in your system tray (the box in the lower right of the screen).
– There is version for the Mac.
– It doesn't just blindly upload files but, instead, synchronizes them (makes sure the local & remote files are the same).
– It's fault tolerant. "If you lose your internet connection, what ever stage you reached, you will have those files"
– There is no essential limit to the number of devices you can login with.
– If you store documents compatible with Google Docs (Word, Excel, etc.), "you'll be able to see them" <see them in Google Docs is implied>.
– Previously you needed a program called CyberDuck to transfer files to & from Google, but no longer while using Google Drive. <More about CyberDuck in the 4-27-11 show notes>

Another Google service is music.google.com. It allows you to store up to 20,000 songs.
– Again, there is a program to download and it synchronizes your music with the service.
– Google doesn't seem to care about the amount of the data, just the number of songs.

The iTunes service was mentioned. If you bought music from iTunes, you can have it stored on the Apple server without actually uploading the songs. It keeps track of what you bought and serves you a fresh copy from its archive whenever you request it. If you want to upload music that you didn't buy from iTunes, Apple has a service called Match which costs $20/yr. With it you can synchronize up to 5 machines.

Bonnie called. She had read an article about smartphone cameras being used surreptitiously to spy on their owners.
– Both the Android & iPhone operating system have poor control over what the various apps do. <be careful about what apps you download>
– At one time, Apple had problems with phone companies leaving keyloggers on the iPhone. The phone companies were able to gather statistics about the phone's usage, ostensibly to improve service.
– Paul thought it's possible to do what Bonnie fears, but Glenn thought it unlikely — he hasn't heard of it happening
– snopes.com is a site where rumors are debunked. <Implied: Bonnie's article was spreading a rumor>
– Use opaque tape, that doesn't leave much residue, over the cameras: electrical or PVC tape might work.

There's an interesting article about the Stuxnet virus. It was specially written to target particular industrial equipment: uranium enrichment equipment in Iran. See the above link

Jim called. He's thought about buying a new phone and unlocking it. He noted how Glenn now uses T-Mobile on his unlocked phone.
– T-Mobile & AT&T use GSM. Glenn's unlocked phone just needed a T-Mobile SIM card to use that service. CDMA phones (using Verizon or Sprint) have to be taken to a retailer if you want to switch providers.
– Jim was warned by a retailer not to unlock a phone or there will be a loss of function. Paul said the word "unlock" was not properly used in this case. A phone that's unlocked by a provider should not have problems.
– To unlock a phone you need to have fulfilled your 18 month or 2 year contract. A used phone (as in Glenn's case) requires contact with the original owner.
– In the UK it's easier to have the phone unlocked as long as your contract is paid up (but not expired). That makes it possible to use the phone abroad by swapping the SIM card, and not have to wait for the contract to end.
– Officially, AT&T is committed to unlock smartphones past their contract but not everybody there is up to speed or even knows about it.
– For a new phone check frys.com. Click at the top where it says 2-day sale. You'll eventually come to a page where new, unlocked phones are sold.
– If you get an unlocked iPhone and put in it your current SIM card <from AT&T>, AT&T will treat you like other iPhone users and reserve the right to charge you for a $20 or $30 a month data plan that's required of iPhone customers.
– Check Ebay & Craigslist for used phones. Just remember to get contact info from the original owner in case you need to have it unlocked.

Jim went on to say that his Mac laptop sometimes makes several "boing" sounds in a row like he's being summoned to a chat room.
– Check the dock at the bottom to see what programs are running. You may have set some app to load at start up time <that's causing the problem>.
– You can disable a program from running at startup by holding down the mouse button while the pointer is over one of the apps. Then click "options" and uncheck "launch at startup".

Jim also suggested blue painters tape for Bonnie (above) to use to cover a camera lens — it leaves little residue.

Paul quickly went thru the remaining items at the top of this page:
– The Linux + Andoid? Ubuntu! link above talks about how Ubuntu 12 (or higher) gives you access to things on your Android device you don't normally have access to.
– He's found a 3-hour video of burning log.
– The Wikipedia article about High Dynamic Range digital photography talks about bracketing your a picture with high, low and normal exposures and then having software combine them in a way that makes the darker areas lighter and lighter areas darker, making it easier to see more of the details.
– The Online Multi Virus Scanner lets you upload a suspected file and it will submit the file to several online virus scanners at once.

Last updated: 5:22 PM 9/24/2012 (fixed bad link to "GSM" definition)

There was no show on the 11th. The bike show & Zentech traded broadcast times because of a special event the bike show needed to cover.

How to Lose Identity In No Time!

Additional notes

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.

Paul is back from England. He and Glenn were joined by Adam Brodel of Smarter Broadband. Adam called in to talk about terrestrial wireless.

At the top of the hour, the guys talked briefly about multi-core processors being common in today's computers. Glenn said the extra power allows much better voice recognition by the dictation program Dragon Naturally speaking.
<Dragon Naturally Speaking was discussed in a previous show>

Glenn mentioned that the new iPad is out & doing well and that the last show had some discussion about its battery life and concerns about the extra heat it puts out. <See the last show here>

Glenn also mentioned he got a Vizio tablet a few months ago. It's an Android based unit. After playing with it for a while, he discovered that he doesn't need a tablet because his netbook serves him well.
<The Visio was discussed in the 11-30-11 show>

Paul said there is a lawsuit between HTC & Apple over the look & feel of the HTC phone. Even though the operating system is different and the applications are written differently, Apple thinks the HTC phones are too similar to their own.

He also said the lines between devices are blurring — between laptops & netbooks, smartphones & tablets, etc.

Glenn said he has to hold his digital camera away from his face to frame the image and, he lamented, he'd rather use an old-fashioned viewfinder.
Paul noted that just because a camera has a viewfinder doesn't mean it's a single reflex camera (DSLR). The view isn't necessarily thru the lens — it can be looking at a LCD screen inside of the camera. He also said the SLR, with it's large aperture lens, allows one to control the depth of field unlike the cheaper point-and-shoot cameras, which are more like a pinhole camera.

Glenn mentioned a photographer who recently made a timed exposure of the Bay Bridge being struck by lightening. He gained notoriety within minutes of making the image available.

Paul said there's a line of cameras by Canon (the SureShot series, he thought) that can be hacked in such a way that the electrical impulse of a lightening strike can trigger the shutter quickly enough to capture the image of the strike. It can even capture the lightening bolt breaking up.

Adam Brodel joined the show. He said his company has recently brought wireless internet service into the Chicago Park area <in Nevada County>. The service is what he called "fixed wireless" which entails tranmitting from an elevated antenna to a receiver outside of the customer's house. The signal is then brought inside the house by an Ethernet cable.
– The speed is comparable to DSL and sometimes faster.
– The receiver at the residence is a panel antenna or dish and can be from a few inches up to 18 inches.
– This setup has low latency so you don't get delays like you can with satellite, for instance. It can even be better than DSL.
– The company has about 40 transmission points and covers the area from about 5-Mile House to Auburn and from "the AT" to Penn Valley
– Their internet data comes in by optical fiber into Auburn from 2 providers (for redundancy). The signal is then beamed to 3 towers and eventually to the rest of the network.
– The system is called Canopy. It's a proprietary system from Motorola.
– People are using up bandwidth like never before because of streaming video sites like Netflix & Hulu. The cheapest plan from the company will allow 7 to 10 movies a month. Netflix lets you turn off the HD feature so you can reduce the total amount of data you receive. Netflix, by default, will send the HD version and changing the setting means going from about 5gig per hour to about .5gig per hour and you probably won't notice the change in quality if your TV is less than 47".

The other bit of news is that Smarter Broadband has recently merged with Full Spectrum, which does DSL, dialup, hosting, email and PC repair. Now they can do all of that plus wireless.
You can contact Smarter Broadband at:
sales@smarterbroadband.com
Or call 530-272-4000

Paul said that in England he can get phone service for 10 pounds per month ($15 or $16) that includes 1gig of data, several hundred text messages and about 15min of phone calls. In England there's 98% cell phone coverage, because it's a highly urbanized nation.

For some time now, the FCC has had a requirement that cell phone companies unlock your phone after you've completed the contract but the companies have been reluctant to do that and requirement has not been enforced. In Britain it's been easy to unlock a phone, you just need to give them the IMEI number (like a serial number) of the phone. Some companies in Britain would unlock the phone even before your contact expired, as long as you're paid up.

In the past, the guys had trouble getting AT&T to unlock their phones.
<Related article: AT&T Will Unlock Out-of-Contract iPhones>

Once, Paul unlocked a phone himself but then lost the function of the GPS chip. This type of do-it-yourself unlocking has been a documented cause of similar problems and, on top of that, is not reversible. For instance, Glenn's unlocked phone periodically looses the cell signal and sometimes the wi-fi signal too. If you have the provider unlock your phone, you should not have these problems.

Rumors about the iPhone 5 say…
– It will be in a unibody case, a bit like the MacBooks.
– The screen will encompass the entire front face.
– It will have a retina display.

Glenn mentioned that Nokia came out with a new phone, but it uses the Windows mobile system. Glenn thinks using this operating system is a mistake.

The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on this show belong to us only, Glenn & Paul, and not necessarily those of this community radio station, KVMR, not even its board, certainly not its management. And the staff and contributors also are not responsible for anything we're talking about. And we're not really responsible for it either.

Bill called. He has an iPad 1 and said he found 2 big drawbacks — it has no USB port and it will not play Flash content. If he buys another tablet, it won't be an iPad.
– Some sites are now using HTML5 to play content, but lack of Flash is still a problem — e.g. he can't listen to audio samples at Amazon and other places.
– Glenn recommended a work-around program called Download Lite. <I guess this is it.> To use it, you download the video and then use Download Lite to play it. The iPad doesn't have to be jailbroken to use it you can get it from the app store. However, it doesn't work in all situations — not with Youtube videos.
– Even the latest iPad doesn't play Flash content and they probably never will. And Paul experienced Flash problems with MacBooks that use the Lion OS.

Bill said his daughter has the Android-based Motorola Xoom that works well.
– ASUS is now making tablets, Glenn suggest Bill check them out.

Janet called. She'll be getting an iPhone and wondered if there's an app for listening to radio programs, KVMR in particular.
– There is an app for Public Radio but maybe not community radio stations (KVMR).
– There's an app for commercial radio. <They both talked at once so I couldn't make out the name>
– "There is an application that the KVMR stream is linked to, it's simply called Public Radio". It's the Public Radio Player from PRX (Public Radio Exchange). If you have your GPS turned on, the app will even find stations near you.

She noted that the iPod Nano is supposed to have a built-in radio.
– This is a FM receiver and is subject to the limitations of a regular radio.
– Just use a regular FM radio.

KVMR has been putting out podcasts — time-shifted content of its broadcasts. Go to kvmr.org and look for where it says podcasts. You can subscribe to them using iTunes. <or just play them directly, double click where it says "Get mp3"> There are about 20 KVMR broadcasters making their shows available.

Podcasting and archiving are not the same. The podcast is delivered to you, but you have to go get the content from an archive.

Mary called to ask if one could listen to a podcast without any Apple equipment.
– Yes. Get the free iTunes software. There's a version for the PC.
– There's other software that lets you subscribe to a podcast. iTunes is not required.
– Simply click the download link when you're browsing an archive. After downloading you can do anything you like with it.

Next show is a week from now: on Apr 25

Last updated 8:30 PM 4/18/2012