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 < >

Remember, there's another show next week: 8/29/12

Paul and Glenn had Catherine Scholz on the show today. She's a web developer using WordPress: a blogging, website and content management system.

WordPress is free open source software that can be installed on a web hosting service (a company that owns the actual computer where, for a fee, your website resides). You can have the host install WordPress, and then you can easily create and update your website from any internet connection.

Paul called WordPress a content management system <CMS> similar to Joomla & Drupal and asked Catherine to compare them to WordPress. She said…
– WordPress is becoming more popular. It powers about 17% of the top 1 million websites and 22% of all websites.
– It's easier to use that Drupal & Joomla.
– It was just an blogging platform and, over time, took on more capability.

Paul noted that at some point, web content & presentation became separated: what's on a website vs. what it looks like. In WordPress you can change the appearance of the website without changing its content. Catherine agreed, you can change the theme, the colors, fonts, etc., and leave the content alone.
– There are many free themes to choose from as well as some you pay for, if you want technical support.
– Some free themes intend to lure you into buying a more advanced one. It's helpful to check that its author updates it occasionally or that there's a forum where other users carry on a discussion about it.
– You can create your own themes, which involves customizing a preexisting one.
– Themes tend to focus on subjects like nature, health or medicine.
– At home you only need a browser to maintain the WordPress website.

There are 2 ways to implement WordPress: self-hosted (using a hosting site) and using wordpress.com itself. For people just getting started, using wordpress.com is a good, free option. You don't have to worry about using the latest version or adding any bells and whistles (plugins), the WordPress company takes care of that. But you're limited in your choice of themes. However, if you later want to do something more ambitious, you can easily export everything to a self-hosted site. With a self-hosted site you can take on more maintenance responsibility and choose from more themes and plugins.

When you signup at wordpress.com, you'll see that it calls itself a blogging site but Catherine said you can use it to create a full website there.

Catherine got started with WordPress a few years ago when she saw a friend's website. He's a musician and was able to offer video, audio and sell his music on the site. She already had her own website but looked into what he was using and eventually switched over to WordPress. After she learned to use it, others asked her to develop websites for them.

When you first install WordPress, it comes with a "Wordpress-friendly theme" and a developer can customize it for their own use or install a different one. Catherine uses a theme by Ithemes called Builder, which can be completely customized. Talking about the tools needed to customize a theme, Catherine said some themes come with a style manager for making changes. These tend to be themes you have to pay for, though some free themes allow you to make some changes, too.

WordPress is very SEO-friendly. Search engines love WordPress because of the URL permalink structure. If you set it up in the right way using 'pretty permalinks' the keywords end up in the URL and the URLs are the number one thing search engines look at for relevancy.

Glenn encouraged listeners to become KVMR members.

Peter called. He had taken instruction from Catherine and now runs The Center For The Arts website.
– WordPress gives the site the ability to have a schedule of upcoming events using an event calendar plugin.
– Various staff members can have their own passwords, which gives them access to only certain parts of the website for editing.
– There's a way for an author to create content and editor to approve it, within WordPress.
– He said it mostly runs on CSS so editing is different from writing HTML.
– He's found it easier to use then the previous tool he used: Dreamweaver.

Catherine said the standard width of a page is now 960 pixels because that's the average monitor screen size. You can design for the desktop computer or a mobile device. There are themes with "responsive design", which sense what device is displaying the page and reconfigure the way it looks. <Smaller screens might look better with a simplified theme, for instance>

Zak called. He's runs a web software company in Australia and WordPress has been a major part of the income. He warned that some free plugins and themes contain malware and that it may be worth buying these addons from a trusted source. At least be aware of the problem and do some research. Catherine said she teaches "best practices" to avoid these problems as well as techniques to allow a site to be restored in case it does get hacked.

Paul said he uses 2 tools for security on servers. nessus.org offers a paid version as well as a "community" version. The program helps you "understand the kind of scripting defects that are widespread in generic plugins". <Scripts are just programming code>
– He also subscribes to an advisory called CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). Using it, he said, you can subscribe for notification regarding WordPress's plugin vulnerabilities.
– Catherine added the sucuri.net is a service you can use to scan your website periodically for malware.
– Zac also said there is great community of WordPress users where you can get much free information. Paul looked up and found wordpress.org/support. And there is the codex site which deals with the actual programming of WordPress.

Jenny called. She's an artist who wants to put together a website with a lot of visuals. She's currently looking at something called Intuit, which offers templates to get the site started. She's curious about WordPress but wondered about the learning curve, the complexity and the cost.
– Most of the cost is the time you invest in learning how to use it.
– She can expect her cost to be one-time rather than a monthly fee. Catherine said her service is a one-time charge and includes building the site and instruction on maintaining it. There's also the charge for hosting the website <renting the space on the server>. If you buy a theme it's usually a one-time charge unless you pay for continued support.
– With regard to complexity in learning WordPress, Catherine said she thinks anybody can do it. The interface to WordPress is pretty intuitive.
– Remember, wordpress.com is free to use and practice with.
– If you're concerned that you'll end up with the typical WordPress-looking site, have someone design it for you, then you'll only need to update the content.

Mentioned in previous shows, Nevada County Online facilitates like-minded people to meet up and discuss many aspects of the internet

Paul again said he'll post podcast of last weeks podcast which featured Coryon Redd discussing internet marketing.

Glenn reminded listeners the show will be on next week, too: 8/29/12

Catherine's site:
becomeawebweaver.com
Phone: (530) 362-8586
She teaches classes at:
sierracommons.org

Paul thanked Molly Fisk who, like Catherine, strayed from the realm of the arts to promote web endeavors as well as social media.

Paul addressed my own question, sort of. I asked about program that originally came from the Unix world: GREP. Specifically, I'm looking for a version that runs in Windows and has a graphical interface (GUI).

<GREP is the most powerful tool I've seen for searching within local documents for words or characters. It can find lines that, for example, contain both of the words 'cost' and 'finance', in either order, and also contain the alternates to finance–'financial' and 'financing' but NOT 'financed'. I already have a version that runs from the command line that I got here. But I wanted a version that runs in a graphical window. I'll eventually be exploring Wingrep>

Paul said there's no real equivalent on Windows. <That is not with all the capabilities of the original GREP. Though there are some versions with many of the same features>. He suggested running a Unix-like environment called Cygwin and getting the Unix tools, which come with GREP.

He also mentioned the search function built into Windows. But Glenn said he's had trouble with it not finding what he knew to be there. <That tool, I've discovered, tends to ignore the fact you've changed folders. You have to keep an eye on the box labeled 'Look in:'>. Paul added that if you have the Windows indexer turned off, searches may takes a long time or fail.

Paul also found the tool called Google Desktop, which over time, indexes your hard drive content and then lets you quickly search your documents. The indexing is done over a long time at a low priority so as not to slow the normal use of your computer. It also has plugins for searching special files like Lotus spreadsheets. Google doesn't support it any longer but Glenn said go to download.cnet.com and type in Google Desktop in their search box to find it.

My other question was how to tell if the product you're shopping for has a battery you can replace yourself. Glenn said he's not aware of any tablets like that. The tablet & phone companies have moved away from that model because they want you to come back to them & buy a new unit or send the device in to have the battery replaced. Paul said the other option is to take the unit apart yourself, perhaps with special tools, to replace the battery. He added that most units today have an LED backlight instead of fluorescent lights and can run much longer between battery charges, thus extending the overall battery life. He said this is true of many netbooks and PDAs and you can run at least 8 hours between charges.

Last updated: 9:45 PM 8/22/2012

Bike Talk from Nevada County Faire replaced Zentech on 8/8/12. Next Zentech show scheduled for 8/15/12

Free Audio Books : Public Domain.

Cell Use Pay As You Go IS Cheaper – but you have to pay up-front, not On Credit.

Fraud, F.U.D. or just misleading?? "Free Power" Banner Ads.
Free as in what? Beer? or Air?

Cascading Security FAilures!

Additonal 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.
– Editor's comments are delimited by < >

Remember, Zentech is scheduled to air the next 2 Wednesdays: the 22nd & 29th

Paul & Glenn had Coryon Redd on the show today. He talked about internet marketing. It's all about getting people to find your business on the internet. Coryon has done several shows. To find them, you can go to zen.kvmr.com and do a search for the word: coryon

First up, hotmail.com is now outlook.com. The change came about a week and a half ago. You can go claim your <account> name <before someone else does>. Coryon got his: coryon at outlook dot com

Coryon's business contact is at coryon.com
His blog is here: coryon.com/blog

Coryon said there's a company that buys domain names with family names (last names) and then sells email service to those with that last name. <If you're John Smith you can have the email address john@smith.com>

Paul read somewhere that 3-letter domain names <xyz.com> were used up some time ago. Then 4-letter names were exhausted. Now most 5-letter names as well as words from the dictionary, with the .com ending) are used up.

Paul asked Coryon if there's an advantage to using the top-level domains .us .biz. He said no. Coryon also said stay away from long or hyphenated names <like business-consultant.com>, they're too hard to remember.

Coryon said it might be a good idea for a business to buy domain names that are similar. In his case he bought batteriesforless.com because his company is at batteries4less.com.

Glenn invited listeners to become KVMR subscribers.

Coryon mentioned free software called Hootsuite that helps you manage and schedule your social media messages. You can send tweets, Facebook updates and Google plus messages from one place. Paul noted that Google is getting smart about recognizing link farms and other questionable sites that attempt to get a higher Google ranking. But using Hootsuite won't be a red flag to Google causing it to lower your ranking in the search results <Google won't think you're using shady techniques>. In fact, Coryon said, one of the ways Google is getting smarter is that it pays attention to social media content that becomes popular: video that goes viral, tweets that get retweeted, etc.

Coryon said what makes a big difference <in Google ranking> is quality links: links to your site showing up on "related, relevant, quality sites". Google has implemented the Penguin algorithm, which determines what sites links come from. If they come from low quality sites like link farms, they get demoted in the search results.

Coryon noted that Google allows you to rate sites that you get in the search results using Plus 1 (+1, a button next to the search result). A few months after Plus 1 became available, Google launched Google Plus, a social network, that has nothing to do with Plus 1.

He said you used to be able to do a Google search using text that's quoted, to indicate the words should occur together <e.g. "Of Mice and Men" will search for the title>, or use + before a word, to indicate it's mandatory that the word occur on a page. But they had trouble with how people were searching for Google Plus and the "+" symbol, so these search tricks are no longer available. <However, I haven't found this to be true. I dunno, maybe it's because I do my searches with Javascript turned off.>

Coryon mentioned the service called Pinterest where you can create boards <categories, I guess> of special interest and post related content: pictures, articles, video, etc. He said Pinterest a bigger player in social marketing than Google Plus, at this time, but if you continue to use Google Plus to promote your business, it will eventually effect the search raking of your business. He said Google Plus has some interesting features like making it easy to organize your contacts, and it integrates with your blog posts.

About 6 months ago Google notified users about a change in the terms of service. It unified the terms across many of its services (Youtube, Gmail, Google Plus, etc.). Coryon seemed sanguine about the change because it helps personalize your experience and he was confident that Google will keep your personal info private.

Paul mentioned a technical writer, Mat Honan, whose iCloud account was hacked, which then gave the perpetrator access to the writer's other accounts and eventually led to the his data being deleted. It started when the last 4 digits of a credit card were discovered.
<From a recent On the Media show you'll find audio of the Mat describing what happened.
The Wired article by Mat Honan: How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking j.mp/Ty1DRl
A recent article on How to prevent your own 'epic hack' with a 60-minute security makeover>
– He said if your email gets hacked, your bank can be deceived into thinking the perpetrator is you. Some banks use your email address as a way to authenticate its customers.
– Glenn said he's often asked which email service is better. He thought they are all vulnerable to being hacked and misused in the way just mentioned.
– With Google, Paul said, there is a trade-off between security & convenience. If you enable the 2-stage authentication and there's a problem with the login process, Google will send a text (txt) message to your phone to initiate the second stage of the login. It's more secure, but is more inconvenient to use.
– Coryon said he read an article that compared the cost in productivity of managing and changing passwords vs. the cost of what's stolen. The conclusion was that the extra security wasn't worth the effort.
– Paul thought there may be some value to disguise your profile, if you're concerned about privacy. His Facebook page has him as a female from Kyrgyzstan who's living in Cambodia.
– Coryon said, just limit the info you make public. He thought Paul's deception is silly.

Coryon returned to the subject of marketing and the fundamentals of SEO.
– Know your business, know the keywords you're going after and build content into your website.
– Make sure your website isn't slow. Google will rank a slow site lower.
– Get people to spend more time on your website. Google knows how long people spend on a website before coming back to do another search.
– Use social media to promote your website. Get other, quality websites to link to yours.
– As mentioned above, avoid using questionable SEO services and link farms. Google will notice and will lower your ranking. The Penguin algorithm was mentioned again and Paul found a good Wikipedia article about it. <And an article about it here.>

Coryon is teaching an introductory marketing class Monday night in Auburn at 6 o'clock. More info at coryon.com/classes. You can register for the class at SEDCorp.
He encouraged the local business community to get involved with a local group called Nevada County Online. They have a speaker once a month on marketing topics. They meet on the 4th Tuesday at 11 AM at the Courtyard Suites in Grass Valley. Joshua Sandstrom is scheduled for the 28th to discuss e-commerce. Nevada County Online members get a discount from SEDCorp, if they ask for it.

Paul said he'd like to get Catherine Scholz on the show to talk about WordPress, a blogging & web design software. coryon.com is designed with WordPress.

Coryon told the story of woman who sells decorative pins featuring draft horses to illustrate the need to know your market. Bottom line is no one is going to search for such an item, so optimizing for search engines isn't going to help. And educating the market about such a product is a "pain in the butt" requiring a big budget.

Coryon has marketing videos at coryon.com/video.
His site also has tutorials.

There are 2 main area to focus on if you want to rank high in search results…
– 50% is getting reputable sites to link to your website. Use social media to get the word out.
– 50% is what happens on your site. Make sure it's keyword focused. Make sure you have a good title and headers for your web page. Make it easy to navigate and use alt tags for your images.
– You can educate yourself about this if you search Google with the words: seo tutorial

Paul said he read an article about how Google is getting better at identifying images. <Here are a couple of articles (maybe not one he read)…
In a Big Network of Computers, Evidence of Machine Learning nyti.ms/KzLLrB
Google team: Self-teaching computers recognize cats tw.phys.org/259938943>

Coryon talked about a cell phone app called Google Goggles. You can take a picture of something (works best with a product) and the app identifies what it is. When it first came out he demonstrated it to class he was teaching by have it identify a painting hanging on a nearby wall.

Paul said there's an app called LeafSnap <maybe only for iPhone> that can identify a plant after you take a picture of its leaf.
Glenn said Facebook can identify peoples faces. Picasa has that ability too.

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

Paul said that AT&T has switched from DSL to U-verse. <called Uverse in the notes for other shows>
– Old DSL modems no longer work.
– The new service is what's known as ADSL 2 Plus.
– It can handle more data.
– The new service has no dialtone. Phone service is provided using voice over IP (VOIP) using U-verse.
– You can tell if you have the newer modem by looking at its side. The wireless ID begins with the letters "ATT" (ATT619, for example) instead of "2 wire".
– Not available in the Nevada City area, as yet, is the ability to stream video on demand using U-verse.
– Today is the last day you can chose a different provider <different from AT&T, I guess> and still use DSL <the old DSL, I guess>.
– The new service costs less for 1-year contract.

Paul said you can get free public domain audiobooks. See the above link.

Coryon mentioned another free audio book that talks about business innovation. It's called "Free. The Future of A Radical Price". You can get it at Audible. The 7-hour version is free, the 3-hour edited version is $7.

Paul said the podcast of this show will be on the KVMR website in the next 48 ours. Go to KVMR and click where it says "podcast".

Last updated: 10:27 PM 8/23/2012

ATT New Shared DAta Plan like Verizon's

Google Privacy Concerns Clearly Explained
(Although we are NOT endorsing this site as any better!)

Download a complete copy of whatver Google has on you here:
https://www.google.com/takeout/
European regulators require data stores to provide you all of whatver they stored about you….
FAcebook has this feature, too…

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.

Mentioned briefly, the links above concern what Google knows about you and how you can get a copy of that information.

The last show talked about Verizon's new cellular offer that allows up to 10 devices on one plan. Now, AT&T has a competing plan. Paul said that AT&T's plans tend to be confusing and he's found an iPhone app called "MyWireless". It shows his monthly usage, and what options, like international roaming, he has turned on.
<Info on MyWireless for Android here. And for iPhone here.>

While looking a AT&T's offer, Glenn said the basic plan for 2 phones is $170 <a month, I guess, he wasn't explicit>. That allows the two phones to share 6 gigs of data. You can add a tablet for an additional $10. It seems that the voice & text (txt) are unlimited. He cautioned, "do your homework". See the above link for more info.

Paul said the cellular companies charge what the market can bear. The data plan is becoming a utility like gas & water. He compared the battle between the cellular companies to that between Edison and Tesla in their conflict between DC vs. AC electricity.

As mentioned in previous shows; Glenn switched to T-Mobile for his phone plan and he pays about $65 per month. He has an interest in the data portion of the plan but has found that his data usage is, in fact, pretty low. He said that's because he's mostly on wi-fi. Paul concurred and said the order of preference is to use an Ethernet connection, then wireless and, lastly, 3G <cellular>. He added that he's decided to do without 3G data because wireless (wi-fi) connections are plentiful for his needs.

Glenn said he recently helped a friend connect their new TV to the web thru a wi-fi router. Paul thought it's interesting that the internet has become like a utility, too.

Paul went on about utilities, talking about the attempt in California to break the electrical monopoly by letting startup utilities sell energy derived, for instance, from greener sources like hydroelectric. They use the same power grid infrastructure and the cost depends on the distance from the generators — hydroelectric may be cheaper in one location, but coal power may be cheaper if you're closer to a coal-powered plant.

Glenn had the notion that AC electricity has a tendency to lose power over distance. However, Paul said that it's quite efficient because of the use of transformers to boost the voltage for long distance transmission. Then transformers are used to step down the voltage when it reaches the consumer. The efficiency, he said, is 98% but the down side is that the high voltage is difficult to insulate against. Glenn noted that the transmission lines are not insulated and Paul said they have a steel core with aluminum around it. That's because the power transmission to weight ratio is better for aluminum than copper. The steel is there to support the weight of the lines.

Paul said he was reading an electrical code book because he was rewiring his house. He learned that it's not the voltage that does you in, it's the current. You can feel 1 milliamp <mA> of current and 18 milliamps <mA> can kill you if it passes thru your heart.

Paul went on to say that Edison fuses (with a screw-in base) are not allowed anymore. Ground fault indicator switches are being used now. They measure that portion of current coming from the live conductor that does not go to neutral. Such a current occurs from a ground loop — it passed thru an unintended circuit like the metal case of a device. The fastest & most efficient Ground fault indicator switches are used in the bathroom.

Adrianna from the KVMR membership department came into the studio to ask the listeners for a donation of a Mac computer that will be able to run InDesign; Photo Shop and Illustrator. I will be used for an internship program in graphic design at Sierra College.
– Needs to be in Intel Mac, not a G3, G4 or a G5. These older models will not be able to run the intended programs.
– The newer and faster the better.
– Does not have to have any apps on it, not even an operating system.
– Contact her here: membership at kvmr dot org or call (530) 265-9073 ext. 203
– If you're not sure the computer you have qualifies, contact the guys: zen at kvmr dot org
– Any data on the computer will be safely removed.

Sandy sent an email inquiring about the error message "could not find the flash.ocx file". ocx is an ActiveX component — it's an addon application that runs inside the Internet Explorer (IE) browser.
– Do a search for the Flash player plugin and reinstall it.
– In the search window of IE search for "install flash player" and you should find the link: get.adobe.com/flashplayer.
– You'll be given the option to also get Mcaffee Security Scan. Answer NO.
– Current version is 11.3.300.265
– Do this from IE not some other browser to get the proper download.

Paul doesn't like flash. It's been a vector for vicious invasions (malware). But it's needed for Youtube, Flash animation and even parts of Facebook and it will remain a necessity until something better comes along, perhaps HTML5.

Glenn's been having problems with sending email on his iPhone — it is sometimes sent before he finishes typing. It was determined that Glenn has "fat fingers" — his middle finger tends to hit the 'done' button.

Paul said there's related problem with laptops where, while typing, the thumb can drag over the trackpad and inadvertently make the cursor jump all the screen.
– You can place a piece of cardboard over the trackpad.

As an aside, Paul said people with disabilities who use iPhones or iPads might benefit from a conductive pencil with a rubber point to operate the touch screen. However, neither he nor Glenn has been impressed with the ones they've tried.

In the days of slower computers, making the mouse pointer move on the screen was a bit tricky for the operating system. The pointer had to be drawn, erased and then drawn in a new location. Slower computers tended to leave trails of the pointer called "mouse droppings".

Tony called. He had shot a movie with his Flip camera, which resulted in an .mp4 file. He tried editing it in Final Cut Pro and found it would take about 25 hours to be rendered. He vaguely remembered doing it faster in the past when he converted the .mp4 into the QuickTime format (.mov).
– .mp4 files are highly compressed and it can very well take a long time to uncompress with minimal loss of information, no matter what software program you use.
– In the past it was possible to register the QuickTime player for $29. That unlocked some features, one of which was the ability to save to another format. The program iMovie might let you save to another format too.
– Try changing the setting in the Flipcam to save in another format.
– Paul did a quick Google search for mp4 mov convert and found Video Converter For Mac, and a trial version will let you do limited conversions just to try it out. If you like it, you can buy it for $39.
– Whatever you opt for, inspect the resulting video on a large screen to insure the quality is what you want. Software that works quickly may just be cutting corners on the quality.
– Glenn found the site support.theflip.com/en-us/home and at the bottom left you'll see 'flip video system requirements' for tips about the camera.

In response to the touchpad problem Paul talked about earlier, John called to suggest TouchFreeze. This free progam will disable the trackpad when you start typing and reenable it when you stop.

John also had a suggestion for Tony's problem. He uses a free program called "VirtualDub" for video conversions.
– Paul found it at virtualdub.org
– Paul remembered the old program Mplayer that could play many formats, as well as Videolan Player. <mentioned in a previous show>
– John also mentioned Total Video Converter, which he thought was excellent, but it's not free.

Paul doesn't like Windows Media Player and is now using Videolan. It even plays flash (.flv) files.
– .flv files are what you get when you use DownloadHelper on a Youtube video.
– DownloadHelper is a plugin for the Firefox browser. If you search for it, use the one word: downloadhelper
– One of the search results points to downloadhelper.net
– Perhaps a more trustworthy site is addons for Firefox; addons.mozilla.org
– Current version is 4.9.9

Glenn's point was well taken by Paul who then suggested the proper way to get addons for Firefox. In Firefox, go to the tool menu -> addons, then search for what you want. Doing it thru the Mozilla site should help reduce the chances of malware. Again, avoid downloading any extras that may be offered to you. It's not the worst thing that can happen to you but you may end up with persistent toolbars taking up space on your screen.

The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on this show, as we have been doing, are those of the speakers, that's Glenn and I, only and aren't necessarily those of this radio station, which is KVMR, its board, management, staff or contributors.

David had asked Glenn about converting vinyl recordings to digital while reliably separating the tracks into individual files. <so you don't end up with just one .mp3 of the entire side of an album>
– Use a USB turntable and accompanying software. If there is silence between tracks the software may be able to separate automatically. If the music blends between tracks, you may be able to see the transition by viewing the visual waveform.
– KVMR uses the Adobe software for editing sound. It has a filter to find the breaks between tracks (songs).
– As with converting video, check for satisfactory results, possibly enlisting another set of ears, before throwing the records out.

James called to say he can't get the Flash player to play on his iPhone 4.
– Apple seems adament about not allowing Flash player on the iPhone. Get used to it.
– There's an app called 'Youtube' for the iPhone. <I guess it's for the Youtube site only. James wanted to view video on a financial site>|
– There may be apps for specific sites using different (non-Flash) format videos. You'll just have to search for them.

Also, James talked to AT&T asking why his iPad 3 is slow using 4G compared to his iPhone sitting right next to it.
– AT&T said the iPad can't fallback to a 3G connection, it can only use 4G. <His 4G connection is too weak to give good performance>

Paul recently bought an infrared and sonic measurer made by Ryobi at Home Depot for $40. It uses sound to measure distances up to 30 feet and a second function to measure temperature.

Last updated: 9:52 PM 7/25/2012

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