Moon Phase, SunRise, Sunset, you name it! Personalise it.
http://www.sunrisesunset.com   Thanks Terry S.

NEW Pandora COMEDY CHANNEL

Privacy & Informed Consent Issues in Computer Rental – and in general…

Everlasting Cookies!

Hackintoch: Boot a native MAC Operating ssytem on non Apple hardware

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart
They're tagged with #Zentech

Editor comments are delimited by < >

Paul said if you want to know what podcast are, open your iTunes program, go to the iTunes store and search for podcasts. They are time-shifted recordings that you can download or subscribe to and listen to at your convenience.

A humorous podcast from RadioLab about the afterlife was played. It was dedicated to Chamba Lane.
Chamba Lane, a KVMR broadcaster, has lung cancer; learn more at front page kvmr.org
More on Chamba's condition and on sending him your kind thoughts
…click here:

Some other podcast can be found at The Moth.

There's a way of using iTunes store without giving a credit card number.
<I did a brief search and found instructions here.>
Paul only ever bought 2 apps at iTunes: Angry Birds & Photoshopadelic. There's more about Photoshopadelic on his Facebook page.

Glenn said he has some photos on his Facebook page, including some of Chamba Lane.

Paul mentioned the LeafSnap iPhone App. identifies leaves by their shape
See the above link. He said it doesn't work on his iPhone 3G; you need a 3GS. And, he said, it favors leaves from the Eastern part of the US.

That reminded Glenn of the app Shazam that recognizes music played into your iPhone and tells you what it is. He said it should work even if you sing or hum the tune.

Pandora has a comedy channel where you can find content by Robin Williams or Steven Wright, etc. See the above link.

Google is launching a cloud-based music service. You'll be able to upload your music and then listen to it on other devices. It's in beta now and if you have a Gmail account you can request access. Further info at Music Beta by Google.

Paul talked about how Google does things by brute force, using the processing power and storage available to it. For example, its language translation service doesn't use semantic parsing but, instead, compares the input against all documents available to it that have a phrase similar to the input.

Glenn said he used to work for Xerox in the '80s & into the '90s, and their huge water-cooled computer didn't have the processing power he now has in his iPhone.

Paul went on to say that Amazon, Ebay and Google are among the larger companies moving toward cloud computing.
As a result, storage, processing and bandwidth have become commodities similar to the old days of mainframe computers. The mainframes used to be what the cloud is now and the terminals were what our home computers are now.

Paul mentioned a fact-checking site and gas prices in particular. See the above link. He also observed that the difference in pump prices seem to be smaller now than in the past.

Dave called to say he's found university courses on iTunes located at iTunes University. All sorts of topics are available and you can start exploring here.

Paul said MIT pioneered the idea of putting textbooks online rather than printing only a handful at a time.
<I've found MIT's Open Courseware very interesting and you can download the lectures directly — no iTunes needed>

Dave also said there's an app to view twit.tv, which has technology information and news podcasts. <I think you can get it live too — http://live.twit.tv>

Dave then asked for a good drawing app for the iPad. Not having an iPad himself, Paul asked listeners for suggestions. So far, Dave's tried Art Studio and Inkpad.

Finally, Dave highly recommended Garage Band for the iPad — even if you're not a musician.

Paul mentioned another of his favorite sites, rsanimate by the British Royal Society for Arts. The videos there deal with such things as "the making of stuff, where stuff goes, how we communicate and how the world is changing".
<googling rsanimate I get these results.>

Lisa called to say she likes AVG and would like to continue using it, but for the 2nd time in about a year she has a virus. It's one of those viruses that try to sell an anti-virus program, and it also keeps AVG from running.
– All anti-virus programs will fail. They're about 95% effective because virus are created faster than the anti-virus programs are updated, so some viruses sneak by.
– The guys "suggest" (not necessarily recommend) using Microsoft Security Essentials. It's a free download and a good alternative to AVG.
– As a defense against infection, Glenn said, it's ok to open an email but don't click on any links it may contain — even if the email is from a friend.
– Do a proactive check of the plugins used by your browser. Viruses can get in thru outdated browser plugins. Do a google search on the word — PuginCheck.
<I found something at Mozilla. I wonder if this is what Paul was talking about>
<see also:
Mozilla expands plug-in check to other browsers>

< articles about Microsoft Security Essentials:
Microsoft Security Essentials: Free, so what's the catch?
Warning: Microsoft Security Essentials installer zaps Automatic Updates setting
Microsoft's Security Essentials scores 'very good' with independent tester>

<Test results comparing various anti-virus programs>

Paul went on to talk about indestructible cookies. See the above link. <What is a cookie>
Though cookies set in the browser are easy to clear, there are other places where they can be stored and where it's hard to get rid of them.
<E.g. you can learn about Flash (or zombie) cookies here.>

Michael called to say his 9-year-old computer lost the CD drive. He gets the error: "Window successfully loaded the device driver, however it cannot find the device. Code 41"
– Do a Google search for "code 41".
– Check the connectors to the drive.
Michael said further symptoms are when he puts a CD in it, the light blinks but it doesn't spin.
– So then it could be an electrical outage.
– It may be a bad CD drive.
– The age of the computer indicates he has a PATA drive (not a SATA) so be sure to get the right kind.
-SATA drives are getting to be hard to find and you may have to go to Ebay to get one.
– The 2 things you don't want to get as used: CD drives & laptop batteries.
– Get an external (USB) DVD burner instead of an internal CD drive.

Michael also broke the screen of his mp3 player. Though he's bought a new one, he still wondered how to go about fixing the old one.
– Go on Ebay and use the model number and the word "screen" as search terms to find a replacement.

Tim called. His daughter's computer got a virus and lost the wireless & Ethernet connections for just one of the user profiles.
– Start it up in safe mode by holding down the F8 key while booting. You can then run AVG in safe mode. This also applies to the previous caller Lisa.
– After scanning with AVG, create another profile and bring the data over to it.
– Glenn suggested using MalwareBytes in addition to AVG.

Test results comparing various anti-virus programs

Paul went on to talk about running the Apple operating system on non-Apple hardware using Iboot (see the above link)
– It doesn't work with AMD processors, only Intel.
– It works only on certain machines and only with certain attached hardware (like video cards).
– Paul used it briefly with success.
– You first put it on a CD then boot from the CD. At that point it will ask for a disk of the genuine Apple OS. It doesn't crack the Apple OS but provides the interface between it and your hardware. It makes your hardware look like Apple's.
– Paul doesn't recommend using it in a business. You should start with an empty hard drive — if you use your Windows boot hard drive, you may lose everything. This is for experimenting only and "you didn't hear it from us"…

The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of just Glenn and I and are not necessarily those of KVMR's board of directors staff or anyone else.

Marilyn wrote in to ask if Microsoft Security Essentials & AVG can coexist.
– No. Uninstall AVG. Then install Essentials and go online to let it do its updates.

Gary called to say Avast is another good anti-virus program.
He also offered to give Michael (a previous caller) a CD burner.

Last Updated:9:35 PM 8/14/2014
(corrected typo: Marylin to Marilyn)

Another SuperPad!

Additional notes….

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart
They're tagged with #Zentech

Editor comments are delimited by < >

Paul & Adam Brodel (of Smarter Broadband) did the broadcast from London; Glenn called in from Sacramento.

Red Laser for the iPad or iPhone is an app that lets you scan a product's barcode, using the camera, and find the best price. You can use it in stores that have a price match guaranty to get the best bargain. Note that the original iPad didn't have a camera, only the latest version does.

The bigger retailers have product models that differ slightly in their names. Costco might have an Office Jet 6300AE and Fry's might have an Office Jet 6300FE, for example. This makes it difficult to argue they're the same printer, for a price match guaranty, even though they are.

There are a lot of tablet computers, based on the Android operating system, coming on the market in competition with the iPad. Paul saw one called Superpad with a 10" display for $179. Among its features are HDMI output (for video), USB ports (you can hook up an external keyboard & mouse) and Wi-Fi. See the above link. Paul said he's heard that its gesture-based operating system is not as slick as the iPad's because the unit is a bit under powered — its processor runs at 1 gigaHertz.
However, Paul was impressed enough to order one.

Adam talked about his favorite apps. He likes Evernote for jotting down your thoughts. It runs on the PC, Android & iPhone. It also synchs back to a server. You can get it for free at evernote.com or pay to get more features.

Paul said the Apple iPad & iPhone run on proprietary hardware so the operating system can run only on those devices. But the Android operating system can be used in a range of hardware.
  Glenn jumped in to say, apps for Android can be specific to the type of device — e.g. apps with phone features won't work on a netbook, as he found out when he bought the Coby (mentioned here and here). Paul then said that Android version 3 will come in 2 flavors — one for cell phones and the other for devices that don't have a cell phone onboard.

Paul said he uses Cnet to read product reviews. Google the words: cnet superpad, to get reviews for it.
Also regarding SuperPad, Paul said it can be hacked to death by putting the Linux operating system on it.

Paul related the story of how the developers of the Blackberry, at the launch of the iPhone, wondered how it could run longer than half an hour. They got one & opened it up to find that it was mostly battery.

Glenn gave us an update on his project to take apart his iPhone 2G, mentioned in the last show. He had put it together wrong — cables he thought worked just by contact had to actually be plugged in. Doing so got his screen working.
The screen he bought for it has some bad pixels and Paul said that there's a little-know rating system for screens based on how many pixels are bad.
Glenn went on to say the capacitive touch screen still doesn't work and he'll be taking another look at that.
He said the got a 3GS iPhone and appreciates the faster speed. He intends to use the 2G during his international travels.

Paul told a story of when he lived in Japan and he had a colleague who's job was to order various chips from the U.S. and slice them very thinly in a device similar to a biologist's microtome. He would then take photos of the layers to document how the chip was made.

Continuing with his favorite apps, Adam mentioned Dropbox. On the PC you can have folders containing files you want to share. You can share them with other computers (and other users) or the iPad, etc. The folders automatically synch between the devices. The free version gives you 2 gigs of storage and you get extra storage when others share with you. Mobile platforms supported include iPhone, Android, Blackberry and iPad; that's in addition to the PC & Mac computers.
Adam said he doesn't like the idea that others can delete files from a shared folder, but thankfully there is a way to recover a file on the Dropbox website.

Paul said that Google Docs allows you to store files. You can do that with an app you run on your computer — you don't have to use the web interface. The app called Cyber Duck <I think this is for the iPhone> <This page has some info, I can't vouch for this site> can save & retrieve files in Google Docs. For the PC & Mac try the version of Cyber Duck here <again, I can't vouch for this site>. Those with unlocked iPhones can check Cydia for other apps.

Size limits for Google Docs

Paul mentioned his favorite apps for the iPhone & iPad. One is for Ebay and the other for Craig's List that works better than the website itself.

Adam did a search for Google mobile apps and it said to type m.google.com into your phone's browser and you'll be told what's available.

Paul said if people are struggling with the Yahoo site, especially those using dialup and mobile devices. try using the address m.yahoo.com instead of yahoo.com. That bypasses the code-ladened Javascript and gives you a faster browsing experience.

Glenn mentioned that Adam is with smarterbroadband.com and that he was on the phone a few weeks ago talking about the options for an internet provider in the Nevada City area. A previous show discussed the limits providers are starting to place on the total amount of data you can get for your subscription. Adam said this is mostly due to all of the streaming video people are watching. He said there's only so much data that can travel on the infrastructure and people watching a lot of video, especially high definition, hog too much of the bandwidth and make the connection slow for others with whom they share the connection.

Paul used to "be part of" a service provider when dialup was popular and, he said, between 2% & 5% of the users used 90% of the resources. He said it's called the "tragedy of the commons" — "what appears to be free and commonly available doesn't, necessarily, imply limitless".

Glenn asked Adam if there are new technologies on the horizon that will give us more bandwidth. Adam said there may be marginal improvement with wireless or copper but the only significant improvement will come from fiber optics.

Paul said AT&T Uverse is a service that's trying to compete with Netflix
Glenn said Uverse is more than that — it also competes with cable TV.
Adam said Uverse uses ADSL2 which Paul thinks is about 10 megaBits per second. To get the faster speeds the consumer has to be closer to the distribution point so rural users may get left out.
Paul said satellite is still an option and its offerings are getting better, but it's still iffy. <A previous show mentioned satellite service>

Carrie called about DVD labeling. She's heard that the adhesive can come off while in the player and wondered what other choices she may have.
– You can get an inkjet printer with a special holder that allows you to print directly onto the DVD. You have to use special DVDs that are made to absorb the ink — you can't print to just any DVD. There's one such printer made by Epson.
– Glenn said most DVD burners you buy today have what's called 'lightscribe' and, again using special disks that can burn the image into the disk.
– Paul's non-professional solution is to write on the DVD using a Sharpie pen.

Scott called with a suggestion for Carrie. If you have your design ready to go, you can take it to a shop & have it silk-screened on DVDs. He said much of the cost is in the design of the label. Using a service, the marginal cost goes down with a higher number of DVDs produced.

Melody called to say she's a happy customer of Smarter Broadband. The best way to reach Adam is to email him.

The disclaimer: "The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and they don't represent anything remotely connected to KVMR its board, staff or contributors, so when we're wrong, it's us".

Glenn thanked the loyal supporters and invited the listeners to become subscribing members. <See " 3 Ways you can Join KVMR" near the bottom of the page at kvmr.org>

At kvmr.org there's a link to past shows called 'podcasting' where you can find some of the previously broadcast show.
Or you can go to the KVMR schedule page and click on the show of interest.

Last updated: 11:55 PM 4-28-2011 

Tax Time! Filing Deadlines! http://www.irs.gov

Choral Collaborating and the End Result:

Subscription Models return to Software

Free Mailing List for up to 2000 members… http://mailchimp.com/

FAraway Places Prices Map!

Anniversaries, April 12: Russians In Space , 40 , and Civil War, 150.

Dunning-Kruger: Or, how confidence and competnce are musutally exclusive , as are Freedom & Democracy

Additional notes

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart
They're tagged with #Zentech

Editor comments are delimited by < >

<A quick note to those still interested:
A couple of shows back there was talk about being able to record the audio of a live stream (such as the Zentech show) whether it's a MP3 or other format. I wrote up some instructions for one way of doing that and stuck it at the end of the Favorite Programs & Utilities file here. I did this about 3 days after the show, so some would not have seen the link>

The guys briefly mentioned the following: (see the links above):
It's the 150th anniversary of the Civil War
And it's the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight — 1st man in space
The Dunning-Kruger Effect
Paul mentioned an article by Howard Gardner — The 8 Types of Intelligence.

Glenn had trouble with his iPhone 2G — the dock cable would work with only 1 wall socket. And though 2 USB cable used to work in connecting to his laptop, now only 1 would work. Also, when he dropped it a few months ago, the LCD screen broke. So he decided to order the screen and connector. He said he went online to watch videos of people taking the iPhone apart before starting this project.

He said taking the case off was the most difficult part even though a special tool was included with his order. It took some time to take the bezel off, which was glued down. Then there were 10 screws to remove and 3 more for the motherboard and them 3 more. Paul said he uses duct tape to hold screws as he takes them out. He said, position them on the tape in the order you take them out in case the screws are different.

Paul mentioned he used to repair TVs in the 70s. He said all the TVs were different and schematic diagrams weren't easy to get. They weren't online since there was no internet and good luck getting them from the manufacturer.

Glenn said he spent $28 for the parts for his iPhone and having it fixed professionally would have cost $99, but in that case the repair facility would have been liable for any screw-ups. So, he said, the next time he has a similar situation, he'll send it in for repair.

Talk turned to a choral piece by Eric Whitacre. He created a Youtube video of himself conducting and people who watched it would record their own part at home and send the audio to Eric who then combined all of the audio contributions into the finished piece. Paul then played an excerpt. See the above link.

The listeners were reminded that taxes are due soon. This year the deadline is the 18th because of a holiday that's specific to Washington DC but the due date applies to everyone.
– There are a lot of scams out there. Though you can be fairly sure you're on a government site if the URL ends in .gov, it's not guaranteed.
– There are various tricks to subvert the domain naming service (DNS). It's possible to type in "irs.gov" and get something else, but it's not likely.
– Glenn said that up to about 3 or 4 years ago, if you wanted to file electronically, you had to go to a professional tax preparer. Now the IRS site provides links to tax sites that allow you to fill out your forms, file them electronically and print them out.
– For more IRS or tax info go to irs.gov

One of the largest & most expensive software suites is the Adobe Creative Suite. The latest, version 5.5, costs $2600 (the Design Premium Package is $1800). But there is a subscription version where you pay for 1 month at a time for about $30 or $40.
– If you buy it outright, you naturally get updates as they become available, but generally you get no new features. <With a subscription you use the latest version>
– The difference between updates & upgrades is that updates will patch your current version of the software, like for security reasons. Updates are a change in version, which usually adds new features. The new feature in this version 5.5 is support for HTML5. Glenn said you'll need a high end computer to run this package well.

The software differences between Mac & PCs are converging, said Paul, mainly due to the programming tools — the portability features have improved. It used to be that each platform had different design teams, now the software code is just run thru the portability tools. An example is how the Firefox browser is developed — it looks essentially the same on the Mac & PC.

Paul then said he doesn't like the new Firefox version 4. He thought the changes made weren't worth the effort of getting used to them.
Glenn said he doesn't like the way the buttons look, but that's just a matter of changing the theme.
Those who want the older version of Firefox won't find it at mozilla.com, instead they were advised to google 'old firefox'.

Paul mentioned subscription services. This is where you rent a program rather than buying it. The company might be more attuned to your interests because they didn't get all of your money up front. See the 'Subscription Models return to Software' link above. Some services allow you to suspend use, when you don't need it, and turn it back on later until the subscription time allotment runs out.

Mailing lists allow you to send email to many people at once. Email services like Gmail generally don't allow more than about 50 or so recipients at a time, to prevent spamming.
MailChimp lets you can send 2000 people up to 12,000 messages per month for free. See the above link.

Paul said he thinks Yahoo is the least reliable mail service, at this time. It will block things it shouldn't and doesn't block things it should. <I guess he's talking about the spam filters>

Jeff called and said he downloaded the 30-day trial version of the AVG anti-virus program. He wanted to know how to get the truly free version.
– Uninstall the current version first.
– Then go to download.com or avg.com and get the fully free version
– Glenn said it's easier to find at download.com. It will still offer the 30-day trial version so click on the appropriate checkboxes — it should say 'basic' on the left side of the screen.
– Paul said Microsoft bought a security company and rebranded their product as Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free and a good alternative to AVG. You have to be sure not to have any pirated Microsoft products on your machine or it will not run.
<The Favorite Programs & Utilities file has a link to AVG Free that uses a download manager program, just as download.com does. It also has a link directly to the actual AVG file itself (some 151meg the last time I looked). This is handy for those people who are on dialup and use a friend's computer or who go to the library to get AVG.>

Jeff went on to ask if there is a way to print directly from the iPhone.
– It's not straightforward and there are only 2 or 3 apps that will let you do it.
– There's an app that sends the print job to the internet which you later retrieve with your home computer and print.
– iPad has an app called AirPrint, which prints to only certain wireless printers — typically HP printers. "If you want to print from the iPhone there is an app for that" called PrintCentral (it has a limited free mode to be sure it works before you pay).
– Check Cydia to see if there are any other apps.
– Use TeamViewer on the iPhone & connect to your home computer to print.

Ken called. He has Mac Book Pro & and a HP wireless printer & they constantly lose the connection. The only way for him to reconnect is from the printer's front panel.
– When you're printing wirelessly, the computer, router and printer have to be on the same network.
– The printer doesn't have to be wireless but has to be on the same network.
– A wired connection is more reliable than wireless.
Jeff said he tried the wired connection…
– When the printer is connected to the router thru the Ethernet you should disable its wireless function. Use one or the other, not both.
– There is also ad hoc networking where the connection would be directly to the printer without going thru a router, but Paul has found it to be quite unreliable.
– If you're in a remote part of the house with your Mac & you don't get the internet, then you won't be able connect to the printer either.
Jeff said he does get the internet…
– Glenn thought the internet is more forgiving than printer communications.
– Paul suggested getting the IP address of the printer:
Turn the wireless off and connect the Ethernet. Use the printer's front panel to get the IP address it — could be something like 102.168.1.01
Type that number (only that number) into the address bar of your web browser. You should get back the status of your printer.
If you don't get the status, you're not actually reaching the printer.
If you can get the status but it still won't print, there's something else wrong.
– Try updating the firmware of the printer. HP has issued updates because their printer networking was found to be sporadic.
– Firmware updates are much more reliable now than in the past. The vendors are much more vigilant and when an upgrade is offered for printers, Paul tends to accept it.
– For Mac users, the latest HP printers don't need any software on the computer — instead, they use something called Bonjour. You can add the HP software for more functions but Paul suggests keeping it simple and go without.
– The Snow Leopard operating system comes with all the drivers needed and you my want to uninstall anything HP gave you.
Jeff said he couldn't get the scanner to work with Bonjour…
– Go to support.hp.com and put in the model of your printer and also select the operating system you're using. HP should then come back with either the driver information or instructions on how to deal with it.

Glenn explained the difference between bcc: & cc: when sending emails to multiple people. Using cc: means all recipients will see the mail addresses of everyone else. That makes it easier for spammers to harvest addresses. Bcc: will keep the address hidden and is the prefered option.

Talk turned to carbonless carbon paper. Invented by NCR (National Cash Register) it's still used by some companies like Kaiser. In part, it's keeping the impact printer industry alive. Glenn said Kaiser is moving away from using the paper.

Kayak.com is a web scraper site. It checks Expedia, Orbits and others <for the best deals>.
The link to 'Faraway Places Prices Map!' (above) lets you enter your location and gives you the fares to other cities. For instance, Paul found it's cheaper to go to Finland and then to London rather than going to London directly.

Last Updated: 8:46 PM 4/13/2011 

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart
They're tagged with #Zentech

Editor comments are delimited by < >

Paul referred listeners to the notes from the last show and recapped a couple of items.
– AT&T will be capping the DSL usage because of the huge amount of traffic on the internet, especially video from Netflix.
– Adam from Smarter Broadband was again invited to be on a future show.

Glenn brought up Bernie's phone call from the last show. Glenn said he did some speed testing of Digital Path and found that the rate varied widely depending on the time of day. At 7pm Monday it was at about 8%; at 2am Tuesday he was getting a speed approaching that of dialup.

He was using speedtest.phonepower.com that measures not only speed but also the quality of your connection.
Glenn speculated that Digital Path may be paying less to its provider for the late night hours so they can buy more bandwidth during the day — but this was just speculation. On Tuesday at about 3pm he was getting 90% and was able to download at 4 megabits/sec even though he was paying for up to 3 megabits/sec. He said he'd continue to collect more speed data.

Paul said that AT&T, when their caps go into effect, will notify their users using the sbcglobal, att.net or pacbell mail accounts you get with their service, so keep an eye on those mailboxes — many people tend to ignore them.

When the guys help people setup new email accounts, they encourage the use of one of more popular web based services rather than the one from the provider because if you change providers the email address will no longer be valid. Online services like Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail will give you a longer lasting address.

Also mentioned in the last show, Glenn reminded people to be aware of overextending the use of their voice or data cell phone plans. The phone companies are not yet required to notify you when you're getting close to or are over your limit, so it's your responsibility to keep track. In the case of AT&T, any notification you get may go to the email address they have provided — another reason not to ignore that mailbox.

Paul said that Gmail allows you to add a POP account that will pull in mail from that account. You can set it up to retrieve mail from the previously mentioned sbcglobal or att.net mailboxes and read it along with the rest of your Gmail.

Glenn questioned Paul about setting up Gmail to use the IMAP protocol <more about IMAP> so it will pull in mail from other mailboxes and retain them on the Gmail server.
– Gmail gives you 7.5 gigabytes of mail storage and any mail it pulls in from other accounts are marked as coming from a external location.
– To set it up, go to the upper right of the Gmail page and click on 'Settings' and under 'General settings' you'll see the POP & IMAP options. Paul recommended using IMAP.
– If you use the Thunderbird mail program, it will detect IMAP automatically if you have it turned on. But you have to tell Gmail to use it.
– For more info do a google search for the words: gmail imap.
<more about POP & IMAP in the Aug 25, 2008 show>

Jeff called to say he did some research on the AT&T bandwidth throttling. He said AT&T provides a link in email notifications to its users that leads to a graph of their usage statistics.
He also said he found a Nevada County site that "discussed servers & websites" <& presumably issues regarding internet speed>
– He said AT&T may be throttling usage because they are acquiring a cable company and want people to view content over cable rather than the internet.
– The Nevada County website also said the monthly limit is reached by watching regular video for just 3 hours a day. And if you're watching high def, you'll reach the cap with just 1.5 hours a day.
– AT&T Uverse provides movies on-demand, but the piggyback providers will be booted from the Uverse cable, Jeff said. Paul called them 2nd tier providers.

The disclaimer:
The thoughts and opinions and the words spoken are those of this speaker and not necessarily those of KVMR, its staff, broadcasters or board of directors.

Paul recalled a great site he'd found years ago called internettrafficreport.com which shows the worldwide "index of connectivity" — the speed and reliability of major hosts like Telus US.

KVMR has 2 separate internet feeds — Comcast and AT&T. And there's a device called a dual WAN router, which they haven't configured yet, that takes both feeds and combines them for distribution to various devices (like computers) at the station. Comcast provides 15 megabits/sec & AT&T 5 megabits/sec. That gives a bigger bandwidth and provides redundancy in case one source goes down.

Talk turned to battery backups or UPS. Their purpose is to provide power long enough to allow you to properly shut down your computer. A smart UPS will tell the computer to shut down and, in the process, do an orderly closing of running programs. And the software that comes with it will give you interesting usage statistics. Paul recommended smart UPSs over regular ones.

Glenn said that after a power outage he disconnects his appliances, And after it comes back on he plugs them back in one at a time so "that the whole system doesn't get hit with an instant spike".

Paul talked about backup generators.
– They don't produce a clean alternating current, but anything from a square wave to a lumpy sine wave.
– This poor alternating current can cause problems with a UPS — the UPS may cut itself from the generator and start drawing on the battery.
– Better generators will state that they're suitable "for computers and things like that".
– Older generators, under a big load, can vary from the standard 60 cycles and cause brownouts. Unplugging an inductive load <consisting of coils of wire like a motor> from them can make the cause a spike.

Dennis called. He used to work for Southern Pacific railroad back in the 80s. He worked on a team that laid plastic conduits, for carrying fiber optic cables, that went to many cities in the US. The cables eventually ended up in the hands of Quest Communications. His point is that there's a huge amount of bandwidth — 8 4-inch tubes each holding over 1000 fiber optic cables.

Also mentioned on the last show, Paul reminded people that KVMR now has podcasts. You can listen to many shows at anytime, not just during the broadcast. Find the link on the main KVMR page or directly here.

Don called about generators. He recently got a Yamaha 2800 inverter style generator. He said it's important to get an inverter style if you're going to run electronic equipment on it. It isolates the output of the alternator, that's hooked to the motor, from the actual AC output so the motor speed can vary somewhat and you still have a stable output.
The Yamaha has an economy mode where the motor speed comes down when there's no load, thus saving fuel. If you then put a big load on it, the power will lag until the motor regains speed; but working at full speed it had no problems.
Don said he bought the Yamaha used for $800. There was speculation that a new one would be in the $1300 to $1500 range.

Paul stated that during a brownout equipment can over heat because cooling fans can slow down and lose effectiveness. Don added that, in a motor, when the voltage goes down the amperage goes up, resulting in resistive heating.

Art called wanting to know how to get the content in his address book into a Word document on his Mac.
– Try going into the address book application and look for 'export' in the 'file' menu. Art said he had no success with that.
– Paul googled 'export mac address book' and found Export Address Book 1.5.3 It can export to comma separated (CSV), tab separated and html table formats. The html table is probably the most useful for pasting into a Word doc.

Paul often goes to download.com for utilities such as the address book exporter. Their search facility allows you to narrow the search to your type of computer. Paul said he's never seen software at download.com that had a virus — "these things are, to some extent, tested".
Glenn added that at download.com you'll see a lot of ads and you'll need to scroll down the page to see your search results.

Charlie called about Craigslist. He wanted to know how to search across multiple geographic locations — if you don't mind traveling to retrieve your purchase.
– Use 'site:' in a google search to restrict it to the craigslist domain. E.g. if you want to search for an RV, enter RV site:craigslist.com. But remember, Google scans the web periodically and the results may not be the latest Craiglist ads.
– Listeners were asked to call in with other suggestions.
– Later in the show, Paul found the site crazedlist.org that might do what he wanted. You'll have to change your browser setting to turn off referrers.

A caller thought that the site quince.com would do the desired Craigslist search but Paul checked and it doesn't. The caller thought the name might be only similar to quince.com.

The same Caller also said he has Toshiba laptop that's just recently started booting up in Dos while beeping an error code. It would ask which operating system to start up in, with Vista the only choice. He would choose Vista but then the password prompt would come up with a password already filled in. He'd put in his true password and continue as normal.
– Listen to the pattern of the beep code and ask Toshiba what it means.

Listeners were advised that the next Zentech show is April 13.

Last updated: 9:13 PM 3/30/2011 

KVMR Podcasts and Back Broadcasts  (Time Shifted Community Radio!)

ATT hard wired DSL will be capping traffic: starting May, at aout 150gb

Additional notes:

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart
They're tagged with #Zentech

Editor comments are delimited by < >

Paul talked about podcasts, which is a way to listen to programs at your convenience rather than at the time of the broadcasts. KVMR has many show podcasts and you can find them by using the above link or, better yet, you can start at the KVMR main page where it talks about podcasts and allows you to subscribe to them.

A couple of years ago AT&T was required to allow customers to take their phone numbers and use them with other carriers — a process called number porting.

Now it's possible to have copper phone wires, originating at AT&T, coming to your house without a dial tone (let alone the phone number).
– This mean you can have what's been called Dark DSL or Naked DSL.
– There was always the assumption that a dial tone was needed to get DSL — not true. You can have DSL without phone service. To find out more go to att.com/dsl and look for "just DSL".

The disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed on this show belong to the hosts only.

Paul wondered if a person with phone service & DSL could just drop the phone service. Glenn guessed there would be no penalty, but listeners were invited to call if they've had experience with this.

In response, Thea called to say she ported her phone number to her cell phone and was told her DSL was no longer valid and she had to switch to AT&T Uverse. As a result, her charge went from $15 to $19.
Glenn asked her if she gets TV over Uvers, but Thea didn't know — she doesn't watch TV. Glenn said he'd do more research into the matter.

After she gets set up with the new account, Glenn said she could test her connection speed with Speed Test and also search the Zentech site with the words 'check speed' for other speed testing info.

Thea went on to ask about increasing the volume on her iPhone.
– Be sure the arrow on the left-hand side is pushed to the top. She said it is.
– Glenn said the original intent for the speaker is to ring the phone and it's a futile effort to get decent volume for conversation.
– Use a Bluetooth headset instead of the phone's speaker.
– The guys mentioned Bluetooth car radios that squelch the radio program when a call comes in, allowing you to talk hands-free. Glenn said the ones with built-in microphones aren't as good, due to ambient noise, as the ones with external mics, which can be positioned closer.
– Check if the speaker holes are clogged up.

Stephanie called. She has Hughes Net (a satellite service) for her internet connection and wanted to know how to extend the usage limit on incoming data — the connection slows down when the limit is exceeded. She said she gets spotty service with her Verizon account but was thinking of getting an aircard to use with it, to replace Hughes Net.
– The Verizon air card has monthly cap.
– You can pay Hughes Net more to increase the limit.
– Get a terrestrial wireless service like Smarter Broadband or Digital Path. Terrestrial wireless uses transmitters on the ground (vs. satellite) and requires a clear, direct path from transmitter to receiver. Glenn said, unlike satellite networks, terrestrial wireless is not affected by rain & snow.
– Hughes Net subscribers can check the status of the network by typing in 192.168.0.1 into their browser's address bar.

AT&T is going to start capping DSL service — you'll have a limit in how much data you can receive. Paul thinks it will begin in May.
– In general, beware of charges for exceeding data limits.
– Keep an eye on your cell phone bills. Glenn said he got billed a roaming charge for 3 calls he didn't even answer. The charge was forgiven after he complained.

Up until about 2 or 3 years ago, the only way to know if you were getting close to your cell plan limits is to call AT&T. Now you can punch in *min# to find out.
Paul said he found a free iPhone app called myat&t that allows you to keep track of your usage for voice, data and text. It also allows you to subscribe or unsubscribe for services like roaming, blocking, 411, etc.
Glenn said the FCC might soon require the phone companies to notify you when you're getting close to your usage limits.

Paul said his bank gives him the option to get messages on the cell phone when activity in his account approaches the limits he designates — e.g. when there's an ATM withdrawal of more than $300.

Glenn said bank overdraft protection is now opt-in. If you want your bank to cover your overdrafts, you have to set that up in advance. And be aware of the fees that go along with that. He also said that charges for using ATMs that don't belong to your bank are going up.

Bernie called to say that Digital Path is the least ethical of all the communication companies he's encountered. His tru-put was not measuring up to what he was paying for, even using their top tier plan. They give him the run-around for about 6 months. They agreed to send a technician out, but in the mean time his complaint to the Attorney General resulted in that office sending a letter to Digital Path fingering him as a whistle-blower. Shortly afterward, Digital Path disconnected him without prior notice — though he got his money back.
– It's very important to keep thorough logs of what's going on as evidence.
– Blog about your experience. An example was given of a blogger having trouble unsubscribing from AOL. Blogging about it eventually lead to AOL officials being grilled in front of the national TV audience (possibly the Today Show). When blogging, always remain factual.
– Remember, most internet services share bandwidth among many users. Satellite especially and cable are like that, DSL too, but to a lesser degree. You're not always going to get the highest speed.
– Write back to the Attorney General explaining what happened as a result of your initial complaint. Also complain to the Dept of Consumer Affairs.

Lorraine came into the studio and told a story about the success she had using the Credo Mobile cell phone service when other people couldn't use their Verizon & AT&T phones. At the time, she was in a remote part of Hawaii with a bad tire.
Credo uses the Sprint network and does not charge for roaming. She said they are a conscientious company, give good customer service and a percentage of their profits go to progressive causes. Locally, she said, she's been getting good connections. Glenn said he'd heard that the Sprint service has improved.

Glenn mentioned that Sprint had been sharing some cell towers with T-Mobile and wondered what would happen when AT&T acquires T-Mobile. Glenn said the reason AT&T is buying T-Mobile is to acquire their 4G network.

Glenn wondered if Sprint used GSM. Paul said it does, but they opened Lorraine's phone and it didn't have a SIM card.

Paul quipped that Alexander Graham Bell made the ring of the early phones sound discordant as possible so people would be more likely to pick up — they were charged only if they picked up.

Adam of Smarter Broadband called to explain why they have usage limits (caps). There are limitations on the bandwidth of a wireless system. He said the limits are to make it fair for all of their users.

Until recently Smarter Broadband was paying $80 per meg of bandwidth and his customers are paying less than that, so the bandwidth has to be shared. He said people watching movies from Netfilx hog the bandwidth (Netflix usage accounts for approx. 40% of internet bandwidth). He said people are often unaware of the impact of their activity on the overall cost of providing the connection.

He went on to say that, in the 5 or so years they've been in business, they haven't yet charged anyone for going over the limit but that they do send out notices if someone is going way over their limit.

A tentative agreement was made to have Adam on a future show.

Neko called for recommendations in buying a smartphone or iPhone and the best service plans. There wasn't enough time to answer & she was asked to call the studio after the show.

Last updated: 8:40 PM 3/23/2011