Today's show was focused on the membership pledge drive.

You can pledge online at $25 or more & be entered into a drawing for a Roku Soundbridge.

You can see thank you gifts & pledge here:

I put up a list of favorite programs & utilities here.
I'll likely be adding to the list as I scan thru the notes of the past couple of years.

Paul noted that Process Explorer is missing from that list. <I'll add it the next time I edit the file>
This is similar to the Task Manager but gives you more information. It's more suited for the tech savvy user.

Other than that and light banter, there wasn't much more that was tech related. The next show should be back to normal.

This page last updated 7:54 PM 10/19/2009 

Additional notes 

Editor's comments are delimited with < >

<When I update a Zentech page, I post a tweet at twitter.com/ddhart
You don't have to join Twitter to read it
You can also search for the hash tag #Zentech>

Niko called and said she has an XP laptop that runs slow and she gets the warning "DLL application is not initiated" when she tries to turn it off. She has to press the button to turn it off.
– It may not be just one cause and usually a whole set of clean-ups is need.
– First, do a backup so you don't lose your data when you do the clean-up.
– A crude way to backup is to individually drag those data files important to you to a USB flash drive. If you use Outlook, you can use the export feature in that program.
  – There is a page at zen.kvmr.org that lists some free tools for the clean up.
< ccleaner and other utilitites mentioned in these notes.
Another defrag utility mentioned here.
More programs often mentioned on Zentech; look toward the bottom of this.> 

The zapatopi.net stopabductions.com links above talk about alien defense headgear; various tin hat and aluminum headgear to shield yourself from alien <UFO type, not cross boarder type> influence. It's important to make the headgear yourself as the factories have been subverted.

A humorous audio, spoofing the variety of apps for iPhone, was played.

Gracie called and said she has a 5 year old PowerBook and said that the Airport symbol indicates it's on, but it's not connected.
– Try using the wireless communication at a different location. If that works, your wireless router has a transmitting problem.
She says the other computer is working ok, so that's not the problem.
– So then, you may need to find the wireless connection profiles and delete them so you can start fresh.
– On the Mac you can also go to the Application folder -> Utilities folder -> Disk Utilities and click the button "Find & Fix Permissions".

The US military has a project to use biofuels. See the above link.

Are Mac owners loyal only to Mac? A study suggests a vast majority of them also run Windows. See the above link to a Register article.
Sometimes a needed application is available only on one platform. An example is Adobe Audition that KVMR uses; it runs only on the PC. Mac users would have to install Windows or use the Crossover application <it was mentioned on a previous show>.

A caller said he lives outside of town and can receive an EDGE connection on his 2G iPhone. He wants to know if he'll be able to use a 3G iPhone for a tethered connection.
– You should be able to but Apple doesn't want you to.
– There are 3rd party applications to do that and you'll have to jailbreak the iPhone.
– Since Apple & AT&T don't want you to do that, a killbit is occasionally sent to the iPhone to disable those apps.
– You don't need an iPhone to do this. There are USB devices available from Verizon & AT&T that give you a 3G connection.

Paul continued reading stats about Mac users owning PCs.
Mac owners tend to be more affluent. Again, see the above link.

Monday morning blues refers to a burst of heavy usage of communication circuits on Monday. As people return to work, a wave of increased usage travels from the East Coast to the West, following the changes in the time zones. Also, network engineers have to deal with a backlog of problems. All things taken together, networks suffer the most on Monday.

Paul had some problems taking phone calls and took a short break to resolve them.

A caller said he wanted get a laptop and asked if he should get a Mac or a PC.
– It depends a lot on how much money you want to spend. If money is no object, a Mac is recommended.
– On the other end of the scale, if price is the primary concern, you can get a netbook. These are a small-format laptops under 3 pounds with a screen of 10 to 11 inches. Intel has come out with the low power Atom CPU for netbooks. They typically have no CD because that consumes a lot of power. They usually cost less than $300 and have about as much processing capacity as a desktop unit of about 5 years ago. They're adequate for most typical usage but not for video editing or 3D gaming and other similar use.
They are a bit under powered to run the Vista operating system and are the last of the computers that have XP installed.

The caller went on to ask which operating system to get if he were not to get a netbook.
– Jury is still out on Windows 7 as it's not being sold yet, but it is starting to appear on manufactured machines. The impression is that it's what Vista should have been.

Mikail called to say the Apple Store has a refurbished MacBook for $849. It comes with Snow Leopard, the latest operating system.

Paul said he's learned that retailers often have subtle price differences for discontinued products. For Fry's, the price of such products end in .95 instead of .99.

Mikail said, to find the refurb Mac units, go to the Apple Store and look for a blue icon on the bottom left that says "refurbished". <More like the middle of the page & no blue icon>
There are rumors of new iMacs, MacBooks, and MacMinis due out as early as this week.

Paul said there's a new Apple store in the Roseville Galleria.

Paul has an ad for tech support for Etch-a-Sketch. He read some of the humorous questions and answers. Read it for yourself by following the above link.

Dave called to say the iPhone 3G with version 3 of the OS has the tethering built in but AT&T has not enabled the service. He wonders why he should pay even more for this future service when he already is paying for the phone service.
– Since AT&T has the ability to keep you from using the service, that's what they do (until you pay more).
– Use the USB 3G device. <mentioned above>

He also asked how things are done in Europe.
– Their technology is similar. AT&T uses GSM. If you want to buy and use a SIM card in Europe, your phone has to be unlocked.
– In Europe the iPhone is locked in to one provider, Orange, just like it's locked in to AT&T in the US. This is not true for France.
– In Britain you can get a USB 3G device and buy a SIM card on a monthly basis to have a mobile connection.

Josh called to say his mother upgraded to Snow Leopard and lost pictures in iPhoto.
– Use the Spotlight search facility and search for "iphoto" to see if the folder was moved; it should be under "pictures". If it was moved, iPhoto may not find it. When you find the iPhoto folder, double click on it and it should open the pictures in iPhoto.
– Its suggested to do a backup using TimeMachine before trying to locate the lost pictures.

Glenn is not feeling well. If you want to send him a greeting, you can use the email address zen at kvmr dot org

Paul suggested taking periodic breaks from your computing. There is even software to help.

Web sites, like home computers, can be infiltrated. The Apache web server they run on can be subverted if it's not updated. Even high profile web sites are at risk. Malicious code can be attached to the end of a web page and sent to you, as you browse the page, and exploit vulnerabilities in your machine. See the above link for more info.

Additional notes: 

Editor's comments are delimited with < >

<When I update a Zentech page, I post a tweet at twitter.com/ddhart
You don't have to join Twitter to read it
You can also search for the tag #Zentech> 

Paul uses the site theregister.com as one source of topics for discussion on this broadcast. He also gets ideas from those who post on his Facebook account

Paul likes some music by Jonsi & Alex. It's background music to a video called "Moments". See the above link

There is very graphic British public service announcement about what happens when you use a cell phone while driving. See the above link.

Glenn got a Sony stereo with Bluetooth and microphone that connects to his cell phone.

Paul played an amusing audio from a Youtube video ad for Norton Anti-virus. The link to it is above.

The disclaimer: views & opinions are those of the show's hosts only.

Glenn mentioned that Norton Anti-virus could slow your computer down. Paul added that the anti-virus part itself is not a particular problem, it's the rest of the stuff that comes with it.

Paul said there is a 5 to 10% failure rate for any anti-virus program. That's often because the viruses are updated so fast that the anti-virus programs have trouble keeping up. <Here's a couple of links from previous shows about viruses>
Anatomy of interactive Worms & Viruses (AKAL BotNEts)
The Economic Returns for a Virus or Worm Infection on your PC!

A different strategy, called white listing, is to allow only approved programs to run on your computer. Some anti-virus companies have experimented with this. The problem is that the anti-virus companies have to keep track of what white listed programs are updated.

It's the 50th anniversary of the COBOL programming language. Its feature is the use of common words rather than more arcane symbols for its program statements. It's still being used, especially in the business world. See the above link.

Paul asks, what's the highest point on this planet. It's not Mount Everest whose height is measured relative to the local mean sea level. The highest point is Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. That's because the Earth bulges at the equator <which adds to its total distance from the center of the earth>.

Glenn say be careful before installing the version 3.1 update into your iPhone, you may not be able to jailbreak it afterward. But people are working on this problem. Paul said it's more of an issue with the 3G phone than the 2G. <See Mikail's comments further down>

Glenn said there is a program on Cydia <see below for more info> that will back up your iPhone data (including the jailbeak apps) so you can restore it after you upgrade the operating system.

Paul found a FireFox addon called "About-Me" (link above) to keep statistics on your browsing habits.

Mikail called to say there is a jailbreak program that currently runs on the Mac only and works with the 2G & 3G iPhones but not the 3GS.

He said he's heard negative stories about the 3.1 upgrade (not the jailbreaking) concerning shorter battery life and slower app loading. But he's not experienced this himself.

Mikail said the backup program Glenn mentioned above is APTbackup.

The Mac program to do the jailbreaking can be found from these sites:
blog.iphone-dev.org
iphonehacks.com

Paul said he's seen an interview with Bill Gates that illustrates he's the first to use the licensing model for software sales. For much current software, you don't own it — you license it.

Along the same topic of licensing control, there is an article about how Apple is exerting more control over its products. It's called "Catching Apple's Signature Server" by Jay Freeman at Cydia.

Paul is enjoying a review copy of a book about Larry Page & Serge Brin founders of Google. "Inside Larry's & Sege's Brain" by Richard L. Brandt from the publisher Portfolio.

Mikail said PG&E has a program called SmartAC.
Call them at 866-908-4916.
or visit their web site at www.pge.com/smartac.
or pge-smartac.com
They replace your thermostat with a satellite connected wi-fi unit that can be controlled thru an iPhone or laptop via the web. Additionally, PG&E would have the right to throttle back usage to reduce demand. Mikail said there is a way to conditionally opt out after you enter the program.

Paul was reminded of a proposal, which was not implemented, to put a logging device <like a black box> in cars. The device would have also limited your speed when it passed special roadside transmitters.

Mikail asked why Mac and Linux machines don't suffer from the virus issues that plague the PCs.
Paul said it's because there is a separation of roles of the administrator, user functions and the application functions in the case of the Mac & Linux. Mac's OS is based on the Berkeley System Distribution (BSD) of Unix.

Paul asked Glenn about a site, he thought was mentioned before, that compares cell phones. Glenn couldn't recall if he ever said that. <Maybe not what Paul asked about, but for now try these sites:
http://www.phonescoop.com/
http://www.mobiledia.com/
http://www.phonedog.com/>

<With respect to PG&E reducing customer energy usage…>
 Paul mentioned that during courses he took in environment studies, he learned that the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) found that it would cost them less to subsidize people by providing low energy light bulbs than it would to build more power plant to sell more energy.

Paul has found Facebook useful to stay in touch with his family, many of who are in Spain.
Though Glenn signed up on facebook, he didn't find it useful for him.
Glenn asked what the differences are between Myspace & Facebook. He thinks Myspace requires membership to view member pages but Facebook does not.
Be careful what you reveal about yourself on the web. Once it's out there, it's nearly impossible to take it back.

Glenn reminded people to back up their data regularly. <Here are links to 2 previous shows with links to backup software:
May 18, 2009
Jan 26, 2009>

John called. He has laptop and its screen is showing a checkerboard pattern. He was told the graphics adapter had gone bad and wants to know how hard it is to replace it.
– Check your warranty (or extended warranty). If it's in effect, of course, you wouldn't have to do it yourself.
– Check with the manufacturer for recalls.
– It's almost impossible to fix a video adapter on a laptop because it's integrated into the motherboard.
– Try an external monitor to see if the problem persists, as it may be a monitor problem.
– See if it's cheaper to just buy another laptop rather than fixing the current one.

Bonnie called and asked how to turnoff the superfluous features on Facebook because she has a slow connection.
– Try "Optimize Facebook", or something with a similar name.
– Use lite.facebook.com <the better solution>

On a related note, Paul knows someone with dialup who's having trouble using Yahoo because of all the graphics & such being sent.
– Glenn suggested using m.yahoo.com. It's a light version designed for mobile users.

Ellen called to say she also has a Facebook account and likes it for maintaining contact with a childhood friend and people in the local community.
Paul suggested setting up a separate email account to be used only with Facebook.

Building on the suggestion to use m.yahoo.com, Paul said that to speed up Google's email, use the link at the bottom of your email page <I think it's the one that says "Basic HTML">. However, Glenn thinks that means you'll lose a lot of features.

Jessica called to get the link to the British video mentioned earlier. See the link above

Mary called. She has a desktop computer that makes a noise.
  – It's likely coming from the power supply fan or possibly the CPU fan.
– The program Speedfan reports on the stats of your computer like the temperature & fan RPM..

Additional Notes

Editor's comments delimited by < >

Zentech is approaching its 10th anniversary.

The audio of a Nigerian-like scam was played, see the links above:

Barbara called to thank Paul for solving the problem with the Celtic Festival web site.
The solution involved the HTML directive Pragma: no-cache which makes ones web browser use the actual web page, not the version in the cache, every time that website is accessed. This is desirable when the web page changes often and insures the viewer is looking at the latest version. The PRAGMA is not recommended for static pages as it slows the display of the page (it's not coming from the cache).

Coryon Redd is introduced. He'll be talking about internet marketing.
<Coryon's business is Batteries For Less>

The US does not have Labor Day on May 1 like the rest of the world.

Coryon talked about getting traffic to your site thru pay-per-click advertising.
<2 ad services were talked about Adword & Adsense>

Adword:
Use it if you're a business that wants to get traffic based on keywords related to what you do (as a marketer).
You can use Yahoo, Google or MSN. But Google, with Adword, is the most popular.
You first create an account at Google and then bid on keywords.
"Do not bid or put anything out there on the content network"; put it in the search network only. The 'content' is not the words people enter into a search engine but what's on a web page or in a Gmail email (Google Gmail searches inside your email). If you're in the content network, you may get traffic that just 'stumbles' upon words you used in your web page and that may be a less focused target than someone who gets to your site due to your more carefully selected keywords that they entered into a search engine.

Coryon explained organic searches as those that resulted from keywords you, the advertiser, did NOT pay for. These are the Google search results that are displayed below the sponsored links. <Supposedly he mention this concept on a previous show>

Keep an eye on the ROI (return on investment). Don't spend more on your ads than the money you make on the results.
It's easy to set up a Google Adwords account with a minimum deposit. Then you start bidding on the keywords.
You can exclude certain keywords like the word "cheap" if you sell only high end products.
Do some research before you spend money for something like Adsense.

Adsense:
With Adsense you syndicate Google's content and get money using your web page. You give Google your web page address and some info about it. You can then carry ads for other related sites on your web page.
You make a small commission of a few cents when someone clicks on those ads.
You need significant amount of traffic to your site to make much money using Adsense.

Social sites are not especially good for the advertising already mentioned. But there is another realm called social media marketing involving Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, blogs (Blogspot.com) and forums. As an advertiser, you have a lot of control over which sites show your ads.

Paul mentioned the Small Business Administration, which offers assistance.
They gave him some of the top reasons businesses fail. One reason is inability to adapt to change. What people buy & how they find out what to buy keeps changing.

Google Analytics helps you find out how your web pages are doing and where are you losing the viewer.
The service is free and you don't have to use Adwords to benefit.
<previous shows on internet marketing:
8-11-8
11-3-8
5-4-9>

Bettsie called to ask if you have control over how your Adwords account gets charged.
– Coryon says yes, you can set a limit at which Adwords turns off.
– He says keep an eye on what keywords attract customers vs. those that get customers to buy.

Win7 is mentioned as being better than Vista, the previous, panned operation system.
Coryon says if you buy a computer with Vista at this time, you'll get a free upgrade to Win7.
Snow Leopard has been released for the Mac.

Elmer Elevator (aka Bruce Stone) called to say if you have XP, why change.
Coryon says Dell now only sells computers with Vista. He also says that major software packages are dropping support for XP. Paul says that the tools Microsoft provides developers to create their programs are what limit the XP support. The software company may have less control over this than you think.

The disclaimer: views & opinions are those of the show's hosts only.

Paul mentions a couple of ways you can still install XP.
– Install a copy whose key has already been used. When XP checks in with Microsoft it will complain but you can, at that point, pay for a new license.
– Go to Overstock.com and search for Optiplex. You can get a refurbished 2.5GHz machine with 1yr warranty and with XP for $159.
– The caller says there are refurb units with XP for less than $100 at computer-show.com.

Dave called to say he's thinking of getting a 13" Powerbook Pro and wants to be able to run Win7.
– Paul thinks it likely will be able to do it.
– But he asks why do you want to run Windows? Some people only need to run specific applications like Internet Explorer. In that case you can use Crossover from codeweavers.com. Then you don't have to buy the windows operating system and you'll save money — Crossover is only about $49.
<see show notes for more info about running Windows on a Mac:
7-27-9
8-10-9>
– If you're doing training, as the caller does, that involves different applications of ActiveX and not just going to a few predictable sites, then Crossover may not be suitable. The full Windows OS should work better.
– There is also an ActiveX addon for FireFox . <I think this is the right one>

The same caller said some versions of Win7 will have a way of running XP for those applications that need it. Paul thinks it's just an emulation but will reserve his opinion until he has a chance to have a closer look at Win7.

Paul says that either MacBook or MacBook Pro does not have Firewire. It's useful when you've used up your USB ports. And you can string many devices on one Firewire port.

Coryon says that OpenOffice is available for the Mac and he uses it. And he thinks there is an upgrade package that gives you Snow Leopard and has iWork for about $100. Paul says Snow Leopard only works with Intel Macs.

Coryon will be holding classes about internet marketing.
 A beginner's class is Thur Sep 17 6-8:30pm at Nevada County One Stop.
The intermediate class is about link building, pay-per-click advertising and social media marketing. It's on Thu Sep 24 6-8:30pm
For more info go to sedcorp.biz.
530-823-4703
Coryon has a column in the Union every other Monday. When you get there, search for "coryon" to find the articles.
You can contact Coryon at:
coryon@gmail.com

At the business listing of Google Maps you can provide your business info so you can be found thru the mapping service as well.

Additional notes 

Editor's comments delimited by < >

Tor Pack (the link is above) provides a peer-to-peer network with other Tor Pack users. It splits your internet traffic among the other peers <so it doesn't look like it's coming/going to one place> thus providing some anonymity. However it slows down your browsing by about 1/3 for all the routing it does.

The NSA has a premium for anyone who can figure out how to snoop on Skype communications. Skype is anonymized thru a closed-source security protocol <presumably encryption>.
eBay spent a lot of money for Skype but didn't get full possession, it was only a sub-licensing agreement.

Yubanet had an interesting article (see link above) about how people tend to walk in circles when lost and don't have visual cues.

At one time Glenn helped someone whose machine wouldn't boot. This was a case where there was a defective floppy disk in the drive. Removing the disk solved the problem. A similar thing can happen if your machine is set up to first look at the CD drive while booting and the CD has faulty data.

If you have a Mac and you can't eject a CD, hold the (left) mouse button down while booting. That will force an ejection.
On a Mac Mini there is a small hole where you insert a paper clip to force the ejection. The hole is on the right side of the CD slot itself.
Also don't put mini-CDs into a slot loading Mac.

Mikhail called to confirm the tip about holding down the mouse button to eject the CD.
He mentioned sources for info about local music events:
– nevadacitymusicevents.com
|- Pioneer Magazine
– The Nevada City Advocate newspaper
– Yubanet's calendar page

RSS feeds are mentioned. You can subscribe to a feed and have information about new content (articles, audio, video) pushed out to your reader or to an aggregator, such as Google Reader, on the web.

Mikail uses his iPhone to receive RSS feeds with a program from golden-app.com called RSS Runner.

Mikail asks about a program called MP3 Rocket for the PC, it downloads and plays mp3s. He was helping someone use it but couldn't actually play mp3s that were received outside of this program. <No solution was given, but…>
– Use something less proprietary, like Bittorrent, to get the music and then use a common player like iTunes <or Winamp> to play it.

Mikail also mentions that many PC laptops allow you to hit just one key and switch over to an external monitor. But there doesn't seem to be anything similar on the Mac. That would be handy if the built-in screen stops working.
– If an external monitor is connected when the Mac is started, the Mac MAY try to use both monitors simultaneously. But that may be true only if it's in 'mirror mode'. You may have to reset the PRAM.

PowerPoint has a way of using the built-in monitor of a laptop to present the list of slides while the external monitor displays the slides themselves.

Mikail says there is an app for iPhone to control the program called Keynote on the Mac. Keynote is similar to PowerPoint. Use the word 'keynote' to search for that app at the app store.

Paul talked about the difference between Ad hoc and infrastructure connections.
An ad hoc connection is machine to machine.
An infrastructure connection means all the machines are connected to a common peer point like a gateway.

The disclaimer: views & opinions are those of the show's hosts only.

Glenn asks if it's true that AT&T won't help you find a missing or stolen iPhone unless you subscribe to MobileMe for $99/yr.
– Yes, but it's Apple not AT&T. Mobile Me is an Apple service.

Glenn wonders if the IMEI number is used to disable the phone, can the IMEI number then be cloned and the phone used again.
Mikhail doesn't think so, he hasn't heard of it being done.
Paul says the IMEI number is reported to an international registry when the phone is lost or stolen and it can't then be used on a network. He also says that some people have been able to change the baseband of the phone. That's the software that actually communicates with the cell network.

Mikail says there is a version 3.01 update for the iPhone to patch the security hole in the text messaging (SMS) system. The virus will infect without the user doing anything. One only has to be sent an text message. The virus can attack not only the Phone, but the Blackberry, Android and MS Mobile series. See this article.

He says many of the apps for the iPhone are able to communicate with their creator to pass on data about how it's used. Some people are upset about this so now there is an app called PrivaCy for jailbroken iPhones to turn off that communication. More info about PrivaCy here.
Mikail says the way Apple has things set up, app developers have no contact with people who use the apps.

A caller installed FoxFire 3.52 and wonders if the addon Microsoft Net Framework Assistant should be removed.
– No, it should be safe.

She also asks about the add-on "Clickone Support"
– Since it's grayed out, it's not active anyway.
– Glenn quickly checked it out and found that it's legit add-on, it allows Clickone applications to use the .NET Framework.

Greg called in to say he has a Mac Mini that keeps spitting out the CD.
– Try a different disk, it may be defective. Greg says he's tried that.
– The drive may be defective.
– Try a cleaning disk first.
– Try carefully blowing it out with compressed air.

Jerry called to ask what old operating system he can use in his Titanium Power Book.
– 10.5 Leopard, if it runs over 1GHz. Jerry says it only 664MHz.
– Paul says, in that case the latest version that'll work is 10.4

Bill called to suggest filehippo.com <I think that's what he said> for old version of FireFox and other software.

He also says he's looking for an alternative to Wild Blue and was looking into Verizon's Aircard.

– You can try the Aircard for its 15 day trial period to see if it works for you. It has about the same performance as satellite.