Additional notes 

Worst Moments in Network Security. See the above link.
One example is about Robert Morris who sent out a worm via Sendmail (which is still used). He said he did it as a research project.

Early viruses were sent out infrequently. Now, new ones are sent hourly. AVG updates every 4 hours, just trying to keep up.

Glenn bought a 10" EEPC mini notebook for someone. It weighs 3.2 lbf with a 4-cell battery; a 6-cell battery should run from 5 to 7 hours

Openoffice is mentioned. It's a great alternative to Microsoft office and handles many of its file types.

Glenn found a Targus mini docking bay at buy.com for $23; actually a USB replicator to give 4 USB ports to go with that EEPC. It has an AC adapter, so those are powered USB ports.
Those that aren't externally powered are ok if what you plug into them is low speed & low power, but some devices like mini hard drives can draw 300 to 400 milliamps which can exceed the capacity of the replicator if it's not externally powered.

Paul gives a little lesson about what wears out in computers (besides the obvious mechanical wear in hard drives and such). It's the periodic expansion & contraction of components due to thermal cycling during power up & power down.
There's an old trick for trouble-shooting electronics, which is spraying freon on suspected components after they've heated up and started causing a symptom. If the symptom changes, you've located the problem. These days, use cans of compressed air turned upside down. Fast-evaporating contact cleaner may work too.
The views expressed are those of the speakers only. All imaginable disclaimers apply. Use the above at your own risk. AND, on top of that, be careful, don't freeze your skin.

Paul mentions what he calls "chewing gum stick" with embedded Linux, typically $140.

iobridge (see above link) connects remote monitors, like a weather station or X10 devices, to the net.

Electronic hobby kits have pretty much disappeared. Much has been miniaturized and integrated into more consumer friendly devices.
Even PCI not used much anymore, components are now usually plug in externally thru a USB port.

A laptop wireless card can often be replaced if it's plugged into a mini PCI slot.
Ebay can be a good source of recycled computer parts, like wireless cards.

Google Gmail can be used offline and you don't have to download anything special.
It uses AJAX which allows context sensitive right mouse clicks; the right mouse click gives a menu relevent to what you're doing on Google, not the usual menu you get for your browser functions.
To activate the offline feature, in Gmail go to settings -> labs -> turn on the feature you want (e.g. offline mode).
EDITORS NOTE:
There are a couple of modes when you 1st login to Gmail.
If you don't see the "Labs" label under "Settings" and…
If you're using the "Set basic HTML as default view" or "Older version" (top of the screen), you'll have to "Switch to standard view" or "Newer Version", depending on which screen you get.
There's more Gmail Offline info here:
A side note:
Google Docs also has offline capability; see here:

Glenn got a Lenovo $300 at buy.com with web cam, microphone, 80gig hard drive, 512 ram, XP and Atom processor.

The movie Slumdog Millionaire recommended. The major part of the story is about knowledge and how it's acquired.

Talk about Google labs continues…
Google will sometimes offer new features for testing to a subset of their users, but Gmail Offline should be available to all.

A caller asks about how to delete temporary internet files. He's not on the web but bought a used computer and the files are taking up a lot of space.
– Use Ccleaner

A caller installed a DTV converter box, but keeps getting the response "weak signal".
– DTV reception is normally poor when the transmitter is far away. There's not much you can do but subscribe to cable or satellite.
– Glenn suggests the booster, which the caller has, on his antenna is only good for analog signals and may actually attenuate the digital signal.
– A new digital TV may not help if the problem is a weak signal.
– Get your TV free over the internet if you don't mind it not being live.
– Use services like hulu.com or graboid.com.
A side note:
– You can check what reception to expect at your location:
tvfool.com
antennaweb.org
antennaweb.org/aw/Stations.aspx
– Other DTV antenna sites I haven't checked:
hdtvantennalabs.com
antennasdirect.com

A caller says her flash player is prompting to upgrade, is it ok?
– Yes. You can't run Flash independently and have it check for updates because it's a plugin for the browser and you just have to trust it to do the upgrade.

The same caller has a Mac G5 and wants to know if anything else but broadband is needed to watch video online?
– No
– To watch a YouTube video on dialup you can launch it and hit the pause button until the progress bar reaches the end, then press the pause button again and watch the video. It will take a long time to download the video, but it is possible.

The same caller also asks if the audio from KVIE (TV) that you can hear on FM radio at 87.8 will go away when the digital switch takes place.
– No, it should remain.
– EDITORS NOTE: It's my understanding that the signal at 87.8 is the actual broadcast from KVIE and not a separate broadcast. So, I expect (and I've heard as much) that it will vanish at the switch over. I'll miss it too. It's interesting that the most informative content seems to be in the audio (as it also is with community radio) rather than the video.

Additional notes 

Paul mentioned that there is a trojan going around in the iWorks suite for the Mac. See the above link.
Difference between a trojan, virus and worm.

People who meet certain qualifications will be able to file their state taxes for free. See the above link.

URLs that end in .gov are government websites and you have some assurance they're not nefarious (as far a governments go).

Go to donotcall.gov and sign up to prevent unsolicited phone calls.
This site initially came online a few years ago and the records are due to expire, so remember to reapply periodically.

The DTV switch was pushed forward to June 12. Originally it was on Feb 17 which is also the date dedicated to St Claire, the patron saint for television.
People who receive the TV signal by an antenna can get a $40 rebate coupon for a converter.

Ellen called from Auburn. Her email in Outlook Express inbox disappeared. How can she retrieve them?
– This can happen when the emails take up too much space — around 2gig.
– Start using Thunderbird. It will import the Outlook Express emails.
– Use Google with the search term "Outlook Express repair inbox", there are 3rd party programs to repair the Outlook Express file containing all of the inbox mail.
– There something called Inbox Repair Tool.
– In Outlook Express, 'deleted' mail is not actually gone until you purge or compact it.
– When exploring with ways to recover, 1st make copy of the OUTLOOK.PST file so you can put a copy back to the original location and continue exploring. It's IMPORTANT to do all this copying & exploring while the Outlook Express program is closed. More info from a previous show here.
– Sometimes Outlook Express encounters a malformed email and chokes, so do a CHKDSK on the file.

A caller has put together a machine with an external RAID 1 array, he wants to know if the software tool (that came with the drives) for marking bad clusters, has to be run on each drive individually.
– If the drives are controlled by a hardware unit (not by software), chances are high that the formatting utility in the external box will do the marking and the software tool is unnecessary.
– A good RAID array should understand SMART monitoring and give detailed information about disk behaviour.
– If clusters continue to be marked bad over an extended time, that's a degraded drive and SMART should report that to you.
– Mapped out bad clusters are tracked by the hardware unit not the operating system

A caller has a trojan on his Vista machine. His anti-virus program removes it but not completely, it keeps coming back and his protection programs stopped updating themselves.
– Try Spybot or Hijackthis. Go to download.com and get Spybot 1.6.2 (supposed to be the current version as of this date). Do any updates for Spybot and then check (and finally fix) the errors.
– Run Vista in safe mode using the F8 key. Then run AVG in safe mode.
– It may be a rootkit (see previous show here) and AVG can't deal with. Use Fsecure's Blacklight to detect (only) a rootkit. If you find a rootkit make a backup of your data. Boot from the latest version Ubuntu CD (a version of Linux which will write/delete on a NTFS (windows) hard drive). Then you'll be able to delete the troublesome files.

The Microsoft program for rootkits that Paul had trouble remembering is RootKitRevealer. For an example of a rootkit, symptoms to look for and what to do go here.
Additional tools from the Sysinternals suite here: 

Listeners are encouraged to give feedback on the show by email to zen at kvmr dot org.

Support for XP is due to end in a few months. Desktop systems are no longer sold with XP, for the most part. Dell may still have them.
– You can get XP on a small laptop called a netbook.
– If you try to install XP on a Vista machine you may have trouble getting XP drivers for the newer hardware that came with the Vista machines.
– You can install XP on a newer machine and then call Microsoft to transfer the license. But you can only do this if the copy of XP you have is not an OEM version. OEM implies it's a version that is installed by the manufaturer of the computer it came with.
– Put some non-OEM version on the machine anyway (all appropriate disclaimers apply). It will complain that it's an unauthorized copy when you try to activate it and give you an option to buy the license, currently $149. Do this only on a machine that's not critical (e.g. not used for business).

A caller has DSL thru AT&T and a wireless modem with Airport connecting both a Mac & Windows but it stopped working. She tried her neighbor's modem and it worked.
– She reset her modem so she'll need to re-enter the login information.
– A flashing red light or no light implies a fried modem.
– A flashing green light means login info needs to be re-entered
– Toss your modem and share the neighbor's wireless connection

Max from Fair Oaks called and says he was able to get XP on his new Dell Inspiron when he bought it in Oct 2008.
Max also says he bought Spellex (I guess this is it) but it wouldn't work. The company says 1 in 10 installations don't work so he sent it back for refund.

Paul notes that Office 2003 works fine with Vista.

It's never too late to become a subscribing member of KVMR at kvmr.org

Manufacturers of hard drives for the Macs are the same as those for the PC, i.e. Western Digital or Maxtor and are expected to go bad at the same rates for both systems. Make periodic backups if you value your data.

In the past, when installing a hard drive, one would have to set the value for heads, cylinders and sectors.

24th of Jan was the 25th anniversary of the Mac computer. The first Mac had only 128k of RAM and was price at almost $2500.

Paul notes that the Space Shuttle is still using a 286 or 386 CPU, which are very reliable.

Alan Stahler called in to say that when communications in space are at a low power, data speed has to be kept slow or the noise can compromise reliability.
The Mars rover Opportunity had a flash memory problem (first found on Spirit) early in its mission. The RAM would keep filling up after each reformatting.

Alan's question involves his parents who got a new computer with Vista. The default for shutting the computer down is to make it go into sleep mode rather than a true shut down.
– One suggestion is to push the power button once and briefly, but close any running programs first. Don't hold the power button for a longer time as it will force a "power off" which is undesirable.

Alan also asks for a way to change the resolution on the Vista machine to get everything to fit on the screen (to avoid scrolling left/right) but without reducing the font size.
– Use Google to search for "vista font size".
– Also, using Internet Explorer (and some other applications), holding the control key while turning the scroll wheel will zoom a window in and out (on the Mac this key combination will zoom the entire screen).

Alan's show Soundings will discuss antibiotics and germs, and germs producing antibiotics. What's that all about? Tune in 12pm Tuesday on KVMR to find out.

A caller needs to recover data from his hard drive's D: & E: partitions, which he can't access anymore.
– Determine if it's a hardware problem or a "file error". If it's a hardware problem, you can be losing data the more you try to use the drive because the head may be scraping the surface.
– Data recovery shops can charge $500 just to look at it & determine if anything can be recovered. The actual recovery can cost $2500 to $5000.
– Try using chkdsk from the console mode (command prompt).
– Try using an autoboot Ubuntu CD, If Ubuntu can't read an NTFS partition, nothing will.
– Using OpenBSD you can try the cp -a command (copy with archiving).
– Speedfan can do SMART diagnostics, which checks the condition of the hard drive controller.
Again, backup your data.

Caller Eric Tomb of Booktown can't use Audacity on his Mac because the Lame plugin won't work, so he's not able to produce MP3 files. Instead, he has to use Amadeus, which has a tendency to crash.
– The Audacity/Lame issue is to be resolved off air.
Booktown shares the same time slot with Zentech but on alternate weeks.

Listeners can send questions (to zen at kvmr dot org) if they don't mind waiting up to a week for a reply.

Eric also asks about FTP programs for the Mac. CuteFTP for the PC is mentioned. As a side note, Windows has come with an FTP program since Win95, I think.
– FireFTP is an addon for Firefox to do FTP transfers directly from the browser instead of using a separate program. It will work on a Mac running Firefox.

Eric also wants to find a program to edit MP3 tags.
– Use iTunes to edit MP3 tags

Feb 2 thru 8 is the KVMR pledge drive.

A caller says his Vista PC won't update using Defender (an anti-spyware product). The error code leads him to believe he has a trojan.
It might be a rootkit which is worse than a virus. Fsecure Blacklight Rootkit Elimination Technology is free software that will only detect if you have a rootkit installed. If a rootkit is detected, call back for further instructions; rootkits can be difficult to get rid of.

The same caller got AVG anti-virus and was prompted to get rid of other anti-virus programs and he wonders if that's necessary.
– It's a good idea, but Defender can remain.
– Spybot is recommended as an anti-spyware program, but not for rootkits.

Mark (Top Ramen) called in. has a Mac with OSX 10.3.9 and wonders if his 1gHz 512meg laptop can run a new OSX version.
– Yes. Leopard should install fine. An upgrade to 1gig RAM is recommended.

He also asks where to get the newer OSX version.
– Go to an Apple store or ask another Mac user for a copy. There's no activation required as with Windows.
– Try Ebay, but be careful of pirated copies.

And he asks where to get a laptop cheaply.
– Search for "off lease laptop" on Ebay, but check the seller's feedback score to see if they're trustworthy.
– Check with Apple for refurbished units.

The best free backup software is Syncback The best-purchased backup software is Syncback SE.
More about backup software from a previous show here:

A caller wants to know how to synch a new TV with a Mac.
– There may be a converter to take DVI from a Mac to an analog TV.
– On Ebay you can buy a DVI to VGA converter for a few dollars; also get a VGA to composite converter. This, again, is for an analog TV.
– DVI and HDMI are voltage compatible, so there is a DVI to HDMI adaptor for under $10. Check if your TV has an HDMI input.
– And some TV's have a DVI input, so you can connect the computer's DVI directly.

Listener Kate Emailed us about Magic Jack at the end of 2008:
This is a small device the size of a memory stick with a USB port on one end,
and an RJ11 Telephone Socket style connector on the other end
that allows a fixed rate Low cost long distance USA/Canada wide calling plan
It requires a Windows XP or Vista PC
or an Intel based Macintosh but NO software installation required as it 'runs' fromt he device itself.

Here is their Site: http://www.magicjack.com which says you get 30 days free trial time So if that's True there's nothing to lose but some time if  you don't like it.

Then, it's  under $4 a month call anywhere in the USA/Canada… NOT BAD. 
I do not have one but several clients do, and called me with it.  Call quality is fine, not a Problem , in my opinion.
and it Self Installs (IE plug it in and wait up to a minute for it to configure itself and you are in business…)
it will NOT work with older style non Intel MAC computers  otherwise PC XP, Vista & Intel MACs work Fine

Pluses- If you try it and like it:

1) Dump your Long Distance Plan for Outgoing Calls on your land line.  If you are unlucky enough to use ATT's, that saves some $40 a month right there. this DOES NOT affect anyone's INCOMING calls at all.  Actually for example I use my cell phone for long distance which is why I did not get a magic Jack..

2) Real Voicemail so when it is NOT connected it will collect and hold calls for you so when you ARE connected you can get them

3) Connect any normal handset cordless or corded phone to the jack and it rings normally and is used in a nontechnical way. Computer & Interenet need to be On and Up though, and may not work if the PC Goes to Sleep!

4) Use Anywhere. you can plug Magic Jack into ANYONE's computer anywhere in the world, so long as they have fairly speedy Internet access- even say,
Europe to make free USA calls  (But NO free calls to Europe itself, strangely : 🙂

you could add it to your Laptop and go to a WIFI  HotSpot and use it, say.

DOWN SIDES
1) NOT a local number- And you cannot pick one. They currently seem to give out Marysville  NUMBERS which show up in caller-ID but no NAME shows up.

People returning calls via. caller ID  (which I often do) will get the 'wrong' number rather thatn your more relaible land-line for you or will not actually 'know' you as 'you' are in  apparently in  Marysvville or Woodland..

2) This IS a so called VOIP solution BUT it is probably NOT compatible with anything else. You cannot for example put the  account into a VOIP call box-
It HAS to be as far as I can tell,  their special adapter in use to work right…

3) No Call Forwarding or any of those type of features.

4) This one is Obvious. It Requires a Computer.
Not as trivial as it sounds as your Itnernet Service,  Power, Computer and cabling AND the Magic Jack system  must ALL work and be on for ANY of this to work
so It is probably only useful for a roaming consultant or a call-out plan.

5) OH and finally- If you lose the unit, you just lost all the access and probably need to call to get it disabled, Also I doubt you could get the same number back, But it's all a free trial then cheap.  Try it eh? Let me know what your experience is!

I am using these Notes for our Zen Blog  So it may be more detail than you REALLY wanted!

Your Comments about clarity and actual Answering of Question invited..  Zen At Kvmr Dot Org.

Show notes for 1-12-9 

About 25% of the iPhones are jailbroken.
Unlock means using another plan by plugging in a SIM card, GSM only (T-Mobile but not Verizon).
Jailbreak is a hack that allows you to use software other than that from Apple.

Up until recently you had to use Wi-Fi to get your iTunes music on the iPhone. Now you can get it thru the 3G connection. But if you unlocked the phone,
AT&T can charge you the full service rate you would have paid for your plan if you hadn't hacked the phone. And the cell phone network is aware of the type of phone you're using by the IMEI number. This is mentioned in the last show.

You don't have to get your iPhone from AT&T and sign up for the 2 year contract. iPhones are legally sold elsewhere like Ebay. Unlocking them may (or not) be illegal. Be aware of this risk. The views expressed are those of the speakers only.

The program Speedfan reports on the stats of your computer (PC) like the temperature of the fan.

A caller got a new Vista machine and used Outlook Express, but it transferred all his mail from Yahoo and deleted it from the Yahoo server.
– Get rid of Outlook Express by telling it to use a nonexistent address.
– Then you can get the mail back to the Yahoo mailbox by forwarding it.
If you highlight all mail and then forward, those emails will become attachments in a single email, so forward them individually if you want to keep them separate. If you're going to do this, change only the POP address in Outlook to a non-existent address and leave the SMTP set to a valid address. Change the SMTP to an invalid address when you've finished forwarding.

Paul mentions hacking a GPS unit to install IGO8, 8 being the version number. This was mentioned in the previous show. IGO8 can be loaded into anything with a GPS chip & Windows Mobile. If you have Windows Mobile 5 on your phone, it will say so on the back. Each mobile unit requires its own hack .
Again, note the disclaimer given above.

A caller with a Mac G4 has trouble starting up with a new Samsung monitor.
– Do your updates for the Mac.
– Check with Samsung in case others are having the same problem and for any bulletins
– Try resetting the PRAM to the factory default by turning the machine on while holding down all 4 of the keys — command + option + p + r (read below).
– Try a different DVI cable.
In Calif., when you report a problem to a manufacture, be sure to get a ticket number (a number to reference your call) when you're under warranty. You have the right to get a preexisting problem fixed when it goes out of warranty. Also, under Calif. law, your warranty is extended by the amount of time the product spends in the repair shop.

A caller got a new Mac Book that locks up while using Apple Mail.
– Get the latest updates for the Mac.
– Under the hard drive menu, go to applications -> utilities -> disk tools -> fix permissions.
– OSX does its own disk optimization, unlike earlier OS versions.

AppleCare is available at a discount from elsewhere other than Apple.

The same caller says his Photobooth program crashes.
– Use the key combination option + apple + escape. It's like the task manager in Windows and allows you to force an application to quit. But, that doesn't help in this case.
– Suggestions from the listeners are invited.

Mikail calls to respond to the problems of the previous callers:
To the caller with the monitor problem:
– There's a problem with logic board or the cable.
– When doing the PRAM reset with command + option + p + r, hold the keys and wait for the chime.
– Also check with Apple to see if there's been a recall.
To the caller with the Apple Mail & Photobooth problem:
– Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior will work with OSX,
– Instead of doing option + apple + escape, one can use the activity monitor application to force a quit of a running program.
– Don't upgrade to version 10.5.6 of the OS just yet, there are all kinds of problems with it.
– Mikail highly recommends AppleCare. It can be bought up to 1 year after the purchase of the Mac.

Mikail asks Paul why use Gmail instead of Thunderbird.
– Thunderbird can synch mail folders even while working in offline mode using IMAP.
– Thunderbird interacts with the hard drive faster than a browser can interact with Gmail.
– Thunderbird gives you better control over your mail folders.
– You can mix POP and IMAP mail accounts. You can drag mail from a POP account to an IMAP account which will make it go back to the IMAP server (e.g. Gmail).
Paul recommends that Mikail use Entourage (on his Mac) in IMAP mode but don't use 'get mail', use 'synchronize mail' instead.
More about IMAP and POP mail from a previous show here.

Mikail suggests that the caller with the Mac Book problem can solve it by reinstalling everything.