Sep 26, 2012
Test FLASH memory under PC
Long-range inexpensive Wireless Link under $90 each end! Thanks, Mikail!
http://www.streakwave.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=Pico2HP
Multi Platform Communiction Utility Whats App (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, etc…)
IOS 6 for iPhones. Got Older iPhone like 2G? Hope Not lost! Use WHITEDOOR
pre built unlocked firware with modificaions to provide iCloud, Etc.
Additional notes
Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They're tagged with #Zentech.
– When what's said is unclear to me (or I'm unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (" ") verbatim.
Editor's comments are delimited by < >
Both of the guys have now upgraded their iPhones to IOS6 and Glenn noticed he had trouble searching the email on his iPhone. Apparently it doesn't search in the body of the emails but only in the from:, to: and subject: fields. However, when he used his computer to go to his Google email, he was able to find the email he was looking for. Paul thought that was because Glenn is using the IMAP protocol on his iPhone, the body of the email is not on the phone itself. Glenn said he searched using the email app itself and chose the search 'All' option. Though there is an option to search 'All', Paul thought it meant 'ALL of the above fields' — from: to: subject: — rather than everything in email.
Glenn also had a problem with the Passbook feature on his iPhone. This is where you can keep your boarding pass, tickets, store cards, coupons, etc. Paul said there is a bug with it. The person who wrote the app thought the data should be "configured for next year. You had to muck around with the calendar to make it work".
Jim called. He has an iPhone 4 and he loves DuckDuckGo as a search engine. And they don't track you or sell information about you. It's a free cell phone app. <Looks like it works from a browser, too>
Paul talked about the first version of the iPhone — the 2G. It can't run an operating system later than version 3.13. Now you can jailbreak and unlock the phone. If you download free firmware called Whited00r you can get a new lease on life. It allows you to use iCloud and it has other features found on newer operating systems.
Brian called. He has a Nexus 7 <I think that's what he said> and he uses the voice recognition to talk to "Google", but he has trouble being understood because of his English accent.
– There have also been similar complaints about Siri on the iPhone.
– You can try the voice recognition software Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5 — for the computer, not a cell phone. It learns and adapts to the way you speak.
– There is also a Dragon Naturally Speaking app, at least for the iPhone, and it's free. It doesn't use the phone to do the processing but sends your voice to servers on the net, which then return the text to the phone.
Rick called. His Dell laptop finally died and he can no longer run Outlook. He bought a used laptop with Windows 7 but the Microsoft package on it didn't include Outlook and he was quoted $200 for Outlook.
– Microsoft Office as old as 2003 can be installed in Win7. Various versions of Office show up on Ebay and you can transfer the ownership of the license.
– Get the education version <student version> at Staples for maybe $100. Make sure it has Outlook — some don't.
– Glenn asked if Open Office has something similar to Outlook but Paul said no. It has something similar but can't use Outlook's data file.
– Look for Microsoft Office on Ebay.
– In the past, Outlook was sold on a separate disk.
Rick asked if he can export the emails from his old Outlook.
– It depends on whether the data can be retrieved from the hard drive.
– Rick said he has the data backed up, so Paul said look for the file outlook.pst. You can then use Thunderbird to extract the emails. It can also extract some parts of the contacts list, but not schedules & appointments. However, Thunderbird expects to find the .pst file where Outlook normally keeps it, so it's a good idea to get Outlook running on the new machine first.
Rick wondered about Microsoft Live Mail but Glenn said don't bother, it only gives you an email address at Outlook.com <formerly Hotmail>. Paul added, the latest version of Microsoft Office lets you subscribe, on a monthly basis, to some of its features for online use. Glenn thinks that's going to be costly for the average home user.
Paul said there's an open-source program called Evolution that's supposed to extract data from an Outlook file. Google with the words: evolution outlook import
Paul never liked Outlook because it's buggy & clumsy. Cosmetically, it looked good at first. Nevertheless, there are reasons to use it.
– It's used in the corporate environment.
– It allows PC users with an iPhone or an iPad to synchronize their data. But these devices now synch over the net. And now, there's no reason for PC users to use Outlook because "you can get to it online" if you use an iCloud account you can get, essentially, the same features.
Paul said flash drives have become inexpensive. He's found a 16gig flash drive for $10 after rebate. But when they go bad it's catastrophic and unpredictable.
He's found a free utility that runs under Windows called H2testw and tests flash drives. In addition to testing it also checks the speed of data transfer, which is important if you play movies from a flash drive — smoothness of playback depends on transfer speed. See the above link.
He also said that he's seen some flash drives advertised as having 8gigs when they only had 2gigs and they lost all of their data if you tried to store more than the 2gigs.
A short Youtube excerpt from a South Korean music star was played. The name of the group is Psy. The video has had 285 million viewers.
Richard called. He's considering the new iPhone and is concerned the map application that comes with the new IOS6 operating system is inadequate.
– Google maps is no longer supported on the new iPhone, and Apple is trying to hire the map specialists from Google to develop its own product.
– Use the Safari browser and go to maps.google.com. Though not exactly the same experience, it's somewhat similar.
– Glenn doesn't think that the poor Apple maps is a good reason not to get the iPhone 5 because Apple will eventually develop a satisfactory substitute.
– Paul's heard rumors that a Google app will be avail in the applications store <iTunes, I guess>.
Richard asked if a traffic feature will come with the new <Apple> maps.
– Paul has Tom Tom USA for $39 + subscription. <mentioned on a previous show> He speculated that if traffic will be available from Apple, it will be a subscription service, too.
– Paul then tried to bring up Apple maps to see if traffic is included and found it is.
<Here are a couple of related articles…
Google Working on Maps for iPhone, iPad
iOS 6's Apple Maps: Yes, it's that bad>
Jordon called. He has a desktop PC that's about 3 years old and its hard drive went out. He asked for a recommendation to a service that will retrieve his data.
– The guys said they can give a suggestion but only off air.
– It's usually expensive to have data recovered — multiple thousands of dollars.
– You can try putting the drive into an external enclosure that can then be connected via a USB port to see if anything can be retrieved. If you just can't boot from the drive, the data may still be retrieved, provided the drive is not otherwise damaged.
– If the drive is damaged, avoid the temptation of repeatedly accessing the drive, because the heads may continue doing more damage to the platters and thus destroying more the data.
– Put the drive up to your ear and listen for whizzing or clicking sounds indicating a physical malfunction.
– Advanced Data Recovery in Folsom provides a data recovery service.
The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers only and don't represent those of KVMR, its board, management, staff or even contributors.
Barry called. He has a Mac Powerbook G417 and asked if he can upgrade the operating system to something newer than version 10.5.8
– No. That's the end of the line. It doesn't have a processor compatible with version 10.6 and beyond.
– You can at least get a more modern web broswer called tenfourfox. <mentioned on a previous show>. It can work with processors as old as the G3.
Barry had trouble getting the latest version of Flash.
– He may have to settle for the last one that will work.
John called. He has an HP laptop from circa 2006 and his USB ports died.
– What typically fails are the white plastic tabs in the socket may break or the gold contacts may get bent.
– Your laptop may have PCMCIA slot (PC card slot) and you can use a PC card to USB adapter, to give you USB ports. Check Ebay for an adapter — Paul found some in the $5 to $10 range. Google using the words: pcmcia usb
– Be gentle when inserting into USB sockets, they're fragile.
John also asked about upgrading to Windows 7.
– Paul didn't recommend that. The guys prefer XP.
– HP computers have the facility to reload XP from backup disks or you may still be able to buy an HP OEM XP disk from HP. But HP is under no obligation to sell it to you.
– If you backup your data and then reinstall XP, you may see a speed improvement.
Glenn encouraged listeners to become KVMR members.
Last updated 8:57 PM 9/26/2012