Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Race for a New Game Machine

The linked book review describes the untold story of Sony's partnership with IBM and Toshiba to design the cell processor chips that made the Playstation 3. It's an eye-opener of a tale.

In 2002, Microsoft approached IBM looking for a unique processor to power the xBox 360.  In short order, IBM was simultaneously working on two designs for the cell processor.  And Microsoft, which lined up additional silicon fab capacity, actually got their version out first to market.  With other launch problems, Sony was a year late out of the gate.  So much for partnerships.

The Race for a New Game Machine looks like a fascinating winter read for technologists.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Apple unloads iMacs Before January 15th

Good deal on a refurb iMac at Apple this week.

But why jump now when it's very likely that the iMac and Mac Pro desktops will be refreshed during MacWorld next month? My bet is on a quad Core Duo 2 option for the iMac.

$800 Price Point Yields Desktop Bargains

Six years ago this week, $800 bought you a HP 734nwith an Athlon 2400+ (2.0GHz), 512 MB memory, 60 GB hard drive, a DVD player and a CD-RW. No monitor or printer. Available at BestBuy. That was a "PC Deal" of the week for a column I wrote then.

Fast forward to this week at BestBuy, where the Deal of the Week in desktops is an HP is an HP Phoenix Special Edition with these specs:
  • Quad-core AMD Phenom 9150e (1.8 GHz x 4, 65 watt)
  • 5 GB memory
  • Double layer DVD burner with LightScribe labeling
  • nVidia 6150 graphics card
  • 15-in-1 media reader
  • Viata Home Premium
  • 22" LCD monitor (5 ms response, speakers)
  • HP Deskjet All-in-One printer

I'll post these "look backs" occasionally. You have to remember how much we used to spend on PCs and how little we got in today's technology. No inflation in our sector!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Happy Holidays Everyone

We are taking the weekend off today, and will be playing a re-run of the Geek Meet2008 show from Las Vegas in April.

We are sorry to tell everybody that Al_K passed away on December 21st 2008. Our condolences to his family we will all miss him.

See you all next week, have a safe and great New Years.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Microsoft kicks fake security software off 400,000 PCs

"In the second month of a campaign against fake security software, Microsoft Corp. has booted the rogue application 'Antivirus 2009' from almost 400,000 PCs, the company recently claimed."
This is a good thing Microsoft has done with their updates, the question is will people do the updates?

AlaskaJoe

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

YouTube - NVIDIA: Mythbusters explain parallel processing on GPU's

This is a couple of very cool video's from the Mythbusters it explains a CPU and GPC in something easy to understand.

The second video Jamie takes one for us to see!

I hope you enjoyed the videos.
Happy Holidays from all of us at the OnComputers show.

Monday, December 22, 2008

DailyTech - Fake Tech Gifts One of the Hottest Items of Holiday Season

Fake Tech Gifts One of the Hottest Items of Holiday Season: "Sure, you could buy phones or video game systems -- you could buy cameras or even a high-tech washing machine for the holidays. But why not get the hottest tech items, like the iFeast or a nice USB toaster?"
I want a USB toaster doesn't everyone?

Does that mean we will need a kitchen computer so we have someplace to plug in our USB toaster?

Happy Holidays everyone.

AlaskaJoe

Researchers sound alarm about bug in free antivirus scanner

Researchers sound alarm about bug in free antivirus scanner: "A bug in Trend Micro Inc.'s free online virus scanning service can be used by hackers to hijack Windows PCs running Internet Explorer, security researchers warned."

Like I say you get what you pay for in a free Anti-Virus.
I know NOD32's online scanner uses ActiveX and that is a problem. But so far it works.
AlaskaJoe

Sunday, December 21, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 12-21-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 12-21-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.
Remember next Sunday 12/28/08 we will be playing a best of the OnComputers show.

Have a Very happy and safe Holiday season from,
AlaskaJoe and the OnComputers host

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) For my eco-start this week, I have one of those how did everyone miss this, what should have been obvious energy producing idea. This is a great idea; the only drawback I can see is the obvious cost of starting it up. Not sure the numbers work out as far as return verses investment, but I sure like the concept. Would be something that should be considered in new construction, and that’s for sure. It’s a simple idea install piezoelectric generators under roadways, railroads, and air ports. Here is a link to the company with the patent. http://www.innowattech.co.il/ The video although having no audio explains it well with graphics and text.
2) This is a link for those who like odd stuff. The link opens to some of the most bizarre buildings in the world, but on the side bars you can find a ton of links to other oddest in the world subjects. One of those fun sites to spend a few minuets tripping on just how weird we humans are. http://www.oddee.com
3) I am involved in one of my projects concerning changing some of my eating habits, lose a little weight, eat healthier, and all that. While researching some sites on healthy foods I ran across this one. Very extensive the link opens on a page listing the top 100 healthiest foods. If you click on anything in the list it gives you extensive information on that particular food. I was thinking about printing the info on one of the items for a neighbor, I thought before I hit the button I would check to see how much information there was on that item. It was 35 pages needless to say I changed my mind. http://www.whfoods.com
4) I just had to put up at least one link about something innovative regarding a car. I just seem to be attracted to the changes in this field, after all the cars we have driving around today will be the Model A’s of tomorrow. Check out this one a very interesting concept, they have taken the body exterior and are making it out of a cloth type material, as in flexible. Looks very cool, not sure how practical. But, it is by BMW and that means they must be seriously considering the concept. http://www.37signals.com

5) Well for my geek link I resisted the new geek toys for Christmas concept; you know the USB coffee warmer for $15.00 and all that, for something a little more serious. This is a site with some very interesting articles about how computers are affecting human evolution as a species. This is an interesting line of study for me, the concept that our evolution is moving at an exponentially increasing rate because of technology. The article that brought me here was on whether the digital world is causing the rewiring of the human brain. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much additional information on the subject is here. http://www.drgarysmall.com

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Add Any Application to the Desktop Right-Click Menu in Vista :: the How-To Geek

"Add Any Application to the Desktop Right-Click Menu in Vista"
This is a very cool trick, I use Notepad a lot to keep notes etc..
I don't know if it works for Windows XP.
This web site "How-To Geek" has a lot of helpful things.

Remember to do your Microsoft Updates, a fix for IE7 came out today.
AlaskaJoe

Sunday, December 14, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 12-14-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 12-14-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) I am going to start green, but not with a car, rather the fuel we put into cars and trucks. Seems there has been a fungus found in the rain forest of Patagonia that under certain circumstances can produce hydrocarbons that can be used to produce diesel fuel. There is another side to this story in that it helps to show how important the worlds rain forests are, it is impossible to know what discoveries we have all ready lost. http://www.greentechmedia.com
2) This is another to follow up on the same concept as the last link, providing energy for the planet, but at a much higher cost. Seems soil from the moon is all we need, 40 tons of the helium 3 which is found in abundance there could provide enough clean energy for the entire country for one year. All we need to do is get it, makes things like the space elevator look better all the time. Interesting read here http://www.livescience.com
3) Seems like there will be one of those light shows put on by nature tonight. The Geminid Meteor showers will be prominent tonight; the moon being at a peak will cause some problems. But, according to this article there will be a window early in the evening. Of course for Joe that window will be much longer, I have found something to envy, even with the cold. A lawn chair on his deck, wearing every piece of clothes in the house, some hot chocolate, and a cigar. That would be very nice indeed. http://www.msnbc.msn.com
4) Now for something a little closer to the edge. I have to tell you from the start here this is real science. Not a movie script, I am talking about body swapping yes that’s right body swapping, moving you into another body, I know it sounds extremely weird, I cannot imagine how it must feel. All I can say is read the article form neuroanthropology I am not sure I would want to try this. http://neuroanthropology.net
5) Now for the geek link, I was having some trouble with my media center running to hot, that got me into looking into stuff about cooling. That led to this link to, I love this name, the “Hardcore Reactor Computer” think about a computer in a fish tank. Completely immersed in liquid cooling medium, you pull up the motherboard and set it in its stand at the top of the tank and watch it drip. The site has a very cool video; this is an extreme gamer’s rig that can be over clocked with no restrictions. Not cheap but then for some it would be worth it, I suppose. http://www.hardcorecomputer.com/

Monday, December 08, 2008

Microsoft Patch Tuesday for December 2008: eight bulletins

Remember tomorrow is Microsoft Update day!
Microsoft will issue eight Security Bulletins on Tuesday, and it will host a webcast to address customer questions on these bulletins the following day (December 10 at 11:00 AM PST, if you're interested). Six of the vulnerabilities are rated "Critical," and two are marked as "Important." Seven of these earned their rating through a remote code execution impact, meaning a hacker could potentially gain control of an infected machine. At least four of the eight updates will require a restart.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 12-07-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 12-07-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) I hate to break a trend, so once again I am going to start with a green car concept idea. This is kind of cool in that it is not about a car at all. Seems Bridgestone Tire Company has reinvented the wheel. All you need is a couple of these and a power source and you are on your way. The really neat thing about this is the ease that you could convert the car you have now to a new technology. There just may be a future product here, I think we should keep an eye on this one. http://www.hybridcars.com
2) Now that the election is over I am hoping the political climate in the group has had a chance to mellow. I just had to comment on this web site the new president elect has started. I heard mention of the site on the television so I had to go look, I am so happy I did. This is an interactive site actually looking for opinions, positions, and suggestions from the populace. According to the story the comments are actually being read and passed on to the pertinent departments. Being one who likes to write letters to everyone about everything I am in heaven. In addition I think that this is a perfect example of our future, the internet is going to continue to make a major difference in the way the government is run, we only have to look back at the changes in the election process. We can look forward the internet as a tool that has the potential to change everything; we only need to use it well. When you get to the site scroll to the bottom and select your topic of interest. http://change.gov/
3) This one is an interesting article on how the computer and internet is taking over television. While the article beings up some interesting points, and a few links I need to check out, I do not understand the constant referral to being limited to the 12 inch laptop screen. I use my media center and do everything he talks about, watching it on my 42 inch wide screen LCD T.V. But an interesting article anyway, if you are in the T.V. online movie internet thing it’s a good read. http://www.nytimes.com
4) What with the Christmas season nigh upon us, Aaron thought I should list some stuff related he suggested elf your self, you can upload pictures and create cards and stuff http://www.elfyourself.com/ , I remembered the elf bowling game http://www.pcworld.com/ , then I thought why not a universal everything Christmas link site http://linkchristmas.com/
5) Last up a site that I have not been able to get to, tried several times but it has been continually crashed due to much traffic. So I am posting the article I ran across about the site. I will keep trying because it sounds kind of interesting. It is an online reality show where they, well not sure now. When I start to talk about it, it sounds well I don’t know weird they bust cops. You will just have to read the article and make up your mind. http://www.reason.com

Sunday, November 30, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 11-30-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 11-30-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

Not much of a write up this week due to Thanksgiving madness so this week I am just going to post the links, next week I will get back to my normal madness.
1) http://news.cnet.com/
2) http://www.time.com/
3) http://www.reuters.com/
4) http://www.boston.com/
5)http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

Monday, November 24, 2008

Gift Card Alert

I wanted to give everyone a heads up that if you tend to
give gift cards around the holidays, you need to be careful
that the cards will be honored after the holidays. Stores
that are planning to close after
Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays
even though the cards will be worthless January 1. There is
no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary, it
is referred to as (Bankruptcy Planning). Below is a
partial list of stores that you need to be
cautious about.

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150
stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after
January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores mo re to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after
January.20
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stor~s
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Loews to close down some stores
Dillard's to close some stores


This was sent to me by Gary O, I thought I would post it here as an up date to my Links from the Gregg Zone as a follow up to the Black Friday post. Gregg

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 11-23-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 11-23-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Starting with that old familiar green car link that seems to be becoming a trend for me. This is a link to what is granted a niche car; it would not work well in most applications. But, it sure looks like fun, and would keep you and a few friends in shape, so it is not only green, but healthy. I am talking about a human powered car that can hit 60 mph. That seems pretty good to me, it is made for one to four people, the car mechanism is like a cross between the old railroad pump type track cars, and a rowing machine. It seats four people, and up to four can contribute to powering the car. It can also be operated by full electric as a NEV, it is street legal, sells for around fifteen grand, available now. It has an electric motor that can charge on the down hill, and then assists on the uphill. Also can be re-charged as a plug in. http://www.humancar.com/

2) This is another car link I am sorry I found two this week that I just had to use. If you have not been keeping up on the Think car you might want to check out this article from CNN Money this may be the breakthrough electric car for us here in the States. They are talking about selling in the U.S. next year. Starting between 15-17,000 dollars, that’s pretty good considering the lowest price all electric production vehicle in the states now is the Tesela, at 100k plus, and they are only planning to produce 200 units this year. There are some very big names behind this car, and a lot of investment capital. There business plan, and production methodology are fantastic and are going to put the big three at big risk. This may be the next VW bug to hit the U.S. market. I am putting up two links here one for the article in CNN http://money.cnn.com/ And, another for the Sterling engine mentioned in the article, I could have done a segment on this alone, a very good read, with lots of related links. http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp

3) Next up I have three green links sent to me from Troll in the chat room, you know that the NEV market is picking up when you find an online parts store selling replacement parts for several companies, usually the only place you can get parts is from the original manufacture, this site also sells a variety of new units http://www.electricmotorsport.com The second link here about some of the green cars moving into the California market, http://gas2.org/ And the third about green living ideas, I particularly liked the article on Energy Efficient Mortgages what a great idea, I really like that concept. http://greenlivingideas.com/

4) I was following up on the Space Elevator one of my very early links, thought I would post an update on what’s going on for 2008, they just had the 2008 Space Elevator Conference sponsored by Microsoft in mid July I was hoping to find some reference to what went down on the net, not much luck yet. If you happen to run across something please let me know. I am posting two links one to the Wikipedia listing, http://en.wikipedia.org and one for the 2010 challenge, http://www.spaceward.org

5) Last up get an early jump on the upcoming Black Friday sales event coming up on the 28th next week. Plan well, so you get the most for your investments, two sites the first a rather extensive site with lots of ads, http://bfads.net/ here is another this one has the advantage of being able to select a category, or store to help your search http://www.bfgear.com/ google will get you many more for sure, if these don’t fit the bill.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 11-16-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 11-16-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) For my opening green car link of the week I have a site that carries news and announcements about what the players in the field are up to, as far as environmentally conscious products, and research is concerned. http://www.autobloggreen.com/ I like this site quite a bit there is a lot here, try clicking on the box titled manufacturers, you will find 73 companies listed, from Acura to Zenn, then click on the company to see what they are up to. Just an aside, the news story about Ener1 (a battery company), a story that was released today caught my eye. So I looked up the stock selling around $7.00, Fridays closing price. Might be one to follow after the announcement in the article, just for grins. http://investing.businessweek.com
2) This is another link on a subject I just cannot seem to get enough of, the whole business of using mental power to operate a computer, and therefore almost anything mechanical, from a wheel chair, to a car. Well if you would like to try the new technology, this may be your chance. These guys are selling a head set, well maybe not quite yet, you can sign up and reserve one. I can only guess that means very soon you can buy. The price under $300.00, well maybe. Any way the head set can be used to control your video game by your thoughts, every thing from moving stuff to controlling the emotion of the avatars. The company is hiring if you are looking and qualify, if you are listening from Sydney Australia they are even looking for volunteers to play with the stuff, sounds like fun. http://emotiv.com/
3) Now how about some of non-political, political stuff, after all we just finished an election, I feel the need to offer just a “little” something. Here is a link to an article about a nano-scientist who has created 3-D portraits of our new president, smaller than a grain of salt. He is calling them nanobamas. John Hart; and colleagues at the University of Michigan produced them by growing nano-tubes to form the portraits in order to bring attention to the field of nano-technology. http://www.sciencedaily.com
4) This link comes by way of Riley, knowing that I like to cook, and since I missed out at Jacks wiping of tears gathering in Texas. He sent me this link with fry bread recipes; I have not had a chance to try any yet, but am looking forward to trying several as soon as the weather cools down. In the winter months I like to move from salads and sandwiches to soups, stews, and fresh made bread. http://www.manataka.org
5) For my final geek link my usual attempt to find something that may be a talking point for the show I ran across this article about Microsoft launching their first online store. I first read about it in an Australian newspaper, they commented that it was done in a sort of stealth mode last Friday. I am sure there are a lot of other sources that may be more informative, and it may not even be news to this audience, but it is the first I have heard about it. http://www.crn.com

Sunday, November 09, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 11-09-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 11-09-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) You gotta know by now this is going to be the green link. This week I think I have one that will be tough to beat in the future. Fits all of the things I like, one it is a car, two it is as green as it gets, three practical, four cheap, and five will most likely be available in the near future. Check this out drive Los Angles to New York on one tank of gas (around town zero gas), exhaust is plain breathable air, projected cost less than the average car of today. Two hundred kilometers around town, cost about two dollars. This is the most promising car I have seen. Video link here http://www.youtube.com
2) Next up a little bit on astronomy, remember a few years ago the naysayers kept saying the chances of other solar systems other than ours being out there were very remote. Well last night that crossed my mind so I Googled "new planets found". I was not surprised by what I found, but then I was one of those people they were nay saying about. Just in case you have not been staying up on the subject here is an informative story from BBC Sci/Tech, sorry about the dating it is about eight years old, but proves my point, I bet they are in the thousands by now. http://news.bbc.co.uk
3) Next up a follow up on a link I did a few weeks back, I was pleasantly surprised to see Sixty Minutes do a story on it. That being the story about the locked in kid using his thoughts to power a computer linking devise. This is the link to the Sixty Minute video segment. This is some kind of cool; we truly are living in fantastic times. http://www.cbsnews.com
4) Now for a subject that is over the top, unless you are very academic and staying up on everything new my guess is that you are not familiar with M theory. I occasionally check into what is new in physics, not that I understand much of what they are talking about, but they usually seem to explain some of those things I always suspected, but thought were pure Sci-fi. Well this is a great video about parallel universes, the implications are actually beyond most of the Sci-fi I have read, or seen in the movies. By the way the video segments are linked at YouTube is new at least to me, solves that 10 min. restriction rather nicely. http://www.youtube.com
5) Now for a geek link that fits into my world quite nicely. I think it was last week I was into the Gaia concept, well I was watching this video at TED talking about what the internet may evolve into the next 5000 days, seems that is how old the inter net is now, 5000 days a frame of reference that left me a little befuddled. Any way that is the link, to the video. However, in the video Kevin Kelly is talking about how all technology is becoming inter linked, the concept of the planet evolving as an organism kept nagging at the edges of my thought, maybe the internet is the evolving brain of Gaia. Us humans the mechanism of growth on the way to planetary awareness, just a thought. But I can tell it is going to be with me for a while, sometimes I wish I could write novels. Check it out a great little clip on interconnectivity of technology. http://www.ted.com

Sunday, November 02, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 11-02-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 11-02-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Well to start off the week we have to thank Lou, I know you are asking who the hell Lou is. Well turns out he is just a neighbor, but during a conversation I mentioned Gaia, and was surprised to hear him say he had never heard of the word, much less the concept or the meaning implied. I am trying not to get to political, or cross over the religious thresholds with this it is, if I do I am sorry it is something very important to me, so you will just have to suffer for a minuet or two. The philosophy of Gaia is one that considers the Earth as a living organism, made up of many smaller organisms, and ecosystems. For starters that is what we all are, we are made up of many various cells, many systems within the body that are inter-related, if not for the micro-organisms in out digestive tract we could not live, there are many other inter-related systems needed for our life, you will just have to educate yourself to learn more about that. It is not much of a stretch to see an ecosystem as just another part of a larger system, a combination of several ecosystems as a part of an even larger system. Okay let us build on that and compare it to a computer, think of these little ecosystems as programs within an operating system, one of them break down and that can crash the entire operating system. Now realize that you are just a sub-program within the system, just like me, and all my crazy neighbors, now does that scare you, it should, the link is just to Wikipedia, a good place to start. I will leave the rest up to you. http://en.wikipedia.org
2) I apologize for two green links in a row to start the week, but I could not resist this one. A link to an article about a prison going green. What a great way to save us all a few bucks, and help out the planet at the same time. This is what I keep saying, all indicators point to the same conclusion. Going green is the next dot-com there is so much opportunity in these areas, if one can figure out hot how to take advantage of what is the obvious trend. We must as a society move in this direction, we have no choice. It is past my time, but if you are young enough to jump on this wagon, this is the future. http://www.philly.com
3) Here is an article I found some what confusing seems they have a very new, and updated artificial heart out announced yesterday from France. This is meant to be a permanent replacement, as opposed to the hold on till a trans-placement or donator is found. What caught my eye; was the comments, almost all of them were related to the cost, jeez my first entry-level gateway computer was $2500.00 for what today I could buy at the thrift store for $10.00. Oh well here is the link http://www.dailytech.com
4) Now how about some junk, to clarify space junk. I ran across an article about a large toxic ammonia tank getting ready for re-entry this afternoon or evening. Makes one wonder why they can’t add a very small jet attachment and just aim it for deep space. This 1400 pound tank will mostly burn up; they say mostly up to 40 pound chunks may reach earth. What is worse is they have no idea where those chunks will land. It seems they are just relying on the math, you know more unpopulated area ergo a reduced chance of disaster. This site also has a very good video about the new Garmin GPS announced Friday; this is the aviator model, very impressive what this baby can do. http://www.aero-news.net
5) Last up a link to Hulu the T.V. site I put up a few months back, Joe has been spending a lot of time here, and said I should mention it again. I am bringing it up here so we can talk about it for a few. I would be very interested if anyone has a personal review on some of the other sites, like http://www.joost.com/ I know there are others out there. Anyway here is the link to hulu http://www.hulu.com/ if you do have a review or two send them to Joe so he can post them for the rest of us.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 10-26-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 10-26-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) To start off with my normal green link for the week, one that gets into the world of computer investment. Some of the mega-companies in computer related areas are making lots of money, nice to see that at least one is trying to help us with our energy dilemma. Although, I am sure they are planning to make lots of money, I guess I can forgive them, at least this time. Seems Google is betting big on geo-thermal energy, of course this article is dated August 19, 2008, before our recent market woes so there may be a post script to this story. Check it out here http://www.dailytech.com

2) This one is concerned with one of my keenest interests, human consciousness. The subject here is what got me into Netflix; I found a 5 DVD series on The Symposium of Human Consciousness that made me realize there was more to Netflix than box office wonders. Well they had another symposium recently called “Beyond the Mind-Body Problem: New Paradigms in the Science of Consciousness” and it is on the net. At the site there are three videos, the press release which is interesting they announce a scientific world wide study of near death experiences, among a couple of items. The other videos are of the morning, and afternoon session, they are two hours and fifty min. each. This takes place at the United Nations in New York, many scientists and many different theory’s, technically dry at times, but very informative. http://www.mindbodysymposium.com/

3) This is one that originated from Joe; he sent me a link to a story from New Scientist Magazine the Space division. About the release of UFO reports by the British Government, they have done this basically the same as France a while back. By the way for Coast to Coast listeners they did an interview story about this particular release, last week. Link here http://space.newscientist.com Now as a little added treat here is a site where you can read all of the original reports that the U.K. released, in PDF’s, and it is searchable check out the how to use the site section, called highlights guide first, a very nice site http://ufopressrelease.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

4) I seem to be getting a lot of stuff from the U.K. lately, here is another one. This has quite a few interesting angles when you think about it. Article titled “Heavy Metal-Eating ‘Superworms’ Unearthed in U.K.” I mean how I could pass up a headline like that. Seems in Cwmystwyth (really that is the way it is spelled) Wales. They have found earthworms which have evolved to tolerate heavy metals, after they excrete the metals, the toxic substances have been altered in a way that plants can absorb them, remove the plants and the land may be reclaimed. Not sure what they plan to do with the toxic plants, maybe super cows? Anyway, here is the link http://richarddawkins.net

5) Okay so you think your new eight gig memory stick is hot, wait till you see what is coming, although it may be a little wait. Seems a team at Princeton University has found a way to store data in the nucleus of a single atom. No telling where this might lead, the further reading links here are also interesting. http://www.vnunet.com

Sunday, October 19, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 10-19-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 10-19-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.
We will be at the Wiping Off Ceremony for Jack in Ft Worth on next Saturday. see you there.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Okay this sounds a little weird at first blush, but this is a great example of what I was talking about regarding a total movement in the area of green concepts. The concepts offered here could well be one of those great places to stick a small investment just in case it goes big. If it works as well as presented I do not see how it can miss. I am referring to artificial trees and shrubs, not new you say, well these generate electricity from, heat, solar and wind. They claim one artificial tree can power your house, this is a must read. http://www.solarbotanic.com
2) This is a link to what I am thinking of as the ultimate anti-green situation. A slight push to the political here when it comes to voting all I can say is educate yourself and think. When they talk about nuclear anything being clean, think about Hanford Washington and the day you read this report. Please at least glance over it, this is extremely important for the future of life on Earth as we know it. When you think about your vote do a short comparison. Just for starters, how much do you think it will cost us to clean it up, assuming we can even come close? Then think how much it cost to build one plant, the cost to run it, this fuel is not cheap, add in the cost of dealing with the waste, retrofitting, and the risk of a incident. How many solar fields, windmills, tidal turbines, not to mention how much research into other alternatives we can do instead. http://www.counterpunch.org

3) Geek-link here! Another of those that gets close to my pay grade. But, I think not by much. Basically what they are suggesting here is to replace the current wireless technology with a new and improved system using light. Sounds very cool to me, I have been considering trying one of those led light bulbs, now I might have to buy on just to check it out. What they are proposing is using the room lighting to transmit the network signals. Will not go through walls so you get increased security, among other advantages. http://www.bu.edu
4) Now for some encouraging news regarding nano-tech, I remember seeing a paper dress on the Antique Road Show, which reminded me of the paper clothes fad. Well this is the new millennium, so how about paper cars, and airplanes. Seems there is a new product just a few years away using nano-tubes, and bucky-balls to make something called bucky-paper. Ten times lighter, but 500 times stronger than steel, it also transmits electricity. Does anyone remember my links about the space elevator, if not google is your friend. This sure sounds like the missing link to me. http://hosted.ap.org
5) Last up the dream of cab drivers everywhere, and most likely everyone else. Sounds like a description of Utopia, a world of green lights only, how stress relieving. Where were these when I was driving a catering truck? Yes a German company has a device that gives you only, or at least mostly green lights. That may even save you enough gas in a year or two to pay for it. Thought your GPS was the ultimate gadget for your car, if you live in the city this might have it beat. http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Friday, October 17, 2008

Fake Microsoft Patch Tuesday malware campaign spreading | Zero Day | ZDNet.com

"Malicious attackers are once again taking advantage of event-based social engineering attacks, and are currently mass mailing fake notifications for Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday, attaching a copy of Trojan.Backdoor.Haxdoor, next to a legitimately looking PGP signature which is, of course, fake too :"

I guess this really doesn't need to be said: You never open an attachment to an email unless you know what it is. NOT what you think it is! Microsoft will NEVER send you an email about Microsoft Windows Updates.

The second Tuesday of the month is Microsoft Patch Tuesday, and if you don't have your computer set to get the patches for you or at least remind you they are ready for you to download and install. You should. Very few patches haven't worked as built. Some under special circumstance like an HP with an AMD CPU. HP uses the same build for all computers, when it has an AMD CPU they install more drivers and this has been known to cause issues. (Driver conflicts.)

So if you haven't done your Microsoft Windows updates this week, Do them!

AlaskaJoe

Sunday, October 12, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 10-12-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 10-12-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Okay here we go again another week another green link to kick things off. This has to be a very cool concept, I guess it has been around for a while; I was surprised that I had not seen anything on it before. This just makes a lot of sense, how about getting money back for driving your hybrid? When you think about it the car you are driving is a power plant, it generates more power than you use, why not sell that power back to the grid. The idea here is when you plug in your car you pump the extra power stored in the battery back into the grid. You would have a plug for your hybrid that instead of charging your battery works in reverse to sell the extra power to the grid. Article here http://sci.tech-archive.net
2) Next up is one Joe sent me about a NASA site predicting a small asteroid hitting the Earth. Easy there I did say small described as few-meter sized asteroid. The big deal here is that we were able to predict the time and place of this small sized object hitting the atmosphere. It was about the size of a small car, hit over the Sudan. I have several links about it here, first the original article Joe sent me http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov , next a NASA scientist explaining in a short YouTube video, http://www.youtube.com And last, here is a comparative link to a meteoroid about the same size that was found on Earth, except this one was metallic so it survived the impact, you can see a picture of what one this size looks like. http://www.namibia-1on1.com
3) Now for some thing computer related, hope you don’t find it to disturbing. The advancement of quality of life using computers is truly amazing when considering what we may be able to accomplish for people who are severally disabled. I once carried someone in my Para-transit bus that first described this condition to me; the idea has haunted me for years. The condition is called being locked in, meaning incapable of any movement of any kind, although fully aware of all senses, you can hear fine, see though not blink, feel heat, cold, pain, touch, but not flinch, smell, and taste. The condition has several causes; the one in the story here was the result of a car accident. It was discovered that the boy could move his eyes, look up and down that was translated to yes and no. The article is about hooking him up to a computer voice synthesizer, using brain probes to detect the thoughts that control muscles used in speaking. http://www.esquire.com/
4) After something as thought provoking as that, I thought something on the lighter side may be best, so how about some survival advice. This hopefully is something you will not need, but if you do it may at least give you something to think about, for a minuet or two. I am talking about what to do if you fall out of an airplane at thirty thousand feet without a parachute. http://www.bbc.co.uk
5) Last up for the week, since I covered the computer link earlier, I thought it was time for something a little Art Bellish. This is something I ran across at Dreamland, constant U.F.O. contact, if you are not familiar with Dreamland this is a radio site that has been around since the early days of Coast to Coast, one of the first internet sites started around the Art Bell show. Here is a link to that site, http://www.unknowncountry.com/ the broadcasts from the previous month are free, you can get more by subscribing, about eleven dollars for three months. Anyway, to find the story I am talking about go to the main site and click on the dreamland link, or this should take you to the Dreamland page http://www.unknowncountry.com then the 11 Oct. 2008 link. What I am getting to here is the E.C.E.T.I. ranch by Mount Adams Washington http://www.eceti.org , last a link to the YouTube videos mentioned on the radio show. http://www.youtube.com

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

`Mail Goggles' might prevent e-mail regrets (AP) by AP: Yahoo! Tech

Ever regret sending an email after a late evening?

Mail Goggles will at least make sure you are at least sober before sending it.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

How to Create and Use a Password Reset Disk in Windows Vista :: the How-To Geek

The Password Reset Disk is essentially a small file that can be used to reset your password, even if you have changed your password since creating the reset disk. This can be extremely valuable for preventing any embarrassing situations.
This is a file I keep on my tools USB stick I carry. You never know when you have someone that doesn't remember the password to log into their computer. I have had a few calls in the past asking for help.
I haven't tried it on a windows XP computer I don't think it will work, I have another tool for that.

AlaskaJoe

Monday, October 06, 2008

Linux laptops see 4x returns compared to Windows | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

Do people who pay $299 to $399 for a Linux notebook suffer greater levels of buyer’s remorse compared to those buying Windows machines?
This was an interesting read, If your thinking about getting a cheap linux based netbook you should read the full story.

I see deals in the referb dept coming.

AlaskaJoe

Secure Your Gmail Account With SSL Encryption Without Breaking Gmail Notifier

No matter what firewall you are using, if you are connecting to services online without using encryption there's a chance for your data to be hijacked, especially if you are connecting over a wireless network. Today we'll show you how to turn on SSL for Gmail while still allowing the Gmail Notifier to work properly.

Turning on SSL for Gmail is hardly a secret anymore, but getting the Gmail Notifier to continue to work isn't quite as well known, so we're covering both just for completeness. You can also think of this as a reminder to enable SSL if you haven't already.
I know a lot of us use Gmail, this tells you how to make it more secure. This includes a registry hack so remember to always back up your registry before you make any changes.

AlaskaJoe

Sunday, October 05, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 10-05-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 10-05-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Please remember if your coming to the Wiping Off Ceremony for Jack in Ft Worth on Saturday, October 25th. Please click here for the official invitation as well as RSVP information. Please RSVP to jayna@oncomputers.info by October 1st. (Your late, but if your coming let her know.)
The hosts will be staying at the Residence Inn, Ft. Worth Alliance airport for the weekend.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Starting green as usual, this is one I recently ran across that looked very promising, easy and already there. I am referring to using the pavement in roads, and parking lots to collect solar power. Anyone who has tried to walk barefooted on the pavement in the summer knows how hot it can get. The other big advantages range from not needing to allocate any new land for a solar farms, there are millions of acres already owned by the state. They would be totally invisible, no unsightly collectors on the roof; they would provide both hot water, and electricity. Here is a link to a story in ECO Worldly Magazine. http://blogs.zdnet.com
2) Next up is on a subject that is bound to be surfacing on the net due to our economic melt down. I got an Email touting a new investment “unrelated to the stock market” “totally safe virtually no risk” “extremely large returns” you know all the usual hype. They were trying to sell a news letter about something called “Secured Investment Contracts”. Being of a curious nature and having Google near by I decided to look them up, because I have never heard of them. You know you are looking for something weird when it is not clearly listed in Wikipedia. Looking around I ran across a site that may prove useful. Kind of like the internet myth sites, except they specialize in investment stuff. First a link to the email I got. http://www.stansberryresearch.com Now a link to the investigative site, the link will take you to the report on the email. http://www.stockgumshoe.com
3) This is one of those just interesting reading sites I ran across. It is a site run by NASA, has lots of interesting reading, mostly of a science nature. The site is called the Earth Observatory. Everything from night pictures of cities on earth from space, to the history of the Mayan Civilization. Just another of those places to spend a little time clicking and reading. http://earthobservatory.nasa
4) This is a bit on the zany side, and I need to put a language alert into the mix, for some reason the writer chose to use some colorful words, mostly blue. Anyway I got a good laugh from it. It is about several ways to launch things into space that while they would probably work, just never made it of the drawing boards. Although they were actually considered as possibilities. I am not going to go into a lot of detail as I don’t want to spoil the plot. http://www.cracked.com
5) I know i missed my geek link for the week, it is getting late and I just have not found one. So I am going to throw another green one at you. This is something I ran across that sounds interesting, seems down under, you know Australia they are investigating the idea of switching people off eating beef, and sheep to help the environment. Makes a lot of sense to me they want to go to roo, sorry I could not resist. Seems Kangaroos, are much leaner, easier on the environment as they do not produce methane, eat the local plants, are very drought resistant, and have several other pluses. See “Jack in the Box” was just way ahead of their time. Anyway an interesting read in the Opinion. http://www.abc.net.au/

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Build It: A Sub-$250 Desktop PC - Solutions by PC Magazine

This is an easy way to build a new PC. I think just about anyone can build this computer. They don't tell you how to install Ubuntu (the newest version is Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS) all you need to do is insert the CD into the drive and turn on the computer, the Live OS starts for you, then there is an icon on the desktop that says: Install, you just click that and it does the rest for you.

I noticed that Hardy Heron (the newest version) has some nice feathers like you have the choice to run it in demo mode, install it as the only OS on the computer, or as a dual boot OS, or as a program in Windows. (I didn't have much luck running Hardy Heron as a Windows program.)

I tried Hardy Heron in a laptop I'm working on (in demo mode) and everything worked LAN, Wireless, sound etc.. I also had a USB stick plugged in and it let me copy files just like in Windows, with a Copy & Paste. It was very easy, so this CD can be used to recover files from a Windows computer that doesn't work right as long as the hard drive works.

It is getting better every version.

AlaskaJoe

NY victim uses remote logon to nab theft suspect - Yahoo! News

A good use for remote access technology, find the guy that stole your laptop....

Sunday, September 28, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-28-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-28-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Please remember if your coming to the Wiping Off Ceremony for Jack in Ft Worth on Saturday, October 25th. Please click here for the official invitation as well as RSVP information. Please RSVP to jayna@oncomputers.info by October 1st.
The hosts will be staying at the Residence Inn, Ft. Worth Alliance airport for the weekend.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Starting green as usual, but there is a little geek stuff to sneak in here also. Just to prove how fast an easy it may be to get us into a more reasonable energy position nationally. What has to happen is to make it easier for people to help with the switch. How about printing up solar cells with an ink jet printer? I ran across a story on this company some place following my usual pattern of link jumping, some how I wound up at this story from popular mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com This is going to require a couple more links to cover the subject, first their main page, complete with a video from the discovery channel, where I originally started link hopping. http://www.konarka.com/ Now just to enforce that investment angle I have been talking about one more link on the way to number 2 for the week. http://earth2tech.com
2) Next up another of those cool cars I would like to take a drive, or dive in. For the movie buffs this is from the bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me”. Seems forty years after the movie fake was cruising around with the fishes, the guys over at Rinspeed decided they needed to take an ordinary Lotus Elise (there is an oxymoron for you, no Lotus is ordinary) and create the sQuba. A sports car that doubles as a submarine, and it is an electric vehicle, how is that for ultra cool. Link has a video, story and a few pictures. The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor show back in March. http://jalopnik.com
3) Now for the weird link of the week, yea I know that makes some of you a little queasy this is not to bad, but defiantly weird. The head line got me from the start, “The Great Swallower”, now that just had to be clicked on. Seems the Great Swallower is a fish; yes that is its real name. It hales from the Grand Cayman Islands, and evidently really lives up to his name. Seems this one out did himself the 7.5 inch fish swallowed another fish that was 34 inches long, I mean that is between 5 and 6 times as big as he is, it killed him, but he pulled it off. http://www.underwatertimes.com
4) Okay I know I am not supposed to touch anything political, not even with a ten foot poll. Any way I just could not resist this one something to be said for the entertainment of coincidence, I will be good, stay quiet and not comment at all, check it out it is just interesting, and I liked it. http://www.dailymail.co.uk
5) The geek link as usual is a little over my pay grade, but seemed timely as it is dated yesterday afternoon, so I thought I would take a chance and put it up. Maybe everyone has not already heard about it, it scared me a bit when I read it, so my alternative motive is to have some one make me feel safe. Tell me I am well protected behind something, cause this is the kind of thing that would nail me. http://arstechnica.com

Sunday, September 21, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-21-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-21-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Starting off with my usual green link, this week I will point out something with a much broader scope than my normal new product. I heard a story on the news this morning, well more like a 15 sec. sound byte. He mentioned “green degrees” as in college degrees. Of course this tickled my Google juices, led to several links one of which I put up here. I am going to predict that this will be the new dot com. If you are looking for a field to invest in, a career for a young person’s study, or an area to move your own work career into, this I believe will be the way to go. Governments will be pouring monies and resources into this area; the political interest has only begun. All fields from environmental accounting, (how best to use incentives, grants, tax breaks etc.), to environmental zoning, (how to best allocate land uses in cities and states). The new niche fields of study and employment opening up in the next ten years; will be staggering. http://www.kcbd.com
2) The next link here is my cool video site, crossed with my cool DYI site for the week. The first video should catch your eye, “How to Double Your Gas Mileage” now if I was a commuter this is one I would have to check into. There are a lot of others of interest here. I know I will be spending a little more time at this site in the next few days. http://www.kipkay.com/
3) Now for my scary technology link of the month. Just when you thought your privacy could not get anymore invaded than it has been in the last ten years. Seems they can now see through walls, even from those drone planes in Iraq. It appears this may be the new top-secret technology Woodward was talking about in those interviews about the surge last week. This link is just to a story link in Slate Magazine, if you want to check into it further you will have to do your own googling. http://www.slate.com
4) I just had to bring this up, I am sure everyone has already heard about it, but just in case here is a link to an article in Times Online a story about Google’s new idea about off shore data bases. I just wanted an excuse to comment, why does it need to be off shore; there are other large water bodies with-in our borders, how about the great lakes. Seems to me they just want to circumvent taxes, and regulation. Just a thought, but are we not right now suffering from some lack of regulation in the economy. What about terrorism, my God what a target. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/
5) Last up the geek link, this is a link to Google’s Official Blog Site, a blog by Chad Hurly CEO and co-founder of YouTube, about the future of online video. A very interesting read. http://googleblog.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 14, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-14-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-14-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Green link for the week, this is one you may like especially if it works out for you. I saw this advertised on T.V. went to the site to see what was up. If you every thought you might like to switch over to solar for your electricity. This may be for you the link is to the main page, the menu in red to the right, and at the bottom titled “government incentives”, that is where the meat is. Several states have enough incentives to pay for the entire system, others have some substantial discounts. They say their installers will file for the incentives, and have they will have them approved in advance of the installation. Anyway it looks good to me, but then you know how the internet is. http://www.power-savetv.com
2) Next up; I seem to have a lot of car stuff these days here is one more to add to the list. Peugeot concept cars. These are a little over the top for my taste, but who knows where things are headed. The slide show is mainly just artist type shots of the design, there is not much detail. Reminded me of watching one of those women fashion shows, it may be interesting on the runway, but I hope not to see many on the street. Anyway you be the judge. http://www.telegraph.co.uk
3) Here is a link to the top ten physics videos at wired magazine, I thought most of them were pretty neat, the one from mythbusters I have seen, and the last one, well lets just say I am not into rap, but interesting if you turn off the sound and read the captions. http://blog.wired.com
4) Okay this is not a gadget, toy, or geek link, but it sure is an interesting read. An article from Discovery Magazine on how laughter may outlive humans, and even numbers, I must admit I have not yet learned who it is laughing at the end. Us or the chimps. It is based on the Copernican Principal dealing with the longevity of things, like humans. It is just one of those interesting reads, not to long, but makes you think about, you know stuff. http://discovermagazine.com
5) Finally something geeky, say happy fiftieth birthday to the Microchip, a nice little video here, along with a pretty good article on Jack Kilby the inventor working at Texas Instruments. Probably the single most world changing invention of all time. Another interesting read. I was surprised at my lack of appreciation for this event in our history. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk

Sunday, September 07, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 09-07-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 09-07-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

How to remove Antivirus 2009 (Uninstall Instructions)

"When Antivirus 2009 is installed, a Internet Explorer browser helper object is also installed that displays fake messages when using Internet Explorer."

This is a very nasty SPYWARE, this website tells you how to remove it from your computer.

This also works on AntiVirusXP and AntiVirus 2008 also Doctor AntiVirus (They are all in the same family.)

I would like to thank Ron N. a Podcast listener for this link and info on how to remove it.

AlaskaJoe

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) As usual a start with the green car link. This time one put out by Ford, it goes on sale this November, gets 65 mpg, but we can’t buy one. Seems we are always getting the short end of the stick these days. This is a very nice five passenger job called the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic. If you want to move to Europe you can have one, but not for the U.S. Story here, check it out maybe next year http://www.businessweek.com/
2) The gadget link for the week, the top five gadgets that could get you arrested. I don’t think I will have any trouble with them, just not my cup of tea, well maybe the pocket laser, just for the cool toy appeal. Anyway you might find something here to tickle your fancy. http://www.wired.com
3) While I am on the subject of cool gadgets, check out this, robots are really getting interesting these days. These have to be the best robot videos I have seen in a long time. Prototypes for the Army of course, but they are totally amazing. http://www.dialaphone.co.uk
4) Now for something I found that qualifies as the just plain interesting site for this week. Seems that for thousands of years no one has noticed this phenomenon, it appears all grazing animals from cattle, to deer all face north and south while grazing. The think it is related to the magnetic earth fields. Article from BBC here http://news.bbc.co.uk
5) Last up my geek link for the week, seems the old remote control, that often misplaced, extension of my right arm, may soon be a thing of the past. The new replacement being a small camera, interacting with a small processor to locate my hand then process visual information translating my waves, and gestures into command prompts to control the T.V. Article from the Telegraph Magazine in the U.K. linked here, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
6) A late add-on here I usually put up five, but I almost forgot this one, and it is time sensitive. The idea that we will live or die by our technology may reach an ultimate climax this Wednesday. Reminiscent of that decision about the first atomic bomb, and not knowing for sure if the chain reaction would stop, or destroy the planet. Seems we are at it again with the Large Hadron Collider Atlas Detector. The will flip the switch on Wednesday some scientist think it could destroy the planet in 1/20th of a second then, the moon, sun, all planets and on to the entire cosmos at the speed of light. Read it here before it is too late. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Sunday, August 31, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-31-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-31-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

If you would like to see some of the pictures from when Sue & I drove up to Denali National Park, I have some posted here. The drive from Cantwell to Paxton Alaska MAP This scenic, 133 mile/214 km route connects the Richardson Highway with Denali National Park and Preserve. The highway begins at Paxson Junction (mile 177/km 285 on the Richardson Highway) and ends at Cantwell Junction where it merges with the Parks Highway. It is only 28 miles from this point to the Denali National Park. This highway is closed in winter from October to mid-May. About 100 miles are gravel road.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Starting off with the green links this week I am going to skirt the issue of avoiding political involvement by putting up two links one for each side and asking you to please get involved in understanding the positions they represent. These sites have the parties energy plans spelled out with their goals and objectives, read them to help you decide where your support should be. I truly believe we are at a major turning point in our history; we need to do something to change direction, because we cannot sustain the path we are on. Please take the time to educate yourselves so you can participate in saving ourselves from the inevitable. First link to John McCain’s Lexington Project http://www.johnmccain.com/ Second link to Baraack Obama’s New Energy for America’s plan http://my.barackobama.com/
2) Next up something a little geeky Joe and I ran into this earlier today google-goofing the subject of RFID hacking start off with an article in Wired http://www.wired.com now where to get the stuff and a little more on using it at Think Geek http://www.thinkgeek.com
3) Staying in Meek Mode for another link I think you will like this a lot. This is a link to the video presentations at the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference earlier this year; they emphasize the new technologies that seem to have the greatest chance to take off in the future. Some very interesting stuff here. http://en.oreilly.com
4) Now a little of that over my pay grade material, but most likely of interest to anyone involved in the computer world. It has been around for a while, so it may not be new to you, but if it is you might want to check it out. Called The Risk Digest, it is a “Forum On Risks To The Public In Computers And Related Systems”, with a searchable listing of over 2,000 issues dating from 1985 to the present. http://catless.ncl.ac.uk
5) Last something from the land of weird, actually very weird. Seems there is a woman in Indonesia who has wires growing from inside of her body, it has been going on for seventeen years, and doctors are clueless. http://thewhyfile.blogspot.com It made me think about Morgellons Disease if you have not heard about it here is a link to a news story on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com

Sunday, August 24, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-24-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-24-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) For the green links for this week, due to a site sent to me by Joe are going to revisit the run your car on water topic. First the link Joe sent me for a product he saw advertised on T.V. in Alaska. http://www.hydro4000.com/ This is a device that separates the hydrogen and oxygen in water to form Browns Gas or HHO. I have found mixed reviews on the efficiency going to take a wait and see approach for a while. Now for a couple more sites on the subject, this is using water only; it is a water fuel cell watch the YouTube video here, http://www.youtube.com, now a site dedicated to research on the water fuel cell, complete with a link to the court transcript charging him with fraud. However there is a lot of technical data on how the system could work. Here is a link to as many YouTube videos on the subject as you might want http://www.youtube.com

2) As long as I am on the subject of water and cars, I want one of these.
http://www.watercar.com

3) Okay that is pretty cool alright, but what about poor Joe in Alaska the water is frozen for more than half of the year, how about a snow vehicle built by Lotus. Now you are talking it is even a green machine running on bio-diesel. I would like one of these also, but it would have to have one heck of a heater. http://blog.wired.com

4) Now for a little something deeper, along time back there was a guest on Art Bell who believed humans were hard wired to believe in God. He said this was a necessary evolution that came with our power of reason. When we watched someone die it was necessary to create something to ease our mind as to what happens next, according to him we would go nuts or something, at least if I remember his premise correctly. Well it seems there is a new branch of science dealing with our mind connection to religion, it is called neurotheology. Here is a link to a BBC movie dealing with it; the video is in six parts thanks to YouTube’s new way of doing things.
http://www.youtube.com

5) This next one is just for Keith, our up coming guest. I want him to install one of these in my place as soon as he finishes with Tony’s. I know it would take me months to get it right, but I still want one. Can the remote, and voice activate your house, just like Star Trek, I ask and receive. “Computer reduce lighting by 40% and raise temperature by four degrees.” http://www.engadget.com

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Dell's Eee-killer to ship with Ubuntu preinstalled

"Dell's much-anticipated subnotebook product, which could be available to consumers by the end of the week, will be offered with Ubuntu 8.04 preinstalled."
The specifications also show that the device includes an 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, up to 1GB of RAM, and an 8.9" screen with support for a resolution of 1024x600.
Sounds like a nice laptop, Maybe I need a new one :)
Thanks Buzz for this URL!

AlaskaJoe

Sunday, August 17, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-17-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-17-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Well as usual a green link to kick things off, this is an example of what we can expect in the next few years. As solar energy becomes more attractive to industry, more research into new technology will also create improvements to the existing ones. Here is a perfect example for solar panels. http://news.bbc.co.uk

2) If you thought all U.F.O.’s are from off planet think again, seems the British military has some and are in development to turn them into some sort of weapon. This link has a story and an interesting video showing their prototype in action, mainly for surveillance at least for now, but who knows where it will go in the future. http://www.thought-criminal.org

3) Now for a little on something we touched on last week, the subject of digital drugs, that is a slang term for binaural beats, or using that part of the brain that sorts out sound, the way we determine the direction a sound is coming from. The binaural beat tricks the brain into a certain frequency alpha, beta delta, etcetera. This first link is the article that got me interested, http://www.usatoday.com this link is to an article in U.S. Today by, oh no Kim Komando, sorry but that was the first thing I saw. The second link is to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/ a very interesting read on the subject. The third link is to a site where you can try them for free, so don’t buy anything until you check them out to see if there is something there for you http://www.i-dose.us/

4) My geek link for the week, an article titled “What Will Linux Look Like in 2012” this is from Information Weekly August 14, I am sorry this is one of those I thought might interest you, but most of it slid right past my lack of geekness. http://www.informationweek.com

5) To top things of for the week here is a link to an article that I have to hope is not real; if it is then I fear Google has gone way over the edge. An addition to Google Maps that can actually look into your house, by into I mean inside your home. Sounds a little fishy to me, I have not had time to look into it further. Check it out sounds scary to me. http://www.bbspot.com

Monday, August 11, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-10-08

This is a re-post of the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-10-08. The first file posted was corrupt. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-10-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-10-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Well to start off as usual a little something green, although this week it is not a gadget or new technology. It is something a little closer to my heart, well actually maybe my stomach. I ran across this article in the New York Times about gardening for the, well lets just call them the more relaxed gardeners among us. If you have thought it would be nice to eat fresh grown fruits and vegetables, locally farm raised meats, but you know, who has the time and or energy for all that. Well there is an entrepreneur living on the west coast who may offer you an out. They do all the work, and leave the box of goodies on the porch, if only I had the money, http://finance.yahoo.com

2) I am sure you noticed that the Olympics are on, might make a low audience for the show this week, but that is another matter. I thought I should post a few sites dealing with the quad-annual event. Most of these were sent to me by Joe, the first one I am using deals with computer security. Very interesting they are talking about how it is for journalist, when you think about it, the way China is when it comes to the inter-net and their semi-paranoid attitude when it comes to their image, human rights and all. The video here is very good, even at my pay grade I found it quite interesting. http://blog.wired.com I looked up one of the suggested sites in the video on computer security, this is a site written for people dealing with human rights. Lots of links here. http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/

3) Another link to watch the Olympics online, they have lists of places to go and follow them, although I have been willing to put up with my big screen LCD T.V. in the living room, beer and a recliner, but for the hard core here is a site from Wired to find links galore. http://howto.wired.com/

4) While we are on the subject of T.V. here is a link from Uncle John, a T.V. for free on the net site, not live T.V., but they have tons of old, and new T.V. programs in complete episodes. If you like the Simpsons, E.R., or whatever it is probably here for the watching. I have been having trouble with overload of what is available to absorb my free time, but the site is easier to navigate than most, check it out at http://www.fancast.com/

5) I try to stay out of politics, and religion when doing my links, but this one was one I ran across that I just thought was to good to let slide, I am going to try and keep to myself out of trouble by not commenting on it for fear of exposing my political leanings and inviting those weird emails. I will leave the details up to you. http://cspanjunkie.org/

Friday, August 08, 2008

Vista's Security Rendered Completely Useless by New Exploit

"'This stuff just takes a knife to a large part of the security mesh Microsoft built into Vista,' said Dai Zovi to SearchSecurity.com. 'If you think about the fact that .NET loads DLLs into the browser itself and then Microsoft assumes they're safe because they're .NET objects, you see that Microsoft didn't think about the idea that these could be used as stepping stones for other attacks. This is a real tour de force.'"

Oops, they did it again. When you read this, it seems amazing that no one discovered this huge gaping hole sooner.

Monday, August 04, 2008

2008 Olympics: The digital games | Beyond Binary - A blog by Ina Fried - CNET News.com

"Two years ago, watching the Olympics live via the Internet was limited to a single gold medal game of a popular sport. This year, everything from preliminary table tennis matches to team handball will be available both live and on-demand directly to the PC."

Will you be watching the Olympics on your computer this year? I know in the past I watched a lot of it on TV.

AlaskaJoe

Sunday, August 03, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 08-03-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 08-03-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Jack in Ft Worth on Saturday, October 25th everyone is welcome.

Jayna is looking for assistance in honoring Jack's final wishes to be laid to rest in South Dakota. She needs your help with expenses, (Air fare, Hotel and car rental). Anyone wishing to help, please click here to Donate.

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) Well here we are again, to start us off this week as usual a green link. How about a kit to build your own street legal, plug in electric personal vehicle for an affordable price, about $3400.00? The market for this type of device is about to explode, that is just a personal prediction, but I really believe it. I think those classified ads in the back of magazines like popular mechanics will be the bell weather. Of course the internet will be the main place, but look for the old mediums to denote a move into main stream. http://www.bugev.net/

2) This is a link into what seems to me like a disturbing direction society is headed in, a use of advanced technology to track every individual on the planet. Given the use of millions of cameras by the British, the new confiscation laws of lap tops at air ports (currently only entering or leaving the country, I see that as an ice breaker). This is just one of those seemingly necessary tools of law enforcement, but it is the trend that concerns me, how long before the technology is used in a more sinister way. http://technology.newscientist.com

3) Here is a link to some thing I thought fell into that area between useless and ridicules, but then who am I to judge, I will leave that up to you. Let me just say smell alarm. http://www.techeblog.com

4) My apology to who ever I was talking to when they brought this up as a possible link. I have forgotten who it was that suggested it to me as a possible link, so I cannot give credit. But, thanks when I remembered to check further into it, it turned out to be a definite link for the zone. I believe I first linked to the Antikythera Mechanism that 2000 year old computer found by sponge divers a long time ago, but for any one that missed it here is the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/, seems they have found a new twist, evidently it was used to track the Olympics also. What with the games coming up I thought it might be an interesting read, here is a link to the article http://www.usatoday.com

5) Leaving on a lighter note this site struck me as pretty cool. Reading an article about how people no longer know the words to the songs they down load due to there not being a print out of the lyrics, like in the old days. When I was younger all the record albums had the lyrics for every song, so when you were singing along you made sense. This site is about the most misheard lyrics, coupled with the real lyrics. Interesting site, even the name of the site is from a Jimmy Hendrix song, it was excuse me while I kiss the sky, not kiss this guy. There are thousands of them, and you can add your own if you want to. http://www.kissthisguy.com/

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Once Tricked Into Using It, XP Users Start to Love Vista

Many have said they’re not interested in Windows Vista, that Windows XP is just fine for them. And in fact, you could go so far as to say some of them actually hate the OS. Still, a new OS, Mojave, may just be the key to a new marketing campaign.

Will you go to Mojave?
AlaskaJoe

» Dell Issues BIOS Updates to Prevent NVIDIA Notebook GPU Failures » Blog Archive   Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech

While Dell certainly isn’t the only notebook vendor to use the affected GPUs, they are the first to issue a series of BIOS updates to address the issues. Of course, much like the driver, this will increase your fan usage, cooling the GPU, but increasing noise and reducing battery life.

As noted in Dell’s post, however, if you’re seeing any of the following:

* Multiple images
* Random characters on the screen
* Lines on the screen
* No video
For a full list of computers effected read the full story.

AlaskaJoe

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

iPhone 3G: From 'must have' to 'maybe later'

On last Sunday's show, I was asked if I was going to get a new iPhone or stick with my current iPhone. I'm sticking with the original. Here's an article that touches on some of the reasons. I have to note that I've had no problems with the 2.0 firmware, but ymmv.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

iPhone NDA: Doing more harm than good

"The iPhone software development kit (SDK) is the only sanctioned way to develop applications for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The SDK includes APIs, documentation, and sample code; so far, Apple is treating all of it as confidential information. To download and use the SDK, developers must accept a nondisclosure agreement that prohibits discussion of any of this 'confidential information.' Since the platform targeted by the SDK—the iPhone OS 2.0—was released July 11, the NDA has become a source of frustration for the growing development community."

Come on Apple. It's time to lift the NDA.

Tech rigged S.F. computer meltdown, prosecutors say

Here's a follow-up to a story I posted last week and which we discussed on the show. This just gets stranger and stranger. It shows what a trusted individual can do if they have the mind to.

Monday, July 28, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-27-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-27-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.


There will be a Celebration of Life for Jack in Ft Worth on Saturday, October 25th everyone is welcome.

Jayna is looking for assistance in honoring Jack's final wishes to be laid to rest in South Dakota. She needs your help with expenses, (Air fare, Hotel and car rental). Anyone wishing to help, please click here to Donate.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Links from the Gregg Zone

1) First up for the week a link Joe sent me, another on hyper-mileing, ways to coax a few more miles per gallon out of your car, just by modifying your driving habits. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/

2) I have noticed a lot of difficultly lately with web video, and audio streaming, and it seems to be getting worse. I was thinking it was something to do with my system. Not so sure now I ran across this article that seems to point in other directions. Too much data too little time; or something like that. Link to the article in TechnewsWorld magazine here http://www.technewsworld.com/

3) Here is another one on the future car. There is going to be so much come out in the next few years, as far as different ways to commute, it is already getting hard to keep up. This is an area I really like, the compressed air car. Has me wondering if the next VW Bug craze will be coming out of India. http://www.dancewithshadows.com

4) Okay I know I am in a rut here but what can I say, I can’t resist foldable cars, and airplanes to save space in your garage, or make parking in New York possible. I just had to toss this on in for good measure http://www.techeblog.com/

5) Last up for the week I am sure you have seen it in the news that after years of research they have finally found out what is behind the northern lights, thought I would post an article that explains what is going on. http://science.nasa.gov

Saturday, July 26, 2008

High-priority patch fixes critical vulns in RealPlayer | The Register

"The company says versions for Windows, Mac, Linux operating systems are all vulnerable to at least one of the flaws and that users should update as soon as possible."

If your running RealAudio you better upgrade.
AlaskaJoe

Setup CCleaner to Automatically Run Each Night in Vista or XP :: the How-To Geek

If you don't use CCleaner you might want to take a look at it. I found it a year or so back. I like it a lot better than the old RegCleaner we used to use to fix the registry. CCleaner also lets you kill things in Start up.
The author also wrote "Create a Shortcut or Hotkey to Run CCleaner Silently" he tells you how to run CCleaner.
AlaskaJoe

Friday, July 25, 2008

Escapee ‘Spam King’ dead in apparent murder-suicide | Zero Day | ZDNet.com

Convicted spammer Eddie Davidson, who escaped from federal prison over the weekend, killed his wife and 3-year-old daughter before killing himself in what is being described as a murder-suicide.
A SPAMMER did something right, except he killed his wife and child also. :(
AlaskaJoe

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Parts of San Francisco Network Still Locked out

This story is more than a little strange. I bet in the future San Francisco city network admins have to go through very, very stringent background checks.

Microsoft Drops Player Fees On Games For Windows Live

"Games For Windows Live is 'now offering completely free online multiplayer' service, Microsoft said in a statement posted on the service's Web site. The company previously charged a monthly fee of $7.99. However, the emergence of several free online gaming services may have prompted Microsoft to drop the monthly charge."

When it works, competition can be wonderful!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Computer Mouse R.I.P. In Five Years, Experts Say

We discussed this one the on the show today. I don't believe it. Neither do most of the readers of the article according to the comments. My favorite comment:
i predict the end of analysts in five years.

HP shatters excessive packaging world record

Seeing is believing. Take a look at the picture. I thought I had seen it all. Looks like HP is not getting any awards for being "green" anytime soon. Maybe if they cut back a little on the packaging, they could even charge less. Then again, maybe not.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-20-08

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-20-08. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific thats 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Jack 'daWabbit' Imsdahl 1950-2008

It is with deep regret that we must inform everyone that our friend and colleague, Jack 'daWabbit' Imsdahl, succumbed to liver cancer and passed in his sleep during the AM hours on Sunday, July 20th.

Anyone wishing to send regards to Jayna, please send an email to memorial@oncomputers.info and your comments will be forwarded to her.

There will be a Celebration of Life party in Jack's honor in Ft Worth in the near future. Details will be forthcoming.