The Personal Computer Show Audio Archives WBAI-FM 99.5
New York City



Audio is in MP3 format. To download it to play later, right click on its link and opt to save the file on your computer. To play a file immediately, left click on its link (how immediate it plays depends on the software on your computer and the speed of your Internet connection).

Shows consist of three segments: Technical Discussions for the first half hour, brief User Group meeting announcements, then audience call-in for the second half hour. We thank Streamload for hosting many of these files. Starting in August 2005, WBAI archives shows in MP3 format and keeps them on-line for three months. We also have text summaries of recent shows and older shows.

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2008 Shows      XML 
 
May Topics Hosts MP3 Audio
May 7

Our guest was Paul Eng, Senior Web Editor for Consumer Reports who was here to discuss the recent survey, in the just-released June issue of the magazine, on technical support and computer repairs. This was a fund raising show. To donate to WBAI go to wbai.org/donate. As usual, we offered a Gold Card for one year of tech support for $150. We also offered a DVD toolkit - with lots of our favorite software for $55. No listener phone calls.
Listen now: (24Kbps)

Joe, Hank 24K
10MB

 

April Topics Hosts MP3 Audio
April 30

A lawsuit about solid state hard disks. Can you really get Windows XP on the new HP min-note laptops? Michael suggests waiting before installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. Affiliate marketing. Paying taxes in New York on Internet purchases. Lenovo introduced a new ulta-small laptop. No listener phone calls.
Listen now: (24Kbps)

Joe, Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB
April 23

Our guest was David Perry of Trend Micro. Alfred was in the New York Times discussing HDTVs, so we discussed them a bit too. Skype lets you call overseas for a flat $10/month. Mac users may get access to a virtual clone for cheap. David warned that online banking in the US is not nearly as secure as in other countries. Listener phone calls.
Listen now: (24Kbps)

Joe, Hank, Alfred 24K
10MB
April 16

Just us talking. We were pre-empted over the air, but recorded this new show anyway. No listener phone calls, no guest.
Listen now: (24Kbps)

Joe, Hank, Alfred 24K
10MB
April 9

Our guest was Dale Dougherty, Editor and Publisher of MAKE Magazine.
Listen now: (24Kbps)

Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB
April 2

The Torrentspy search engine shut down. A Macbook laptop was hacked easier than Windows Vista or Linux. Sony BMG in France got caught using lots of stolen software. Apple is being sued for mis-representing the technical specs of a 20 inch monitor. Dell is closing a plant in Texas. Finding the free ZoneAlarm firewall. The NLite and VLite programs help lower the disk space used by Windows. What will Microsoft do about low-cost laptops that now run Linux?

Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB

 

March Topics Hosts MP3 Audio
March 26

Many laptop computers may go begging for a battery due to a fire at a plant owned by LG Chem. Some problems with Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1. Our guest was Jim Buckmaster, CEO at craigslist.org. The show format was a bit unusual, we took phone calls for most of the show, but only calls about craigslist.

Joe, Hank, Alfred 24K
10MB
March 19

There is very dangerous Spyware in digital picture frames. Hank reviewed Windows XP Service Pack 3, he liked it. Alfred reviewed a thing that does TV on a USB flash drive. Officialy called the PCTV HD Ultimate Stick, it offers both a digital and analog TV tuner, includes software to make your computer a Tivo and video editing software. Alfred also discussed the Logitech G15 gaming keyboard, which is not just for gamers. Alfred loved the extra function keys that can be programmed like macros. He finds it a tremendous productivity booster. Help us design an official T-shirt for the show. Arthur C. Clarke passed away.

Joe, Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB
March 12

Ziff Davis media, owner of PC Magazine filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcy. The New York Times had a scalding article that described the bigest of bigshots at Microsoft at their bad experiences with Vista. Two big dangers on the Internet are auction fraud and identity theft. You can file your taxes for free online if you grossed under $50,000 but be careful doing so. Beware of malicious emails bearing Hallmark eGreetings cards. GoBack can be purchased for $30 but only as part of Norton SystemWorks. The $360 laptop running Windows Vista basic. Joe reviewed Turbo Type and liked it. Alfred reviewed the Sony eBook Reader.

Joe, Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB
56K
24MB
March 5

Intel is working on new processors called Atom that consume less power. The very few people that buy Vista at retail are getting a price cut. No more Sony Trinitron TVs. Zapping the firmware on a router. Free SteadyState software for Windows XP from Microsoft can be used to roll back changes to the C disk. Michael's Lenovo gripes.

Joe, Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB
56K
24MB

 

February Topics Hosts MP3 Audio
February 27

Both Hotmail and Yahoo mail suffered outages. A bug fix for Windows Vista created a bug rather than fix one - the system constantly re-boots. Microsoft is fined $1.5 billion. The Air Force is developing a big brother computer system. We discussed some of our favorite software programs that are included in our Toolkit CD premium. You can donate to WBAI at any time at wbai.org. Our membership premiums are also available there.

Joe, Michael, Danny 24K
10MB
56K
24MB
February 20

HD will NOT be the dominant format for High Definition DVDs. Who is affected by the upcoming elimination of analog over the air broadcasts. Hank reviewed the Cradlepoint WiFi router that supports three inputs; Evdo, wired Ethernet and some 3G cellphones. All your computer stuff can be examined or seized when crossing a border into the U.S. Microsoft is giving away all their development software to college students. This includes Windows 2003 server. See channel8.msdn.com for more.

Joe, Hank, Alfred, Michael 24K
10MB
February 13

Membership drive. You can donate to WBAI by check or at WBAI.org. Donations at WBAI.org can be of any amount to the station or you can donate either $25 or $55 to your favorite show. Our Gold Card for technical support can also be purchased at wbai.org at any time.

Joe, Hank, Michael 24K
10MB
February 6

Membership drive. You can donate to WBAI by check or at WBAI.org. Donations at WBAI.org can be of any amount to the station or you can donate either $25 or $55 to your favorite show. This new feature just went live today. Our Gold Card for technical support can also be purchased at wbai.org at any time.

Joe, Hank, Michael 40K
16MB
24K
10MB
Right click to download a show to your PC. In IE use "Save Target As". In Firefox use "Save Link As".

 

JANUARY Topics Hosts MP3 Audio
January 30

Reviews of the XO laptop from One Laptop Per Child and Pinnacle PC2TV (somewhat like Slingbox). A broken underground cable caused large disruptions in Internet access in Egypt and India. Bargains in rear projection TVs. A new 35mm CMOS image sensor from Sony. A huge amount of Apple iPhones were sold but not activated. InfoWorld has a petition to keep Windows XP alive.

Hank, Alfred, Michael 40K
16MB
24K
10MB
January 23

Our topic was Microsoft Unified Communications and our guest was Steven Chirico, a senior technical specialist at Microsoft. Also, Alfred reviewed an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) product from ABBYY called FineReader 9.0 Professional Edition. He loved it.

Hank, Alfred, Michael 56K
23MB
24K
11MB
16K
7MB
January 16

Our guest was Ben Patterson, the "gadget hound" at Yahoo Tech. We discussed the new Apple ultra-thin laptop, the Macbook Air. There are quite a problems with it such as a non-removable battery, a single USB port and no Ethernet, Firewire or Express card ports. Both Ben and Alfred were at the recent CES show in Vegas and reported on the latest. We also discussed the current state of HD TV and a bit about gaming. Ben was very impressed with a video headset that is great for gaming.

Hank, Alfred 56K
23MB
16K
7MB
January 9

Our guest was David Perry, the Global Director of Information at Trend Micro. In a recent test all anti-virus software did a poor job at detecting new viruses. Malicious software (malware) is now very big business with organized crime behind some of it. Trend Micro gets 2,000 to 3,000 new malware samples every hour. Their new approach is to dynamically analyze the Internet connection looking for suspicious activity. At CES David was most impressed with robots, video goggles and a Sony OLED 23 inch television with stunning picture quality.

Joe, Hank 56K
23MB
16K
7MB
January 2

Our guest was Robin Raskin and the topic was how children use the Internet and what parents can do to make the experience less dangerous.

Joe, Hank, Alfred, Michael, Bob Salamon 56K
23MB
16K
7MB
Right click to download a show to your PC. In IE use "Save Target As". In Firefox use "Save Link As".

 

 
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