An update on color laser printers from last weeks show. Yesterday was patch Tuesday with many fixes to critical bugs in Windows, Office and other Microsoft software. Windows Media Player 11 is buggy and was not fixed. The new Latitude E6400 laptop can run for 10 hours on a single battery charge and you can an external battery that clips onto the bottom and powers the machine for another 9 hours. There were a number of recent cloud computing failures such as the closing of The LinkUp and a Gmail outage. Is it legal to report on security problems with the fare cards for the Boston subway system? No Bossie awards coverage. Listener phone calls.
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All about printers. Special guest M. David Stone discussed how to figure what they really cost, which costs less, ink jet or laser and much more including how to choose between price, technology, and performance when it comes to picking a printer for your computer. Stories in the news. Listener phone calls.
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This was a fund raising show, there were no caller questions. Great space photos are available at nasaimages.org. Yahoo music online store is shutting down and taking some of its DRM with it. About the current DNS flaw on the Internet. Assorted other stories, ripped from the headlines. A review of some of the software on our DVD toolkit, a collection of free software we offer as a membership premium.
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This was a fund raising show, there were no caller questions. A problem installing software on Windows Vista. Sandisk is losing money as the price of flash ram falls so they are expected to temporarily close a factory to limit supply and stabilize prices. A new scam email message purports to be from UPS. Andrew Cuomo is after Comcast to block 88 Usenet newsgroups that have carried child porn. eBay will make the identity of counterfeiters available to the legitimates manufacturers.
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Alfred will be on Fox Business news network discussing How to buy an HDTV. Centrino 2 is a marketing ploy. Two more ISPs will block newsgroups. A new fast computer from IBM. Is it time yet to install Windows XP SP3? Price drop on the Asus 900 Eee PC. ZoneAlarm knocked Windows XP users offline, there is a fix from vendor. eBay is changing their business model, they signed a new agreement with buy.com. The MagicJack terms of service. Who is responsible for fakes being sold on eBay?

Kodak released a new camera sensor. Microsoft will provide bug fixes for Windows XP until 2014. Microsoft started renting Office for $70/year. Heat problems with nVidia graphics processors. Joe reviewed Magic Jack, a USB thumb drive that does VOIP for cheap. Joe reviewed the Amazon Kindle. If you use ZoneAlarm and installed bug fixes from Microsoft yesterday, you may no longer be able to get online.

To be a computer technician in Texas you have to be a licensed private investigator. Intel is not going to install Vista on the computers of their 80,000 employees. Microsoft has to change their business model. There is a big demand for the desktop Atom CPU from Intel. Rhapsody, a download music site, will now sell non-copy protected MP3s. Prices of flash ram memory. Huge patch day yesterday for OS X Leopard. The 50 ways to still get Windows XP. Windows Vista turns off some features if your computer doesn't have enough horsepower. The difference between backing up and synching.

A Vizio 32-inch plasma TV that sells for under $600. More on Verizon blocking usenet. A proposed FCC rule change. The Atom CPU was just released in laptop and desktop versions. Gartner estimates 35 million PCs will end up in landfills this year. We discussed re-cycling. Hank saw a new high end Toshiba laptop that's very fast because it has lots of processors. A new Sony 32 inch Bravio TV uses less power and LED backlights. Plasma TVs look great in a darker environment, not so much in a bright room. Alfred wouldn't buy a plasma TV for his own use due to noise in the image. Alfred prefers HDMI connectors for HDTVs.

The first GA version of Wine was just released, it lets you run Windows applications on Linux or the Mac OSX without Windows and without VMs. AMD will release a new CPU to compete with the Intel Atom. IBM's version of Open Office, called Symphony, just came out of beta. We finally know why so many Xbox 360s died - bad heat dissipation from the graphics chip. Sharper Image gift certificates. Despite the popular videos, you can not cook popcorn with the radiation from four cellphones. More about Verizon blocking usenet newsgroups. David Perry from Trend Micro discussed why the company no longer submits their product to the VB100 anti-virus test.

LG sued Quanta. Apple announced a new version of OS X, v10.6 that will run only on Intel CPUs and adds support for Microsoft Exchange. There is a new iPhone coming in July. The Sharper Image is closing all of its stores, use your gift cards now. Three ISPs will block child porn. We interviewed Kathy Davis of WBAI about audio editing using Adobe Audition. Windows XP SP3 changed the meaning of the "date modified" field for a folder.

No more fund raising, this was a normal show. Newegg and Amazon are charging tax to NY state residends as of June 1st. A couple cable companies are testing charging based on the amount of data downloaded every month. Download a lot, pay more. Sandisk will release new SSDs for ultra cheap laptops. The new Netflix set-top box.

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. We discussed the software on the DVD as well as a document by Hank about troubleshooting a computer. No listener phone calls.

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. Much of the show was discussing the software on the DVD. Also on the DVD is Hank's guide to troubleshooting computer problems. It's a decision table. Joe installed Windows XP SP3 on a number of machines and had problems on one of them, so many problems that he suggested waiting before installing SP3. No listener phone calls.

At laplink.com on May 15th they will be giving away free copies of PC Mover and other commercial software will be drastically reduced. Beware of computer-to-computer WiFi networks. HP tech support was rated poor by Consumer Reports. Microsoft offers free tech support for problems with XP SP3. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Just us talking. We were pre-empted over the air, but recorded this new show anyway. No listener phone calls, no guest.

Our guest was Dale Dougherty, Editor and Publisher of MAKE Magazine.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.