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Castellini on Computers Free Weekly
Email Newsletter
April 9, 2008
Hear
(and see) our show LIVE
Every Thursday night at 9:30 PM MST
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Spelling and
punctuation guaranteed to be at least 78 percent accurate
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In this week's
issue. . .
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*** Tip of the Week
*** Geek Speek of the Week - (Simple definition of common computer
terms)
*** Computer News...and comment
*** Last week's Poll results
*** Adam's Comments - Stuff from the digital world that is rolling
around in Adam's head.
*** Email of the week
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Yep, it's Thursday already. That means another edition of the HelpMeRick.com newsletter and another episode of the radio show.
Last week we had some very unwelcome visitors on the show. We hope to
have that problem solved this week. We try to stay a PG rated show and
last week's interruptions were beyond our control. We hope we don't have to go to a members only format, but we may need to for security reasons. Damn the brainless of the world!
We apologize for those who were offended by the graphic nature of last week's program.
Those who didn't tune in live last week will just have to always wonder what the previous paragraphs were all about.
You can listen to - or download - any and all of our previous shows here. |
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Email your
questions to us and we will answer them live on the air or on
our daily website updates!
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Custom
Computer Help from Rick and Adam
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We have been posting a new how-to video
every week since November 2007 and the feedback has been tremendous. Now YOU
have the opportunity to get your own customized video tutorial about a
topic that you are having trouble with or just want to learn.
To learn more, visit: www.HelpMeRick.com/videohelp
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Tip of the Week
Take control of the AVG Scans - Video Tips
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As
you know, we whole heartedly recommend and use AVG Antivirus. It is
unobtrusive, fast, and most importantly effective. However, one
irritating function it has is the default full system scan at 8:00am.
Many people are working on their computers at 8:00am and full system
scan slows down the system enough to be highly annoying if not unusable
in some cases.
You don't have to wait for the scan to finish. Just RIGHT click on the
AVG scanning icon in your system tray (by the clock). It looks just
like the AVG icon, but has a little white triangle in the middle of it.
After you right click, click "Cancel or Stop Scan". You will get a
confirmation box asking if you are sure, Click Yes, then OK.
One other tidbit to remember about AVG is that it is OK to click the OK
button after it completes the daily update. Many computer users wait
politely for the 30 seconds, then continue their business. Again, you
don't have to wait for it. As soon as the update finishes, click the OK
on the window informing you that everything went as planned.
It is important to know that you can interrupt the scanning process if
you need to get to work, but it is more important to know how to change
the scheduled scanning time so YOU can have the say so as to when the
scan starts.
Watch my short video to see how to take control of AVG. |
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Geek
Speek |
What the heck is BLUETOOTH anyway?
Bluetooth is a short range radio technology that allows you to control devices or transfer information.
Because of its many uses, Bluetooth technology can be confusing.
Common uses for of Bluetooth
technology are wireless headsets for cell phones, transmitting
information between computers and portable devices such as cell pones
and PDAs, and wireless keyboards and mice.
Bluetooth is better than
infrared and RF technologies because of it's transfer rate, security
and the fact that it doesn't need line of site in order to work.
Bluetooth
devices must be paired (connected) with the technology that they are
being used with. This prevents cross communication between Bluetooth enabled devices.
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BLUETOOTH
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Computer
News...and comment
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Google changes the world...again
This story is pretty geek but it is sure to cause a rift that will change how the Internet is used from now on.
Google announced the App engine this week. Stick with us, this gets good.
The App engine allows programmers to create programs that run on the Internet using the power and storage of Google.
This is a major step toward in the day we have predicted for a couple
years now; when your computer will use the Internet for storage and
programs and the type of computer you have will make little difference.
The speed of your Internet connection will be more important than the
age or speed of your computer.
Disney goes 3-D for most future animated features
Disney teased the company's next 10 animated features this week and it
was a pleasant surprise to see that eight of them will be offered in
digital 3-D.
Most animated features are designed in 3-D modeling software. This
allows an easy conversion to 3-D film. Digital 3-D also is so finely
calibrated that most people who use the special glasses never get
headaches.
Tiny HP Laptop falls short of ASUS Eee PC
HP announced a new mini laptop this week. It is
essentially the same size and weight as the new 8.9" ASUS Eee PC, but
that is where the comparisons end.
The HP Mini-Note PC costs $499 but only comes with 512MB RAM and a
solid state 4GB hard drive. Larger hard drives, web cam, etc cost
extra. Like the ASUS Eee, it runs on Linux, but a SUSE build instead of
Ubuntu.
We are also assuming that HP will not be as open to tweaks and software modifications as ASUS is with the Eee PC.
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Poll
Results
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Has your computer use ever been the subject of a marital or roommate spat?
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Next
week's poll:
Do you enjoy YouTube videos of people getting hurt while doing stupid things?
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Yes 28%
No 57%
I live alone 15%
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Adam's Comments
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Imagine
that you are in need of a vehicle. Perhaps it is your first vehicle or
a commuter car. You only need it to get from point A in town to point B
in town. Once a year you may take it on a road trip to the big city a
state or two away, but otherwise it will seldom see more than 20-50
miles a day usage.
In seeking your new car, you ask around about what kind of car you should buy.
You really have no idea where to start so you contact the people you
know who drive the most often. Your friend of a friend who drives
NASCAR, the guy you met at the gas station who was filling up his F350
with a full lift kit and your neighbor who drives a Porsche on
Saturdays and a 12 cylinder Mercedes the rest of the week.
After asking for advice, you decide on the Porsche SUV with a full lift
kit, suspension modifications and something extra under the hood. Add
on a set of low profiles and a candy apple paint job and you have the
car that impresses everyone you asked for advice.
Now you are all set to go to the grocery store a week, your job every day and perhaps a short weekend trip over Memorial Day.
This week I setup a computer that will be used to create simple
instructional videos using three stationary cameras. These videos may
be published to DVD, but they will primarily be viewed on the web for
around $20 each. The person who purchased this computer has never
worked with video before, nor have they ever used a Mac.
In order to pick out the right computer they asked video professionals
from all over what they needed to get started with the video editing
process.
Here is what this person picked out based on the advice they were given:
A dual quad core Mac Pro with two 24" cinema screens, 10 GB of RAM,
Final Cut Pro, four 1 TB hard drives, CS3 premium complete expanded
super mega edition, XP Pro, a special keyboard labeled with Final
Cut Pro short cuts, a Wacom tablet and a video card that is almost as
large and the motherboard of most desktop computers.
I was blown away. I can't fathom how many 640x480 videos the system would hold and how fast they would render with 10GB of RAM.
For those not familiar with how powerful this system is, when they
asked my advice, I suggested a 24" iMac with two 350 gig hard drives
and four gigs of RAM and I felt like that may have been overkill.
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Email of the week
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Hello
Rick,
I have a Kodak camera that takes pictures and video plus the Kodak
software on my computer for uploading the media. The videos are saved
and play on QuickTime Player. When I try to email a video to
someone they can not play the video. Can you help me with how to send
video via the Internet? Do I need different software?
Heather
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Hi Heather,
What
a great question, and one that is becoming more frequent. First, let me
say to you and to all emailers: DO NOT SEND VIDEOS VIA EMAIL! The
reason I shouted that is videos consume at least 8-12X the space of a
single photo (and that's just a 30 second video). Video transmission
via email causes extreme slowdowns for emailers and the Internet in
general. Email was meant to handle only text and even sending too many
un-resized photos slows down the works. All that
being said, the easiest and most compatible way for you to share your
videos is through a video hosting service like YouTube.com or
MetaCafe.com. There are others, but these are well established. Both
sites allow you to upload videos and make them invite only so your
videos are as private as you want them to be. Uploading
videos to the service takes just a few clicks, then you are presented
with a simple link that you can send to your friends and family for
viewing. Simplicity, speed, and privacy. Thanks for writing.
Rick
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Castellini
on Computers & HelpMeRick.com ©2008
Rick Castellini and Adam Cochran
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