Audio Video Help: June 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

How to Make Free Phone Calls

http://live.pirillo.com/ - VoIP - Voice over IP - allows you to use your computer in order to make phone calls, either from computer to phone or computer to computer.

How can you get free phone calls? Use any popular instant messenger application that supports voice, such as Skype or Google Talk. This lets you use voice as a communication medium rather than text.

If you want to make free phone calls to a landline, there probably isn't a service out there that offers it 100% free of charge; however, there are a lot of VoIP providers that provide very low rates.

Yahoo! Messenger dials out at 1 cent per minute, in the US. Gizmo also has very similar, competitive rates.

Skype has SkypeOut, which you can subscribe to for a full year for only $30.

JahJah also offers a similar service, which acts as in intermediary between the two phone numbers.

There are a ton of options out there, which one do you recommend?

Want to embed our How to Make Free Phone Calls video in your blog? Use this code:

DVD Burning Software

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - What program can you use to burn DVDs on Windows XP?

Every geek seems to love Nero Burning ROM for managing video and audio files you want to burn to CD or DVD. Chris uses it, and likes it. If you're looking for powerful control over your files, this is the tool for you.

If you're not a big geek, you may want to use Roxio's DVD burner, since it's much more user friendly than Nero. If you're looking for a point and click solution, this is the tool for you.

On the Mac end of the spectrum, Roxio's Toast for OD X is one of the best tools you can use to burn your CDs and DVDs. If they could port their OS X features to Windows Roxio would probably take over the burning market.

What software do you use to put together your CDs and DVDs?

Want to embed our DVD Burning Software video in your blog? Use this code:

HD DVR Recommendations

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Should you get a dedicated HD PVR or install an HD TV Tuner for your computer?

The advantage of a PVR/DVR is that it's a set top box that you can take it anywhere and plug it into your television. You're generally limited with what you can do with the media files, but if you're only looking for DVR functionality, this is the route to go.

The advantage of a TV tuner allows you to watch TV on your computer and, in some cases, record that video to your PC and then transfer those video files to your other machines. You'll need space in your computer for this, and the recordings can take up several gigabytes of space. If you're always on the computer, and don't really have time to sit down and formally watch TV, this might be the solution for you.

If you don't have any space in your computer, and you're always on the go, you may think about picking up a PC TV HD Stick from Pinnacle - it's an over -the-air HDTV tuner than connects to a Windows PC via an open USB port. This allows you to watch HDTV on any Windows machine.

You have a lot of options - what you decide to do is based on what you'll be doing with your media.

Do you have any advice?

Want to embed our HD DVR Recommendations video in your blog? Use this code:

What are BIK Files?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - AntGuru123 from YouTube wants to know how he can convert his BIK files, from an EA Sports game, into a format that Windows Movie Maker can use.

Jake Ludington from MediaBlab chimes in on this:

BIK files are Bink & Smacker files, in theory you can convert from BIK to AVI with the free Bink & Smacker tool; however, there may be some problems as certain BIK files have settings which causes the video conversion to be in a lower quality than what the video game may display.

You can download the free Bink tools from RAD Game Designs.

Want to embed our What are BIK files? video in your blog? Use this code:

Using the Slingbox

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Watching live television over your smart phone isn't as difficult as you might imagine: all you need is an Internet connection and the Slingbox.

The Slingbox is a piece of hardware that takes you cable or satellite signal and retransmits it over the Internet, so anything that can access the Internet can also access the Slingbox. That means that your laptop, desktop, and smart phone can display what's on TV.

The Slingbox optimizes the stream for your connection, so your smart phone will receive a lower resolution video than your laptop or desktop will. Their software works for OS X, Windows, and even Linux (although the Linux port is a community project and not an official Slingbox release).

The bottom line: this piece of equipment is damn cool. What do you think of the Slingbox?

Want to embed our Using the Slingbox video in your blog? Use this code:

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

What is Hydroponics?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Don Herbert - better known as Mr. Wizard to many of us geeks - passed away on June 12. So, a member of the YouTube community decided to ask for a moment on science out of respect for Mr. Wizard.

What is Hydroponics?

Wikipedia defines hydroponics as:

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel or Rockwool. A variety of techniques exist.

Basically, you grow plants in water, and with Chris's hydroponics kit you can actually grown your own plants in water - it's a safer and healthier way to eat your food.

While there are some maintenance issues (you need to keep adding nutrients so the plant can sustain itself), overall it's a great way to grow your own food - and the food tastes better than anything you could buy at McDonalds.

Do you have a moment of science for Mr. Wizard?

Want to embed our What is Hydroponics video in your blog? Use this code:

How to Kill a Program in Windows

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - The task manager is a Windows program that shows all of the running programs on your system. Why would you need something like this? Well, imagine if a program hangs and you can't do anything about it: if you bring up the task manager you can end the program; but, how do you distinguish which programs are safe to end?

Obviously, you don't want to go around and ending random processes, because you may end up doing damage to your Windows operating system. Also, you may not know which program is running: some viruses and spyware tends to hide themselves with names similar to trusted processes.

ProcessLibrary is the most comprehensive list of processes that may be running on your system. Here you can search for a process executable or DLL and see if it is safe or not, and what you may need to do to remove the process from your system.

If you really need to end a process, in the Windows Task Manager right-click on the process you want to end and click "end process" or "end process tree."

Which process manager do you use, and how do you determine which processes are safe to end?

Want to embed our How to Kill a Program in Windows video in your blog? Use this code:

Mergning Partitions

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - People create logical disk partitions for various reasons: sometimes it's to separate data, while other partitions can contain different operating systems, and still others can be used to store the swap space. But, how do you remerge partitions into one physical drive, instead of having multiple logical partitions? There are few tools you can use.

Partition Magic is the worlds most famous partition manager, which has all of the GUI goodness that Windows users have come to expect.

Ranish is a free partition manager that will let you boot into a safe environment where you can manage the hard disk partitions.

Windows Vista does come with a halfway decent partition management utility, which should let you delete and reallocate partition space.

Of course, if you're feeling adventurous, you could always use fdisk.

What do you use to manage your partitions?

Want to embed our Merging Partitions video in your blog? Use this code:

How to Backup on your Network

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Are you backing up on a regular basis? You should be! As we move forward in this digital world we're putting more and more of our personal data on our machines; but, what would happen if something horrible were to happen to our hard drive? That's why we should regularly backup our data.

A network drive acts as a central place where files can be copied onto. It costs a bit of money to have a network drive for backing up, but if you're not a very technical user, this solution would be best suited for you.

Backup PC is a free, open source, web0based software that you can use to backup your digital information, but it's a much more technical backup system than the average user would normally need.

Whatever solution you choose, you should be backing up your data, because you never know when a disaster is going to strike.

So, what do you use to backup your data?

Want to embed our How to Backup on your Network video in your blog? Use this code:

How to Clean CDs

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - How many times have you gone to listen to your CD or watch a DVD and you find out that the player couldn't read the disk? You may have a dirty disk or a scratch on it.

To clean you disk gently wipe with a clean terrycloth towel from the inside ring out - you never want to wipe in circles, as that can create bad scratches which cause the disk to become unreadable.

Another tip is to use a dab of vegetable oil, let it dry over a few minutes, and wipe the oil off (in a straight line from the inside run to the outside).

Unfortunately, if that does not work, you may have a warped disk or are suffering from bit rot, in which case the only solution is to get a new disk.

What about you? What do you do to clean your disks?

Want to embed our How to Clean CDs video in your blog? Use this code:

Monday, June 25, 2007

OS X Viruses

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Why does OS X have fewer viruses than on Window, and is there a "perfect" operating system out there that can't be exploited?

It's pretty simple to understand why there are more viruses on Windows than on OS X: more people use Windows than OS X. Hackers generally target the biggest nail in order to reach a much larger audience.

There is no such thing as a "perfect" operating system: every piece of software is going to have some kind of exploit, but there are several things you can do in order to keep yourself safe.

Stop viewing porn online. There are many unscrupulous websites out there that will readily infect your machine with a virus or adware.
Instead of downloading music, go to the store and buy the CD. Not only will you avoid any financially difficult legal situation, you'll also avoid any website that promises free MP3 downloads but only delivers viruses and adware.
Get a Netflix account instead of using BitTorrent. Aside from the legal issues, it's very possible you're downloading something malicious
Instead of looking for software cracks or serials online, look for coupons. The "crackz" scene is filled to the brim with malicious websites. You're not safe when you're visiting these "seedier" websites.
Do not run in Administrator mode. You should only run in Administrator mode when you're installing hardware or software, but running in a lower security mode you'll avoid a lot of the more invasive attacks.

Do you have any tips for protecting your computer while online?

Want to embed our OS X Viruses video in your blog? Use this code:

Astronomy Software

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Sometimes it's a pain to view the stars in the night sky - especially if you live in a big city, where pollution is a big problem, but there's software which lets you not only view the night sky, but much more.

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.

It's a damn cool piece of software, it's free, and it's open source. What could be better?

Want to embed our Astronomy Software video in your blog? Use this code:

How to Edit Your Photos Online

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - There are some nifty image editors out there, but what if you didn't want to install anything, or use your CPU cycles? Why not try Fauxto?

Fauxto only requires three things: and Internet connection, a web browser, and flash. So, if you don't have Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or some other image editor installed on your machine, you can use Fauxto, because it's all online.

You upload your image to the image editor and you can perform a variety of functions on the image that you can normally perform in other image editors, such as soften, sharpen, painting, pencils, polygons, gradients, multiple layers, and much more!

It's free and there's nothing to install.

What do you think of Fauxto?

Want to embed our How to Put DVDs on PSP video in your blog? Use this code:

How to Put DVDs on PSP

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - IConverting a DVD to play on your mobile device (like the PSP) is much easier than trying to push really hard. All you need is the DVD and some free open source software.

HandBreak will allow you to recode your DVD video into another format, such as MP4 - which can then be played on your mobile device (PSP, iPod, AppleTV, whatever).

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. What software do you use to convert your DVDs into other formats?

(And no, Chris isn't constipated, he's just trying to cram the DVD case into his PSP - honest!)

Want to embed our How to Put DVDs on PSP video in your blog? Use this code:

Tablet Stylus Mouse?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - It's possible to use a stylus to control your cursor without having a Tablet PC. With a tablet you can use the mouse with a pen-like device called a stylus.

A tablet is generally used by people who work with computer graphics so they can draw as if they were using a pencil (many artists only work well with pens as opposed to using a mouse). Wacom makes tablets that many graphics artists have fallen in love with.

Do you use a tablet and stylus device? Do you prefer the stylus or the mouse?

Want to embed our Tablet Stylus Mouse? video in your blog? Use this code:

Friday, June 22, 2007

How to Start a Computer Club

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Organizing a computer club probably isn't an easy task. If you're thinking about starting one then the first thing you'll want to do is determine if there are clubs in your area already.

If there already clubs out there, then you'll want to fill a niche that isn't filled already; for example, if there's only a Linux users group in your neighborhood, you may want to start a Windows group, or a group dedicated to helping users understand the basics of computing.

Do you have any recommendations for starting a computer club, and any events that you would organize?

Want to embed our Computer Clubs video in your blog? Use this code:

What is OPML?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - OPML - Outline Processor Markup Language - has been floating around for a few years now, but what is it and how do you edit those files?

Essentially OPML is a type of XML document which was designed to help you organize data in an outline fashion, rather than maintaining all of the data in one big messy chunk, making it easier to transfer information back and forth betweens ervices.

Editing and OPML file is pretty simple. Since it's an XML format, you can simply use your favorite text editor.

Of course, any XML editor will work, since OPML is an XML format.

Dave Winer has an OPML editor:

The OPML Editor follows in the tradition of simple text-based tools masquerading as a rich development platform. Or is it the other way around? It's always been this way. The most powerful applications are also the most powerful development platforms. The various text editors on Unix. Quark XPress on the Macintosh. Notepad on Windows. Inside every text editor is the potential of platform, and every platform must have a simple text editor.

Buzz is an open-source,c ross platform, OPML editor that you may want to try in place of Dave Winer's editor.

Want to embed our OPML Files video in your blog? Use this code:

Solitaire Games

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - The default Windows solitaire game sucks. That's probably why people refuse to play solitaire on the computer. But, there are a few options you can try to spice up your solitaire games.

Hardwood Solitaire (19.95) is "the most beautiful solitaire game you have ever seen."

Stop playing boring solitaire, and jump in to the wonderful world of Hardwood Solitaire. Packed to the gills with unmatched beauty, this game will pull you in and let you escape the daily grind. More than 100 exciting solitaire games to play. Enjoy favorites like, Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, Yukon and a whole lot more including original solitaire games you won't find anywhere else!

PySol, while not a beautiful as Hardwood Solitaire, had more variations of solitaire and is totally free.

PySolitaire is a fork of PySol Solitaire that runs correctly on Windows and has a nice clean installer. PySolitaire (Python Solitaire) is a collection of more than 300 solitaire and Mahjongg games. The origional PySol was written by Markus Franz Xaver Johannes Oberhumer.

Do you play solitaire? If so, what version?

Want to embed our Better Solitaire video in your blog? Use this code:

How to Write a Book

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Lyle in the chatroom is interested in writing a book and wants to know how he can write a technology book without being torn to shred by critics and his peers.

Chris's advice: "write what you and own what you write."

If you don't really understand a subject then you probably shouldn't write a book about it. Even if you do understand a subject, then you need to consider if you really do want to write a book, because if you're in it for the money you'll be sorely disappointed.

Instead of writing a book, you may consider blogging about the subject you like: after a year of blogging you may very well have enough content for a book, and all you need to do it is take that content and create a mashup in a book format.

Also, consider going the eBook route. You don't have to deal with a publisher, and it's possible to create a good stream of income with this method.

Do you have any suggestions for Lyle?

Want to embed our Book Writing video in your blog? Use this code:

Wired vs Wireless Peripherals

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Vince wants to know what's better: wired or wireless peripherals. In come cases wired, but in some cases wireless. This all depends on your personal preference and how much you're willing to spend on your peripherals.

For some people aesthetics is paramount, and having a bunch of wires cluttering up the desk is a big no-no (as is the case for Ponzi). Of course, going wireless means dealing with batteries: the cheaper wireless devices will require you to supply your own batteries, while the more expensive devices will come with a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery pack.

If you're a gamer and you need absolutely perfect performance out of your peripherals, you'll probably either go with a wired solution, or you'll spend a large amount of money on a wireless solution.

On the other hand, you could go with a third solution: both wired and wireless, as Chris has. His wired aluminum keyboard gives him an excellent response time and allows two USB devices to be plugged into the keyboard, while his wireless mouse hives him the freedom to move the mouse around without any major cord tangles.

What do you use: wired or wireless?

Want to embed our Wired or Wireless Utilities? video in your blog? Use this code:

Thursday, June 21, 2007

IMAP vs POP3

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - What's the difference between IMAP and POP3?

IMAP - the Internet Message Access Protocol - allows you to setup folders, reply to messages, and do all of your work the same way as you do now, except all of the information stays on the server. This lets you access and synchronize your information across multiple computers (and multiple operating systems) without losing the data.

POP3 - the Post Office Protocol 3 - allows you to access the same information on your account, but once you download it the information must be stored locally, because the data does not stay on the server.

IMAP or POP3 - which one do you use?

Want to embed our IMAP or POP3: The Battle of the Ages! video in your blog? Use this code:

What are Widgets?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - A widget (also known as a gadget) is a small program that runs on your desktop all the time, which replaces the need to constantly visit a website in order to get common information.

Konfabulator started the widget craze, which was then bought by Yahoo.

Dashboard is OS X's implementation of widgets.

Windows Vista has the Vista Sidebar, but the user interface is junk in comparison to OS X.

The Google Desktop offers an alternative experience, but its user experience is even worse than Vista's sidebar.

We have our own widget which lets you watch Chris's camers right on your desktop without having to visit live.

What widgets do you use? Have you made any widgets?

Want to embed our Widgets Gadgets and Dashboards, Oh My! video in your blog? Use this code:

Onboard Sound vs Sound Cards

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Nik in the chat room wanted to know if it was better to have a dedicated sound card or if the sound card built into the motherboard was fine.

If you're simply looking for everyday use, then the onboard sound is fine: you get basic environmental effects and sound control. Plus, modern computers often come with a digital out (and sometimes an optical output as well).

If you're looking for a very high end audio experience, with fine-tuned controls, then you'll probably want to go with an expansion card.

In Windows Vista buying an additional card for sound is less important than it used to be, because the engineers decided to get rid of audio hardware acceleration, so most the sound on a Vista system is handled mainly by the CPU.

What do you think Nik should do?

Want to embed our Onboard Sound video in your blog? Use this code:

Clipboard Management Fun

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Copy, cut, and paste are the three commands known world-wide. Stored in the clipboard, the copies information is easily accessible, which you can cut from one application and paste into another one. The problem is that the clipboard only stores one snippet of information at a time.

Clipboard Plus comes with CFI Shelltoys, and it stores up to 500 elements on the clipboard.

ClipCache Pro is the uber clipboard manager, which lets you more easily manage sets of information and organize things.

Yankee Clipper is a free clipboard manager, but the new version costs $15.

For the Mac there's iClip, and mac users swear by it.

Do you have any recommendations for a clipboard manager?

Want to embed our Clipboard Storage video in your blog? Use this code:

Who Are You?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - We want to know more about you. So, post a video response to this YouTube video so we know who you are and how're supposed to pronounce your nicknames.

To post a YouTube response, Click Here!

Want to embed our Who are You?!!?!11elventyone1! video in your blog? Use this code:

Mp3 Album Art

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Shadow noticed that a few of his podcasts were showing up with full icons instead of generic MP3 icons. So, how do you do that?

Embedding the album art is the image that's inside the MP3 file. The easiest way on Windows is by using a piece of freeware called MP3-Info Extension.

When you right-click a file and select properties, you'll see a bunch of tabs that give you more information about that particular file. From there you'll be able to edit the files metadata and the ID3 tags, including the album art.

Want to embed our Embed MEdia Files video in your blog? Use this code:

Nut Buster

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Seriously, Wicket, a warning would be great.

Want to embed our Old Dog, Old Tricks video in your blog? Use this code:

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

How to Add USB Ports

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Condoulo wanted to know how he could add more USB ports to his PC. Luckily there are a lot of ways to add USB ports to your system.

The most common way is to add a USB hub to your computer, which typically adds four or more USB ports in an external box.
You could also add a PCI expansion card, which adds USB ports to the back of the computer.
Finally, if your computer already doesn't, you could utilize the USB ports on your motherboard, although you'll need to buy a USB dongle which connects to the motherboard.

To maintain all of those USB devices we recommend using USBDEView.

What weird or useful USB devices do you have?

Want to embed our Adding USB Ports video in your blog? Use this code:

Apple iPhone

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Is the iPhone going to take the cell phone industry by storm, or is it going to be nothing more than marketing hype?

The iPhone is taking the world by storm already and it hasn't been released yet. Even Chris wants an iPhone, and he hasn't used it! There are a few reasons to get an iPhone:

User friendly interface
iTunes integration Syncs with Outlook data
Acts as an iPod replacement

Of course, there are a few reasons to avoid it:

High price
iTunes isn't a great media management tool
Emulating the iPhone will result in crappy knockoffs
It could just be marketing hype

What do you think of the iPhone?

Want to embed our The Apple iPhone Debate video in your blog? Use this code:

What is FLAC?

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Lyle wanted to know if iPods could play FLAC and what FLAC is, exactly.

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, and it's an audio format that doesn't sacrifice quality during its compression, unlike MP3, which loses quality as it is compressed.

Basically, with FLC you don't lose information within the sound file.

Can the Apple iPod play FLAC files? No, but you should be able to a piece of transcoding software which will convert FLX into MP3 or AIFF.

Want to embed our FLAC! FLAC! video in your blog? Use this code:

Find Love Online

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Ponzi believe in online love and you should too.

PlentyOfFish.com is a free online dating site that has figured out to be cupid. A guy who knows how to write algorithms observed what people do and realized that listening to what people want may not be the best thing for them. So, he looks at what people actually click on - what they like - and recommends relationships based on their actions instead of what they directly input into a form.

Chris thinks you can fall in love with the idea of a person online, but that spark isn't really there until you meet them in real life and get to know them face to face.

What do you think of online love? Can you really fall in love online?

Want to embed our Online Relationship video in your blog? Use this code:

Geek Relationship tips

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Ponzi has some great tips for the geeks out there currently in a relationship.

What looks good and what feels good are two totally different things
Men and Women have different internal body temperatures. Women like warmer temperatures and men like cooler temperatures.

And Chris has one piece of advice for a successful marriage: don't install Windows Vista on your spouses computers.

Do you have any tips?

Want to embed our Geek Relationship Advice? video in your blog? Use this code:

Marriage Counseling

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - AAronMC182 wanted to know what or who Chris spends more time with: his computer or Ponzi, his wife and business partner.

Chris actually spends more time with the computer than with Ponzi, but that's because he runs his business online. Since Ponzi and Chris work together on Lockergnome they spend a lot of time together getting work done, but the problem is that if they work together in the same room then things get insane.

So, now they work in different offices, thus Chris spends more time with the computer than with Ponzi. Of course, Chris and Ponzi do have their personal time.

What do you think is a secret to a good marriage?

Want to embed our Geek Marriage Conseling video in your blog? Use this code:

Chris's First Computer

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - IAteAPen, a new users to our chat room, wants to know what Chris's first computer was.

Chris first used the Commodore Vic-20, with a cassette tape, learning how to save program to diskette and how to program in BASIC. He also did quite a bit of programming on the Commodore 64.

Years later in college he purchased a basic PC for $200 in 1993, with a modem. He used telix to dial out to BBS services and kermit to dial into his universities network.

While the Commodore Vic 20 and the old PC were the first machines Chris cut his teeth on, his first real computer was a Packard Bell 486-DX2 66 with a 14" monitor and Windows 3.11 pre-installed, which he bought for $2000.

What was your first computer?

Want to embed our Your First Computer video in your blog? Use this code:

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Home Gym Fitness

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - A user in the chat room wanted to know how Ponzi, Chis, and Wicket burned off excess calories.

Chris uses the Tony Little Gazelle, and he just got the Gazelle Power Plus - a very low impact glider. Combining the glider with the Xbox 360 for 40 to 60 minutes per day allows Chris to lose and maintain his weight.

If you want more information on how Chris stays in shape, check out his weight loss tips.

What tools do you use to stay in shape?

Want to embed our Home Gym Fitness video in your blog? Use this code:

Hard Drive Cleaner

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Divine wants to know if CCleaner is a decent piece of software that will clean up the excess junk on your computer. The community responded with a resounding yes.

CCleaner cleans up all of the crap and junk left on your machine:

Internet Explorer - Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.
Firefox - Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history.
Opera - Temporary files, URL history, cookies.
Windows - Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
Registry cleaner
Third-party applications - Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs)
100% Spyware FREE

What do you recommend for cleaning up the excess junk left behind on your computer?

Want to embed our Clean Hard Drive video in your blog? Use this code:

Upload Video Automatically

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Uploading to multiple video networks is a royal pain in the ass - YouTube, Blip.tv, Metacafe, Revver: they all have their own interface for uploading videos. Since we don't have unlimited bandwidth and an infinite amount of time, it can take a good portion of the day to post all of our videos to all of the networks we upload to.

Zoomrix recommended Video Post Robot, which purportedly uploads to multiple networks. Unfortunately it isn't free. At almost $200 it takes a rather large investment to upload to multiple networks.

Do you have a turnkey solution for uploading videos to multiple websites?

Want to embed our Upload Your Videos video in your blog? Use this code:

PC to HDTV HDMI Connection

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Roy asks why, when he connects his PC to his HDTV via the HDMI connector, he can't see videos play back on his screen.

The problem is DRM: if you set the HDMI-out as the default monitor on Windows, then the videos will play. Windows Media Player only lets video play on the primary monitor.

Why is this so difficult? This is copy protection in action. Large content production studios don't want you to steal (share) the video with other people. It's called Digital Rights Management, and it's a consumer nightmare.

As easy as it is to plug in an HDMI cable, DRM introduces another level of complexity that users should not have to deal with.

What's the worst part of DRM? It doesn't work. All you need to do is visit your favorite bit torrent website to confirm that hard fact.

Want to embed our HDMI Output video in your blog? Use this code:

Wireless Security

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Divine, a new member in the chat room, wanted to know how to kick people off his wireless network.

In this case, the best offense is a good defense: you should set up a MAC address filter.

MAC stands for Media Access Control, and it's a 12 digital hexadecimal number - and every network enabled device has a MAC address. What you need to do is set up a filter list in your wireless router configuration software (which is usually accessed via your web browser).

When you set up your filter list you are setting up a whitelist of addresses which will be allowed to access your network. If any device with a MAC address not on the filter list will not be allowed to use your wireless connection.

Washington University in St. Louis has a great write-up on how you can find your MAC address.

This is only one step you can take. We highly recommend securing your network with WPA security and a difficult to guess password.

Want to embed our Wireless LAN Security video in your blog? Use this code:

Monday, June 18, 2007

Apple iPod and iTunes Opinions

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - Ponzi loves her iPod and iTunes integration, but she also hates both the iPod and iTunes.

The iPod is a beautiful, sleek mp3 player. It's simple, easy, and fun to use. The problem, though, is that the iPod gets scratched, and then it becomes an eyesore. Since it does get scratched you should keep the iPod in a protective case, but most cases are a pain to use all the time, don't dock easily, and generally don't look as good as the iPod itself.

On the software end, iTunes is easy to use and listen to music, and it has some great iPod integration. Of course, the problem is DRM: you can use the media you've purchased in a way you want to. You're limited to using the songs on your iPod or within iTunes, but beyond that you can't simply play it on a generic MP3 player.

What MP3 player and music service do you use?

Want to embed our iPod Love/Hate Relationship video in your blog? Use this code:

Why Windows Vista Sucks

Click to Play

http://live.pirillo.com/ - There is more than one version of Windows Vista: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. Why?!

Microsoft wanted to be able to sell Vista Home Basic with low-end hardware and Vista Ultimate with high-end hardware. Do you need Home Basic or Home Premium? Are you going to need the advantages that Ultimate has over Home Premium?

Then there's the Windows Genuine "Advantage" which can be a support nightmare if you need to reinstall the operating system or install new hardware. And god forbid you try to move your legally licensed copy of Windows to another machine.

Compare this to OS X: there's only one edition of OS X (although Apple is very guilty of pushing out new versions every couple of years), so there's no confusion when it comes to selecting an operating system.

Ubuntu might even be a better alternative (depending on the technical level of the user), since you just install the operating system and go.

The bottom line is this: users don't care about the multiple versions of Windows. They want the computer to start up and just work. They want it to be an appliance, like the car in their driveway, not something they have to constantly tweak to make it "just work."

What operating system do you use?

Want to embed our Windows Vista Home Ultimate Upgrade Super Version video in your blog? Use this code:

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Monday, June 25, 2007

Friday, June 22, 2007

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Monday, June 18, 2007

Lockergnome Coupons

Lockergnome Blog Network

Chris Pirillo

Lockergnome Coupons

About Me

Blog Archive