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Weekend of November 27th, 2009

We have a fresh show for you! Answering your calls and emails via the AskDave Hotline. Plus, lots of tech gift ideas for the holidays. We're not giving you a "Best-Of" this weekend. We're working for you to better understand the consumer electronics world.

Listeners & Guests on the show this week:

For ALL the details ... be sure to listen to the show by downloading the MP3 or clicking the RED & WHITE "Play" button on the media player, both on the right-hand side of this page.

HOUR 1:

Tech News & Commentary

Craig in Idaho Falls, Idaho listening on KBLY 690 AM asked: "I was wondering if you knew of any digital video recorder that will record straight off of an antenna, so I wouldn't need a satellite box or anything like that."

 

Using an on-screen program guide, you can select and record up to 150 of your favorite standard-definition shows, and up to 30 hours of high-definition programming. There’s also a “Program Search” feature. You can search by title, keyword, or themes. By the way, the program guide is free, so you won’t need to pay any subscription fees. You’ll know what’s on 7 days in advance. Remember, you’ll also be able to pause live TV, rewind, and playback recorded shows.

We featured the DTVPal DVR in our Product Spotlight back in May of this year. Click here to view the video

By the way, you can find one of these for about $300 at Sears online, and at their stores. Apparently, they have an exclusive deal with Dish. Before the DTV cut over, it costs $250 online.

Colin in Manchester, United Kingdom listening online sent us the following email and asked: "Hi Dave, I listen to you on various devices. I listen to you on Ministry of Sound Internet Radio, PC desktop, laptop, and iPod. I have just upgraded to Blu-ray and find that nearly all of the movies that I watch contain blockey digital noise on certain scenes. My system is all Sony, their latest 200hz 1080p LCD TV, Blu-ray DVD player, Monster HDMI cables, 2.1 valve preamp, KRK active speakers, and subwoofer. I have tried various Blu-ray players, and they all do the same. My friend's system is Samsung, and he has the same problem. Is this a flaw with Blu-ray, or a badly finalized DVD? If I play a standard DVD and upscale to 1080p, it plays fine and nearly as good as Blu-ray, without the blockeyness. Hope you can help! We still enjoy our Saturday night listening parties! Great show, and thanks for all your hard work."

It could be the HDMI cables. You may want to try a different brand of HDMI cables. Another issue could be the subwoofer, that may be interfering by making the Blu-ray player bounce. Also, you may want to do some troubleshooting. Perhaps, the Blu-ray player has a software upgrade available that may fix those glitches.

William in Ohio listening on Sirius XM sent us the following email and asked: "Dear Into Tomorrow and Dave, can you give me a good suggestion for an HD radio for a car?"

There are so many options for HD radio in your car. It all depends on how much you're willing to spend, and what kind of radio you're looking for. You could go with a whole new "head unit" in your car that has HD radio built-in. You could also go with an aftermarket "Add-on" HD radio that you connect to an existing factory radio, or you could buy a new radio that is "HD ready". That usually means the manufacturer has an HD radio tuner available that will interface directly with that head unit.

Of course, as with all car radios, the speakers make a big difference. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a great stereo and HD radio tuner, but if you have cheap speakers in your vehicle, it's still going to sound like garbage. One thing we recommend a lot is to go by a local electronics retailer, or auto sound shop, because they will usually have several units setup for you to check out. A lot of times, these stores will have an area with many radios and many speakers. You can select which radio you want to hear, then select a certain set of speakers to hear it on.

That is really the best way to determine what you like best. We can make recommendations all day long, but audio is like choosing a cell phone. Everyone is different and has different tastes. What sounds great to one person may not be exactly what someone else is looking for.

 

Kenny in Ohio listening on XM Ch.139 sent the following email and said: "Dave, just wanted to let you and your XM radio listeners know that you can listen to all 3 hours of Into Tomorrow on XM Satellite Radio, but on online at listen.xmradio.com. Look for channel 139 when you sign in. You have to have an XM radio online subscription. Take care and keep up the good work!"

Thanks for letting us know. However, not a lot of XM subscribers are also subscribed to their online service, but it's great to know that they don't have the same bandwidth problems with their Internet streaming.

We hope that all of our XM listeners will take the time to complain that you want to hear all 3 hours of "Into Tomorrow" every week, not just whenever they have room for it.

 

Al in Shreveport, LA listening on KEEL 710 AM sent us the following email and said: "Hi Dave, just a brief note to thank you for the surprise headphones set you sent me a couple of weeks ago. My apologies for the delay, but we import and distribute home sauna units, and this is our busy season. I enjoy listening to your show on KEEL 710 AM in Shreveport, Louisiana. Please keep up the good work and give my best to your colleagues for me. Kind Regards, Al Konrad Infra-Sun Saunas, by Sensalux."

Our pleasure! We sure could use a Sauna here at our Studio. You might even win another prize! But, thanks for the kind words about the show and, of course, for listening. Call-in and join us on the show anytime by calling-in to 1-800-899-INTO.

 

James sent us the following tech tip and said: "You can use an old flash drive as a laptop alarm to prevent your laptop from being stolen. Here is how:

1) Install a free security software called LAlarm on your laptop at www.lalarm.com. It's free for personal use.

2) Fasten a neck strap to your old flash drive.

3) Fasten the other end of the strap to a table.

4) Plug the flash drive into a USB port of a laptop.

5) Lock the laptop by pressing the Windows logo key and L key together.

When a thief removes the laptop from the table, the laptop will be disconnected from the flash drive, and then a loud siren sound will be emitted. In addition to sounding an alarm, the software sends an alert to your mobile phone. In case of laptop theft, the free software destroys the data on the laptop to prevent identity theft."

Thanks for the tip!

 

Doc in Illinois listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "Looking to find out how to get into "ACC stream" or "AAC stream", or whatever it is called. Basically, utilizing my cell phone to pick up audio from the net, then put it across to the radio in my truck."

We think you're referring to A2DP which stands for "Advanced Audio Distribution Profile." Basically, that's the protocol that Bluetooth devices use to stream stereo audio to another device, such as an external speaker, or a stereo system.

In order to do this, you'd first need a phone that supports that A2DP protocol. Then, you'd need a radio (or "head unit") in your truck that also supports A2DP. Many Bluetooth stereos have the ability to let you go "hands-free" on a call, but don't necessarily support streaming music, so you have to make sure you look for that A2DP compatibility. The final step is to link the two together.

Of course, make sure, if you're streaming audio from the net using your phone, that you have a data plan. If you don't, you may have a heart attack at the end of the month, when you get your cell phone bill.

HOUR 2:

Tech News & Commentary

 

Tom in St. Louis, Missouri listening on XM Ch.139 asked: "I have a Toshiba laptop that has an HD-DVD player built-into the DVD player. Is there any way of having that re-programmed, to allow it to play Blu-ray, or would it be better to just get an external Blu-ray player and plug it in?"

Blu-ray and HD DVD are fundamentally different devices, we're afraid. There is no re-programming, that will change your drive for you. Of course, it will still play standard DVDs, like all Blue-ray and HD DVDs can, but no way it will play a Blu-ray disc, sorry.

You might want to search for your computer's specific model number and the text "Blu-ray", to see whether the optical drive can be entirely replaced. If that doesn't turn up anything, you'll probably have to go the external route.

 

 

Brian in San Antonio, Texas listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: "I'm interested in getting a DVD recorder. I'm looking to replace my VCR to record my TV shows. I know that most dish and cable companies have their own subscription service and will lease you a DVR. I don't want to pay the extra monthly fee or want to increase my service with Time Warner Cable. I just want to be able to record TV shows to a hard drive, and, once in a while, maybe transfer them to DVD. Can you recommend something that won't require a subscription or added service?"

Getting a DVD recorder to replace your VCR is not at all that difficult. There are so many DVD recorders available out there, and you can get them fairly inexpensively. We've seen some at places like Newegg for as low as about $100.

Now, when you start looking into DVD recorders that also have a hard drive for recording, you run into a little more of a challenge. There are some available, however we checked several stores like Wal-mart, Target, and a few of the other "big box" stores, and they all said they don't have any available.

We did find some online at places like Overstock and Amazon, but you'd be looking at least $200 for a refurbished unit. It may work out to be cheaper in the long run, to go with your cable company's DVR.

 

Matthew sent us the following email and asked: "Hey there boys! Can you recommend a program in the likes of Camtasia that allows the recording of on-screen movements to be later recorded to video? Did that make sense?"

 

Now we'd love to hear from our listeners with what they recommend for Matt. Call us at 1-800-899-INTO, or email us your favorite program to AskDave@Graveline.com. Either way, here's a great way to help another fellow listener.

 

Tina in Minnesota listening on Sirius Ch.108 asked: "There's a dead zone in my in-laws house for their wireless and I'm wondering about the power line product. It lets you use your electrical system in your house to "make a porch" for your Internet service. Wondering what your opinion on this is, or if I should purchase a better Wi-Fi router."

Ethernet over Power has lost some steam lately, that's for sure, but the technology is solid as long as the wiring in your house doesn't have anything about it that blocks the signals. The adapters are for wired Ethernet connections, but you could use Ethernet over Power to get a wired connection to a wireless access point and thus, create your own hotspot.

Please, be sure to use a wireless access point if you choose to do this, and not a wireless router. You'll already have one router, where the Internet service enters the house, and a second router on the same network isn't necessary.

 

 

Listener responses via a question on Dave's Facebook: "With Thanksgiving weekend upon us, we asked on our Facebook & Twitter Pages: What are you most thankful for, in terms of technology?"

Lara Dyan: The Internet, so I can comment here right now!!

Anita Bonita: A laptop, which I can carry around without pain! My first one, which I used at CBS Sports in 1990, was 15 pounds and operated at a whopping 4.77 MHz and ran DOS 3.3.

David Politis: All things Web 2.0-related for making it possible to self-publish and find/maintain relationships all over the world, instantaneously.

Daniel O Gomez: Caller ID, avoid annoying phone calls for sure

Bill Murphy: I'm thankful for the advent of digital audio. I'm lucky to have seen it develop from the start and followed it every step of the way. I'm also thankful that I'll be able to witness the amazing advances in technology, that will happen in the next two decades! This is going to be fun!

Grant Clauser: Batteries!

Colin Mcgovern is thankful for Wi-Fi radios

Carolina Garcia: Has to be the Internet!

Dave Martella: TelePresence - It keeps me home instead of in airports.

Sally Smith Clemens: Tweet ups from the Space Station!

Mari Canales: Internet.

Dave Harris: Thankful for Wireless everything!

Carolina Sediles: Internet!!!

Matthew Hakaim: I am thankful that Apple hasn't added a 13th bogus "moisture sensor" to the existing 12 currently on the iPhone, which has resulted in my phone being "fried out" on 3 separate occasions in less than 12 months.

Rickey Michael Roach: TV's and Xbox's that turn themselves off when I fall asleep watching boring movies!

Tom Burse: The mute button on the TV remote

Kyle Kappmeier: Digital camera for sure

Jacqueline Paule Gillis: Love how often you show up as a 'mutual friend' with my other friends across the nation: you've got many well-deserved fans! Surprise us and show up in Connecticut for our mini-reunion next week? Going to be a lot of fun. Love ya! Oh: in answer to your question: I love that my iPhone contains my entire world!

HOUR 3:

Tech News & Commentary

Gene in San Jose, California listening on KLIV 1590 AM asked: "I bought a 3GS phone about a month and a half ago. I'm on the 4th one. The signal on the first one was really good. The second one had 5 bars. Then, a week and a half later, went to no bars. The third one had one bar, two bars, and then, no service. AT&T said they checked their antennas and said everything's fine. When I was at the Apple store, the girl had an iPhone, and had 5 bars, and I only had one. Do they have a problem with tuning their phones with their antenna?"

Lots of people have been encountering similar problems with their iPhone 3GS, and Swedish scientists have done some studies, testing the antenna for problems and concluded that the antenna wasn't the source of the problem. If you take a look at the AT&T coverage map, you'll see areas were there is no coverage and little spots of coverage in other places.

Getting a cell phone signal booster might be helpful to you. Here are some options:

 

 

 

Rickey in Toledo, Ohio listening on Sirius, Podcast and Stream offers a tip for GPS units for truck drivers.

Click here for more info.

 

Victor sent us the following email and asked: "I'm on a fixed income and was wondering if you knew a cheap Blu-ray DVD burner that would be under $50? Maybe, I could find one to buy for my mother. Thanks!"

Under $50? No, not yet anyway. Blu-ray players are commonly available for under $200, with many sinking to the $150 range. But, we have yet to see a Blu-ray player, let alone a burner, priced below $100. Sorry!

Looking at several online retailers, including Newegg and TigerDirect, you're looking at around $180 for the lower-end Blu-ray burners. Those are the ones you'd install into an available drive bay on a CPU. If you need an external burner that you could use on a laptop or multiple computers, you'd be looking at more like $280.

 

Listener responses via a question on Dave's Facebook: "With Thanksgiving weekend upon us, we asked on our Facebook & Twitter pages: What are you most thankful for, in terms of technology?"

SFLPRGUY (via Twitter): After coming home from traveling, I am very glad to have DVR. Hotel programming is torture

Todd Myers: Apple iPhone and Microsoft Exchange; 2 enemies that work perfectly together!

Paul Walker: I am most thankful for two types of technology. First of all, I'm thankful for radio. If it wasn't for broadcasting, I don't know what I'd be doing with my life. It always me connect with people and play music, two things I enjoy very much.

I am also very thankful for the Internet. It has allowed me to make friends in radio, that I never would've met without it.

The technology, of the Internet, also allows me to listen to radio stations from small islands and tiny countries, that I've never heard of, but can now feel like I'm right there listening on the regular radio with the locals.

Jay Noble: Personal computers, e-mail & self-cleaning ovens. Now, if someone would just invent a self-cleaning garage & self-mowing lawn all would be right

Larry Cisar: Technology is a bunch of tools. When those tools help people be the people they want to be, they are great. That is what I am thankful for.

Sal Gugliuzza: Thankful for the internal combustion engine and air conditioning inside the automobile. Welcome to South Florida, and oh yeah, radio waves and satellite radio. No noise pollution listening to “Into Tomorrow”

Terri Abrahamsen McDonald: Websites

Jean Manning Wallace: I do agree that the Internet is great, but don't laugh, but my first choice is the Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner. I have 2 dogs and a cat and this vacuum is a life-saver. We were buying a new vacuum every two years because they would burn out. I have had this cleaner for 8 years.

I also think digital cameras and social media are great, because it keeps us closer to family, friends, and business partners, who may be located all over the world.

Robbie Hodge: I'm most thankful for the Internet!

misaacmom (via Twitter): DVR is the technology I am so grateful for. Although, I am not sure if it is the best or worst conveniences in my life

Frank Doris: Any kind of music recording and reproduction technology. It enables us to hear a wealth of music, from all over the world, and for that, I am grateful.

 

The 12 Scams of Christmas:

The holidays are near, which is prime time for crooks to send out “holiday greetings” in the form of spyware and viruses, in an effort to put your money into their own stocking. Online Security company McAfee released the “12 Scams of Christmas”, or the most popular scams cybercriminals are using to trick people into handing over millions of dollars this holiday season.

Among the top of this year’s most popular online scams for holiday are:

1) Charity Phishing Scams – Be Careful Who You Give To:

During the holiday season, hackers take advantage of citizens’ generosity by sending e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charitable organizations. In reality, they are fake Web sites designed to steal donations, credit card information and the identities of donors.

2) Fake Invoices from Delivery Services to Steal Your Money:

During the holidays, cybercriminals often send fake invoices and delivery notifications appearing to be from FedEx, UPS or the U.S. Customs Service. They email consumers asking for credit card details to credit back the account, or require users to open an online invoice or customs form to receive the package. Once completed, the person’s information is stolen or malware is automatically installed on their computer.

3) Social Networking – “A Cybercriminal Wants to be Your Friend":

Cybercriminals take advantage of this social time of the year by sending authentic-looking “New Friend Request” emails from social networking sites. Internet users should beware that clicking on links in these emails and can automatically install malware on computers and steal personal information.

4) The Dangers of Holiday E-Cards:

Cyber thieves cash in on consumers who send holiday e-cards, in an effort to be environmentally conscious. Last holiday season, McAfee Labs discovered a worm masked as Hallmark e-cards, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola holiday promotions. Holiday-themed PowerPoint e-mail attachments are also popular among cybercriminals. Be careful what you click on.

5) “Luxury” Holiday Jewelry Comes at a High Price:

McAfee Labs recently uncovered a new holiday campaign that leads shoppers to malware-ridden sites offering discounted luxury gifts from Cartier, Gucci, and Tag Heuer. Cybercriminals even use fraudulent logos of the "Better Business Bureau" to trick shoppers into buying the products they never receive.

6) Practice Safe Holiday Shopping – Online Identity Theft on the Rise:

Forrester Research Inc. predicts online holiday sales will increase this year, as more bargain hunters turn to the Web for deals. While users shop and surf on open hotspots, hackers can spy on their activity in an attempt to steal their personal information. McAfee tells users never to shop online from a public computer or on an open Wi-Fi network.

7) Christmas Carol Lyrics Can Be Dangerous – Risky Holiday Searches:

During the holidays, hackers create fraudulent holiday-related Web sites for people searching for a holiday ringtone or wallpaper, Christmas carol lyrics or a festive screensaver. Downloading holiday-themed files may infect one’s computer with spyware, adware or other malware. McAfee found one Christmas carol download site that led searchers to adware, spyware and other potentially unwanted programs.

8) Out of Work – Job-Related E-mail Scams:

The U.S. unemployment rate recently spiked to 10.2 per cent, the highest level since 1983. Scammers are preying on desperate job-seekers in the poor economy, with the promise of high-paying jobs and work-from-home moneymaking opportunities. Once interested persons submit their information and pay their “set-up” fee, hackers steal their money instead of following through on the promised employment opportunity.

9) Outbidding for Crime – Auction Site Fraud:

Scammers often lurk on auction sites during the holiday season. Buyers should beware of auction deals that appear too good to be true, because often times these purchases never reach their new owner.

10) Password Stealing Scams:

Password theft is rampant during the holidays, as thieves use low-cost tools to uncover a person’s password and send out malware to record keystrokes, called keylogging. Once criminals have access to one or more passwords, they gain vast access to consumers’ bank and credit card details and clean out accounts within minutes. They also commonly send out spam from a user’s account to their contacts.

11) E-Mail Banking Scams:

Cybercriminals trick consumers into divulging their bank details by sending official-looking e-mails from financial institutions. They ask users to confirm their account information, including a user name and password, with a warning that their account will become invalid if they do not comply. Then they often sell this information through an underground online black market.

McAfee Labs believes cybercriminals are more actively scamming consumers with this tactic during the holidays since people are monitoring their purchases closely.

12) Your Files for Ransom – Ransomware Scams:

Hackers gain control of people’s computers through several of these holiday scams. They then act as virtual kidnappers to hijack computer files and encrypt them, making them unreadable and inaccessible. The scammer holds the user’s files ransom by demanding payment in exchange for getting them back.

For more information, please visit McAfee's page.

 

Janice in Puerto Rico listening on WOSO 1030 AM sent us the following email and asked: "Dear Dave, I listen to your show in Puerto Rico and it is very interesting. I have a problem and I hope you can give me some advice. I have a 500GB Western Digital external drive, which suddenly stopped working. I can see the drive in disk management, but the data is not readable. I have tried to use getdata.com, but no luck. Any suggestions? It is very important!"

If you can see the drive in disk manager, then its physical connection to the computer is working. Do you see a drive letter and an allocated partition on the drive? (The area will be blue if it's allocated and black if it's free.) If the disk management thinks the space on your drive is not allocated, that isn't good. It means something has damaged the partition table on the drive. You said getdata.com? I'm sure you mean RecoverMyFiles, a program developed by GetData to recover crashed hard drives.

 

If you have any questions about any of this week's show info, please email us here.

This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners

Honestech: VHS to DVD 3.0 deluxe – Easily converts your videos to DVD.

SpectorSoft: SpectorPRO – Internet Monitoring Software for Mac & PC

Wilson Electronics: iBooster Wireless Kits – Cell phone signal booster for the iPhone

ITTV Video

Happy Thanksgiving from Into Tomorrow! While a lot of us are enjoying turkey, Chris Graveline takes us down technology memory lane with This Week in Tech History.

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