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#6 Rich’s Random Podcast Generator: Windows 8 and the Metro UI, Mouse without Borders, Streaming Devices in the Home, Mics Accessories for Podcasting
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John Zajdler, Microsoft MVP – Windows Home Server and co-host of The Home Server Show podcast, and Mike Howard, creator of the jpeg2RAW podcast join the show this week. Topics include in-home streaming devices, a Netflix apology email, Mouse without Borders, Windows 8 and the Metro UI, and what will now be known forever more as The Full Fo-Shay.
Windows 8 is the new Microsoft OS equally at home on desktop and tablet. That’s due to the addition of a new UI library called WinRT, a set of API’s which among other things supports the Metro style. Windows 
Phone 7 users are already familiar with Metro – it’s the look characterized by tiles. While the Win32 API is still part of the OS, developers working with WinRT will be creating apps that run in a sandboxed environment meaning they won’t be able to crash the system, and they won’t be able to cause the infamous Windows ‘bit rot’.
Metro apps will also be Windows AppStore-ready. The guys get into a fairly lengthy discussion around the new Metro UI – what it means to consumers and enterprises, and how folks might find themselves interacting with it.
Mics and related accessories for podcasting setups are also discussed, as well as streaming devices for the home network.
Are you surrounded by computers, each with its own keyboard and mouse? Clunky, isn’t it? Mouse without Borders lets you share one keyboard and mouse between them all, seamlessly integrating monitors from up to 4 different systems into your main multi-monitor setup. Once configured, simply drag your mouse to one of those monitor screens and keyboard control slides over with it, letting you control the system that is hooked up to that monitor.
In the show this week: Jim Collison, Rich O’Neil, Mike Howard, John Zajdler
Rich’s RPG is a weekly show hosted by Jim Collison and Rich O’Neil. We talk tech with like-minded folks, using Google + hangout to facilitate discussions. Together we cover whatever’s interesting – hot or not, current or historical. No outlines, no agenda, no worries. Join us!
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
If you have a product or a topic you would like us to discuss, please tag your articles in Delicious using the tag “TheAverageGuy”.
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
Intro and Exit Music used by permission from “"In the Shadow Of The Great Machine” by Fool’s Chaos. Hear more great tunes at Fool’s Chaos
| Print article | This entry was posted by Rich O'Neil on October 1, 2011 at 9:37 am, and is filed under Rich's Random Podcast Generator, Rich's RPG. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
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72 Home Tech Podcast: Oracle v Google, Bing and Facebook, IE Only on Windows 8, NEST, Vudu and Microsoft v Apple Sales Numbers
about 1 week ago - No comments
Jim and Christian are joined this week by special guest Gordon Schmidt for show 72 of The Home Tech Podcast. We tried using the very new Google+ Hangout feature called “On Air.” The show video is now available on YouTube at the Average Guy Podcast Channel. Give it a try.
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Christian’s Corner
Christian decided to cover enterprise matter this week. We talked Oracle v Google, Facebook helps out Bing, Microsoft returns to it’s excluding roots and of course a deal of the week.
Gordon covers the NEST Thermostat, Walmart using Vudu to convert DVD’s to Digital and the Microsoft Touch Mouse.
Jim takes a look at the real sales numbers for both Windows and Apple.
Microsoft:
1. At its peak in 2006, Windows XP was sold and operated on about 400 Million PC’s worldwide (legally). They roughly sold about 10 million copies a month while it was available.
2. Windows Vista sold 384 million copied before it was discontinued in October 2009. Also 10 million a month
3. Since its introduction in 2009, Window 7 has sold 525 million copies as of January 2012. It’s currently selling about 20 million copies a month. This puts it on track to sell around 200 million more copies (700 million total) before Windows 8 debuts late this fall. Early indications are that Windows 8 will get off to a slower start with it containing a major UI change in the Metro interface.
Apple:
1. As of February 2012, Apple has sold a total 122 million Macs since they were introduced in 1984
2. Compare that to 80 million iPod Touchs (in 4 years) 180 million iPhones (in 4 years) and 55 million iPads (in 2 years)
3. The 37.4 Million iOS devices (iPhone and iPads) that were sold in the fiscal Q1 of 2012 was more units per day than the number of babies being born globally each day
4. In Q2 2012, Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones and 11.8 million iPads.
If you’d like to subscribe to the show, click on 
to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
Or, you can now stream the show online at Stitcher.com at http://stitcher.com/listen.php?fid=22271
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
The Show Announcements and Schedule: https://twitter.com/#!/TheAverageGuyTV
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaverageguy/
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#16 Rich’s Random Podcast Generator – Windows 8: Start Screen, Charms, Keyboard Shortcuts, Reset and Restore, File History, and the Splashtop app
about 1 week ago - No comments
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Jim Collison is off today, visiting family in Kentucky. Mike Howard of jpeg2RAW joins Rich O’Neil as co-host for the show, and joining those two are John Stutsman, Paul Braren, and John ‘Diehard’ Zajdler. Discussions center on Windows 8 – Start screen and features such as Restore + Reset and File History, plus the Splashtop app for iPad and Android, and more.
There’s been some push back on the new W8 user interface – the Start screen in particular. The community is not exactly feeling all cuddly about it, yet I think it has possibilities; folks just have to get used it. To know is to love, no? Like, then… ok..tolerate… maybe. Knowing about screens that pop up when you mouse over the edges of the Start screen, and knowing the keyboard shortcuts goes a long way towards getting acclimated. I like the ability to search from the Start screen – no need to hit a search box or anything like that, just start typing and results pop up on the left and right. Very nice. Other tweaks and improvements in W8 include the use of the context sensitive ‘ribbon’ in Windows Explorer. So ya, I know we can get used to this new look, and of course we can still access the normal looking desktop. But then this UI was designed with a tablet in mind.
And speaking of that, John Stutsman is running W8 on his 1st gen iPad. He’s doing it with Splashtop, an app that’s also available for Android devices. John says it makes the UI come alive, so you can really see and understand what Microsoft was thinking when they made this radical departure.
Paul Braren digs into a W8 feature called File History. Though versioning has been included in Windows OS’s going back to Win2000, it’s essentially been buried until now. W8 puts a UI on it that an average guy can make use of. We think…
John Zajdler reports that the next and last pre-RTM version of Windows 8 will be released in early June. He hints that the Windows Store should have a lot more offerings by then. John also talks about the Reset and Restore features, something that should cut down on visits to the local computer repair shop. See this AnandTech article for a nice summary: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5290/windows-8s-refresh-and-reset-functionality-detailed The short story is this: Reset brings your OS back to a fresh install state while Restore preserves user files, settings, and any apps you’ve downloaded from Windows Store. Unfortunately, non-Windows Store apps need to be reinstalled,. But hey, it’s a lot better than nothing, right?
-Rich O’Neil
Rich’s RPG is a show hosted by Jim Collison and Rich O’Neil in Google+ Hangout. We talk tech with like-minded folks, covering whatever’s interesting – hot or not, current or historical. No outlines, no agenda, no worries. We welcome newcomers. Got a headset and a bit of free time? Join us on the show by contacting us at: podcast@theaverageguy.tv or rich@theaverageguy.tv
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
If you have a product or a topic you would like us to discuss, please tag your articles in Delicious using the tag “TheAverageGuy”.
Check out other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
Podcast intro and exit music is used by permission from “In the Shadow of the Great Machine” by Fool’s Chaos. Hear more great tunes at Fool’s Chaos!
70 The Home Tech Podcast: CrashPlan, eBay, HTPC, Rainmeter, RaspberryPi, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Galaxy Note, Windows 8
about 3 weeks ago - No comments
Jim, Andrew and Christian are joined this by Gary Johnson for show 70 of The Home Tech Podcast. We talk CrashPlan, eBay, HTPC, Rainmeter, RaspberryPi, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Galaxy Note, Windows 8
Listen LIVE every Thursday night at http://TheAverageGuy.tv/live @ 6pP/8pC/9pE
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The guys start off with an eBay Australia Group Deal on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the current flagship Google branded Android phone, which is the handset variant that will work on all networks in Australia, and is AT&T compatible in the US. The guys talk about carrier exclusivity for mobile phone handsets, as well as some other phones such as the Nokia Lumia, one of the new Windows Phone 8 devices, which has been promised for quite a while, yet still to hit the market.
Andrew talks about a new small form factor PC, the Zotac ZBox Nano XS he has his eye on for building a new Home Theatre PC. The PC runs an AMD E-450 processor, and comes with 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 64GB SSD, Gigabit network and Wireless N, Remote Control, will fit on the back of a TV on a standard VESA mount, and is fully compatible with Windows 7.
Christian’s Deal of the Week is Micro SDHC Memory Cards over at GearXS.com, via a WOOT deal, with cards being as low as 0.99 for 4GB!
Christian also shares some of his recent engadget reading, as they cover the release name of Windows Server 8, as well as the names of the various flavors of Windows 8. Hit the links below for the news!
- http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/windows-server-2012/
- http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/16/microsoft-outs-three-flavors-of-windows-8-windows-8-windows-8/
- http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/16/raspberry-pi-begins-shipping/
- http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/16/microsoft-job-ads-hint-at-skype-for-browsers/
The guys talk some more about the Raspberry Pi ARM-based computer, discussion why the Raspberry Pi has been bought to market, and the intended audience for the machine.
Gary talks about his adventures with Rainmeter, the desktop customization tool that he and Christian have been using to customize their Windows user experiences. The image below is Christians’ desktop, customized with Rainmeter.
Gary talks about some issues he has been experiencing with Windows Media Center, and the guys talk some more about desktop management. Andrew uses Stardock Fences to manage his desktop space
Gary and the guys discuss their experiences so far with Windows 8, and where they believe Windows 8 is headed, as well as the success they believe it will have once released to market.
Gary talks about the Samsung Galaxy Note and its impending release onto the Sprint network, once the CDMA version of the hardware is released.
Gary also gives us an update on recent updates to Subsonic, and some of the issues that are being seen with the Android client for the current release.
Jim and Gary talk about the performance increases in moving a system drive to an SSD drive, before talking about private cloud backups using Crashplan, and how Jim provides a data backup service to his family without using a third party cloud storage provider.
If you’d like to subscribe to the show, click on to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
Or, you can now stream the show online at Stitcher.com at http://stitcher.com/listen.php?fid=22271
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
The Show Announcements and Schedule: https://twitter.com/#!/TheAverageGuyTV
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaverageguy/
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
66 The Home Tech Podcast: Stitcher, Skype, Windows 8 retina display, New iPad Heater
about 1 month ago - No comments
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Jim was joined this week by John Zajdler (@Dieharder), Christian and Andrew.
We started with a discussion with some chat about the podcasting aggregator Stitcher, found at http://stitcher.com.
We also spent some time talking about Skype. We talked about a bit of history, how we all use Skype and even answered a few questions. Christian even shared how he and his friends use Skype to do homework together.
Andrew joined us a bit later to discuss how much work Microsoft created for him with a patch that had been released recently.
Watch live streaming video from theaverageguy at livestream.com
We did a clarification on a site we had talked about last week. http://ivave.com sells music for 5 cents a track in most cases. We had a listener who did think it was a legal site. You can follow our thread over at https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/theaverageguy/
Some addition chat around Windows 8. Christian mentioned a retina display: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/22/shocker-windows-8-will-be-retina-display-friendly/ John mentioned a link: http://www.winsupersite.com/blog/supersite-blog-39/windows8/microsoft-talks-high-dpi-displays-windows-8-142639
Deal of the Week: Really cool way to go wireless on antiquated systems:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166068
Some hard drive discussion based on this article: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/19/seagate-hits-one-terabit-per-square-inch-compares-self-favorabl/
We watched this video based on this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVS5g8DUxb4
At the end of the show we talked about Jim’s new broadcast server. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859115019 It is currently out of stock here in the US. $299 was the deal.
If you’d like to subscribe to the show, click on to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
You can also join us at Stitcher.com at http://stitcher.com/listen.php?fid=22271
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
The Show Announcements and Schedule: https://twitter.com/#!/TheAverageGuyTV
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaverageguy/
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#63 The Home Tech Podcast: Its All About Windows 8
about 2 months ago - No comments
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Be sure to Listen LIVE at 5pP/7pC/8pE/12AEST every Thursday night over at http://TheAverageGuy.tv/live
The show kicks off with some very exciting news from Christian, who has scored himself a holiday internship at NASA in one of their software development teams. A big congratulations from all of us here at The Average Guy!
For those who like to test the latest and greatest in Microsoft Operating Systems before they hit mainstream, Microsoft has released the Consumer Preview for Windows 8, available for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Be sure to grab the Product Key before you close you browser session!
If you do your testing of new Operating Systems in a virtual machine, Jim recommends Virtual Box from Oracle. Andrew has had some issues with getting the preview installation to load into a virtual machine, and is going to pursue the option of booting from a VHD file, which lets you essentially multi boot your hardware, without creating additional partitions on your hard disk.
The guys discuss the potential learning curve that they believe may be involved in moving to Windows 8 with the new interface, as well as the learning curve associated with moving to a different platform like the Apple Mac or even an iPad. The guys discuss the merits of purchasing a refurbished device from Apple for a basic consumption device.
Moving on to the popular topic of mobile phones, Rich shares his experiences of using his Android Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket, and the various applications he uses and the comparisons drawn between his previous phone, an iPhone.
While talking phones, Christian shares a negative eBay experience relating to the purchase and lack of vendor follow-up regarding a new phone Gary purchased that went bad following a charging issue with the phone – be careful when selecting your eBay buyers!
Rich talks about some of the niceties about the Apple ecosystem, such as the ability to backup and restore an iPhone in the event of data corruption or loss, whereas this feature is somewhat lacking in the Android marketplace at this time.
John Zajdler joins the podcast, and walks the Livestream viewers as well as the hosts through some of the features in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, after living with it for a day.
From Christians’ Corner, the Deal-of-the-Week is the amped Wireless AP600EX High Powered Access Point with a wireless range of up to 1.5 miles! Amazing wireless performance from a device under $200!
If you’d like to subscribe to the show, click on to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaverageguy/
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#50 The Home Tech Podcast: Google’s Driverless Fleet, Open VPN and HD Home Run PRIME
about 6 months ago - 2 comments
Jim, Andrew and Christian are joined by Chris Lux at The Average Guy for this week’s installment of the Home Tech Podcast.
Jim tells us about the Google Driverless Car Fleet, that has recently racked up 140,000 miles. The cars use a combination of GPS, LIDAR sensors and artificial intelligence to ensure the cars don’t have any unnecessary accidents. The guys discuss how they believe the adoption of this technology would fit with their lifestyles, and how it may be adopted for everyday use.
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Listen LIVE every Thursday night at http://TheAverageGuy.tv/live @ 5pP/7pC/8pE/12AEST
Andrew talks some more about the upgrade to his network at home, coinciding with an upgrade from an ADSL to Cable Internet connection, and the guys discuss the merits of wireless versus wired network, and ethernet over power.
Christian talks about the challenges of configuring a VPN using OpenVPN for the purpose of being able to access home resources including the HD Home Run PRIME.
Christian talks Angry Birds merchandise recently seen via Woot! and about the massive increase in hard drive pricing, due to the floods in Thailand; the guys talk about whether this will drive folks to SSD hard drives, or if people will still purchase rotating hard drives, or if people will wait for the factories to come back online and pricings return to what we consider normal pricing.
Christian’s Speed Top of the Week is to copy unused fonts to a backup folder, to prevent them being loaded by Windows as it is booting up.
Chris talks about the Mango Update to his Windows Phone, and some of the improvements that the recent update has bought to the phone.
Chris also talks about alternatives to Windows Media Center for recording TV shows from Free-to-Air sources, that do not necessarily include Tivo. Andrew mentions an Australian service called IceTV that works with Australian Free-to-Air broadcasts, and integrates with popular DVRs.
Jim reminds listeners who are testing Windows 8 on the Developer Preview, that there is an update to the initial release – if you are testing, be sure to update your system!
Don’t forget our feed location has changed – click on to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaverageguy/
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#44 The Home Tech Podcast: Headsets, Keyboards, Mouse Without Borders, TouchPad, Windows 8
about 8 months ago - No comments
Jim and Andrew and Christian are joined by Gary Johnson for this week’s installment of the Home Tech Podcast.
After some chat about the benefit of purchasing a decent quality headset if you are getting into podcasting, the guys kick the show off.
Jim tells us about a letter received from Cox Communication after he and his family exceeded their expected data usage in a month by 150GB, from a family member catching up on TV episodes via Netflix streaming – a bit of a reminder to those who are on excess charge Internet plans, that this would have been a super-expensive exercise had Jim had to pay for extra GB downloaded. The guys discuss the various Internet plans they use, and the value of bundling Internet and video services.
Hot on the heels of last weeks’ talk about the PC control software Input Director, the guys talk about the software release from the Microsoft Garage, Mouse Without Borders. Check out the video from The Garage on from when Mouse Without Borders was released.
The guys talk about how they use their multiple monitor setups, and how multiple monitors can increase your productivity, especially when editing something like a website, and being able to make changes on one screen and see the outcome on another, without swapping windows or applications.
Andrew also talks about the arrival of his HP Touchpad, and his first impressions of using the device, as well as some of the accessories, including the Touch Stone charger, and Bluetooth keyboard that are available for the device. The guys then go on to discuss keyboards, such as the Apple Mac keyboard, and the various keyboards they have been using over the past few years, and their preferences for wired or wireless keyboards.
In Christians’ Corner this week, we talk about the Windows 8 Developer Preview, which hit the wire during the week. Christian and Jim talk about their experiences with the Preview so far. If you’re interested in seeing the “Next Windows”, it is downloadable from the Microsoft Developer Network, and will be sure to attract a lot of conversation in the coming months.
Christian also talks about the price drop in DDR3 memory that we have seen happening in the past couple of months – if you’re looking to upgrade your memory, now could be the time!
Christians’ Tip of the Week is the Glary Utilities, an all-in-one utility, which helps you fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC.
After a bunch of Skype failures, Gary talks about a couple of hard drive failures, with Windows Home Server saving the day for restoring the system to a new disk, and having Gary back up in running in no time. Gary tells us about his very positive experience in having an RMA processed by Samsung for a couple of failed hard disks.
The guys talk some more about Windows 8, and the benefits of upgrading, and how the enterprise is still using older technologies, for various reasons.
The show wraps up, with Gary talking about the benefit of pulling the trigger on a purchase when stock is available, following an experience of deciding to perform an upgrade, only to find that his system board of choice was no longer available.
Don’t forget our feed location is changing – click on to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
Listen to the Podcast
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Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaverageguy/
If you have a product or a topic you would like us to discuss, please tag your articles in Delicious using the tag “TheAverageGuy”.
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#39 The Home Tech Podcast: The HP TouchPad and Home Automation
about 9 months ago - No comments
Jim, Gordon, are joined by John Hughes from Code Core Technologies, and a late joining Andrew for this weeks’ installment of the Home Tech Podcast.
After a brief chat about phones and and the trials and tribulations of dying gaming consoles, the Jim kicks off, talking about his latest project, “The 28 Day Experiment” testing the HP TouchPad. You can follow Jim’s experiences over on the website, under the “The 28 Day Experiment” tag. The guys chat about some of the comparisons between application availability on Android, and WebOS, and where and if a tablet device could fit into their lives. Currently, Gordon is a Samsung Galaxy Tab user, and none of Jim, John, or Andrew currently own a tablet device. The guys also discuss devices like the Barnes and Noble Nook, and it’s potential as an mobile content consumption device.
Gordon shares with us his thoughts on Ford Sync, and why he chose to leave this option off the order form when purchasing his new car.
John talks to us about Home Automation, and his product Elve, which allows him to automate and control all the lights, alarm, irrigation system, thermostats, and home theatre system in the home. John explains the differences between automation and control in the home, and how a home automation system can integrate into various parts of the house. John tells us about his methodologies around how he designed the interface to his system, which was designed to to have a simple interface, with the familiar look and feel and concepts most of us know from Microsoft Outlook. John shares some of the challenges of integrating various systems. John’s product, Elve, which integrates with several different types of automation hardware can be found at his company website Code Core Technologies.
The guys talk about lack of standardization in the protocols used by the various manufacturers of Home Automation hardware, as well as the complexities of bringing automation to your home, as well assome of the security concerns with respect to being able to remotely access your Home Automation system.
Don’t forget our feed location is changing – click on to update your iTunes library, or for other Podcast downloading applications, please click on the RSS Feed and pick your Pod Catcher of choice!
Listen to the Podcast:
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Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
If you have a product or a topic you would like us to discuss, please tag your articles in Delicious using the tag “TheAverageGuy”.
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#26 The Home Tech Podcast: Document Scanning at Home, Facebook, WiseStamp Email Signatures, and iDevice Facial Recognition
about 12 months ago - 6 comments
Jim, Andrew and Christian are joined by Mike Howard and John Zajdler for this weeks installment of the Home Tech Podcast.
The guys kick off talking about Document Management for the Average Guy. For those of you who still mange your records via a filing cabinet and paper records, this topic is for you. Mike tells us about his preferred scanner the Fujitsu Snapscan S1300, and how he chose the software that he uses. The guys discuss the products and methods they use to scan and store their documents, how they rename and search their scanned documents, the benefits of storing your documents electronically, and some of the challenges of (OCR) Optical Character Recognition and recovering from large scan jobs when document feeders get jammed.
The guys talk about the software they use to manage their scanning needs, including Lucion FileCenter and Nuance PaperPort, and the workflow that they use to achieve their required outcomes.
The guys briefly dream about the possible integration of document scanning with Microsoft Surface, the amazing technology we’ve all seen on TV shows such as Hawaii Five-0 and NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as discussing where the OCR feature in Office 2010 may be used.
The guys discuss how they use online billing, and which their preferences between paper billing and electronic billing.
Andrew talks about Facebook’s recent addition of 2-factor authentication via text message for when you log into your Facebook account. If you enable this feature on your Facebook account, every time you log in, you will be sent a text message to your phone, which you in turn enter into an additional field to gain access to your Facebook account. This is widely used in the enterprise and with the banks, but one of the first times we have seen it used with by a social networking service.
Andrews’ site of the week is WiseStamp, a browser add-on that adds your recent social network service notifications to your email signatures. Quite a nice service for making adding dynamic content to your email signature.
Christians’ Deal-of-the-Week is is the Viewsonic gTablet from TigerDirect.com for $299.00.
Christians’ Speed Tip Of the Week is from the Windows 7 Forums, and explains how to validate that Internet Explorer 9 has GPU Acceleration enabled. If you have a dedicated video card which supports GPU rendering in your system, you should be using GPU Acceleration, and if you have an integrated video card Windows will not allow you to use GPU Acceleration. Enabling this feature will the improve the performance of web browsing with Internet Explorer 9.
From the Patents Office, Facebook has been awarded a Patent for Image Tagging, the feature that allows you to identify people in the photos you have uploaded to Facebook.
For those of us who have been waiting for the new HP Palm range of phones to hit the market, the HP Palm Pre3 has been listed on Amazon Germany for with indicative pricing being in the range of $639 USD.
The HP Palm Veer has been released to the market on AT&T this week, for those who want their WebOS fix on a new handset.
The guys discuss an as yet un-named HTC phone with a dual core processor, and the appeal of the slide out keyboard on the Palm phones.
To close out, Christian taunts us with the new Facial Recognition application, RecognizeMe for the iPhone and iPad 2 that will let you unlock the device using your smile – the video shows just how powerful some of the new applications for devices with front facing cameras can become!
Listen to the Podcast:
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Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
If you have a product or a topic you would like us to discuss, please tag your articles in Delicious using the tag “TheAverageGuy”.
Find this and other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
#24 The Home Tech Podcast: Cyber-attacks, Online Security, Wuala goes Mobile, Top Ten Tablets, Facebook Events, 7stacks, Password Management and DNS Benchmarking
about 1 year ago - No comments
Jim, Andrew and Christian are joined by Gordon Schmidt for this weeks installment of the Home Tech Podcast.
The guys kick off with Christian giving a quick insight regarding the change in his development methodologies for his Windows Home Server add-in, Magic Wake-On LAN given the change in technology between original Windows Home Server and the new Windows Home Server 2011.
Jim talks about the latest news regarding the recent cyber-attack on the Sony PlayStation Network and the steps you can take to make sure your credit card details are safe, such as regularly changing your password on your online services, and using complex passwords. For those of you who use the PlayStation Network, Sony are providing regular updates on their Blog.
The guys talk about their method of choosing and storing passwords, such as local software options like KeePass, and cloud based password management solutions such as LastPass, which integrates into your web browser, and supports all the common Operating Systems and web browsers both PC based and mobile.
To protect yourself online, the guys recommend:
- Never e-mail your credit card details to anyone
- Check the links in emails that claim to be from online services like PayPal, and your bank, and ensure you are going to the correct site
- If you are using a secure site, such as your online banking, or any service that transacts sensitive information make sure that your web browser shows you the site is secure, normally this is a padlock somewhere in your web browser, or the full name of the site for the new version of Firefox
Above all, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Remember that Walmart will never send you an email offering you a free $1000 gift card, your bank will never email you asking to confirm your password, and Microsoft will never try to sell you a product that is normally free.
If you think your card may have been compromised, you should:
- Place a fraud alert with the three major credit bureaus, being: Experian at 888-397-3742; Equifax at 800-525-6285; and TransUnion at 800-680-7289
- Check your credit reports – US residents are entitiled to one free credit report per year from Annual Credit Report
- Check your online banking statement
- Lodge a case with your bank as soon as you notice unusual transactions on your statement
Jim talks about Wuala finally releasing a mobile client, allowing you to access your cloud data on the go.
Andrew talks about the latest ZDNet Top Ten Tablet Leaderboard for 2011, which is supported by the TechRepublic Photos of the 10 Hottest tablets of 2011, bringing us the ZDNet ranking of the current and future tablet offerings from all the major players.
Christian shares his views and experience of buying new brand name versus the same brand name hardware that has been manufacturer refurbished before being retailed, as well as their observations of the differences between the Operating System as it comes installed from the manufacturer versus installing it yourself.
For those of you who use Facebook Events regularly, the folks over at Lockergnome have shown us how to synchronize your Google Calendar with your Facebook Events.
Christian brings us his Deal-of-the-Week, a Seagate 2TB external hard disk from Tiger Direct for $89.99.
Christian’s Tip of the Week tells us how to time the startup of a Windows 7 PC, using a script found over at SevenForums, so you can now quantify and qualify the startup tips from the past.
Christian also brings us a very cool program, 7stacks, that enhances the jump list feature found in Windows 7, allowing you to nest folders, program groups and the likes into your jump list.
Gordon brings us some more chat about LastPass vs KeePass vs RoboForm for password management, and the guys compare the three solutions with the built-in web browser password managers.
Gordon also talks about namebench, an Open-source DNS Benchmark Utility, which gives you a benchmark of how your ISP DNS servers perform, against services such as OpenDNS, Google Public DNS and several other public DNS services. Changing your DNS servers can dramatically speed up your Internet browsing experience!
Listen to the Podcast:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Or Download episode (Right click, save target as)
Jim’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jcollison
Andrew’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/unrealshots
Christian’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TheWizBM
Contact the show at podcast@theaverageguy.tv
If you have a product or a topic you would like us to discuss, please tag your articles in Delicious using the tag “TheAverageGuy”.
Find the other great Podcasts from the Average Guy Network at http://theaverageguy.tv
