“In the circle in which I travel, a dumb man is more dangerous than a hundred rats.” Joe Valachi

Sometimes I am looking for a discussion on particular tech subject. Now I am not looking for dry details but a fairly lively discussion with real opinions. I sometimes turn to Lab Rats. They are two guys who sit down and record episodes on certain specific subjects. They go from the basics to an advanced level and they bring you along with them. When you go to their site you need to pick a show and then pick a format. I find the flash versions are the easiest. I recently watched an interesting discussion of all the different platforms and which one is best. They talked about Windows, Linux, and Macintosh and I must say they were very careful in this episode not too throw their biases too much around. The only let down is the advertisements but they are quick and go to support the shows. Also I really like the little pop up add-ins that show up on the screen with a "pop".If you are confused on a subject give it a try.

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. Douglas Adams

Instead of posting in Monday I thought I would talk about something rather pressing. This weekend is the new updated daylight savings time. Unfortunately the computer industry has been a bit slow to react. They created patches and updates but some are causing problems. At the time of this posting the Microsoft call in help centers have been crushed under the weight of calls. Instead Microsoft has created an online chat that is taking on the job. Try their page or chat for help on this problem. Now if you are on a Mac using 10.4 or 10.3 just download the update but if you have an earlier version follow the instructions here. However I don't think it is going to be a huge headache for the average person but I would definitely call ahead for people I am meeting with or it might be a nice excuse not to go.

“My father hated radio and could not wait for television to be invented so he could hate that too.” Peter De Vries

I have already mentioned the software iTunes before but today I want to focus on getting new podcasts. First off the software is free and is available for Mac and Windows machines. Once the program is installed in your computer you can open it up and click on the right hand side where it says podcasts. If it is your first time opening this than it will ask you if you would like to go to the podcasts directory. You can click yes or at the bottom right you can click the link for podcast directory as well. At this point you will have many options like the top 100 podcasts or some categorized choices as well like sports or foreign language. Click on any of these and if you find something interesting give it another click. You should then see a description of the show and a list of past episodes. If you would like to test drive one of the episodes double click it and give a listen. If you like it you can get just the episode you are listening to by scrolling to the right and clicking on get episode. However if you decide you want to receive this regularly, near the top it should say subscribe, click that button. From now on you will get these in your podcast section of iTunes. If at any time you decide you don't want it anymore click on the podcast and hit the backspace button to delete it. I like iTunes for its ease of use. Think of this program like the ultimate jukebox of audio. Give it a try.

“Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on earth, with a top speed of 120 FPS, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter.” Dave Barry

The question is one of speed. How can I speed up my computer even in a small way without disabling security devices like firewalls or anti virus software? If you click on the start menu and then onto control panels and then open the icon system we can try. Once inside click on the tab called advanced at the top. You should see a button called settings, click that. Now most of the time it is set to let windows decide what is best but we can change the settings as we please. Before you go further understand that you can increase speed at the cost of looks. Choose best for performance and this will take away some of the style features but it will increase speed in your use of the computer. If you find later you want some of the features, go back into this and add in the ones that you like. When finished hit apply and then OK. Give it a try.

“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction” Winston Churchill

Well you have been hearing about the new operating system Vista and you are thinking maybe I should upgrade. Sometimes change is good...and it can be bad. If you are thinking of using your old computer you should understand some basics. First you should test to see if your computer can handle it. Windows makes an application to do just that. It is called the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Now even the advisor says you can run it but you need to understand that you may not get all the benefits it is supposed to offer. Many machines right now cannot run all the new niftiness that it is supposed to have. Check the different types of editions. Most likely the computer that you run can only support Home Basic Edition. This does not give you much for upgrading. My advice is that you wait until you need another computer and then buy one; it will come with Vista anyway. I also believe in waiting for a new system to work out all the bugs before I buy. I wait somewhere around a year or so. I know you have waited five years for the new operating system but just understand that the next system is already in beginning phases. It's codename is Vienna. Don't hold your breath waiting. Give the adviser and try!

“Only thing worse than watching a bad movie is being in one” Elvis Presley

Let's say a friend sends you a video and you get it on the computer. Now you try to play it but it keeps saying that file is not recognized or it just doesn't seem to play. One program many turn to is VLC. It can play MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, as well as DVDs, and VCDs. Now if some of these are foreign to you, don't pay any attention to them but know this: if it is video, VLC most likely plays it. If it does not automatically work, you may have to right click on the file and choose open with and then click VLC. Now to download choose either PC or Mac. Once this is installed you will be able to watch all sorts of great media. Many times I rent a DVD from the library and pop it in and watch it using VLC. This is really one of the programs to put on a computer right away. Give it a try!