The $800 Killer Gaming PC

Over at extremetech.com, they have put together another great gaming PC at a great price. Even if you are not a gamer, but just want to put together your own PC, this is a great starting place: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2347620,00.asp

Youngstown Computer Show Notes May 23, 2009

Segment 1

Poll: would you pay for news on the internet?

Caller 1
Q: tried to buy and download a song from walmart.com, now I can't get on the internet.
A: check out that you were not infected with something. you can bring it in to the shop to check it out

A little girl in New Zeleand bought a earth mover. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10247857-2.html

　
Segment 2

Caller 2
Q: have a digital camera, trying to making a DVD from the movies on the camera, it says to "insert disk" but it does not work. she has a sony cybershot camera
A: XP does not come with a DVD authoring program, try something like Sony Vegas.

Caller 3
Q: how did ActiveX factor into making my computer real slow?
A: you might have some programs that are interfering with each other, perhaps you need more memory, there might be more than one reason, try not to use the online fix-it programs.

What is ActiveX? ActiveX controls are extensions that a web browse can load in to extend web pages. Like Flash player, which allows you to watch videos in the browser, is an activeX control.

Caller 4
Q: mouse seems to be sticking
A: get a new optical mouse
　

Segment 3

What is clickjacking? When you click on a site but you go somewhere else. They create inline frames that make it look like the links are from the site you are at.

Caller 5
Q: if I put 2 gig of ram on the motherboard, then nothing works, one gig will work though
A: if there is not a problem with the motherboard, maybe one of the ram sticks might be bad.
discussion about installing RAM

Caller 6
Q: videos don't work right on the web, they stop after a while
A: the video has to buffer, try to just start the video, then pause it and wait
Q: can the old windows updates be deleted?
A: just leave them on.

　
Segment 4

Discussion about how people call hard drives "memory", but that is not correct. Hard drives are considered long-term storage.

Discussion of ReadyBoost. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost

Caller 7
Q: can you give me some info about Avast anti-virus?
A: it is a free anti-virus, it seems to be ok, but you have to keep re-registering every month

Caller 8
Q: I only seem to have one usb that works on the motherboard
A: we have seen this before, it seems that the motherboard might be bad.　

Youngstown Computer Show Notes for May 2 2009

Segment 1

Last week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/034

Windows 7 might be out on October 23 this year -- http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132464

This week's poll: http://jdany.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/035 -- Will you move to Windows 7?

Joe Danyi getting started on facebook

Getting started with classes for the spring and summer. Please let us know what you want to learn.


Segment 2

Talking about the Psystar Mac clone back in the courts -- http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/01/apple_says_psystar_holding_back_info_in_mac_clone_legal_case.html

Talking about Google is getting sued due to the name Android trademark -- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/01/google_android_trademark/

Talking about how a guy learned how to deliver a baby from a youtube video -- http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10231586-71.html

Talking about Vista parental controls -- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/parental-controls.aspx


Segment 3

Caller 1
Q: My Internet froze up, who should I call, AT&T or my computer maker?
A: usually call AT&T for those type of problems

Caller 2
Q: want to print out a puzzle from Parade's web site, but it has a background that takes lots of ink, can I print it out without the background?
A:

Caller 3
Q: excel is not printing out lines, how do I turn it on
A: use print preview, and use the print options to turn them on

Caller 4
Q: how can I share one printer with two computers
A: there are auto USB switchboxes, or you can share the computer over the network, hook the printer to just one, and right click the printer and choose share

Caller 5
Q: how do i turn off the vista sidebar?
A: there is a small icon that allows you to turn it off. you can even go to properties and tell it not to start up


Segment 4

Adam asks for advice for new graduates.

More features of vista parental controls

Conficker has infected some hospital devices -- http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10226448-83.html

Talking about different categories of viruses -- http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2004/11/malware.ars
spyware=something that tracks you or steals passwords or records keystrokes
adware=creates pop-ups
malware=lies to you or tricks you