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Marc and Mario are joined in the studio by Heather Campbell and Michael Eisenberg from Geek Monthly and Play Magazine.
Big News this week: If you miss The Marc Cohen Computer & Technology Show, it is available On Demand from the KABC website.
9 O'Clock Hour
What's Geek Monthly all about?
Michael Eisenberg relates how the magazine is an example of how fiction becomes reality; in the 1998 movie, "Free Enterprise" one of the characters, Mark (played by Eric McCormack) published a Sci-Fi magazine called "Geek," and that was the inspiration for Geek Monthly.
Senior Writer Heather Campbell says Geek Monthly is "Everything you can geek out on." The magazine covers the latest in:
• Electronics
• Gadgets
• Sci-Fi
• Real Science
• Imports from Japan
• Celebrity Interviews
• Movie and TV Reviews, and much more
As Michael describes it, Geek Monthly is like having a "best buddy who only sends you cool links!" It is to this generation, what Wired Magazine was in the 1990's.
Geek Monthly's sister publication, Play Magazine, covers the latest and greatest from the world of gaming.
So what are Heather's favorite games?
Japanese Role Playing games and Halo 3.
Heather was not overly impressed by BioShock (which Marc loved) and thought the 'Little Sisters" twist did little to distinguish BioShock from just another video game.
Heather did concede that the environments in BioShock were impressive, and Marc points out that BioShock was one of the highest rated games.
Caller: John
John's had problems getting a game called "Jade Empire" to run on his PC. It's not surprising, John does not have internet access so he cannot download updates that are necessary to run most games. Marc explains that games are often published before video card drivers are updated to cope with the graphic demands of the game. As soon as you install a new game, you should check for updates.
Bottom line, John, it's time to get on-line!
What's The Coolest Geek thing?
Heather's really impressed by Robots, and sees these as the next cool geeky must-have gadgets. (the i-SoBot pictured above is available at Amazon, but see the price, Yikes!)
Speaking of robots, or rather robotics, Geek Monthly's current issue has an article called "We Can Rebuild You," describing how "the latest generation of artificial limbs is literally mind over matter."
The article features Sullivan, who lost both his arms in an accident and has become the first recipient of the Bionic Arm. Amazing.
What CellPhone does Heather use?
It's a T-Mobile MDA - a 1971 iPhone, as she describes it!
OK, Well what about the iPhone?
Heather, like Marc, does not like the iPhone's touch-pad keyboard.
Mario's hi-tech cell phone?
Motorola StarTAC, enough said!
Caller: Mark
Has been asked to help a friend set up his new iPhone.
Is there anything he should know? Can it handle email?
Marc's son just bought an iPhone, and he is anything but techy, managed to get it up and running in less than 2 hours, so it's not complicated. Apple's website has brilliant 'how to' video tutorials if you get stuck.
Of course, you could also read the instructions. According to Mario, the world is divided into 2 types of people; those who read instructions, and those who don't!
Who Reads Instructions?
And speaking of reading instructions, Heather actually likes reading instructions! Marc points out that guys have issues about reading instructions, it's the same thing as not asking for directions!
Heather wonders how it is that so many guys hate asking for directions, but love using GPS devices?
Simple, you don't ask a GPS for directions, you tell it to give you directions!
Thumb's Down For the Nokia Theatre?
Lighting fantastic, but the audio is awful.
Perhaps it's a question of ironing out some bugs in the system.
Marc's wife is a Dixie Chicks fan, and when she heard them playing there, she couldn't understand a word they said.
Caller: Richard in Fullerton
Wants to set up a website to sell a piece of property, should he use a web designer, a template-based ready to roll website service like Go-Daddy, or design his own website with software such as DreamWeaver?
Heather and Marc agree that, for Richard's purposes, the most effective way to achieve his objective would be to advertise the property on eBay. Heather points out that any other solution would be hampered by the time it takes for search engines to discover and rank any site that Richard created.
Bottom line, eBay is easier, cheaper and better.
10 O'Clock Hour
Guest: Kyle Monson from PC Magazine
The current issue of PC Magazine features the 100 best websites, that is the best 'classic' websites as well as the best undiscovered websites, based on the reviews of editors, writers and readers.
The 100 best websites are divided into categories so you can narrow your search.
So What's Kyle's Number 1 Pick?
There are so many, but taking a few categories;
Real Estate buying/selling: try www.trulia.com, its taken over from www.zillow.com as the resource for property buyers and sellers and actually will show what your home is worth, based on real time market price comparisons.
Technology: www.techmeme.com is clearly Kyle's number one pick here. It's really fast and up to date, having the latest news before anyone else.
Entertainment: www.expn.com - extreme sports covered in detail, along with video clips of what happens when things go wrong.
On-Line Shopping: Marc likes www.pricegrabber.com, Kyle does too, but also thinks
Googles' Product Search are great sites.
What's the Worst Website?
Hard question to answer (but Mario insisted!) but Kyle thinks that Craigslist, especially in the New York area, is going down.
The reason? It's because so many people, particularly in real estate, are posting bait and switch ads, so when you find a cheap apartment and call the number, you're told "Oh that one's gone, but we have five others."
It's a shame that Craigslist is being abused this way, but it's the price you pay for a free service - actually, it's the price you don't pay!
You can see PC Magazine's 100 Best Websites by clicking here.
Advert: PCRUSH.COM
It's The Computer & Technology Show's newest sponsor and advertiser.
Marc says it's like having a Buy Of The Week every day!
This Southern California based company has the hottest deals and KABC listeners get a free 1GB Flash Drive with every order!
And speaking of the BOTW...
BOTW: From PC RUSH
It's a Garmin Nuvi 650 GPS system for only $406.65 with free shipping!
The Garmin Nuvi 650 is an amazing GPS device with one of the largest touch screen displays on the market.
You could spend $2,000 on a built in GPS system, or you can spend a lot less on a portable device like this.
PC Rush has the best price, compare:
$459.00 at www.buy.com
$539.00 at Target
$700 at Radio Shack
$465 at Walmart
or,
$406.65 at www.pcrush.com! and that includes free shipping.
There's a special offer for KABC listeners, go to PC Rush and
click on the "Hear About Us On The Radio Button,"
use the password "KABC,"
and you'll get a free 1GB Flash Drive with your order!
Caller: Ross in Costa Mesa
Has a Dell Dimension 4600C set up with 4 user accounts, his is the Administrator Account. He cannot get his documents or get on line from his account. Ross has not installed any new software or hardware recently, so what's the answer?
Dell's Tech Department could only suggest creating another user account, but that doesn't work either - Ross cannot get to his documents.
Marc's suggestion is to use Windows' 'Go Back' utility to find a Restore Point a couple of weeks before this problem started. Just type "Restore Point" in Windows' search window and it will take you to it.
Also, Ross should join our YAHOO! Group and post the problem there if the Restore Point solution does not work.
Ross wants to know if he should take his PC to a shop, like Best Buy to have them fix it.
That's a possible solution, but a better one is to use
Support.com - they can examine your computer on-line, without you having to take it anywhere, and their charges start at $29 if it's a simple fix, and they will not charge you more than $99, and better still, if they cannot fix it, there's no charge at all.
As Mario points out, if you take your PC to BestBuy, they'll probably charge $99 just to look at your PC, never mind fixing it.
If all else fails, email Marc at marc@kabc.com
Caller: Sylvia in LA
She cannot set her computer up so that her husband's account only uses FireFox as the browser, and her account only uses Internet Explorer.
Marc says to email him and he'll try find the answer.
Feature: It's A Wonderful Life DVD
The Two-Disc Collector's Set of "It's A Wonderful Life" is being released on DVD on November 13.
Featuring full length B&W and Colorized versions of the best holiday movie, it's Jimmy Stewart at his best, according to Marc, although Heather Campbell preferred him in the 1958 Hitchcock thriller, Vertigo.
Caller: Guy in Santa Ana
When his son's Sony PC stopped working, he found that the hard drive was full and had no free space. Will a PC stop working if the hard drive is full?
Marc says 'yes,' you should keep at least 10% of your hard drive free so that the operating system can work properly as it needs to create temporary files that require space.
Guy used Bart PE to re-start his son's PC
Geek Monthly's Best Video Game
Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii - to be released on November 11, click here for details.
Geek Monthly's Best Gaming Console?
Wii, XBox360, or PlayStation3?
Heather says it's the PS3!
Although she thinks Sony released the PS3 too early for their library of games, there are good things coming.
Heather said that the PS3 was the star of the Tokyo Game Show - all the best stuff was on PS3.
Sony has a new PlayStation Portable that's also worth considering.
Caller: JW in Redondo Beach
Wants to by a notebook as a gift for two high school students, should he get a Mac or a PC?
Marc says it depends on budget, the entry level Apple MacBook is only $1099, but Windows based notebooks can be found for as little as $600.
JW's budget will stretch to $1300 so the Apple MacBook's a serious contender, especially as it comes with a suite of fully functional software, not teaser 'lite' PC Windows programs.
Bottom line, check to make sure that the High School in question supports both Apple and Windows, and if so, buy a Mac!
Caller: Chris
Has a HP Pavilion Slimline PC. It's 2 weeks old and it takes 15 minutes to shut down. Chris switched from Norton AV to Zone Alarm, thinking that might be the problem, but it makes no difference.
Marc says that slow shutdowns are not typically associated with Windows Vista, but it's possible that there are too many resident programs running. A good way of finding out how many resident programs are running is to use ProcessScanner from Process Library - it's a free scan either online or you can download it.
But, as Chris bought the PC from BestBuy two weeks ago, she could just as easily take it back and make them fix it.
Next Week's Show
It's a 'Best Of' show while Marc and Mario take a break, but full, free support for KABC Computer & Technology Show listeners will be provided by CyberDefender.
Just be sure to mention the KABC Computer & Technology Show when you call for help, and don't forget to visit the Yahoo! Group.
Thanks for another great show!
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