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Tech News & Commentary
Panasonic shampoo robot hits the salon
We discussed robotic shampooer in this segment’s tech news.
Click on the picture below to see the video:
Mike in San Antonio, Texas listens to the podcast and asked: “She just bought a new computer and we just put Office 2010 Student version on her new computer. We didn’t know at the time that it didn’t include Outlook. She has Outlook 2007 on her old computer. Can you take Outlook only out of Office and transfer it to the new computer?”
If you’re asking, can Outlook be moved from the old computer to the new computer? Then no, you can’t just copy it like any other file and expect it to work. Now, if you have the old Office installation CD, you might be able to install it from there onto the new computer and have it run.
Depending on how many installations that license allows it may or may not activate in the end, but you can give it a try. I had this issue a few years ago, when I replaced my old laptop. It wouldn’t activate, but I called Microsoft tech support and explained that i was replacing the computer that I had installed it on. Once I told them that I was still only using the software on one machine, they gave me a new activation code over the phone and the software worked. But you do need the original installation CDs for this to work.
Outlook also sells as standalone software, but we’d probably advice you to skip that option, since it would involve you paying an extra $140 or so for it… you probably paid less for Office Student and Home edition.
You can have a look at the free options that are out there to replace Outlook, there are many free options, from popular ones like Mozilla’s Thunderbird, to ones that have been around forever like Pegasus, to just plain old webmail. So you might want to explore those and find out if you even want Outlook anymore.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Kevin in McIntosh, New Mexico listens to the podcast – Calling in via the app asked: “I’m trying to find out what are the minimum and maximum temperatures that computers can run at without creating too much trouble. My computer’s mounted inside a truck and temperatures can vary up to 80 degrees in the summertime and down to 50 degrees in the winter. If you could let me know I’d be interested.”
Generally speaking, your computer should be kept in rooms that do not go below about 50 degrees or above 82, so your truck seems to always be pretty much within the range of temperatures recommended by manufacturers, though at times approaching the limits of what they consider safe.
If there’s a chance your truck can go above or below the temperatures that you mentioned then you should probably think about taking your computer out.
Modern processors will usually run until the hit about 120 degrees and then shut themselves off to keep from being damaged, at around 160 degrees they will usually be damaged. 120 and 160 degrees are the chip’s temperatures, though, not the room’s… the hotter the room gets the easier it is for the processor to reach those heat limits so keep in mind that if your truck hits 90 degrees, you don’t really have an extra 30 before you can expect your processor to shut off, your process might running at a 110 for you all you know.
Cold temperatures, below 50 degrees and as you approach freezing, will make your computer’s components contract and could cause small cracks.
You seem to be in the clear, but since your truck seems to reach or approach the recommended limits, keep a eye on how high and low temperatures get just in case…
You can use this as a rule of thumb though: computers are meant to share rooms with humans, if you’re comfortable in that room, odds are your computer will be too, if you’re too hot or too cold, your computer might be too…
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Facebook Participation
Dave posted on Facebook: “Ok so now I have to have shoulder surgery for a torn Rotator Cuff and a bone spur. Right arm and shoulder have been killing me for months! Physical therapy has helped a little but not fixed.
I think it’s from something that I did in the gym right before we left for China last year, but friends say that’s “not exciting” enough. So I’ve begun saying that it’s “an old Pro Football injury” — but I never played football. Others have said I should say it was an old injury as a Police Officer, since I actually WAS a cop.
So … what kind of juicy story would you tell?
Here are some of the ones we shared on the air:
Duane: Proof you were a cop, an injury … well then maybe I was a cop in a former life 🙂 … Or … You tripped while in Victoria’s Secret:)
Russ: It was while you were single-handedly holding off and trying to take the weapons away from three Miami drug dealers, until the cops arrived. But of course, you weren’t even thinking about your own human limitations, when there was a job to be done.
Jenny: You were doing crowd control for Rob’s Zumba class and had to tackle an over enthusiastic fan.
David: As his training officer and for those who doubt him. So for the record, Dave was a volunteer police reserve office with me in Liberty City (Miami) in the late 1970’s. He went through all of the training and would ride as a fully sworn officer for $1 a year. He even rode with us during the riots in 1979 and 1980.
Dorothea: The live octopus you ate in Korea fought back?
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
The history of electronic exhibitions began on December 4th 1924 with the German Radio Show in Berlin, Germany, where the art of engineering was most advanced. The event attracted 242 exhibitors to display the new technical wonder machines on an area measuring 75.000 sq. feet. The public was excited; more than 180.000 people came to this event. They were fascinated by the detectors and the first valve radio receivers on display and excited to experience the new world of listening to something transmitted from distant locations to their home. That show still exists today as IFA and is one of the biggest CE shows in the world.
That’s this week’s IFA Update brought to you by Messe-Berlin. Be sure to visit IFA-Berlin.com.
Alex in Boise, Idaho asked: “I dropped my laptop and it won’t accept a charger or power. I replaced the charger and my dad took it apart and all the things are still connected. Can you tell me what’s wrong with my Toshiba Satellite, older model?”
The only real answer we can give you about what’s wrong with it is “you dropped it and it broke,” there’s really not much we can say about what’s wrong with it without being able to examine it.
Even if everything looked connected when you open it up, keep in mind that these are very tiny circuits, there may be a tiny little crack that you’d have a hard time seeing without a magnifying glass that will sever a connection that’s necessary for your computer to know how charged your battery is, or some small component may have broken in an area that’s not so easily visible without taking every little piece of your computer apart.
Your best bet is probably going to be to have it looked at by a pro, and if this is an “older model” like you said, then you may be better of looking into buying even a cheap replacement, some computers these days only cost a few hundred dollars, you may end up having to spend that much to fix yours and, depending on how old it is, you may be looking at replacing it soon anyway, so compare whatever quote you get for repairs with the price of a replacement computer, even if it’s a cheap on, it may be a better option.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Joe in Washington, DC listening via WWRC 1260 AM asked: “If I were to buy and unlocked iPhone 4S and use T-Mobile as my carrier but also a have a 4G data plan would I get 4G?”
We are sorry to inform you but you will not have 4G, on your iPhone, even though you have a 4G plan with T-mobile. The problem relies with the iPhone. The iPhone doesn’t have the chipset to achieve True 4G wireless speeds.
However, T-mobile is working on opening up there HSPA+ network which is widely used in Europe to enhance their network with smart phone devices. While you will be upgrading to speeds faster than 3G, it’s still not considered to be a true 4G network.
Also T-mobile has yet to set a date on when this service will become available and how affective it will be once it’s up and running. So for now you can bet on using a lot of EDGE and 3G where it is available.
From Andrew The Intern: “My brother uses a jail broken iPhone 4 on T-mobile’s network, and hasn’t had any trouble with it. The speeds are not as fast, but they are not slow either. If there is a big app or file to download just jump on the nearest WiFi network, (which shouldn’t be to hard to find) and use that to accomplish what you need.”
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
Matt in Nashville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 FM asked: “I was talking to an IT guy the other day and he mentioned something about computer makers going away from normal hard drives to flash drive systems. Wondering if you have any input on that.”
What you’re referring to as “normal” hard drives — the ones we’ve had in our computers for years — aren’t entirely going away. They are, however, being replaced in many computers by flash memory, or solid state hard drives. The main difference between the two is that the newer solid state drives have no moving parts. This may mean more reliability in the solid state drives.
Other differences are that the solid state drives use less energy than the traditional hard drives. Now the downside is that since they are newer and have more advanced technology, they tend to be more expensive. Because of that, many manufacturers are not putting them inside their machines. At least not the lower-priced machines. One day all our hard drives may be that solid state drives, but probably not anytime soon.
Then there is the issue of capacity. Solid state drives, while using less power and operating many times faster than traditional rotating media drives, are far more expensive on a “dollar per gigabyte” basis. When you’re dealing with a large collection of media files, having a 1TB or larger drive is not out of the question. A solid state drive in that capacity, if one were even available, would be extremely expensive.
What you will likely see is a combination of three things: solid state drives used for the system volume where the operating system and applications run, hybrid drives that have some flash memory combined with a rotating media drive for somewhat better performance without breaking the bank, and traditional rotating media drives for archiving those collections of large files.
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
Guest in this hour:
Roni Haim, CEO – Zlango
Has texting completely replaced email and phone calls? How can you enhance your texting experience? If you’re an avid texter, Roni has an app that can add some color and images to your texts.
John in Monroeville, Pennsylvania asked: “I was wondering about the iPad. Is it possible to get local radio stations on the iPad from — like say Pittsburgh, PA; Richmond, VA; and your station?”
Our show can be heard anytime – 24/7 – by downloading our FREE Into Tomorrow app that works great on your iPad. There is a button that will allow you to listen to our 24-hour stream. We repeat the last 5 shows, so there’s never a shortage of Into Tomorrow. Our new show streams every Sunday from 2-5pm Eastern time.
As far as local radio stations, that all depends on a couple things. First, who owns them. A lot of broadcast companies have apps that will allow you to listen to any of their radio stations. For instance, Clear Channel has an app called “iHeartRadio” that will let you listen to any Clear Channel Station. Beasley Broadcasting has one called “iRadioNOW”.
Browse through the App store and search for “radio station apps”. You’ll probably find what you’re looking for.
Another radio station app that we’re fond of is called TuneIn Radio, and it provides streaming radio stations and podcast feeds on every subject imaginable from all around the world. TuneIn Radio is available for every mobile platform you can think of, from Android to Windows Phone with all the iStuff and Palms in between. Oh and “Into Tomorrow” is also heard on TuneIn Radio, of course!
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Creative: Live! Cam Connect HD — Webcam that records 720p video
Planon System Solutions: A couple of SlimScan SS100 Credit Card Sized Scanners
Scott Steinberg: Copies of his new book “The Modern Parent’s Guide to Kids and Video Games”