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Tech News & Commentary
Willy in Columbia, Missouri listening online and asked: “On a surround sound home theater system, what is the best center speaker to use and does the sound bar give you significant sound above a normal center speaker?”
You’re probably better off sticking to a center channel speaker, soundbars are meant to act as more than center speakers, they usually have left and right channels as well as the center channel, but each of their drivers tends to be weaker than the ones in dedicated center channel speakers.
Center channel speakers are very important, they’re the ones that handle voices in movies and songs, and if your sound bar has speakers that are weak compared to the rest of your home theater’s speakers, then voices or important sounds may get drowned out.
Sound bars sit where center speakers do, but they’re not meant to replace center channel speakers, they’re meant to replace the whole home theater with something that doesn’t sound as good, but that looks better (and definitely beats a TV’s built-in speakers), so a center channel speaker is probably the way to go.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Facebook Participation
We asked our listeners: “Should employers access your Facebook? There are companies asking for your Facebook username and password before hiring you. Would you give that up? Why or why not?”
Here are some of the responses we shared on the air:
Shawn: I don’t believe any company would have the right to view a profile on any social network without your approval (unless it is a Federal Investigation). But then, how much does Big Brother already see? So I’ll fight to the teeth to guard my privacy…thank you very much.
Heidi: NO WAY! There must be a complete separation between work and personal life- yes both make up a whole life, however Facebook is a ‘social’ not professional outlet for expression. Employers are crossing the privacy line. Agree w/ Shawn…Big Brother already is watching us. Keeping info private from the ‘public’ is critical.
Kevin: I’d rather argue with a wookie over a game of holochess!
Nathaniel: I believe that Facebook is private and that employers should use extreme caution when using social media to gauge an existing or perspective employee. That being said Individuals should be extremely careful about what they choose to post online and how these posts reflect on them socially. Lastly, beware what you share with the world, because in life, perception is often more powerful that intended meaning.
Michael: Not unless I friend them. I do not use my company’s computers to check my Facebook. I take my personal computer to work and use my phone to get internet access.
Ray: Well, what if you represent your employer as part of your FB presence? Does that change things a bit? I believe you sign away any intellectual property rights when you join FB. They own anything you post, so it’s up to them to decide who sees it.
Joanna: Not only would I not work for them, I would withdraw my application if they even asked!
Bradley: I’d ask for theirs than so I can see what kind of a person or people I am going to be working for.
Karen: It’s unethical and I would withdraw my application and give them a good dressing down. I’d then turn them in to the appropriate agency.
Mike: Any company that feels compelled to have my private life under their microscope can hire a Politically Correct Liberal instead. I would rather starve than have to deal with this.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Amy in North pole, Alaska listens on KFBX 970 calling in via the app asked: “I want to make an app but I don’t know how, and I don’t want to pay someone else to make it for me, I’d like to do it myself. Is there another app that can help me do this or a website I can go to to help me do this? Thanks!”
If you want to do it yourself you’re going to have to study. According to OUR App Developer, Horacio, there are reference apps, but they alone won’t help. Depending on the device you want to make the app for, you will most likely be looking at learning either Java or C programming languages.
Java and C are both Object-Oriented languages, there are plenty of books and websites to get you started, but you’re gonna have to practice, and it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to take a class. A 6 month course will usually cover the basics of object oriented programming, and from then on you can start learning a little more on your own and start deciphering how to build graphic user interfaces or work on more complex code that actually gets you beyond a teaching example and onto something actually useful.
Depending on the app you want to build you may also have to learn a little bit about other languages, like SQL for creating and accessing databases, or about building webservices to keep a server with centralized information that your apps may need.
Since you’re most likely to want to make an app for Android or iPhone we’ll give their developers’ websites, to read more about Android development you can go to developer.android.com, and to read more about developing for iPhone you can go to developer.apple.com/ios.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
David Bernstein, CEO – AnythingIT
Anything IT is an electronics recycler and E-Waste handler that recently collected over 100,000-lbs. of electronics. Find out how to best let-go of old electronics.
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
The breakthrough for magnetic recording came in 1933 with the invention of the first recorder named “Magnetophon” by the German Eduard Schueller. One year later the chemical company BASF finished the development of the necessary magnetic tape, coating an acrylic tape with iron. In 1935 Schueller’s lab model together with the tape by BASF became reality at the Big German Funkausstellung with the “Magnetophon K1” by AEG. The first tape recorder in the world was a sensation at this show which today, is named IFA.
That’s this week’s IFA Update brought to you by Messe-Berlin. Be sure to visit IFA-Berlin.com.
Neil in Virginia Beach, Virginia listens via the app asked: “I have an iPad 1 and was wondering what you guys thought about using my tax return to get the new iPad. I’m in favor of it, but wanted to know if you guys thought it was worth it. I use my current iPad to watch Netflix and Hulu and to play games. What do you think about the new quad-core processor for games?”
It all depends on what games you play.
If you play games like Draw Something or Words With Friends, you’ll see absolutely no difference, if you play 3D games you may notice some difference, but not all games on the iPad are optimized for the quad-core processor, so you may not see as big of a benefit as you could from the four cores, but you will likely see some improvement, especially coming from the original iPad.
Netflix and Hulu, won’t look too different, the screen is much nicer, but the video will remain at the same definition as before, so you may see better contrast or nicer colors, but it won’t suddenly jump to a new higher definition.
One thing to mention is that Apple does not allow developers to have different versions of the same app in the iTunes Store. So if a developer wants to support the new high resolution display on the current generation iPad, they will have to create a much larger app in terms of memory footprint. That larger app will then be sent to ALL iPad owners, whether or not they have the high res screen. Apple is taking some heat for this, but so far show no sign of budging. It’s causing some owners of older iPads to run short of memory.
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
Levi in Cookeville, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 asked: “Hi Dave, what is the easiest way to change the SD chip in my Android phone and get everything on to the new chip?”
The easiest way is probably to connect the phone a computer via USB, mount the SD card so you can see the files, select all the files and folders (including the hidden ones) to a folder on your computer and then swapping the memory card on your phone and reversing the process.
This should work for transferring your pictures, music, documents, and other files, but if you’re using certain apps that partition your SD cards you won’t be able to copy whatever content they put in that private partition without using more advanced methods such as booting into a Linux Live CD that allows you to see service partitions, which seems like overkill when you can just download your apps from the Google Play store again.
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
Luke in Baton Rouge, Louisiana listening on 107.3 WBRP asked: “Why doesn’t the new iPhone 4S have PhotoBooth, as does the iPad 2?”
We don’t know for sure, but we suspect it’s probably all about the size of the screen. PhotoBooth is an app that works best in groups, and the iPad has a nice large screen that makes it easy to accommodate a few faces at a time.
While the iPhone has a smaller screen and a camera that’s really only meant to show one face at a time, not only leaving very little room for second face, but also leaving very little room for funny effects.
In the end, Apple probably decided that PhotoBooth should be about fun, not about taking a self picture that will look the same as if it had been taken with the camera app.
But, there are some apps available that are very similar to PhotoBooth. For example, CamWow gives you real-time camera effects. You don’t get the countdown clock like you do with PhotoBooth, but you have pretty the same effects. You can countdown on your own.
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info,
please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Creative: Live! Cam Connect HD — Webcam that records 720p video
ScanMyPhotos.com: Several $200.00 eGift Certificates that can be used towards your purchase of any of their online products, such as: Prepaid Photo Scanning Box, Prepaid Slide Box, or Prepaid VHS Transfer Box
Scott Steinberg: Copies of his new book “The Modern Parent’s Guide to Kids and Video Games”