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Tech News & Commentary
Terry in Carthage, Missouri listens to the podcast and is calling via the app asked us: “Chromecast and Fire stick: Which one do you think is better? Can I throw movies that I have on my computer or my tablet up onto the big screen without having to use my data?”
Terry, In terms of which is actually better– there is no definitive answer and it’d be unfair for us to tell you one is better without you being aware of what each has to offer. That decision is completely up to you, but we can help guide you by telling you the specs of the Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV Stick.
Price is not a big factor when considering which to buy, because the Chromecast and Fire stick are very close in range. The Chromecast will be a few dollars cheaper, usually found at about $35 while the Fire stick is about $39– which could surely confuse any average consumer because usually a product that has more to offer would cost more, but at only a $4 difference, it isn’t really the case 
here.
You did ask if you can just throw movies you have stored on your computer or tablet onto your screen, and yes you can, by using screen mirroring. On Chromecast, you can do so using a Chrome browser or an Android device. On the Amazon Fire TV stick, you can do so by using your Amazon Kindle or, “soon” by using your Android device.
If you’d like to use other internet-based apps for whichever streaming stick you choose, you’d need to take the Wi-Fi capabilities of the device into consideration and in that area– the Fire stick is much better. The Chromecast uses a single-band Wi-Fi antenna and the Fire TV stick uses a Dual-band, Dual-Antenna MIMO (my-moh or me-moh) which could significantly improve the performance of the Fire TV stick over the Chromecast.
Both also have gaming capabilities, but the Fire TV Stick does have a leg up over it’s competition because for about $40, you can purchase a gaming controller separate from it’s normal controller. Also, when taking the two devices into consideration– keep in mind that Chromecast performs without using a control whatsoever. You must actually stream anything straight from your device to the Chromecast in order to view it, which is either a big upside or downside, depending on your personal preference. Understandably so, there are some people who would like the nostalgic feeling of a handheld control while others would rather not have the liability of keeping track of where they left another remote.
There are certain apps that work on the Chromecast that don’t work on the Amazon Fire TV stick and vice versa, so if you are concerned a favorite app of yours might not be available– take a more in-depth look by verifying it for both, but most staple apps work for both so we hope we were able to help guide you a bit.
What you didn’t ask was about the Roku Stick, which at $49 is only a few dollars more, and offers more streaming services than either of the other two. Quite frankly, it might be the best of the “sticks,” so perhaps you should give that one a look also.
So Terry, when choosing ANY streaming stick– “may the odds be ever in your favor”.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Facebook Participation: Police officers may soon be forced to wear body cameras- however, some believe this is an invasion of privacy. Theirs or yours? What do YOU see as the pros and cons?
Mustang Mary, from North Miami, FL began the discussion on our Facebook page by commenting: “If it’s an invasion of privacy, then why are they on street corners, ceilings in stores, all over the place. I’d rather have it on tape than a he said she said thing.”
Terence, a taxi driver, voiced his support for cameras by saying: “Best protection for the police officer….no more of this he said she said ambiguity …. I had a camera in my taxi cab…. it’s presence thwarted many fare runners…[people who did not pay]”
Jane, from North Miami Beach, FL said: “Gone are the days when a police officers word was “gospel”, everything now is cameras, cameras, cameras…..I believe it is in the best interest of all parties if the actions of police and citizens are recorded. Police work is challenging at best, and to have their actions questioned is disgraceful.”
Peter asked: “Protect privacy or protect people? If this is giving proof of the real situation it would help to find the truth easier, no more different interpretations.”
John, from Bridgewater, NJ was very vocal about the topic by saying: “i don’t like the idea. Our elected officials need to start talking about having faith in the system, that you won’t always like the result but if we start questioning the system then it will all fall apart. Peaceful society is based upon our desire to live peacefully.. when our elected officials start telling folks to start questioning results… yeah… not so good. Putting cameras on cops is NOT the answer. we need to support our cops..as someone said recently… the judicial system/Justice has NOTHING to do with truth. it has to do with resolving conflict. Truth… doesn’t matter.. if it did, ‘defense’ attorney’s would be pointless.. so having video“
Joshua, from Miami, FL commented: “I find nothing wrong with the police wearing cameras. I am surprised it had not happened yet. If it keeps a bad cop from breaking the law then so be it. I feel it will help the police who do their job correctly.”
Rita simply stated: “Bring it on. No trouble with police wearing this.”
Scott, from Pittsburg, PA said: “I don’t like it.Theres more good police than bad and those good ones that cut breaks or gives warnings will be forced to apply the law even if its a minor offense.”
Rod, from Coconut Creek, FL responded to Scott’s comment by saying: “I would assume they would probably be used more to document disputes and cost their own asses and what not, don’t suppose they could have the capability to monitor all of the cameras 24/7”
Scottthen added: “If I was a cop and had to wear a camera id be afraid of random checks.”
To which Rod pointed out: “You said it though, there are way more good cops than bad, and damn near everything they do is at their discretion. I doubt warnings and breaks would be that frowned upon unless it was excessive or a problem. If anything it would probably be better p.r. if it got out.” ==>
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Lee in Ohio listening on CKLW 800 asked us: “I’m wondering what’s the best way to dispose an old computer as how to wipe off the hard-drive and get your information off of it before taking it to a recycleable event.”
Lee, When backing up all your information, you can use either a USB-drive or hard drive or even a cloud service such as Dropbox, iCloud, or Microsoft OneDrive. With cloud services, an account is required for use of the service. Once you backup all your data, you need to wipe the hard-drive using a secure wiping program which can be found on the internet for free. A great safe software you can use is DBAN which will overwrite your hard-drive.
When someone decides to recycle, they do it out of good intention, but when it comes to electronic waste, it gets a little tricky. Many e-waste recycle companies don’t necessarily recycle the electronics.
If you want to properly dispose your computer in the most eco-friendly way possible, please consider e-Steward, a non-profit organization intended to prevent e-waste dumping in developing countries. You can visit e-stewards.org to find a certified recycler around you.
Now another way to destroy the data would be to get violent with the hard drive by bashing it to pieces with a hammer. This way you’ve gotten some tech rage out, and you won’t have any worries about anyone retrieving data the stored on the hard drive. If you plan to donate it to a charity or just want to recycle it without destroying it, than looking into the software to remove the data will be the best route.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Brian in Cleveland, Ohio listens via Tune-In asked us: “I upgraded my iPhone 5s to iOS 8. Have you heard anything about battery issues. Seems like my battery drains a lot quicker when the phone is just sitting on my desk in Airplane mode. My iPhone was 50% better before the upgrade.”
Brian, It’s hard to say for sure because we always hear about battery issues, after every update, on every platform. There have been some reports about battery issues with iOS 8 too, but there have also been reports of better battery life.
The best advice we can offer is that if you are having issues with your battery life, the answer may be under General, Usage and Battery Usage, that will tell you how much of your battery each app has been using, including battery usage while running in the background.
That may shed some light on how to solve the issue for you, if it’s a problem with the update itself, you can only wait for a patch, but if it’s a particular problem stemming from the set of apps you have installed on your phone and the setting those apps are running under, that may help you solve the problem.
Keep in mind that some apps may have issues with iOS 8 in particular, and may have started acting up since the update, so spotting those may make your issues disappear.
I’ve upgraded my iPhone 5 and my iPad 3 to iOS 8, and I’ve not noticed any worse battery life with either of them. So I would suggest that there isn’t some general across the board problem with iOS 8 that’s killing batteries, but like we suggested it might be one of your apps that isn’t working properly under iOS 8. You should be sure you’ve updated all of your apps to the latest version.
If nothing else seems to work, you can always connect your iPhone to iTunes and choose to wipe the phone, setting it up as a new phone. please be sure you’ve backed up all your pictures and anything else that’s stored on the phone itself that you wouldn’t want to lose. This method will require you to download all of your apps again and enter all of your settings again, but it is the proverbial “big hammer” for sorting out weird problems on an iPhone. Sometimes, upgrades go sideways, and starting over fresh is the only way to get things sorted.
Since it came out recently, you can also just try upgrading to 8.1 now, if there was anything wrong with iOS 8, it may have been fixed before the 8.1 release.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Tim in Sparta, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7 and calling in via the App asked us: “I am looking for an app that will allow me to text my son from my Android phone to his iPod Touch. I don’t really want to go to an iPhone, so I’m trying to find something that’s compatible to both of us so he can text me while he’s at the house and I’m at work.”
Tim, A great free app that you should consider is TextPlus available for both Android and IOS. You can get an unlimited texting group and even also lets you set up your own phone number. It is ad-supported, but it will get the job done. TextNow is another free unlimited texting app similar to TextPlus but just with a simpler interface.
There are however hundreds of messaging apps that work on both iOS and Android that you could use, for example: Skype, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Viber, Kik, Yahoo Messenger, Nimbuzz, Line, Tango, Pinger, BBM and lots and lots more.
Basically, as soon as users figured out that you can text for free using your data and it has less of an effect over the course of a month than opening a single YouTube video does, messaging apps got popular. They’re all basically the same, pick whichever you like best.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Tony Jarboe, CEO – Expertory.com
CEA Update: More and more of our devices are getting “smarter.” So it’s especially important that you make sure your electronics – and the data they hold and access – are secure. Jeff Joseph from the Consumer Electronics Association has some tips you need to know – in this week’s CEA Update.
Product Spotlight: Lenovo Yoga 2 Tablet Pro & Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro
Today we have two devices to showcase from Lenovo that are rivaling Microsoft and Apple.
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro—is one of the neatest tablets we’ve seen lately. It comes with a built-in kickstand which, on a stable surface, will allow it to tilt and adjust almost 180-degrees for users in the position they choose.
Our personal favorite feature of the Yoga has to be the built-in pico projector! With just the click of a button, you can instantly activate the tablet’s projector which will allow you to share anything on your screen with friends, family or coworkers. So, whether you’d like to show off your new project during a business meeting or simply kick back and watch a film or video with your family—the Yoga tablet can make that happen in just a few seconds. One button, which can be slid back and forth, will also bring the projection in and out of focus, so you can adjust for the distance of whatever you’re projecting onto.
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is available on Lenovo’s website for just $470.
The laptop counterpart to the Yoga 2, the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is slightly similar to the tablet in some aspects but could improve a bit in a few areas.
The Yoga 3 has an impressively designed watchband hinge that can turn almost at a 360-degree angle so it looks like a laptop-tablet hybrid. It can be used almost entirely as a touchscreen aside from the fact it has no software keyboard. Now, Because it is so thin, the Intel M-70 Processor fits right into the laptop without any type of real ventilation. The Core M is designed specifically for purposes where minimal or no cooling at all would be more convenient.
While battery life is dependent on various factors, we did find the battery life on the Yoga 3 to be the biggest downside. The 7.2 hours Lenovo claims on the device seems far-fetched for an average user.
The new Yoga 3 Pro can be bought for just under $1,200 on the Lenovo website.
Kevin in Garner, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 AM asked us: “I was calling to find out which anti-virus you use or would recommend for a laptop running Windows 7?”
Kevin, We use a paid antivirus here, so if you’d rather not pay, there are a lot of reputable free antivirus programs that would probably serve you well, for example Malware Bytes and Panda Free have been rated as the editors choices by PC Mag and you can have either of them for free.
If you think your computer is getting a little old and would like to have something lightweight, Microsoft Security Essentials is known for being very good about not slowing down the operating system and it regularly scores high on reliability and threat detection. Now, if you’re willing to pay, our antivirus of choice for a few years has been Vipre, it’s currently on sale for $50, but it will normally cost you $80.
Webroot and BitDefender have been scoring high on antivirus tests lately too and they will cost you $20 and $40 respectively.
And while we don’t want to discourage you from running a resident program to protect against viruses and malware, we do want to make everyone aware of an interesting alternative. It’s called Virus Total and it’s a website at virustotal.com.
What makes it unique is that it allows users to upload a file they want tested and it runs it against ALL of the popular antivirus engines. In most cases, when you’ve downloaded some plugin that some website says you have to have, you’re probably inviting something bad into your computer.
A few minutes spent uploading that file back to Virus Total might save you hours of disinfecting and repairing. In our testing, with so many engines checking the file, nothing has been able to slip past. If they ALL say it’s good…then it’s good.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Breathometer: Several of their Breeze – Smartphone breathalyzers
NewPotato Technologies:Classic Match Fooseball Turns your iPad into a fooseball table
Firefold:Ultra High Performance HDMI Switcher
NewerTech:Voyager Q – SATA Hard Drive docking solution