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Tech News & Commentary
Wanda in Clarksville, Delaware listens on 105.9 FM NewsTalk WXDE asked: “I want to know if you 
wash a TV remote control in the washer, will it still work if you dry it out for a few days. That’s what happened to me… I washed it and it worked. Is this normal, or was that some sort of miracle?”
That’s sort of a case by case thing, Wanda. You got lucky, but it wasn’t a miracle.
Remotes are lower powered devices, so whatever juice is in the batteries may not fry the electronics even if the water shorts out the batteries.
Think of it this way: touching the insides of a CRT TV can kill you, touching the charged power source of a desktop computer can give you a pretty nasty shock, licking a 9V battery just makes your tongue feel funny, not all electronics are created equal, and not all power sources are created equal either.
However, being immersed in water –potentially hot water– and bouncing around for a good hour is still not the greatest way to treat your electronics, so they can still definitely break. Just dropping your remote can dislodge some pieces on the inside of it, having it bounce inside a metal tube spinning at high speeds can’t be great for it.
Moisture itself doesn’t kill electronics. What moisture does it make it possible for current to flow between points that aren’t designed to pass current to each other, and THAT is what kills electronics. In your case, we’d say it’s good that nothing pressed one of the buttons on your remote during the spin cycle.
So that’s a top tip to anyone who spills a glass of water on their computer or drops a smartphone in the toilet, pool, or sink. Power it off immediately and do not try to turn it back on for at least 72 hours and AFTER you’ve followed steps to extract the moisture.
Fight the instinct to turn it on and “see if it’s okay.” If you start up the power running through it, that’s a virtual guarantee that it won’t be okay.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Albert in Three Rivers, California listens on KTIP 1450 AM asked: “What program is the best for to transfer my settings in the different programs I have on an old Windows XP Media to a new Windows 8.1?”
Microsoft built a tool into Windows called Windows Easy Transfer for just this very purpose, and you MAY be able to use it… then again, you may not…
Windows Easy Transfer is supposed to grab your files and your settings from an old computer and move them automatically to a new computer, you just run the software on both computers, choose a method of transfer from the options given to you (for example, a network cable).
It should be easy, unfortunately it may not be. Windows Easy Transfer cannot transfer files from a 64-bit to a 32-bit operating system, most Windows 8.1 computer are 64-bit, but not all of them are, so if you happen to have bought a very cheap Windows 8.1 computer you may be out of luck and you may have to transfer everything manually.
There’s another problem, though, and it got Microsoft enough bad press that they had to find a solution. Even if you can use Windows Easy Transfer, on XP they will only move files, but not settings or programs, which was unacceptable to a lot of users.
Microsoft ended up cutting a deal with a company called Laplink, and is currently offering their tool called PCmover Express for free on WindowsXP.com to make it easier for people like you to move all of your files and settings. That’s the tool you probably want to try first, it will be free, and it will move everything you want to move, not just your files.
However, let’s be straight here. Using a migration tool like this one only makes sense if you’re planning to use the same apps, and really the same VERSION of those apps, and not simply moving the data. How likely is that to be the case?
Your Windows XP machine is guaranteed to be old, perhaps even VERY old. The Windows 8.1 machine is running a newer version of Windows, which by the end of the month won’t even be the newest, and we’d think you’d want to put the newest versions of your apps on it (and possibly replace some apps that no longer exist).
Certainly moving your documents, pictures, music, and videos makes sense. And data in apps like Quicken makes sense also. But migrating the apps themselves, all their settings, AND all their data doesn’t really make sense when the gap between machines grows too large. Keep that in mind, when you’re deciding what to do.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Erin J. Morgart, CEO, Fitness Model & Producer of Documentary and Docudrama
Connected fitness apps
Karl in Rapid City, South Dakota listens to the podcasts and is calling via the App asked: “With the Apple Streaming service starting at the end of the month, it’s high time you have a segment about whether your listeners would be better served by renting (which is crazy) or owning their music. As you know, downloads have been decreasing in favor of streaming services. I personally favor owning mine. If I want to listen to or discover new music, I listen to free pandora. If I hear an interesting song on Pandora, instead of listening forever for the song to repeat, i go to free Spotify and record the song into iTunes and listen for a period of time. If I like the song, I go to the iTunes store and buy it. The bulk of my music is based on previously owned vinyl and CDs. By not spending $10 a month, I’ve got a budget for about 100 songs a year. In the years iTunes has been around, I’ve never bought 100 songs in a year. What are people renting for? Can you give me some insight into that? Also – if you have a Spotify account, does it allow you to listen on a mobile device when you are away from wi-fi and mobile data services?”
The first thing you should know is that if you download your music from any digital service, you don’t own it the same way you own the music on a CD.
iTunes in particular is pretty soft on their terms, but others like Amazon are much harsher. Amazon even says “You do not acquire any ownership rights in the Software or Digital Content as a result of downloading,” iTunes uses softer language, but basically means the same thing, and all companies reserve the right to change the license at any time without consulting or notifying you.
The first-sale doctrine (basically: “if you bought a CD you can sell it”) does not apply to you, so if you spend $1000 on digital downloads and feel like selling them since you’re moving to a sailboat that is permanently anchored 200 miles from the nearest source of electricity, that’s too bad… you bought the license, not the content and you can’t sell it.
So, if you want to own and not rent your music, you probably want to buy CDs, cassettes, vinyl, 8-track tapes, sheet music, or anything else physical.
Now, Apple’s $10/month service is probably not geared towards you… it may not even be geared towards people that like music very much, it’s probably aimed at people who like hits and have disposable income.
If you truly like an album you can buy it, if you truly like individual tracks you can buy them, if you just have the latest disposable pop song stuck in your head, you probably don’t need to buy it, it most likely has a shelf life that makes a fruit fly feel good about itself, but with Apple Music you can listen to it, and that Bee Gees that was playing at the grocery store, and that Sinatra song that your neighbor was humming last time you saw him, and that Slipknot song you liked on that summer you decided black clothes were cool, and that Justin Beiber song you only listen to with your headphones on and with the volume set to 2, and those are all little bonuses people get used to.
Could you just play them off of YouTube? Yup.. but hey, if you want an easy, low bandwidth way to play them and $10/month doesn’t put a dent in your bank account balance, then you can use the service.
About your Spotify question, it works the same way as Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music when it comes to offline access, you can download and play songs offline on either, but you have to be an active paid subscriber, otherwise the songs won’t play offline. If you want to play specific tracks on a mobile device at all, Spotify also asks for a monthly subscription, even if you can listen on a computer without one.
And before we forget, let’s note that even if you bought physical media like CDs and then resold them, legally at that point you would have to destroy any electronic copies you’d made of those songs.
The reason that we like and use streaming services such as Apple Music is their vast catalog of songs. When friends come over for dinner and you’re playing music on your sound system, it’s nice to be able to play some music you know they will like without having to purchase that music yourself–especially when you know that you don’t like it and won’t listen to it again.
Both models, renting music and buying music, have their place. Listening to free Pandora or Spotify is fine also, because they share their ad revenue with the artists (even though Taylor Swift doesn’t like the percentages). As long as you’re not downloading illegal copies of copyright music, we say “go for it!”
By the way, in our early reviewing of Apple Music, comparing it to Spotify, we find the Spotify interface to be better, the Apple Music catalog to be larger (and therefore better), and the sound quality to be approximately the same. We’ll keep using them both and have more to say, long-term.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Facebook Participation:
With services like the new Apple Music, Spotify and Pandora, do you still purchase and download songs, pay a monthly fee for streaming your music, or both? We’ll share your comments on this week’s show! CHIME IN!
Here are some of the answers that we got:
Shawn: I only stream for free, as I know they pay the artists what they deserve. I stream Pandora on all devices, but only Spotify on PC due to the limitations for the free account. Freedom from subscriptions is a big savings that I can “live” with.
Dale: I use Pandora. Going to try Spotify. I do occasionally buy music and have a collection of mp3 files. For the times when I want to listen to my favorites.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
TYLT: Car Charger RIBBN Cables – These cables rapidly charge 2 Smartphones or 2 Tablets simultaneously.
Jabra: SoleMate Portable Bluetooth speaker for your laptop, tablet, smartphone or music player
Monster: DNA Pro 2.0 High powered Over-ear headphones
Livio Radio: Bluetooth Internet Radio Car Kit – FM transmitter that allows you to bring Internet Radio and hands-free calling to your car.
Verykool: S5015 Spark II Smartphone – Unlocked GSM phone with Android OS and front facing flash – perfect for selfies!
Westinghouse: Unplug Wireless Bluetooth Sound System