HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Danny in Federalsburg, Maryland listening on WKDI 840 AM asked: “Wondering if there’s any software or external device that can be used to edit DVD content to get rid of language and items in movies that I don’t wish to see.”
There is an external device that will filter out bad language on your DVD player and regular TV & TiVo. It’s called TVGuardian and it comes in either standard definition for $129 or high definition for $179. If you’re a Dish Network subscriber, you can get a standard def one for free and a discount on the HD version.
TVGuardian comes with a customizable filter so you can choose to use either “strict”, “moderate” or “tolerant” filter, and you can further customize the filter by banning sex references, offensive use of religious references and choosing whether or not to ban the words “hell” and “damn”. Another cool feature of TVGuardian is that at the same time that it mutes the profane language it displays a “clean” subtitle featuring a non-offensive word instead, so you still don’t miss the overall context of what you’re watching.
On their website they offer a 40-day trial, if you want to test it for free.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
Peter in Olympia, Washington listening to our podcast asked: “Trying to connect my PS3 to my PC to watch all these Internet videos. How do I do it? I’ve looked at TVersity and also looked at PS3 Media Server. Somebody suggested the PlayOn TV. Using PlayOn TV now. Had a little bit of luck, but it keeps buffering. Which way do I go?”
We’re going to take a guess that you don’t mean connecting your PS3 to your PC, but rather connecting it to your TV. We’re also going to assume that you have the actual connection to your TV working. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to play games either, and that would likely be your question, not streaming Internet videos. That brings us to the question of software. The PS3 does have its own Internet web browser. You can use that built in browser for sites like YouTube or even Hulu. But it’s not a very friendly interface.
TVersity and PlayOn TV run on your PC, of course, and use the PS3 as a conduit for displaying content on your TV. Some listeners might wonder why you just don’t connect the PC directly to your TV, but we understand you. The PS3 is already where your TV is, and the PC is not. That’s the number one reason for using your game console as a media extender. The big issue you will face now is bandwidth. You need sufficient Internet bandwidth to your house so that the videos themselves are not buffering from the source. For example, people trying to watch the 720p HD videos from YouTube over a DSL connection will have to frequently stop and buffer. So if you want to stream HD video from the Internet, you’d better have a cable modem, FIOS, or U-Verse — some sort of “faster than basic DSL” service.
You also need sufficient bandwidth between your PC and your PS3. If you’re using a wired network with 100 megabit per second speed, then you ought to be fine. If your PS3 or your PC is connected to your home network using a WiFi connection, then your wireless router may be at fault here. Many wireless routers are rather slow as routers go. So you might need to update whatever you’re using there. Here at the studio, we’ve been using one of the new Cisco Valet wireless routers, and let us tell you, that thing screams.
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Guests in this hour:
• Peter Sisson, CEO – Toktumi
Want to text on an airplane? Our next guest can make it happen with Line2 – a VoIP app that features carrier-grade SMS texting.
“Into Tomorrow” Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza: “Logitech Revue with Google TV”
Click here for details.
Dan in Lewisburg, Tennessee listening on WTN 99.7FM called us and asked: “What kind of computer would I need to be able to run HDTV? I don’t know the requirements the computer would have to have to run those types of things. Completely illiterate on it and looking into it. Appreciate any help you can give me.”
The main piece of equipment you need if you want to watch live TV is a TV tuner, if you have a desktop you can easily find one for under $100 online, cards for laptops are not as easy to find but they’re also available online and they won’t cost much more than the desktop version.
In the real world many people watch HD content on machines that do not meet the requirements and deal with occasional freezes, hiccups or temporary audio problems but have a mostly good experience overall.
If you have a computer today and don’t know if it will be able to handle HD, try it! open some HD videos on YouTube or download some free HD content, for all you know it might actually work and you may just save some money!
For more information, tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Improv Electronics: Several Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablets in a variety of colors and accessories including sleeves with stylus holders & magnet kits.
Intuit: TurboTax Deluxe Online – Several Pre-Paid Codes
Screen Guard: Foam Cleaning Spray with microfiber cleaning cloth to clean all of your electronic devices
SmartShopper Electronics: Several SmartShoppers — Electronic Grocery List Organizer