HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Sue in South Lion, Michigan listening on CKLW AM 800 asked: “I’m in my 50s. I’d like to know if an Apple iPad or ‘Verizon same kind of thing’ is too hard for me to work.”
No, you should be fine, but we’re glad you’re asking about it.
The whole point of the iPad and it’s competitors is that they are intuitive, you want to read your emails, just touch the email icon and they’re there … you want to look at your photos, just touch the photos icon … is the photo too small?; use your fingers to stretch it out to a bigger size. Tablets are a lot easier to use than regular computers. They’re more limited in what they can do, but they’re far easier to use.
The iPad will most likely be easier than the rest of the Verizon alternatives, that’s not because the other ones are hard to use, but because Apple requires that all apps display the same behavior. With Android-based tablets some apps follow the standard and some don’t, 90% of the time it’s fine and it’s easy enough, but sometimes it can get confusing and frustrating when a developer decides that a button that means “up” on every single other application will mean “down” in his.
Even taking that into account, all tablets are fairly intuitive and you should be more than able to use any of them without a problem, people far older than “in their 50s” are using them daily without too many problems. If you want to be sure that you’ll get along with a tablet, go down to a Verizon store, they’ll have both iPads and competitors and should be able to have a look, try them out and see how comfortable you feel using them, but we have no doubt you’ll be able to use whatever tablet you choose and enjoy it without any problems.
There are a couple of us here on the Into Tomorrow staff who are rumored to be in our fifth decade, and we have no trouble at all working computers, tablets, and smartphones. The devices themselves aren’t as much of an issue as the apps you choose to run on them. We very much encourage you to try one out, whether a smartphone or tablet, and we can almost guarantee that you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
Joe in Unionville, Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7 and asked: “I’ve got a Compaq laptop and can’t load RealPlayer. When I do, it changes the resolution on the screen. I change it back to where it should be and it automatically changes back to whatever it wants to – the lowest setting it can. Everytime I try to do anything at all, it changes to the wrong resolution.”We only found very few references to this problem with no clear solutions but the first thing we’d recommend is to go to your Windows’ Control Panel and uninstall RealPlayer and replace it with the newest version from their website.
The fact that we can’t find a lot of current complaints may mean that this used to be a problem, but it got fixed a long time ago. No modern copy of RealPlayer should really have to change the resolution every time it opens.
If that doesn’t work you can also look into updating your computer’s graphic card’s drivers, but if everything else works fine, updating RealPlayer is more likely to get rid of the problem.
You can also look at some RealPlayer alternatives, depending on what type of files you usually play with it, MP3s and the most common video files can usually be played by other programs such as Windows Media Player and VLC. RealVideo files are harder to play with anything other that RealPlayer, but you can try “Real Alternative”, it’s a free player that does a pretty good job with RealAudio and RealView files, it might not be able to play the latest codec right away, but it generally does a good job of playing most Real files.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Listener Jesus asked: “My phone got dropped in a small pool, but I didn’t notice. I noticed after 25 minutes. Do you think my phone could be fixed? What kind of ways can I use to fix my phone? My phone is a Samsung Freeform ll. I will thank you if you could help me guys.”
If you dropped your cellular phone in water it is often possible to salvage it, however time is of the essence and given how much time has passed in this case it’s not likely this advice will help you. However, for our listening audience, here are some tips.
The first thing to do is to remove the battery immediately without even hesitating to turn off the power. This reduce the risk of a short circuit which will render your phone useless, dry the battery with a towel and set a side to dry. The battery itself may not work again, but fortunately it can be replaced.
Next get the SIM card, if your phone uses one, and the media card. Pat those dry and set them aside. Don’t re-install them in the phone until you’re ready to try connecting to the wireless network again.
After you have removed these things, dry off the cell phone with an absorbent towel as best as you can, use cotton swabs to soak up water in crevices and on any fragile, exposed circuits. If you have dropped your cell phone in water, it is also helpful to disassemble it if you can and let all the parts dry separately. Just be sure that you know how to put it back together.
Once your phone is clean, leave it in a warm dry area or near an air conditioner for three days before you attempt to replace the battery and turn it on. This is very important, because although you may think that you have thoroughly dried it, the slightest moisture can react with the battery and cause it to short circuit. If drop your cell phone in water, and want to save it, resist the temptation of turning it on to see if it is working until you have waited at least 72 hours.
Despite anything you’ve read, do not use a hair dryer to blow air on the phone. That can force water deeper into the phone and damage components that otherwise would have been fine. If you want, you could actually use a vacuum cleaner to help dry the phone, since it extracts water with suction.
Now all this being said, we don’t want people to get their hopes up. While cell phone manufacturers know that phones do get wet, they are concerned with things spilling on it or the phone being used in the rain. They do not build cell phones to withstand immersion, with the exception of phones specifically designed to allow that, such as the Samsung Xplorer or certain models of Fujitsu phones that are sold as “underwater cell phones.” So don’t expect too much here.
Here’s a link to WikiHow that might give you a few helpful tips on what to try: WikiHow
Good luck!
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guests in this hour:
Graham Collier, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy of the Arts at the University of Georgia & Author of “What the hell are the neurons up to? The Wire -Dangled Human Race”
Is our technology and access to information hurting our ability to think for ourselves? Professor Graham Collier of the University of Georgia is here to share his thoughts on that, and how to combat it.
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
Since the compact disc was such a huge success, the industry tried to develop the technology further. A photo CD for pictures, an interactive CD-I and a CD video format for up to 74 minutes of video were developed, but the capacity was limited at 900MB. So the industry jointly worked on a new system, based on the CD technology but with much higher capacity. In 1995 the Digital Video Disc, sometimes also referred to as Digital Versatile Disc, with a capacity of 4.7 GB was defined, nearly double that capacity in a double layer version. Of course IFA was the stage for the new DVD technology.
That’s this week’s IFA Update brought to you by Messe-Berlin. Be sure to visit IFA-Berlin.com.
Leroy in East Point, Michigan listening on the Android App asked: “I’m wondering about this ‘cloud’ that everyone is talking about. Is it for the average consumer? Is it safe, secure? Is it free? Do you have to pay for it? Who offers it? I know upload speeds are much slower than download speeds. I’ve heard that some companies after a certain amount do something you called ‘throttling’. I’d like to know more about it. Is it accessible from any other computer, since you have it? Is it like any of those online storage solutions, like some that I’ve heard advertised?”
You may be slightly disappointed when you find out what it really is… You see, when you’re designing a network and you need to make a diagram you draw a little desktop computer to signify a workstation, a little desktop-style tower to represent a server and when you want to draw something that happens outside your network you draw a little cloud and a line connecting it to your network.
The little cloud represents some fuzzy outside entity that interacts with your private network and, for example, delivers data or connects distant offices, but is handled outside your domain, so you don’t have to worry about messing with it’s design… 99% of the time that outside entity they call “the cloud” is… THE INTERNET!
When you hear about anyone talking about “cloud services” that means “internet services”, programs that run in someone else’s server, but that you can access from your computer, you can connect to them and use them. But, they’re not physically stored in your computer, you access them via the internet.
Now, is it for the general consumer? It often is, webmail is a cloud service, so are Google Docs, so are online backup services, so is IRS e-filing, all of them are for consumers.
Just like with software that you install directly on your system, a lot of cloud services are not for the general consumer, for example, if you’re a police officer nowadays, you probably have a laptop in your car that lets you access law enforcement databases, that’s a cloud service that will not be accessible to the general consumer.
Some services you pay for, like most online backup services or Netflix instant videos, some are free, like online maps and most webmail access.
Are they secure? they tend to be, if a company is careless they can make unsafe services, but reputable cloud services are typically very secure.
Since cloud services are not stored on your hard drive they are generally accessible anywhere and from any computer.
Now some of what you asked is not directly related to cloud services: upload and download speeds are typically different not because of cloud services, but because of ISPs. People tend to download much more than they upload so the connection’s upload speeds tend to be slower unless the user requests a symmetrical connection from their ISP, and usually pays considerably more for it.
The same goes for throttling, it’s not related to cloud services, that’s something some ISPs do. Those ISPs will give you a certain amount of data you can download and from that point on they consider you a heavy user and throttle you, meaning they slow your connection down so you can’t download as much data in the same amount of time.
So there you go, the cloud is nothing more than the internet, and cloud services are nothing more than programs that run off an internet server and are accessed via the internet instead of needing to be installed on your computer directly.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Tim from Decatur, Illinois listening on 100.9 FM asked: “I’m looking for a Bluetooth stereo device that I can hook up to my stock radio in my car. Thanks.”
There are a few products out there that you can look at. What you really need is a Bluetooth reciever that has an FM transmitter built-into it. Our team has uncovered one that will do just what you are looking for.
The Motorokr T505 Bluetooth, makes calls hands free and allows you to listen to your tunes with features like echo/noise reductions and loudness control. The Bluetooth technology will stream your music or favorite talk show, such as into tomorrow right from your phone or MP3 player to the Motorokr T505. The digital FM transmitter let’s you make and receive calls and your music will pause while you’ll take your calls.
The Station finder technology searches the FM dial for you to find the best station to transmit to. Press a button and Station finder will find and announce the best FM station for you to tune to. This portable solution clips to the visor, so that it can be taken from car to car.
The Motorokr T505 is available online starting around $30.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info,
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This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Energizer: Several Weather Ready 2 LED Flashlights
Logitech: Tablet Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad
Otterbox: Several protective cases, including: Defender for iPhone 4 & Defender for Motorola Xoom Tablet
Philips: Sonicare AirFloss (interdental cleaner) … Experience a microburst of clean in-between.