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Tech News & Commentary
Arthur in Madison, Wisconsin and listening via the Tune In Radio iPhone App asked: “I would like to ask you about Windows 7. I’d like to create a new folder on my harddrive, but theres a missing a “New Folder Option” when i right click. Can I bring back the New Folder Option?”
This problem is fixable, but it’s gonna take a little work. Unfortunately, the cause is typically a corrupt registry key, and fixing it means dealing with long strings of unintelligible text and numbers.
Microsoft’s support website contains a slightly easier solution, that involves downloading file and fixing the registry with it. Your best bet is probably to follow the instructions on that link, but after that you should have the missing menu item back.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Dan in Texarkana, Texas and listening via Shortwave Radio asked: “Where can you get the kindle fire the cheapest? and how do you protect your electronics from a possible EMP attack?”
The cheapest version of the newest Kindle Fire starts at $139 on Amazon, to be honest, you probably won’t find it cheaper than that anywhere else, so unless you can find any kind of temporary promotions that we haven’t seen lately, that’s about as cheap as it’s likely to get.
As for protecting your electronics from an EMP attack… you kind of don’t… You can build a Faraday cage, and it should protect your stuff from an EM pulse if it’s built properly, but keep in mind that Faraday cages are not all the same. Your microwave oven acts as a Faraday cage and keeps microwave radiation contained to it, and since it operates at roughly 2.4GHz, a microwave will also shield your electronics against WiFi waves which are also typically 2.4GHz waves, but stick an AM radio inside a microwave and it will work just fine, and AM waves are EM pulses as well.
The truth is that an EMP attack would cripple far more important things than your electronics, for example: the power grid, or some of the vehicles we use to move food around, or refrigerators to keep that food edible, so shielding personal electronics is not usually a major concern, since the greater infrastructure we’d need to keep those electronics running would be fried in the first place.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager
David from Windsor, Canada and listening via AM800 CKLW The Information Station asked: “I was wondering if a AMD processor is good enough to handle some light Photoshopping.”
Yes, the minimum AMD processor recommended by the good people at Adobe for running the latest version of Photoshop is an Athlon 64 processor, but even older ones would likely work, even if not as well.
Photoshop is a pretty demanding program, but it’s less so than others, and it can make use of video cards as well to improve performance, so it’s likely that if you’re computer is new enough, and your photoshopping is light enough, you won’t have any problem at all whether your processor is made by Intel or AMD.
Keep an eye on your RAM too, Adobe is recommending 1GB or more of RAM for the current version of Photoshop, it can consume a surprisingly high amount of RAM even under relatively light use.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest Segment:
Brent Willis, CEO – Victory Electronic Cigarettes
Tony in Cookeville, Tennessee and listening via SuperTalk 99.7FM WTN asked: “I got a dell computer with a western digital HDD in it. Now according to WD its only 3% corrupted and its not enough to warrant it being replaced. Now the HDD won’t load. I’m wondering how in the world can I if it’s corrupted enough to have it replaced or just have it wiped and reinstall.”
If the hard drive came installed in your computer already, then you’re probably gonna have to deal with Dell to get it replaced under warranty, which probably won’t be very easy unless the computer is brand new, and it may require shipping your entire machine to them.
Even if you bought the hard drive yourself, it probably won’t be super easy to have it replaced, hard drives tend to be covered for faults that they come with, but after it’s been working for a while, many companies will tell you that if it was working, then you may have dropped your computer, or run it over a magnet, so it’s not their problem.
Still, the first step would be to talk to them, if they can salvage some of your data and give it back to you on a working hard drive, then that would be your best option.
Failing that, you could always try to use a data recovery service to try to get some of what you lost back, or if you have a backup and don’t really care about what was on that drive, just get a replacement and call it a day, but still… find out what the warranty situation is, it’s no longer “not corrupted enough to replace,” now it won’t run at all, and that should be corrupted enough to warrant a new one, if you’re entitled to that.
It really all comes down to how old the computer is. You didn’t share that with us. If this is a brand new Dell computer, then deal with Dell and not Western Digital. They should replace the drive without argument, if it’s under warranty.
We realize that drive warranties often extend longer than computer warranties, but hard drives are so inexpensive now that they’ve become commodity items. The manufacturers try hard not to provide warranty replacements because the margins are so thin that giving you a second hard drive for free pretty much wipes any profit they made selling the first one to Dell.
If this machine is a few years old, you might be better off buying a new hard drive. You’ll likely be able to get one with a larger capacity, since prices have dropped on the 1TB and 2TB drives.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Facebook Participation:
We asked: “Do you frequently “Like” your friend’s Facebook posts, but they don’t like yours? Do they think it’s ‘beneath’ them or maybe they just don’t visit your page or they just don’t care? What do you think about that? Share a little Tech Rage or …? We may share your comments on the air this week.”
Here are some of the comments we shared:
Jill in Miami, FL
I like my friends posts quite often and often do not have that reciprocated. I do not take it personally. There are many times that I don’t have time to see all of the activities of all my friends and I am sure they too do not have time to see the activities of all their friends. Sometimes I feel like there is an expectation that you will feel more “likeable” if all you posts have either likes or comments. For some people whose main interactions are on the computer, I think this can be a emotionally tricky thing. If someone doesn’t like their post, they may think that person doesn’t like them…..
Stuart
I figure that i’m still a “Friend” but my comments and associated matter are hidden by those persons. Most likely because of strong wording or politics…or both. But hey, it’s just another day at the cyber office!
Juan in Hialeah, FL.
Remember when you reposted that silly thing about unchecking the privacy settings to keep your posts and pictures private? This is what happens, your friends no longer see your posts.
Beth:
I think that people are busy and don’t always check everything on their newsfeed & may miss some, very likable, friends’ posts. I know I for one don’t check all my social media all the time & I am certain I’ve missed a few. However, it’s funny how the human mind works thinking if someone has skipped over & not liked your posts it must mean they don’t like you … And it is annoying to see when others are online liking & commenting on friends & families posts yet never yours. Just more to get people upset over & some have even deleted accounts because of it (not me I like everybody atleast everyone I see )
Carl in Naples, FL.
Or…..maybe….just not current / educated in proper social media etiquette or expectations and there was no other message implied by the lack of a “like”….erroneous assumptions are made far too often in these venues
Rob in Miami, FL.
I know some people that think it is beneath them to hit like or comment, even on their “best friends” post. I think it’s sad THEY have that mentality. It’s polite and caring to hit like every so often on your friend’s posts. Social media is about interacting two ways, not just one way. Some people don’t get that. They let their “popularity” get to their head. However, I don’t think it’s necessary to like the same stuff across all social networks. If I see it on FB first, then I don’t necessarily go to Instagram to hit like if I already showed my friend support on FB
Carl from Ohio
Or…..maybe….just not current / educated in proper social media etiquette or expectations and there was no other message implied by the lack of a “like”….erroneous assumptions are made far too often in these venues
John in Ocala, FL
I love everyone one on Facebook individually as close friends and like all their posts. And you are such a good friend that if we were on a sinking ship together and there was only one life jacket… I’d miss you heaps and think of you often.
Joshua in Nashville, Tennessee and listening via SuperTalk 99.7 WTN asked: “I am looking for a cell phone app that works kinda like windows Excel can you give any suggestions?”
You have a number of options available to edit Excel spreadsheet files on a smartphone, both from third parties and from Microsoft themselves.
If you have a recent Windows Phone, it comes with a mobile version of Office installed that supports the editing and creation of Word and Excel files, and the viewing and editing of PowerPoint files.
You can have the same software on your iOS or Android smartphone, WITH a couple important restrictions. First, to use Office Mobile on iOS or Android, Microsoft requires that you have an active subscription to Office 365. This is their bundle that includes Office 2013, Office Web Apps, and SkyDrive cloud storage. Home users pay $99 annually for this subscription.
Also, Microsoft won’t allow Office Mobile to support iOS or Android tablets, to protect the sales of their own Surface tablets. So the “official” Office Mobile is phone ONLY unless you’re using a Microsoft Surface.
Third party apps exist in great numbers, the two best known are Documents-To-Go from Dataviz and Quickoffice, which is now owned by Google. Both of these offer support for the creation and editing of Office documents, including Excel spreadsheets. How WELL they do that is a matter of some debate.
They don’t pretend to be the “real” Excel or to include all of its features. For opening a simple spreadsheet and updating the contents of cells, they work fine, but if you’re looking to get some hardcore Excel work done on a smartphone, you’ll need to look at another option.
Another really good app for iOS is Cloud On. it almost has the full desktop version of Excel but there are features missing. But this app has an upside to the missing features. You can link the app to your dropbox, skydrive, google drive and others, so that when you create an Excel, Word, or even Powerpoint you can sync it to your dropbox right from the Cloud On app, open it up on your laptop or desktop and continue editing the file without any compatibility issues. Cloud On lets you save the Documents in Microsoft Office 97-04 mode, as well as, the newer ones.
The best solution might be a combination of all of the above. Use the mobile apps when those will do the job, and CloudOn on those occasions when you need the real Excel.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Dave Cicirelli: Copies of his book – “Fakebook” – exploring our cultural obsession with social media. It’s a true story, based on actual lies.
Eton: FRX3 – Hand Turbine AM/FM/Weather Alert Radio
Ventev: An assortment of tangle-free USB cables and battery cases for iPhones