This week Ray warns us about storing our SSDs in hot places, unless you want to wipe your drives clean. Tom explores the dangers of asking questions on Quora. And Sean finds out why one company is trying to make the food replicators from Star Trek a reality. Plus the guys look at Facebook’s new “instant articles,” learn why Microsoft is saying Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows they’ll release, and delve into Verizon’s purchase of AOL. Then later, Sean acts like Steve Harvey as Tom and Ray play a few rounds of the online game Google Feud.

But first, could we ask a favor of you? If you’re listening to Deemable Tech on our website, would you subscribe to the show on iTunes or on Stitcher? And, while you’re there, would you leave a review and say a few nice things about us? The more subscribers we have and reviews we get, the more people will find our show.

The Deemable Tech Podcast is brought to you by A Small Orange, Homegrown Hosting. A refreshingly different approach to web hosting. On the web at asmallorange.com.

Make sure to share Deemable Tech on the forums, Facebook, Twitter and all over the interwebs.

Thank you to our Redditors who have been helping us decide what stories we talk about on the show. Go to our subreddit page and submit a story, and vote other stories up or down. Deemable.com/reddit will take you there.

THIS WEEK’S RUN DOWN

SSDs can lose data really fast

You know those amazingly fast SSDs that are replacing hard drives in high end laptops like practically every Mac on the market? Well, there is a trade off. You definitely don’t want to store your wedding pictures on them. Or your tax records. Or your receipts from Best Buy. Because, some SSDs can lose their data in only a few days.

According to Gizmodo, heat is the enemy. The length of data retention is cut in half for every nine degrees of temperature increase. So, if you do like a lot of people Ray has talked to have done, and stick your old computer in a hot storage unit, expect to reinstall Windows on it when you get it out, because the SSD might be blank.

Just another reminder to back up your data!

Man weighing two job offers finds one of them retracted after asking Quora which of them he should take

In the news this week, yet another cautionary tale about being very careful with what you post online.

Last week a San Francisco engineer who was weighing competing job offers from Uber and Zenefits posted on Quora, asking the advice of its users on which to take. The engineer said that he liked what Zenefits was offering but that it didn’t seem as compelling a ?buzzword? to have on his resume as Uber.

The dilemma was presumably cleared up for the engineer when Zenefits’ CEO responded, saying “Definitely not Zenefits,” and retracting the job offer.

While the post was later changed to remove the public job retraction, presumably the damage was done. It was not clear if the candidate, who remains anonymous, had accepted Uber’s offer.

Microsoft representative claims that Windows 10 is the “last” version of Windows

This week at Microsoft’s Ignite conference, tech evangelist Jerry Nixon was quoted as saying, “Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10.” Microsoft confirmed this statement to The Verge, saying that it would be focusing on “Windows as a service,” delivering continuous updates to the system rather than rolling out new versions of Windows.

That is of course until the next time Marketing gets a bright idea in its head and they announce Windows 20.

Facebook rolls out “instant articles” from major news publishers

Starting this week on the iOS Facebook app, some news articles will load much, much faster when you click on them. Facebook is calling these ?instant articles?, and they will be available from a handful of publishers that have partnered with Facebook, including the New York Times, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, BBC News and National Geographic, among others. Instant articles won?t look much different to users, at least at first – they will just load instantly when clicked. In the future, however, Facebook may add auto-playing “video covers” as well.

Facebook will allow new, special interactions with Instant Articles, including audio captions, geotagged photos, and interactive maps. And of course, there will be no ads.

No word yet on when Android users will see this feature.

Israeli company creates Genie, a futuristic appliance that can create instant meals on demand

A new Israeli device called the Genie, which claims its inspiration from Star Trek’s fictional replicators, can turn pods of dehydrated powders into meals on demand. While details are light, supposedly the meals can be customized to personal preference, including specifying whether they should be gluten-, dairy-, or egg-free. The Genie will also work with smartphones and mobile devices.

No word if it responds to voice commands like, “Tea, earl gray, hot.”

Verizon announces plan to buy AOL for 4.4 billion dollars

In a surprise announcement this week, Verizon and AOL announced that Verizon will buy AOL for $4.4 billion dollars. People with knowledge of the matter say that Verizon is looking to acquire AOL’s mobile, video and advertising technology. Verizon may be looking to offer its own streaming video platform which it can sell ads against. It will also acquire popular news site The Huffington Post, not to mention the legacy dial-up service which once made AOL a powerhouse.

Verizon is currently valued at $200 billion dollars, making the four and a half billion in cash they plan to spend on AOL little more than a rounding error.

It’s time to play the feud!

Credit: Google Feud

You may have seen the site Google Feud making the rounds on social media recently. This online game combines weird Google autocomplete search suggestions with Family Feud style game play, in which you have to guess the top 10 ways Google autocompletes a specific sentence or question (for example, “Is it weird to _____”). Sean plays the role of Steve Harvey – or John O’Hurley, Louie Anderson, Richard Dawson, or whoever you favorite Family Feud host was – while Ray and Tom guess their way through a few rounds.

This week Tom brings the joyous news that Nintendoland is coming! Ray wants fast passes to the Mario Kart ride. But none of the guys want to ride on a Boeing 787 after Ray tells the guys that some of the planes are turning off… in mid air. Not good. Oculus finally announces a consumer model of the Oculus Rift. People are breaking/not breaking their Microsoft Surface 3 tablets. Twitter broke MS-DOS games, and Tesla just brought the future one step closer to today. All that on this week’s episode.

But first, could we ask a favor of you? If you’re listening to Deemable Tech on our website, would you subscribe to the show on iTunes or on Stitcher? And, while you’re there, would you leave a review and say a few nice things about us? The more subscribers we have and reviews we get, the more people will find our show.

The Deemable Tech Podcast is brought to you by A Small Orange, Homegrown Hosting. A refreshingly different approach to web hosting. On the web at asmallorange.com.

Make sure to share Deemable Tech on the forums, Facebook, Twitter and all over the interwebs.

Thank you to our Redditors who have been helping us decide what stories we talk about on the show. Go to our subreddit page and submit a story, and vote other stories up or down. Deemable.com/reddit will take you there.

THIS WEEK’S RUN DOWN

Nintendo Theme Park

Who is up for Mario Kart in real life? Nintendo announced during an earnings call this week that it is partnering with Universal Parks and Resorts which runs the Universal Studios theme parks to create Nintendo-themed rides and attractions. Nintendo has not announced specific details on which of its properties it would adapt, but it seems like a safe bet that it will leverage long lasting and popular characters and games like Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong. In fact, Universal executive Tom Schroder said pretty much exactly that in a press release: “The immersive experiences will include major attractions at Universal?s theme parks and will feature Nintendo?s most famous characters and games.”

Have you tried turning your plane off and on again?

The FAA sent out a warning on May 1st that Boeing 787s may have some computer problems that could cause your terrible, terrible death. Mashable reports that the administration discovered the computers in 787s have a “software counter” that periodically shuts down all electrical systems, which results in “loss of control of the airplane.” Now, I’m not an aviation expert, but I think that is a bad thing. Am I right in assuming that guys?

Boeing is working out a software update that will eliminate the problem, but until then, they have issued a work around. If you work in the IT industry or have ever worked technical support you are probably familiar with it:

“Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

Yes folks, it’s the I.T. Crowd fix.

Call Roy and Moss or your plane will crash to the ground.

Oculus announces “Q1 2016” release for Rift

In other news that is sure to have gamers everywhere jumping for joy, Oculus announced this week that the first commercial release of their hotly anticipated virtual reality headset the Oculus Rift will be in early 2016.

The company also released promotional images of the sleek final consumer product after several years of prototypes.

Oculus first made a splash at the E3 gaming expo in 2012, followed by a very successful Kickstarter campaign. They also kicked off a virtual reality race, with other big companies like Sony and Valve and HTC working on releasing their own VR products.

How low can you go?

One of the most interesting tablets to come out, other than the iPad, has definitely been the Microsoft Surface. Sure, it’s had its share of troubles. It came out with Windows RT, which was this weird, stripped down version of Windows. It had two interfaces, the desktop and the “tablet” UI which really confused people. But, it was an incredible design that really changed the market, making it a serious contender for a laptop replacement. One of its signature features was the coveted kickstand that can hold the tablet in one of three positions. Well, now the Verge is reporting that Redditors have discovered a secret fourth position for the Surface 3 kickstand. Apparently, if you keep pressing the kickstand back after the third position it will break away and fold all the way back.

Microsoft said in a statement that the kickstand “contains a safety mechanism unique to Surface 3 to help protect the device, but the mechanism is not designed for use as a fourth kickstand position.”

So it might work once, twice or maybe even a few times, but it’s probably going to ruin your Surface 3.

The lesson here is, don’t play too rough with your toys. Just like a Slinky, once you bend it out of shape, you can’t bend it back, no matter what happened in Toy Story.

MS-DOS games on Twitter update

Last week we told you how you can embed and play classic MS-DOS games in tweets. Sadly, it looks like Twitter has put a stop to that.

It was discovered last week that Twitter users could embed these games from the Internet Archive?s site into tweets using Twitter?s Cards widget (that?s the system that allows videos, images and other media to be displayed in-line in the Twitter stream). But it turns out that embedding interactive media, specifically games, is against the terms of service for Twitter Cards.

You can, however, still play the MS-DOS games at the Internet Archive?s site, archive.org.

Powerwall

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, the maker of powerful electric sports cars recently announced that his company will begin manufacturing batteries for homes. This week Elon Musk announced that demand for their ?Powerwall? batteries was ?crazy off the hook?. He said they have received over 38,000 reservations, a level of demand which could take them up to a year to fulfill. Orders included over 2,500 from companies for their commercial-ready Powerpack.

The Powerwall batteries are designed for a 24-hour charge-and-discharge cycle, which would be ideal in combination with a solar power system that could charge them during the day letting them run the house at night. The batteries are designed to be mounted on the wall and a 7kWh unit starts at $3,000.

Note from Ray: The Powerwall is apparently not nearly as bad as the Power Glove.

If you have a suggestion, or just have a comment for the show. Give us a call and leave us a voicemail, 1-888-972-9868 or you can send us an email to feedback at deemable dot com.

And, don’t forget to help us to decide what stories we talk about on the show, go to our subreddit page and submit a story, and vote other stories up or down. deemable.com/reddit will take you there

This week the guys are elated about the death of Internet Explorer, the low, low price of free to upgrade to Windows 10, (even if you never paid for Windows 7 or 8) and Mario, Zelda and the gang are finally coming to mobile phones, but not the way you want them to.

If you haven’t subscribed to Deemable Tech yet, get on it! Subscribe to Deemable Tech in iTunes, on Stitcher or subscribe to the show in another podcast reader. Make sure to leave us a review in iTunes and Stitcher. The more reviews we have the higher we’ll be listed, and the more listeners will see our show.

And make sure to share us on the forums, Facebook, Twitter and all over the interwebs.

Thank you to our Redditors who have been helping us decide what stories we talk about on the show. Go to our subreddit page and submit a story, and vote other stories up or down. Deemable.com/reddit will take you there.

This Week’s Run Down

Windows 10 is free for everybody!

So, you may have heard of the latest version of Windows that Microsoft is working on releasing later this summer. If you haven’t, it’s called Windows 10. If you’re wondering why it’s called Windows 10 instead of… you know… Windows 9, it’s because of a little coding shortcut where programmers referred to Windows 95 and Windows 98 as – you guessed it – “Windows 9.”

Well, it turns out that Windows 10 is going to be FREE for everyone, well almost everyone.

Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s Windows chief to Reuters “We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10”

So that means, as long as you have a computer running Windows 7 or Window 8 or 8.1 you can install 10 on your computer, at no charge, even if you stole the version that’s on your computer right now.

The Death of Internet Explorer

Microsoft confirmed this week that Internet Explorer will not be the primary web browser in Windows 10. Yes, the venerable Internet Explorer, which has been a part of Windows since Windows 95, is being put out to pasture. It will still ship with the next version of Microsoft’s operating system for backwards compatibility reasons, but a new browser with the codename Project Spartan will be Microsoft’s flagship browser. Project Spartan’s real name has not been released yet but Microsoft says that it will not use the Internet Explorer branding.

Nintendo to develop mobile games

After years of speculation, Nintendo is moving into the mobile game market. They announced this week that they have partnered with Japanese mobile game giant DeNA to “develop and operate new game apps based on Nintendo’s intellectual property, including its iconic game characters, for smart devices.”

They were quick to point out that their primary focus will still be their game consoles like the Wii U and 3DS, and that these new mobile apps are intended to complement, not replace, those systems. In the same announcement, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that a new console codenamed NX is development.

Unfortunately for those of us hoping this means we’ll be able to play classic Mario or Zelda games on our devices, Iwata also said that Nintendo’s plans do not include direct ports of console games. He cited differences between dedicated controllers and touchscreens as the reason.

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If you have a comment, contact us at feedback at deemable.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-888-972-9868.

Help us decide what stories we talk about on the show, go to our subreddit page and submit a story. Or vote other stories up or down. reddit.com/r/Deemable

Photo Credit: Internet Explorer, a web developers menace by Jorgen Kesseler is used under CC BY-SA 2.0.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler pushed FCC to vote 3-2 in favor of Net Neutrality.

This week Ray, Tom and Sean talk about how the FCC has finally decided to step up to the plate and defend Net Neutrality, and the rest of the big stories in the tech world. Reddit is finally banning stolen pornography. Apple is holding a super secret press event in March. (SPOILER: It’s the Apple Watch announcement.) Pebble is Kickstarting another smartwatch. Three patients voluntarily had their arms amputated to receive bionic prosthetics. Google bought mobile payment company Softcard. And, we are one step closer to Skynet becoming self-aware, an artificial intelligence played 49 Atari games without instructions, beating the records of human players in 29 of the games.

Thank you to our Redditors who have been helping us decide what stories we talk about on the show. Go to our subreddit page and submit a story, and vote other stories up or down. Deemable.com/reddit will take you there.

Deemable Tech Episode #73 Freedom Is Just A Four-Letter Word

Subscribe to Deemable Tech in iTunes, on Stitcher or subscribe to the show in another podcast reader. Make sure to leave us a review in iTunes and Stitcher. The more reviews we have the higher we?ll be listed, and the more listeners will see our show.

This Week’s Run Down

Reddit bans revenge porn.

Gizmodo reports that Reddit ? has outlawed porn. Wait, no. Reddit has prohibited unwanted porn. No, that’s not right either. Reddit has banned involuntary pornography. Reddit announced that that it is no longer allowing pictures or videos to be posted to the site without the permission of the subjects.

In a statement on its website reddit said:

No matter who you are, if a photograph, video, or digital image of you in a state of nudity, sexual excitement, or engaged in any act of sexual conduct, is posted or linked to on reddit without your permission, it is prohibited on reddit.

To take the photos or videos down however, you will have to report the offense to reddit. This change in policy is considered to be a direct response to the incident known as “The Fappening,” where a cache of leaked celebrity nudes was leaked online and posted to reddit.

Apple’s Not Super-Secret Press Event

The Verge is reporting that Apple sent out press invitations to a super secret event on March 9th. No one has any idea what it is about. Nah, just kidding, it’s the Apple Watch announcement. The tagline is even “Spring Forward,” an obvious time reference.

At the event, we are almost certain to find out what features actually ended up in the watch ? that will likely only run for 4 hours before the battery dies. The Verge is saying that there have been rumors of a new Macbook air and there may be an update on Beats Music.

Pebble Get Another Kickstart

Speaking of watches, Pebble has decided to rock the crowdfunding universe again. Pebble announced Tuesday it was launching another smartwatch. This one, dubbed the Pebble Time, has a color e-ink display, a microphone for dictation and voice activation, and it’s thinner than the original Pebble and more contoured to fit the wrist.

The microphone only works with Android actions right now, but Pebble is working on getting it to work with iOS soon.

Three Men Undergo Voluntary Amputations To Receive Bionic Arms

Gizmodo is reporting that three men with irreparable nerve damage have had their arms amputated and replaced with prosthetics controlled directly through their nervous systems. The procedure was performed by Oskar Aszmann at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

The prosthetic is powered and controlled by a small piece of healthy leg muscle that has been grafted into the patients? arm.

What is perhaps most notable is that the three patients all volunteered to have their arms amputated to undergo this procedure. While their whole arms were previously useless due to the nerve damage, they were intact.

Google Buys Mobile Payment Competitor Softcard

PachydermMcGurts submitted this next story on our sub-reddit page.

Google looks like it is doubling-down on mobile payments. According to a report from DigitalTrends.com, Google has purchased competitor Softcard. On February 23rd Google made the announcement that it had bought the wallet app company Softcard which was formerly named Isis, just like the terrorist group.

Isis started in 2009 as a joint effort by Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to get a foothold in the mobile payments industry. Unfortunately, in 2011, the terrorist group then known as the Islamic State in Iraq began fighting in Syria, and started being referred to as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS for short. The group apparently now just want to be called the Islamic State, but it was called ISIS long enough in the media to completely destroy the value, if it had any, of the company’s name.

Isis, the digital wallet app company, announced in September 2014 that it was changing its name to Softcard.

Google bought Softcard and work out a deal with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, that all new Android phones will have Google Wallet pre-installed on them.

In a very ?Google? way, instead of consolidating the two services into one service. it’s going to keep the two services separate, and wait for this, add a new service.

Rumor has it that Google is going to announce Android Pay at the Google I/O next conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKdvnhBFvXY

Artificial Intelligence Masters Atari Games

DeepMind Technologies, a tech startup that Google purchased last year, is working on artificial intelligence that will develop human-like problem solving skills. To do so, they needed to put it through exercises that have simple rules and clear standards for failure, yet still present a challenge for most people. They decided that old Atari 2600 games were perfect for this.

DeepMind made the AI play through 49 different Atari 2600 games without giving it instructions for how the various games were played. When it completed the games correctly and got a high score, the AI was rewarded. It eventually beat previous AI records for 43 of the games, and even exceeded the skills of master human players for 29 of them.

A DeepMind Vice President told Bloomberg that this represents “the first time anyone has built a single learning system that learns directly from experience and manage a wide range of challenging tasks,” and that their ultimate goal will be to use this for smart, general purpose tools.

THE BIG STORY

FCC Defends Net Neutrality

The Verge put together a great aggregation of reactions to Net Neutrality from around the net. It’s no surprise, the ISPs are NOT happy.

The FCC voted today, 3-2, to classify broadband internet as a public utility under Title II. This means that, for now at least, the FCC has the ability to regulate broadband internet and enforce net neutrality.

Verizon and Comcast released statements stating that they were disappointed with the ruling, while AT&T issued a more ominous statement hinting that the FCC might be overruled by congress or the courts.

Some Republican lawmakers have threatened legislative action to overrule the FCC. The FCC vote did fall along party lines, with the three Democrat board members voting for net neutrality and the two Republicans voting against.

Tech companies were almost uniformly ecstatic, with Netflix, Kickstarter, Microsoft and Tumblr all chiming in.

At the heart of the new classification are rules banning the blocking or throttling of traffic, as well as paid prioritization, and a requirement that ISPs disclose network management practices.

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Next week we are going to be tossing in some app and gadget reviews like we’ve been promising. If you have a suggestion, or just have a comment for the show. Give us a call and leave us a voicemail, 1-888-972-9868 or you can send us an email to feedback at deemable.com.

And, don’t forget to help us to decide what stories we talk about on the show, go to our subreddit page and submit a story, and vote other stories up or down. deemable.com/reddit will take you there.

Photo credit: “Tom Wheeler – Caricature” by DonkeyHotey is used under CC BY 2.0.

Looking for apps to download for your shiny new iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Here’s where to start. Here’s a not-so-scientific list of some of the absolute best apps that came out this year.

The Top 20 Best Apps of 2013 (via Apple Gazette)

It?s been quite a year for iOS apps. With the release of iOS 7 many apps have started to take on the flat look and feel of the new operating system. A lot of new apps were released while most were updated with new features and layouts. We?ve compiled…

On today’s episode we talk about when you should disable your Java, how to voice dial from a Samsung Galaxy S2, and how to send multiple pdfs from an iPad. Then, we were joined in the studio by Kai Kohl (NOT Khan, our apologies!) of The I.M.A.G.I.C., a creation for One Spark. Listen in to find out about the awesome project that he’s working on to bring an interactive gaming museum to Jacksonville.

We met the goal for Deemable Tech’s Kickstarter Project! We are starting work on the Deemable Tech app now. If you’re reading this before March 25th at 7:00 PM you still have time to support our project. Any amount, $1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 100, etc. helps. Click the link above and click the green Back This Pledge button. Thank you in advance!

Make sure to subscribe to the show in iTunes by clicking here, or subscribe to the show in another podcast reader by clicking here. Also, make sure to leave us a review in iTunes. The more reviews we have the higher we’ll be listed in iTunes and the more listeners will see our show!

Download Episode 34 – We Made It! It’s All Your Fault! Thank You!

Need tech help? Got a problem or tech question about your computer, phone or tablet? Give us a call and leave us a voice mail at 1-888-972-9868, or send us an email to questions at deemable dot com. We’ll answer them on the show.

TRANSCRIPT

RAY: From WJCT studios in Jacksonville, Florida, I’m Ray Hollister, I’m Tom Braun, and this is Deemable Tech, technology worth talking about, and tech help worth listening to.

TOM: Got a question about your computer, smart phone, tablet or the Internet? Give us a call us at One Eight Eight Eight, Nine Seven Two, Nine Eight Six Eight, or send us an email at questions@deemable.com.

RAY: This week’s episode of the Deemable Tech podcast is brought to you by A Small Orange, Homegrown Hosting. A refreshingly different approach to web hosting. On the web at a small orange dot com.

And, by audible.com – get a FREE audiobook download at audibletrial.com/Deemable Over 100,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.

TOM: Today on the show, we’ll be talking about when you should disable your Java.

RAY: Spoiler alert, the answer is now.

TOM: And, how to voice dial from a Samsung Galaxy S2

RAY: And how to send multiple pdfs from an iPad, and later in the show, we’ll be joined in the studio by Kai Kohl of The I.M.A.G.I.C., a creation for One Spark. So, stay tuned for that. Let’s jump right into our questions.

Skip writes: I use a Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. I can use voice to create email, texts, enter stuff on the calendar, etc. However, I cannot figure how to use voice to dial, the way I used to on a BB phone. Can you assist?

TOM: Thanks Skip! You know Ray, I had a revelation the other day.

RAY: Oh really?

TOM: What does the ?S’ in Samsung Galaxy S… whatever… stand for?

RAY: Sumptuous?

TOM: Wow, that’s one that hadn’t occurred to me. No Ray, I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to stand for ?Samsung’. After all, S-Voice, S-Memo, S-Beam… those are all native Samsung apps where the S clearly stands for ?Samsung’.

RAY: But in that case we’ve been saying the Samsung Galaxy Samsung 3.

TOM: Exactly! It’s stupid. And the S is so generic. Why don’t they go with Sam? Or Samantha? It could be like Siri, only… Sammy.

RAY: *vamps*

Anyway, Tom, you still have not helped this poor gentleman out with his phone problem in any way.

TOM: Oh, right. Well, to bring up voice commands on the Samsung Galaxy Samsung 2 Skyrocket

RAY: *laughs*

TOM: You simply hold down the search button for a few seconds. Or you double-tap the menu button. One of those should bring up S-Voice and then you can say ?Call Ray Hollister? and it should call Ray. There were a few different versions of the Samsung 2, I mean S2, so you may have to experiment to find out which one method for you.

But it sounds like Skip already knows how to operate voice commands. After all he’s using to do emailing and texting. Voice dialing is not separate from those functions so there isn’t any reason for it to not work when everything else does. Not sure what’s going on there.

The good news is, the GS2 runs Android. And on Android, if a stock app isn’t working for you can always just download a different app. Choice Dialer Plus has gotten some good reviews. Another popular voice app for Android is Vlingo. That’s V-lingo. So if you still can’t get voice dialer to work on your native app, try downloading one of those.

Hope that helps, Skip! Enjoy using your Samsung Galaxy Samsung II Skyrocket!

TOM: Last week on Morning Edition we told people that they needed to disable Java, now.

RAY: Right, Tom and I had talked about it on the show a couple of weeks ago while you were out, Tom.

TOM: Right, but we felt it was so important for people to do that we covered it again in the Morning Edition spot, and we setup a page at deemable.com/java where everyone could go to get instructions on how to disable java in each web browser.

RAY: Yeah, we had a great response to it. In less than an hour after the segment aired, we already had 600 views on the page. By the end of the day, we had over 1,400 views, and over the next two days we had several hundred more. So, good job listening everyone!

TOM: But, we know that several thousand people listen to Morning Edition each day on 89.9 FM, so if you haven’t done it yet, do it, now! Go to deemable.com/java and follow the directions and disable Java, now!

RAY: You better do it. He’s just going to keep telling you to do it,…

TOM: Now!

RAY: OK, so we had some comments on the page that we wanted to address.

*Discuss comments on deemable.com/java

Thanks for all your comments.

Phillip writes, I have two questions. First, is there an app or a way to add multiple files (pdfs specifically) in an email on an iPad Second, what is the most cost-effective way to extend WiFi for a PC? I have video lessons via Skype and my wireless router is on the other side of my house (and cannot be moved), this causes severe latency issues. Thank you for your help.

RAY: Thank you for your question, Phillip.

Well, I know my co-host is going to rib me, because I’m sure he can do this with his Android phone easier than you can do it on an iPad, but nonetheless, I will see if I can help you out here.

Sadly, there is no simple, easy, built-in way to do this. My greatest complaint with iOS is file management. Each app has their own way of managing documents, and they usually don’t work together.

GoDocs is probably the best app for the job. You have to have a Google Drive account, but you can take multiple pdfs that you have uploaded to your Google Drive account and send them in an email from the app. You can also upload pdfs to your Google Drive account in the app.

There’s another app called Goodreader that will do the trick as well.

If you’re Jailbroken, you can use an app called iFile. There’s a free version and a paid version. You don’t need the paid version to send multiple files via email, but there’s a lot of really cool things you can do with the paid version that you can’t do with the free version. But, with iFile, you have access to everything on your iPhone, so tread carefully.

TOM: About your Wi-Fi question, Phillip, we actually answered a similar question, a long, long time ago, way back in one of our first five episodes.

The best solution is an access point. An access point is like a WiFi router, except that you plug it into a WiFi router. It’s only purpose is to extend your network. You must already have a router setup for it to work. You’ll have to run an Ethernet cable from your router to your access point which needs to be close to where ever you need WiFi. They vary in price anywhere from $25 to $250, but you can usually find a good one for around $50.

RAY: The best way to do it is to run an Ethernet cable through the wall, away from any electrical wires, and put an outlet on each end that mounts to the wall. Then, use a shorter cable to plug from the wall to the router, and from the wall to the access point. Most access points are relatively pretty plug and play, but you might have to make some adjustments to the firmware on the router or the access point. You’ll have to follow the directions in the manual. Also, if you have an old router, you can usually set it up as an access point. You’ll definitely have to go into the settings of the router to make it act as an access point or it might be ornery and fight with your other router as to who is the king of the network.

RAY: All right, we have to take a quick break to thank our sponsors. We have a new sponsor, Audible. Audible is offering listeners of the Deemable Tech podcast a free audiobook download with a free 30-day trial to give you the opportunity to check out their service. If you enjoy listening to podcasts and you like reading great books, you’ll love Audible.

TOM: And, if you have a Kindle, like I do, you will really love this, with Whispersync for voice, if you get a book from Audible that you already have on your Kindle, your ebook and your audio book will stay synced together on multiple devices. So, for example, you can listen to your audio book in the car on your iPhone on the way to work, and then pick up right where you left off on your Kindle during lunch.

RAY: So, Tom, do you have any recommendations for a good audio book?

TOM: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

What about you, Ray. Do you have a recommendation?

RAY: Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

You can download one of our picks, or another audiobook for free.

To download your free audiobook today go to audibletrial.com/Deemable. Again, that’s audibletrial.com/Deemable for your free audiobook! And we thank Audible for their support of the Deemable Tech podcast.

TOM: If you haven’t already, show us some love and subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or your favorite podcast app. If you’ve already subscribed, leave a review for us on iTunes. There’s links to the iTunes page and our Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages on the right-hand side of our website at Deemable.com.

You’re listening to Deemable Tech.

RAY: Welcome back to Deemable Tech. I’m Ray Hollister, joined of course by my co-host, Tom Braun.

Now, we are joined in the studio by Kai Kohl, the creator of I.M.A.G.I.C. a creation for One Spark. Welcome to the show, Kai.

KAI: Thanks for having me on the show.

So, we’ve talked about this before on the show, in April there is a festival coming to Jacksonville called One Spark. One Spark is a crowdfunding festival happening here in downtown Jacksonville, Florida, April 17th through the 21st. Creators from around the world are coming to Jacksonville to show off their creations and take home part of the $250,000 crowdfund. The interesting part about One Spark is that instead of winning a grand prize, first prize, second prize and so on, at One Spark, the $250,000 crowdfund will be distributed by public vote. So, if a creator gets 10% of the vote, at the end of the One Spark festival they’ll be taking home $25,000!

Each registered voter will be able to vote once for each entry in the festival, but they can vote for as many entries as they like. That’s the part I’m thankful for because there are a lot of really incredible entries in this festival from all over the spectrum: Art, Music, Science and Technology.

Questions for Kai about I.M.A.G.I.C.

• What is I.M.A.G.I.C.? What is your creation?

• What are you doing the Kickstarter project for?

• Why did you name it I.M.A.G.I.C. (I’m pretty sure I know why, but it’ll be good to talk about.)

• Where did you get the idea for I.M.A.G.I.C.?

• What has been the hardest part of getting I.M.A.G.I.C. started?

• What does your wife think of your collection? Is she supportive?

• How will you use the money you get from One Spark?

• How will I.M.A.G.I.C. make money? Will it be a Profit or Non-Profit?

• Where do you see I.M.A.G.I.C. going from here? If you were to receive all the money in the crowdfund, what would happen? How would your life change as a result of I.M.A.G.I.C. becoming successful? What does success at I.M.A.G.I.C. look like?

• Where can our listeners find your exhibit at One Spark?

Thanks for all your questions, and keep them coming. Call us at our toll-free number, 1-888-972-9868 or you can send us an email at questions@deemable.com. Also, subscribe to the show! Search for Deemable Tech on iTunes or point your favorite podcast app to dmbl.co/pod.

Also, make sure to come out to One Spark April 17-21 while you are there visit The IMAGIC at The Phoenix Taproom at W Forsyth St, and make sure to come by and visit Deemable Tech’s booth at Ignite Adecco on Bay and Main Street, and make sure to vote for The IMAGIC and for Deemable Tech. If you haven’t already registered to vote, go to beonespark.com and register now to vote.

theimagic.com

facebook.com/theimagic

twitter.com/theimagic

Our producer is Sean Birch. I’m Ray Hollister, I’m Tom Braun, and this is Deemable Tech.

Thanks for listening. Have a great week.

Support for Deemable Tech is provided by A Small Orange, Homegrown Hosting. A refreshingly different approach to web hosting. On the web at asmallorange.com.

We’re not trying to make you feel guilty, but Deemable Tech’s Kickstarter Project does end on March 25th at 7:00 PM. Would you help support us? Any amount, $1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 100, etc. helps. Click the link above and click the green Back This Pledge button. Thank you in advance!

Make sure to subscribe to the show in iTunes by clicking here, or subscribe to the show in another podcast reader by clicking here. Also, make sure to leave us a review in iTunes. The more reviews we have the higher we’ll be listed in iTunes and the more listeners will see our show!

Download Episode 33 – If We Don’t Make It, It’s All Your Fault 

Need tech help? Got a problem or tech question about your computer, phone or tablet? Give us a call and leave us a voice mail at 1-888-972-9868, or send us an email to questions at deemable dot com. We’ll answer them on the show.

TRANSCRIPT

Support for Deemable Tech is provided by A Small Orange, Homegrown Hosting. A refreshingly different approach to web hosting. On the web at asmallorange.com.

RAY: From WJCT studios in Jacksonville, Florida, I’m Ray Hollister,

TOM: I’m Tom Braun,

RAY: and this is Deemable Tech, technology worth talking about, and tech help worth listening to.

TOM: Got a question about your computer, smart phone, tablet or the Internet? Give us a call us at One Eight Eight Eight, Nine Seven Two, Nine Eight Six Eight, or send us an email at questions@deemable.com.

TOM: Today on the show, we’ll be talking about jailbreaking iPhones, and whether it’s illegal to unlock your smartphone, and

RAY: Blackberry 10 and whether you can get apps for your Pantech Renue, and

TOM: sharing music with Dropbox.

RAY: But first…

There were Two big tech news items this week. First of all, Samsung revealed the next phone in its line of Galaxy S flagship phones, the S4. Features include a larger screen with a 1080×1920, a 13 megapixel camera, eye-based scrolling and the ability to use it with gloves.

Tom, you’ve got a GS3. Are you thinking of making the switch?

TOM: To be honest Ray, I think I feel like you do about switching to the iPhone 5 when you have a 4s.

I think if you don’t have a Galaxy S3 or you have an older Galaxy, by all means you should wait a month and pick up the S4 when it comes out. But it’s not a quantum leap forward over the S3, and personally my S3 is still working really well for me. In fact I would say it’s continuing to get better. So I’m not going to rush out and upgrade just yet.

So what was the other big news?

RAY: Well Google has announced that as part of their annual ?spring cleaning’ they will be shutting down Google Reader.

TOM: Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

– was my reaction upon hearing that news earlier this week.

RAY:

Since Google announced that it was closing Reader, its news aggregator service, we’ve received several questions ranging from ?How do I live without it?? to ?What the heck is it, and why is everyone freaking out??

For folks in the latter category, Google Reader is the equivalent of a friendly butler that finds all of the news that you are interested in reading from the news sources and blogs you trust. Instead of having to open 10 different websites every day, you could open just one page whenever you wanted. It automatically gathered all of the stories that have been published by the ten websites you follow since the last time you opened the page.

Now you are probably just as upset that it is closing as everyone else, let me tell you the good news. There is hope. Other companies are stepping up to fill in the gap that Google Reader is leaving behind. Some of them work exactly the same as Google Reader does; others take what Google Reader does and improves upon it.

Google Reader Alternatives:

• The Old Reader
• Feedly
• NewsBlur
• NetVibe
• Pulse

We’ll have a full break down of the available Google Reader Alternatives later this week. What are you using or planning on using to replace Google Reader?

Hey, I’ve been listening to your show, but I don’t often have a whole hour to pay attention to the computer at one point in the day. Also, sometimes I don’t have a huge interest in a particular topic (horrors!), but later decide I really want to know about something you spoke about in a past show. Anyway, would it be possible to put “sections” in the show notes? Sort of using the little music breaks as dividers, and saying, “In section 1, we cover these topics. Section 2, which starts at minute marker 20, discusses those; and Section 3, at minute 40, includes the others.” Then I could easily come back to the section where I had to quit listening, or quickly find a particular subject I’m listening to.
Perhaps there’s another way I could find that info, but my tech savvy mostly comes from pushing buttons and Googling answers to my questions, and I’ve not really done either of those with podcasts.
Anyway, thanks for the show!
–Breana in Jax

Thanks for your email, Breana. Well, we agree. Actually, that is something that we really want to improve about our website. A few of our older episodes do have that. We had the question and when the question started in the show. The problem is time. A lot of folks think we get paid to do this, which is a great compliment, thank you! But actually, we are all volunteers. Tom and I work elsewhere 40 hours a week. Sean does work here at the station, but he doesn’t get paid to do this. So, Deemable Tech takes about 30 hours a week combined to produce each episode of the show. Doing the show notes like that took about 2-3 extra hours each week, because you have to go through and listen to the entire episode again, write down when each question started, and then rephrase the question so that it’s a sentence instead of a paragraph. So, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it actually ends up being a little bit of work, and I haven’t been able to do that since I started writing the blogs for Folio Weekly.

Now, we have found out that it helps radio stations when they are considering to air our show if we can provide a transcript of each show. That would be even more work, because some of what we say is scripted, but a lot of it isn’t, but I think that would be helpful to some of our listeners too. So again, we really want to produce better show notes, but we are limited in what we can do because of our budget constraints. You know, not having one.

Now, if we had a volunteer that wanted to help us, we might be able to bring that back! What we would need would be someone to come to the studio with us when we record or listen live online, and keep track of when we start new questions, and then take those notes and put them together with the show notes. Also, we’re looking for a volunteer to help us out with video. If you or someone you know would be willing to help us out, send me an email at rayhollister@deemable.com.

Q: My coworker has a jailbroken iPhone, and she keeps trying to convince me that I should let her jailbreak my iPhone too. My iPhone 4S is out of warranty now, but I’m still afraid of breaking it. I can’t afford to replace it right now. Not that I don’t trust her, but if I do it, I’d like to do it myself. Is it hard to do? Is it worth jailbreaking? Is there any chance I can get in trouble? What happens if something screws up, and my iPhone doesn’t work anymore?

A: I don’t blame you for being cautious. I had never tried jailbreaking an iPhone either until I received your email. I’ve always been a little scared to attempt to jailbreak my iPhone because I was worried it might break, too. But, I screwed up my courage and decided to give it a shot.

Is it hard to do? Not really. It used to be much harder. The first jailbreak required disassembling the iPhone! On iOS 6.0 through 6.1.2, as long as you have the most basic understanding of how to use your computer, you shouldn’t have a hard time jailbreaking your iPhone. In fact, I can assume that if you are considering doing it, you probably have the skills required to do it.

Is it worth it? Well, that all depends on what you want out of your phone. If you are content with how your phone works, and you don’t want to take any risks what-so-ever, then it’s probably not worth it to you. However, if you’d like to try use apps that aren’t allowed in the App Store, or you would like to customize your iPhone to work the way you want it to, or if you just like to tinker, you’ll probably enjoy jailbreaking your iPhone.
There are fantastic customizations like alternative keyboards and themes. There are tons of great apps that you can’t get in the app store, not because they have porn or have viruses, but because they work in a way that Apple won’t allow. An example is an app called iCaughtU that takes a picture whenever someone tries to enter your passcode into your phone and fails. Because the app uses the camera in a way that Apple didn’t design, they’ll never allow that app to be sold in the App Store.

Ironically, if you want to see what will likely be in the next version of iOS, check Cydia, the app store you get when you have a jailbroken iPhone. You know how you can take a picture by pressing the volume button? Jailbreakers had that first. You know how you can double tap the home button to open another app that you were just running? Jailbreakers had that first. You know how you can change your wallpaper? Jailbreakers, well you get the point. Many of the “new” features in each version of iOS are features that jailbreakers have already had for months or years.

Is there a chance you’ll get in trouble? Yes, of course, it could happen, but no, probably not, at least not with the law. The Library of Congress has said that it is legal to jailbreak a smart phone. Strangely, the same is not true about an iPad. It has to do with the vague definition of a tablet device. However, the lawyers for the movie, television and music industry are fighting to try to change that. When it comes to the law, especially copyright law, which is what impacts this the most, what is true today could be false tomorrow. Also, you could get in trouble with Apple. As of yet, Apple has never tried to take legal action against jailbreakers, but even though you aren’t breaking the law, you are breaking the terms of service that you agreed to when you set up your device. Obviously, if you do “brick” your iPhone (damage it beyond the point of repair) while jailbreaking your iPhone don’t even think about taking your iPhone to the folks at the Genius Bar.

What happens if you screw up your phone? Well, fortunately, that isn’t as great a risk as it used to be. If it does happen, you can usually just restore your iPhone back to its factory default settings. Don’t get too excited. You could still brick your phone. But it is much safer than it was a few years ago. Jailbreaking is dangerous. It’s risky. You are intentionally making something work in a way it was not intended to by the company that created it. So, in doing that, you take on all the possible risk and benefits on yourself. You’re on your own, but you’re not really alone because there is a whole community of jailbreakers out there that are willing to help you.
So, ultimately, I can’t tell you if it’s worth it. It’s up to you. If you want to do it, and you’re willing to take the risk, give it a shot. Check out guide on how to jailbreak your iPhone on Deemable.com.

Robert writes: I’ve heard that it is now illegal to unlock your cellphone. Is that really true?!?
TOM: That’s correct Robert. The Library of Congress decided that starting January 26th, unlocking your cell phone would no longer be legal.

RAY: Now, to be clear, that’s unlocking your cell phone. Not rooting or jail-breaking it, right?

TOM: Right Ray, or the Feds would be hauling you off to jail right now.
Unlocking your cell phone is when you buy a phone on one carrier, say, AT&T and then you want to switch to another carrier, say, Sprint, and take your phone with you. Ordinarily the phone is ?locked’ to the original carrier. Unlocking your phone allows you to use it on a different network.

RAY: There’s a few different ways to do this. Before locking became illegal (again) you could even pay some services to do an ?official’ unlock for you, at least for iPhones.

TOM: Right. They would just add your phone’s unique IMEI number to the database of unlocked phones and you were set. Now, obviously, that is no longer an option for US customers. So you would have to get a different sim card or download some software (yes Virginia, there is an app for that). But if you did so, according to the Library of Congress, you would now be breakin’ the law.

RAY: Wait, what does the Library of Congress have to do with this? Since when did they make rules about cell phones?

TOM: Since the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or the DMCA, gave them the power. The DMCA makes bypassing digital protections of copyrighted works illegal, but gives the Library of Congress the power to designate exceptions. Up until recently, the Library of Congress had said that unlocking your cell phone was one of those exceptions. Now, it seems, they’ve changed their mind. Now, not everybody is okay with this. In fact, President Obama has released a public statement saying that he would like the Library of Congress to change its mind and the FCC is investigating whether they have any say in the matter. At the moment though, it looks like the law is on the Library of Congress’s side. We don’t elect Library of Congress members, but we do elect lawmakers! If you want to make your voice heard, download Congress+ for the iPhone or Contact Congress in the Play Market for Android. These apps will tell you who your local senator or congressperson are and give you ways to contact them. Ask Congress to change the DMCA to give consumers the freedom to choose which carrier they use their phone on. Make your voice heard. Set our cell phones free!

RAY: That was really inspiring Tom.

TOM: I may just be a tech podcaster, Ray, but I’m a patriotic tech podcaster.

RAY: Sho’nuff!

RAY: Who’s this next question from?

TOM: Your mom.

RAY: Tom, let’s keep it professional.

TOM: No really, your mom sent us a question. She asks: Has version 10 been released yet? Is it a smart move to continue with Blackberry as our phone?

Mom, you don’t listen to the show regularly, do you? It’s OK, I understand. We just pick on Blackberry a lot. So, yes, BlackBerry 10 has been released. It came out on January 30.??? But, it doesn’t matter because you’re not getting it, unless you decide to buy a new phone. BlackBerry 10 only runs on the new device the Q10 and the Z10. The change from BlackBerry OS to BlackBerry 10 was so drastic that none of the previous devices support it. Also, none of the apps you have on your current phone are going to work on a new BlackBerry 10 device if you decide to get one. So, no matter what new phone you get, even if it’s a new BlackBerry, you’ll have to buy new apps.

Now, to tell you the truth, Blackberry OS looks pretty decent. In fact, it looks a lot like webOS. Honestly, It reminds me a lot of webOS. BlackBerry seems to be repeating exactly what Palm did in 2009: They were hurting really bad, They were losing money like crazy, Their competitors were chewing up their market share, and their operating system looked old and decrepit. So, they rebuilt their operating system from the ground up, and relaunched it, they took a really long time to bring it to market, and they completely abandoned all of their old customers.

So, to answer your question, I would say no, it’s not a smart move to continue with BlackBerry. I expect that BlackBerry is going to take a path very similar to the one that Palm took. I expect that the Q10 and the Z10 are probably going to sell fairly poorly. BlackBerry will probably attempt to put out another version of the Q10 in the Z10, but that will also sell fairly poorly. BlackBerry will attempt to get other manufacturers to use their operating system, but they won’t be able to get anyone interested. Finally, they’ll end up selling out to another company, filing bankruptcy, and or releasing BlackBerry 10 as open source. No matter how you slice it, I don’t see good things in BlackBerry’s future.

The smartphone industry, as much as Microsoft and Blackberry fanboys would love it to be a different way, is a two dog race. It’s all between iPhone and Android. Android has even taken up such a huge market share because they have hundreds of different devices out there running Android, that even the iPhone is starting to drop back in terms of overall market share.

I really don’t think there is room in the market for another operating system to be a real competitor. Microsoft Phone has it’s flaws that we talked about on the show. Personally I felt that webOS is the perfect operating system, but neither of them have been able to get anywhere near a decent market share to the point where they would be really competitive.

So, Mom, what I would tell you do to is if you’re looking to get something new right now, get the iPhone 4 for free from Sprint, or if you’re still under contract, wait until the iPhone 5S or 6 comes out, and get the iPhone 4S for free.

Linda writes: My friend installed DropBox on my computer and setup a shared folder so we could share music (we both love European dance music). Confession: he’s sent me so much stuff and I haven’t had a chance to look at it. Now I want to, and I don’t know how!
My question is two part: 1) how do I download music from our shared folder in Dropbox (is it through the website?) and 2) can he tell that I haven’t listened to any of the music yet?
Oh and also, once before he helped me fix something on my computer by taking it over remotely. Can he still do that?
I have Windows 7. Thanks!

TOM: Good question, Linda.

Now you can download any file you have access to on the Dropbox website by right-clicking it and selecting ?download’. Make sure to put the file some place where you can find it!
However, if your friend installed Dropbox on your computer, you don’t need to download the files: they’re already on your computer. That’s the whole point of Dropbox!
So first we need to make sure that Dropbox really is installed on your computer. The simple way to do that is to click on the Start menu, then type ?dropbox’ (your typing should appear down in the search box at the bottom). After a few seconds the Dropbox program should come up. It’s got an icon that looks like an open blue box. If you see it, you have it.
Now, step two is to determine where the Dropbox folders are located on your computer. Dropbox installs a shortcut to its folders under your ?favorites’. That’s not your internet explorer favorites, that’s your windows explorer favorites. Go back to the Start menu and click on ?Computer’. That will open a Windows Explorer folder. The bar on the left side has a bunch of folders like ?Pictures’, ?Documents’, and ?Music’. Up at the very top (you may have to scroll up) there should be a section called ?Favorites’. It should contain your ?Desktop’ folder, as well as the ?Dropbox’ folder. If you see Dropbox there, click it.
Now you’re in the Dropbox folders. You’ll have to find the music files your friend has shared with you from here, since I don’t know where he put them! You can either click around through the folders here, or search for a song you know he’s sent you in the ?Search dropbox’ box at the top right of the window.
Now, every file in the Dropbox folder should have a green check mark on it. That means you’ve downloaded it from Dropbox’s cloud. If it has a blue icon, it’s still uploading or downloading, so you’ll have to wait before using it. The icons tell you that you are sharing that file with the Dropbox cloud. There’s a copy on your computer, and a copy out there on Dropbox’s servers.
What the icons, don’t tell you is whether or not you’ve ever used, opened, looked at or listened to these files. All you know is that you have them. And that’s all your friend knows either, Linda. So I don’t think he has any way to find out that you haven’t listened to his music unless you give it away yourself.

RAY: Ok, but Linda says her friend accessed her computer remotely once. How does she know he can’t do it again?

TOM: Well most likely the last time he accessed her computer he used Windows Remote Assistance. This is a program that allows you to send an invitation to someone else to share your desktop so that they can help you with a problem.

Linda, Windows Remote Assistance is by invitation only. Unless you run the program and intentionally SEND your friend an invitation, he can’t login.
So your secret is safe with us!

Oh by the way, Linda, if you want to have fun with your friend, remember that shared folders in Dropbox go both ways. You can add files to them as well! Why don’t you drop a little text file in there that says ?Enjoying the music you sent!? See how long it takes for your friend to notice it’s there.

Jo el asks: Dear Deemable Tech. I have a question that I am pining for your expert opinion about. What is the BEST calendar app for a Pantech Renue? I tried Googling it, but nothing really comes up. I am app ignorant

RAY: Don’t worry. Finding any information on the web about the Pantech Renue is difficult. The Pantech Renue runs on Pantech’s proprietary operating system, which is based on an operating system called BREW. It should run most J2ME apps, which is Java Micro Edition. Java Micro Edition was designed so that developers could build programs for mobile phones. It was supposed to make it so that a developer could make one program that would work anywhere. Unfortunately, that is not how it actually worked, because usually you were be forced to only buy apps through your carrier. Before the iPhone came out, everything in mobile was made for either J2ME or Palm OS. Once the iPhone hit the market, and the Android became a legitimate option, most developers stopped building apps for J2ME. Unfortunately, there aren’t many apps available for J2ME anymore.

So, the best calendar app is going to be anything you can find. You can try GCal which is a J2ME Google Calendar client. If that doesn’t work, you might be able to use GCalSync which will sync the built-in calendar with your Google Calendar, assuming you use Google Calendar. Both of these apps use data, so if you do not have a data plan, you may want to stay away from them.

Whatever you do, I wouldn’t pay for anything in their store. You won’t likely be able to use it ever again. There are a few fun apps that you should be able to download for free though. Opera Web Browser most likely works much better than the default web browser. There is a Gmail app that still works, but Google does not support it anymore. Don’t be surprised if it suddenly stops working when Gmail gets an update. If all else fails, you should at least be able to play Tetris.

TOM: To be honest, if you want apps you probably need to invest in a beefier phone. One that runs iOS, Android or Windows Phone. Those all have app stores with lots of third party apps which will run across a number of different phones.

Make sure to support Deemable Tech’s Kickstarter Project.

Support for Deemable Tech is provided by A Small Orange, Homegrown Hosting. A refreshingly different approach to web hosting. On the web at asmallorange.com.

Episode 23 – Holiday Minisode 1: Tablets vs. Laptops

Ray Hollister was out for today’s episode, but don’t worry, he’s always with us in spirit! Kristen Spencer co-hosts with Tom Braun as they talk about what video games, game systems, tablets and laptops to get your kids for the holidays.

And make sure you listen all the way to the end for a little something… extra.

Make sure to subscribe to the show in iTunes by clicking here, or subscribe to the show in another podcast reader by clicking here. Also, make sure to leave us a review in iTunes. The more reviews we have the higher we’ll be listed in iTunes and the more listeners will see our show!

Need tech help? Got a problem or tech question about your computer, phone or tablet? Give us a call and leave us a voice mail at 904-372-DEEM (3336), or send us an email to questions at deemable dot com. We’ll take the best questions and answer them on the show.

Today’s Questions:

• Should I buy my son a tablet or a laptop?
• What’s the point of Twitter? And did someone really name their baby ‘Hashtag’?
• How do I make sure all personal data is erased before giving someone my old computer?

Links we mentioned on today’s show:

• ESRB Game Rating Search App
• Buy a Nexus 7
• Buy Google Chromebooks
• Baby named “Hashtag” goes viral
• DBAN – Free program for wiping a hard drive
• The ‘Write Zero’ method of hard drive formatting

This week, we had a special guest in the studio, Elizabeth Pampalone, a small business computer consultant and repair technician and continuing education instructor at UNF.

Since WJCT had its pledge drive last week, and we had to cut last week’s episode short, we had tons of questions this week. So, all we did is answer a bunch of your great questions.  If you have a tech question for Deemable Tech call us, leave us a voice-mail at 904-372-3336.

Subscribe to the show in iTunes by clicking here.

Subscribe to the show in another podcast reader by clicking here.

Deemable Tech – Episode 18

Today’s Questions:

Need tech help? Got a problem or tech question about your computer, phone or tablet? Give us a call and leave us a voice mail at 904-372-DEEM (3336), or send us an email to questions at deemable dot com. We’ll take the best questions and answer them on the show.

Links we mentioned on today’s show:

• ElizabethPampalone.com
• iMore.com
• Apple Podcasts
• Google Chrome
• Google Drive
• Vtok – Google Chat
• Talkatone
• Sparrow
• Pages, Numbers and Keynote
• Netflix, Hulu, HBO GO, PBS, PBS Kids, and Disney Channel
• Gmail and Outlook.com
• SteamPowered.com
• Deemable Tech ? Episode 10 ? The Two Step Verification, Baby
• ShareMouse
• Synergy
• Lifehacker – Synergy
• Mobile Mouse Pro

Today, Ray and Tom finally took down the “NO GIRLS ALLOWED” sign as they were joined in the studio by Kristen Spencer, video game journalist and editor of CountGameula.com to talk to us about the Nintendo Wii U announcement.

Deemable Tech – Episode 14 – Cats on a Laptop

Links we mentioned on today’s show:

• Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST)
• Chrome Web Store – Google Chrome to Phone Extension
• Google Chrome to Phone – Android Apps on Google Play
• Downcast
• Podcasts by Apple
• Stitcher
• Our podcast RSS feed: http://dmbl.co/pod
• Why Mobile E-mail Signatures Can Hurt Your Business Relationships – CBSNews.com

Bumper Music

• Paul McCartney – Band On The Run (8-Bit Remix)
• The Beatles- Here Comes The Sun 8-bit

Deemable Tech – Episode 12 – Fly Me 2 d Moon

The News Feed:

1. The world lost a reluctant hero, Neil Armstrong.
2. Samsung’s worst scenario happened; Apple won. Samsung was found guilty of wilful infringement of Apple’s patents.

Debunkable:

• Neil Armstrong was misquoted, or was he?
• Good luck Mr. Gorsky!

Links we mentioned on today’s show:

• http://www.markpilarski.com/deal-me-in/getting-ignored-by-a-touch-screen.html
• The official NASA transcripts from the Apollo 11 mission.
• lingo2word.com/translatetxt.php
• transl8it.com/
• Text Talk: the Top Text Message Abbreviations, 2012

Bumper Music

• Frank Sinatra – Fly Me To The Moon (8-bit) by Bryan Lopez
• The Clash – I Fought The Law (8-bit NES Version)

Deemable Tech – Episode 11 – Call Me (Internationally), Maybe

The Deemable Dozen:

1. Apple’s attorney’s are on crack? 
   As the legal smack-down in California heads into its final stretch, District Court Judge Lucy Koh’s patience appears to be wearing thin. With Samsung having rested their case and Apple left with only a few hours to wind up theirs, they submitted a massive 75-page document detailing 22 separate witnesses that they supposedly intended to call. Judge Koh reportedly told Apple’s attorney, ?Unless you’re smoking crack, you know these witnesses aren’t going to be called when you have less than four hours.? Apple’s lawyer protested that he was not smoking crack, but agreed to pare down the list. The trial is expected to wind up this week, which will give everyone a brief reprieve before the inevitable appeal process begins.
2. Motorola-Google fires first shot at Apple, seeks ban of all major devices in US.
   In other tech lawsuit news, Google’s Motorola Mobility division, which Google purchased for its extensive patent portfolio, is seeking an injunction from the US International Trade Commission against just about everything Apple makes. Motorola claims that Apple has violated patents it owns regarding email notifications, location reminders, and phones that can also play video. Siri, Apple’s popular voice-recognition software, is also implicated in the lawsuit.
3. Apple rumored to be in talks with cable companies.
   The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is apparently in talks with cable companies to add cable service to their set-top box. Although AppleTV has been something of a hobbiest’s toy up until now, being able to get cable through it would definitely be a game-changer. On the other hand, after seeing what Apple did to the music and publishing industries, the cable companies probably aren’t going to roll over easily on this one.
4. HP turns Palm into Gram.
   Fans of the old Palm WebOS rejoiced last week with word that HP was forming a subsidiary called Gram to manage the now fully open-source mobile platform, which they own. But don’t get too excited guys, because HP has also created another mobility unit which will apparently work on Windows tablets. At this point HP’s strategy appears to be: ?Yes, let’s do something with mobile… stuff.? They are also rumored to have ?the cloud…”
5. Square’s flat rate.
   In a bid to court small businesses, mobile payment provider Square has announced that it will begin offering flat rates for companies that are processing less than $250k in transactions through the service. Square normally takes a 2.75% cut of each transaction, but are now offering smaller users the option to pay $275 a month. That sounds like a lot to me, but people don’t offer me their credit card numbers a lot, so what do I know?
6. Facebook’s stock fall.
   Facebook’s stock took a huge hit Friday, tumbling to $19/share, half of what it was at the company’s Initial Public Offering in May. The plunge comes a day after the expiration of a lock-down period where early investors and insiders were required to hold onto their shares. Apparently once they were free to dump them, they did. Since Facebook went public it has taken a real beating in the stock market. I wonder if Mark Zuckerberg has updated his Linked In profile recently?
7. Washington state to enable Facebook voter registration.
   Washington state is poised to allow citizens to register to vote through Facebook. Washington was the second state in the US to allow online voter registration. I suppose this is the next logical step. At least half my Facebook friends already seem to think that ?Liking? Obama or Romney is equivalent to voting for them.
8. iPhone SMS spoofing.
   ?White hat hackers? (those are the good kind) have discovered an iPhone bug that allows someone to send text messages masquerading as any phone number. ?Black hat hackers? (those are the bad kind) might be able to use this technique to impersonate friends and extract personal information from iPhone users. So play it safe: when your friend starts texting you and asking for your credit card number and SSN, don’t give it to him.
9. Adobe announces Flash for Android is dead!
   Flash is dead. Long live Flash. Adobe pulled the Flash Player from the Google Play store this week, meaning it is no longer available for download for Android devices. For nearly a decade Flash was the technology of choice for doing things like animation or streaming video on the web. Things took a turn for the worse for Adobe’s platform after Apple spurned it by refusing to allow it on iOS. Last Christmas Adobe apparently saw the writing on the wall and announced that it would begin focusing on other technologies. If you already have Flash on your Android phone or tablet, it’s not going away, but many websites and apps are already steering away from using Flash towards sleeker, more reliable mobile-friendly technologies such as HTML5.
10. eBay to officially ban ?intangible? items, such as including ?spells, curses, hexes, conjuring, magic, prayers, blessing services, magic potions, healing sessions?.
    Bad news for enterprising Hogwarts students: Ebay has updated its selling policies to ban sales of “advice, spells, curses, hexing, conjuring, magic, prayers, blessing services, magic potions, [and] healing sessions,” beginning in September. In related news, Magical Ebay has reportedly banned sales of ?useless muggle items such as cars, power-tools and digital wristwatches.? This just in: this may be the nerdiest news item we have ever reported.
11. Publishers fight over whether or not to sell DRM-free (Digital Rights Management) eBooks.
    E-books outsold traditional hard-cover books for the first time in the first quarter of this year. They are now officially Big Business. Tor, the world’s largest science fiction publishing imprint announced in April that it would release all of it’s books without any Digital Rights Management. That announcement didn’t sit well with British publisher Hatchette UK, who this week sent out a letter to its authors gently suggesting that they are not okay with having books they sell with DRM sold DRM-free in another territory. Science fiction author, Boing-Boing editor and opponent of all things DRM Cory Doctorow lashed out at Hatchette, saying ?Hachette has balls the size of Mars if it thinks it can dictate what other publishers do with titles in territories where it has no rights.?
12. Cloud gaming service ?OnLive? has been sold.
    Cloud-based gaming service ?OnLive? announced Friday morning that it had laid off all 200 or so of its employees and sold all of its assets to a new owner. OnLive later issued a press release claiming that it would continue to offer all its services, that nearly half of its employees would be hired back, and that everything was ?business as usual’. Dissolving your entire company only to re-form it hours later doesn’t sound like ?business as usual’ to us.

Links we mentioned on today’s show:

• http://speedtest.net/

Bumper Music

• Violin Super Mario!!!!!
• Skrillex – Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites – Ferro Version (piano tutorial with sheet music)

This week Ray Hollister, Tom Braun, Kevin Clark, and Aaron Edelson discuss how Apple is changing the computer industry again, and not everyone is happy with it, iOS gets a lot of features that it should have already had, cheaters are told to go play by themselves, and one guy has played a video game so long he can see the future. All that and more, plus your questions, on this episode of Deemable Tech.

Deemable Tech – Episode 2

Hulu has announced that it has finally released the long-awaited Hulu Plus app on the Nintendo Wii. Now, Wii owners can dust off their Wii remotes, or take a break from Netflix (the only real reason most people still use their Wii) to download the new app from the Wii Shop Channel. If you’re not familiar with Hulu Plus, it is the premium version of the Hulu service that allows users to instantly stream television episodes and movies on mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, many Android devices, and the Kindle Fire and now on all gaming systems. For the same price per month ($7.99) as its more familiar archrival Netflix, Hulu Plus instantly streams movies and current season episodes of many hit shows like Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee and Modern Family. Yay! I can’t wait to watch Glee on my Wii! (Clears throat) Ahem. I mean, yeah, awesome. I can finally watch Friday Night SmackDown!

Source: Hulu Blog

On Tuesday, Sony unveiled its next-generation portable gaming device, the PlayStation Vita, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Sony President of Consumer Products, Kazuo Hirai, said that the PlayStation Vita will “revolutionize the portable entertainment experience.” As the heavily hyped successor to the PSP, the device looks like it will actually live up to the high standards that Sony has already set for its upcoming product.

The PlayStation Vita will feature a high-resolution, 5-inch multi-touch OLED touchscreen, 6-axis motion sensors, dual analog sticks, rear touch pad, dual front and back mounted cameras, built-in GPS, and will run on a quad-core ARM Cortex A9 Processor. Even more impressive, Sony announced that the Vita will give users the ability to enjoy continuous, uninterrupted gameplay by allowing for cross-platform play with compatible games on the PlayStation 3. According to Sony, there are over 80 titles already in development, and the company showed off the capabilities of the system with some of the top-tiered titles like a Diablo-like RPG game called Ruin.

Last but definitely not least, Sony revealed that the PlayStation Vita will start at the low price of $249 for the Wi-Fi only version and $299 for the 3G model, which AT&T will be the exclusive service provider for – much to the chagrin of the audience who openly booed the announcement. Price-wise, this means that the PlayStation Vita will be in direct competition to the Nintendo 3DS, which can’t really be considered in the same arena of portable gaming once the Vita is released later this year, just in time for the holiday season.

Photo via PlayStation

With Nintendo’s sales slumping due to the rise in popularity of the Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move, the company unveiled the prototype to it’s next-generation console, the Wii U, today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Nintendo opened their press conference with interactive demos of the system’s video gameplay, largely focusing the event on the Wii U’s revolutionary new controller.

Nintendo revealed throughout the keynote that games on the Wii U can either be played on the television or through the 6.2-inch touchscreen controller – which can display exactly what is on the TV, offer different camera angles, or allow the user to view a completely separate picture. The company’s executives made it clear that the Wii U is not a portable gaming device as the content is streamed wirelessly from the console to the controller.

The Wii U, unlike its predecessor, will feature High Definition graphics and to the jubilation of Wii owners, the console will be fully backward-compatible with all Wii games and accessories, such as the Wii Remote and Wii Fit board. The gaming system will also supply internal storage, plus the ability to upgrade memory by using SD cards and flash drives through its four USB 2.0 slots.

Additional features of the intuitive Wii U handheld controller will include:

• Motion sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Contoured grips with traditional directional pad, buttons, and analog joysticks (as well as the touchscreen controls)
• Built-in microphone, speakers, in-ward facing camera, and internet access

Gizmodo blogged about the Wii U controller:

“Nintendo showed it doing some seriously wild stuff: Attached to a gun it’s acting like a sight (kind of like Silent Scope), and in another demo, held portrait-style, it was a way to flick shuriken. In another, your holding up the controller like a shield to block pirate arrows. You can basically play an entirely different game on the touch controller than everybody else is playing on the big screen. Or use it for another view of what’s happening up on your TV. The possibilities do seem legit limitless. Multiplayer with Wiimotes is interesting?in one example, the touchscreen remote has a top-down view of the gaming, while everybody else plays normally with Wiimotes… It also does video chat, it’s web browser, and it mirrors photos/videos up on the TV.”

According to Nintendo, Wii U games will be released on “proprietary high-density optical discs”, and an assortment of games were announced for the console including Batman: Arkham City, an Assassin’s Creed game, Dirt, Ghost Recon Online, Tekken, Metro Last Light, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, Darksiders II, Lego City Stories, and a brand new entry in the highly popular Smash Bros. series.

The Wii U will be launched sometime in 2012, and gamers throughout the world will be patiently anticipating their opportunity to (hopefully not…) throw their Wii U controller through their expensive HDTV.

Photo by Vlad Savov via Engadget

After 22 grueling days of outage, gamers and users throughout the world can finally reconnect to the PlayStation Network after Sony carried out a phased restoration process. Although PlayStation store access won’t be restored until later, PSN’s reactivation restores online multiplayer and chat functions, friends list and trophy comparison functionality, PlayStation Home, and services like Hulu, Netflix, and MLB.tv. Once logging in, PSN users will be required to update to the latest 3.61 firmware and change their account passwords. Details about changing your password are provided below from the PlayStation Blog:

“If using a PS3, your password can only be changed on your own PS3 (or a PS3 on which your PSN account was activated), as an added layer of security. If you have never downloaded any content using your account on the system, an email will be sent to the registered sign-in ID (email address) associated with your account when you first attempt to sign-in to PSN. This e-mail will contain a link that will enable you to change your password. In this email, click on the link and follow the instructions to change your password. Once you have changed your password you can sign-in to your account using your new password.”

Down for over 3 weeks after hackers breached the network’s security, Sony had to rebuild the entire PlayStation Network with more advanced security technology, encryption, firewalls, and early-warning systems. The outage affected over 77 million users worldwide and, even worse, the security breach may have allowed for the hackers to steal personal credit and debit card information from over 24 million user accounts.

Kazuo Hirai, Sony Corporation’s Executive Deputy President, released a video statement on the PlayStation Blog providing more detailed information on the restoration of the PlayStation Network and the new security features being implemented.

To compensate for the long outage and compromise of account information, Sony is offering 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus service, which provides exclusive access to certain games and beta trials. To those users who are already subscribed to the PlayStation Plus service, an additional 30 days will be added for free. Sony Online Entertainment subscribers will also receive a special Welcome Back Program upon return.

At this point though, how many PSN users will even want to return to the network after the massive failure that Sony just dealt with?

Wii! Nintendo announced earlier this week that the successor to the popular Wii gaming console will be launched sometime after March of 2012. Although the Wii was already cheaper than its rival consoles, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3, Nintendo lowered the price of the gaming system even further from $199 to $169 on April 18th. Details and a playable model of the successor to the Wii console will be released at this year’s E3 Expo (held from June 7th to June 9th) where the computer and video game industries showcase their latest and greatest to fans and the media.

The broad appeal of the Wii to friends and family, the use of Motion Controllers with built-in accelerometers instead of the traditional gaming controller, and Nintendo’s throwback to developing games that were actually fun to play made the system the most successful console release of its generation, selling over 86 million units compared to the 53 million units sold of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and 49.5 million units sold for the Sony PlayStation 3.

There are many rumors flying around about what the Wii 2 has to offer, but one thing is for certain: Nintendo always brings gaming to another level.

Official Press Release

April 25, 2011

To whom it may concern:

Re: Wii’s Successor System

Nintendo Co., Ltd. has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii, which the company has sold 86.01 million units on a consolidated shipment basis between its launch in 2006 and the end of March 2011.

We will show a playable model of the new system and announce more specifications at the E3 Expo, which will be held June 7-9, 2011, in Los Angeles.

Sales of this new system have not been included in the financial forecasts announced today for the fiscal term ending March 2012.

 

 

Photo by Vlad Savov via Engadget

Nazi Zombies, you are free to roam the earth for a little while longer as Sony’s PlayStation Network has been out of service since 4/20.

The PlayStation Network is Sony’s equivalent to Xbox LIVE, which allows for PlayStation 3 users to download games, download or stream movies and music, and have access to other services. More importantly, the network serves as the infrastructure for people to connect and play each other in multiplayer games such as Call of Duty. Oddly enough, the network failure happened to coincide with the release of several brand new games including Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, SOCOM 4, and inFAMOUS 2’s beta release. While access to the network is free, content such as Netflix must be paid for by users, leaving them wondering whether they will be reimbursed if the outage lasts any longer.

A little over a year ago, Sony users of the non-slim PS3 had a similar outage on their PlayStation Network that was “caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.” Patrick Seybold, the Senior Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media, posted a message yesterday on Sony’s PlayStation Blog that said, “While we are investigating the cause of the Network outage, we wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we’re able to get the service completely back up and running. Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter. Please stay tuned to this space for more details, and we’ll update you again as soon as we can.”

While there are an estimated 70 million users on the network worldwide, Sony is unable to clarify how many people are currently affected by the outage. However, players from all over the world have taken their Zombie rage to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to express their displeasure with Sony. Got some spare time since you can’t own some newbs? Check out some of the tweets found by a quick search of #PSN on Twitter.

– Update 4/23 –

Patrick Seybold has made another post on the PlayStation Blog regarding the ongoing issue:

“An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.”

Photo by Charlie Sorrel via Wired

Angry Birds is a fun, puzzling game with a cute story line. Though it is a simple game, it has more than 9,500 reviews in the App Store with a four star rating or above. Angry birds has 240 levels and five episodes, plus the famous Golden Egg levels. In this game you use catapults to shoot birds of different shapes and colors at the green pigs. The green pigs have taken the birds’ eggs! this makes them mad… Angry Birds! Pop the pigs and get your eggs back. Angry Birds is very addicting and is the best game of the year! One reviewer wrote, the “Most Addicting best game ever!” I can certainly tell why he said that, and quite frankly I agree. I bought Angry Birds over a year ago, and I still wake up and play it every morning. Other reviewers wrote, “As if I’m not on my phone enough, I just cant put it down!”, and “This game is the bomb, it’s challenging and takes you to levels you never thought possible!”. Angry Birds starts out as an easy-going game and slowly works its way up in difficulty, but if you get stuck on a level while playing on your iPhone or iPod, there is an in-app purchase called the mighty eagle. This purchase gives you the ability to “fly” through any difficulties you may be having in the game. When you use the eagle, you catapult a fish cookie and a eagle stops in and destroys all the pigs. If you use the eagle, it has a recharge time of one hour; you can advance one level per hour or more! This game is highly addictive, extremely fun, and may never get old! Angry Birds is available on Android, Web OS and iOS.