podcasting for real computer users

Episode 13 (1mb)

2006-06-21T22:38:00.000-04:00

the final episode of pcpodcasting.

macs with intel

using ipods to restore your data

picasa web albums

and the upcoming timeout4tech.com (coming this week as well as the techrabbi.com forums.

Google Releases Picasa Photo Organizer For Linux - Yahoo! News

2006-05-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

Google Releases Picasa Photo Organizer For Linux - Yahoo! News

for those who love linux, but don't have time to figure out gimp. . .use picasa.

Episode 12 (4.1mb) - Firefox browser

2006-04-14T23:24:00.000-04:00

firefox definition

firefox is not just a fad anymore. in this episode, the e-rabbi and byerspc discuss open source, security of firefox (better than internet explorer), multiple search engines built into the browser without multiple toolbars, tabbed browsing (ctrl + tab), live bookmarks, extensions (e-rabbi's favorites: adblock & adblock plus, gmail manager, reload every, stumble upon, & adsense notifier) as well as the former slow speed issues which can be resolved with the fasterfox extension & the firefox preloader.

from thetechhead (regarding the security of open source software):
There are 2 schools of thought on Security with open source software and most side with the fact that it is secure because the code is exposed and challenged by many. The other thought is that source that is not openly viewable is more secure because it is harder to find the weaknesses in the code because reverse engineering techniques would be required.

I of course side with the first idea that more eye balls on the code amounts to more scrutiny and therefore better code. If you looks at the vulnerability reports, IE 6 has been out for how long now? There have been hardly any changes to the code yet we are still seeing vulnerabilities come out for it time and time again. If the code for IE 6 was made publicly available I think more of the problems would be found up front.

The other problems with IE are that it has its hooks into the OS and because of that, any exploit in code can result in vulnerabilities that have increased security risk and of course the infamous problems with ActiveX which essentially runs outside of a protected sand box to do anything to your computer.

Episode 11 (4.6mb)

2006-03-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

originally recorded march 16th.

free web hosting ideas:

microsoft office live - http://techrabbi.net/
googlepages - http://melvinist.googlepages.com/
blogger - you're looking at it.

a comparison chart for these 3 options can be found at http://techrabbi.net/evaluation.aspx

final four picks are listed below. check out ncaa.daveandnic.com
e-rabbi: texas, gonzaga, nc, villanova - gonzaga and nc in finals - nc national champions again.
byerspc: iowa, ucla, nc, boston college - ucla and boston college in finals - ucla national champions.

email us your topic suggestions: pcpodcasting@gmail.com

check this out

2006-03-13T16:25:00.000-05:00

this should come bundled with a video ipod: video glasses.

ncaa bracket challenge

2006-03-13T10:13:00.000-05:00

it is that time of year again. please follow this link to make your picks.

Episode 10 - Free Stuff (3.8mb)

2006-02-22T01:28:00.000-05:00

after a short hiatus, we have returned to bring you episode 10 of pcpodcasting. in this episode, the e-rabbi and byerspc discuss some free web ideas (protopage and 30 boxes) and a free alternative to microsoft office (openoffice.org) with built-in pdf creator. they also explore a cool feature of adobe acrobat reader and a quick way to navigate back and forth in a browser with the help of your mouse.

Episode 9 - Laptops continued - 5.2mb

2006-01-12T14:44:00.000-05:00

laptops continued.

the e-rabbi and byerspcteacher give considerations and recommendations for purchasing a laptop.

Episode 8 - Laptops (4.8mb)

2005-12-02T18:47:00.000-05:00

in episode 8, the e-rabbi and byerspcteacher discuss some basics for choosing a laptop. episode 9 is an extension to this podcast and will be available soon.

the first question to answer when choosing a laptop is, "what all do you want to do with a laptop?" the answer to this question will help you determine what you need to get and which models to look at.

in this podcast, byerspcteacher gives his recommended specs for laptops for

basic users (college students, home users, etc.)
gamers
users wanting to produce multimedia

as well as his 3 top brand pics.

Episode 7 (8mb)

2005-11-11T12:24:00.000-05:00

here is a more in-depth look at spyware, adware and malware by the techhead.

Episode 6 (2.8mb)

2005-11-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

episode 6 covers spyware and adware. below are links to the recommended software:

episode 7 is a more in-depth look at this topic by the tech-head.

leave us voicemail

2005-11-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

we recorded for episode 6, but it might be a couple days before the podcast is released. in the meanwhile, if you have a question you can either email it to us (pcpodcasting@gmail.com) or you can leave free gizmo voicemail to user pcpodcasting. to leave voicemail, download the free gizmo project client and add the user pcpodcasting. right click on the username and select "leave voicemail". you will need a microphone to record the voicemail. it will be emailed to us and we might use the audio in a future recording.

more later. . .

Episode 5

2005-10-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

Episode 5 - recording audio

Equipment for recording audio:

1) Input

Stand alone microphone
Wireless microphone with receiver
(we use an older Shure model, but would recommend these models for churches and conferences. for cost effective options, consider this source.)
For more information on wireless equipment/frequencies, please view these pages: page 1 page 2.

2) Recording

Creative Nomad Jukebox
Tape Deck
Computer (with decent audio card)

Software:

Creative Playcenter (comes with Creative hardware)
MP3 Kit ($19.99)
Audacity (free) vs. Goldwave ($55 Canadian)
Adobe Audition ($299 standard - $139.99 with educational discount)

Look for multimedia demos coming soon for tips regarding noise reduction and normalization.

Episode 4

2005-10-18T23:11:00.000-04:00

episode 4 of pcpodcasting has been released. in this episode, the e-rabbi and byerspcteacher discuss:

iTunes 6 (link)
video ipod (link)
palm tx (link)
user feedback. please give more: pcpodcasting@gmail.com

Having issues with episode 3?

2005-10-16T14:38:00.000-04:00

i was informed today that a listener was having an issue getting episode 3 to download into itunes. i downloaded the latest version of itunes (6.0.0.18), unsubscribed and then re-subscribed and didn't seem to have this issue. if you are unable to pull it down into itunes, consider clicking on the title in the previous post and downloading it that way. episode 4 should be finished this week and i hope to check into this issue again after that release. if you have had an issue with this, please add a comment to this post so we can attempt to troubleshoot the cause.

our plan is to change the podcast format slightly, reduce the length of each episode, and post more often (once or twice a week). please share your feedback with us either through comments to this blog or by email. we are also planning to open another avenue of communication soon that will allow listeners to submit audio questions that will be answered on the podcast.

more later. . .

Episode 3

2005-09-20T23:43:00.000-04:00

episode 3 of pcpodcasting has been released. in this episode, the e-rabbi and byerspcteacher discuss:

gadgets (ipod nano and dj ditty)
software (nattyware's pixie and aoe 3 demo)
google (adsense and blogsearch)
big 10 football (iowa at osu, michigan at wisconsin, and penn state at northwestern)

News Update

2005-09-14T10:08:00.000-04:00

The software world is changing rapidly. Check out some of these new sites as the Microsoft and Google battles continue.
Microsoft's "Google Like" homepage
Microsoft's answer to picasa
Google answers with a new blog search

THE DEMO IS OUT!!!!

2005-09-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

AOE III

New Ipod

2005-09-07T14:31:00.000-04:00

New Ipod Nano is now available. Part shuffle, part ipod mini, part ipod photo and very small. Hey maybe the will change some of their pricing structure. We can hope anyway :-)

Apple also released a new version of Itunes

Episode 2

2005-09-01T22:38:00.000-04:00

episode 2 of pcpodcasting has just been released. in this episode, we covered audio mixing software, voice messaging software, pc vs. mac, gaming at the ericksons, buckeye football (quarterback situation), lions football (stinks as always), and does anyone care about hockey anymore?

the one link mentioned in the podcast was www.feedvalidator.org where you can check your rss and podcast feeds. make sure you check yours before going live.

software mentioned can be found at the following links: skype, gizmo project, google talk, goldwave, audacity and audition.

Great Deals

2005-08-31T21:53:00.000-04:00

CompUSA deals!

Google is up to something.

2005-08-25T18:38:00.000-04:00

Well our last podcast we were going to upload had some issues so we expect to try again this weekend. Dave has also worked lots and slept little trying to meet some deadlines this week.

Have you seen the new google talk mentioned on The TechHead's blog. www.google.com/talk. It is pretty simple and will probably grow quickly.

If you haven't looked into a google personalized homepage you may want to try that out. www.google.com/ig you just need a google account and you can customize RSS feeds etc.

Google has also just released their new latest desktop search tool which also comes with a sidebar application similar to those originally shown on early Longhorn screenshots. http://desktop.google.com/features.html#sidebar

Maybe it is just me but it seems like google is ahead of everyone right now....watch out Microsoft.

-Byerspcteacher

TheTechHead Blog has Started

2005-08-22T23:40:00.000-04:00

I have my blog up and running now.

Check it out at http://supreme-techhead.blogspot.com

Episode 1

2005-08-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

welcome to episode 1 of pcpodcasting.

in today's podcast we covered the basics of podcasting: what it is and how to do it. there are several sites that will describe the complexities of podcasting, but it all boils down to 4 steps:

record - using any recording software you like. we used audacity to record today's podcast.
store - anywhere on the net that you have space. we use ourmedia.org. . .which can also be used for posting and feeds.
post - to a blog such as blogger.com (which we are obviously using).
feed - get a feed to your media through ourmedia or feedburner (which we use--see link on the right).

we also discussed the advantages of using a pocket pc over using a palm and the potential future of the palm empire.

the podcast was wrapped up with a discussion of big 10/11 football where mbyers predicted that northwestern will have a 4-7 season (defeating ohio, n. illinois, illinois and upsetting a good team) and that michigan will lose 3 games. the e-rabbi predicted osu would go 8-3 losing to texas, minnesota, and michigan.

first post

2005-08-11T11:41:00.000-04:00

just getting started on this blog. hope to run some tests here soon.