November 06 Tech Update: The "Vista Lives!" Edition

Some people love opening gifts. Me? I have enjoyed opening boxes and boxes of upgrades. Ah the smell of a newly printed bifold package. The rumble of three tape cassettes in a box. Mmm.. the super slowness of a progress loading bar as it just won’t freaking get to 100% fast enough. Oh the holidays are full of such wonders!

Steve’s Word Of The Month:

Playshifting

Definition: This is a term used to describe the watching of a TV program, or listening to a radio program as well, through a device like a DVR [Digital Video Recorder] at a completely different time and place than it’s usual airing. A Tivo or Slingbox are two such devices that allow you to view your media on the road or from different places in your home. A new cool thing is the ability to see Direct TV from just about anywhere in the US as long as you face South. See what I mean from the link below.

Direct TV On The Go:

http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/29/directv-sat-go-the-portable-directv-satellite-television/

~ Roy’s Toy Box

Submitted by yours truly.. Ranger1138.

Internet Explorer 7 in No Add On mode.

This tip is for those of you who use Internet Explorer 7. And it’s really important for those of you who use Zoom Text.

Kelly Ford offered that if you are having problems reading web pages in IE7 you can try and view those pages with all the “Add On” modules disabled. Macromedia Flash got you down? Bam! It’s not loaded when using this option. Here’s how to do this cool feature.

From the Desktop:

Right click or use your application key on the Internet Explorer icon. Select “Start with no Add Ons”.

From the Start Menu.

Choose All Programs then Accessories. From there go to System Tools and find “Internet Explorer with No Add Ons”.

Now this is very important for Zoom Text users. ZT reads Internet Explorer via an Add On module known as the AHOI system. Running IE7 with no Add Ons means you have no speech, App Reader or any other advanced functions in IE7. The same thing happens to you if you disable the Add On in IE6 by the way.

Blogging resources.

http://www.pronetadvertising.com/articles/my-50-favorite-blogging-resources.html

Lightning Round!

Everything is just in a Hodge Podge lump in the list below. Vista stuff is at the bottom on top of the Apple stories.

` JAWS 8.0: Here’s the process I used with some success for updating JAWS to 8.0.

* Use the program CD to load JAWS then restart.

* Keep the program CD in the disc tray and load the Training Materials when prompted. I have seen it ask for ILM right after boot as well. Your call on which to do first.

* Load the Realspeak CD. The Typical install option will load all the voices. You will have to restart the machine.

* Now start the new copy of JAWs .. and update it with the new patch that came out Monday.

` Norton Anti Virus: Check out this article on the fix to a fix on backing up your system.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6139260.html

` Sony’s sound through skin: I wanted wireless headphones but this just sounds creepy. Use your own body to conduct the signals from the player to your headphones. See more in the link below.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061128-8302.html

` Talking Crayons Perfect for the Blind parents of children or Blind Children themselves.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/9002079.html

` Vista Adoption: An analyst predicts that the Vista adoption rate will be faster than Windows XP. Read more from Ars in the link below.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061128-8307.html

` Direct X 10: This is more of an information article on DX10.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/11/30/directx10_future_of_pc_gaming/1.html

` Apple Prototypes: See what never made it past the planning stages. And no they are not all Newton knock offs.

http://www.applegazette.com/mac/httpwwwapplegazettecomwp-adminpostphpactioneditpost272/

Side Note- I felt so bad about the bad press for the Zune that I almost bought one for my new Hard Drive player. It had a big bright back lit screen with color schemes quite like a hand held video magnifier. But Dell said one price and then try to charge me another. With my new found discount to make me be happy that I was still buying a Dell I chose the Archos 604 instead. For just pure entertainment value I give you a review of the Zune, that doesn’t work with Vista yet by the way, and the Archos unit I did purchase.

Zune Review:

http://winsupersite.com/reviews/zune.asp

Archos 604 Review

http://reviews.cnet.com/Archos_604_30GB/4505-6499_7-32027903.html