Geekcast #18

Play Now -->

DATE : Wed, 06 Apr 2005 21:40:17 GMT
Entered in Database : 2005-04-06 17:40:17
length : 19351680
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Geekcast #18

Show Notes:

Teaser

Intro Music.

Summary of podcast.
Contact info.

Items of note:

Get your tech question answered on the show. Send mp3 attachments of your question to geekcast@gmail.com and it will be featured on the "Ask A Geek" segment.

You can now reach the Geekcast via Skype. Feel free to leave a message. I am under the username Geekcast on there.

Please help spread the word about the Geekcast. Vote for the show at podcast alley and digital podcast. Lets try to get the Geekcast to #1 on Podcast alley. I'm currently ranked 24th in the Technology segment and 88 overall. Remember if you vote, I will send you a Gmail invitation.

If you have a podcast and would like to trade show plugs, please e-mail me and we can set something up.

**************

Tech news:

Google has added satellite images to their map service. When you search for an area, you can now click a link on the page that will change the map to a satellite image of the area you want to see. Available for more than 2/3 of the country, this service used to be a paid service through the company Keyhole. Google purchased Keyhole last October.

The Mac mini is now available at Best Buy. Currently Best Buy carries no Apple products except the iPod line. When looking at computers, the casual consumer will be drawn to the mini's low price, small form factor, and the obvious advantages to using an alternative operating system.

GMail now has anti-phishing tools built in. When a Gmail user opens a suspected phishing message, the software displays a large red dialog box stating: "Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information." The service also provides a hyperlink to information on Gmail's help pages about e-mail fraud.

**************

How To: Get around registering for websites

When I want to read an article on the New York Times' website or read a message board I'm only going to visit once, I hate having to register. While the site is free, my information is a high price to pay for what I want to read. Registering for websites exposes your e-mail address to possible spammers and your personal information for snail-mail spam and phone calls. How to avoid this? Use Bug Me Not.

Bug me not is a website where people post their login names and passwords for various websites for anyone to use. You simply visit www.bugmenot.com and type in the URL of the site you wish to access. You will then be given usernames and passwords to use. My personal success rate with bug me not has been around 90%.

To add to the convenience to this great service, bug me not has developed a Firefox extention that will do the lookup for you and automatically populate the fields of the login window. Once installed in Firefox you right-click the login name text box and select the option called Bugmenot. The extention handles the rest.

Bugmenot is 100% free and works great. I highly recommend it for any users out there who value their privacy. Find out more at www.bugmenot.com


**************
Music: Vain Glorious- Shine

http://www.vainglorious.net


**************

Ask A Geek:

Paul asks: What is 'DRM' and why does it seem that there are lots of effort by people to break it? I'm just curious why Apple is trying to push this 'DRM' thing, I've no idea what it is or how it works.


DRM, or Digital Rights Management, has made a lot of news lately with the latest iTunes hack from the well-known DVD Jon. DRM is a security system for computer files. It protects files from being copied or moved or anything else its creator wishes. By wrapping a security system around a file, the people who get the files are limited in what they can do with them. This is why if you buy a song from the iTunes Music Store, you can only burn it 7 times. The security system (the DRM) protects the file. By creating this DRM scheme, music studios are able to breathe easier about files not being shared once bought.

On the other side of the argument, people are always trying to break DRM security because of fair use. Fair use exists as a way for the average person to use things. When you tape a song off the radio, that is okay because it is fair use of your equipment. Ripping a CD to your computer is fair use as well because you are trying to listen to the music in your PC. There are people dead-set against DRM and to fight this, they try to break the security. Usually when this is done two things happen:

1. The company alters the DRM and 'breaks' the method used by the hackers so it no longer works.

2. The company gets out the lawyers and files lawsuits.

So in essence, DRM is good for companies, limits end-users, and is the enemy of freedom fighters. A balance should be struck for all sides that is fair to all parties involved.

**************

Hack:

Segment will return on a future edition of the Geekcast.

**************

The geek's view:

GMail

When Google announced a free e-mail service on April 1, 2004 everyone thought it was an April fools joke. The service was by invitation-only and would give you a whopping 1 gigabyte limit in storage. Eventually, everyone realized Gmail was real and indeed gave every user a huge limit in storage. Comparisons to other free services were a joke because they could not match Google. Hotmail at the time offered only two megabytes of storage and charged you if you wanted more.

A year later, Google's Gmail is still THE way to go. An added incentive to get an account is the latest bump in storage to two gigabytes and that limit is increasing by approximately 3.5 megabytes per day. The features of Gmail are immense. All messages from people are shown in 'conversations' that make it a thread like a messageboard, which is great for group lists and it also decreases inbox clutter. Built into the system is Google's famous search so you can search your messages for any content you wish.

The XML coding that Google uses has an auto-refresh feature so you do not have to refresh the page manually. You can also access GMail via POP on any program and also have the messages forwarded to any other address. While still technically in beta, Gmail is inching closer to prime-time but is still invitation-only.

If you can get your hands on an invitation (there's plenty out there) definitly check it out at www.gmail.com


**************
Contact info.

Outro music / sound clip.

Play in your Iphone