Re: [CGUYS] VHS to DVD question
I have a Panasonic VCR-DVD unit and my Mac mini Superdrive can read the DVD-R recordings it produces. Make sure you "finalize" the DVD-R's. In the case of the Panasonic, it can play material recorded on non-finalized DVD-R's, but the DVD-R's won't play in Mac mini (it doesn't read them at all) until the DVD-R is finalized in the Panasonic DVD player. Scott I picked up a Samsung combination VCR-DVR to transfer old VHS home videos to DVDs. It worked, but only sorta. The transfer quality is OK, and the Samsung can play them, but none of my PCs recognize them--they all say "Insert disk" when I try to do anything. This means I can't edit or make backups. Support queries to Samsung remain unanswered. I'm no video expert, so does anyone have any ideas? I used the DVD-Rs that came with the unit (yes, the PC drives do support DVD-R). Would a different format make a difference? Or what? TIA * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] No netbook for you!
When I was a kid, I can the vacuum tube tester at the local Radio Shack. It was as self-service machine with a bunch of tube sockets on the top. My parents had an old David Bogen pre-amp with tubes (as part of a mono system) and I used to find it frustrating to wait for the thing to warm up. I now experience similar frustration every workday when I restart or shutdown my work-issued Windows laptop. Scott From: Roger D. Parish I'm surprised that vacuum tubes are still being manufactured! I know people collect them from going to estate auctions. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Iraqi attack imminent - radio network
I remember reading about the DC Area Emergency Radio Network (DCERN). I just did a search and found that the group was put together to establish a casual "network" that would communicate using the readily-available Family Radio Service (FRS) handheld radios. I think the idea was to have tests of the network at a regular interval - like Sunday night at 8:30pm. At the designated time, participants turn on the radio, tune it to channel 1 and see how many people they can contact. In the event of some emergency or natural disaster neighbors could share information via a communication mode independent of the cell/landline phone network. The original page for the group: http://www.adlerbooks.com/radio.html (a different link, http://www.dcradio.org appears to be dead.) The Yahoo groups page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dcern/ Scott From: Constance Warner To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 7:23:45 PM Subject: Re: [CGUYS] Iraqi attack imminent Wonder if anybody else remembers this--shortly after 9/11, a lot of people in this [National Capitol] area were buying off-the-shelf walkie-talkies. They're short-range, but the idea was that you could get a message through to a distant destination via other cooperating walkie-talkie owners. This kind of thing will get you into all kinds of trouble with the FCC, but at the time, nobody gave a flying about what the FCC thought. On 9/11, I was 2 subway stops away from the Pentagon--you could see the smoke out the window--and available communications channels were slow or jammed. I don't know who thought of the walkie-talkie idea--Vox Populi, maybe. I never had to test this idea, but in the spirit of the times, I think it might have worked. We later used ours to coordinate a convoy with my brother on a road trip to North Carolina --Constance Warner * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] xm radio
I think you are referring to the "Best of Sirius" extra-cost option available to XM customers. I believe it will allow you to listen to the formerly "exclusive to Sirius" programming featuring Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, et al. More to your point, when Howard Stern was first signed to Sirius, subscribers had to pay an extra amount to get the Howard Stern channels, so that group of listeners would be a rough "listening audience" figure for his shows. I don't know if Sirius eventually included Howard Stern in all subscription packages as part of re-pricing effort. XM did to that a while ago with Opie & Anthony. They raised the basic package rate, and included what were formerly extra cost items (Opie & Anthony and online listening.) The group of listeners who have paid to purchase the extra-cost programming probably forms the number used to describe the listening audience. There are also online listening options for both Sirius and XM subscribers, but I believe that the online listening options mirror those on the satellite line-up (e.g., you pay extra for Howard Stern and the other personalities.) Thus, that listening group is going to equal the size of the radio listening audience. I doubt that the satellite units transmit info back to the company. I can't remember the issue date, but an article in 2600 some time ago described the process XM used to enable/disable satellite receivers. Basically, XM transmits a key to the individual radio (e.g. when you sign up for service you are instructed to leave the satellite receiver on for several hours) with a command to enable or disable programming. If you cancel the service (or report your radio stolen) XM will transmit a signal that disables your specific radio. That signal has to be run up to the satellite and/or through the XM terrestrial repeaters. There is probably plenty of stuff on the web about that, but I haven't looked around. I have had XM service since 2005 and I am still getting used to the channel changes instituted on 11/12/08 as part of the XM-Sirius merger. In some cases the playlist/music appears to be the same with just a different channel name and number assigned. In other cases the channel changes appear to be more substantive. xm and sirius are now ONE. the channels have been scrambled, and i now have the thrill of listening to HS on XM receiver, if i so choose. i wondered, because i wonder how large his audience to be. At 09:50 AM 11/14/2008, you wrote: >No. Howard Stern is on Sirius. > >On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 9:13 AM, gerald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> can xm radio track my listening habits? do they know how many are listening >> to howard stern? * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] [Fwd: TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT]
It looks like a phishing email and a WHOIS search for the owner of the i12.com domain turned up an organization in the UK. Of course, the classic sign is the plain request for your password. You shouldn't reply, but forward the email to Starpower's abuse reporting email address. Scott - Original Message From: Judy Cosler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 9:18:44 AM Subject: [CGUYS] [Fwd: TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT] is this real looks like it, but never been asked for password before! Original Message Subject: TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:38:36 -0500 (CDT) From: Starpower Webmaster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Dear Subscriber, TERMINATION OF YOUR STARPOWER WEBMAIL ACCOUNT We are currently carrying out an upgrade on our system due to the fact that it has come to our notice that one or more of our subscribers are introducing a very strong virus into our system and it is affecting our network.We are trying to find out the specific person. For this reason all subscribers are to provide their USER NAME AND PASSWORD for us to verify and have them cleared against this virus. Failure to comply will lead to the termination of your Account in the next 48 hours. Information to send; EMAIL ADDRESS: USERNAME: PASSWORD: Hoping to serve you better. Sincerely, Starpower Support This is an Administrative Message from Starpower internet. It is not spam. From time to time,Starpower. will send you such messages in order to communicate important information about your subscription. © 2008 RCN Digital Services, LLC. All rights reserved. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] video compression
I currently have Cox internet and analog cable TV service (basic and expanded lineup) and when I purchased a digital TV at the beginning of the year and installed it, I was able to watch the HD version of the local broadcast stations as well as the regular signal fed through with the analog lineup. For example, DC's channel 4 is 34 on the Cox analog channel lineup, but I was also able to view channels 4-1 and 4-2 after I set up my digital television. It was great to watch the Super Bowl in higher definition. A few months ago, I experienced some internet service drops and a tech came out for service call. He changed out a splitter in the house and got everything working again. But after that visit, the digital versions of local broadcasts appeared very infrequently, most of the time they didn't have a signal. I called Cox back again a couple weeks ago and asked them about the local digital channels that were missing and they sent out a tech. The tech looked everything over and told me that since I had analog cable, I wasn't supposed to receive the digital versions of the broadcast stations. He didn't explain anything very clearly, but what I took away from the exchange was that I wouldn't get the local digital broadcasts unless I upgraded to digital cable. Somewhere in the conversation he said that someone at Cox, or the earlier tech had probably done something to squelch the digital versions of the local broadcasts in my channel lineup. I told him that I could also just put in an antenna and a switch and get the channels OTA. I'll add my two cents to the discussion by saying that the analog lineup has been slowly shrinking. I sometimes get the feeling that Cox is going to pull the plug on it someday. Scott - Original Message From: Richard P. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 3:45:24 PM Subject: Re: [CGUYS] video compression >From what I've seen, Cox is constantly dropping analog channel programming and moving that programming over to digital. At some point I figure the only thing they'll have left on analog will be 3 or 4 network channels. Richard P. > Drop channels? When have they ever really dropped a significant > portion of channels. The cable is already crowded. They need to shoe > horn more material into that limited bandwidth. Media General used to > use two lines to get all the channels out to Fairfax county prior to > the last rebuild and takeover by COX. > > Look at the satellite groups lots of people complain about the quality > of HDTV compared with the OTA signal. FIOS is the only one with > bandwidth to spare right now. > >> >> And cable/fios companies don't re-compress source material - why would >> they when they have no trouble sending hundreds of channels? They just >> drop a channel to make room. >> >> > * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Signs of the arrival of FIOS
Thanks for the information Eric, and thanks to everyone else for their observations. The ability to have some basic service in the event of a long-term power outage does seem pretty important. All the discussion of cheap, basic phone lines made me recall the cost-saving choices made by a friend's parents who didn't want to pay as much for a residential phone line. They had a party line. I can recall being at their house and picking up the phone to call someone, and I was always surprised hear someone already on the line. Probably the worst thing about sharing the party line with my friend's family was the fact that has father used to bring a very early version of a computer with a modem home from work (it had a keyboard, a printer, and a "modem" that was hooked up by placing the phone handset into two rubber cups.) His sons were budding programmers and they used to use that thing a lot late at night. Probably drove their party line "parties" nuts. I don't remember when party lines were phased out, but this was all back before the Bell System was broken up. Scott - Original Message From: Eric S. Sande <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 2:15:18 PM Subject: Re: [CGUYS] Signs of the arrival of FIOS >In the past I have tried to get info on this kind of service and found >nothing. I wanted to get it for my 90 year old Mom who never uses the >phone and should not be wasting her social secutity check on enriching >the phone company. I think "lifesaver" is an urban myth disseminated by >Verizon to make us think they are less evil. Ir's called "Lifeline". Check it out here www.lifelinesupport.org . * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
[CGUYS] Signs of the arrival of FIOS
While walking my dogs the other evening I noticed that many of the utility poles in my subdivision have looped or coiled black cables taped onto them. Some of the coils have an end that goes up to the level where the phone lines are installed. I took a look at one loop of cable and it had a red plastic "Verizon" marker. The cable sheath has "Corning Optical" and some other markings. Some of the cables run into rectangular boxes that are about 2ft long. The next day I looked around some more and it appears that the newer cable has been installed along quite a lot of the runs in the few blocks around my house. My guess is that FIOS is being installed in my subdivision, but I am curious about two things: 1) With all the recent list discussion of the removal of the POTS copper lines during a FIOS installation, what is the make-up of the lines that run along the poles after the work that I am seeing performed? 2) Does the old copper remain on the poles to provide service to homes along the way that aren't switched to FIOS? Thanks, Scott __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] solar battery chargers
Has anyone on the list heard of Citizenre? http://renu.citizenre.com/
Someone told me about this company a couple years ago. They rent solar panels
to homeowners and the electricity produced by the panels is offset against the
amount of power purchased from the power company. I don't think my house would
work because of the way it is oriented.
You have to live in a state or jurisdiction that allows net-metering (credit
for power sold back to the power company). Other restrictions, of course,
apply.
The company sends someone out to your house to make sure it is a suitable
location: ("Your house should have a roof with enough space to accommodate the
REnU as well as have an unobstructed, south facing flat or sloped roof. This
may not always be necessary; however, in order to ensure that you are eligible,
this prerequisite should be adhered to.")
The homeowner rents the panels for a fixed term (1, 5 or 25 years). The rent
paid for the panel depends on the amount of power the panel will produce.
Also from the FAQ:
Q. What exactly do I pay? How is that calculated?
A. You pay a flat monthly rent for the use of the solar equipment. For that
rent, you get to use all the electricity that your system produces. You are
actually producing your own power from the sun. Our system designer will go
through your past energy bills. Then, if you are interested, they will walk
through your house and show you how to save energy.
Taking all this into consideration, they will calculate how much electricity
your REnU will need to produce in order to best serve your needs. They will
then design the system to supply that energy. You simply pay a flat monthly
rent. Because of our Performance Guarantee, you have no worries. The system
will work as promised or your monthly rent will be reduced accordingly through
an audit at the end of the year.
FAQ section is: http://renu.citizenre.com/index.php?p=edu_faq
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
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Re: [CGUYS] Survey Help Needed
I have received online surveys that were put together using: http://www.surveymonkey.com/ The basic service is free but is limited to 100 responses per survey and 10 questions per survey. If you only need to survey a small group the free service might be what you need. Scott - Original Message From: Tom Piwowar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Sent: Thursday, August 9, 2007 10:05:36 PM Subject: Re: [CGUYS] Survey Help Needed 1&1.com (an ISP) includes survey software in many of their service packages. Using their software can create the survy and then imbed a link to the survey in a web page. So it can be made to look like the survey is yours. Their software can generate a summary of the answers and can also give you a CSV file that goes into Excel. You can get their service for $5/month. I have used it. The survey creation part of the software has a poor user interface, but is usable after you get used to it. >I need to send an email out to several companies with a customer support >type survey. The desire is to send something they can fill out and >return online. Can someone suggest a good way to do this sort of >thing? Or is there a service online someplace that will do this so I >can just send folks a link? Note: I know there are interactive PDFs >around but I am fairly certain the boss won't spring for the purchase of >the software for this one-time activity. * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived Be a better Heartthrob. Get better relationship answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545433 * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived
