Links
and Information from Past Shows
(Here's
where to check for links and other information discussed
by the Technology Tailor. Note: Links referred to
on this page are not associated in any way with WGN
Radio. Thus, we cannot be responsible for the nature
or accuracy of the content found on the sites.)
You
can read excerpts and see the table of contents from
Alex's first book, Going Digital: Simple
Tools and Techniques for Sharing and Enjoying your
Digital Photos and Home Movies here:
http://www.technologytailor.com/goingdigitalbook.php
Going
Digital is available for purchase online here:
Going
Digital: Simple Tools and Techniques for Sharing and
Enjoying Your Digital Photos and Home Movies.
Saturday,
2/3/07 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor:
A
Big Week for Microsoft
Microsoft
finally released Vista
this week, after four years on the market. Also, a
brand new Microsoft
Office 2007 was released. Alex took your calls
about whether or not you'd upgrade to these products.
Podcasting
Alex
chatted with Adam Lowe, aka Mr.
Manners, about his weekly podcast. The Mr. Manners
Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life podcast
helps you improve your manners via quick, snippet-like
audio instructions. Want to know how to politely split
the bill when dining out with friends? How about how
to practice phone etiquette? Or how to pass gas politely?
Mr. Manners has the answer for you.
Next
up, Alex talked with Craig Aichele, one of the hosts
of Chicago's only Bears-centric podcast, the Bearscast.
Craig and his cohosts have been releasing podcasts
twice a week that debate, discuss, and analyze the
NFC Champion Chicago Bears. The Bearscast is part
of the Chicago
Sportscast Network, which also produces a podcast
for the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks.
Saturday,
1/27/07 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor:
Are
You Ready for some Football (in HD)?!
Mike
Abt of Abt
Electronics joined Alex to discuss the surge of
HDTV sales leading up to the Super Bowl. Mike noted
that Abt is moving about 175 HD units a day. LCDs
are selling better than they were a year ago, but
plasma TVs are still outselling them.
Digital
Camera Discussion
Tracy
Butler, ABC-7 Meteorologist, joined Alex to talk about
her new digital camera. Alex dished some tips and
tricks for Tracy to employ as she figures out how
to use her new Canon digital SLR. Alex recommended
she download Picasa
to help her organize all of her photos. Alex also
suggested checking out MyPublisher.com,
a site on which you can organize your photos and create
a picture book. After you organize your photos and
arrange them on the pages of your book (online), MyPublisher
will mail you a hard cover bound book to your exact
specifications.
Saturday,
1/20/07 -- Tonight on the Technology Tailor...
Bear
Down, Chicago Bears...
With
the Bears on the verge of their first Super Bowl appearance
in 21 years, Alex chatted with Jeff Hughes, a superfan
who writes DaBearsBlog,
a diehard's look at his favorite football team in
the world.
Second
Life
Alex
spent some time talking about Second
Life, a online society within a 3D world, where
users can explore, build, socialize and participate
in their own economy. First, Alex chatted with Time
magazine writer Joel
Stein; second, Alex talked with Chicago Tribune
reporter Rob Elder. Both wrote recent pieces on the
phenomenon of Second Life, which has nearly 3 million
"residents," a constant number of about
21,000 people on the site at all times, and an average
amount of several hundred thousand REAL U.S. dollars
spent every day.
Saturday,
1/13/07 -- Tonight on the Technology Tailor...
Bridging
the Digital Divide
Alex
chatted with Kevin Gates, a graduate of i.c.
stars, a Chicago organization founded in 1999
to train inner city young people for careers in technology,
leadership and business. Kevin works in Microsoft's
Chicago office, and volunteers with i.c. stars.
An
Average Techie's CES Recap
Jonathan
Kehoe, an actor, teacher and tech enthusiast from
L.A., talked with Alex about his experience as an
average joe with "backstage" access to the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.
Jonathan won backstage access in a CNET
contest. Check out Jonathan's video and photo documentation
of CES here.
Saturday,
1/6/07 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor:
Alex
broadcasted live from the Consumer
Electronics Show, the world's largest
consumer electronics tradeshow.
Saturday,
12/30/06 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor:
The
Best and Worst Technology of the Year
Alex
chatted with Charlie White from the popular tech blog
Gizmodo to review
the best and worst products and technologies of the
year.
Tech
You Got for Christmas
Alex
goes "Teching it to the Street" to see what
YOU got for Christmas. The most popular gift? The
iPod.
Tailoring
Your Tech for New Year's Eve
Karen
Budell, Nightlife Producer for Metromix.com,
joined Alex to fill him in on how to navigate her
Web site to find the best New Year's parties.
Saturday,
12/16/06 -- Tonight on the Technology Tailor...
More
on Nintendo's Flying Controllers
Cleveland-based
I.T. administrator and video game enthusiast Jim Walsh,
27, is at this moment the world’s top expert
on the range of eye-popping and painfully humorous
damage caused by the Wii’s flying remotes. Check
out his Web site: WiiHaveAProblem.com.
A
Look at Flat-Panel TVs
One
caller asked about how far away an HDTV should be
from where you sit and watch. Alex tracked down this
chart on Amazon.com that details the answers. Interestingly,
because the resolution on high-definition TVs is so
much better than on standard-definition TVs, you can
sit much closer to an HDTV.
Here
is that link: http://amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000021501
When
to shop for a new PC
David
Marsiglia, Intel’s mobile computing marketing
chief joined Alex for a friendly debate about when
it’s time to go shopping for a new PC. Alex
also talked with folks shopping on Michigan Avenue
about their PC’s age. Several stated that they’re
hoping to get 10 more years from their current computer!
Alex's
New SmartPhone
Alex
recently purchased a new smartphone, the elegant,
sexy Blackberry Pearl. Blackberries have never looked
like this: it’s small enough to fit comfortably
in a front shirt-pocket. The Pearl features Blackberry’s
legendary e-mail functionality in addition to playing
music and movies. There’s a 1.3 megapixel digital
camera to boot. The cost for all this functionality:
just $200 with a 2-year contract from Cingular or
T-Mobile. If you buy it from Amazon.com, it’ll
cost you only $50 for a Cingular model, and, amazingly,
a T-Mobile model is free after rebate.
Blackberry
Pearl:
http://www.blackberrypearl.com/
Saturday,
11/25/06 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor...
Webby
Award Founder's Favorite Web sites
Tiffany
Shlain joined Alex on the program Saturday. She's
the founder of the popular Webby
Awards, which is considered to be the Oscars of
the Internet. The above Web site is a remarkable resource
for links to the some of the top sites on the Internet.
Tiffany
has been quite busy recently: she's promoting her
new movie, called "The
Tribe." Subtitle: An unorthodox, unauthorized
history of the Jewish people and the Barbie doll...in
about 15 minutes.
She shared
some of her favorite Web sites this time of year:
Shutterfly
for photo greeting cards and calendars.
Babycenter.com
for gifts for friends with children. One of Alex's
favorites here is Shefindsmom.com.
Opentable.com
for making restaurant reservations in most major cities.
This is an extremely useful site.
Amazon.com,
Froogle.com,
and Epinions.com
for shopping, finding deals, and reading about what
your peers think about the items you're considering
purchasing.
Photo
Greeting Cards
Gary
Pageau, editor at the Photo Marketing Association,
joined Alex to discuss how to make greeting cards
with your digital photos this holiday season. They're
personal, impressive, and, frankly, easier than handwritten
cards!
Alex
and his wife use Cardstore.com.
Best thing about this site: they will address, stamp,
and stuff your envelopes for you. Talk about a time-saver!
(Plus, Alex hates doing that work!)
Gary
recommended Shutterfly.com,
Kodakgallery.com,
and Snapfish.com.
He said
the easiest way for making photo greeting cards is
to simply bring your photo on CD (or straight from
your camera's memory card) into your local photo retailer.
They'll do the work for you.
To
find your nearest digital photo lab, visit http://secure.pmai.org/QDPCLabFinder/LabFinderStart.asp.
Saturday,
11/11/06 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor,
Alex covered...
Microsoft's
New Zune MP3 Player Came Out Tuesday
If
you're a digital music listener, you should know about
a new competitor to Apple's iPod that came out this
past Tuesday: the Zune
from Microsoft. The reviews haven't exactly been glowing
(the words "clunky" and "shabby"
have been tossed around), but it's still probably
the biggest challenge the iPod has ever had.
It's
especially interesting that Microsoft has agreed to
pay the biggest of the five music studios, Universal,
a small royalty on every Zune player sold. Estimates
have the figure at over a dollar per device, which
doesn't seem like much, but it's the first time a
manufacturer has paid a media company for products
sold.
Adults
Who Game
Alex
was feeling a little bit uncomfortable with being
a video game player at his age. After all, he has
a wife, a mortgage payment, and challenging, time-consuming
work. Real responsibilities! And yet, there are few
activities that bring Alex more pleasure than a nice
game of FIFA '07 (the new soccer game from Electronic
Arts) on his Xbox 360.
So
on this show, Alex had a discussion with fellow working
adults who like to play video games. Boy did the phone
lines light up! Callers were in their 30s, 40s, 50s,
and, yes, in their 60s. One 62 year-old man often
plays video games against his wife. They even leave
the controllers lying around on the floor when they're
not playing!
Extended
Service / Warranty Plans
The
usefulness of extended warranty plans also generated
lots of phone calls on this show. A recent article
in the New York Times found that extended
service plans hardly ever pay for themselves. In fact,
the article cites a Consumer Reports study that found
that only ten percent of digital cameras have problems
in their first five years.
Most
products ship with one year of warranty from the manufacturer,
but we know that it's no longer possible to buy something
at an electronics store without being offered an extended
service / replacement plan -- even if it's on a $20
item.
Saturday,
11/4/06 -- On this edition of the Technology Tailor...
Laptop
Battery Fires
We
took an in-depth look at laptop battery fires during
the first hour of The Technology Tailor Show on Saturday.
Please,
please visit www.cpsc.gov
to see if your laptop battery has been recalled. It's
the Web site for the Consumer Product Safety Commission,
which is the government agency in charge of ALL recalled
products in the U.S. Click around on this site. You're
bound to find products you own that are being recalled.
Digitizing
Your Record Collection
Your
record collection can be turned into MP3 files that
can be transferred to your iPod or turned into CDs
with these products:
The
Ion iTTUSB Turntable is a metallic turntable that
connects to your PC with a USB cable. It comes with
software that "records" the music onto your
hard drive. Retail price is about $200, but the unit
sells for about $130
on Amazon.com here.
A
product called The
INport is a little converter box with jacks for
your red and white audio cables on one side, and a
USB port on the other. Just plug your stereo system
into it, and connect the other end to your PC. It
retails for about $70 at Best Buy and Circuit City.
Both
of the above units come with software that captures
your music.
As
for quality, it's only going to be as good as your
record sounds. You can work on improving it in the
software, but this is somewhat of a technical process.
You
can also have this process done for you. Chicago-based
RipIt Digital
will digitize your record for $7 each, or $5 each
for more than 20, into CDs.
Web
sites for Election Day
Professor
Michael Cornfield from George Washington University
joined Alex to discuss the Internet's effects on politics.
This election season, he said no Web site has had
more of an effect on the process than YouTube,
the amateur video sharing site. Videos posted there
can send poll numbers shooting upwards or downwards.
Michael
suggested you check your state's Secretary of State's
Web site tommorow for the latest election returns
if you want to follow results in real-time.
Also,
among his favorite political Web sites, Michael listed
Pollster.com
and Politics1.com.
Saturday,
10/28/06 -- Tonight on the Technology Tailor:
At
Look at Genealogy
An
announcement by the state of Virginia that it's beginning
work on placing life records of freed slaves online
-- providing millions of African Americans a place
to delve into their ancestry -- is the biggest news
in genealogy in years.
This
prompted a look at the art of "family tree making"
on Saturday's Technology Tailor Show. Many listeners
phoned in with praise of Genealogy.com,
which is, perhaps, the most comprehensive ancestry-research
site on the Internet .
For
PC-based work on the family tree, most listeners said
they use Family
Tree Maker, which is now in its 16th version!
A $40 download, it is the home-base for most consumer
genealogists.
One
caller suggested a free download (though there is
a registration fee) called Brothers Keeper, available
at www.bkwin.net.
Additional
resources:
Archives.gov
is the federal government's ancestry research tool.
Valuable census information -- among countless other
documents -- is available here.
EllisIsland.org
details the 22.5 million people who immigrated to
the U.S. between 1892 and 1924 and the ship they arrived
on.
Impossibly
Expensive Cell Phones
Bang
& Olufsen, the hoity-toity stereo maker has released
its first cell phone. It's called the Serene, and
it retails for a whopping $1,275.
It's
sexy, too. There's a little motor that opens the flip-phone
for you when you nudge the top with your finger. Once
open, the screen is on the bottom, and the number
buttons, arranged in a circle, are on top.
See
the Serene here.
Big
Tech Topic: HDTV Programming: Comcast vs. DirecTV
Alex
discussed the ups and downs of both Comcast and DirecTV,
especially for HD, with Jake Ludington, founder of
Mediablab.com.
Tailoring
Your Tech: We talked TiVo.
If you
go HD, you'll need an HD video recorder. Is TiVo the
best? What about DirecTV's DVR? How is their unit?
How's Comcast's? Alex broke it down with Lou Jacob
from Chicago's PTVUpgrade,
the original professional service for upgrading your
TiVo Digital Video Recorder.
Saturday,
10/21/06 -- Tonight on the Technology Tailor:
Will
Smartphones Overtake PCs?
Last
week, executives from two companies in the smartphones
industry claimed that before long, smartphones will
replace personal computers. The CEO of Symbian Smartphones
(the company that makes the operating system for Nokia
smartphones) said that smartphones will replace laptops
within five years.
Microsoft's
New Internet Explorer
After
many months of anticipation, Microsoft has finally
released Internet Explorer version 7. It's a significant
upgrade over its long-lived predecessor (the Web browser
on most of our computers), but it's playing catch-up
to chief competitor Firefox.
The
new Internet Explorer plugs many security holes and
offers protection against phishing Web sites that
try to get at your personal information. It also blocks
pop-up Windows. Most of its new features have been
available for years on Mozilla's free Firefox Web
browser.
Both
tools are free downloads. Try them both:
www.microsoft.com
www.mozilla.org
Online
Dating
This
Saturday was Sweetest Day, and so it seemed to be
the perfect day to look at finding love online.
Joe
Tracy, publisher of Online
Dating Magazine joined Alex to discuss the ins
and outs of online dating. Joe suggested people stay
away from negative terms in your online profile (don't
tell people you're "so bored" for example!).
Online Dating Magazine features more than 800 articles
on how to succeed in finding love on the Internet.
And they're all free!
Managing
Your Passwords
Mark
Boroditsky, CEO of PassLogix, Inc. joined me for tips
and tricks on making your passwords hacker-proof.
He advises that you use different passwords for every
site that involves money transactions.
To
keep track of which password you're using for which
site, consider a free download called Roboform. It's
a widely used software available at www.roboform.com.
Saturday,
10/14/06 -- On this edition of The Technology Tailor:
Technology
in our Schools
A
non-profit called One
Laptop Per Child announced a $250 million deal
with Libya last week. Under the deal, by 2008, all
1.2 million of Libya's school children will receive
a $100 laptop that organization is working on manufacturing.
The group is aiming the super-affordable laptops at
under-developed countries.
These
laptops comes with built-in video cameras, 8-hour
batteries, wireless Internet connectivity, and --
my favorite -- a hand or foot crank for charging the
battery if electricity goes out.
Alex
is happy for the Libyan children, but he asked the
question: what about our kids? What's happening in
our schools? To help answer these questions, Bob Runcie,
the chief information officer at the Chicago Public
Schools joined Alex in the studio.
Bob
explained that since 1995, the school system has spent
a whopping $600 million on technology. Currently,
there are 85,000 computers in the Chicago Public Schools,
which works out to an average of about five children
per computer. Alex was quite impressed with these
figures.
What
Are You Shopping For This Holiday Season?
Next we moved on to another important topic: holiday
tech shopping. For this, Charlie White, associate
editor at the tech blog Gizmodo.com
joined me. What's hot? What should we be considering
this holiday season? Here's a rundown of Charlie's
advice:
1.
Microsoft's
new Zune MP3 player comes out on November 14.
It's expected to be a major competitor to Apple's
dominant iPod. And at $249 for a 30-gigabyte model,
the Zune costs the same as the 30-GB iPod. The
Zune comes with a large 3-inch LCD screen, an FM radio
receiver, and wireless Internet connectivity to trade
songs with family and friends now -- and eventually
to download songs directly to the player.
2. In a
major scoop, Charlie revealed that he's hot for the
Garmin
StreetPilot C320 portable GPS. Souped-up global
positioning units like this commonly ran around $1,000
a year ago. Nearly across the board, high-end GPS
devices have come down in price dramatically. The
C320 can be found for about $320. I hope Santa delivers
for Charlie!
3.
Finally, I believe the top-selling tech category this
holiday season will be HDTVs. Prices fell all year
long, and today, Charlie tells us, you can buy a 37-inch
LCD high-definition television from Sharp (the model
is Aquos) for an amazing $1,300 online.
Staying
in Touch with Tech while on the Campaign Trail
U.S
Congressional candidate David McSweeney, running in
Illinois' 8th district, joined Alex to discuss his
personal technology (he's an admitted "Blackberry
addict), and his take on Internet taxation (under
no circumstances, he explained) and Internet safety
(David would increase penalties for Internet predators).
Web
sites for Holiday Shopping Deals
Finally,
in Saturday's Tailoring Your Tech segment, Alex ran
through several Web sites you should turn to save
money on your holiday shopping:
Shoplocal.com:
An extremely useful and little-known site that provides
digital versions of your Sunday ads. Just search for
what you're shopping for and you'll see full-color
digital ads in which that product appears. It's literally
"local" too: enter your zip code, and the
ads displayed are from your area.
BizRate.com,
PriceGrabber.com,
NexTag.com: These
shopping comparison sites list all the retailers that
sell the product you search for, and, more importantly,
their prices. Start any shopping process with one
of these sites.
Coupons.com,
CouponMountain.com,
CoolSavings.com:
Manufacturers want you to use their coupons when you
shop. Visit these sites for coupon codes for online
use, or printable coupons for bricks-and-mortar locations.
You're shopping anyway...why not save money?
Saturday,
10/7/06 -- On this edition of The Technology Tailor,
Bill
Moller filled in for Alex.
Eric
Benderoff helped us out with The Technology Tailor's
Top 3, in which we covered the latest in social networking
Web site news, online music stores and built-in obsolescence
in cell phones.
Next
on The Technology Tailor, we chatted with Scott
Kelby, author of The Digital Photography Book,
about how to take better digital photographs.
Finally,
in the Tailoring Your Tech segment, we spoke with
Mary Umberger, real estate reporter for the Chicago
Tribune, about the best sites to buy and sell real
estate.
Some
sites to check out are:
www.zillow.com
www.ziprealty.com
www.reply.com
Saturday,
9/30/06 -- Tonight on The Technology Tailor ... Well,
we didn't have much of a show this week. The very
last Saturday Chicago Cubs game of the year sure turned
out to be an extended, entertaining one. Fourteen
innings. A 37-minute rain delay. And, ultimately,
a loss for the Cubs. We checked in during a couple
of the rain delays, but didn't cover too much ground.
Saturday,
9/16/06 -- Tonight on The Technology Tailor ...
Movies
for your iPod: Apple announced recently that
it's selling movies through its iTunes
music store. There are currently about 75 movies available
-- all from Disney-owned studios -- and they run between
$10 (for older selections) to $15 (for newer releases).
Apple
isn't the first to sell movies online. Others who
retail downloadable films:
www.movielink.com
www.cinemanow.com
www.guba.com
A
New Product for the "Digital Living Room":
Another product announcement from Apple: the iTV
is a $300 wireless router that attaches to your entertainment
system to stream movies, music and photos from your
PC to your TV and stereo system. It's due out in early
2007, but the big focus will be on getting movies
from your hard drive to your big-screen.
Charity
Projects in 15 Minutes or Less: Alex wrote
about CharityGuide.org
in a recent Chicago Tribune "My Tech" column,
but it's worth another mention here as Michael Organ,
the site's executive director, was a guest on this
show. If you think you're too busy for volunteer work,
check out Charity Guide, as it specializes in listing
service projects that can be completed in 15 minutes.
It's a goldmine of excellent world-improving ideas.
Saturday,
9/2/06 -- On this edition of The Technology Tailor
...
Free
Books on Google!
If
you haven't been there yet, visit books.google.com
-- the controversial site where searchable scans of
copyrighted works are kept.
Recently,
Google unveiled free PDF downloads of complete books
which are public domain, or not protected by copyright.
Click on the "Full view books" option for
these items.
Free
Books for your iPod!
Another
Web site has rolled out a similar service for the
iPod. Click on www.librivox.com
for free, downloadable audio books you can listen
to on your computer or on your MP3 player. According
to the company, these volumes are also public domain,
and therefore not protected by copyright laws.
My
Favorite Audio Book Site
The
single best resource on the Internet for audio books
is www.audible.com.
The company has a partnership with the iTunes Music
store and you can find many of its offerings there
as well. But these are not free books. Many are popular
items, some are best-sellers, and all are a great
way to pass the time if you travel.
Selling
your old cell phone or laptop? Think twice.
Last
week, the Associated Press reported on one company's
extremely interesting experiment with 10 used cell
phones purchased on eBay. The company, Virginia-based
Trust Digital, bought ten used Blackberry / Treo-style
smartphones that handle e-mail, instant-messaging
and Web browsing.
Data
on all the phones was thought to have been deleted
by their sellers. And to the "naked eye"
(read: yours and mine), it appeared that no data remained.
The phones were cleared off.
But
a simple program written by Trust Digital, which specializes
in data security, found a monstrous combined 27,000
pages of data on the phones!
Nothing
was erased.
Trust
Digital's CEO, Nick Magliato, joined Alex on the show
Saturday to discuss what was found:
-
Instant messages between a married man and his girlfriend.
- A multimillion dollar government contract.
- Bank account details and passwords.
The
lesson here is that the way to really "hard erase"
data on your phone is not often detailed in the instruction
manual, but, rather, is burried online. Go to your
manufacturer's Web site, and search for the term "hard
delete" or "hard erase."
A
Web site for Forgiveness
A
Chicago Sun Times article profiled a remarkable Web
site called ProjectForgiveness
recently. The site's founder, Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald
joined Alex on the program Saturday. Project Forgiveness
is essentially a blog where people (of all faiths)
post their deeply personal requests for forgiveness
-- from others, or from God.
Saturday,
8/26/06 -- Hip-hop poet Kevin
Coval joined Alex Goldfayn in studio to discuss
a brand new walking tour of Chicago, which Kevin narrates.
You can download the one-hour, one-mile walking tour
of Chicago as MP3 files to listen to on your portable
player by checking out Audissey
Guides.
Alternatively,
you can dial into and listen to the same walking tour
on your cell phone for about $6. Details on this service
can be found at Talking
Street.
Next,
Alex had a lively discussion about identity theft
with Max Marker, supervisory special agent at the
Chicago office of the FBI.
Here
are a range of resources discussed during this segment:
http://privacyrights.org/identity.htm
: Alex claims this is the single most comprehensive
resource on identity theft that he knows of. Tons
of data, information, advice and techniques here.
Included are detailed articles on coping with identity
theft, reducing your risk for it, and what to do when
it happens to you.
http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com
: This Web site is maintained by a number of government
agencies, and includes photos of and tips about "phishing"
e-mails: those official looking notices that request
your personal information.
As
a hard rule, NEVER respond to an e-mail requesting
your personal information, even if it appears to be
from a company you are doing business with.
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
: This is the Federal Trade Commission's official
information site on identity theft.
http://www.annualcreditreport.com
: This Web site is required to provide you one free
credit report every year. Even if you don't suspect
fraud, you should know your credit score. Check it
here.
There
are three major credit reporting bureaus. Their Web
sites are:
www.transunion.com
www.experian.com
www.equifax.com
Saturday,
8/19/06 -- This edition of The Technology Tailor was
all about eBay.
First,
Alex Goldfayn talked with Indie Gill, CEO of UnWired
Buyer, about how his company helps you bid--and
win--on eBay.
Next,
Alex spoke with Bud Bach, co-founder of Receller.com,
which offers expert listing assistance for selling
on eBay.
Alex
also covered the recent news that Dell has issued
the largest recall in U.S. consumer electronics history:
more than 4 million Dell laptop batteries have been
recalled. Visit www.dellbatteryprogram.com
to see if your battery model is affected.
Dealing
with a hot laptop? Our listeners called in with some
great gadget suggestions for blocking laptop heat.
Check out The Lapinator
and The Coolpad.
Saturday,
8/5/06 -- Technology Tailor Alex Goldfayn spoke with
Charlie White, Associate Editor at Gizmodo.com,
about high definition DVD players and video editing.
Next,
Alex discussed how to keep your photos and movies
safe and backed up, outside of your home. He suggested
checking out Ezarchive.com
and Xdrive.com.
Saturday,
7/29/06 -- Technology Tailor Alex Goldfayn talked
about web-based applications, designed to let you
handle your common office tasks such as word processing
and spreadsheets online through a Web browser. Alex
discussed the Web-based applications ThinkFree
and Zoho.
Next
up, Alex spoke with Dr. Brian Hartigan, orthopedic
surgeon at NorthWestern Memorial Hospital, to discuss
the health problems that creep up when we spend too
much time with our technology. The top issue, it seems,
is poor posture at the PC. We hunch over, stick our
belly out, and crane our neck towards the monitor.
Also, there
are now happy terms such as "Blackberry thumb"
(too much typing on a tiny keyboard), and "Blackberry
Squint" (too much staring at tiny screens).
The doctor's
advice? Moderation, of course.
Saturday,
7/22/06 -- Technology Tailor Alex Goldfayn welcomed
Newsweek
Magazine Senior Editor Steven Levy, author of the
magazine's weekly column entitled "The Technologist."
Next
up, Alex chatted with Veronica Hugger, President
of the National Scrapbooking
Association, about how scrapbooking has gone
digital.
On
the Technology Tailor's Tailoring Your Tech segment,
Alex spoke with Michelle Madhok, founder of shefinds.com
and shefindsmom.com,
sites devoted to helping busy women meet their shopping
needs.
Saturday,
7/15/06 -- Hardik Bhatt, Chief Information Officer
for the City of Chicago, joined Alex to discuss
the city's plans for a citywide wireless Internet
network.
Saturday,
7/1/06 -- David Allen, author of
Getting
Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,
joined Alex Goldfayn to discuss his well-known approach
to getting organized and staying productive. David's
website is www.davidco.com.
Some of the more popular Web sites that discuss
and dissect the GTD system include 43folders.com,
Lifehacker.com
and Macdevcenter.com.
In
Alex's Tailoring Your Tech segment, Alex discussed
one of the most helpful Web sites he's come across
in recent memory: Gethuman.com.
Gethuman is a huge database of phone numbers that
get you to living, breathing human beings at thousands
of consumer and government organizations.
Saturday,
6/17/06 -- Alex Goldfayn spoke with New York
Times technology columnist David Pogue about
the latest consumer technologies. Find out more
about David here: Davidpogue.com.
Saturday,
6/3/06 -- Alex Goldfayn spent the 7:00 hour chatting
with Erik Weihenmayer, a blind mountain climber
and world class athlete. Learn more about Erik's
inspirational story at Touchthetop.com.
Saturday,
5/27/06 -- Rajesh
Agarwal joined Alex Goldfayn all the way from New
Delhi, India, to discuss how his company, Web
Development Factory, works with American and
British companies to design and develop Web sites
at extremely affordable prices.
Next
on The Technology Tailor, Alex discussed several
aspects of security, from protecting your PC to
protecting your privacy. Alex chatted with Richard
Sherman, better known as Mr. Modem, who discussed
ways to protect your PC from Internet dangers. Richard
puts out an entertaining and extremely valuable
newsletter called Ask
Mr. Modem.
Alex
next spoke with Mike Sullivan, Deputy Bureau Chief
of the High Tech Crimes Bureau in the Illinois Attorney
General's office, about how to keep your kids safe
from Internet predators. For more information on
Mike's work, visit the Illinois Attorney General's
Keeping
Kids Safe Web page.
Saturday,
5/20/06 -- Bob Seidensticker, author of the new
book Future
Hype, joined Technology Tailor Alex Goldfayn
to discuss this question: with so much technology
in a single mobile unit (a smart phone lets people
reach us, or interrupt us, depending on which way
you look it, in a plethora of ways, wherever we
are), are we too connected?
Finally,
this show's Tailoring Your Tech segment looked at
an easy new way to track the whereabouts of your
children. Sprint's new Family
Locator Service lets you track your child's
physical location in the world via GPS. One neat
feature: you can set up alerts at various times
of day. For example, your son or daughter is supposed
to camp from nine till noon. If they wander away
from camp, the alert rings your cell phone and lets
you know where they are.
Saturday,
5/13/06 -- Tonight's show was all about blogging.
First up, Alex Goldfayn spoke with Guy Kawasaki,
managing director of Garage
Technology Ventures, LLC (a venture capital
company). He is also the author of eight books on
business, and happens to run one
of the most popular blogs in the world.
Next,
Andy Wibbels joined Alex on air. Andy's the author
of a book, Blog
Wild!: A Guide for Small Business Blogging,
and a blog.
Alex
next talked to Jessa Crispin, founder and editor
of Bookslut.com,
about the book reviews and blog she oversees.
On
tonight's Tailoring Your Tech segment, Alex dished
on helpful Web sites that may well change the way
you shop for technology: Woot.com
and ShopLocal.com.