Episode 2 Podcast:

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Your Tech Life – 002 – Show Notes

Giveaway – Ultimate Ears Metro.Fi 150
9th caller through on the 2GB Prizeline was Divefh from Bexley.
Our Online winner will be judged on Thursday 12th November before Your Tech Life.

The winner was Fred Haider who’s entry was:
I don’t know you METRO.Fi 150 Earphones, but the moment I heard about you I couldn’t get my ears off of you. You complete me!

There were a lot of fantastic entries and It was a difficult one to judge! Congratulations Fred!

Caller: Andre
Problem with his computer.  Mentioned Twitter, and getting a lot of spam email.  Andre uses Hotmail for his email.

Suggestions: Don’t click on any emails that look suspicious, or are from people you don’t know.

Andre is using Hotmail online through Internet explorer – Suggest he checks the Spam filter is turned on within Hotmail.  And make sure that you don’t just delete messages, but you Mark them as Spam so Hotmail learns from that.

Caller: Paul
Has a personal mobile phone and a business mobile phone.  Does it because he wants to keep his personal calls separate, and his company does not pay for personal calls.

Paul is interested in the Acer DX 900 Dual Sim card mobile phone.  Asking if I’ve had any feedback on them.

Having not tried one, I can’t recommend any.  The problem in Australia is the controls placed on Mobile Phone handsets by Mobile operators, and as such it is unlikely you’ll find that phone retail.  Suggest Paul checks Ebay for the phone and gives it a try.

Discussion: Spam, and Phishing.
Symantec today released an alert suggesting people be on the look out for Facebook scam emails.

Phishing is where a website pretends to be someone or a company it is not.  And you fall for it, entering personal information into that site.

Key points are to try to never click on links within emails AND then enter any personal information.

Discussion: Digital Radio

Having worked on Digital Radio for many years at 2GB, it is fantastic that it is now available in the 5 main capital cities.  Keen to hear from anyone who has it or has tried it.

Warning – be careful that you will be able to get reception.  There are some black spots in Sydney, however once you play with your reception you will begin to enjoy the fantastic quality and performance of Digital Radio.

Well worth checking out. Especially if you currently have crackly AM reception in your area.

Next week we’ll have Radio’s to give away

Caller: Pat
Pat is on Dial Up and using Windows 2000.  Has 37 consecutive phone calls for her Dial Up Internet.  Unfortunately this is a problem with Dial Up.  Each time you want it, you need to establish a connection to your provider.

Suggestion is that Pat looks around for a $20 or similar ADSL account which might end up a small amount more than Dial up.  However there will be reliability of service and support.

Caller: Dennis
Dennis has Digital Radio, and gets good reception in Campelltown on a Saegem receiver.

Has some concerns about specific quality issues with the reception, getting ‘popping’ on microphones etc.  Dennis is using it through a large Hi-Fi and my suggestion is to – if possible – try a different Receiver and see if the problem still exists.

Dennis also asked about the Pause/Rewind features, his model doesn’t have that facility.  To explain, DAB+ radios with ‘pause/rewind’ allow you to simply stop the service and listen back to any part of the program that you have already listened to.

Caller: Noel
Noel has a problem getting ADSL in his area – in Glenorie.  Noel lives according to his ISP too far from the exchange to get ADSL.  This shouldn’t prevent him from getting ADSL however it will not be at the maximum speed.

Suggest Noel look at Telstra NextG wireless broadband in his area and see if that might prove better than ADSL.

Caller: Graham
Has broadband in his ‘street’ but it cannot be run down to his property.

Has tried Wireless Broadband, and cannot get ADSL.

A caller later in the show suggests it might be due to pair gain copper cabling preventing the use of ADSL.

I contacted Telstra regarding Graham’s call, and the confirmed that Graham SHOULD be able to get ADSL, and have a representative contacting Graham to get him sorted asap.


Gadget Discussion (24 Mins):

DigiShow Portable Projector.  Fantastic little device which at $399 will project things like DVD, Gaming or output from a compatible Mobile Phone, iPhone or iPod.

DigiShow Pocket Projector

DigiShow Pocket Projector

Click here to read my full review at SBS.com.au

Caller: Anne
Has interference in her radio whenever her computer is on.

Happens to a lot of her radios in the home.

This is a good case of the suggestion for Trial and Error working best.

First, turn off the monitor – see if that alone solves it.

Then turn off the Internet – See if that solves the problem

Then turn the whole PC off – Locate where the problem is coming from.

If you can isolate a cause, you might be able to try something different like borrowing a friends monitor.

Also, perhaps a good time to look for Digital Radio, if it will work in your area. Or try listening to the radio online, however be careful that can chew up a lot of your ‘download allowance’.

Prize Giveaway: Ultimate Ears Metro.Fi 150

Ultimate Ears METRO.Fi 150

Ultimate Ears METRO.Fi 150

For listeners on 2GB, the chance to win a pair of Ultimate Ears Metro.Fi 150 headphones.  The 9th caller was Divefth from Bexley Sydney.  Congratulations.

If you missed that, you can CLICK HERE to enter right here at yourtechlife.com

Caller: Jason
Just got an Xbox 360 for his birthday.  Wanting to convert videos ready to be viewed on his Xbox. Converting from AVI to WMA

Has used  a free converter, however it cuts off audio

Suggested trying a program called Videora – Hoping Jason will call back and let us know how that goes!

Caller: Steve
Heard earlier caller who didn’t have broadband.  Has the same problem on the Central Coast.

Steve has Pair Gain on his line, which is where the copper cable in the street is not expanded for new residences, it is simply split amongst more homes as they come.  This is FINE for phone, however on ADSL that can be a simple thing which stops it being accessible.

Caller: Kevin
Moving to the Gold Coast (Lucky Duck!) soon, and wonders which way to go with Wireless Broadband.  Has just got a new laptop.

Suggest all the main telcos will cover the Gold Coast well as its a heavy tourist area.  There is good mapping on most Telco sites.

One to look at is the Vodafone pre-paid, at $99, comes with 1GB of data, and could be re-charged at $20 a month for 500Mb.

Kevin is also going to have ADSL once he moves in, so even better to get pre-paid, then the USB stick is useful in the future for any travels or wireless internet needs.


Caller: Derek

Son is playing Games on ADSL, and when people phone up at home the Internet is dropping out.

Suggest Derek checks ALL the phone outlets for an ADSL filter to answer they are all setup and won’t disconnect the line.

ADSL filters are available at all good electrical stores like Jaycar, Dick Smith etc.