Into Tomorrow With Dave Graveline

This hour of the Into Tomorrow broadcast is full of connections as Dave and the team bring you a Nintendo and IBM connection, a potential WiFi quality/Tv Antenna connection (http://intotomorrow.com/can-a-tv-antenna-affect-wifi/), an Android/Apple connection (http://intotomorrow.com/transferring-pictures-from-android-to-a-macbook-pro/), and a streaming services/SmartTV (http://intotomorrow.com/consumer-reports-streaming-services-and-smarttv-adoption/) disconnect (courtesy of Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org))! We also answer the question, does size matter when it comes to video editing (http://intotomorrow.com/can-small-pcs-render-video-well/)? Find out more by following the links or listening to the full hour above.  (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/intotomorrow_logo.gif)

On this hour the Into Tomorrow team discusses tethering problems with Lollipop (http://intotomorrow.com/did-lollipop-break-the-personal-hotspot-feature/), microcomputers for kit builders (http://intotomorrow.com/micro-computers-for-kit-builders-and-phones-that-wont-play-nice-with-sd-cards/), and voicemail forwards (http://intotomorrow.com/can-voicemail-be-forwarded/). Find out more by following the links or listening to the full hour above.

Are projected keyboards the future? (http://intotomorrow.com/are-projected-keyboards-the-future/) Investing in a tech franchise (http://intotomorrow.com/are-icracked-franchises-a-scam/), cellphone signal boosters (http://intotomorrow.com/26873/), and tablets as phones (http://intotomorrow.com/can-your-tablet-be-your-cellphone/), on this edition of Into Tomorrow With Dave Graveline Find out more by following the links or listening to the full hour above.

Tech News & Commentary (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/intotomorrow_logo.gif) Richard in Hosston, Louisiana listening on 710 KEEL asked: "I'm 76 years old and I've had windows 7 professional for as long as I can remember. If I upgrade to Windows 10, is there any advantage to this?" Long term eventually 7 support will be dropped before 10 support is, short term, not really, not if you’re happy with what you have now and you don’t feel the need to change. Windows 10 will have improvements over Windows 7, but “better” doesn’t really matter, “better for you” matters. If you don’t want to learn how to work a new operating system that will essentially be a mix of Windows 7 and Windows 8, then you can keep the one you have. Windows 10 does have several advantages, for example, it should boot up faster since it improves over the upgrades that led to the performance boost users experienced on Windows 8, it will give users access to a notifications pane (think like that drop down list people have on their smartphones), the search feature will be better and better integrated with the internet, and you’ll be better integrated with other online services like online storage too. Having said that, the user interface will look different, they way you do certain things will not be the same, Microsoft will keep pushing you to create a Microsoft account online, since it’s more integrated with the web than Windows versions before it. Windows 10 does look like a good upgrade, and after how Windows 8, was received Microsoft is probably motivated to put out a good product, but keep in mind that an upgrade is only an upgrade if it improves your personal user experience, your personal user safety, or if it in any other way helps you. You don’t upgrade for the sake, you upgrade for yours, if you’re happy with things as they are, don’t upgrade on day 1. You have a year to find someone with Windows 10 and ask to try it out in person, if you like it, upgrade then, if not… well.. Windows 7 has many fans for a reason… One thing we should mention while we’re on the upgrade topic, however, is price. Microsoft is offering people who upgrade right now free copies of Windows 10. That will expire at some point. If you are at all on the fence and think you might want to upgrade, then now is the time to make the move. For most people using Windows 7, however, we suspect they’ll just get Windows 10 whenever they buy their next computer. They’ve stayed with the older version for a reason, and Windows 10 is more like a fixed Windows 8 than it is a better Windows 7. If anyone’s heard from Windows 9, please ask it to call home. We’re worried that no one’s seen it. For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast. Consumer Reports Segment: Back at CES this past January, all the major TV companies rolled out their all-new 2015 Ultra-HD TV lineups, which are now starting to become available at retail. Consumer Reports has been hard at work testing these latest models in their lab to see which ones stand out. Their electronics spokesman James McQueen is here with the results. Dave discussed the latest apps that he has been playing with recently. (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/offerup-150x150.jpg)Dave recommends: OfferUp (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/offerup-buy.-sell.-simple./id468996152?mt=8), FREE "Looking to sell something but don’t want to deal with Craigslist? OfferUp is an app I came across recently that allows you to snap a picture of something you want to sell, and instantly circulate it to people nearby. ON the flipside, if you’re looking for an item, you can browse pictures of items nearby that people are selling. One of the things I like about this app is a service they call TruYou where you can take a picture of your ID, send it to them and they will quickly validate it which gives buyers a better sense of security. So that when you’re buying something,

Tech News & Commentary   Wanda in Clarksville, Delaware listens on 105.9 FM NewsTalk WXDE asked: "I want to know if you (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/intotomorrow_logo.gif)wash a TV remote control in the washer, will it still work if you dry it out for a few days. That's what happened to me... I washed it and it worked. Is this normal, or was that some sort of miracle?" That’s sort of a case by case thing, Wanda. You got lucky, but it wasn’t a miracle. Remotes are lower powered devices, so whatever juice is in the batteries may not fry the electronics even if the water shorts out the batteries. Think of it this way: touching the insides of a CRT TV can kill you, touching the charged power source of a desktop computer can give you a pretty nasty shock, licking a 9V battery just makes your tongue feel funny, not all electronics are created equal, and not all power sources are created equal either. However, being immersed in water –potentially hot water– and bouncing around for a good hour is still not the greatest way to treat your electronics, so they can still definitely break. Just dropping your remote can dislodge some pieces on the inside of it, having it bounce inside a metal tube spinning at high speeds can’t be great for it. Moisture itself doesn’t kill electronics. What moisture does it make it possible for current to flow between points that aren’t designed to pass current to each other, and THAT is what kills electronics. In your case, we’d say it’s good that nothing pressed one of the buttons on your remote during the spin cycle. So that’s a top tip to anyone who spills a glass of water on their computer or drops a smartphone in the toilet, pool, or sink. Power it off immediately and do not try to turn it back on for at least 72 hours and AFTER you’ve followed steps to extract the moisture. Fight the instinct to turn it on and "see if it’s okay." If you start up the power running through it, that’s a virtual guarantee that it won’t be okay. For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast. "This Week in Tech History" Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline Albert in Three Rivers, California listens on KTIP 1450 AM asked: "What program is the best for to transfer my settings in the different programs I have on an old Windows XP Media to a new Windows 8.1?" Microsoft built a tool into Windows called Windows Easy Transfer for just this very purpose, and you MAY be able to use it… then again, you may not… Windows Easy Transfer is supposed to grab your files and your settings from an old computer and move them automatically to a new computer, you just run the software on both computers, choose a method of transfer from the options given to you (for example, a network cable). It should be easy, unfortunately it may not be. Windows Easy Transfer cannot transfer files from a 64-bit to a 32-bit operating system, most Windows 8.1 computer are 64-bit, but not all of them are, so if you happen to have bought a very cheap Windows 8.1 computer you may be out of luck and you may have to transfer everything manually. There’s another problem, though, and it got Microsoft enough bad press that they had to find a solution. Even if you can use Windows Easy Transfer, on XP they will only move files, but not settings or programs, which was unacceptable to a lot of users. Microsoft ended up cutting a deal with a company called Laplink, and is currently offering their tool called PCmover Express for free on WindowsXP.com to make it easier for people like you to move all of your files and settings. That’s the tool you probably want to try first, it will be free, and it will move everything you want to move, not just your files. However, let’s be straight here. Using a migration tool like this one only makes sense if you’re planning to use the same apps, and really the same VERSION of those apps, and not simply moving the data. How likely is that to be the case?

Tech News & Commentary   Darryl in St. Cloud, Minnesota listens on KNSI 103.3 asked: "On that pad you sent me as a prize, my grandson got a hold of it and cracked the screen. Is it cheaper to go and try to replace the screen or just buy a new tablet? I'm on a really fixed income. Wondering what was the cheapest way to fix that so I can get back on the internet. Or would it be cheaper to buy one of those new notebooks that turn into a laptop. Those look really interesting, but as I said, I'd have to save up several months to get one of those things." We’ve sent out a few different kinds of tablets, but according to our records we sent you a Ubislate. The Ubislate is… well… not disposable, but the tablet itself costs something around $35, even if you bought the screen and replaced it yourself it would cost you around $13 plus shipping.  (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/intotomorrow_logo.gif) The cheapest way to get you back online would be to replace the screen on your current tablet. If you do decide to replace the screen, either you or a store will probably have to order it just for you, the tablet is not popular enough for them to have it in stock, and they may end up charging you a little more than if they just had to go to the back and grab a screen from the stockroom. Pay attention to the final cost, because it may make more sense to just order a new Ubislate if they cost is going to be over $35 anyway. Even the cheapest convertible laptop/tablet combos will probably cost you a couple of hundred dollars. Having said that, those computer will also be able to do more, so if you feel restricted by your current tablet, they may be worthy of some consideration too. By the way, we’d like to mention that your cautionary tale is precisely the reason we feel there is a market for very low end, low cost tablets like the Ubislate. Kids can have fun with them and learn to use a tablet, and if they break it you’re not out $500. There’s also the situation of a harsh environment. If we were going to pack a tablet to take to the beach and read something on a Kindle app, or type some notes in a text editor, there’s no way we’d want to take an expensive iPad Air 2 (for example). Low cost tablets have their place, even if their function is limited for people who want a tablet that can do anything, and do it quickly. For more information tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast. "Into Gaming Update" Weekly Feature with Mark Lautenschlager   Vicky in Lexington, Kentucky listens on RealTalk 1250 WLRT asked: "What is the best young-child educational type toy that you know of? I have a 14 month old granddaughter and I'm looking for something for her to use in the next few years for education." There are lots and lots of educational young kid laptops and tablets, it’s hard to pick one, but we’ll give you a few to choose from. For about $50 you can get a Fisher Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System. It features a touchscreen with a stylus that kids can use, and it’s an ebook reader, mp3 player, photo viewer, art studio, notepad, and gaming system. It comes with some games built in, but parents can buy new ones featuring Disney characters, SpongeBob, Dora, and other kid favorites. If you want something that will probably last her a while, you could go with an Amazon Fire HD Kids Edition, it does cost more, around $130, but it comes prepared to survive being used by young children, and it comes with a year’s worth of access to a large library of kid friendly content via Amazon’s FreeTime. The main advantage the Fire has is that it’s a real tablet, with real access to other content, like the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. For something in between those two, the LeapFrog3 features dual cameras, a pretty powerful processor for a tablet for kids, and can do everything the iXL can do and more, on a package that feels like it may hold her interest for a while longer as she grows up.

Tech News & Commentary   Trey in La Vergne, Tennessee listens on WTN 99.7FM asked: "Cars made by Ford that obey the speed limit. Wouldn't that make the police officers mad that are out there trying to meet their quotas for the month? Most police of...

Tech News & Commentary   Rick in Visalia, California listens to the podcast and is calling via the App asked: "I've got a Windows 7 64-bit OS along with a server, 2008 R2 that I'm trying to bo backups to an external 4TB hard drive and I'm finding Windows won't backup to a 4 TB drive. is there any software out there that will allow me to backup to a 4TB drive for a Windows OS?" Windows 7 supports hard drives up to 2.1TB, anything above that tends to use 4096 bytes sector sizes rather than 512 sector sizes. Some drives offer something called Advanced Format 512e or 512 emulation. 512e drives are actually 4096 drives that tell the operating system that they’re not, so that the full size of the drive can be used. They do that at the expense of performance, but for many it’s worth it.  (http://intotomorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/intotomorrow_logo.gif) Now, if your drive doesn't do that, you MAY be able to format the drive as GPT (GUID Partition Table) as opposed to MBR (Master Boot Record). MBR is from the 80s partitions have just grown beyond it’s ability to manage them, GPT should be able to handle them just fine. The downside here is that re-partitioning your drive means wiping it clean, given that you want to back up, you may need to do that before you go wiping things. If you can’t do that, Windows 7 will not understand how to write onto something that large and software doesn’t directly interact with the hard drive, it goes through the operating system, so any backup software you try to use will only see what Windows can show it, and it will only save what Windows can write. That means that unless you run backup software from outside of Windows itself (for example, using a live USB to clone the hard drive at boot time, which wouldn’t be an automatic and seamless thing) any backup software you run will be as limited as Windows is. If you are trying to run the backup from the server, however, Windows Server 2008 R2 should be able to create NTFS partitions up to 256TB (less some small amount of space for overhead). This will likely be using a 64K cluster size, not 4K, so disk space allocation won’t be as efficient if you have lots of small files. But when we’re talking hundreds of terabytes, are we REALLY concerned with 64 KILOBYTES per file being wasted? I know that I’m not. Using a larger cluster size should work, assuming we’re talking about Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 64-bit latest version, regardless of the drive’s sector size. It may not make a bootable volume, but I didn’t get the impression that’s what you were asking about. We should mention that, should you be inclined to update, Windows 8.1 does support 4096 bytes per sector on their drives. We don’t know for certain that Windows 10 does, but it would be extremely surprising if they did not. Windows 10 will officially launch to consumers on July 29th, so we’re looking forward to having the opportunity to put it through its paces on our computers. For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast. "This Week in Tech History" Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline   Larry in Metamora, Michigan listens on CKLW 800 - The Information Station asked: "Looking to reformat a hard drive that had Windows 7 on it and I noticed that "fdisk" was not available and it did not have a saved partition that had the backup.. How would I go about reformatting the hard drive and using the Windows 7 OS?" fdisk couldn’t handle NTFS partitions, so it never made it onto Windows 7. Windows 7 does come with a tool that will let you format your drive, but it will not let you wipe the partition that Windows lives in. If you want to do a clean Windows install, to get around that limitation, you need to boot into the Windows installer, as you would if you wanted to install a fresh copy of Windows. After accepting the license’s terms of use, you should be able to choose to do a Custom installation,

Tech News & Commentary   Terrance in Anchorage, Alaska asked: "I would really love to find a phone that is not made in China with a battery that is not made in China, that uses something other than Windows, Apple OS, or Android. Is there any such p...