CastMedium » Patrick Norton

TWiT 214: Live From Caracas

Jonathan Downin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:40:14 +0000

It’s back to the classic group of TWiTs this week with Patrick Norton and Kevin Rose. Google’s Sidewiki project is not getting a positive response from Leo. He argues that this is bad for site owners as they lose control of the discussion around their content. USB 3.0 and Intel’s Light Peak lead into a discussion about SSDs and Leo shares his experience. Tablet talk also sneaks in with Courier and the mythical Apple tablet.

Kevin talks about the code-share Digg has with Facebook using the open source project Casandra. Since Twitter is in Kevin’s realm of social networks, Leo throws it to him to talk about ad effectiveness, why Google might want to be them and where the service needs to go next. Kevin points out that many of less tech savvy people are Twitter refer to the service as their “web site.” This is an extremely interesting and insightful tidbit.

G4 has contacted Leo about wanting to create a video site that would feature all of the old Tech TV video. Kevin says that G4 had a Tech TV clip he linked to last week removed from YouTube and this may be why. Even though many tech subjects don’t age well, there is still some content that would be relevant today, hopefully this happens.

Google turns 11, Facebook browser, Twitter funding, Google Sidewiki, Photoshop disclosure, and more.

Runtime – 1:39:59

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Tekzilla | Episode 104

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:55:53 +0000

Snow Leopard continues to leave mediocre impressions with Veronica not even venturing to install it due to the many reports of problems flying around. Robert did install it and Patrick aptly points out that 4 minutes into explaining the new feature that he is talking about new wallpapers. The bottom line is that there aren’t too many end-user features that will be apparent to most and it would probably be wise to wait a month or so until the bugs and incompatibilities are worked out.

Veronica is talking about Spotify, which is an iTunes-like streaming media service. It has a fairly large library of songs and the software seems to be sleek and easy to use. It is only available in private beta in the U.S. though, so you may have to wait a while before getting your hands on it.

Some other small things are covered such as turning old PCs into a network attached storage device, correctly wiping a hard drive and what you should use for backup.

Snow Leopard, Make Your PC a NAS, Spotify Preview, Time Machines Sucks and Stop Data Theft: Wipe your HD.

Runtime – 40:40

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TWiT 208: Hide The Boots

Jonathan Downin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:52:05 +0000

It’s a boy’s club TWiT this week and Dvorak is back in fine, grumpy style. This is the kind of TWiT that long-time fans love, and understandably so. Get ready for a rowdy group covering lots of topics.

Symantec has released a list of the top 100 searched terms by kids and out of the top 10, only 4 are actual search terms. The remaining 6 were comprised of searches for actual url titles such as youtube, myspace and even google. Of course, sex and porn were among the actual searches.

Brian Brushwood proves that he is a great guest yet again with some comments about the recently released date and pricing details of the Zune HD. He also throws in some game talk and then gives some spoiler-free impressions of District 9. It nice to get some younger geek culture represented on the podcast and Brian does it without breaking the usual TWiT flow.

Dvorak’s US CIO dustup, Fred Figglehorn, Samsung TL225, XML patents, and more.

Runtime – 1:29:52

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Tekzilla | Episode 100

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:32:41 +0000

Happy 100th Tekzilla! Patrick attended Defcon, the yearly convention for hackers, and he seems like he enjoyed himself. This leads into an interview with Flexilis founder John Herring who talks about the various threats out there to mobile devices including phones.

At the beginning the Tekzilla duo cover great gadgets that are under $100. You really can get a lot for your money these days and there are some great choices here. Patrick and Veronica really blew it out on this topic and you can see their huge list of picks over on the Revision3 page for this episode.

The topic of wireless headphones comes up in the user video question this week and the sad news is that there still aren’t any stellar sets out there. How is this possible? Wireless technologies have been around for so long and we still can’t get a pair of great-sounding wireless head/earphones? Looks like if you really care about audio quality you will need to stay wired, or have a lot of money to shell out on a good pair.

DIY Home Audio Streaming, Wireless Headphones, Is Mint.com Secure? Flexilis, PronounceNames.com, Free Video Game. It’s our one hundredth episode!

Runtime – 43:13

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Tekzilla | Episode 99

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:37:27 +0000

The first gadget at the beginning of the show this week, after the talk of creepy spy cams, is the new Sonos Controller 200. Sonos is a system that will pump synchronous music throughout your home from up to 32 connected speaker systems. The new controller looks to be a great upgrade, but this system is expensive with the controller alone priced at $349, so it may not be for everyone.

Veronica has brought in the MiFi and it is a small and wonderful piece of technology. It connects to 3G and then puts out a wireless signal that up to 5 clients can connect to. That means WiFi access anywhere, anytime. But of course there is a catch, you must sign a data contract with 1 of the big carriers and those monthly packages are not cheap.

Not quite tech related, but Patrick and Veronica answer a user question about where to go and what to see when visiting San Fransisco. It’s sometimes hard to get this kind of information since anonymous advice an the internet is not always reliable, so this is a nice segment if you ever plan to drop by the SF area.

Spycam Warning! MiFi = Easy Internet Anywhere! Veronica and Roger Go To Comicon, Sonos Gets Better, Would we buy a Psystar OS X PC? FUTZ.ME: Your command line for the web.

Runtime – 40:41

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Tekzilla | Episode 96

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:09:17 +0000

With Veronica gone, Patrick’s old DL.tv buddy Robert Heron is sitting in to share his TV/video knowledge. That makes the show a very video-centric show.

If you have ever been confused by HD video and how stretching or zooming affects the video you see on your screen, the guys explain it here with some very straightforward visual cues. Don’t stretch your video people.

There are a lot of great software picks this week including a program that will adjust your screen brightness/warmth according to the time of day called F.Lux. Also, the guys recommend an audio conversion tool, dBpoweramp’s Music Converter.

Twitter Hashtag Guide, Tools for dual booting Windows 7, Lossless Transcoding, F.Lux makes a perfect monitor, no matter what time it is!

Runtime – 31:11

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Tekzilla | Episode 95

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:59:41 +0000

Up front Patrick and Veronica are discussing how to get the most out of your notebook in the realm of audio. They cover amplifiers and break-out boxes that can make you notebook sound better than you have ever heard it sound. Of course Patrick throws in his 2 cents with a little DIY soldering action as well.

The real stand-out this week is the smartphone discussion with PC Magazine’s Sascha Segan. He really knows his phones and he is on the show this week talking about the iPhone, Palm Pre, Blackberry and Android phones. Along with everyone else, he crowns the iPhone the current leader, but he has a lot to say about the other contenders as well.

There is some talk of using copious amounts of RAM in your Windows 7 machine at the end, but they don’t get too in-depth. Caching all your apps in RAM sounds pretty exciting though.

Smart Phone Battle; Windows 7 App caching, Awesome Free Password Manager, Switch Audio in OS X, Notebook USB Audio Upgrade, AT&T Promises Better Service

Runtime – 42:38

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TWiT 200: Salad Daze

Jonathan Downin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:36:14 +0000

It’s TWiT number 200 and to commemorate this milestone is the original TWiT crew of Leo, John C. Dvorak, Patrick Norton, Roger Chang and David Prager.

First topic this week is Twitter and how it has been used to such a great effect in Iran. It has been invaluable in giving the world a real view into what is happening to people on the streets protesting.

The RIAA is back in the news with their successful prosecution of a Minnesota woman who downloaded 24 songs and is being fined $1.9 million. They seem to be as clueless as ever and are doing a great job of getting people to hate them even more.

There is a big discussion about the recent story that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee. While there is still speculation at the validity of this story, Leo himself was tipped off about this a month ago so it is looking to be accurate.

For show 200, some of the original TWiTs talk about a $1.9 million fine for 24 pirated songs, Morro, Steve Jobs, and more.

Runtime – 1:32:40

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Tekzilla | Episode 93

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:14:38 +0000

First up, Patrick and Veronica have a great look at netbooks. Veronica has a couple of on-hand units, one with Windows 7 and another that is a hankintoshed OS X equipped Dell mini 9. They both look good, but with the new Intel CPUs coming up in December it may be best to wait if you can.

There is a big segment about HDR photography, but there is not much focus on the camera side. It is all about the software side here, so if you have the camera side down, you should be okay. The camera side is a big deal though so don’t be too ready to drop $99(US).

Free Software Finds Lost Drive Space. Tripit: Make An Instant Itinerary, High Dynamic Range Photos Look Gorgeous. Netbook Guide: from Hackintosh to Long Battery Life, Everything You Need To Know Before Buying.

Runtime – 46:19

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Tekzilla | Episode 92

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:33:52 +0000

The Apple announcements get overshadowed at the beginning here by Veronica’s obsession with The Sims 3, but we aren’t ones to be condemning anyone for that. Seriously, that is one addicting game.

There is a great interview with Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress on this episode. While this may not interest everyone, it is interesting for those of us who live in it every day.

Secret Shortcut Saves Thousands of Mouse Clicks, Does Blackle Really Save Energy Over Google? What’s In Store for WordPress? Veronica Interviews Matt Mullenweg. WWDC: New OS X! New Macbooks! New iPhone! (Same old AT&T…) Convert File Formats Fast and Free, More!

Runtime – 38:01

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Tekzilla | Episode 88

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:30:40 +0000

Windows 7 gets some coverage at the beginning here with a quick rundown of how to setup the recently loosed Release Candidate. This leads into a discussion on Patrick’s new PC which he has procured parts to build. He is setting out to build a Core i7 CD ripping box and has some good parts going into it, especially that mean looking case.

Patrick and Veronica also cover the SanDisk slotRadio which is a portable media player which you buy preloaded SD cards of music for and treat like the radio. The songs are cheap, but low in quality and get this, the player has now skip backwards function. Predicted failure in 3, 2, 1…

If you want to download some YouTube videos, that is also covered in this one. Check out http://kickyoutube.com/.

Windows 7 is Nagware? Surge Protect Your Whole House, Avoid Reruns, CanJam vs. Maker Faire, Joby Gorillapod, Consoles vs. Big Video Files. Save YouTube Videos

Runtime – 35:05

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Tekzilla | Episode 86

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:17:08 +0000

Tekzilla is a little late to the game on this one, but they are talking about the DSi. Coming from a show like Tekzilla it really leaves an impression that the DSi is going to be another huge hit for Nintendo with the mainstream crowd.

In a bit of a different focus for the show Patrick got his hands on the new Lincoln MKS and he has a lot to say about. It is almost a review it seems. For those of us who haven’t bought a car in the past couple years it is cool to see that technology is creeping its way into cars more and more.

Although almost as “old-school’ as gets Patrick and Veronica cover a really geeky service that allows you to send telegrams. All you do is log into their website, type up your message and for around $5 they will snail mail an authentic looking telegram to the address you have provided. Cool or dumb, could go either way.

Nintendo DSi, Save Plants with the EasyBloom Plant Sensor, Send A Telegram, GetGlue “the network that sticks to you!” Heat Your Home with PCs: Your Answers.

Runtime – 44:20

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TWiT 192: Kipple And Bits

Jonathan Downin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:15:40 +0000

Swine flu is a big topic these days. Many are wondering if this is the next big pandemic or if it is just part of the 24 hour news cycle. Leo is swaying a bit towards the former. Luckily, Dr. Kirsten Sanford is on this week talking about the actual severity of the situation and what you can do to protect yourself. You can also track the reported cases using Google Maps.

The news of Microsoft revenues being down while Apple is up is amazing. Apple provides a high priced product when compared to Microsoft’s offerings of very low priced netbooks and in this recession-type environment it is surprising that people will still spend the extra money for Apple products. Jason Calacanis makes a great point about perceived value. Apple still claims they won’t jump into the netbook game, but everyone here thinks they will introduce something.

The Pirate Bay story continues to get more interesting. Apparently the judge in the case has some connection to copyright organizations that the defense is also a part of. This definitely makes the ruling more than a little suspect.

Swine flu, Microsoft revenue drops, Apple poo-poos netbooks, The Pirate Bay, and more.

Runtime – 1:38:11

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Tekzilla | Episode 85

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:36:12 +0000

Patrick is talking about one of his favorite topics this week, GPSs. He took a a long road trip with his family over the past week and found himself in need of a GPS that could get the job done in the middle of nowhere. He recommends a couple Garmin units while Veronica goes with TomTom. Either way, GPSs have become incredibly affordable.

The Kindle 2 was another gadget that Patrick got quite a bit of time with on his trip and he impressions are just short of glowing. The only thing he has any real issue with is the price.

Password management is another topic this week, but Patrick and Veronica miss one big Mac OS pick which shouldn’t be missed called 1Password.

Manage all your passwords painlessly. Sub-$200 GPS Pick! Stop yourself from visiting a website too often. Dump RAID 1 for RAID 0… or entirely?

Runtime – 43:32

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Tekzilla | Episode 83

Jonathan Downin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:34:55 +0000

Patrick and Veronica are the Web 2.0 Expo and they have a very special guest on the show, Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter. He talks about how Twitter came about, where it is now and where it is heading. @ev is not giving out too much information about a business model or where Twitter is heading.

While it is nice to get interviews with important people, the live shows are just never as good as the regular Tekzillas. Produced shows filmed in a well lit and mic’d studio are a good thing. Oh, and the audience is creepily silent through the whole show. Weird.

Tekzilla Live at @Web 2.0! Evan Williams, Twitter CEO, Are SSDs ready for prime time? Best 4×6 Photo Printer, Waterproof iPhone cases, TypeTester, Free Audio Editing Software.

Runtime – 43:03

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