Stratford University's Tech Talk

  • HDMI cable selection, syncing Android smartphone with Outlook, fixing computer that consumes too much Wi-Fi bandwidth, memory card speed specs (which one is right for your camera), browser comparison (the top five discussed), Profiles in IT (Marc Russell Benoiff, founder and CEO of Salesforce.com), new iPhones go on sale (5C vs 5S, colors, features, market positioning), iPhone thumb print security (sleep hacking your phone now possible), London electronic bank heist (used KVM devices installed inside the bank by bogus IT personnel), US almost ignited atomic bomb over North Carolina (1961 event recently revealed, one single switch prevented disaster after three others failed).

    August 19, 2013
  • Replacing drive with SSD, privacy when using search engines (not as private as you think), using more than one Bluetooth device at a time (only one audio channel allowed), adjusting font size in Windows, Profiles in IT (Andrew W. Houston, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox), iPhone updates (iPhone 5C vs iPhone 5S, 64-bit processor in 5S, minimal feature upgrades, not much price difference, Apple stock drops), Apple 5S camera features (8MP, larger pixel captures 33% more light, dynamic tone mapping, true tone flash matches ambient color temp, slow motion video).

    August 19, 2013
  • Best of Tech Talk replaying segments from previous shows.

    August 19, 2013
  • Surge protector specifications, bookmark formatting in Adobe Acrobat Pro, virtual machines on iMac (Parallels Desktop 8 vs VMWare Fusion vs VirtualBox), CClearner revealed (application cleaning, registry fixes, etc.), Bluetooth connection reliability revealed, Profiles in IT (Steven Anthony Ballmer, CEO Microsoft), Earth-to-Moon laser communication (NASA demonstration project, deep space next), Microsoft and Google to sue NSA over data surveillance, iPhone trade-in programs (getting better by the day), NASDAQ blames NYSE for 3-hour outage (connection errors created issues, software flaws acknowledged), and compact cassestte celebrate 50th anniversary (first announced by Phillips August 20, 1963)

    July 08, 2013
  • Connecting extra laptop monitors, sending text messages using email gateway, digital photography (RAW vs JPG images, size, features), learning Linux, atomic clocks (time standards, WWVB sync broadcast from Fort Collins), computer time (synced using Internet time servers), Profiles in IT (Eben Christopher Upton, creator of Raspberry Pi computer), Device of the Week (Raspberry Pi, $35 hacking computer), JustDelete.me (delete your online presence with ease), Microsoft CEO to retire (August 2014, stock soars), and teaching to all learning styles is key to student success.

    July 08, 2013
  • Internet TV options, geo-location techniques, 32-bit vs 64-bit operating systems, Gmail configuration without tabs, chkdsk revealed, hardware vs software firewalls, Profiles in IT (Evi Nemeth, Godmother of UNIX administrators), Erdos number defined, 3D printing of high security keys, encrypted email in Germany (response to NSA data collection), NSA surveillance (the official position vs the Snowden leaks, NSA has not been truthful), Google goes dark for 2 minutes (worldwide Internet traffic drops by 40%), Apple patents may block the import of some Samsung devices, Bitcom now tracked with Bloomberg ticker, Bitcoin features (anonymity, lack of government monetary controls, no bank transaction fees, susceptible to manipulation, will be blocked by government if it become too successful), and Bitcoin money makers (Bitcoin ETF, Bitpay, Butterfly Labs, Coinbase, Silk Road).

    July 08, 2013
  • Steaming TV options, call filtering options (Ooma vs Verizon), weather apps on iMac, batch processing of digital photos (BIMP, Phatch, Resize Me, Photo Drop, Photoshop, DBP), Profiles in IT (Fang Binxing, father of China's Great Firewall), Kurdistan education visit (booming economy, safe, secular government, ready for education), transfering pictures to new iPhone (Photostream vs copying), David Burd surprise visit, Washington Post sold to Jeff Bezos (more streaming media, targeted advertising, new revenue models, a good thing for the Post), Google Wi-Fi ballon project (Project Loon, designed to brign the Internet to the entire world, free floating network of balloons).

    July 08, 2013
  • Best of Tech Talk replaying segments from previous shows.

    July 08, 2013
  • Best of Tech Talk replaying segments from previous shows.

    July 08, 2013
  • iPhone conference calls (supports up to five five connections, UberConference best app), removing personal data from old computer, Profiles in IT (Amar Gopal Bose, founder and chairman Bose Corporation), paralyzed artist paints with mind (uses Intendix Painting software controlled with brainwaves, ALS patient displayed works as Brain on Fire), DefCon asks Feds not to attend hacker conference (too much anger over PRISM), security metrics too complicated for management (disconnect between IT pros and management increases organizational risk), NSA tightens security controls (will implement the two man rule used in nuclear weapon control, changes prompted by Snowden fiasco), 4,000 cyber warriors deployed (will report to Cyber Command, tasked with both offensive and defensive missions), iPhone users electrocuted while charging iPhone (flaw traced to cheap unauthorized chargers, beware), Detroit tech scene is robust (tech scene housed in M@dison building, 35 companies including Twitter, hope for a bankrupt city.

    July 08, 2013
  • Sharing photos online (Flickr, Picasa), getting back a hacked Facebook page, disk storage usage (TreeSize free), malware that takes over webcam, LikedIn vs Facebook, Profiles in IT (Douglas Carl Engelbart, inventor of mouse and GUI interface), MIT Immmersion Tool analyzes your Gmail metadata (graph your interactions), part of the brain responsible for things going viral (temporo-parietal junction activates when when an item could be shared), automatic gate opener (smart phone enabled, iSmartGateOpener), human-powered helicopter wins Sikorsky Prize (64 second flight, 3.33 meters altitude, used four large propellers), and an engineering toy for girls (GoldieBlox, girls solve problems by building simple machines, Kickstarter project).

    July 08, 2013
  • Best of Tech Talk replaying segments from previous shows.

    July 02, 2013
  • Wireless mouse troubleshooting, Windows XP after support ends, mixed HTTP/HTTPS warnings, homepage hijacking, deleting information on LastPass cloud servers, Profiles in IT(Edward E. Iacobucci, co-founder Citrix and force behind IBM PC architecture), Website of the Week (www.coffitivity.com, ambient cafe noise to enhance productivity), effective tech interviewing (behavioral questions coupled with audition project), mobile phones dominate payments in Africa (cash is almost obsolete, mobile phone payments more sophisticated than US, huge market penetration), DARPA Robotics Challenge (uses open source simulation software Gazebo from Open Source Robotics Foundation, provides 5-foot-10, 240 pound robot from Boston Dynamics, top prize $2M).

    May 29, 2013
  • Comparison(FIOS vs Cable vs Satellite), disk cleanup utilities, using TreeSize to analyze disk usage, configuring wireless guest accounts, wirelesss speakers for iPad (Phillips Sounshooter vs JBL Micro), Profiles in IT (Andrew Ng, co-founder Coursea), NSA datamining (PRISM includes nine large US firms, Stellar Wind grabs raw data from Internet connections), Oxford English Dictionary adds treet, GPS tracking used to locate stolen phone, computers in the stock market (high frequency trading causes market swings, enabled by SEC regulations released in 1998 and 2005).

    May 29, 2013