Categories
People Programming and Podcasts

Kevin Rose to Leave G4 and Attack of the Show!

Well, the final nail has been hammered into the coffin, and it was bound to happen, the only debatable was when. Kevin Rose has officially stated his intention to leave G4 and stop participation in the Screen Savers decendant “Attack of the Show.” In his own words:

After several weeks of lawyer negotations with G4, they have agreed to release me from my contract. Friday May 27th 2005 marks my last day on the G4 network.

Kevin claims to be leaving G4TV to focus on real technology content, which I praise him for: he’s long been the last bastion of tech content in the new network, and having the hopes of TechTV fans to keep good technology television content alive while simultaneously being pulled towards the abyss of horrid television by the G4 programming managers and execs probably got to him, and and it’s an unenviable situation for anyone. Now there’s absolutely no reason to keep watching Attack of the Show, if anyone did in the first place.

It’s also clear that Kevin and the rest of the old TechTV personalities are focusing on bringing their own charm and personality to their own projects; and a lot of them are working on projects that are geared towards the same people who loved TechTV so much, projects like Kevin Rose’s Systm [ http://systm.org/ ] and Leo Laporte’s This Week In Tech(TWIT) [ http://www.twit.tv ].

But anyway, read more about it at Kevin’s blog, including what you can do to help Kevin succeed at his real heart’s desire, bringing you quality tech content! The details are there, and be sure that all of us here at TechTV Forever are supportive of Kevin’s desire to bring quality tech programming back to whatever airwaves will have it and will be behind him all the way.

[ http://www.kevinrose.com/index.php/weblog/trackbacks/233/ ]

Categories
Gear and Gadgets

Product Reviews: Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW and ViewSonic VP231wb LCD Displays

PC World has the skinny on a couple of startling high-end LCD displays available to home users. If you’re looking to add a little elegance to your desktop or perhaps looking for a quality LCD to make the switch to from an old reliable CRT, or even if you’re just looking for a nice upgrade or gift to give yourself (or your favorite TechTV fan-blogger) then look no further!

I managed to pick up a Dell Ultrasharp 2001fp a couple of months ago when they were on sale, and I can testify to it’s brilliance, even for gaming the thing is fantastic and the response time is low enough that I don’t see ghosting in my favorite videogames. The Dell Ultrasharp 2405fpw (a full 24-inches widescreen, using actually the same LG display part that Apple uses in it’s 23-inch displays) is a few steps up and from my first hand impressions with one, it’s an absolutely fabulous monitor. Built-in USB hub and multimedia card reader, multiple inputs (DVI and VGA, of course, but there’s also S-Video, and Component), and a simply brilliant screen make for a lovely desk piece. Huge, but lovely, it’ll definitely take up a bit of space, but the actual footprint is small enough because the stand is much smaller than the breadth the monitor takes up while standing. Definitely a quality display, and with all the insane sales that Dell has had on it’s monitors and various electronics lately, the $1200 dollar price tag (which is already impressively cheap for a monitor of this size and quality) is likely to drop quite a bit if you catch it at the right time.

Regardless, don’t just take my word for it, and also see PCWorld’s impressions of the ViewSonic VP231wb:
[ http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120529,tk,prx,00.asp ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts TWIT Archive

This Week In Tech [TWIT] // Episode 5

Alright! This week’s episode of TWIT is up and ready to download in all of it’s high-quality mp3 glory. As usual, it’s behind the official release of the podcast, but hey-that’s what an archive is for, right?

Anyway, on with the download-enjoy!

TWIT Episode 5 // May 15, 2005 – [ download ]

Categories
Tips and Tricks

Hot Linux Reviews!

Courtesy of Eric Craft in the TechTV Forever Yahoogroup [ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/techtv-forever/ ] we have a ton of reviews for some of the most popular Linux distros available, including the obscenely popular Ubuntu, which has seen rising popularity in recent days.

SuSE
[ http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1791610,00.asp ]
[ http://usalug.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6399 ]

Ubuntu
[ http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120520,00.asp ]
[ http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=10413 ]

Xandros
[ http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=9848 ]
[ http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/000503.html ]

Fedora Core 3
[ http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1731501,00.asp ]
[ http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8956
 ]

CentOS 4
[ http://distrocenter.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/05/03/1548207
 ]
[ http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/5823/1/

Categories
Tips and Tricks

Build Your Own Linux Home Theater PC

As part of their “Microsoft-Free Home” series, ExtremeTech put together a particularly interesting how-to on building your own Linux-based HTPC, complete with DVR capability. For the non acronym-savvy in the audience, what the really means is building a computer that you can use for home entertainment, movies, music, the works, based on Linux, and that has the same capabilities as your Tivo or ReplayTV. Sound hot? I thought so too-all for free, and all based on Linux. So if you were thinking about dabbling in Linux for one reason or another, this is probably a great project to get you started.

ExtremeTech also gives you buying advice on how to build said PC; but if you have one of your own, you should be just fine-but the really impressive part is how easy they make it all look. I have my own HTPC running Windows XP (nope, didn’t shell out for the fancy media center edition), but this is a seriously tempting project. Read all about it:

[ http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1814975,00.asp ]

Categories
TechNews Bytes

First Look: Tiger Lives Up to the Hype

Now that we’ve had our hands on Mac OS 10.4 “Tiger” for a while, it’s about time for the comprehensive reviews to start trickling in, and who has our first but the reliable folks at PCWorld? 4.5/5 stars, they give it, a must have for Mac owners, and well worth the upgrade, they conclude, but that’s not all they say-some in depth analysis of the new features, how some of the new features like Spotlight, iChat AV, RSS integration into Safari, and Dashboard will all change your Mac for the better, and a few oft overlooked features in the new OS that make a difference, like the addition of Automator (which is designed as kind of an AppleScript for the common man-which should help streamline your often repeated tasks) and stricter yet more comprehensive OS-based parental controls; something that Apple has long outdone Microsoft on.

Read the full review:
[ http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120646,tk,prx,00.asp ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts TWIT Archive

This Week In Tech [TWIT] // Episode 4

Sorry it’s a bit late, but we’ve been pretty busy this week. Regardless, This Week In Tech episode 4 is up and available to download! Check it out:

If you haven’t been to the TWIT blog yet, you should! There’s a link in the sidebar, or you can just bookmark this here link:
[ http://www.twit.tv/ ]

Anyway, on to the podcast! Here it is, in full high quality mp3 glory!

TWIT Episode 4 // May 8, 2005 – [ download ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts TWIT Archive

ROTSS = TWIT! Episode 3 (or 1) Available Now!

If you haven’t noticed, the show is no longer called Revenge of The Screen Savers, it’s now TWIT, or This Week In Tech! So now the category will be called TWIT Archive, and the old entries and links to episode 1 and 2 will still function, so no worries!

Also, you might notice that Leo has gone bittorrent to download the shows! Well well well, that’s perfect for him and needing to conserve bandwidth, but we’ll keep offering the mp3s direct to you until the bandwidth around here gets all sucked up, which probably won’t be a while, so I think we’re okay. That being said, here’s Episode 3 (or Episode 1, depending on how you look at it):

ROTSS Episode 3 // TWIT Episode 1 // May 1, 2005 – [ download ]

Enjoy!

Categories
People

Amber MacArthur Moves Blogs!

Looks like Amber is switching locations on the web! Her old blog that everyone knows was located at Blogger [ http://ambermac.blogspot.com/ ] and it looks like she’s made the decision to switch over to TypePad, and looking at the new site, boy does it make a difference! Check out the new digs:

[ http://ambermac.typepad.com/ ]

Update your bookmarks!

Categories
TechNews Bytes

Friday is Tiger-day, also Apple unveils new G5 Desktops

This is one heck of a week for Apple! First, Amazon leaks the specs for their new G5 desktops and Apple releases the things the next day, and Friday the 29th of April is the big release of MacOS 10.4, “Tiger,” Apple’s most recent revision to the Macintosh Operating System.

But should you upgrade? Are those new G5’s worth a look at the Apple Store? What’s so special about all of this stuff and why does Apple keep selling new OSes every year when Microsoft can make Windows XP and hang tough with it for years? Well, let’s take a look at those questions, shall we?

Don’t worry Apple, I know you guys have been in the habit of suing websites who give out classified information, so I assure you all ahead of time, no juicy bits here that other people either don’t know or just aren’t my personal opinion. And that’s what you all want anyway, right? Anyway-read all about it:

[ http://www.pleasanttingle.net/story/2005/4/28/1148/89609 ]

While we’re at it, the rumors are flying again as to whether Apple will release OS X for x86 architecture (meaning everyday PCs). The rumor is likely untrue, and even if it were true, it would be a nightmare for Apple regardless of what people think about it (oh but it’ll make it so much cheaper! It’ll open up a whole new market! Apple just hates its customers! ::stamp::) and there’s a million reasons why, but let’s look at a few from a piece I put together a while ago:

[ http://www.pleasanttingle.net/story/2003/6/30/104241/123 ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts TWIT Archive

Welcome to the TechTV Forever ROTSS Archive!

Welcome to the launch of a brand new section here at TechTV Forever! We decided to help out Leo Laporte and save him a little bandwidth by creating our own archive of the Return of The Screen Savers podcasts right here at TechTVForever.net!

So while we still have to download the podcast from him, you can be sure that we’ll have it posted here as soon as we get it from him when he releases it Sunday nights, ready and available in mp3 format so you can download it to your favorite mp3 player or just play it on your computer! That being said, let’s do away with the pleasantries and give you the first two episodes:

Episode 1 // April 17, 2005 – [ download ]

Episode 2 // April 24, 2005 – [ download ]

Enjoy, and don’t forget to tell your friends!

Categories
Programming and Podcasts Sites and Downloads

Gadgets and Gizmos Site Up!

Gadget fans rejoice! The Gadgets and Gizmos site, for the G4TechTV Canada show, “Gadgets and Gizmos” is live, up, and running, and shelling out information to you gadget freaks and geek gear fans. Sadly, it’s still only available in Canada, but at least those of us elsewhere in the world can enjoy the website for the time being, and draw up whatever information we can absorb from it. And hey-maybe eventually we’ll see it on TV here in the United States!

In the meantime, head over to the new site and poke around-I’m sure there’s tons to see!

[ http://www.gadgetsandgizmostv.com/ ]

Categories
Sites and Downloads TechNews Bytes

Google Feature Logs Users’ Histories

Oh Google, you so crazy! First it was a ton of extra space for GMail users, then it was Google Video, which started out as just a method to search the closed-captioning of television shows and is now accepting uploads from you, me, everyone else who might be interested in archiving their video with Google: [ http://video.google.com/ ] and more importantly WHY they want your video and how to get it to them: [ https://upload.video.google.com/ ]. Now, they’ve globalized your login and password that you use for GMail and renamed it your “Google Login,” which will act as your global authentication for all Google services.

Cool huh? Yeah-it wasn’t cool when Microsoft did it with Passport, but that was more because they tried to shove it down your throat for all MSN services and then some, and people tended to shy away from it. We’ll see if Google has better luck-I can see uses for a global Google login (customized deal searches across trusted sites on Froogle, for example) but getting back to point. The first step in Google’s mind, to making everyone log in to Google before using Google services is to allow you the opportunity to search your search history. Here’s the scenario: You Googled for some search terms that led you to a page a couple of days ago. You read it, used the info from it, and closed it. A couple of days later, someone asks you about the same thing-you’ve forgotten the web address so you can’t give the page to them. What do you do? Google again? But you forgot the exact search terms you used! Oh no! Well, Google comes to the rescue. If you logged in prior to making the search, you can look back through your search history (instead of having to dig through your browser history) to find that search and the page that resulted from it. Sounds cool, right? I think so. Read all about it:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120516,tk,dn042105X,00.asp ]

Categories
Sites and Downloads Tips and Tricks

Easy Ways to Recycle Old PCs and Cell Phones–Really!

The folks at PCWorld never fail to dissapoint, and this time is no exception. Ever wonder what to do with that old monitor you’re replacing, or that old computer that’s up and died, and you’ve long since picked up a new one to replace it? What about that laptop that they say will take a ton of money to repair since it’s not under warranty anymore? Or maybe just an old cellphone that you got a replacement for last week? Well, don’t just chuck it in the trash! That’s not very green-minded of you, is it?

Read on about the ways you can recycle or get rid of that offending technology that’s taking up space in your home and making themselves rather annoying paperwieghts while simultaneously helping the planet! Everything from finding a recycling center to donating your cellphones to donating them to FreeCycling them (meaning put it up on a list where anyone who wants it might make arrangements to snag it from you) are on the list of things to think of. So while there’s a multitude of options for you, the article does a pretty good job of condensing them down and giving you links to the ones you might be interested in. Check it out:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120544,tk,dn042205X,00.asp ]

A couple of suggestions though-before you go getting rid of that old computer, check and see if your local school or school district could use a donation. And before you toss that old cellphone in the trash, ask your phone carrier to see if they take them back to recycle them, or even better-some carriers take them and reprogram them so they’re 911-only devices to be given to battered women and women in abusive relationships, so they have a direct line to the authorities. Now that’s recycling-saving the earth, and saving people at the same time. Keep it in mind next time you’ve got some tech to trash!

Categories
People Programming and Podcasts Sites and Downloads

Revenge of The Screen Savers!

Check it! Patrick Norton, Leo Laporte, and all the tech news and content you’ve come to know and love, all wrapped up in one neat little podcast. What’s it called?

Revenge of The Screen Savers!

Check it out and download the first episode here:
[ http://leoville.com/blog/index.php/TLR/comments/the-revenge-of-the-bleep/ ]

Excellent title selection, if I do say so myself. Looks like it’s a weekly podcast to be distributed every sunday, and with any luck we should see appearances and contributed content from a variety of our old TechTV friends like Kevin Rose and Laura Burstein! If you haven’t played with podcasting, now’s the time to do it, or just download the mp3s and play them with any normal mp3 player. We’ll get to downloading and maybe create an archive of them, to hopefully save Leo a little bandwidth here and there. More on that coming soon!

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

New Call For Help 2.0 Set Shots

I know I’m a little late on this one, but Andy Walker has some shots and a short movie from the new Call for Help 2.0 set over at his blog:

[ http://blog.cyberwalker.com/ ]

Check the most recent entries for the divx movie of the new set, and a couple of interesting shots from around it. Looks good if I do say so myself! Now to get the show on mainsteam television in the United States! What’s that you say? You want to help too? Why yes, you can! Go here:

[ http://www.g4techtv.ca/callforhelp/interact/callforhelpusa.shtml ]

And fill out the form! Hopefully we’ll be seeing the new set on our own TVs very soon!

Categories
Programming and Podcasts Sites and Downloads

Gadgets and Gizmos Site and Episodes Coming Soon!

Word around the message boards and mailing lists is that the new G4 TechTV Canada show, Gadgets and Gizmos, has put the stake in the ground and claimed their webspace at:

[ http://www.gadgetsandgizmostv.com/ ]

There’s nothing there save a placeholder right now, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as the new site comes online and what kind of content it’ll include. Here’s to hoping the new show and the new site is something like the Fresh Gear we came to know and love, but with the same flair that’s making Call For Help 2.0 such a wild success!

Also coming down the pipe is word that some new episodes of GnG are being shot as we speak, and hopefully they’ll be on the air soon, so stay tuned for more information about that too!

Categories
People Tips and Tricks

Andy Walker Writes a Book!

Looks like Andy Walker, of Call for Help 2.0 fame, is writing a book on computer security! The book should be geared towards end-users, average people who are concerned about keeping themselves safe online but may not be all into computers or particularly knowledgeable from the getgo. It looks like it has promise, we haven’t seen a book like this since Becky Worley’s Security Alert which I’m sure it still floating around somewhere.

Anyway, check it out, Andy’s got the details!
[ http://blog.cyberwalker.com/?p=78 ]

Categories
People

Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, and Kevin Rose…On the Same Team Again?

Please please please let this one be true! It looks like Leo, Pat, and Kevin might collaborate on a podcast together, and I’ll be the first one to tell you, if this is true and the podcasts start flowing, I’ll be the first one to start downloading it. And lucky for all of us, it looks like it might just be at hand:

[ http://leovilletownsquare.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/1145/post/16886/fbb_session_id/a59f91a925156ebde976d43116848607/fbb_uid/0/#16886 ]

I think this could be an excellent step for them all-having the ability to collaborate in their own way and actually do something to contribute to the masses of people who still love them and follow their every move (coughTECHTVFOREVERcough) who really want to see and hear more from them. This is a big deal to people like me, fans and friends alike, who really appreciated their informed tech commentary and knowledge, and very much miss their chemistry and dynamic.

As for them, I know this must be incredibly difficult for them all, what with Kevin still at G4, Leo doing CfH 2.0, and Patrick writing for ZDNet and ExtremeTech, and they’ll likely not see much revenue come into their pockets from doing this, so I have to default to thinking that they’re doing this for the love of technology and the love of their fans and the love of helping people, and that’s something truly amazing and inspiring. You can tell they really loved what they did, and hopefully they’ll love what they do now-especially as much as I know their fanbase will love it themselves.

I suggest everyone out there, when you can, support them in their endeavors to do this, however they make it possible.

Categories
Gear and Gadgets

Budget LCD Roundup!

The tech reviewers at FiringSquad [http://www.firingsquad.com/ ] have put together quite the comprehensive list of LCD displays that won’t crack your budget or cramp your computing style. It’s pretty thorough, including quite a bit of interesting preface information about LCDs in general, the way they work, improvements that have been made over the years, and pretty much everything you could ever possibly want to know about how to really gauge an LCD’s quality and value. They guide you through comparing color temperatures and contrast ratios, and give you a peek into the history of the LCD and the improvements that have been made since their introduction almost 10 years ago.

If all that’s too much for you, then don’t worry-just skip ahead to the monitors they tested; some good names are in there, Samsung, Dell, Viewsonic, Sony; and the pros and cons of each are outlined in excellent detail. The reviews and results of the tests might surprise you!

[ http://firingsquad.com/hardware/budget_lcd_roundup_0405/default.asp ]