Join Dr. Bill as he examines the wild and wacky world of the web, computers, and all things geeky! Hot Tech Tips, Tech News, and Geek Culture are examined… with plenty of good humor as well!
Author: Dr. Bill
Dr. Bill is a Word of Faith Minister, Non-Profit Technology Specialist, Webmaster, and Technical Director of WOFR.org and SpeakFaith.TV. Before he retired from corporate life in 2017, he was also a technologist in the corporate arena for over 35 years. He is a Board Certified Traditional Naturopath.
He is the Founder and President of Word of Faith Ministries, Incorporated, a non-profit Christian Ministry and is the creator and maintainer of an Internet Streaming TV and Roku Channel, SpeakFaith.TV. He volunteers, as Technical Director for WOFR.org – Word of Faith Radio, a non-profit Christian Radio Network. He is a graduate of Life Christian University, with a Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. in Theology and was a charter member (chartered in 1979) of the International Convention of Faith Ministries (ICFM).
Dr. Bill is a certified as a Certified Natural Health Professional, and holds a doctorate in Natural Health in the field of Naturopathy. He is also certified as a Certified Traditional Naturopath, certified by the American Naturopathic Certification Board (ANCB). He is certified as a Master Herbalist, and became a Professional Member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, and of the Coalition for Natural Health.
Dr. Bill earned certifications in the corporate world as a CIW Certified Master System Administrator. This was a major certification achievement that involves these intermediate certifications: CIW Web Professional Foundations Associate, CIW Server Administration Professional, CIW Security Professional, and the CIW Inter-networking Professional certification. He was also certified as a Certified Citrix Administrator (CCA), and a VMware Certified Professional (VCP), as well as an EC-Council Certified Security Analyst and a CIW Certified Security Analyst. He also earned the Imprivata Certified Engineer certification in both Single Sign-On and Authentication Management.
Our 300th Show, and a BIG Giveaway! A walk-through of Boxee.TV. Google Chromecast, Dr. Bill is jazzed! GSotW: Active@ File Recovery and Virtual Drive Creator, GigaOm Cord Cutter’s demo of Chromecast, Ubuntu Edge, Dr. Bill is a Founder! PiCast Project!
Our 300th Show, and a BIG Giveaway! A walk-through of Boxee.TV. Google Chromecast, Dr. Bill is jazzed! GSotW: Active@ File Recovery and Virtual Drive Creator, GigaOm Cord Cutter’s demo of Chromecast, Ubuntu Edge, Dr. Bill is a Founder! PiCast Project!
This is an Open Source project called PiCast. It is an Open Source Chromecast alternative. Neat idea, but at $35.00 for the Chromecast, I am not sure the PiCast will save you any money! It runs on Raspberry Pi, so if you don’t have that already, you will need to buy one.
Virtual Drive Creator lets you map any available drive letter on your computer to any folder on your drive with ease! Suppose you are working on a project where you have placed all of your files in a directory such as ‘C:\Users\Admin\My Documents\Projects\Acme Corp Acquisition\Drafts’. To access your files in Windows Explorer or any other application you need to traverse through the maze of folders to get there. Using Virtual Drive Creator, you can simply map an available drive letter (such as R) to the precise directory you are working in and you can access those files quickly and easily. The file ‘TimeLine.docx’ can then be opened in Microsoft Word simply by selecting the Open command, selecting the R drive and clicking on your document in the files list. Once you no longer need to keep the drive mapped to the folder, you simply remove the mapping using Virtual Drive Creator.
Special for CD-ROM users! This works great! Copy the contents of your CD to a folder on you hard drive, not the root. Create a virtual drive pointing to that folder. Install the CD using the virtual drive letter. And like magic you can run the CD from your hard drive. This work for about 70% of the CDs we’ve tested, it does not work for music CDs or Data CDs.”
I became a founder at $20.00. I want one! It looks like it will rock! Go to about 3:00 in the video to see the hardware specs… zowie! It will dual boot Ubuntu and Android, so that you can have the best of both worlds!
This is ultimate phone/pc/device for serious uber-geeks!
Hardware:
“We’ve scoured the research labs of the biggest companies and most exciting startups for the latest and greatest mobile technologies to specify the first-generation Edge.
Crafted from cool, textured amorphous metal, the Edge has a distinctive, precise look but its rakishly chamfered edges are shaped to fit naturally in the palm — our design prototype already has a wonderfully solid feel. It’s the right size, too. Edge gestures are the next big thing in mobile, and our testing has found that a 4.5in screen is ideal for comfortable control of all four edges with one hand.
We also believe the race for ever higher resolution has become a distraction. Beyond 300ppi you’re adding overhead rather than improving display clarity. We think color, brightness and dynamic range are now the edge of invention so we’ll choose a display for its balance of resolution, dynamic range and color accuracy.
We’ll protect that gorgeous display with something vastly tougher than glass: pure sapphire crystal, a material so hard only diamond could scratch it. For a phone to run a full desktop OS, it must have the raw power of a PC. We’ll choose the fastest available multi-core processor, at least 4GB of RAM and a massive 128GB of storage. The battery will use silicon-anode technology, so we can squeeze more energy into the same dimensions.
With that kind of muscle, this phone can be your main PC anywhere — and we really do mean anywhere. You can use the desktop wherever you can find a standard HDMI screen, and the dual-LTE chip will get you online with 4G even when you’re travelling abroad. It’s desktop computing gone truly mobile.”
Software:
“Next-generation hardware deserves innovative software. The Ubuntu Edge will dual-boot both the Ubuntu phone OS and Android, and convert into a fully integrated Ubuntu desktop PC.
First, Ubuntu mobile. We designed the interface to create a beautiful home screen that’s free from the usual clutter. You navigate by swiping over an edge of the screen: open your favorite apps on the left edge, switch instantly between open apps from the right, and use the system and app toolbars at the top and bottom respectively. It’s so simple, Ubuntu doesn’t need a home button at all.
Specialist data artists have designed Ubuntu’s welcome screen, with graphics that evolve over time to reflect your use of the phone. We’ve reinvented the inbox so you can read and respond to texts, emails and social media posts in an instant.
From mobile… to desktop. Yes, it’s the full Ubuntu desktop OS used by millions on a daily basis — and it runs directly from the phone, so you’ll be able to move seamlessly from one environment to the other with no file syncing or transfers required. The core OS and applications are fully integrated with their smartphone equivalents, so you can even make and receive calls from the desktop while you work.
Finally, you can also boot the phone into Android. And there’s a good reason for that…”
The Plan:
“As well as being a bonus for app developers and anyone with a big Android app collection, including Android on the phone means we’re able to offer full convergence at launch. On day one, you’ll be able to launch the Ubuntu desktop from within Android using our existing Ubuntu for Android app.
Then shortly after launch we’ll push out a free software update that adds this desktop integration to Ubuntu mobile as well. That’s the real goal we’re working towards. At that point you’ll have a leading-edge smartphone that runs Ubuntu and Android, both of which can also run a fully integrated Ubuntu desktop OS. What other phone can match that?
However you choose to use Ubuntu Edge, the incredible components will keep it running fast and fresh as our software evolves. We’ll push out monthly Ubuntu software updates to add features and polish, and we guarantee to keep supporting the phone for three years.”
This one saved me from losing data on an external USB drive I was using for backups! Awesome software… free to try on a limited demo, but only $29.95 for a personal license, if you, like me, have a big drive recovery to do!
Efficient & easy to use data recovery tool for deleted, damaged or lost files, even if your PC doesn’t boot
Active@ File Recovery for Windows provides the ability to effectively detect and recover files and disks lost due to accidental deletion, disk formatting, virus and other reasons.
Active@ File Recovery Professional package also includes integrated Disk Editor (HexViewer; a utility for low-level data inspection), Active@ Partition Recovery (a tool used to recover deleted or damaged volumes), and Active@ File Organizer (a utility to organize/rename files after a catastrophic data loss).
Active@ File Recovery Enterprise extends the Professional package with Active@ Boot Disk Lite: an ISO image that you can use to create a bootable CD/DVD or USB with a lightweight version of Windows 7™ running in RAM (WinPE 3.1). It is the only way to recover your data when your system is not bootable and you cannot attach the corrupted Hard Disk Drive to another machine.
When to use it:
Recover deleted files after Recycle Bin has been emptied, or files were deleted while bypassing the Recycle Bin (ex. large files)
Recover files lost due to accidental disk formatting, damage by virus attack, malicious program, or a power failure
Recover photos & pictures deleted from a USB Flash, or images lost after formatting a Memory Card (SD, CompactFlash)
Data recovery when partition or volume is deleted, damaged or formatted, or disk has bad sectors
I say, yes! Google’s Chromecast debuted last week to much hoopla, and excitement from geeks everywhere! (Followed shortly by gripping and groaning from nay-sayers, which I will cover in a moment.) As you can see from the photo above, the Chromecast is a simple looking device, but what is does is awesome!
The naysayers have been saying things like:
1) It doesn’t have enough “native” apps yet!
(So what!? It displays whatever you see and “cast” from your browser, so that could be ANY service!)
2) It isn’t that small device that is the size of a thumbdrive after all… it has a long dongle for power and plugs into the wall!
(Again… so what!? If you have a modern HD TV that has a powered version of HDMI jacks on your TV, it will NOT have to use the external power… and even if you do, it is all behind your TV anyway, and once you plug it in, you are done!)
3) My Roku already let’s me see Netflix.
(OK, but your Roku doesn’t let you display your PC’s web browser, and anything running in it, on your HD TV via the Roku. I don’t see abandoning my Roku either, but at $35.00 why not get the capability to see my PC’s web browser on my HD 55″ TV in all it’s glory!?)
Chromecast Specs:
Output: HDMI, CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) compatible Max. Output Video Resolution: 1080p Dimensions: 72(L) x 35(W) x 12(H) mm Weight: 34g Wireless Standards: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only) Wireless Security: WEP, WPA/WPA2 Power: USB (Power adapter included)
Includes USB cable and power adapter
Plugs into TV directly and powered from TV’s HDCP compatible HDMI port or wall outlet
Map a drive latter to any folder! Very cool FREE software!
This one saved me from losing data on an external USB drive I was using for backups! Awesome software… free to try on a limited demo, but only $29.95 for a personal license, if you, like me, have a big drive recovery to do!
I say, yes! Google’s Chromecast debuted last week to much hoopla, and excitement from geeks everywhere! (Followed shortly by gripping and groaning from nay-sayers, which I will cover in a moment.) As you can see from the photo above, the Chromecast is a simple looking device, but what is does is awesome!