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mike and dave
Ep. 192 – The Lost ‘cast … or … Mike and Dave Unplugged!
Jun 5th
TOPIC: The audio quality may be poor, but the content quality is up to our usual standards (about mediocre) in this “lost” episode – we were SURE the mic’s were off for this one, but thanks to one dedicated listener (that means YOU GeorgeAI from Denver – who’s getting a super cool TechTalk cap for his trouble!) this episode was captured for posterity!
We miss Jay Garmon this week – I guess if he’s not on tape he just can’t be bothered – though as always you should check out jaygarmon.net for any additional Jayness you might be missing!
We stack the deck with some way cool coolsites that I thought I’d get to use again, but you’ll catch them here first:
- Evil – Not really, just shows you some people who haven’t hidden their facebook phone numbers as well as they think they have!
- TripAdvisor.com – Find out info on all the places you are thinking of going, plus some great deals and recommendations. According to Dave, the blogs are the best!
- TripWolf.com – a slightly more social take on the TripAdvisor idea, where you can post pics and notes on your favorite places!
- Yapta.com – Already bought a ticket? Log it on Yapta to be notified if/when that price drops so you can renegotiate.
- SeatExpert.com – Never get your knees in your nose at the bulkhead again! Well, maybe they can’t promise that, but you will certainly get some great advice on the best (and worst) seats to pick from on most any flight you’ll be taking!
- KnockingLiveVideo.com – One-to-one video sharing between iPhones! Very cool way to share where you’re at and what you’re doing, live!
The podcast only song of the week this week is Chick Lit by We Are Scientists!
Ep. 189 – Apple vs. Gizmodo, who’s “The Man” now?
May 19th
TOPIC: Dave is back in the studio and we have a great time debating who’s to blame for Gizmodo’s “theft” of an errant iPhone! After that and some other more newsy items (and helpful advice) Jay Garmon joins us with a fantastic Geek Trivia:
Jay’s question of the week this week was:
Of the top 10 worst oil spills in history, which was the worst accidental spill?
Mike shares some more math tricks for our good friend and long time listener Steve from St. Louis, and on top of that we get to a handful of fantastic coolsites:
- Squaring two numbers in your head – Once in a while we just have to prove the rule that we are indeed geeks! Shouts to our good friend and author John Graham-Cumming of the “Geek Atlas.” Perhaps we can convince him to come back on the show again someday!
- Kids-In-Mind Movie Reviews – Wondering if that new flick the chilluns are clamoring for is going to warp their fragile little minds? Don’t go to the theater blind ever again!
- Thisweknow - Explore government data about your neighborhood, city, town, county or state!
- Microsoft Hohm – energy saving tips and gadgets galore … from Microsoft! And with that cute misspelling of ‘home’ how could you not love it?
The podcast only song of the week this week is “From a Tower” by LoveLikeFire. Check it out!
Ep. 187 – Mo’ McAfee, Mo’ Problems?
May 4th
TOPIC: Mike makes a valiant but ultimately failed attempt to get through to his contacts at McAfee for an on-air explanation of the recent “issues” users had … but he does get a nice email explanation and shares that.
A ton of stuff on Facebook’s plans to take of the world, and then Jay Garmon comes through with some more geek trivia:
What Oscar-winning iconically geek film changed it’s lead actor 5 days prior to principle photography began?
We almost run out of time for our coolsites this week – but the ones we get to are very cool (as always):
- Microsoft Fix-It Center – Helps fixes all your microsoft problems, online, with a little app to help you go “click, click, fixed!”
- Password Card – One of the easiest ways we’ve seen to keep truly secure passwords on your person at all times … easier seen than explained!
The podcast only song of the week this week is “Polite Dance Song” by The Bird and the Bee.
Ep. 186 – Here, There, Whatever!
Apr 16th
TOPIC: Mike blabs on and on about his jetsetter traveling lifestyle trying to impress us all with how fabulous it is going to conferences all the time. It doesn’t work, but Dave manages to squeeze some good news in here and there too!
After answering our burning questions about the Fringe reference to Back to the Future with Eric Stoltz, Jay Garmon comes through with another great geek trivia question:
Before Windows, before MS-DOS, what was the FIRST operating system released by Microsoft?
Then we’ve got a theme for our coolsites this week – web sites that will help you get all “churched up” for Easter … some great Christian and Bible reference sites:
Wouldn’t be a complete show without the podcast only song of the week, so this week we bring you “Kill Monsters in the Rain” by Steel Train!
Ep. 185 – Eye-Fi CEO Jef Holove!
Apr 5th
TOPIC: The whole crew is here, including Jay Garmon and Dave is with us too! But what really rounds out the show is a great interview and discussion with Eye-Fi CEO Jef Holove who gives us the lowdown on the pretty darn amazing technology and uses behind their new products.
If you’ve ever thought “there’s got to be a better way” as you took your picture from your digital camera, popped the chip, plugged the chip, downloaded the images, uploaded the images, and then tried to find the link to tell your friends about it – well, you’re right! Listen in and find out what Eye-Fi can do for you.
The geek trivia question of the week is:
What did CADIE (the Google “sentient” April fool’s invention) consider the greatest thing in all the universe?
Got a real handful of coolsites of the week this week too – check ‘em out!
- ZeuSoftware ZeuApp – Over 80 great, free apps that you can download immediately!
- AVG Rescue CD and the McAfee Stinger – A few extra tools to stick in your virtual ‘bag’ this spring as you go around helping out the friends and relatives with their malware and spyware woes.
- Information is Beautiful – For anyone that hated statistics but loved art class, this will really open your eyes!
The podcast only song of the week this week is the happy “Set Sail” by Montt Mardie!
Ep. 183 – The Ugly Boys Show
Mar 22nd
TOPIC: Dave’s finally back, at least for a week, though we do lose Jay Garmon this time around! No worries though, he sends us his answer to last week’s question and we manage to plow through without him somehow!
We’ve got some great news items to hit, Dave and Mike both opine about their newest tech purchases, and then we finish it up with some awesome cool sites of the week:
- Flame Drawer – Escape motions has a really neat little flame drawing utility (no, not a drawer to put your old flames in) that even the least artistic among us can use to produce some cool looking desktop wallpapers and stuff!
- Origami Club – Looking for something to do with all your extra printer paper? Look no further, the origami club will teach you a few things!
- Disk Space Fan – One of the best GUI and graphical ways to check out where all that space has gone to on your drive!
The slightly nsfw podcast only song of the week is “Ugly Boy” by The Cuties!
Ep. 179 – Yes, We’re Not Impressed With the iPad Too
Feb 11th
TOPIC: Tell the grammar police to stay back, but however you parse it Mike jumps into the iPad-haters shark pool along with Pee-Wee Herman and cadre of others. Including our very own Jay Garmon who, yes, we are impressed with as he comes up with another awesome trivia question!
When did the infamous “1984″ superbowl Apple commercial first air (and no, it wasn’t during the superbowl)?
Here’s the coolsites of the week:
- UltraDefrag – The fastest and overall one of the best freeware defrag utilities we’ve seen!
- Sikuli – Want to write a few macros, but don’t have the chops? Sikuli to the rescue with it’s totally graphic screenshot driven style!
- Cool PowerPoint 2007 Tricks – Some pretty nifty tips and tricks to making your next ppt really stand out; with full example and inline instructions. Straight from the horses mouth too (Microsoft, that is)!
The truly podcast only song of the week this week is the pumping Mister Driver by the Plasticines!
Ep. 178 – Let’s Get Political!
Feb 5th
TOPIC: No, we’re not going to rewrite Olivia Newton John’s masterpiece of pop and legwarmers – instead, we’ve got Dan Newman from MapLight.org on to talk to us about how they are helping voters, constituents,and anyone interested in getting the real scoop on how money and pols mix and match!
Jay Garmon blows us away as usual with his Geek Trivia question:
What did Apple do with all those extra Lisa’s?
And then we’ve got some really great coolsites of the week:
- CHOW.com – Need a little extra help in the kitchen? CHOW will at least show you what you’re doing wrong!
- MajicJack – Awesomely cheap phone calls using voip! Note this isn’t a free option, but it’s low cost enough to make the list, just like …
- WebTel – Make cheap international calls right from your cell phone with webtel! Again, not free like our usual coolsites, but darn close!
If you’re feeling a little MIA, then the podcast only song of the week will make you happy – listen to ‘Queen Dot Kong’ by Do!
Ep. 175 – Toshibo, hai!
Jan 14th
TOPIC: With discussion of CES, Toshiba laptops, tech news of the week and more you may hardly even notice that we’re missing Jay Garmon – that lucky geek gets to attend the CES … but us lucky geeks will get to hear his take on it next week! He does forward us the answer to last week’s trivia at least, so we’re able to fulfill your trivia needs too.
We’ve also got some great cool sites of the week too:
- Run Linux Apps on Your Desktop – Not excited about dual boot to try Linux? Just need one or two key things? Give this a shot – running Linux apps on your windows desktop. From the very cool HowToGeek site!
- Windows God Mode – Another great tip from the HowToGeek, this one tells you how to get instant access to all the “hidden” system config in Windows 7. Check it out!
Podcast only song of the week this week is in honor of Jay – Thao Nguyen with the Get Down Stay Down and their song “Bag of Hammers”
Ep. 174 – Recap, Trivia, and More!
Jan 6th
TOPIC: It seems like just last week we were making predictions about 2010 – but already some of them are coming true! Not only do we recap some of the bigger news stories of the last week and how they relate to our predictions, but of course Jay Garmon‘s Geek Trivia doesn’t fail to stump us yet again. If you’d like to take a stab at this week’s, drop a line to techtalk@wrlr.fm or leave a message at 847-984-0847!
In the movie 2010, the sequel to Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001, what cameo movie roles did Clarke and Kubrick play onscreen?
Tune in next week for the answer!
And of course we wouldn’t leave you without some great cool sites of the week:
- Runner’s World What to Wear? – Some days it’s cold, and other days it’s really, really cold, so how do you know what to wear if you’re a runner like Mike? Check out this site and find out! They do a good job of sticking to what you need and laying off the marketing too …
- Gizmodo’s Guide to Gadget Gift Extras – Not sure if those 12′ HDMI cables are worth the cost? Thinking of getting a dock for that iPod you got from your sweety for XMas? Check here first and make sure it’s a good idea!
- Smashing Magazine’s Monthly Wallpapers – These beautifully designed and useful monthly calendar wallpapers are a great way to gussy up your desktop for the new year!
- Network Lights – Go oldschool on that network monitor by having your capslock and numlock LED’s flashing in time to your network activity! This little app takes care of it for you for free!
All that remains is the podcast only song of the week, which is the wonderful Academia by Sia!
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