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Posts tagged ipad
Ep. 273 – Back to what constitutes normal around here
Jun 28th
TOPIC: The title pretty much says it – technical issues, phone problems and all! We discuss what little we know surrounding Windows 8, more tablet talk, share some great coolsites of the week and even a visit from Jay Garmon gets squeezed in:
How many women have now flown in space, and what % of space travelers through history have been women?
- Textbooks-R-Us: By my experience, one of the better sites to get good value for your used textbooks!
- 8Tracks: Playlists generated by users make for an interesting take on new tunes!
- Stitcher: I resisted this one for a long time, but it turns out it’s a pretty awesome way of getting your TechTalk on (and any other podcasts that float your boat)!
- RecycleBank: Vouchers, coupons and other deals for being a good Earth resident!
Podcast only song of the week is “Down at McDonnelz” by Electric Six … jamming!
Ep. 269 – Monkey swipe, monkey do!
May 16th
TOPIC: That’s right, tablets so easy even an orangutan can use them! Teaching an old orang tech may be just as difficult as getting your parents to stop inappropriately tweeting however … We also cover all the class action and other tech suits that seem to be all the rage this week. Between google and oracle, and all you ipod owners and Apple (you mean you didn’t realize you were suing Apple? Now you know!). After some more Ebook pricing discussion and a comparison of reading Ebooks on kindle vs ipad, Jay Garmon give us this stumper:
What special version of chess was the first version ever played by a computer?
Coolsites of the week are !
- SF Signal – In the ‘Podcasts better than this one’ category … don’t stop listening to us, but by all means you should be listening to SF Signal too!
- Draw Something (iOS, Android) – Tablet only game that lets you play virtual pictionary against strangers. More fun than it sounds!
- OnLive Desktop (iOS, Android) – Windows 7 desktop for your iPad! Upload docs to the OnLive cloud for editing and management.
- CloudOn (iOS) – Lets you edit and use Office2010 docs and apps, but doesn’t force you to use their cloud to do it! You can connect with dropbox, box, or google docs!
- Pocket (iOS) – Save websites, pictures and articles for later, offline reading. Similar to the more popular Instapaper, but more seamlessly integrated and usable IMHO.
The podcast only song of the week is “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye.
Ep. 267 – Tonsil Hockey and Tongue Bowling!
May 4th
TOPIC: Quality Warning – the first 15 minutes have some crackle and pops, so don’t adjust your audio. They do go away after that!
Dave and Mike have a great time discussing Spotify apps, and then get back into that whole android vs. iPad discussion, which is particularly relevant to Mike as he anxiously awaits the arrival of his new iPad next week. The Hugo-adjacent Jay Garmon joins us for some intelligent repartee and asks the following question of the week:
What star is the reference for the apparent magnitude scale of celestial brightness?
Coolsites of the week include:
- YourLogicalFallacyIs – Wondering why that argument you’re having online seems to be going in circles? Need a quick way to tell someone exactly why they’re wrong? This is the site for you!
- SpotFlux – Protect your data by using spotflux whenever you’re in a non-protected wifi environment! Free VPN.
The podcast only song of the week is the pleasingly retro “On Board” by Friendly Fires.
Ep. 263 – The War on Porn!
Mar 13th
TOPIC: Between your favorite porn site storing all passwords and credit card numbers in clear text and PayPal trying to take a bite out of e-book porn, it’s been a rough week for those in the rough trade … not only that but our favorite nemesis Anonymous becomes not quite so anonymous anymore (and with a Chicago connection to boot!).
Jay Garmon attempts to pull us out of the sludge with a great conversation on the relative merits of tablets, and gives us this fantastic trivia question:
Who got lucky (and wealthy) because the US Air Force recovered a hydrogen bomb on St. Patrick’s day – March 17 – 1966?
Dave kicks off our coolsites of the week this week with a great one, and Mike adds a few of his own:
- Unblock-US – Pass your IP through to pretend you’re linking in from another country (great for our repressed friends from those nasty countries with restrictive firewalls!) … note that this may have a fee associated depending on the usage.
- Universal Scale – Lets you dive down from Planck length all the way up to universe sized glimpses, in a beautifully put together and interactive flash app!
- Jelli Radio – A great alternative to the other major streaming radio stations, plus a direct hit into all the best SXSW performers! Both the web and the mobile versions give you social control of the music too … very cool stuff!
The podcast only song of the week is “Always Something” by Cage the Elephant.
Ep. 262 – Windows 8 Unseen!
Mar 5th
TOPIC: Flying solo again this week, Mike takes down the consumer release of Windows 8 and tells you what to look for (and look out for)! Is it just a tablet OS?
Jay Garmon joins us (or should we say saves us?) with some fabulous discussion on tablets and reading, writing and the difficulty thereof. Are tablets just for media consumption, not creation? We also get very excited about virtual reality glasses and how they will be the way of the future … and then after a deep discussion on the conjoining of ebook technology and AR glasses, Jay jumps in with another fabulous trivia question of the week:
What glaring mathematical error in the Pioneer plaque defeats it’s purpose?
Some wonderful coolsites of the week finish us off:
- ByLiner – Follow your favorite authors and writers, and make sure not to miss any of their online content!
- SourceFabric - Download the free and opensource BookType to format your books into an eBook of any type!
- PaperWall – Awesome wallpaper site, with a huge collection of beautiful photography for your desktop! (Note: Some images may be NSFW)
The podcast only song of the week is “Only an Expert” by Laurie Anderson.
Ep. 252 – Popular Science Top Innovations of 2011!
Dec 14th
Corinne Iozzio and Popular Science Innovations 2011 [ 1:01:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (146)TOPIC: We’ve got a full house and an exciting show today! Not only is Dave here, but Scott Andraschko of Round Lake Area Schools drops in to add some much-needed insight and expertise to our conversation. But of course, that’s not all! Corinne Iozzo of Popular Science helps us out by breaking down some of the coolest innovations of 2011 as published in the Popular Science magazine and website! This is one of those must-listen episodes that makes it worth slogging through the rest of the garbage we usually post 
In other news; Dave has gadget fever, portable speakers are all the rage, and Mike can’t keep his hands off of his wife’s Christmas present. And yes, that is a euphemism for a Samsung Galaxy 10.1″ android tablet!
We finish up with some coolsites of the week:
- DocumentaryTube – Free documentaries? How is this possible, you ask? Go check out DocumentaryTube and find out now (plus learn yourself a little something)! Free. Educational. Mmmm, documentaries.
- Presentify.Me – Make those groupons you’re buying for friends and family look good enough to wrap!
- TimeSearch.info – With keyword searching, it puts events into a timeline and highlights the most important milestones. You’ve got to check this out to understand and appreciate!
And our podcast only song of the week is “Don’t Kick the Chair” by Dia Framton with Kid Cudi.
Ep. 250 – McAfee’s 12 Scams of XMas!
Nov 15th
TOPIC: Today we’re joined by Robert Siciliano from McAfee, who provides a great rundown on what you should be worried about going online this holiday season! We cover the gamut from android malware and driveby infections, to wrong transaction email phishing, scareware, and why you may not be as safe with that Mac as you think!
With Jay Garmon and Dave notably absent, Mike takes the opportunity (as usual) to rant. This week, Mike gets freaky about SOPA, and waxes on about what’s required for tablets to really take off in the marketplace.
Somehow, things stay on-track and on-time enough that we get some really great coolsites of the week too!
- McAfee AllAccess – Robert mentions McAfee’s awesome, comprehensive security package on-air in our interview, and it’s definitely worth checking out!
- idTheftSecurity – Robert’s personal website, with tons of great information, software links, video and more. If you ended the show wanting more Robert, this is the place to go!
- 2Houses – Great site for coordinating and communicating for separated parents managing children.
- PDFGeni – Search engine specifically designed to help you research and find complete – and free – pdf books online!
Podcast only song of the week is the jumping and fun “I’m Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO!
Ep. 248 – Every Day is Halloween!
Nov 1st
TOPIC: Or at least it should be! Mike and Dave get together right before Halloween this year to tell you spooky tech stories … well, maybe not so spooky, but Dave does apologize for his comments about Steve Jobs from a few weeks ago, and an apology from the TechTalk show can seem almost supernatural in it’s rarity. Tablets and a possibly too-long discussion of IVR rounds out the show before …
Jay “Encyclopedia Garmonica” treats us to a totally a propos Halloweeny geek trivia question:
What was the only manned space flight mission to take off on Halloween day?
And that leaves us ample time for some great seasonal coolsites of the week!
- PumpkinPatchesAndMore – Find all the local pumpkin patches in your area! Plus carving templates, recipes, and more.
- HalloweenPrintables – From the great folks at FreePrintables.net, come some cards, puzzles, and coloring pages just in time for Halloween!
- FantasyPumpkins – These are cool to look at all year, and include templates for many of the coolest pumpkins you’ve ever seen!
This week we treat your ears to a speed metal version of the classic “Every Day is Halloween” by Ministry.
Ep. 246 – Steve Jobs is Dead … Long Live Steve!
Oct 11th
TOPIC: Just Mike and geek buddy Jay Garmon here today, and even though Mike’s never been described as an Apple fanboy a good amount of time is spent discussing the impact that Steve and his ubiquitous bitten fruit have made on the world today. To honor Steve, the geek trivia question of the day is related and apropo:
What business did steve jobs want Pixar to be in when he bought them? (Hint – it WASN’T computer graphics and animation!)
In more positive news, the TechTalk Facebook fan page is officially unveiled! That makes it into our coolsites of the week, and make sure you visit it, like it, and share it!
- TechTalk on Facebook – Come check it out, like it, share it! Great place to swap geek trivia guesses, make suggestions for the show, and even listen live right on facebook!
- Ruck.us – Find like-minded politicos, wherever they may be, and make a ruckus! Options for joining movements, expressing your opinion, and even signing polls online.
The podcast only song of the week this week is “Howling for You” by The Black Keys.
Ep. 241 – Let the tablet wars begin!
Sep 6th
TOPIC: Both Dave and Mike get to opine about their individual idea of where the tablet wars will go, and have fun discussing the differences between geeks, nerds, and ne’er-do-wells! Plus Dave shares his ongoing love (and deep fear) of the hacking group Anonymous!
Jay Garmon leaves us for Dragoncon, though we’re sure we’ll talk to him again soon. That still leaves us time for a couple of cool cool sites this week:
- Plan B – Lost your phone? Forgot to install tracking stuff on it? No worries, go for plan B!
- Runkeeper Importer – Bring that Nike+ data straight into Runkeeper if you’re ready to make the switch like I was!
The podcast only song of the week is “One way ticket to the moon” by Dave Stewart!
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