Fox Page: February 2006

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Thursday, February 23, 2006

Tonight's Tech Check - P.C Gaming - what to look for.

Greetings Fox 6 viewers - don't forget to listen to Chase and Sam every Saturday at 11:00 AM hosting Tech Talk on WAPI 1070 AM.

Special thanks to Larry at Hack of All Trades (click here) for letting us film this week's Tech Check in his shop. If you need computer service or hardware sales - give him a call at 871-6521.

If you are in the market for a new computer, and you want it to play the latest games, then the $599.00 special that the local Walmart is carrying just won't cut it. The reason is that most budget (sub $1000) desktop and laptop computers don't have a graphics card - they instead let the processor handle most of the graphics processing. In order for a computer to play today's best games, it needs an 8x AGP graphics card with 128 megabytes of ram at an absolute minimum, and even with that, it won't handle the latest games particularly well - you'll have to dial down most of the graphics settings. Several companies make computers that are made for gaming, like Dell, Alienware, Falcon Northwest and Velocity Micro. You can also build one yourself, or order a custom pc - make sure it has a video card (not onboard or integrated graphics) a sound card, and at least 784 mb of Ram.

Pertinent clicks:

Velocity Micro's 3d gaming glossary,

Toms Hardware (click here) is a good place to start in educating yourself about the hardware needed for high end computer tasks like gaming, video/graphics editing, etc.

Here's a link to their reviews of the latest Computer graphics cards (click here)

Budget gaming guide

Did you wonder how we were playing old Atari games on our pc? Click here to check out the Stella project, where you can download a free Atari emulator for the pc. (You'll have to read the directions - we can't help you with support for this project)

An interesting thread on the Tom's Hardware forums about building the ultimate gaming pc.

Pricey gaming systems of the past

Next week, we'll help you upgrade an existing system to make it more gaming friendly, and offer some advice on when it's time to get a new computer, rather than upgrade.

posted by Chase Thompson @ 6:44 PM 3 comments

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Tech Talk is back! (scroll down for HDTV)

Welcome, Fox viewers, (scroll down for our HDTV info) Starting this Saturday at 11:00 am, Tech Talk is back on the air! You can hear us on WAPI 1070 AM, so please be sure to tune in, and give us a call! More info on our homepage. Tech Talk is back!

posted by Chase Thompson @ 6:21 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

This week's TechCheck: HDTV for President!

Studies show that HDTV's are positioned to outsell Regular Television sets for the first time in 2006. The talk is that the cost of HDTV sets are coming down in price as much as 38 percent!

So what's the big deal?

Picture quality is the biggest difference. The Hi-Def (digital) signal is a much sharper image than analog. The analog signal travels on FM/AM waves and is subject to interference which creates the 'snow' on the screen. A digital signal is transmitted in 'bits' of information like a computer. This means you receive it in it's entirety or you don't (resulting in blank screen). Also, digital allows for the true widescreen so you get more in the shot.

Here is a good example from www.howstuffworks.com :

There are several types of HDTV's : Plasma, LCD, Projection, and even the classic Tube set. The important thing in finding one is to make sure you know the difference between HDTV and HD-ready.

Basically you have three ways (antenna, cable, or satellite) in which you could receive your signal. Before you go shopping, you need to call your network service provider and ask if they even offer an HD transmission (chances are yes). If yes, then you need to ask them if you need a converter box in order to receive that signal. The reason is: you may just need an HD ready tv instead of an HDTV b/c your service might require you to purchase something.

Here's a link to a glossary of all things HDTV: CLICK HERE

Cnet HDTV Buying Guide
HDBeat HDTV Buyers Guide
Pcmag guide to LCD/HDTV's under $1000

More to come?

posted by The Knowles Family @ 2:44 PM 0 comments

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Tech Check: Online videos, viral videos, amateur video, homemade video...

In tonight's Tech Check, Sam and I looked into the world of online, amateur video. There are many sites out there that have short, funny and amazing videos, but be careful - many of the sites feature videos that aren't safe for watching at home or at work - and certainly not around children. Earlier this year, we created a website to help alleviate that problem called Safevideo.com. It has several hundred viral videos that are grouped into categories, and we've checked them to make sure they are clean and family friendly. To visit that site, click here:

Safevideo.com (will open in a new window)

As promised, here are a few of the best online videos of the past year - more can be found at our video page (click on the link to the right) Scroll down a bit for the videos...

posted by Chase Thompson @ 7:29 PM 0 comments

Top online videos from 2005 (give or take a few months)

Just click on the videos below to get them to play. If things are going slow, you can right click them and save them to your computer (select save target as) Videos not playing? You probably have a codec issue - the easiest way to fix it is to download the VLC video player from: Videolan.org - it's free, and it plays just about everything, even DVD's. Like the videos? Let us know and we'll post more!

The Famous Numa Numa Dance video

Baby got Book - Christian Parody of Baby Got Back.

Amazing dog with only two legs (Faith the wonderdog)

Prodikeys Rock and Roll video - dude rocks hard!

Here's a great free running/free jumping video:

More videos at: Safevideo.com , Sports videos, Amazing videos, funny videos, music videos, classic videos.

posted by Chase Thompson @ 7:15 PM 0 comments

Homemade Videos and the Internet

Homemade videos are sweeping the net. With most digital cameras today having video capability people are capturing moments they normally wouldn't have... and in some cases really shouldn't have.

The Numa Dance swept through last year...

The Starwars kid was a sweep as well....

Some sites have caught on to this growing craze and are providing places for people to share their videos with the world.

http://video.google.com

http://www.vimeo.com

http://www.youtube.com

Now please be aware of sites that popular videos like numa are found. Most of these sites have very questionable material and even adult rated content.

http://www.safevideo.com

is a safe place to find funny, amazing, sport and classic videos.

posted by The Knowles Family @ 6:31 PM 0 comments

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Social Networking: Myspace, Xanga, Facebook, Friendster

Millions of teens, college students, and even adults have started social networking online. There are many reasons to use these social networking sites:

Uses:

- online dating

- bands use it for their fan base

- keeping up with distant friends

- making new friends

- posting pictures

- speaking platform

Different Social Networking Sites:

- facebook.com

- xanga.com

- friendster.com

- the most popular by far is myspace.com

It's HUGE ... According to comScore's Media Metrix Internet audience ratings measurements, which currently puts social networking site MySpace third most-viewed site on the Internet in terms of total page views, ahead of Internet stalwarts Google, AOL, and eBay."

Check ours out:
- http://www.myspace.com/chaseathompson
- http://www.myspace.com/leumasmai

Scroll down a little more for Information for parents, and other online safety tips:

posted by Chase Thompson @ 7:50 PM 0 comments

Social Networking Safety Tips and info for parents.

Here are some general online safety tips.

Tell your kids to never give out personal information such as full names, addresses, cell phone numbers, etc. Don't post this sort of information on your Myspace or other social networking Site.

Tell your kids to never give their passwords out, even to somebody claiming to be from an online service (i.e. I work for Myspace, and I need your password, etc)

Honestly, it's a little dangerous to let your son or daughter have a computer with the internet on in their rooms. Would you let them have cable tv in their room knowing you have dozens of adult channels they can flip to while channel surfing? Why not have the computer in a family or living room?

Get to know your son or daughter's online/Myspace friends like you would their normal friends.

From time to time people who meet online arrange to meet in person - this can be VERY dangerous, as people online are not always who they claim to be. Don't let your son or daughter go to such a meeting unless you go there with them - and warn them that people often masquerade online. Someone claiming to be a teenage girl might be a 40-year old man.

Also explain that not everything they read online may not be true. Any offer that's "too good to be true" probably is.

Learn about the online services your child uses. Find out about ways to steer them to child-friendly sites. If you are a novice to the internet, you'd better find a way to get up to speed quickly - it's a jungle out there!

More resources:

Myspace.com Tips for Parents (Very important to read)

Information on children's online privacy

WiredSafety.org

Need help with your taxes? Be sure to check out our updated 2006 Online Tax Guide (Click Here)

Anti-Spam help

Safevideo.com - Hundreds of Sports videos, funny videos, and amazing videos.

posted by Chase Thompson @ 7:33 PM 0 comments

Chase and Sam Pages: