Welcome to the first show of 2012!  This is the beginning of our third year and I am certainly glad you are still listening and reading.

I want more of you this year to sign up and be members of the site. It costs (my favorite amount) $0.00, all you need is an email address and I will NOT SPAM you.  I think I sent out one email last year to all the members.

So anyway here you go with the notes from the latest show along with a link to the podcast if you would prefer to listen to the show.

Thanks for joining us.

Ron

Geocaching with Android http://www.geocaching.com/android/m
Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.

Now you can geocache using your Android phone and Groundspeak’s Geocaching for Android Application.

Dad creates Autism App  http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/video/dad-creates-app-autistic-sons-15346472

Ron’s nephew, Joe Hill, creates an iPhone app to help his two kids, the family and the rest of the world with Autism.

I hope you are able to listen in and call in next month along with visiting the site between now and next month  on Monday, the 2oth of February, 2012.

Tags: aeir app, american life project, autism, bad news, broadcast, cable, content providers, e-book, e-reader, foxnews, internet, Jim Britt, love affair, new tv, pew trust, Ron Doyle, traditional tv, tv manufacturers, WSVA

Here are the links we talked about this morning on the show.  Try them out, enjoy them and let me know what you think.

I promised not to get too crazy the next time I talk about Google, well OK, I will at least try to remain calm.

Trying something new this time, listen to the podcast in it’s full glory here.

Ron

Radio Time
http://www.radiotime.com
Add the Radio Time app to your Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Mobile or even Palm phones to listen to radio. I installed it and listened to WSVA live yesterday afternoon, while working in my home office (I never put a radio in there before…duh!) Runs on phones and computers allowing you to listen to most any radio station.

If you were signed up as a WSVA Loyal Listener you would have known about this earlier in the day, go ahead make our day!

Time and Dates
http://www.timeanddate.com/
Most anything you want to find out about time and dates are here. Create calendars, check time zones, check on Daylight Saving changes, countdowns to any event, etc.
Thanks to Tom from Harrisonburg for the site tip.

More Time info
http://nist.time.gov/
Check the exact atomic time, history of time, time zones, what’s in your quartz watch.
And yes, NIST does stand for “National Institute of Standards and Technology”.

Do Nothing for 2 Minutes
http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/
Sort of boring but can you take the online challenge and do nothing on your computer for 2 minutes? If you do it you get "nothing" but the chance(?) to share the site with your friends…yippee.

Health Map
http://www.healthmap.org/
If you are interested in global health outbreaks this is the place to go. Hover the "pins" in the map and see what infectious disease is running amok.

Google Voice
http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html, links to feature videos
If you already have a home, work and/or cell phone get one number to rule them all – and many additional features. Ron has been using it for several years.

• Make any or all of your phones ring at once or any combination.
• Screen callers, listen as they leave a voice mail message and then interrupt if you want to or let them just go to voice mail.
• Individually Block callers, they receive the, "You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service" announcement.
• Stop calls at night or whenever your wish.
• You automatically get text transcripts in your Gmail account.
• Number never has to change if you move or change providers, etc.
• Did I mention so far it is free, other than international calls?

That is it for today.  I hope you tune in next month, Monday, March 15, 2011, on WSVA, 550 AM – hey, now you can put it on your phone or computer.  Look at the first link above.

Tags: atomic time, call, global health, google, history of time, iphone, Jim Britt, loyal listener, national institute of standards, national institute of standards and technology, neat links, quartz watch, radio time, radiotime com, talk show, time gov, time history, time info, time time, time zones, WSVA

Mentioned on the show this morning:

• Cup of Joe for a Joe
  
  Someone from home wants to say thanks and send you a FREE cup of coffee.
  
  Participation in Cup Of Joe For A Joe is restricted to active duty Armed Services Personnel deployed in support of OEF or OIF.
• Mystery Guest, Inc.
  
  Share your thoughts on a dining experience in chosen restaurants in your area.  (Not any in our area…yet.)
• PhotoWipe (main site)
  
  PhotoWipe is a revolutionary imaging tool that magically removes unwanted objects from your photos. Just paint over them in black, and click go! Uncovers hidden details. Sit back and watch as cage bars disappear from the zoo, and your old boyfriend or girlfriend fades away. And best of all, it’s completely free!
  
  Two other freebies are at this site too.  “Shark Ticker” and one with a good name going for it, “Banshee Screamer Alarm“.

Tethering your HTC phone may not always be possible.  It depends on the phone and the service provider.  But here is somewhere to start looking.  Google for your HTC phone and provider and see what will and won’t work.

Apple tells us about antenna attenuation.

What is Steve Jobs’ actual email address and will “he” be the one responding to you?

Hopefully get a quicker talk with the higher ups at a company by asking to, “Please, escalate this call.”

See you next month, Monday, August 16 at 10:00 am.

Ron

Tags: coffee, computer, doyle, escalation, google, HTC, java, Jim Britt, microsoft, Ron Doyle, soldier, Steve Jobs, tethering, WSVA

Two free Microsoft Office Suite-like applications:

Open Office

http://www.openoffice.org/

Lotus Symphony

http://symphony.lotus.com

When do they sleep?
http://www.sleepingtime.org

Try mine out if you don’t know anyone else who uses Twitter, search ‘RonDoyle’.  In reality it is off about an hour for me.

Tags: Jim Britt, radio, WSVA

Get your own  USB Laser Guided Missile Launcher so you can win your own office arms race!

Jim is going to get a couple of these for hosts that make mistakes (I better stay away).

Another way to clean your computer’s keyboard in case of spills.  This article is a couple of years old from NPR but it still stands.

“At first glance, this seems insane. But the computer – keyboard – in – the – dishwasher advice is all over the Internet. And don’t we wish it were true? My keyboard is an old Hewlett Packard that’s encrusted with a kind of mysterious black grime. I thought, "Well, why not try my Kitchen Aid?’"

Also a couple of good free Anti-virus applications.

With a couple of warnings:

1. Only install one anti-virus program on your computer.
   If you already have another MAKE SURE you completely uninstall it first.
2. Only run one of these at a time too, with the possible exception of Microsoft’s Security Essentials which can run alongside of others…but do it at your own risk.
3. The first two will steer you to the paid versions, so install the correct one.
4. I have used them all with no ill effects; however, install any software at your own risk.  (i.e., don’t call me – I’ve warned you here.)

• Avast!
• AVG
• Microsoft Security Essentials

Tags: Harrisonburg, Jim Britt, Local & Live, Virginia, WSVA

From Monday’s call about how to remove Buzz from Gmail, I received another resolution from a listener.  (Sorry I deleted the email and can’t remember show sent it…but you know who you are.)

I told the caller to first log into Gmail:

1. Click Settings.  
2. Go to the Labels link.
3. Click the hide link, see below.

That’s it, now go back to your Gmail inbox and that’s all.

The listener who emailed me later in the day suggested that you could just remove Google Buzz, like this:

1. Log into Gmail
2. From the main screen look at the bottom and click the Turn off Buzz link.
3. That’s it…
4. However, I have read that Google may tie this in to other Gmail features so that when you cut Buzz of you could loose other functionality…which hasn’t happened at the time of this post. 
   (See the before and after pics below.)

Personally I prefer, at this moment in time, to hide the link as described in the first instructions above.  But you can pick and use your own.

Also, either one can be turned back on or unhidden so you can try them both…just make sure if you Turn it off first you Turn it back on before you try to hide it.  If Buzz is off it will not appear in the links to be able to be hidden.

Tags: Buzz, Gmail, google, Jim Britt, Q&A, talk radio, WSVA

Free Antivirus Software:

• Avast!
• AVG
• Microsoft Security Essentials

Commercial Antivirus Software: 

• Norton
• McAfee
• NOD32

Tags: antivirus, computer, Daily News Record, Double Click, Jeff Ishee, microsoft, newspaper column, radio, Ron Doyle, WSVA