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Contact info: | Feed: feeds.feedburner.com/geekcast | Website: TheGeekcast.com | geekcast@gmail.com | Skype & Gizmo: Geekcast | 206-98-geek-1 | Show notes: send blank e-mail to geekcastpodcast-subscribe@yahoogroups.com |
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Items of Note:
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***** Microphone Fund Update:
We’ve met our goal & this episode is the first to be recorded on the Samson C01U microphone!
Thank you so much to everyone who helped out, including Anthony who donated $20!
Total donated so far is $191.00!
Charity = $109.50
Microphone = $81.50
Lets keep the donations going so we can raise as much as possible for charity!
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Tech news:
Time Magazine names Battlestar Galactica TV show of the year. “Galactica (returning in January) is a ripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with religious fundamentalists (here, genocidal robots called Cylons), sleeper cells, civil-liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner-torture scandal. The basic-cable budget sometimes shows in the production, but the writing and performances are first-class, especially Edward James Olmos as the noble but authoritarian commander in charge of saving the last remnants of humanity.”
TiVo releases wireless G adaptor. TiVo’s custom wireless G USB adapter has arrived. The adapter is compatible with Series 2 models and off-loads some of the network processing, by utilizing a “full MAC chipset,” resulting in improved throughput. The adapter retails for $49.99 direct from TiVo.
Microsoft Watch blog names top 10 surprises of 2005. 1. IE rises from the dead: After insisting that Internet Explorer was an inextricable part of Windows, Microsoft abruptly changed course and decided to develop and deliver a new standalone version of its browser, after all. Nothing like a little competition to open new doors (and windows). 2. MS ‘gets’ RSS: While some folks were less than overjoyed that Microsoft was tinkering with the “little orange RSS box,” Microsoft ended up looking like a company with a clue when it came to outlining its company-wide RSS strategy in 2005. RSS support will be built into not just Internet Explorer 7.0, but also Outlook 12 and Windows Vista itself. Almost all Microsoft blogs and sites have RSS feeds these days. RSS is gospel in Redmond these days.
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Test a geek: Thanks to Eric for hitting us up with another Test a geek segment!
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How To: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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Ask A Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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Hack: Auto-sort mail by topic in GMail.
Ever needed to submit a valid email address to register for access to a website or make an online purchase? Ever wondered if in doing so your address wouldn’t end up sold to or stolen by some spammer. Ever wondered who your address gets shared with?
If you have a GMail address named johndoe@gmail.com you can use an interesting feature that lets email to johndoe+amazon@gmail.com and johndoe+ebay@gmail.com also reach you!
Need a valid address with eBay? Just stick “+ebay” immediately after your GMail username. Same for Amazon or your cable company or mailing lists to which you subscribe.
By doing this, you can now get amazing sorting features within gmail. Click on “Settings” at the top of the page and then click on “Filters”. Choose “Create a new filter”. The ONLY piece you need to fill out in the little form that appears is the “To:” line. Type in “johndoe+exoticflowers@gmail.com” and click “Next Step”.
On this screen, click on the little drop-down menu next to “Apply the Label” and choose “New Label”. Type in “Exotic Flowers” and hit “okay”. We have created a filter so that every message to “johndoe+exoticflowers@gmail.com” will be labeled with “Exotic Flowers”. Instead of showing up in your main mailbox, these will now automatically appear under the label “Exotic Flowers”. You’ll see a list of labels on you Inbox screen along with how many new messages have come in with that label. Just click on the label name to see the messages.
This does several great things for you. First, if you get lots of mail you can now sort it into categories that are useful to you. Second, if you have trouble getting off a mailing list you can simply filter that address straight to your Trash so that you never have to deal with it. Finally, if you start getting spammed you’ll know which company or list let the spammers get you address: those spams will contain the modified address, so they’ll end up in the same folder as the company or list that let the spammers (or “affiliated company”) get your address.
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The geek’s view: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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