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Hello and welcome to the Computer Guru Show.
My name is Mike, here to deal with your technology needs and treat you like a person in the process,
because that's what we do.
Give us a call down here at 790-2040.
That's 520-790-2040.
We'll be happy to take any of your calls and deal with them.
Whenever technology issues happen to be ailing you today.
As usual, we've got people over there.
Hey, Harry, how are you doing?
I am well. How about yourself?
I like the hat, man.
Thank you. It's flight cap day.
I can dig it.
All right. And, of course, Tara's in here.
Hello, hello.
She's backing things up.
And not so much in the gaming news today, but mainly she's just going to listen to me complain.
I'm stuck on Angry Birds.
Oh, yeah.
We're not talking about Angry Birds.
I know, I know.
Or Flappy Bird.
Flappy Birds.
Yeah, right.
Or Floppy Bird.
No type of birds today.
No birds. No birds.
That is a foul subject, and we're not going to do it.
Thank you.
All right.
So if you'd like to be part of the show, we'd love to hear from you.
790-2040.
In the meantime, we're going to talk about stupidity.
And that's really the focus of the rant today.
Now, we've actually touched on this for three weeks in a row now,
which is there are stupid people making laws when it comes to the Internet.
And, you know, it's...
You know, next year I need to go to South by Southwest.
I really need to go.
I want to go, too.
Really badly.
Oh, man, I've got to go to South by Southwest.
There is a cybersecurity expert down at South by Southwest.
He was talking with a person who is basically going and negotiating cybersecurity with China.
Now, as a person who gets e-mails about every 20 minutes or so saying,
hey, guess what?
There's an intrusion attempt on your network from China.
Or Russia or wherever.
Mostly China.
You know, I kind of feel for...
Yeah.
I am invested in this particular topic.
Right.
And what happens here is that this guy, who happens to be a government official,
is asking the security advisor at South by Southwest,
hey, you know what ISP means?
Oh.
All right.
So this guy is going to China.
To negotiate over cybersecurity issues and has no idea what ISP means.
It's like going to Russia to negotiate with them and having no idea what ICBM means.
Or vodka.
Right.
It's just like, really, you're that dumb.
And that has been my problem for the last several years as the CISPA thing comes out,
all these new rules and laws and people trying to pass regulations on the Internet
and not a single...
Right.
Not a single one of them has a clue.
I mean, like, they just don't get it.
Right.
It would be me, right, a person who all I do is computers, right,
trying to tell somebody else how to build a car.
Yeah.
Right.
I'm not qualified.
I am not...
I'm absolutely not qualified to do that.
But if you worked for the government, you could.
Actually, they like those big words.
That's what it is.
Well, you know, the thing is, is that I think...
I think that you should not be able to have any control over Internet-related anything
if you don't use it.
Right.
As an example, Janet Napolitano, as we're all familiar with,
she was the head of cybersecurity for the United States for a while.
Yeah.
Right?
And she does not use email.
No.
And it's not because she's afraid there's no threat or anything like that.
She just hasn't gotten around to it.
Right.
Now, I don't think that...
You should be passing laws that affect the entire planet unless you've gotten around
to using email, maybe once or twice.
The thing is, is that if you are not about the technology, if you don't use it and see
how it can benefit the lives of yourself and everyone around you, if you don't see the
benefit in it at all or have no personal investment, then you should not be involved in the way
that it is.
Right.
Now, there is something to be said for being impartial.
Right?
To be able to say, well, I can pass laws because I don't use it.
Right?
Exactly.
I'm not going to benefit myself.
No, you're going to hurt the rest of the world.
Yeah.
And that's really the bigger problem here is that you don't know what you're saying.
Right?
And what happens is you end up being this mindless, this lemming, right, that is walking
around Congress, being lobbied by very large companies.
Well, it's lots of money being able to say, you know what?
You know what we're going to do?
We are going to make it really hard for everybody on the planet to do anything because we've
got deep pockets.
Right.
They are going to convince a sheeple in Congress that they have no clue what they're doing.
Yeah, exactly.
Right.
So they're going to convince these people that have the power over us to change it to
a certain extent.
Right.
As it pertains to the internet.
They're going to convince them that they have to make these changes that are just detrimental
to the way that the internet works.
They don't know what's in it until they pass it.
There's a certain part of that.
They should know the technology.
Yeah.
Well, with the internet stuff, they don't know what's in it after they pass it.
Right.
They never know what's in it because they're just so dumb.
They've got to reach the end of the internet before they can figure it out.
Oh, God.
Don't go there.
All right.
It's just mind-boggling the amount of idiocy that is involved in the government when it
pertains to the internet.
And the reason I get upset about it is because it's one of the few places now, the last refuges
of free speech.
Yeah.
And you're turning this into China when it comes to the internet.
Pretty much.
All right.
We want to be able to put our ideas.
Our ideas out into the world and not have them stifled, not have them recorded and used
against us.
Right.
We want to be able to have the internet the way it's been for the last 20 years.
And there's no need to change it.
Right.
As far as the cybersecurity aspect of it, which is really what they're pushing.
They're saying, look, I got, here's what helped push it, by the way.
You know what phishing is, everybody.
Right.
And that's where you get that email.
Yes.
Right.
Then you accidentally click on the link.
Nigerian print.
Right.
That type of stuff.
Right.
Which is called spear phishing, which is, it's a very selected target group of people
that it's sent to using very specific content that's designed to make them click on it.
Somewhere around 80% of senators managed to pick up an infection very recently that basically
said, hey, you want to see, you know, a French princess naked?
Oh.
Mm-hmm.
Well, they clicked on the link and got malware on their computers.
And it was, you know, specifically sent to Congress.
Congress and senators, you know, congressmen and senators.
And, you know, they clicked on it.
Right.
And so now, right, now that they're the people that have to get their machines clean, they're
like, well, this, the cybersecurity stuff is out of control.
Right.
Look at what the internet did.
It made me click on a link for naked pictures.
No, you're stupid.
That's what happened.
Yeah.
And, oh, man, it really drives me bonkers that these people have the ability to pass laws.
And, you know, I don't know.
I will go.
I will just take it upon myself.
I will go to D.C.
All right.
And help them.
All right.
And just say, you know what?
No.
No, don't do that.
Because that's dumb.
Really, there are other ways to deal with these problems.
And it doesn't involve blacklisting everybody on the planet.
Right.
What it really involves is being just a little bit, just a little bit smarter about the way
you use technology.
All right.
They should have some sort of class or something that they go to, especially if they're going
to be in a position that they're passing.
They're passing laws with technology.
Right.
Just a basic class that they could take at Pima Community College.
They can come down to my office.
Right.
I teach classes on how to stay safe on the Internet.
I do it almost every weekend.
They can come down, and I will teach them how not to get infections.
We should send them a letter.
We should.
That's what we should really do.
Maybe a webinar.
Ooh.
I don't know if they get it over the webinar.
Right.
They don't use email.
I need to get right.
Well, yeah, they're...
I got to get it right in front of them.
Yeah, exactly.
Right in their face.
Because they are just...
They don't know how to do this, and that's the part that bothers me.
You know what, Harry?
You know what time it is?
It must be time for some music.
It is.
Hey.
Let's do it.
All right.
So when we get back, I will probably rant and complain a little bit more.
Also, we're going to talk about the specials of the week down at the shop.
We're going to save you a bunch of money if you're looking to get your network looked
at or if you want to build a website.
Yeah.
So stick around, and we'll be right back.
We're down.
All right.
Computer troubles?
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So if you want to be part of the show, 790-2040, that's 520-790-2040.
I'm going to go ahead and continue complaining, right?
Because during the break, there was really harsh language going on because, you know,
we've been talking about getting the cameras in the studio, and I'm not even going to complain
about that because it's not here yet.
But, you know, there's some type of radio bureaucracy going on that basically doesn't allow me to
put cameras in here.
But here's the bigger issue for me, is that, you know, I've kind of said it's really important
that the internet work!
Holy crap!
There's no internet in the studio, and it makes me nuts!
Okay, so, now that I am done...
Did you lose the password?
No, I'm firmly connected to it, but there is no...
No, I've been running...
You're slow over here, too.
See?
Take a deep breath.
It's very zen-like at the moment.
Breathe, count to ten.
I'm tethering off of my phone in a cellular black hole just because the internet doesn't
work in the studio right now.
I can't tether off my phone, so you've got to one-up.
Yeah, all right.
So, let's talk about something that's a little more fun, shall we?
How about popcorn time?
Ooh.
So, this is an interesting experiment.
It has to be late.
It's labeled as an experiment because that's how it started.
It was a group of friends that got together.
They put together this very interesting group of technologies, right, where they built a
little software program that ties together about five different pieces of technology.
Okay.
All sort of randomly, and you install a little client on your machine.
You say, I want to watch this movie.
Ooh.
Any movie.
And it starts playing on your computer nearly instantly.
Sounds better than a couple other programs.
You know?
And then, when it gets done, it says, okay, I'm done with all that content.
And so, basically, it's Netflix for pirates.
Now, they are, you know, the people who wrote it, they're like, we don't expect any legal
implications.
All right?
They don't host anything.
They don't charge any memberships.
Nobody gets paid.
There's no advertising.
It's completely experimental, as they put it.
And there's no monetary gain involved.
So, basically, the laws don't apply to them.
Right.
And they don't host anything.
Also, laws don't apply to them.
So, it's a very interesting setup.
So, it's like a middleman software, then.
Yeah.
Basically, all it is, it's like a scraper.
Okay.
It goes out there.
It finds the stuff it needs to find in order for you to do what you want to do.
And then, it erases itself when it's done.
That sounds pretty cool to me.
It is very cool.
So, you should check it out if you want.
You can...
We'll post a link to it on the Guru Show.
Guru Show site at the end.
So, that is pretty nifty.
It's a way for you to at least check out some movies if you want to.
There is a questionable gray area as far as legality is concerned.
But they spell it out pretty easily.
They basically say, listen, because you're not really hosting anything.
You're not storing.
You're not sharing.
You're not seating.
You're not doing any of these things that would be on the illegal list.
They're basically gray-airing the crap out of the movie industry.
So, there's no way at the moment until somebody goes in and lobbies an idiot in Congress to change the laws that really that they can do anything about it.
Right.
Shall we talk to John?
I think we should talk to John.
Hey, John.
How are you doing?
Hey, not bad.
Guru, how are you?
I'm kind of ranty today.
That's all right.
Ranty is when you're at your best.
Oh, nice.
How can I help you?
Well, I actually have a question.
You were talking about security and the law.
And I kind of wonder about what the future of net neutrality is now that the FCC struck this down in the Verizon case.
And there have been reports.
I've had a lot of friends on the East Coast telling me that they can't access Netflix or everything they're streaming is just going really, really slow.
And that Verizon has basically been given carte blanche to pick and choose what traffic they let through at what pace.
So, I was wondering if you have any info on what's going on with the future of net neutrality.
Well, we know that the FCC has sort of changed their tone a bit.
Right.
Now, the FCC actually basically didn't sanction that, but it got passed anyway, this particular rule, despite what the FCC had said.
Now, the FCC basically said, well, we're not really going to change our stance on anything, right, previously to it getting passed.
They're like, we like the Internet the way it is, and we don't think that this should be happening.
But basically, the government said, well, we're going to change this anyway.
So, they changed the law.
So, now the FCC's rebuttal has been, okay.
We're going to rewrite the rules now.
And we're going to do what we're supposed to do and basically be more involved in this process.
And they're going to force neutrality upon basically everyone, which I think is a great thing.
Well, that's good news.
So, we'll see how far the FCC can get.
The thing is, is that people don't realize that the FCC is actually a rather powerful organization within the government.
I am.
And they really have a lot of juice.
I am.
And I think that if they...
If they flex their muscles properly, right, they can basically overturn that stuff with Verizon and Time Warner
and all of these other people that have been pushing for the ability to throttle traffic on their networks at will.
Can I ask a follow-up question?
Sure.
Since you brought that up.
You brought up Time Warner, and I know that they're trying to merge with Comcast.
Comcast said that they would not throttle traffic.
They made that public a long time ago.
Now, whether or not they stick to it.
It is one thing or another.
But Time Warner's been a company that's kind of been, you know, wanting to throttle traffic to push their own content.
If this merger goes through, do you see that becoming a giant problem for 56% of America that's going to rely on this company for its broadband internet?
First of all, I see the whole merger as a giant problem.
All right?
I see that much like the AT&T T-Mobile merger.
All right?
I think that's terrible.
Now, there is no direct competition between the cable companies.
We know this.
However, I actually used this to my advantage about two weeks ago.
All right?
Where I was having an argument with Cox about how much I pay for internet.
And they basically said, well, you can stick it.
And until I went to the sales rep and said, you know what?
My other office is in Comcast, and I will move every one of my servers and cancel a contract and never pay you.
If you guys don't figure out how to do that.
I'm going to make it so that I can get a better rate.
Fair enough.
And basically, I'm getting – I can get almost the same speed out of Comcast for one quarter of the cost.
And so I basically – I called them and I said, I'm going to move all of my servers.
All right?
I will move $700 a month off of your service.
All right?
If you guys can't figure out how to make it so that it's cheaper for me.
Now, this –
This is a lucky situation where I happen to have – I can have the ability to have the cable companies compete against each other, but most people are not.
Yeah, I'm also in that situation where I live.
It's Comcast or Usenet.
And, yeah, you can probably take a pick through there.
Yeah, that's pretty much – you've got the worst of both worlds to choose from.
However, back to your original point, is that if the FCC does their job the way that we're hoping, that the whole throttling thing is not going to be an issue.
Now, Comcast is already.
It's already been caught throttling traffic for Netflix and YouTube.
Even though they say we don't do that, there have been people have found out, right?
They're tracing those packets and showing conclusively that there's throttling happening.
Now, it could be – I'm just going to throw it out there just for the disclaimer of it all that, you know, there could have been a bad switch.
Right?
They could have popped across a network at the time of testing, but it seems pretty unlikely based off of when the tests were done and the time differences between them.
So.
So, my answer is, is I don't like the idea of the merger at all.
And I think that the FCC really has to step in and make things happen in order for us to, you know, to make it so that we are not at the rule of government.
I don't like the idea of the Internet as a whole being a government appliance, a utility.
No, no, no.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I think it needs to stay open and free.
I totally agree.
All right, Goomer.
Well, I appreciate your time.
Thank you.
And I'm a big fan of the fact that you guys are back on the air.
It's excellent.
I wish you could be at two hours again, but I'll take an hour a week and enjoy the living heck out of it.
Well, we'll see what we can do about that.
So, we're working on that.
But thanks for the call, man.
I appreciate it.
All right.
All right, well, right on.
Hey, I had a question texted to me, and I think you talked about this last week, about security breach on the Apple iPhone apps.
Right.
Specifically for banking?
Well, SSL as a whole.
Okay.
It's anything that's secured.
So, like banking, like Google Mail, like FaceTime, like anything that Apple uses.
I think banking was the biggest issue, though.
Yeah, that's what I'm led to believe.
Right.
Well, basically, anytime you think you're safe on a Mac, you're totally not right now.
And they have pushed out some patches, but none of them have strictly dealt with the SSL issue.
Basically, it's still in the wild at this point.
Now, if you have a mobile device and you've got your updates, you're cool.
Everything's fine.
We're led to believe that anyway.
But as far as the desktop units, there's still not an official fix for that as of yet.
We're still looking, though.
We'll let you know.
Yeah, well, you know, I think I'll just do some banking on the Mac.
That's what we're going to do.
If you'd like to be part of the show, 7902040, that's 520-7902040.
Yeah.
The whole, what does the ISP mean thing?
Just made me nuts.
I can tell.
I was not, I wasn't even planning on being all that ranty today.
I was just like, let's see what's on the news.
We'll just go ahead.
And then I saw that and I was just like, you know what?
I found my first segment of the show because that was just, it's so ridiculous.
You would think that they'd have a basic knowledge.
That's one of the first things you learn in computer class.
The thing that bothers me about it.
All right.
A little micro rant going on here.
I'm sorry.
Is that, you know, the whole thing coming out of government is, listen, we're trying to keep you safe.
We just want to save you.
And that's what one side of their face is saying.
Where the other one's like, we just want to record everything about you and save it for future use in case you turn out to be a jerk.
Right.
That is stupid.
Right.
You know who else collected me to death?
Let's think back to World War.
Two, shall we?
Yeah.
Metadata.
Right.
Even though it didn't have the name back then.
Yeah.
There was a certain country on the planet under a certain dictatorial leadership that was called a democratic that basically recorded everything about everyone and used it against them in a time of war.
We don't need that.
I don't know that I really have to spell it out any more plainly than that.
I don't think I have to use the H word today.
But I'm just.
I'm just going to go ahead and say that there are historical instances that we can go back to and to conclusively prove that it's not a great idea to just record everything or let the government have all of the power.
I think that's just probably a bad idea.
Right.
Hey, Homer Simpson had had something to say about that.
Oh, yeah.
Press any key.
Where's the any key?
I see.
Ask.
Katara.
And pick up.
It doesn't seem to be.
It doesn't seem to be any key.
Reminds me of the old show.
All right.
Let's go ahead and talk to John.
Hello, John.
Thanks so much for taking my call.
I had something happen this last week.
And I was just listening to you guys.
And I thought I'd see what you could tell me.
I got a message on my Verizon Motorola phone that said that my Verizon account, the question, the secret question had been changed.
So I called Verizon because I hadn't changed it.
Right.
And the guy told me my phone had been hacked.
And I said, well, I'd like you to fix that.
And he proceeded to tell me I needed to hire somebody for $200 to come redo my phone.
I said, I wanted Verizon to fix it.
And he kept trying to sell me this thing.
Right.
And finally, he said, okay, turn your phone off.
Turn it on in 15 minutes and it'll be okay.
Then another friend said I should get like a VPN on my phone.
And this is all strange to me.
Can you help me understand what's going on?
Right.
The whole thing is a scam, by the way.
Oh, is it?
Yeah.
The message that you got was a scam.
Interestingly enough, the number that's listed in that message you get on your phone is the real number for Verizon.
But somehow.
When you click on it or try to call them, you end up somewhere else, not necessarily with Verizon.
And it's actually been pretty big news for the last week where this is a big deal.
And people should not give up their information.
You should not click on a link on your phone to call Verizon.
If you are going to call them, the best way to do it is to make sure you clear everything.
Basically, do not click on that text message.
Go to the phone and dial 611.
That way you end up directly at Verizon with no intermediary steps.
And by the way, the 611 call is minutes free.
So, yes, it is a scam.
It's out there.
The guy was trying to get you to give up money for no good reason.
Your phone is not hacked.
You don't have to worry about that part of it.
If you have concerns at all, right, and you have like an Android phone, you know, make sure everything is backed up.
To either your Google account or some other method.
And format the phone, right?
Just basically go into privacy settings.
Tell it you want to start over.
And it will clear your phone completely.
And it does not cost $200.
It takes 10 minutes of your time.
If your stuff is synchronized with Google properly, it will all come back.
Okay.
So, basically, you know, don't listen to that.
It's all bogus.
Thank you.
That's very helpful.
It's obvious I've had my head in the sand.
And not hear all the news.
Well, you know, I see the news because that's what we're looking for.
And I don't know that it's necessarily been out in mainstream news.
Not really, no.
I think there was a mention of it on some national news stuff.
And I know that a couple of the local TV stations had talked about it briefly.
But, you know, if you really want to keep track of this stuff, you follow gurushow.com.
Yes.
Or go to our Facebook page.
Because as we get this type of information, we generally post it.
Everybody knows about it.
That's fantastic.
And then could you just real quickly, is it worthwhile to get like a VPN for your phone or for your home computer?
Well, it depends on your tech savviness level.
All right.
So, if you are comfortable with learning that type of, you know, the extra steps involved, absolutely.
The VPN stuff is great.
All right.
Okay.
But at the same time, you know, I don't like pushing people too far outside of their comfort limits.
We like to take little steps so that we can get you there without overwhelming you.
Perfect.
But if you're already familiar with the VPN stuff, I say go for it.
Very good.
Thanks, guys.
This was really helpful.
Appreciate it.
All right.
Thanks, John.
I appreciate it.
Your computer guru, Mike Swanson, is here to help you tame that beast of a machine.
Join the chat right now at gurushow.com or call in.
This is the Computer Guru Show on KVO.
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The Voice.
You're listening to the Computer Guru Show on AM 1030.
KVO.
Why?
The Voice.
Welcome back to the Computer Guru Show.
Nothing like a little break to calm me down.
Yeah, because, you know, I've been particularly kind of hateful today, mainly on government stuff.
Maybe not hateful enough.
I should probably crank it up a notch.
I'm going to turn it up to 11.
That's what we're going to do.
All right.
Give us a call.
Call 790-2040.
790-2040.
In the 520 area code if you want to be calling from out of state.
We would love to hear from you.
Also, we've got a chat room set up.
If you want to just ask us questions in the chat room, you can go on the Facebook site to see it there.
Basically, I'll add that as part of the Guru Show standard link after the show today, but there wasn't enough time before airtime today to pull that off.
Because it's daughter weekend.
I get to hang out with my daughter.
Maybe that's what it is.
I spend all this time not cursing and being nice and hanging out with the innocent 11-year-old.
Then I'm like, I've got to unbottle this.
That article about them not knowing what ISP meant just made me crazy.
Let's talk about things that are more fun, shall we?
Shall we?
Fun stuff.
How about lawsuits?
So much more fun.
We should talk about WhatsApp for a second.
Yeah.
There's an issue.
There's an issue with WhatsApp right now.
In case you haven't heard, Facebook is acquiring WhatsApp.
Yeah.
Are they still in process?
I thought it was done.
It may be done.
I'm not sure.
I'd have to look.
Do you remember the number?
Oh.
How much they paid for that?
Yeah.
All right.
So it was, I believe, $15 billion?
Billion.
Yeah.
With a D.
Yeah.
$15 billion.
Bravo.
$15 billion for an application Facebook has paid.
Yeah.
For WhatsApp.
Yeah.
And they're not even using it, basically.
Yeah.
All right.
Here's the problem with that, is that somebody put together a list of things that you could
do with $15 billion.
You could buy an entire country.
Yes.
All right.
For $15 billion.
There's a list that all the things that you could buy for $15 billion.
You could effectively end world hunger for $15 billion.
And they paid that for a software that they're not even going to use.
That's ridiculous.
All right.
Now, hey, whatever.
It's their money.
Do what they want with it.
Yeah.
But now there's a lawsuit.
Yeah.
Right.
Because WhatsApp is all about, hey, we don't track anything.
Right.
They're very big on public security and not anonymity.
They're anti-NSA.
Yeah.
All right.
And Facebook is definitely not that.
Right.
So the Electronic Privacy Information Center, they actually put out an injunction complaint
to the Federal Trade Commission.
So we'll see.
We'll see how that turns out for them.
I kind of hope that it works out.
Well, it's going to stall.
I don't think it's going to stop anything.
No.
But it's going to stall it out for a minute.
Let's talk to Suzanne.
Hey, Suzanne.
How are you?
I'm good.
Thank you.
What can I do for you?
I have an app that's on my computer that I did not install, and I cannot find any way
to delete it.
What is this app?
Zcom underscore ad.
Zcom?
I don't know what that is.
Z is in zebra.
Oh, Zcom.
Zcom.
Zcom doesn't help me.
I don't even know what that one is.
So where are you seeing it?
When I shut down my computer, it says your computer's not shutting down because this
app is still running.
What version of Windows do you have?
Windows 8.
You have 8?
Okay.
All right.
So let's see.
Easy ways to at least get the larger or more prevalent items out of the way.
And by the way, if you're sort of a do-it-yourselfer and you want to check stuff out and try to
clean your stuff.
OK.
The built-in Windows one.
Okay.
Perfect.
That's a good one.
Is it the paid version or the free version of Malwarebytes?
Paid.
Paid version.
Okay.
So when you try to uninstall, do you see a place where you can uninstall this from the
add or remove programs list?
I can't find it anywhere.
Every time I've gone into the app and searched this app and stuff, I can't find it anywhere.
Okay.
Except when I shut down my machine.
All right.
Give me the spelling on that again because I'm going to look it up over this next break.
Z as in zebra.
Uh-huh.
Z-O-M underscore add.
Like A-D or A-D?
Okay.
All right.
Well, I'm going to look that up over the break and we're going to see what we can find for
you.
Okay.
Then can I ask you another question?
Yes.
Go ahead.
Okay.
I have a Microsoft Windows XP program on an old computer you worked on years ago.
And it says now that XP is no longer supported with updates.
That is correct.
So how do I get the security essentials to not work anymore?
Well, security essentials is going to work for another year.
Uh-huh.
All right.
So that part of it will work as far as updates are concerned.
But that is it.
Okay.
I have malware on that computer also.
As far as malware bytes?
Yes.
Yeah.
And that's fine.
That one will continue to update because it has nothing to do with Windows.
But as far as the built-in security updates for security essentials, you get one more year.
You shouldn't be in XP anymore.
Right.
Well, I have embroidery.
I'm the one with the embroidery machines.
And that's where all my software is at.
Okay.
And I can't update the software to anything newer that will work with anything other than XP.
Okay.
Who is your internet provider, by the way?
I just now got Verizon.
Who did you have before?
I was dial-up.
On net zero, right?
No.
I was dial-up on Juno.
That's pretty much the same thing.
So your program there, the ZCOM?
Uh-huh.
It is...
Part of the net zero dialer package.
Oh, is it?
Yeah.
So I would say that you go and uninstall anything that has anything to do with Juno off of your machine.
Oh, okay.
Or net zero if you find it.
And that'll probably deal with that issue.
Yeah, because I'm all of a sudden having these pop-up ads that start talking to me.
Yeah, well, uninstall that stuff.
And that should probably help with that.
Now, as far as your embroidery machine is concerned,
is there...
Uh-huh.
We could make it so that it's not connected to the internet.
It's not connected to the internet anymore.
And then you don't have to worry about those updates,
and you can run your embroidery stuff all day long off that computer.
Okay, great.
And then that way, you can just continue to use it that way.
Okay.
All right?
That sounds good.
So what you should do is call the shop and set up an appointment for that.
We can make that happen for you.
Right.
You've done wonderful things for my computers.
Well, thank you.
I appreciate that.
I'm so glad you're back on the air.
Me too.
So, yeah, call the shop, the 304-8300.
Okay, great.
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much.
Goodbye.
Bye.
All right.
So...
Well, let's go ahead and throw out the specials for the week,
just because we're running out of time.
An hour is not enough to do this show.
It really isn't.
I'm just saying.
Harry, make it happen.
I need an extra hour.
All right.
So if you want to, get in contact with us, 304-8300.
The special that we're running is,
if you are a member of our newsletter every week,
you would know this already.
But in-shop labor is basically $20 an hour off.
It's $55 an hour instead of $75, as it normally would be.
So if you come into the shop,
you can mention that you heard this on the show.
You have to mention it.
Otherwise, you don't get the deal, just so you know.
Mention that you heard it on the show,
and you get a discount for the service after check-in.
So go ahead and do that.
Also, if you are interested,
we're going to offer 50% off for one week only web development.
It'll make Rob happy.
So just if you want to talk about the web presence and how...
You don't even know how important it is, right?
Because, Terry, when was the last time that you looked at a...
Phone book?
I was a child, and I used it to stand on something.
Right.
See, now that's the only reason that phone books exist anymore, right?
If you're cold in the winter, you can set them on fire.
Otherwise, basically, I want to be able to cite, you know,
CenturyLink, your request, or whatever their name is these days,
with a littering charge every time they drop a phone book at my place.
I never, ever open them.
I don't advertise in them.
I refuse to even look at one, right?
Just because it's this.
So it's like fax machines.
They don't exist anymore.
Yeah.
Stop using them because they don't exist.
That thing that you're sending paper through and sending facsimile images to other people,
it's a figment of your imagination.
Stop using it, right?
Get with the digital already.
All right.
Let's go ahead and take a break.
Computer troubles?
Need some advice?
Call in now.
Mike Swanson will be back after these messages.
The Computer Guru Show.
AM 1030.
KVOY.
The Voice.
Whether you're dealing with hardware installation or, heaven forbid, a virus,
No!
Mike Swanson is answering all your questions one by one.
So call in or chat in with yours.
The website?
Gurushow.com.
Tune in, click in, and kick back.
This is The Computer Guru Show on AM 1030.
KVOY.
The Voice.
790-2040 if you want to be part of the show.
That's 520-790-2040.
790-2040 for the last segment of this week, just because we're almost out of time.
I know it's a darn shame.
It really is.
But, you know, some of us have weekend jobs.
It's gone by really fast, though.
It does happen in a hurry.
Except for the people who are bored.
Then they're like, when is this show going to be over?
Right?
I want to talk about some horses and stuff.
That's what's going to happen.
It's going to be an interesting conversation in the hallway here in a minute.
790-2040 if you want to be part of the show.
Now, we talked about popcorn time, and I like this idea.
I'm all about cord cutting.
So we're going to revisit this for a second.
There are other ways to pull this off.
And slightly more legitimate ways to do it.
A lot of this stuff is available out there through various other services.
And we've complained a lot over the weeks about how it's not a good idea to legislate a business model.
It's much better to adapt to the technology that's out there.
Right?
Right.
Popcorn time is sort of revolutionary in the way that it works.
And a lot of people come down on this type of technology.
And they're like, oh, you're just stealing from the movie companies or whatever.
Like they don't have enough money in the first place.
But beyond that, these guys are the pioneers.
Right?
They're developing the technology that the movie industry and the music industry should adopt.
Right?
This is the stuff that we're going to be using in a completely legal fashion at some point.
Because somebody took the time to build it.
And they're going to build it now.
Yeah.
And so there needs to be a certain tip of the hat to them on that to say, well, listen, you guys are trailblazing as far as a technology that is going to make it a lot easier for everybody to get the content that they want.
And that is the main problem.
That's the reason that piracy really exists is because the delivery method is not good as far as the legitimate methods are concerned.
Right.
And so they're going to have to use Pandora.
I mean, they're pretty successful.
Right?
As far as they have a free service that you can pay a dollar a month for if you really want the extra or less commercials.
Right.
And they were getting sued up front.
Right?
And they developed a technology that was pioneering at the time.
And they don't have all the music that I like to listen to because I have a very eclectic taste in music.
Right.
And I like Grooveshark.
Grooveshark is pretty awesome.
Yeah.
I like Grooveshark a lot, too.
Right.
So there's lots of stuff that's out there.
And maybe one of the articles we can get you to write this week is about different places to get different types of media.
I can do that.
Oh, and by the way, Tara is sort of in charge of social media now.
Woo-hoo!
That's sort of her gig.
Go me!
Right.
So she's going to be writing articles, as well as Rob, myself, for the Guru Show site.
So they'll be on Facebook.
You should like the Computer Guru Radio Show.
If you want to get updates as far as the stuff that we're generating and creating.
We want to be able to provide as much information as possible.
That's what this show is about.
And even though I only have an hour to do it, we try to cram a bunch of information in here to keep you safe.
Knowledge is power.
Yeah.
As long as it's still allowed.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So we've got to hurry.
Right.
And one of the things that we do teach, and I recommend that everybody come down and at
least take it once, is the internet safety class that we offer.
It's how to keep yourself safe online.
There are ways, using very simple little tweaks, that either you yourself, as far as how you
use the internet, or very small changes that you can make to your computer, that will reduce
your likelihood of getting an infection or falling for a phishing attack by just infinite
degrees.
Right.
As far as you will be.
It's going to be so much safer online.
Now, on one of my machines, my primary machine in the car that I use all day long, I don't
even have antivirus on there.
Right.
I don't need it.
Right.
Because I utilize some very unconventional ways of using the internet and configuring
the machine in such a way that I just don't get them.
And even if I were, right, it would be very easy to remove because of that configuration.
Right.
So, you know, come down and take the class.
It will save you a bunch of money.
Right.
And a lot of times we get people in after they've brought their machine into the shop.
They're like, I've got this nasty infection.
And we're like, okay, that'll be $150 to clean it.
Or you could have spent $25 to come down and sit with me for two hours and I teach you
about it.
Once again, knowledge is power.
Right.
And knowledge is money saving.
Yes.
Right.
Knowledge is dollars still in your wallet.
So sign up for the classes.
You can go to azcomputerguru.com in the classes section and sign up for those.
And we're also going to do a Guru.
Guru Unleashed next week.
And I didn't ask you about it, but if you want to show up for that.
Basically, it is sort of this show, right, but in person.
Oh, okay.
Where you get to ask things that we can't normally answer on the air.
That includes gaming.
Right.
Gaming, cord cutting, which is a big one that we always get because I will not talk about
the actual specifics of cord cutting on air.
But there is some very cool information in that.
And you get an opportunity just to come down.
Hang out with us.
Ask us anything you want.
And it doesn't have the one hour time limit.
We're going to do that next Saturday.
So if you want to show up for Guru Unleashed, it's also in the classes section on the website.
So azcomputerguru.com.
Check that out.
Once again, our specials for the week.
$20 off per hour.
So $55 an hour for in-shop labor.
If you mention that you heard it on the show or you happen to have this week's newsletter.
And if you don't, you can send us an email.
Radio at azcomputerguru.com.
And we'll even send you the Q&A.
And then that way you can bring it in with you.
And we're going to offer for this particular week half off of web development for this upcoming week.
So I think that's a good idea.
It's a good deal.
Right.
So what do we got?
Like six minutes left.
You can give us a call at 790-2040.
And we'll see if we can quickly stuff an answer in.
But I don't know if anybody's going to have time to do it just because I was wrong.
We only have three minutes left.
So four.
What was I going to talk about?
There was something on my list and I closed it.
Oh, shame on you.
I know.
That's terrible.
And now there's a chat bubble in my way.
I can't even click on the link I wanted to click on.
All right.
Got to love the internet.
How about more scary stuff?
Okay.
All right.
So this company has developed a drone, right?
You know those flying drones?
Oh, yeah.
I know drones.
Multi-bladed helicopters?
Yes.
Well, this one's pretty interesting.
It gets activated.
It gets activated when your house alarm goes off and it will find the perpetrator in your house.
And when it does, it sends you a picture and it asks you what do you want to do with them.
And you get to hit a button.
What's the button?
I want to know what the button is.
There's a couple of buttons.
One of them is like just maintain, just follow them around.
The other one is detain.
Now, first of all, you've got an eight-bladed helicopter that's flying around near you.
Does it have tiny little handcuffs?
No.
It has a stun gun built into it and it will tase your butt.
I want one.
And then it will make sure that you do not move.
Oh, I want one.
It's so bad.
And so basically, if you try to get up and run away, it tases you again.
That would be awesome.
And it calls the cops.
I can't wait for the YouTube videos of these.
There are a couple of YouTube videos of it in training.
What's it cost?
You know, I don't know.
They didn't put a cost on it.
I don't even care.
Yeah.
Right?
I think it's a great idea.
I think it's slightly terrifying, though.
How many of those do you think Facebook could have bought?
With $15 billion?
Yeah, $16 billion.
$16 billion.
Quite a few.
The Facebook drones.
You know, it used to be that you could just carry around a stake to distract the German shepherd.
Yeah.
What are you going to do when you've got a multi-bladed helicopter with a stun gun chasing you?
It's terrifying, right?
Wow.
Wait for the YouTube video.
The thing is, is I'm so torn about it because I'm like, wow, that's really scary, but I want one.
Yeah.
But one of these days, right, something's going to happen.
There's going to be an infection, right, that comes out.
For a more update for a helicopter, it chases its owners down and stuns them.
Oh, yeah.
I didn't even think about that.
Or all the helicopters are like, humans?
Really?
That'd make a good Twilight Zone.
It's the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
Well, this...
They're even...
They're even selling drones on parades.
They're even selling those drones at Verizon.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
They're kind of cool.
They really are.
Probably get the little GoPro camera.
Right.
Pop it on there.
Get some really good footage.
Well, they have cameras built in.
I have a friend that does it, and he's got some really great footage.
Yeah.
Well, I want the footage of him stunning somebody.
Yeah, there you go.
Put a stun gun on there.
I'll have to tell him about it.
And the other thing that I saw that was kind of interesting is that somebody is loading shotgun shells with plant seed.
And basically, you go out...
Just go out and shoot the ground, I guess.
It's for when you're out doing shotgun-type things, like trap and skeet.
Okay.
All right?
You're planting flowers every time you pull the trigger.
Oh, well, that's a green idea.
It's rather green, isn't it?
Yes.
All right.
So, thanks for listening to the show this week.
We really appreciate it.
Give us a call down at the shop at 304-8300, or come see us at 1st and Fort Lowell.
That's 510 East Fort Lowell.
We'll be very happy to take care of whatever technology issues are ailing you.
In the meantime, we'll see you next week.
And things will be great.
Things will be better, I hope.
I hope so.