Cablevision's
New HD
Lineup
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Welcome New Subscribers!
Now Available on-line Archive copies of the newsletter. Need a link from a previous issue or want to re-read an article, come to the archives. Click on Archive Link to the left.
Mr. Computer not only fixes computers, sets up networks, connects you to the
internet and removes viruses, but we also connect and integrate audio/video
equipment like that new Flat Screen TV. We do training.
FIX IT NOW? We can fix your computer REMOTELY! Need an appointment in the evening? Early morning? With the use of remote control software we can access your computer from offsite and fix 95% of what ails it, often in the same day. Remote calls can be less expensive too. If we can't fix it, there's no charge for the remote session so long as we schedule an appointment to come out and make the repair. Remote software is temporary and removes itself when the session is over.
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MICROSOFT TRIES TO CONQUER ALL
YET AGAIN!
We
all Google... Google it, Google this, Google that. As a matter of fact, if Google isn't a dictionary verb yet, it certainly will be sooner than later. Microsoft has released its
own search engine and you Bing it! With the advent of Internet Explorer
7 and now IE8 (see link if you're still using IE6) to be in concordance with Mozilla's
Firefox, IE provides an all the time entry field for keying in a search term.
The field is in the upper right hand corner and the default search engine,
which you can change, is of course, Bing! There are plenty of competing search
engines, I've listed some to the left. Take a look at dogpile.com an engine
that gathers information from other search tools and provides one set of
results. Try wolframalpha.com for a more mathematical or "computational" search.
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NO
GPS? Mapping tools are plentiful on the web. You can get directions from a
variety of sources including, Yahoo, Google and Rand McNally (yes the map maker).
Now Microsoft has decided to compete (it's really all about the advertising revenue)
with Bing/Maps. All of these mapping engines rely upon the Global Positioning Satellite
(GPS) system that surrounds the earth. By triangulating each physical location
and associating it with a set of map coordinates, software can calculate routes
between any two locations on earth.
With
most of these you tools you can specify the avoidance of highways or ask for
the route to be determined by shortest distance or the least travel time. Some even allow
you to drag the line representing the route in pictorial form and will modify
the written instructions to represent the changes you have made. The software
of course has to take into consideration all kinds of variables including traffic
patterns, highways, one way streets, etc. But all of these engines do a decent
job.
If
you want to bike a route try Google's new Bike route tool. Want to walk or use
the subway system in various cities including New York? Try Hopstop, I use it
all the time when traveling from Grand Central to see my NYC clients. All the
links are to the left.
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On
that Note: Do you want to see what your house looks like from the air? Well
Google Earth has been doing that for us for a while and though these photos are
not always current, they do give you a pretty good visual representation of
your block and even your home. See Paris, Rome or Hollywood California from
your computer. Here again, Microsoft has joined the fray. Bing.com/Maps
provides a slew of tools for viewing and exploring neighborhoods. Bing's
resolution, zooming feature and quick redraw outstrip that of Google. Hopstop by the way, (above) provides
a 360 degree street view of your destination.
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Finally,
Microsoft invades the Free Anti-Virus market. Microsoft has two free tools; One for helping you rid your computer of
spyware, malware and viruses and the other, for keeping them out. I've been
testing the new free Anti-Virus product from Microsoft and I like it. I'm still
fine with AVG, Avast and Avira but if you need to install an updated copy of
any of these anti-virus products, consider Microsoft's version as it will not (yet) hound
you to upgrade to a paid copy. You must have a copy of Windows that is legitimate, the software does a validation check.
Links are to the left for both the
Malicious Software removal tool and to the free Anti-Virus.
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Cablevision DVR Users Alert!
If you use a Cablevision DVR (Digital Video Recorder) to
record your favorite programs there's some things you need to know. Your DVR
has a 160 Gigabyte internal drive. The drive
is capable of storing approximately 90 hours of standard, Non-HD (High Definition)
recording and 20 hours of HD.
If you want to record two week's worth of say, Burn Notice, White Collar, Numbers, NCIS,
Law & Order CI, Human Target or a similar selection, so long as your record
them in a Non-HD format you were good to go. In fact 90 hours of recording 6
series would allow you to record and keep pretty much the entire season of a
combination of shows. Movies and shows, so long as they did not exceed 90 hours, could be yours to keep and watch for as long as you chose to. To maximize your
storage, all you needed to do was record NCIS (for example) on Channel 2 and
not 702.
Now, here comes the surprise; if you've not noticed, Cablevision
has started broadcasting in HD across the entire band. If you're Cablebox/DVR
combo is HD, whether you switch on Channel 7 or 707, you're going to get an HD broadcast
and whether you set your DVR to record channel 4 or 704, you're going to record in HD. That
160 GIG of storage has lost it's great potential.
Here's the solution. Go out and buy an External Hard
drive that is labeled eSATA capable. Only one of these drives can be connected to your DVR to expand its' capacity.
Cablevision recommends Western Digital's Model # WDG1S5000N, named appropriately
"MY DVR EXPANDER" but you should be able to connect any eSATA drive. These drives are currently available with capacities of up to 2 TB (200GIG). Cablevision techs suggest you buy a drive with no more than 500GIG.
A 500GIG drive will add approximately
an additional 60+ hours of HD recording time. The My DVR drive comes with an eSATA cable but other drives may not. The instructions for
installation are on the link to the left.
FOOTNOTE: I installed Western Digital's "MY DVR EXPANDER 1TB Verison" (1000GIG) and connected it to a Cablevision 8300HD DVR (the standard issue DVR) and, after following the instructions on the Cablevision Website, had no connectivity to the external drive.
I then powered down the EXPANDER (by unplugging and replugging the drive) without powering off the DVR, and after a momentary freeze, I was prompted to format the drive (see link and documentation that comes with the device). I then had access to the additional capacity of the drive. In fact, WD instructs you to power down but not unplug the DVR and that is likely the proper procedure.
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I hope you find this newsletter helpful. Look for future issues.
Sincerely,
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Ish Y. Alter
MisterComputer.com |
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