Episode #154
Since getting my mac a couple of months ago I’ve been really happy, that is until now. In the last week or two I’ve begun to have problems getting on to sites I use often. I can’t get into my yahoo mail, my family can’t access their Hotmail, we can’t access ebay.au ( but I can in into US ebay - don’t want to!!!) and there are problems with YouTube. I can’t figure out what has changed.
Bronwyn, Hervey Bay, QLD
The first thing to check is your system date. Sometimes when Macs lose power they revert to 1969. This can cause the security certificates on some sites to break, preventing access. If your date is correct then the problem may lie with security software - either on your machine or through your ISP.
You can try logging into another account on your computer to see if you still have the problems there — it may just be your personal account’s settings. You can also try booting your computer while holding down the shift key to boot into a safe mode. If worse comes to worse you may have to refresh your system files but booting up with the MacOS X install disk, and choosing the “Archive and Install” option.
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Air Date: February 27, 2008
TranscriptCaller Questions
- Achebe, Halifax, NS
- Bronwyn, Hervey Bay, QLD
- John, Toronto, ON
- Ryan, Waterford
Yewell's Jewels
- Pivot Stickfigure Animatorwindows
Pivot Stickfigure Animator is a unique software, that allows you to create stick figure animations easily and without any artistic skills. You can move the sections of the sick figure and easily create a chain of animation frames that can be previewed as you go. You can use more than one stick-figure in the animation, and even create your own stick figures using an easy to use visual editor that lets you assemble objects out of lines and circles. In addition, you can optionally set animation size, speed and more. The result can be saved as animated GIF file. Fun and easy to use, surprisingly well featured.
Sean's Shinies
- Laptop Sound Booster
$90
There are a lot of new notebooks which are advertised as “gaming notebooks”, but while they’re pumped up in the graphics department, the audio is often pretty pathetic. Pyramat’s Laptop Sound Booster is designed to sit under your notebook, and provide higher-quality audio via USB connection…as well as a bit of cooling for the notebook. The wrist wrest makes it comfortable to use, but it must be said that it’s a pretty bulky solution to the problem—it’s not really a travel solution to poor audio. The other problem is it can use more power than your laptop may be able to comfortably provide, which could theoretically disable your USB ports until you reboot.
Shiny
- adds volume to your notebook sound
- wrist rest included
- features built-in cooling
- USB attachments for iPod included
Dull
- bulky
- may overpower your USB port
- iPod doesn’t sync to computer
- can’t use iPod and computer at same timeSound Booster
Pyramat
Kate’s Tips
- freerice.com
Free Rice is a cool vocabulary testing website that rewards you with free rice, which is then donated to the United Nations in order to help combat world hunger. For every question you get right, 20 grains of rice are given to charity.