(Quiet synthesizer music) [Pop captions up]
Rick: HI, I'M RICK FROM macmerc.com, AND I'M GONNA SHOW YOU HOW TO ADD MORE POWER TO YOUR BLOG PICS TODAY ON THE LAB. [Pop captions down] (Theme music playing) (Sound of dial-up modem) [MUSIC]
Leo: WELL, HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? [Pop captions up]
Leo: GOOD TO SEE YOU, AND WELCOME TO THE LAB \AIITH LEO. I'M LEO LAPORTE, AND THIS IS THE SHOW WHERE WE HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HOW TECHNOLOGY WORKS, WHETHER IT'S YOUR COMPUTERS, YOUR INTERNET, YOUR TELEVISIONS, YOUR HOME THEATRE, YOUR CELLPHONES, YOUR CAMCORDERS, ALL THAT STUFF. [Pop captions down]
Leo: THAT'S WHAT WE TALK ABOUT ON THE SHOW, AND I THINK BY THE END OF THIS HOUR, YOU'LL FEEL LIKE YOU GET IT A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU UNDERSTAND IT, AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO USE IT. WE'VE GOT SOME GREAT STUFF FOR YOU. COMIN' UP, RICK YAEGER. YOU JUST SAW HIM. HE'S GONNA SHOW YOU HOW TO USE SOMETHING CALLED SKITCH. (Whispering) I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. WE'LL FIND OUT. (In normal voice) AND JIM RUTHERFORD WILL UNCLUTTER YOUR DESKTOP MAC OR PC, AND I HOPE HE BRINGS HIS SON, OWEN, BECAUSE HIS SON IS SO CUTE!
Kate: SO CUTE! (Laughing) [Pop captions up]
Leo: KATE ABRAHAM, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. ISN'T HE ADORABLE?
Kate: HE IS STUNNING.
Leo: FOUR YEARS OLD, AND HE KNOWS MORE ABOUT THIS STUFF THAN YOU AND I DO. IT'S AMAZING. [Pop captions down]
Leo: SO THIS IS EPISODE 40.
Kate: EPISODE 40.
Leo: WE ARE HITTING MIDDLE AGE.
Kate: WOW!
Leo: HARD TO BELIEVE.
Kate: (Chuckling)
Leo: WE'VE BEEN HERE 40 EPISODES. YOU'VE GOT SOME GOOD CALLERS FOR US, I'M SURE.
Kate: WE HAVE SOME GREAT CALLERS. THE GOOD THING IS WITH THIS TIME OF DAY, WE CAN ACTUALLY GO STRAIGHT INTO IT. SO I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF AUSTRALIANS --
Leo: I LIKE THAT! (Fingers snap)
Leo: WE DON'T WANT TO WAKE THEM UP TOO EARLY, YOU UNDERSTAND.
Kate: I'M BEING CAREFUL. I'M NICE AND GENTLE WITH THEM, YOU KNOW.
Leo: (Laughing) THE LAST GUY, I SAID, "IS IT EARLY?" HE SAID, "WELL, IT'S 8:00 IN THE MORNING, BUT I'VE BEEN UP SINCE 6:00 WAITING FOR YA!"
Kate: (Laughing)
Leo: (Gasping) "I'M SORRY." ANYWAY, WE'LL TRY TO GET THE AUSSIES ON AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN. IN FACT, LET'S START WITH OUR FIRST CALL OF THE DAY.
Kate: OUR FIRST CALLER ACTUALLY IS AN AUSSIE, TREVOR FROM SYDNEY IN NEW SOUTH WALES.
Leo: ALL RIGHT. HELLO, TREVOR! HOW ARE YOU? [Pop captions up]
Trevor: HOW'S IT GOING?
Leo: WELL, IT'S GOING GREAT, THANK YOU.
Trevor: IT'S GOING WELL.
Leo: THANK YOU FOR GETTIN' UP WITH US!
Trevor: AH, IT'S 9:00 IN THE MORNING. IT'S EASY.
Leo: AH, NO PROBLEM! EASY TO DO! WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU TODAY? [Pop captions down]
Trevor: OKAY, WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME IN MY QUEST TO MAKE MY FIRST FILM, FEATURE FILM.
Leo: YOU'RE MAKING A FEATURE FILM!
Trevor: WELL, HOPEFULLY SOON.
Leo: THAT'S EXCITING.
Trevor: BUT AT THE MOMENT I'VE JUST MADE -- AT THE MOMENT, I'VE JUST MADE A COUPLE OF SHORT FILMS.
Leo: UH-HUH?
Trevor: I'M BASICALLY A WRITER, WOULD-BE DIRECTOR, AND A VERY NOVICE CINEMATOGRAPHER.
Leo: OH, YOU'RE DOING THE CINEMATOGRAPHY, TOO.
Trevor: BUT AT THE MOMENT, I'VE GOT A -- SORRY?
Leo: YOU'RE DOING IT ALL. YOU'RE DOING THE CINEMATOGRAPHY, TOO, HUH?
Trevor: WELL, YEAH, I'M A CREW OF ONE, SO -- (Chuckles) SO I'M TRYING TO LEARN IT ALL JUST SO I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.
Leo: YEAH.
Trevor: SO I'VE GOT A SONY HDV CAMERA.
Leo: OKAY.
Trevor: I'VE GOT A MAC. I'VE GOT FINAL CUT STUDIO.
Leo: OKAY.
Trevor: ALL THOSE SORT OF THINGS. BUT BASICALLY WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS -- I'M JUST TRYING TO LEARN THE CINEMATOGRAPHY PART OF IT, BUT WHAT I'VE REALLY LEARNED IS THAT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE ON THE LCD SCREEN WHEN YOU'RE FILMING ISN'T NECESSARILY WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU COME UP TO IT IN THE FILM. SO I BOUGHT A PIECE OF SOFTWARE CALLED DV RACK.
Leo: MM-HMM?
Trevor: AND, YEAH, THAT SORT OF HELPS YOU, SUPPOSEDLY HELPS YOU SORT OF USE COLOUR BARS TO SORT OF REPRODUCE AND SEE EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY FILMING --
Leo: RIGHT.
Trevor: YOU KNOW, FROM THE -- IN THE SHOT AND THINGS LIKE THAT. I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF ANYBODY'S HAD A CHANCE TO TEST THAT OR WHAT THEY THINK OF IT OR WHETHER YOU THINK IT ACTUALLY IS ABLE TO REPRODUCE MORE ACCURATELY WHAT YOU'RE SEEING WHEN YOU'RE FILMING ON A LAPTOP.
Leo: IT'S REALLY AMAZING. [Pop captions up]
Leo: I MEAN THIS IS A TRANSFORMATIONAL TIME BECAUSE NOW, WITH VERY INEXPENSIVE CONSUMER CAMCORDERS, BASICALLY AN OFF-THE-SHELF PC AND SOME INEXPENSIVE HARDWARE, YOU HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO SHOOT AND EDIT WHAT IS EFFECTIVELY A FEATURE FILM FOR VERY LITTLE MONEY. I MEAN REMEMBER THE DAYS WHEN THE DIRECTOR WOULD HAVE TO MAX HIS CREDIT CARD OUT JUST TO BUY FILM STOCK? [Pop captions down]
Leo: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY FILM STOCK ANYMORE!
Trevor: NOW YOU CAN JUST USE THE TAPES AND JUST SHOOT AWAY.
Leo: BUT YOU STILL HAVE THE SAME, SOME OF THE SAME HIGH END ISSUES, THINGS LIKE COLOUR CORRECTION, WHICH OF COURSE IN THE FILM INDUSTRY, THIS IS A BIG BUSINESS, THAT IT DOESN'T GET DONE LATER AT THE LAB. IT GETS -- YOU DO IT YOURSELF IN FINAL CUT, SO YOU'VE GOTTA KNOW ALL THIS STUFF. NOW, I HAVE TO TELL YOU I AM NO EXPERT, TREVOR. THIS IS NOT MY FIELD AT ALL. BUT WE DO HAVE ON TAP ONE OF THE GREAT EXPERTS IN THIS SUBJECT. HE IS REALLY SPECIALIZING IN TAKING THESE SKILLS, THESE MOVIE-MAKING SKILLS -- HE WORKED ON "STAR WARS" -- AND MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO DO ALL THESE THINGS WITH CONSUMER GRADE EQUIPMENT, AND OF COURSE HIS NAME IS ALEX LINDSAY. HE'S BEEN ON THE SHOW MANY TIMES. HE IS NOT WITH US TODAY. HE IS IN ZIMBABWE. HE'S IN AFRICA.
Trevor: OH.
Leo: BUT HE VERY KINDLY -- WE SENT HIM YOUR QUESTION, TREVOR, AND HE VERY KINDLY SENT US THIS ANSWER. SO WATCH AND LISTEN TO WHAT ALEX LINDSAY HAS TO SAY.
Trevor: THANKS. [Pop captions up]
Alex: HEY, EVERYONE, THIS IS ALEX, AND YOU CAUGHT ME HAVING TEA BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I'M IN ZIMBABWE RIGHT NOW. AND SO I WASN'T ABLE TO QUITE MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE SET FROM HERE, SO LEO AND MATT SENT ME DOWN THE QUESTION. [Pop captions down]
Alex: AND THE QUESTION YOU HAD WAS AROUND DV RACK AND WHETHER THAT WAS A GOOD APPLICATION TO USE FOR MONITORING ON SET, AND THE ANSWER IS YES. IT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST OUT THERE. IT REALLY HAS A LOT OF CONTROL, A LOT OF GREAT CONTROL. THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH IT IS IT'S PC-ONLY. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A MAC VERSION, YOU'RE PROBABLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING LIKE SCOPE BOX. IT'S PROBABLY -- IT DOESN'T HAVE QUITE ALL THE FEATURES THAT DV RACK HAS, BUT IT IS A FANTASTIC PROGRAM. WE USE IT A LOT ON SET, AND I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. BUT YOU'RE FINE IF YOU'RE USING DV RACK RIGHT NOW. IT IS A REALLY, REALLY GREAT APPLICATION, AND WE WERE MISSING IT UNTIL SOMETHING LIKE SCOPE BOX CAME OUT. SECONDLY, YOU ASKED HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR 23-INCH MONITOR. WELL, THE THING TO DO REALLY HERE IS FIRST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. IF YOU OPEN UP YOUR DISPLAY MENU, WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE IS THE ABILITY TO DO CUSTOM SET-UPS, AND YOU'RE GONNA WANT TO TRY THIS. JUST GO IN THERE, CLICK ON THE "ADVANCED," AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION THERE. YOU SIMPLY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS, AND IT WILL BRING YOUR MONITOR TO SOMETHING THAT'S CLOSER TO REALITY AS YOU'RE STARTING TO WORK. IF YOU'RE REALLY SERIOUS, YOU CAN GET SOMETHING LIKE A SPIDER II. A SPIDER II IS THIS -- IT'S A COLOUR SYNC PROGRAM THAT WILL ACTUALLY CLUMP RIGHT ONTO YOUR MONITOR, AND IT'LL FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOU, AND IT WILL DO A BETTER JOB, BUT IT WILL COST YOU 200 BUCKS, SO YOU HAVE TO DECIDE HOW SERIOUS YOU ARE ABOUT IT. [Pop captions up]
Alex: NOW, THERE'S A GREAT ARTICLE ON macworld.com BY DEREK STORY. WE'LL MAKE SURE TO PUT THAT IN THE SHOW NOTES. IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH CHECKING OUT. AND ALSO, IF YOU WANT TO GET REALLY, REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING, YOU'RE GONNA WANT TO THINK ABOUT THE PROCESS OF MAKING YOUR ENVIRONMENT MORE GRAY. [Pop captions down]
Alex: YOU DON'T WANT A LOT OF COLOUR COMPETING WITH WHAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY DOING. SO MY WHOLE OFFICE IS ACTUALLY "18% GRAY." THAT MIGHT BE GOING A LITTLE OVERBOARD, BUT THE MORE BRIGHT AREAS YOU HAVE, THE LESS YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO AS FAR AS COLOUR CORRECTION. SO KEEP THAT IN MIND, AND HOPEFULLY THAT'LL HELP, AND HOPEFULLY YOU'LL SHOW US YOUR MOVIE WHEN YOU'RE DONE WITH IT. WE'LL TALK TO YOU SOON. THANKS.
Leo: THANK YOU, ALEX! THAT'S GREAT. AND, TREVOR, I HOPE THAT HELPS. HE'S DOING A -- HE KNOWS A LOT MORE ABOUT IT THAN I DO.
Trevor: IT DOES BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S HARD TO LOOK AT (Unclear) AND THINGS LIKE THAT. THERE'S SO MUCH INFORMATION OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, BUT I MEAN JUST TO SORT OF HEAR THAT, THAT'S REALLY GOOD --
Leo: GOOD.
Trevor: BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I'VE GOT A WINDOWS LAPTOP I CAN USE, BUT JUST TO KNOW THAT IT'S ACTUALLY A -- IT ACTUALLY WORKS --
Leo: IT'S THE PROGRAM APPARENTLY, YEAH, YEAH. WELL, I MEAN I THINK THAT THAT'S WHAT WE ADD. I MEAN A LOT OF -- EVERYBODY WHO CALLS IN CAN GET THEIR ANSWER ON GOOGLE, BUT THE PROBLEM IS YOU GET A LOT OF INFORMATION ON GOOGLE. WHAT IS THE -- YOU KNOW, YOU NEED SOMEBODY TO SAY, "WELL, THIS IS GOOD; THIS ISN'T. THIS WORKS; THIS DOESN'T. WE'VE TRIED IT THIS WAY." AND THAT'S WHERE ALEX REALLY IS A STANDOUT, AND I WOULD RECOMMEND HE -- GO AHEAD? [Pop captions up]
Trevor: I WAS JUST SAYING I DON'T THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE REALIZE IT UNTIL YOU REALLY LOOK INTO IT THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE FILMING SOMETHING, EVEN ON A -- YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE FILMING YOUR OWN HOME MOVIES AND STUFF --
Leo: YEAH!
Trevor: YEAH, WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE ON THAT MONITOR IS NOT WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET.
Leo: NO. IT'S KIND OF A -- IT'S A HEIGHTENED REALITY -- [Pop captions down]
Trevor: THAT'LL ACTUALLY HELP.
Leo: YEAH! NO, ABSOLUTELY. WELL, GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FILM, TREVOR.
Trevor: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WELL, I'LL BE FILMING SOMETHING IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, SO I'LL SEND YOU DOWN A COPY, AND YOU CAN HAVE A LOOK AND --
Leo: I'D LOVE TO! IF YOU DON'T MIND GIVING US A LITTLE SNEAK, THAT WOULD BE GREAT!
Trevor: NO PROBLEMS. THERE'S TWO THINGS I WANT TO SAY BEFORE I GO.
Leo: YEAH?
Trevor: NUMBER ONE, ALEX LINDSAY IS A GOD. (Chuckling)
Leo: (Chuckling)
Trevor: AND, TWO, ONE THING I THINK YOU SHOULD DO IS PUT UP SOME SORT OF PETITION ONLINE ON YOUR WEBSITE TO TRY AND GET PATRICK UP THERE FOR A COUPLE OF SHOWS.
Leo: I THINK WE MIGHT JUST DO THAT. YOU HANG ON BECAUSE I THINK IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS YOU MIGHT SEE A CERTAIN PERSON NAMED PATRICK NORTON ON THIS SHOW. I'M NOT GONNA MAKE ANY PROMISES, BUT PATRICK HAS MADE A PROMISE TO US, AND WE'LL SEE. HE SAYS HE'S COMIN' UP. I MADE HIM A DEAL. I DO HIS SHOW, "DL.TV," AND HE'S GONNA DO MINE.
Trevor: (Chuckling) FAIR ENOUGH.
Leo: THANKS, TREVOR!
Trevor: THANKS A LOT, LEO!
Leo: ALL THE BEST. TAKE CARE.
Trevor: BYE-BYE.
Leo: AND IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE, BY THE WAY, ALEX'S GUILD OF FILM AND VIDEO ARTISTS IS CALLED PIXEL CORPS, AND IT'S WHERE YOU LEARN AND GET THIS KIND OF INFORMATION. IT'S pixelcorps.com AND A REALLY GREAT PLACE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS. COMING UP IN JUST A BIT, RICK YAEGER FROM MACMERC'S GONNA SHOW US SOME COOL MAC APPLICATIONS. MORE OF YOUR CALLS, TOO. YOU STAY RIGHT HERE. [Pop captions up]
Leo: THE LAB CONTINUES RIGHT AFTER THIS. (Funky techno music) [Pop captions down] COMMERCIAL (Theme music playing)
Leo: WELCOME BACK TO THE LAB. RICK YAEGER IS A PROFESSIONAL MAT, PRINT MAT. YOU DON'T DO MATS; YOU DO MACS.
Rick: NO.
Leo: MAC PRINT PRODUCTION ARTIST. (Laughing)
Rick: YEAH.
Leo: WHO'S BEEN RUNNING macmerc.com -- I DIDN'T KNOW THIS -- FOR EIGHT YEARS NOW. THAT'S PRETTY NEAT!
Rick: AT LEAST.
Leo: AT LEAST! IT FEELS LIKE MORE, DOESN'T IT?
Rick: IT DOES.
Leo: WHAT IS ON MACMERC? [Pop captions up]
Rick: WE'VE GOT NEWS AND FORUMS. WE'VE GOT AN IRC CHAT.
Leo: TIPS, TOO, I KNOW, AND SOME GREAT PHOTOSHOP LESSONS.
Rick: T-SHIRTS.
Leo: "STEVE WOZNIAK IS MY MASTER NOW," IT SAYS. [Pop captions down]
Leo: I LIKE THAT. (Laughing) IS THAT A MACMERC T-SHIRT?
Rick: IT IS A MACMERC T-SHIRT.
Leo: I LOVE THAT! WHAT DOES IT SAY ON THE BACK? "macmerc.com." OKAY, JUST IN CASE NOBODY KNEW.
Rick: YEAH.
Leo: BUT HE'S ALSO BEEN ON PODCASTS LIKE "THE WIZARD OF TECHNOLOGY" AND "THE SPOILERS," AND HE IS ALSO HERE TO SHOW US SOME MAC APPLICATIONS, TWO OF 'EM!
Rick: TWO OF THEM.
Leo: AND THESE ARE DESIGNED FOR GETTING YOUR PHOTOS, MODIFYING YOUR PHOTOS, RIGHT?
Rick: QUICKLY MODIFYING PHOTOS FOR --
Leo: FOR A BLOG, SAY.
Rick: FOR A BLOG. QUITE OFTEN, YOU JUST WANT TO PUT UP A QUICK POST TO THE BLOG WITH A PICTURE.
Leo: RIGHT.
Rick: AND IT TAKES YOU LONGER TO SET UP THE PICTURE THAN IT DOES TO TYPE OUT THE BLOG.
Leo: IT DOES BECAUSE YOU WANT TO RESIZE IT, YOU WANT TO PUT A DROP SHADOW, YOU WANT TO MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY.
Rick: AND --
Leo: YOU WANT A THUMBNAIL, YOU WANT A FULL SIZE.
Rick: EH.
Leo: EH, EEE! SO SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT HERE.
Rick: SO FIRST I'VE GOT PICTURESQUE.
Leo: PICTURESQUE.
Rick: WHICH, IF YOU WATCH, I JUST DROP THIS PICTURE IN THERE.
Leo: THERE'S THE PICTURE. [Pop captions up]
Rick: AND THERE'S YOU, AND I CAN CHANGE THE BACKGROUND.
Leo: CAN YOU MAKE ME LOOK BETTER? BECAUSE IF YOU CAN, I'M BUYING THIS PROGRAM. NO.
Rick: OKAY, MAYBE THE NEXT ONE.
Leo: (Laughing)
Rick: OKAY.
Leo: SO WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IT?
Rick: WE CAN ADD A REFLECTION TO IT SO IT LOOKS -- [Pop captions down]
Leo: OH, SEE, THAT'S A NEAT EFFECT. NOW, YOU CAN DO THAT IN PHOTOSHOP, BUT IT TAKES AWHILE.
Rick: EXACTLY. NOW YOU'RE THE LATEST iPRODUCT.
Leo: THAT'S RIGHT. APPLE DOES THAT WITH ALL ITS STUFF, YEAH.
Rick: RIGHT. YOU CAN --
Leo: YOU KNOW, THIS IS GOOD FOR IF YOU'RE DOING POWERPOINT OR KEYNOTE BECAUSE I DO THIS ALL THE TIME, YEAH, AND I REALLY WANT TO GET THESE EFFECTS.
Rick: SO I SAY THIS IS AN EITHER-OR. YOU CAN HAVE THE REFLECTION, OR YOU CAN HAVE THE DROP SHADOW.
Leo: "DON'T MIX THEM" IS WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
Rick: DON'T BOTHER MIXING.
Leo: YOU COULD, BUT DON'T.
Rick: IT'S --
Leo: IT'S UGLY.
Rick: IT'S NOT SO GOOD.
Leo: NO.
Rick: IT ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO PUT CURVED CORNERS ON THE IMAGES.
Leo: OH, THAT'S NEAT! NOW THIS IS PRETTY COOL.
Rick: AND YOU CAN ADJUST THE CURVES.
Leo: IT'S FUNNY. THESE LITTLE TOUCHES LIKE THIS JUST MAKE IT LOOK A LITTLE BIT MORE -- YOU PUT A PLAIN OLD PICTURE, SQUARE PICTURE, ON THERE, IT JUST DOESN'T HAVE THE SAME IMPACT.
Rick: AND IF ALL OF YOUR SNAPSHOTS HAVE CURVED EDGES ON YOUR BLOG, IT'S A CONSISTENT LOOK.
Leo: YEAH, RIGHT.
Rick: AND IT LOOKS A LITTLE BIT MORE PROFESSIONAL.
Leo: CAN YOU SET THIS UP SO IT DOES THE SAME TRANSFORM TO EACH PICTURE?
Rick: YOU CAN. IT HAS A KIND OF A BATCH FUNCTION.
Leo: SO YOU CAN HAVE LIKE A MACMERC STANDARD, THAT ALL PICTURES ARE DONE THIS WAY.
Rick: YOU DO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE IMAGES ARE ABOUT THE SAME SIZE BECAUSE OTHERWISE THEY'LL BE HUGE.
Leo: RIGHT, RIGHT. (Chuckling)
Rick: OKAY, SO THAT'S PICTURESQUE.
Leo: AND THAT'S FROM ACQUALIA (Aqua-leah).
Rick: ACQUALIA (a-KWA-leah).
Leo: ACQUALIA (a-KWA-leah).
Rick: ACQUALIA (a-KWA-leah)! RIGHT. AND YOU CAN ALSO PUT ON, YOU KNOW, A NICE LITTLE PURPLE STROKE ON THE IMAGE, OR YOU CAN FADE THE SIDES OF IT.
Leo: HOW MUCH IS PICTURESQUE?
Rick: PICTURESQUE IS $19.50.
Leo: NOW SEE, THAT'S VERY AFFORDABLE, VERY REASONABLE.
Rick: IT'S NOT TOO BAD.
Leo: YEAH. CAN IT UPLOAD, OR DO YOU SAVE IT AND THEN UPLOAD IT SEPARATELY?
Rick: YOU SAVE IT OUT -- YOU CAN SAVE IT OUT AS JPEG OR PNG.
Leo: OKAY.
Rick: YOU CAN HAVE THE TRANSPARENT IMAGE IF YOU'VE GOT A --
Leo: I USE A LITTLE PROGRAM CALLED "IMAGEWELL." IT'S NOT AS FANCY, BUT AT LEAST IT HAS BUILT-IN UPLOADING, SO YOU PRESS "SAVE IT," AND IT WILL GO RIGHT UP TO YOUR BLOG.
Rick: WELL, THEN SKITCH MIGHT BE WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
Leo: LIKE SKITCH HENDERSON?
Rick: I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH HIS WORK.
Leo: YES, WELL, YOU DON'T -- YOU'RE NOT MISSING ANYTHING.
Rick: OKAY. (Laughing) OKAY, SKITCH WILL ALLOW YOU TO TAKE SNAPSHOTS. [Pop captions up]
Rick: YOU CAN ALSO DRAG IMAGES RIGHT INTO IT. ANOTHER THING, IF YOU WANT TO COME OVER HERE, WE CAN DO THE iSIGHT CAM.
Leo: OH, OH, CAN WE MAKE OUR OWN PIC? SO THIS IS BUILT INTO SKITCH. [Pop captions down]
Rick: RIGHT.
Leo: THIS IS LIKE FRONT ROW. THAT'S A NICE PICTURE. THAT'S A GOOD-LOOKIN' SHOT.
Rick: AND THEN WE CAN SCALE IT, AND SCALING IS PRETTY INTUITIVE. YOU JUST GRAB THE CORNER, AND IT'S SCALING. IT SHOWS YOU RIGHT HERE "64%."
Leo: BOY, GEE, YOU'D THINK OTHER PROGRAMS WOULD DO IT SO EASILY. USUALLY YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE MENU AND CHOOSE -- (Muttering)
Rick: IF YOU WANT TO DRAW SOME ARROWS.
Leo: OH, I LIKE THAT!
Rick: NICE LITTLE ARROWS AND NICE LITTLE --
Leo: OH, THAT'S NICE. SO YOU CAN DO A LITTLE PHOTO ILLUSTRATION ON TOP OF IT.
Rick: IT ALSO HAS WACOM (Way-com) TABLET SUPPORT, OR WACOM (Wah-com) TABLET, I GUESS, IS CORRECT. SO I CAN, YOU KNOW --
Leo: CAN YOU ADD HAIR? (Chuckling) OH, THANKS, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
Rick: THERE YOU GO.
Leo: THAT'S VERY NICE, VERY ATTRACTIVE, YEAH.
Rick: NICE!
Leo: OKAY.
Rick: AND THEN, YES, YOU CAN UPLOAD.
Leo: SO THIS HAS UPLOADING BUILT IN.
Rick: SKITCH HAS, COMES WITH A mySKITCH ACCOUNT.
Leo: MM-HMM?
Rick: IT'S KIND OF LIKE FLICKR, THAT PLASQ IS GOING TO PACKAGE, WE ASSUME. THE WHOLE THING IS IN A PRIVATE BETA AT --
Leo: OH, SO YOU'RE SHOWING US A PROGRAM WE CAN'T GET.
Rick: BY THE TIME THIS AIRS --
Leo: YEAH, RIGHT.
Rick: I AM TOLD --
Leo: THAT THEY WILL HAVE THIS AVAILABLE.
Rick: A PUBLIC BETA WILL BE AVAILABLE, AND --
Leo: FREE?
Rick: A PUBLIC BETA, YEAH.
Leo: FREE PUBLIC BETA. [Pop captions up]
Rick: THAT'LL BE FREE. BUT IF IT'S NOT AVAILABLE BY THE TIME OF AIRING, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO JOIN THEIR FORUMS, E-MAIL THEM AND PESTER THEM. [Pop captions down]
Leo: (Chuckling) OH, GOOD. THAT'S THE OFFER, OKAY. P-L-A-S-Q.com. IT'LL BE UP BY THEM.
Rick: IT WILL.
Leo: IT WILL.
Rick: SO, YEAH, SO YOU CAN UPLOAD DIRECTLY. I CAN UPLOAD TO MY FLICKR ACCOUNTS, TO MY SKITCH ACCOUNT.
Leo: OH, THAT'S NEAT.
Rick: AND IT'LL UPLOAD RIGHT AWAY. YOU SEE THE LITTLE PROGRESS RIGHT HERE IS VERY SLOW.
Leo: WELL, OKAY, RIGHT AWAY, GIVEN YOUR BANDWIDTH.
Rick: RIGHT.
Leo: WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?
Rick: ONCE IT'S DONE, IT PUTS THE CODE IN YOUR CLIPBOARD SO THAT YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY PASTE THAT INTO, SAY, A FORUM THAT USES BBCODE OR AN HTML BLOG.
Leo: OH, THAT'S NICE.
Rick: ALL OF THOSE ARE BUILT RIGHT INTO IT.
Leo: WE DO NEED TOOLS LIKE THIS THAT VERY QUICKLY ALLOW US TO SAY, "OH, HERE'S A SHOT," AND LET YOU UPLOAD IT. YEAH, THAT'S NEAT.
Rick: AND YOU'RE DONE. YOU CAN PUT TEXT IN IT, OF COURSE.
Leo: SO PLASQ IS THE COMPANY THAT DOES COMIC LIFE, SO THEY'RE PRETTY GOOD AT TAKING EXISTING PHOTOS AND MODIFYING THEM. DO THEY HAVE SOME OF THE COMIC LIFE FILTERS IN HERE, TOO?
Rick: NO, BUT YOU COULD -- WHAT IS THAT? CAM TWIST?
Leo: CAM TWIST?
Rick: DIDN'T --
Leo: THEY HAVE SOME PRETTY COOL STUFF.
Rick: RIGHT.
Leo: THAT'S FOR VIDEO, YEAH.
Rick: RIGHT. AND YOU COULD USE THAT IN INCORPORATION WITH THIS TO --
Leo: THAT'S THE NEAT THING ABOUT THE MAC. YOU CAN STREAMLINE ALL THIS PRODUCTION, AND IT ALL GOES FROM ONE TO THE OTHER. SO THIS IS P-L-A-S-Q AND SKITCH IN BETA.
Rick: SKITCH.
Leo: AND THEN BEFORE THAT, ACQUALIA --
Rick: ACQUALIA!
Leo: HAS PICTURESQUE, AND THAT'S $19.95. A COUPLE OF VERY HANDY PROGRAMS, AND EVERYBODY -- HE SAYS EVERYBODY KNOWS IMAGEWELL, BUT IF YOU DON'T KNOW IMAGEWELL, WE'LL ADD THAT TO THE SHOW NOTES. SIMILARLY PRICED, SOMEWHAT THE SAME, A LITTLE DIFFERENT. EACH HAS ITS OWN PROS AND CONS.
Rick: RIGHT. YOU NOTICE THERE'S NOT MUCH OVERLAP BETWEEN THE PROGRAMS.
Leo: YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT.
Rick: SO YOU COULD USE ALL THREE.
Leo: YEAH, WHY NOT? GET 'EM ALL! THANK YOU, RICK. [Pop captions up]
Leo: macmerc.com, WHERE YOU CAN GET THIS FABULOUS "STEVE WOZNIAK IS MY MASTER NOW." IS THAT HOW YOU SAY IT? "IS MY MASTER NOW." "STEVE WOZNIAK IS MY MASTER NOW." [Pop captions down]
Rick: I LIKE THAT.
Leo: OKAY. T-SHIRT. MEANWHILE, LET'S ZOOM IN AND TAKE A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT SOMETHING YOU'D FIND AROUND THE LAB. I KNOW WHAT THAT IS... I THINK. MAYBE NOT. HMM, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. WE'LL ZOOM OUT AND FIND OUT WHEN THE LAB CONTINUES. STAY RIGHT HERE. (Funky techno music) COMMERCIAL (Driving techno music)
Leo: WELCOME BACK TO THE LAB. BEFORE THE BREAK, WE SHOWED YOU THIS CLOSE-UP OF SOMETHING. AND, YOU KNOW, I'M LOOKIN' AT IT, AND I'M LOOKIN' -- [Pop captions up]
Leo: IT LOOKS LIKE THE BACK OF A SOUND CARD BECAUSE I SEE THAT -- IT IS. I'M RIGHT! IT'S THE BACK OF A SOUND CARD, A CREATIVE AUDIGY 2. YOU KNOW WHAT GAVE IT AWAY IS THAT LITTLE MARKING OF THE OUTPUT. THAT'S THE SPEAKER JACK. [Pop captions down]
Leo: SEE, THIS IS WHAT HE DOES. (Camera shutter clicks)
Leo: HE GOES AROUND, DOING THESE LITTLE SILLY PICTURES, AND THEN HE GIVES THEM TO THE PRODUCERS, AND THEY PUT THEM ON THE SITE, AND THEY DRIVE US CRAZY! IT'S "WHAT THE TECH" WITH SEAN, STARRING SEAN CARRUTHERS. MEANWHILE, LET'S GET BACK TO OUR CALLS. (Chuckling) DID HE MAKE A FACE? DID HE, DID HE? YEAH! THE LACK OF RESPECT I GET.
Kate: (Chuckling)
Leo: KATE ABRAHAM, I HOPE YOU HAVE A CALL FOR ME.
Kate: I DO. I HAVE LISA ON THE LINE FROM EDMONTON IN ALBERTA.
Leo: HI, LISA!
Lisa: HI!
Leo: HOW ARE YOU TODAY? [Pop captions up]
Lisa: I'M GOOD!
Leo: GOOD! WELCOME TO THE SHOW. WHAT CAN I DO FOR YA?
Lisa: I HAVE A QUESTION REGARDING COOKIES AND INTERNET EXPLORER AND FIREFOX.
Leo: FIREFOX, INTERNET EXPLORER, COOKIES, ALL RIGHT.
Lisa: YES. [Pop captions down]
Leo: COOKIES, JUST SO PEOPLE KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AHEAD OF TIME --
Lisa: YES.
Leo: COOKIES ARE THE LITTLE BITS OF INFORMATION THAT YOUR BROWSER SAVES ABOUT YOUR VISIT TO A WEBSITE. IT COULD BE WHAT PAGE YOU SAW LAST. IT COULD BE YOUR PASSWORD. IT'S ALMOST LIKE PREFERENCES FOR A WEBSITE. THEY'RE NOT STORED ON THE WEBSITE'S SIDE. THEY'RE STORED ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, WHICH MEANS YOU GET TO CONTROL THE CONTENTS OF THE COOKIE YOURSELF. AND PEOPLE SOMETIMES WORRY ABOUT COOKIES BEING A PRIVACY INVASION. THAT'S WHY THERE ARE ALL THESE COOKIE MANAGEMENT TOOLS. BUT MORE OFTEN, THEY'RE REALLY JUST A CONVENIENCE. DO YOU -- WHICH SIDE DO YOU FALL ON IN THIS DEBATE? ARE COOKIES GOOD OR BAD?
Lisa: SOME COOKIES ARE BAD, AND SOME COOKIES ARE REALLY, REALLY HELPFUL.
Leo: THERE YOU GO. THAT'S KIND OF WHERE I AM, TOO. THAT'S EXACTLY, THAT'S EXACTLY HOW I FEEL. SO WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR COOKIES?
Lisa: I AM AN AVID READER OF FAN FICTION --
Leo: OH, NEAT!
Lisa: AND THE SITES I GO TO HAVE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT STORIES.
Leo: RIGHT.
Lisa: AND SO WHEN I'M READING A STORY, I'D LIKE TO KNOW BEFOREHAND WHETHER I'VE READ IT BEFORE OR NOT.
Leo: OH!
Lisa: SO I NEED MY COOKIES TO HELP ME REMEMBER. [Pop captions up]
Leo: AND SO NOW THIS REQUIRES THE SITE THAT YOU'RE ON TO SAVE THAT INFORMATION.
Lisa: YEAH.
Leo: BUT IT IS DOING THAT.
Lisa: YES.
Leo: OKAY.
Lisa: THE PROBLEM I HAVE IS I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND -- [Pop captions down]
Lisa: FIRST OF ALL, I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND THE FILE FOR FIREFOX THAT STORES THE COOKIES.
Leo: YES, BECAUSE IT'S NOT -- IT'S A TEXT FILE. I THINK IT'S CALLED THE COOKIE -- IT'S IN THE PROFILE. SO YOU KNOW WHERE FIREFOX KEEPS THAT INFORMATION, RIGHT? IT'S IN YOUR PROFILE.
Lisa: NO.
Leo: OH!
Lisa: I'M JUST BRAND NEW WITH FIREFOX. I JUST --
Leo: YEAH. OKAY, SO IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT. IN FACT, IT'S A LOT DIFFERENT THAN INTERNET EXPLORER, SO -- NO, DON'T RESTART MY COMPUTER! STOP! I GUESS IT'S -- THERE WERE SOME WINDOWS UPDATES, I GUESS, AND IT'S NOW WANTING TO RESTART MY COMPUTER. DON'T! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU! THAT'S THE THING I HATE ABOUT WINDOWS UPDATE MORE THAN ANYTHING IS EVERY -- NOW FOR THE NEXT REST OF THE SHOW, EVERY FIVE MINUTES, IT'S GONNA SAY, "YOU WANT TO RESTART NOW?" NO! I SHOULD BE ABLE TO TELL IT, "NO, NOT TILL I'M DONE WITH THE TV SHOW!" IT NEEDS A "DONE WITH THE TV SHOW" SETTING. SO WE'RE GONNA GO LOOK FOR YOUR COOKIES FILE. IT'S STORED IN -- LET ME THINK. IT'S STORED, I WOULD THINK, IN THE MOZILLA -- LET'S LOOK. MOZILLA FIREFOX FOLDER, AND WE'RE GONNA LOOK IN "PROFILES." UH...
Lisa: "MY COMPUTER?"
Leo: YEAH, GOOD. "MY COMPUTER," "DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS..."
Lisa: SO IS IT --
Leo: "ADMINISTRATOR'S DOCUMENTS," OR THAT'S MY DOCUMENTS. YOURS COULD BE SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Lisa: OKAY.
Leo: UH, WHERE? WELL, WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A MINUTE NOW. WELL, NOW YOU'VE GOT ME. I'LL TELL YOU WHAT. I'M GONNA MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU. LET'S USE THIS EXTENSION. WHAT DO YOU SAY?
Lisa: OH, THAT'S GREAT.
Leo: YEAH! IT'S CALLED "ADD N EDIT COOKIES." (Laughing)
Lisa: OH!
Leo: IT'D BE BETTER -- THERE IS -- AND I'LL PUT IT IN THE SHOW NOTES WHERE THE FILE IS. THERE IS A FILE. I THINK IT'S CALLED "COOKIES.TXT." IT'S WHERE YOUR COOKIES ARE STORED. BUT REALLY YOU DON'T WANT TO BE DOING THIS BY HAND. YOU WANT TO BE DOING IT IN AN EXTENSION. IT'S CALLED "ADD N EDIT COOKIES." LET'S RESTART FIREFOX, AND I'LL SHOW YOU NOW THAT I'VE GOT FIREFOX RUNNING WITH THIS EXTENSION. THIS IS FREE. YOU CAN GET IT FROM THE FIREFOX ADD-ONS. SO YOU GO TO "TOOLS," "ADD-ONS," AND YOU'LL SEE THAT "GET EXTENSIONS," AND YOU CAN GET NEW ONES. NOW YOU SEE NOW UNDER "TOOLS," I'VE GOT A NEW COOKIE EDITOR. COOKIE EDITOR! (In funny voice) COOKIE, COOKIE, COOKIE. (In normal voice) LET'S MAKE THIS BIGGER. THESE ARE ALL MY COOKIES, ALL THE PLACES THEY CAME FROM. I CAN GO INTO THE COOKIE, I CAN EDIT IT, I CAN COPY IT, AND I CAN ADD NEW COOKIES. SO YOU CAN EVEN IMPORT COOKIES. IN FACT, I BELIEVE WHEN YOU INSTALLED FIREFOX, IT SHOULD HAVE IMPORTED YOUR -- ARE ALL YOUR COOKIES IN INTERNET EXPLORER? IS THAT THE PROBLEM?
Lisa: WELL, ALL THE PREVIOUS COOKIES WERE IN INTERNET EXPLORER --
Leo: YEAH.
Lisa: BUT I STARTED FIREFOX PRIOR TO GETTING THE COOKIES BACK ON INTERNET EXPLORER.
Leo: OH, OKAY.
Lisa: THEY WERE IN A FILE.
Leo: YEAH, SO YOU WANT TO -- YEAH, WHEN YOU FIRST INSTALL FIREFOX, IT SHOULD IMPORT THOSE. I'LL SEE IF I CAN FIND A WAY TO IMPORT THE COOKIES. BUT THIS IS REALLY NICE. THIS IS A COOKIE EDITOR THAT ALLOWS YOU TO LOOK AT ANY COOKIE, EDIT IT, IN OTHER WORDS, CHANGE IT. SAY THAT, FOR INSTANCE, YOU SAY, "I DON'T WANT IT TO EVER EXPIRE." YOU CAN CHANGE THE EXPIRATION DATE. YOU CAN SEE EXACTLY WHAT THE CONTENT IS. NOW, OFTEN THE CONTENT ISN'T REALLY USEFUL BECAUSE IT'S WRITTEN IN SOME FORM THAT THE WEBSITE UNDERSTANDS BUT YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND. BUT IT IS A GOOD WAY TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT YOUR COOKIES AND SEE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEM AND ADD NEW COOKIES.
Lisa: OKAY.
Leo: SO IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT THE FORMAT THAT YOUR FAN FICTION SITE IS USING FOR ITS COOKIES, YOU COULD SET NEW COOKIES. NOW LET'S SEE IF WE CAN DO FIREFOX "IMPORT COOKIES." I WANT TO SEE IF THEY HAVE AN EXTENSION TO IMPORT INTERNET EXPLORER COOKIES. WELL, HERE'S IN mozillazine.org AN ACTUAL "IMPORT COOKIES" ARTICLE. SO IT SAYS YOU WANT TO EXPORT THE COOKIES FROM INTERNET EXPLORER FIRST. SO THAT'S THE KEY ON INTERNET EXPLORER. SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS WE'RE GONNA GO TO INTERNET EXPLORER, AND WE'RE GONNA GO TO "FILE," "IMPORT AND EXPORT," AND THE "IMPORT-EXPORT" WAS HERE YOU SEE WE CAN EXPORT OUR COOKIES TO ANOTHER BROWSER OR FILE.
Lisa: OKAY.
Leo: I'M GONNA GO "NEXT," AND IT WILL EXPORT THESE AS -- LOOK, IT'S THAT FILE! IT'S THAT SAME FILE, "COOKIES.TXT!" SO WE'LL SAVE THAT FILE, AND THEN WE'VE GOTTA GET COOKIES.TXT, AND WE'VE GOTTA MAKE SOME SLIGHT CHANGES. WE WANT TO PUT A PERIOD BEFORE EVERY LINE THAT STARTS WITH A DOMAIN. SO, AS THEY SAY HERE, INSTEAD OF "altavista.com," YOU SAY ".altavista.com." THAT'S THE FILE FORMAT THAT FIREFOX USES. AND THEN YOU CAN GO TO YOUR PROFILE FOLDER, AND YOU PUT IT IN THE COOKIES.TXT. AND IT EVEN DESCRIBES IN HERE -- I'LL PUT A LINK TO THIS ARTICLE. IT EVEN DESCRIBES "WHERE IS MY PROFILE FOLDER," AND IT'S KIND OF HARD TO FIND, BUT IT'S AT "C: PROGRAM FILES, MOZILLA FIREFOX, DEFAULTS" -- I WAS LOOKING AT THAT, BUT I DIDN'T OPEN IT BECAUSE THAT WAS WHERE "PROFILE" WAS, AND THEN YOU HAVE TO GO INTO THERE AND FIND IT. BUT I'LL TELL YOU WHAT. THIS IS ALL ONLINE AT "MOZILLA ZINE," WHICH IS A REALLY USEFUL KIND OF DOCUMENTATION SITE THAT MOZILLA, THE FIREFOX FOLKS, PUT TOGETHER, AND THIS WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO IMPORT THOSE COOKIES FROM INTERNET EXPLORER. AND THEN I SUGGEST THIS WONDERFUL LITTLE EXTENSION THAT ALLOWS YOU TO EDIT YOUR COOKIES WITHIN FIREFOX. WILL THAT DO? WILL THAT GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED?
Lisa: YEAH, THAT'S GREAT.
Leo: TELL ME ABOUT FAN FICTION. WHAT'S FAN FICTION?
Lisa: I'VE HAD THIS QUESTION A LOT. I THINK THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE IT IS LET'S SAY YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE TELEVISION SHOW, AND THERE IS A COUPLE OF CHARACTERS IN THAT SHOW, AND YOU WANT TO -- AND YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THOSE CHARACTERS COULD DO.
Leo: YOU WANT ROSS TO GET TOGETHER WITH...
Lisa: YEAH.
Leo: WHAT'S HER NAME?
Lisa: THAT'S --
Leo: RACHEL, YEAH. SO YOU WOULD WRITE YOUR OWN ROSS AND RACHEL SCRIPT.
Lisa: YEAH!
Leo: I GOT IT. SO WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE FAN FICTION SITE, AND WHAT IS IT FAN FICTION FOR?
Lisa: IT'S ACTUALLY CALLED fanfiction.net IS MY FAVOURITE ONE.
Leo: OKAY. AND WHAT DO YOU LIKE FAN FICTION ABOUT? I MEAN --
Lisa: UH...
Leo: "STAR WARS?"
Lisa: ONE I REALLY LIKE RIGHT NOW IS ACTUALLY HARRY POTTER.
Leo: OH, OF COURSE!
Lisa: YEAH.
Leo: OF COURSE, BECAUSE THERE'S NOT ENOUGH HARRY POTTER. WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR TWO YEARS!
Lisa: YEAH, EXACTLY. AND THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE LATEST BOOK AND --
Leo: I WASN'T HAPPY WITH IT. NO, IT WAS LONG AND BORING.
Lisa: YEAH.
Leo: YEAH.
Lisa: AND THEY DON'T LIKE WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END.
Leo: YEAH! (Both talking at once)
Leo: DUMBLEDORE MUST NOT DIE.
Lisa: NO. (Chuckling)
Leo: MUST NOT DIE.
Lisa: YEAH, EXACTLY.
Leo: HE'S GONNA COME BACK IN THE NEXT ONE, I THINK.
Lisa: OH, UH... I DON'T KNOW.
Leo: SO LOOK AT ALL THE GENRES -- TV SHOWS, MOVIES, GAMES, CARTOONS. SO I WOULD LOOK IN THE BOOK GENRE, AND THEN I WOULD LOOK HERE UNDER "HARRY POTTER," AND THERE ARE A LOT.
Lisa: YEAH.
Leo: A LOT!
Lisa: I THINK THERE'S LIKE OVER 300,000 RIGHT NOW.
Leo: (Chuckling) NOW, ARE SOME OF THESE REALLY GOOD AND SOME OF THEM NOT SO GOOD?
Lisa: YEAH, YOU GOTTA PICK AND CHOOSE.
Leo: NO WONDER YOU WANT TO REMEMBER YOUR COOKIES.
Lisa: (Laughing) EXACTLY.
Leo: THIS IS SO COOL!
Lisa: THE COOLEST THING, THOUGH, IS IF YOU SIGN UP FOR THE FAN FICTION ACCOUNT THERE, YOU CAN GO IN, AND YOU CAN SAY, "OKAY, THIS IS A FAVOURITE AUTHOR OF MINE. I LIKE A NUMBER OF THEIR STORIES."
Leo: "AND LET ME SEE WHAT MORE OF HIS STUFF OR HER STUFF COMES UP." DO YOU WRITE SOME YOURSELF?
Lisa: YEAH, I HAVE A COUPLE, BUT --
Leo: THAT'S REALLY NEAT.
Lisa: THEY'RE NOT THE GREATEST. (Chuckling)
Leo: THIS IS HOW YOU START. THANK YOU. IN RETURN FOR THIS LITTLE BIT OF COOKIE INFORMATION, YOU'VE GIVEN US A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF GREAT STUFF, fanfiction.net. I WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CALLING!
Lisa: THANK YOU!
Leo: WOW, IS THAT COOL!
Lisa: YEAH.
Leo: YOU KNEW ABOUT THAT, DIDN'T YOU, SEAN CARRUTHERS? OF COURSE HE KNEW ABOUT IT. HE'S SO HIP AND WITH IT. BUT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT! ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A BREAK. WHEN WE COME BACK, UH, MORE STUFF... CALLS, QUIZZES, ALL -- IN FACT, LET'S DO THE QUIZ RIGHT NOW. [Pop captions up]
Leo: HERE'S OUR QUICKIE QUIZ QUESTION OF THE DAY. WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM RAM A MAC PRO CAN CURRENTLY CONTAIN? THAT'S AS OF THIS RECORDING, BECAUSE WHO KNOWS WHAT IT'LL BE IN A MONTH? IS IT A GIG, EIGHT GIGS, TWELVE GIGS, SIXTEEN GIGS? GIVE US THE ANSWER, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT WHEN THE LAB CONTINUES. (Funky techno music) [Pop captions down] COMMERCIAL (Theme music playing)
Leo: SO I'M TALKIN' WITH SEAN ABOUT FAN FICTION, AND HE'S SAYING, WELL, JUST BE CAREFUL BECAUSE, IN FACT, THEY HAVE ON THIS SITE RATINGS. SOME OF THIS STUFF IS A LITTLE MORE ADULT THAN OTHERS SO, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE A KID WHO'S A REAL HARRY POTTER FAN, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO RUN INTO THE FAN FICTION SITES AND START READING STORIES AT RANDOM. JUST A WORD OF WARNING. I DID, AND I WAS SHOCKED, SHOCKED. (Laughter off camera)
Leo: (Chuckling) BY WHAT I FOUND THERE. A LOT OF STUFF'S GOOD AND COMPLETELY WHOLESOME, AND WATCH THE RATINGS. THEY'LL TELL YA. ALL RIGHT. I JUST WANTED -- I WANTED TO WARN PEOPLE!
Kate: THAT'S YOUR LITTLE DISCLAIMER THERE?
Leo: I WAS SHOCKED, YES!
Kate: (Chuckling)
Leo: SO TELL ME, WHO DO WE HAVE NEXT ON THE SHOW?
Kate: WE HAVE DAVID, AND HE'S FROM ST. ALBERT IN ALBERTA.
Leo: AH, WONDERFUL! HELLO, DAVID!
David: HELLO, LEO. IT'S A SINCERE HONOUR TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO YOU.
Leo: OH, YOU'RE VERY KIND. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. IT'S NICE TO TALK TO YOU, AND WE'VE GOT A GREAT PICTURE OF YOU, YOU'LL BE GLAD TO KNOW. YOU LOOK GREAT.
David: GREAT.
Leo: WHAT CAN I DO FOR YA? [Pop captions up]
David: WELL, MY ORIGINAL QUESTION, LEO, WAS ABOUT NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE.
Leo: HMM.
David: I WANTED TO GET ONE FOR OUR HOME NETWORK, AND I BOUGHT A MAXTOR SHARED STORAGE PLUS THREE-IN-ONE NETWORK DRIVE. [Pop captions down]
Leo: OKAY?
David: AND FRANKLY, I'M NOT HAPPY WITH THE SPEED OF IT, AND I REALLY WANTED YOUR ADVICE ON ANYTHING THAT WOULD BE BETTER THAN THAT.
Leo: YEAH, LET ME TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THIS IS FIRST, AND THERE ARE ACTUALLY A LOT OF CHOICES NOW. THIS IS AN EXPLODING CATEGORY. NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE OR NAS, IT JUST MEANS ESSENTIALLY A COMPUTER OR A HARD DRIVE THAT'S ATTACHED TO THE ETHERNET NETWORK. SO YOU JUST PLUG YOUR ETHERNET, AND SUDDENLY IT'S VISIBLE ALL OVER YOUR NETWORK. OFTEN IT WILL COME WITH SOFTWARE TO AUTOMATICALLY BACK UP FILES. IT COULD BE USED AS CENTRAL STORAGE FOR VIDEO, AUDIO AND PICTURES. IT'S A REALLY USEFUL THING. [Pop captions up]
Leo: I USE ONE FROM A COMPANY CALLED INFRANT, I-N-R-F... I-N-F-R -- IT'S LIKE "INFANT" WITH AN "R" IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, I-N-F-R-A-N-T, AND IT'S LINUX-BASED. THE KEY ON SPEED IS, I THINK, IT'S GOT TO BE GIGABIT, AND NOT JUST THE DEVICE BUT YOUR WHOLE NETWORK NOW HAS TO GO GIGABIT, WHICH IS THE HIGH-SPEED ETHERNET. IF YOU USE 10BASE-T, THE ORIGINAL ETHERNET, OR EVEN 100BASE-T, IT'S NOT GONNA BE VERY FAST. IT COULD TAKE A LONG TIME, ESPECIALLY WITH THESE BIG FILES, TO COPY THEM OVER, BUT IF YOU HAVE A GIGABIT ETHERNET NETWORK, IT'S AS FAST AS A LOCAL HARD DRIVE. [Pop captions down]
Leo: SO I HAVE AN INFRANT. IT'S ABOUT 700 OR 800 BUCKS FOR AN INFRANT CUBE. IT'S A TERABYTE OF STORAGE, RAID 5, WHICH I THINK IS ALSO SOMETHING YOU'RE GONNA WANT TO LOOK FOR BECAUSE THAT MEANS IF A HARD -- IT'S, I THINK, FOUR HARD DRIVES THAT MAKE UP THE TERABYTE. IF ONE FAILS, I PULL IT OUT AND PUT A NEW ONE IN, AND IT AUTOMATICALLY REBUILDS, SO YOU ARE AT MUCH LOWER RISK OF LOSING DATA.
David: OH, OKAY.
Leo: SO RAID 5, GIGABIT ETHERNET. NOW, THERE ARE MANY COMPANIES THAT MAKE THESE. I'VE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH INFRANT. I THINK THEIR READYNAS HARDWARE IS JUST SUPERB AND RELATIVELY AFFORDABLE. THE NICE THING IS THESE USE STANDARD KIND OF DRIVES, SO IF, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT TO EXPAND IT, YOU CAN PUT 500-GIGABYTE DRIVES OR EVEN TERABYTE DRIVES IN. RIGHT NOW I HAVE FOUR 250-GIGABYTE DRIVES TO MAKE A TERABYTE, ALTHOUGH BECAUSE IT'S RAID 5, I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO ALL 1,000 GIGABYTES. IT'S ABOUT 650 GIGABYTES. THE REST IS USED FOR REDUNDANCY.
David: OH, OKAY. SINCE I POSED THE ORIGINAL QUESTION, I SEE THAT (Unclear name) CAME OUT WITH A GIGABIT --
Leo: THAT'S THE KEY.
David: NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE.
Leo: GIGABIT IS THE KEY. BUT NOW THAT MEANS YOU HAVE TO HAVE -- YOU KNOW, YOU PROBABLY WANT TO UPGRADE TO CAT-6 CABLING. ALL YOUR COMPUTERS HAVE TO HAVE GIGABIT, ALTHOUGH MOST COMPUTERS NOWADAYS, EVEN LAPTOPS, COME NOW WITH GIGABIT. IT'S KIND OF ALMOST FREE THESE DAYS BECAUSE IT'S JUST AN EASY STANDARD TO IMPLEMENT. BUT, BOY, I'LL TELL YOU, ONCE YOU GET TO GIGABIT, IT'S JUST LIKE THAT'S A LOCAL DRIVE. I MEAN YOU COPY A FILE OVER, AND IT'S JUST AS FAST AS IF IT'S MOVING IT FROM ONE DRIVE TO ANOTHER.
David: THAT'S PROBABLY WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
Leo: ABSOLUTELY!
David: WE HAVE ALL MACS IN THE HOUSE, SO WE'RE ALREADY --
Leo: AH!
David: GIGABITS.
Leo: NOW, THERE'S -- OH, YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. MACS ARE AUTOMATIC. THE OTHER THING, IF YOU'RE A MAC PERSON, OF COURSE, AIRPORT EXTREME, THE NEW AIRPORT EXTREME, HAS THIS BUILT-IN AIRPORT DISK CAPABILITY. YOU CAN PLUG -- IT'S NOT AS FAST, BUT YOU CAN PLUG A USB DRIVE INTO YOUR NEW AIRPORT EXTREME, AND THAT'S SEEN BY EVERY MAC ON THE NETWORK. THAT'S FINE FOR BACKUP, BUT IT ISN'T AS -- IT'S NOT GIGABIT. IT'S AIRPORT EXTREME SPEED.
David: RIGHT.
Leo: SO IT'S ABOUT HALF-GIGABIT. IN FACT, MICROSOFT'S DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR. IT'S NOT OUT YET, BUT THE MICROSOFT HOME SERVER IS THE SAME IDEA. IT IS A NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE. THERE WILL BE, I'M SURE, MICROSOFT HOME SERVER -- COMPANIES WILL MAKE THE HOME -- OR I'M SORRY. I SHOULD SAY "WINDOWS HOME SERVER," WINDOWS HOME SERVER HARDWARE THAT IS GIGABIT. ALL OF THIS STUFF REALLY SHOULD BE GIGABIT. IT'S NOT AVAILABLE YET. IT'S STILL IN THE PRE-RELEASED VERSION. BUT THE IDEA IS THEY WILL EITHER SELL IT AS A STAND-ALONE APPLICATION THAT YOU BUY, ANOTHER VERSION OF WINDOWS, OR YOU'LL BE ABLE TO BUY HARDWARE THAT IMPLEMENTS IT, AND THIS HAS SOME VERY NICE FEATURES AS WELL. IT'S THE SAME IDEA. IT'S NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE.
David: MM-HMM.
Leo: SO, BUT, YEAH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'VE ALREADY GOT THE MACS -- I'M SORRY YOU ALREADY BOUGHT THE DEVICE. IS THE DEVICE NOT GIGABIT?
David: NO, IT'S NOT. IT'S --
Leo: 10BASE-100?
David: IT'S 10 SLASH 100.
Leo: YEAH, 100 IS -- IN MY OPINION, IT'S JUST NOT FAST ENOUGH. WOULD YOU AGREE WITH ME, SEAN? YOU'VE PROBABLY TRIED A NUMBER OF THESE DEVICES.
Sean: YES, I'VE TRIED 10-100 DEVICES, AND IT'S REALLY, REALLY SLOW.
Leo: IT'S FINE IF YOU'RE GONNA BACK UP OVERNIGHT.
Sean: RIGHT.
Leo: YOU KNOW, AND YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION. BUT IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF MOVING FILES AROUND, AND YOU WANT THAT THING TO BE, FOR INSTANCE, A MEDIA SERVER, YOU NEED IT TO BE FASTER.
David: YEAH.
Sean: RIGHT. 10-100 IS OKAY IF YOU'RE DOING ONE OR TWO FILES AT A TIME, BUT DEFINITELY WHEN YOU TRY TO BACK UP THE ENTIRE DRIVE, YOU'RE SITTING THERE WAITING FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS.
Leo: A LOT OF COMPANIES MAKE THESE. BUFFALO'S TERASTATIONS ARE VERY GOOD FROM BUFFALO. YOU'RE SEEING MORE AND MORE OF 'EM. BUT, YEAH, I WOULD LOOK FOR GIGABIT ABSOLUTELY.
David: OKAY.
Leo: THAT WOULD SOLVE THE SPEED ISSUE ANYWAY.
David: YEAH.
Leo: AND I THINK RAID 5 IS -- NOW, YOU PAY MORE FOR THAT, BUT I THINK THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF RELIABILITY. IF YOU'RE GONNA USE IT FOR BACKUP, YOU'RE GONNA WANT TO LOOK FOR RAID 5.
David: SINCE THEN, I'VE ALSO TAKEN YOUR ADVICE, AND WE'VE GONE OFFSITE FOR BACKUP, AND I'M TRYING MOZY.
Leo: MOZY'S GREAT!
David: I'M VERY HAPPY WITH THAT.
Leo: THIS IS A NEW ONE, MAC-ONLY, RIGHT?
David: YES.
Leo: YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I TALK ABOUT CARBONITE, WHICH IS A WINDOWS-ONLY SOLUTION. MOZY, M-O-Z-Y, I'M HEARING RAVES ABOUT THIS.
David: YEAH.
Leo: GOOD! SO YOU LIKE IT?
David: I DO, I DO. [Pop captions up]
David: IT'S NOT FAST EITHER, BUT IT SEEMS VERY RELIABLE, AND I THINK I KNOW WHY THEY CALL IT MOZY. IT JUST TRICKLES IN --
Leo: YEAH. WELL, THAT'S WHY IT'S NOT GONNA BE FAST, BECAUSE IT'S GOING OVER THE INTERNET, RIGHT?
David: YES.
Leo: SO IT'S ONLY AS FAST AS YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION. [Pop captions down]
Leo: BUT IT IS TRANSPARENT. IT JUST DOES IT AUTOMATICALLY IN THE BACKGROUND, AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT YOU WANT.
David: YES.
Leo: GOOD, GOOD! I'M GLAD TO HEAR YOU LIKE THAT. THAT'S GREAT! I'VE BEEN WANTING TO TRY IT MYSELF. SO THERE WE'VE GOT AN UNBIASED REVIEW.
David: (Chuckling)
Leo: TWO GIGABYTES FREE, TOO. THAT'S MUCH BETTER THAN .MAC.
David: YES, AND I'LL ADD TO THAT I PAID FOR IT RIGHT AWAY, I WAS SO IMPRESSED.
Leo: YEAH, UNLIMITED FOR FIVE BUCKS A MONTH, YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT.
David: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: YEAH. HEY, THANKS FOR THE CALL.
David: THANK YOU, LEO!
Leo: ALL RIGHT, TAKE CARE. MORE OF YOUR CALLS COMIN' UP! YOU STAY RIGHT HERE, WON'T YA? [Pop captions up] (Unclear speech) (Dramatic techno music) [Pop captions down] COMMERCIAL (Theme music playing)
Leo: HMM, WELCOME BACK TO THE LAB WITH LEO. I AM... LEO. THIS IS... KATE. AND HE IS...
Kate: GARRY.
Leo: GARRY!
Kate: FROM NEW SOUTH WALES, SYDNEY.
Leo: OH, ANOTHER AUSSIE! THANK YOU, KATE. THANKS VERY MUCH. HELLO, GARRY! HOW ARE YA? YEAH, WELCOME TO THE LAB!
Garry: YEAH, IT'S GOOD!
Leo: IT'S GREAT TO SEE YA.
Garry: ALWAYS AN EXPERIENCE.
Leo: WELL, THANK YOU VERY -- THIS IS KIND OF FUN. WE'RE SKYPING ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE WORLD HERE!
Garry: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: SO WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?
Garry: I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU!
Leo: OKAY. [Pop captions up]
Garry: SELLIN' MY WEBSITE, HOW DO I GO ABOUT SELLIN' A WEBSITE?
Leo: (Laughing) YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR SITE ALREADY? YOU JUST STARTED IT!
Garry: NO, NO, NO, NO, I'VE GOT A COUPLE, AND I'M JUST TOO BUSY AND A FEW HEALTH ISSUES AND ALL THE REST OF IT, SO I WANT TO SELL ONE OF THEM OFF.
Leo: GOOD.
Garry: BUT --
Leo: IS IT MAKING MONEY?
Garry: I DON'T KNOW WHICH IS THE BEST WAY OF DOING IT. [Pop captions down]
Leo: IS IT MAKING MONEY RIGHT NOW?
Garry: IT SURE IS.
Leo: THAT'S A GOOD START. (Chuckling) THAT'S A VERY GOOD START. I'LL TELL YA, IT'S VERY HARD TO -- A WEBSITE'S NOT LIKE A HOUSE WHERE YOU CAN GET IT APPRAISED BECAUSE THERE'S COMPARABLES UNLESS THERE IS A SITE JUST LIKE YOURS, BUT MOST OF THE TIME WEBSITES ARE UNIQUE, YOU KNOW. WHAT IS YOUR SITE ABOUT? WHAT DO YOU DO THERE?
Garry: IT'S E-COMMERCE. [Pop captions up]
Garry: WE DEAL IN E-COMMERCE, SO IT'S ACTUALLY ON x-cart-plus.com.
Leo: X --
Garry: AND THERE'S HYPHENS BETWEEN THE "X" AND THE "CART."
Leo: OKAY.
Garry: AND THE "PLUS." [Pop captions down]
Garry: SO IT'S x-cart-plus.com.
Leo: OKAY.
Garry: AND BASICALLY WE SELL THE X-CART (Unclear) OUT OF RUSSIA, WHICH IS AN E-COMMERCE SITE, WHICH IS, WE BELIEVE, ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD.
Leo: NOW, ARE YOU THE ONLY PEOPLE SELLING -- ARE YOU THE ONLY PEOPLE SELLING THIS SOFTWARE?
Garry: NO, IT'S ACTUALLY -- IT'S USED WORLDWIDE BY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF COMPANIES NOW.
Leo: OKAY.
Garry: USED ACROSS THE WORLD.
Leo: SO THAT, OF COURSE, REDUCES THE VALUE OF IT SOMEWHAT BECAUSE THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE DOING THE SAME THING YOU'RE DOING, BUT IT DOES GIVE YOU SOME IDEA --
Garry: ACTUALLY, THERE IS A FAIR FEW.
Leo: OKAY. IT DOES GIVE YOU SOME IDEA OF WHAT THE VALUE OF IT IS AS WELL. THIS LOOKS VERY NICE. HERE'S WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST. [Pop captions up]
Leo: I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A LINK TO stuntdubl.com, S-T-U-N-T-D-U-B-L.com, WHICH IS A USEFUL SEO SITE. I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF SEO, BUT THEY'VE GOT A REALLY GREAT "HOW TO APPRAISE A WEBSITE" ARTICLE HERE, AND THERE ARE A VARIETY OF THINGS TO LOOK AT -- CASH FLOW, WHICH WAS THE FIRST QUESTION I ASKED. [Pop captions down]
Leo: AND, OF COURSE, WITH ANY BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, WE CAN EVALUATE A BUSINESS BASED ON REVENUE. SO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE STANDARD RULES OF THUMB FOR BUSINESSES ABOUT, YOU KNOW, REVENUE TO VALUE. SO THAT'S ONE THING, AND HE ALSO SAYS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE VALUE OF RE-CREATION. HOW HARD WOULD IT BE TO DO, TO MAKE A SITE JUST LIKE THAT? AND THEN THERE ARE -- THERE'S A VERY GOOD DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK FOR APPRAISING A WEBSITE, SO WHAT IS THE CURRENT REVENUE, WHAT'S THE REVENUE MODEL, WHAT ARE THE CURRENT LIABILITIES AND ASSETS, HOW MANY UNIQUE KEYWORDS ARE THERE. THAT'S KIND OF INTERESTING, ISN'T IT, BECAUSE KEYWORDS IS WHAT GOOGLE'S USING TO FIND YOU. IS IT A UNIQUE SITE MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.
Garry: IT'S ACTUALLY GOT A PR6 RATING ON GOOGLE AND COMES IN STRAIGHT BEHIND X-CART AND --
Leo: EXCELLENT. (Unclear)
Leo: EXCELLENT. THAT'S VERY GOOD.
Garry: PRETTY HIGH RANKING.
Leo: YEAH, THAT'S ANOTHER THING TO LOOK AT. IN FACT, HE TALKS ABOUT THE ALEXA RANK, BUT ACTUALLY THE GOOGLE RANK IS MORE VALUABLE. THE ALEXA RANK GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF HOW MANY VISITORS YOU HAVE. I WOULD SAY ARE YOU CURRENTLY KEEPING STATS ON TRAFFIC?
Garry: YEAH, WE HAVE ABOUT 37,000 VISITORS A MONTH, UNIQUE VISITORS.
Leo: EXCELLENT! AGAIN, THAT ADDS TO YOUR VALUE, THE NUMBER OF UNIQUE VISITORS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RULE OF THUMB IS FOR ALL OF THIS STUFF, YOU KNOW, X NUMBER OF VISITORS EQUALS X NUMBER OF DOLLARS, BUT I THINK ALL OF THAT IS GOING TO GO INTO EVALUATING YOUR SITE, AND THERE ARE EVEN SOME TOOLS ON HERE FOR APPRAISING A WEBSITE. NOW, THE NEXT THING IS TO FIND A BUYER, AND FRANKLY, YOU CAN TELL YOURSELF WHAT THE SITE'S WORTH, BUT UNLESS SOMEBODY'S WILLING TO PAY THAT, IT'S NOT WORTH IT, IS IT? IT'S ONLY WORTH WHAT SOMEBODY'S WILLING TO PAY.
Garry: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: BUT THIS HAS A NUMBER OF LINKS TO SOME VALUABLE RESOURCES, INCLUDING PLACES TO GO TO SELL YOUR SITE. THERE'S AN eBOOK EVALUATION GUIDE AND SPREADSHEET FOR $20 ON THIS SITE, AND THEN YOU CAN GO TO PLACES LIKE buysellwebsite.com, WHICH ARE SITES WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY APPRAISE YOUR WEBSITE AND PUT IT ON THE MARKET, AND IF PEOPLE ARE -- YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF SITES LIKE THIS THAT ARE WELL-KNOWN THAT IF PEOPLE ARE IN THE MARKET FOR A WEBSITE, THEY MIGHT GO. THIS IS A TOUGH THING. IT'S A BRAND NEW MEDIUM AND, YOU KNOW, THERE AREN'T REALLY ANY STANDARDS FOR WHAT A SITE'S WORTH, WHAT YOU SHOULD PAY FOR IT, OR EVEN HOW TO SELL A SITE, TRANSFER A SITE AND CONTINUE TO MAKE MONEY AT IT. I CAN'T -- I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY MAGIC WAY TO SELL A WEBSITE OR EVEN TO EVALUATE A WEBSITE, BUT HERE'S A REALLY GOOD PLACE TO START WITH THIS ARTICLE. IT'S stuntdubl.com, AND THE ARTICLE CAME OUT ABOUT A YEAR AGO, BUT I THINK IT'S STILL ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE, AND I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND TAKING A LOOK AT IT BECAUSE THIS WILL GIVE YOU AT LEAST SOME STARTING POINTS, PLACES TO GO TO KIND OF FIGURE IT OUT. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T YET GOT STATS ON THE SITE, I WAS GONNA RECOMMEND GOOGLE ANALYTICS. IT'S ABSOLUTELY FREE. IT'S ACCEPTED INDUSTRY-WIDE, AND IT'S A REALLY GOOD WAY OF GIVING PEOPLE -- YOU KNOW, IF YOU GIVE THEM ACCESS TO THE ANALYTICS, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO MAKE A GOOD DECISION ABOUT WHAT KIND OF SITE YOU'VE GOT AND HOW VALUABLE IT IS. HEY, WE GOTTA RUN. NO TIME FOR YOU, RYAN, I'M SORRY TO SAY.
Ryan: THAT'S OKAY.
Leo: WE'LL GET YOUR YEWELL'S JEWEL NEXT SHOW, ALL RIGHT?
Ryan: THAT'S FINE.
Leo: BUT WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH A -- WHO DO WE HAVE COMIN' UP? [Pop captions up]
Leo: OH, THAT'S RIGHT, UNCLUTTERING YOUR DESKTOP WITH JIM RUTHERFORD COMIN' UP IN JUST A MINUTE. YOU STAY RIGHT HERE. FIRST, THOUGH, LET'S DO OUR QUICK QUIZ QUESTION OF THE DAY. WHAT'S THE MAXIMUM RAM YOU CAN GET INTO A MAC PRO? DO YOU KNOW? WE'LL TELL YOU RIGHT AFTER THIS. STAY RIGHT HERE. (Funky techno music) [Pop captions down] COMMERCIAL [Pop captions up] (Funky techno music)
Leo: WELCOME BACK TO THE LAB. BEFORE THE BREAK, WE ASKED YOU WHAT THE MAXIMUM A MAC PRO CAN CONTAIN IN RAM, IN TERMS OF RAM. NOW, THIS IS AS OF TODAY. IT CERTAINLY COULD GO UP, BUT I BELIEVE IT'S 16 GIGABYTES. I BELIEVE IT IS, WHICH IS QUITE A BIT, ALTHOUGH THERE'S NO REASON IT COULDN'T EVEN BE LARGER. [Pop captions down]
Leo: I THINK THAT'S MORE JUST A KIND OF ARTIFICIAL LIMIT BECAUSE THEY DON'T THINK ANYBODY WOULD WANT MORE THAN THAT, BUT I THINK THEY COULD GO MUCH, MUCH LARGER WITH THAT PROCESSOR THEY'VE GOT IN THERE. JIM RUTHERFORD'S WITH US. HE'S THE EDITOR OF "THE DIGITAL MEDIA MINUTE" AT digitalmediaminute.com. HE'S A TECHNOLOGY JUNKIE IN NANAIMO AND A FREELANCE WEB DEVELOPER, AND HE IS ALSO, LIKE MANY OF US IN THE INDUSTRY, A LITTLE DISTRACTABLE. [Pop captions up]
Jim: WELL, YEAH, YOU KNOW, I THINK CERTAINLY WHEN YOU WORK IN THE INTERNET INDUSTRY, YOU KNOW, YOU GET HOOKED INTO TWITTER AND INSTANT MESSAGING AND YOUR E-MAIL, AND WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO WORK, THERE'S ALL THESE APPLICATIONS. [Pop captions down]
Leo: PLENTY OF DISTRACTIONS.
Jim: THEY'RE JUST GRABBING, THEY'RE JUST GRABBING FOR YOUR ATTENTION, SO --
Leo: YEAH.
Jim: SO I LIKE LOOKING FOR STRATEGIES THAT CAN HELP ME MANAGE THAT AND, YOU KNOW, SO THAT WHEN I DO NEED TO SORT OF JUMP IN AND GET TO WORK, I CAN --
Leo: FOCUS!
Jim: FOCUS. AND I GUESS THE EASIEST WAY, YOU KNOW, YOU WOULD SAY PROBABLY THE MOST OBVIOUS WAY IS JUST TO TURN THOSE OFF.
Leo: YEAH, BUT THAT'S NOT EASY. (Laughing)
Jim: IT'S TRICKY SOMETIMES. IT'S REALLY TRICKY SOMETIMES.
Leo: THAT'S NOT EASY.
Jim: YEAH, SO I'D LIKE TO SHOW JUST A FEW PROGRAMS FOR THE PC THAT CAN HELP. [Pop captions up]
Jim: I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE MAC, BUT THERE'S ALSO VERY SIMILAR APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR PC.
Leo: IN FACT, WE DID ON "MACBREAK," AND I WOULD POINT PEOPLE TO THIS -- WE'LL PUT IT IN THE SHOW NOTES -- MERLIN MANN DID A THING ON UNCLUTTERING YOUR MAC DESKTOP.
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT. THE FIRST ONE I'D LIKE TO SHOW IS A VERY SIMPLE LITTLE APPLICATION CALLED "SWEPT AWAY" -- [Pop captions down]
Leo: (Whistling)
Jim: AND WHEN IT'S RUNNING, WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS AFTER A SET NUMBER OF SECONDS, ONLY THE WINDOW THAT HAS APPLICATION WILL STAY MAXIMIZED, SO THE WINDOWS IN THE BACKGROUND WILL MINIMIZE ANY SECOND NOW.
Leo: (Humming "Jeopardy" theme music)
Jim: (Joins in humming)
Leo: THIS IS FREE, AND IT RUNS IN THE BACKGROUND ALL THE TIME.
Jim: IT RUNS IN THE BACKGROUND, YEAH, AND WE CAN CONFIGURE THE PREFERENCES. SO LET ME JUST CHECK THIS. AH, IT'S SET FOR --
Leo: IT'S SET FOR FIVE MINUTES, SO LET'S MAKE IT --
Jim: LET'S MAKE IT 10 SECONDS.
Leo: 10 SECONDS. NOW! [Pop captions up]
Jim: AND... LET'S SEE --
Leo: OH, BOOM, BOOM, BONG! (Making funny sound effects)
Jim: AND NOW IF WE SWITCH OVER TO MICROSOFT WORD, WAIT A FEW SECONDS --
Leo: IN 10 SECONDS, THE OTHER ONE WILL GO AWAY. [Pop captions down]
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: SO IT KIND OF KEEPS EVERYTHING BUT THE PROGRAM YOU'RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW --
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: OUT OF THE WAY.
Jim: EXACTLY.
Leo: I LIKE THAT!
Jim: AND THERE IT GOES. IT'S GONE. THE NEXT APPLICATION IS QUITE INTERESTING. IT'S CALLED "DROP CLOTH," AND WHEN DROP CLOTH IS RUNNING, IT COMPLETELY BLACKS OUT YOUR DESKTOP --
Leo: AH!
Jim: AND ONLY SHOWS YOU THE ACTIVE WINDOW. SO IF I SWITCH OVER TO "MY COMPUTER" -- [Pop captions up]
Leo: YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TASKBAR THERE, SO YOU'RE NOT KIND OF OUT OF --
Jim: THE TASKBAR IS STILL THERE, AND "SWEPT AWAY" SHOULD TAKE THIS WINDOW AWAY IN A SECOND -- [Pop captions down]
Leo: IT'S THE SAME GUY!
Jim: SAME GUY, YEAH.
Leo: ADAM PASH. HE MUST BE AS DISTRACTABLE AS YOU AND ME AND MERLIN.
Jim: OH, HE IS.
Leo: (Laughing)
Jim: YEAH, HE'S A BLOGGER FOR "LIFEHACKER," SO I'M SURE HE'S GOT A LOT OF DISCIPLINE AS WELL.
Leo: OH, YEAH.
Jim: SO THE TASKBAR IS STILL THERE. WE CAN HIDE THE TASKBAR, JUST, YOU KNOW, A SIMPLE CLICK ON THE "PROPERTIES" AND AUTOHIDE THE TASKBAR. IF WE GO "OKAY," NOW THE TASKBAR IS GONE AS WELL. SO NOW WE'RE REALLY -- WE'LL HAVE A BLACK BACKGROUND, AND --
Leo: AND NOW EVERYTHING'S HIDDEN.
Jim: EVERYTHING'S GONE AWAY.
Leo: (Laughing)
Jim: SO HERE WE GO. SO THOSE ARE TWO LITTLE, YOU KNOW, TWO LITTLE APPLICATIONS --
Leo: THAT'S DROP CLOTH AND SWEPT AWAY.
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT. THE NEXT ONE IS -- LET ME TURN THIS STUFF OFF. (Mouse clicking)
Leo: I KNOW THAT MERLIN USES A TEXT EDITOR IN THE MACINTOSH THAT HAS --
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: NO DISTRACTIONS AT ALL SO THAT HE CAN JUST FOCUS ON WHAT HE'S WRITING. (Mouse clicking)
Jim: I'LL EXIT THIS STUFF.
Leo: IT'S TOO DARK. THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE.
Jim: IT'S TOO DARK.
Leo: EVERYTHING'S HIDDEN.
Jim: YEAH, SO HERE'S A LITTLE APPLICATION. IF YOU DO A LOT OF WRITING, WHETHER IT'S BLOGGING, WHETHER IT'S RESEARCH, ANYTHING LIKE THAT, THERE'S AN APPLICATION CALLED "JK" OR "JDARKROOM," AND IT'S A VERY SIMPLE TEXT EDITOR, AND WHEN IT LAUNCHES UP HERE, ALL YOU SEE IS A BLACK SCREEN, AND HERE IT COMES, AND --
Leo: THAT'S YOUR WORD PROCESSOR.
Jim: THAT'S YOUR WORD PROCESSOR, SO -- [Pop captions up]
Leo: OH, HEAVEN HELP US. IT'S JUST LIKE THE OLD GREEN SCREENS.
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: (Laughing) (Unclear)
Leo: THAT KIND OF BRINGS BACK MEMORIES. [Pop captions down]
Jim: YEAH, AND CONTROL-H BRINGS UP "HELP," SO YOU CAN SEE ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS IT CAN DO. IT'S A VERY BASIC, YOU KNOW, PARED-DOWN TEXT EDITOR, BUT IT DOES ALLOW YOU TO FOCUS BECAUSE IT REMOVES EVERYTHING FROM YOUR VIEW, AND YOU WON'T HAVE APPLICATIONS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN, TRYING TO GRAB YOUR ATTENTION.
Leo: I REMEMBER IN THE EARLY DAYS OF WINDOWS AND EVEN GOING BACK BEFORE THAT TO DOS, A LOT OF WRITERS, INCLUDING JERRY POURNELLE, WHO WROTE FOR BYTE MAGAZINE, WOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT THESE NEW WORD PROCESSORS THAT HAD TOO MANY BELLS AND WHISTLES, AND I JUST WANT TO FOCUS. AND HE USED AND I USED A PROGRAM, A SIMILAR PROGRAM. I THINK IT WAS CALLED... AH, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT, BUT IT WAS -- THE WHOLE IDEA -- IN FACT, THEY EVEN CALLED IT THE "JERRY POURNELLE BUTTON." IT WOULD JUST HAVE THIS SIMPLE TEXT-ONLY --
Jim: YEAH.
Leo: BECAUSE THAT'S ALL -- IF YOU'RE WRITING -- AND HE'S A PROFESSIONAL WRITER -- THAT'S ALL YOU WANT. YOU JUST WANT TO SEE THE TEXT.
Jim: EXACTLY. AND, YOU KNOW, IF YOU DO HAVE TO DO ANY FORMATTING TO IT, YOU CAN COPY THE TEXT, AND YOU CAN PASTE IT INTO MICROSOFT WORD OR WHATEVER APPLICATION YOU'RE WORKING IN AND APPLY FORMATTING LATER.
Leo: VERY COOL. IS THAT FREE ALSO, DROP CLOTH?
Jim: THAT IS FREE, AND IT'S ALSO CROSS-PLATFORM, SO IT WILL ALSO WORK ON MAC OS, LINUX AND WINDOWS.
Leo: AND IT'S FROM CODEALCHEMISTS.
Jim: THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: OKAY, JDARKROOM. I REALLY LIKE THAT.
Jim: SO NOW LET'S QUICKLY SWITCH OVER TO OS X.
Leo: SO SOME MAC SOLUTIONS FOR YOU.
Jim: SOME MAC SOLUTIONS. AND WE'RE GONNA HIDE THIS. SO ONE APPLICATION THAT I REALLY LIKE IS CALLED "THINK," AND IT'S A VERY SIMPLE APPLICATION, AND IT ALSO BLACKS OUT YOUR DESKTOP AND ONLY SHOWS YOU ONE APPLICATION. WHEN YOU START IT, YOU'RE PRESENTED WITH JUST A SIMPLE INTERFACE TO CHOOSE WHAT APPLICATION YOU WANT TO WORK IN, AND FIREFOX IS GONNA POP UP HERE ANY SECOND.
Leo: THERE'S NOTHING GOIN' ON! [Pop captions up]
Jim: THERE'S NOTHING GOIN' ON.
Leo: IT'S JUST DARK!
Jim: WE'LL QUIT A NEW WINDOW. SO HERE'S OUR -- OH! AND I'M NOT GONNA GET INTO THE NETWORK.
Leo: OH, THAT'S OUR FAULT.
Jim: BUT WE CAN SWITCH TO ANOTHER APPLICATION, SO -- [Pop captions down]
Leo: OH, YEAH, YOUR WI-FI --
Jim: SO HERE'S "PREVIEW."
Leo: OKAY.
Jim: AND THERE'S NOTHING HERE AS WELL. LET'S GO TO iPHOTO.
Leo: THERE WE GO!
Jim: SO THERE WE HAVE JUST A BLACK BACKGROUND, AND YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE'S --
Leo: SO IT TURNS OFF YOUR WALLPAPER, TURNS OFF ALL THE STUFF RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND.
Jim: YES, EXACTLY. AND WE ALSO HAVE A LITTLE CONTROL PANEL WHERE WE CAN EASILY SWITCH FROM APPLICATION TO APPLICATION, SO WE CAN SWITCH BACK AND MAINTAIN THAT SOLID BACKGROUND THROUGHOUT.
Leo: WHAT'S THAT CALLED?
Jim: THAT IS CALLED "THINK."
Leo: "THINK?"
Jim: AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO THINK ON --
Leo: AND IT'S ONE APPLICATION AT A TIME --
Jim: YEAH, ONE APPLICATION AT A TIME. THAT'S RIGHT.
Leo: VERY COOL.
Jim: YEAH.
Leo: ALL RIGHT, WE GOTTA RUN. WE HAVE ONE MORE, BUT WE'LL PUT IT ON THE SHOW NOTES.
Jim: EXCELLENT!
Leo: WE DON'T WANT TO DISTRACT YOU. [Pop captions up]
Leo: JUST GO TO thelabwithleo.com, AND WE'LL HAVE IT ALL. JIM RUTHERFORD'S ONLINE AT digitalmediaminute.com. HE'S A BLOGGER THERE. [Pop captions down]
Leo: YOU CAN READ ALL HIS STUFF.
Jim: YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
Leo: HE'S VERY FOCUSSED WHEN HE'S -- (Both chuckling) [Pop captions up]
Leo: YOU KNOW, PART OF THE PROBLEM IS A FOUR-YEAR-OLD. THAT REALLY WILL DISTRACT YOU, WON'T IT? WE DON'T HAVE A PROGRAM FOR THAT YET, OR MAYBE WE DO. IT'S CALLED --
Jim: "STAR WARS LEGO."
Leo: "STAR WARS LEGO," THAT'S IT. (Laughing) [Pop captions down]
Leo: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH A FINAL WORD RIGHT AFTER THIS. THANKS, JIM. THAT WAS COOL. (Unclear speech) (Funky techno music) COMMERCIAL (Theme music playing)
Leo: IN CASE YOU'RE FEELING BAD FOR OWEN, WHILE HIS DAD WAS DOING THAT SEGMENT, HE WAS FINDING SOMETHING TO DO. [Pop captions up]
Leo: SILENT BOB'S TEACHING HIM ALL THE SKILLS THAT HE KNOWS. (Laughing) I LOVE IT! ACTUALLY, SILENT BOB SAYS HE'S PRETTY GOOD. HE DIDN'T SAY IT. HE JUST KIND OF -- YOU KNOW, HE HAS A LITTLE SIGN LANGUAGE THAT HE USES.
Kate: (Chuckling)
Leo: AND WHAT I THINK WE SHOULD DO IS HAVE A COMPETITION WHERE YOU JUST SEE THE SCREENS AND YOU DON'T SEE WHO'S PLAYING AND SEE IF YOU CAN TELL WHICH ONE'S SILENT BOB AND WHICH ONE'S OWEN. HE IS GOOD.
Kate: (Chuckling)
Leo: KATE ABRAHAM, THANK YOU SO MUCH. [Pop captions down]
Kate: THANK YOU.
Leo: FOR ALL THE GREAT CALLS. WE WANT TO GET YOU ON. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO TO thelabwithleo.com, FILL OUT THE FORM, AND WE'LL GET YOU ON THE SHOW. HAVE A GREAT DAY! WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME. (Theme music playing, dramatic sound effects) [Pop captions up] CLOSED CAPTIONING PERFORMED BY: BROADCAST CAPTIONING & CONSULTING SERVICES INC. www.closedcaptioning.com [Pop captions down] (Rogers theme plays)