The Fake Geek - Part 25

Which format does Audible use?

You asked what format the books on tape are in. I’m attaching a
memo from the book club.

Thanks for following up Marie!

This is a continuation of the mP3 question here.

Ah I was wondering if they did that. Okay their using something called DRM (Digital Rights Management.) Basically it’s a technology to restrict your ability to copy the files and share them with others. (Which makes sense because Audible wants people to each buy a book not buy one book and share with everyone else.)

So they use a format called Audible audio (.aa) this file type allows for some cool features but sadly can’t be universally playable with every type of mP3.

However the list at their site is a good resource (as the memo said) and it seems as if they support many types of mP3 players. You will have to download support software for that device however to “upgrade” it to play the .aa files. And I see the list includes the iPod, the Sansa and all my other favorite mP3 players. Basically most cheap no-name mP3 players are not supported.

The Fake Geek

Fuji Finepix f700 photos are overexposed

every picture that I take outside with my fuji finepix f700 is
over exposed and nothing seems to fix the problem … what can I do?

Thanks for asking!

The f700 has a bunch of different settings for controlling exposure there are both auto settings and manual settings. To switch to a different exposure mode just look on the mode dial at the top of the camera and spin it to manual. From there you can control the exposure settings simply by pressing the up or down arrows.

There are also different options such as a “Scene Program” mode where you can tell the camera whether you want to shoot at Night or Sports..etc.. and the camera will adjust itself accordantly.

You can try to let the camera handle the exposure automatically but set the Scene to Portrait. If your shooting outside try taking flash off as well.

Let me know how it goes!

The Fake Geek

CD Slide Show won’t play in a DVD player

I made a photo slideshow on my CD burner and it works beautifully (with music)
on my computer but won’t play in the DVD player. What is the reason for this?

Thanks for asking!

There are a few reasons why it might not be working for you:

Your DVD Player doesn’t have the ability to play CD’s.
The CD is in a format that DVD Player’s don’t use. DVD Players usually can only play CDs with songs on them (mp3 format and sometimes WMA) or special VCDs.
The slide show itself may be a Quicktime or Windows Media file which DVD Players can’t read.

(Note: I assume you mean a DVD player for your T.V. not a DVD drive for your computer.)

The Fake Geek

Which notebook is best for graphic design?

Which notebook is best for graphic design?

Thanks for asking!

Right off the bat as soon as you ask a question like that people will steer you towards the Mac. And there’s good reason to do so. Mac’s are great for doing what you want to do and not being bothered by doing all the messy administrative tasks a Windows user has to do. OS X is much more stable and everything’s much simpler on a Mac.

If you decide to go the Mac route go with the MacBook Pro. If your going to be doing graphics design (Photoshop, Illustrator etc…I presume?) then you not going to want to be staring at the small 13.3” screen the normal MacBook offers. The Pro comes in a 15” version and a 17” version. Going with either one depends on personal preference; you’ll be the one staring at the screen for hours at end.

There is always the option of buying a standalone monitor as well to attach to the MacBook.

If you don’t want to go Apple then these are the specs your looking for:

Dual Core Processor
2 GB of RAM
160GB Hard Drive (at least)
15.4” or bigger screen
Firewire and USB ports

As far as brand goes Dell and HP make pretty good laptops. Stay away from “value” brands.

The Fake Geek

Which mP3 player should I get?

I belong to a book club online. What should I buy to play these downloaded books? I guess I want to play them on an I-pod or MP3 portable player -something small that I cam take in the car or anywhere. I’m now copying them onto CD’s and it took me 18 CD’s for 1 book! The book club is Audible. I am completely illiterate about this. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the question Marie!

First I’ll explain to everyone else what Audible is. Audible is an online service where you basically buy the audio versions of popular books in mP3 format. Usually the authors themselves read the books or hired actors do it.

Now as for your answer Marie. Your definitely going to want to invest in an mP3 player. Firstly they are going to be able to hold much more information then all those discs and they will be small and easy to put in your pocket.

Ipods are very nice. Their design is great and the interface is very intuitive. But you will be paying for the iPod and Apple brand. An alternative to the iPod (if you don’t want to shell out that much money) is the SanDisk Sansa player. The 4GB version will probably allow you to keep alot of books on there and it costs much less then an iPod.

The interface and design on the Sansas are also very nice indeed.

Of course there are many cheaper mP3 players as well. You may not need the big screen the Sansa series offers but I think they’re a nice compromise between price and functionality.

The Fake Geek

Appended Sept 04/07:

You asked what format the books on tape are in. I’m attaching a
memo from the book club.

So they use a format called Audible audio (.aa) this file type allows for some cool features but sadly can’t be universally playable with every type of mP3.

However they list at their site is a good resource (as the memo said) and it seems as if they support many types of mP3 players. You will have to download support software for that device however to “upgrade” it to play the .aa files. And I see the list includes the iPod, the Sansa and all my other favorite mP3 players. Basically most cheap no-name mP3 players are not supported.

The Fake Geek

My monitor doesn’t work

I’m running a dual display computer with an old bulky CRT and a new LCD. The CRT doesn’t work anymore (no signl found) and it doesn’t work on both of my computers. is it a goner? Or is there something I can do to fix it?

Thanks for asking!

You’ve covered the primary task of diagnosing a monitor: try it on another computer! This will rule out the computer system itself and you’ll know that it is indeed something wrong with the monitor.

There are a few things you can try when your monitor stops working on you:

Connect the monitor to another computer to rule out the computer system itself and put 100% of the blame on the Monitor.
Try a different VGA monitor cable. It’s rare but these cables do stop working sometimes.
Connect the monitor to a computer and power it on. Now wiggle the cable gently on the monitor’s side. Your connection might be defective.

If the monitor still doesn’t work after that and it’s outside of the warranty period then it’s probably best to find a new monitor. The cost of fixing the thing (especially if it’s an older CRT) just isn’t worth it and you can use the situation as an excuse to get a cool new toy.

The Fake Geek

Taskbar flips upside down

Hey, I have Vista (on laptop) and 3 different accounts on it. My account
(administrator) occasionally gets this error where it says something like,
Windows explorer has caused an error, etc… and my screen gets completely
distorted and the taskbar flips upside down and such. This ONLY happens on
administrator by the way, what can I do to solve the problem?

Your taskbar flips upside down?! That’s not good. The only thing that could cause that (although I’ve certainly never seen it) is a graphics card issue or some problem with the monitor. But you say that you get a windows error, hmm… And you say it only happens in one account?

Here’s what is probably is. You probably have some graphics program or some kind of program running in the backgroud in your Admin account that you don’t have in the other accounts. This program might be directly causing the errors or it might be conflicting to create the symptoms you’ve described.

Try going into Configuration Utility and disabling any programs in your Admin account that are not in the other accounts. Just go to Start>Run. Type in “msconfig” and click on the “Start-up” tab. There will be a list of programs there. Remove anything you don’t need but make sure you know what your removing (for example not a good idea to remove antivirus processes.)

Make sure that you have uptodate drivers for you graphics card as well.

The Fake Geek

I just don’t understand

toshiba satellite a200-ah7 camera

i have audio device what i do

I’m sorry but I don’t understand what it is your asking guys. I could try to guess but that wouldn’t be helpful. We will be enabling mandatory email soon but until then I need you guys to re submit your questions, but in full sentences.

The Fake Geek

CD/DVD Drive Won’t work

my cd dvd drive won’t work

There will be a few reasons why a CD/DVD drive won’t work anymore. Let’s check some things first:

Put a disc (a music CD that you know works) into the drive and go into My Computer. Note whether the My Computer folder detects the drive.
Go to Device Managar (in Control Panel) and see if the drive is listed there.
Restart your computer and go into CMOS setup (during loading look to the bottom of the screen it’ll ask you to press something to go into Boot Menu or setup; press the button for either.) Make sure that the boot menu and the CMOS program lists the CD drive.

If the drive is missing from the first two but not the third then it’s most likely a software issue and you just need to reinstall the drive. Make sure you install the newest firmware and drivers for the device. If however the drive is missing from all three (especially the last one) then it’s going to be a physical problem. Now it’s time to open up the computer. (Make sure you properly ground yourself.)

DISCLAIMER: This does involve steps that might mess up your system. It shouldn’t but there’s always that chance with technology. I recommend backing up all of your data before doing this. You can also go to a local computer shop at this point.

What you’ll need to do is make sure that the connection to the drive havn’t accidentaly been jossled. Unplug the cables from your drive and firmly (but gently!) plug them back in. Then turn the computer back on and check the CMOS again. Is the drive there?

If it isn’t then it’s going to be one of two problems:

1)A broken controller on the motherboard.

2)A busted drive.

Here’s how to see if it’s a broken controller:

History Lesson:

There are many different ports, plugs and cables in your computer. These cables are forever changing to newer designs and better performance. One cable that has stuck around for a long time is called the IDE cable. Basically it’s a wide and thin grey cable that looks like the picture on the right. This cable connects to “ports” on the motherboard called the IDE controllers.

What you need to do:

Now there will be two devices that plug into these controllers: CD/DVD drives and Hard Drives. Therefore you’ll have two connections on your motherboard, one for the CD drive and the other for the Hard Drive. Now we know that the Hard Drive is working fine so we know that the IDE controller that the Hard Drive is plugged into is working fine.

Basically we unplug Hard Drive cable from it’s controller port and we plug in the CD ROM cable into that port. Once that is done turn the computer back on and look into the CMOS. If there drive is there then the problem is a broken controller and you can buy a PCI-card version for cheap.

If however the drive still fails to work then you need a new CD/DVD drive.

The Fake Geek

Windows.exe Crashes

Windows exe quits when im in my docs. Microsoft says to uninstall resource kit.They don’t say how.Also I don’t have it installed.I have scaned comp with many programs and no virus etc. My comp is pretty full im trying to clean up. Only 8.2GB free space. I have Windows XP Media Center a couple of processors and a big headache. Can you point me in the right direction? Also DVD Burner gets errors in the beging of a burn.

Thanks for asking! (I fixed up your question by converting from CAPS.)

You said that windows.exe crashes? If you have windows.exe on your system that’s bad news. You probably have a trojan. That file is mainly spread through file-sharing networks such as limewire and bittorrent. The only thing that gets me is that you said that you’ve scanned for virus’ and nothing came up.

Here what I’d like you to try:

Download the free program AVG anti-virus and scan your system (now make sure you set the controls to scan your entire system and not just a quick scan.) Before you initiate the scan you’ll want to update AVG to the newest virus definitions.

Now if that does not show any trojan then you don’t have malware and it’s probably a system conflict. When you say your running docs do you mean your running Google Docs? Or are you running something like Microsoft Office or OpenOffice?

Can you write back to me? I’m going to need more information. For now though try the AVG scan and go through this system maintenace post. Follow those steps especially going into your start-up list and disabling unwanted programs. Usually that fixes system conflicts.

The Fake Geek

(P.S. Over the next coming days there will be a few changes to the site starting with mandatory email address’ so that I can contact you guys for more information on your problem as I need in this case.)