CNET Live: January 22, 2009
CNET Live: January 22, 2009
32:16

CNET Live: January 22, 2009

Culture
[ Music ] ^M00:00:09 >> [Inaudible] best selling author Steven Johnson. >> Plus, I do solemnly swear to faithfully -- how does it go? Anyway, we're gonna set a new internet traffic record faithfully. >> And the Windows 7 preview. CNET Live starts now. ^M00:00:25 [ Music ] ^M00:00:33 >> Hello folks. Welcome to CNET Live, I'm Brian Cooley with the Dr. Tom Merritt. >> I am, I am Tom Merritt and we are doing the thing we do. We're all back together again. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> With BT. >> That's right, united as one. >> What is that area you think you're in Tong? >> It's orange. >> It's orange, it's orange land. >> Yes. >> And by the way, he hated being -- portrayed as being in the nooks. So, we're done with that [laughter] terminology, although notice it doesn't look any different so it's still intimate. >> I'm basking. My skin [stuttering] matches now and I'm nice and orangey tan now. >> You'll start bringing stuff at home to decorate, right? >> Yeah. >> He's at Hawaii, that's where he was. >> I know, rotten summer [inaudible]. >> We're still here taking your call and answering your questions at 888-900-CNET, 888-900-2638. >> That's right. Normally now, we would talk about a couple of things we crave but instead, we're gonna go a little different direction and instead, we're gonna take a minute to look at and talk about what internet users were craving this week in a major way and that, of course, was consuming the inauguration of a new presidential administration and joining us now on the phone is Bill Woodcock of the Packet Clearing House, a not-for-profit organization that among other things, monitors internet traffic. >> Bill, welcome to CNET Live. >> Hello, Bill. We've got Bill. >> Hello? >> Hi Bill, there you are. >> Yup. >> Welcome to the show. Good to have you on board. >> So, tell us a little more about the PCH and what it does. >> Thanks very much. >> We're non-profit as you said. We help support critical internet infracture. So as a part of that, we watch traffic levels at internet exchange points which are the instances where internet bandwidth is produced. Essentially, it's the points where there -- the internet service providers exchange traffic with each other. >> Now on Tuesday, people were very excited because there was a huge spike in traffic as people watched the inauguration of President Obama. There was a little bit of controversy over whether this was actually a record or not. >> Yeah, I think a lot of people have a lot of different views into the data and so, if you talk to people from streaming media company, they all byenlarge said yes, it was a record. If you talk to people looking other sets of data, they might see things differently or data is just looking at the volume of traffic that's publically visible and that certainly showed a record of about 41 percent [background sound] over the prior peak in the United States and about 14 percent internationally. >> So, this is the biggest traffic day yet? >> Yeah, and this is all traffic including page views, video streaming, everything. Is that right Bill? >> Yeah, yeah. Conversation about what's happening, all the sort of blogging that's going on, all the sort of secondary and tertiary effects get counted into the overall traffic whereas, you know, any individual streaming company would only be seeing the traffic of people downloading from their individual [inaudible]. >> So, that would be ours. This is all bits combined made this the big one. We were -- seen here talking during rehearsal, wondering among ourselves what was the previous record. Do we have a good handle on that? >> Well, if you look at the graph there, there's a lot of growth over time anyway and so, that bottom dotted line is a normal day exactly one year ago. >> Okay. >> And the solid white line is Monday, this last Monday, the day immediately before Inauguration Day. >> Okay. Alright. >> So typically, the highest record is the last weekday and this peak itself will probably get eclipsed within a few months by just the normal growth of everyday traffic. If you're looking for something comparable to this, you'd have to go back to probably 1997 when the Mars Pathfinder Lander was broadcasting. >> Oh, right. Mars Pathfinder, yeah. >> And three quarters of a billion people tuned into that around the world to watch that happening and that's really essentially what happened again last Tuesday. >> Wow! Okay. In general, did the internet work properly? [Laughter] Do we feel pretty good about performance? >> Well, that's an interesting question. In Europe, I think it worked great. In Europe, everybody had, you know, real time streaming, high def video. Here in the U.S., not quite as smooth. I think the streaming video companies did a great job of delivering what they had but the local loop, the bandwidth into peoples' home and offices just doesn't add up to that much capacity in U.S. Not enough for everyone to be streaming high def in the way that they do in Europe. So at this point, looking at sort of publically visible numbers, Europe has about 8 times much bandwidths available to their viewers as people in the U.S. do and Asia Pacific region has almost 4 times as much. So, I think people were able to see what they were able to see by and large with a few hiccups but we weren't getting the same resolution and quality that people in the rest of the world were. And interestingly, that's one of the issues that Obama was addressing in his talk, was the need to bring our infrastructure back onto the kind of growth curve that was on 8 years ago. >> Bill, thank you so much for taking time to talk to us. We appreciate the numbers and a nice looking chart you made for us as well. >> Yeah. >> My pleasure. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> Alright, thank you. >> Alright. Thanks a lot, Bill. And again, that's Bill Woodcock joining us. About this traffic that we saw and this is amazing and so far, record day but as he pointed out, that could easily surpassed. I was surprised how [stuttering] quickly he thinks that'll be surpassed by the next big tide of continual growth. We are clearly on a major-- [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> We're still on -- we're still somewhere in the hockey stairs down there. >> We're on a stairs, yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, and that's one thing I think we can take away from this very clearly. >> Let's get to the phone, shall we? >> Let's do that with our first call. We always have to go to line one which is going to be Nathan in Pennsylvania talking Quad-Core. Hello, Nathan. Welcome to CNET Live. What are you looking for? >> Actually, Quad-Core laptop with probably a bigger screen because I'm visually impaired. >> Hmm. What size screen do you have now that you wanna step up from? >> Well, I have a desktop and it's on Flash Leg piece of junk. >> Yeah, [laughter] and what do you have? Like a 17-inch or a 15-inch monitor now? >> It's a 20-inch. >> You got a 20. You wanna go to a pretty good sized monitor then. Alright. Well, this is-- >> I was wondering really quick deal. Do you guys also know where I can find a Beta Version of Window 7? >> Well, funny you should ask about [laughter]. >> Yeah, actually-- >> Yes. >> Go to Window-- go to [stuttering] Microsoft.com/window7/ or /window/windows-7 and keep watching the show. We'll tell you more about that later on. >> Yeah, we have a lot of Window 7 coming up in the show. So sit tight on that. But guys, do you have any ideas on Quad-Core laptop? BT, what do you got for us? >> Yeah, the -- sort of a spiral line. If he's really looking for one with the largest screen, they have the previous model was -- give me one second just to pull that up. Their current model is gonna be coming out is the 8930G and it's an 18-inch laptop, Quad-Core laptop. >> Okay. >> And the previous one before was reviewed really at CNET. I think it got about 4 stars. Dan Ackerman them likes the Acer line and the Aspire 8920 was the one that he referred to, but this is the new version and it is an 18-inch screen. That's pretty much as large that I can think of for a Quad-Core laptop. >> Yeah, I was looking at the HP HDX 18t. >> Okay. >> Yeah, clearly, you're gonna obviously hook this up to an external monitor. Did you wanna step up to one of those bigger sizes and there is no obviously no 23-inch laptop out there. >> Great. >> And the A930 looks like a hot rod. So, we'll take a look at that HP also and give you any thought we've got on that a little later in the show. >> I just wanted a quick -- what are your thoughts? I'm also considering the 5 Star computers. >> Oh, the 5 Star Mac Knox. >> Alright. You know what? If you got some money to [stuttering] spend, I would say go ahead and give 'em a shot but I wouldn't rely on the measure of regular computer yet because they rely on 5 Star continually patching it for you to be able to upgrade the operating system as it goes along and of course, 5 Star is in a court case with Apple over whether they have the right to put OS X on a non-Apple approved piece of hardware. >> Yes, so that can go poof at any time and then you're left with a non-continuable platform. >> Let's go to now to Brandon. He's in South Carolina, got a question about video. Hello, Brandon. Welcome to CNET Live. >> Hey, guys! >> How are you? >> Hmm. >> Doing alright, doing alright guys. Yeah, I have a Hitachi DVD Cam that uses -- you could use a regular DVD or you can use the RAM. >> Yup. >> I usually try and use the RAM so I could transfer to computer but the only way I know to transfer the RAM disc to the computer is through the Hitachi software which is like 8 years old and I wanna see if there's something that's new or better or that's just worth getting rid of that and getting something a little more user-friendly. >> So you wanna use this, the solid state recording ability and transfer it to your computer without having to go through the Hitachi software? >> That's correct. >> Okay. That's -- and when you plug it in, you're running what? A Mac or Windows machine? >> Windows XP. >> Okay. And it doesn't recognize the device obviously as a mass storage device? >> Correct, it doesn't recognize the mass storage device and it doesn't recognize the RAM file. >> Yeah. So obviously, we got something proprietary going on. He states it's a pretty old camcorder. I'm not -- what model is your camcorder, do you know offhand? >> It's a Hitachi. The exact model number I'm not certain of, it's probably like I said about -- I don't know, 5 to 7 years old. >> Yes. >> It was when they kinda first came out. >> You know when some of the digital cameras we're coming out that far back, they also had proprietary transfer software 'cause you're going way back at this point in terms of that camera. There are so many other benefits you're gonna get. I'm not trying to push you to buy new camcorder, but if it comes down to that, you're gonna get so many other benefits along with a much easier ability to deal with getting the video on and off or as you mentioned, you've got a DVD drive in that thing also. I'm not a big fan of DVD camcorder capture because of the compression involve and I think it's kinda clunky in general, but you know, that's obviously gonna be much more standardized in terms of getting the data off that disk onto your machine for editing. >> So you can't get the data off the disk 'cause that way they -- >> Of the RAM of the -- of the flash port of it. >> Yeah, the only where I can get it all is through the Hitachi software and you can tell it's a dinosaur program. >> Yeah. This is a very Sony-asks thing from a few years ago. >> Yeah. >> It used to make you go through sonic stage to load music on their mp3 player, for example, and that was maddening. It's just an idea that people don't really do it anymore. Most manufactures have thought better of the proprietary tool mentality. But you're camera is so old, I don't know without a model number if you can get around that. So shoot us the model number, we can look at this offline, you know, send the e-mail to us cnetlive@cnet.com and I'll take a look to see to have any solution for you. Okay. Thanks for the call. >> Alright, coming up. I've got an interview with best-selling author Steven Johnson. He stopped by CNET late last week. But first, here's an early look at Windows 7 Beta. Is it the Vista replacement the world's been waiting for? Yeah, probably. >> Roll it. [ Background Music ] >> Hi. I'm Seth Rosenblatt for download.com, and today we're taking a first look at Windows 7 Beta. There's a lot of new exciting stuff that Microsoft has crammed into their latest operating system. Well, it's true that Windows 7's interface will be familiar to fans of Vista's Aero, both XP and Vista users have a lot to look forward to. Before we jump in, keep in mind that this is a Beta. It hasn't crashed in the week I've been using it, but that may not hold true for everybody. Under no circumstances would I recommend using 7 for mission-critical tasks until the final version is released. I'll be addressing how to install 7 in another video. For now, let's assume you're ready to go. The first thing that should stand out is 7's new task bar. This is one of the best improvements Microsoft has made. Besides incorporating the translucent style of Aero, the new task bar is a great leap forward. Pin programs use large, easy-to-see icons. Mouse over one, and all windows associated with that program appear in preview. Mouse over one of those preview panes to reveal an X to close the window. Hover over the preview to show a full-size preview of the program, or click on the window to bring it to the front. Jump Lists are a new feature that makes recently open documents easier to get to. Right-click on any program that's pinned to the task bar to see a list of files that you've recently used in that program. In Internet Explorer, this will show recently-visited websites, although it doesn't yet seem to work in Firefox. As you've noticed the missing Show Desktop icon, that's because it's been baked into the task bar itself. Mouse over to the right corner, hovering over the Show Desktop box reveals the desktop and then hides it when you mouse away. Click on the box to minimize all your programs. Dragging programs is now a simple way to resize them. Drag a program window up to the top of the monitor to make it full screen. If you want to work in two windows simultaneously, drag them to the left or the right edge of your screen. Drag a program away from the top or sides to return it to normal. Theme packages also make it much faster to change the look of Windows 7. From the control panel, you can change the theme under appearance and personalization. Microsoft has created several theme packages to give users a taste for what the future can do. Click on one to download it, and it instantly changes the look of 7. No need to reboot. There are other less visual changes to 7 which make it far better than anything Microsoft has put out so far. It boots faster and programs launch faster, all from the same hardware that runs Vista. You can probably get away with less fancy hardware for 7 because it utilizes what's available better. It runs fine on my Pentium 4, for example, and it doesn't require 2 gigs of RAM. The new device stage makes managing peripherals significantly easier combining printers, phones, and portable media players into one window. You can also use it to set common tasks. When you try to use a file already in use, 7 goes beyond Vista and XP by telling you where it's being used. The bloated verse will appreciate that 7 doesn't come with a slew of Windows Live programs, at least for now. So far, 7 looks like the operating system we've all been waiting for and shows a lot of promise for the future. For CNET download.com, I'm Seth Rosenblatt with a first look at Windows 7 beta. [ Music ] >> Welcome back to CNET Live. Joining us now Steven Johnson, author of the Invention of Air. You may know him from his book Everything Bad is Good for You which is very popular among the folks in our audience. Thanks for joining us Steven. >> It's my pleasure. >> Now, the story in here is about one of the technical advisors, a couple of technical advisors of the early Founding Fathers of the United States, Joseph Priestley. >> Yup. Yeah Priestley was this amazing kind of figure in some ways. He was -- he was kind of a founding nerd in a way. He was a great scientist, isolated oxygen for the first time, did some pioneering work in electricity, but also did, you know, important work in founding the Unitarian Church and all of these. He's a classic enlightenment figure but he had a huge impact on -- on Franklin and on Jefferson and on Adams. And so part of the book is really talking about how engaged those people were in science and technology and in the open flow of information. I mean that was a big part of their kind of values systems. I want to write a book -- just kind of my version of the Founding Fathers' book that will take us back to this time and show us how relevant a lot of these kinds of issues today or to that period. >> Well and apparently Priestley was mentioned, you know, in your prologue hundreds of times in letters. >> Yeah. >> Where people like that you would expect like George Washington and Ben Franklin I. >> Yeah the Adams-Jefferson correspondence which is a great kind of political conversation in our history. Priestley is mentioned like 52 times and the rest of these guys are mentioned less than 10 times. >> Which makes me wanna go back and watch the John Adams miniseries. >> Yeah, he doesn't show up. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> He's totally, he's totally not in there. It's -- so he's been kind of neglected. And I think it's partially because he was involved in so many different things and he had a great kind of wide-ranging intellect and was interested in all these different things. And so, he got kind of dispersed in all of these different fields and it's harder to kinda remember how -- how important he was. >> And that is sort of -- the idea here is not so much about Priestley's life himself but it was a different time back then, people didn't specialize as much. >> Yeah. >> Even Isaac Newton, which is 100 or so years before, doubled in a lot of different things in alchemy and in philosophy as well as science. There were some benefits to that. >> Yeah and I think it's a good -- it's a good value to revive in our time. And in a way, we see some of that happening and we live in a kind of renaissance of the amateurs, right? I mean, you know, Wikipedia is a great testimony to people who have kind of an amateur interest in things and a lot have contribute and share their ideas. And that, you know, they extend to which people -- thanks to blogging, thanks to photo sharing and all these things, we're able to say, "Hey, I'm not a professional photographer, but wow I took this great picture. Here you should take it." So there are some of those values that I think are coming back. And the fact is it was a lot easier to kind of dabble in chemistry and come up with world changing discoveries in your home lab back in 1771 than it is today since we know so much more about the world. You have to specialize at some level. But I think, you know, it's good to remind ourselves that these people were great cross-disciplinary thinkers as well. >> And that's a really good point. I mean there is certainly some things, medicine might be a good one where I don't want people dabbling around. >> Yeah. >> But astronomy is one where still amateurs are providing some really positive contributions to the science. How -- we sort of look down on that now, though, as a society. We don't -- we don't value amateur contributions as much as we used to. >> That's right. I think that's true. And also we have -- in the last few years seemingly valued that in our leaders, right, and that we've had this kind of -- a lot of our politicians have had this kind of anti-science, anti- technological things where they just have pretended like, "I don't know anything about that". "I don't know how to use these computers". "I don't really know what the scientists are saying". >> Well, they almost consider that a better pride. >> Yeah, yeah. And so one thing I was trying to write in this book is to say, "Listen, science and technology has never been more important to our society than it is today". Think how many important issues revolve around whether it's energy issues, and global warming, and genomics, and -- and all the computer science impact that the internet has had. So to have -- you know, a political leader or, you know, people really look up to, not be knowledgeable about these things. It's such a mistake. And so with this book what I've tried to remind people of is that it's not just anti-intellectual to do that. It's kind of an American. I mean it's a betrayal of the values that that our Founding Fathers had. >> And do you think that there's any hope for this in leadership worldwide that we'll see people sort of embracing that intellectualism or knowledge of technology more so? >> Well, you know, people have been making a little bit of a joke about it, but I think it's has been very interesting this whole battle that Obama is having to keep his BlackBerry. You know, I mean that he really fundamentally recognizes there's a certain kind of efficiency to the -- the kind of daily business that he does in the flow of information through his life that technology really helps him with. And that if -- if for security reasons that the government can't figure a way to keep that tool in his kind of toolbox, then something is finally -- finally wrong here because we can't -- it can't just be like, 'cause I'm gonna dictate another letter to my secretary and [simultaneous talking] -- >> And it looks like he's figured it out. >> Yeah. >> That I heard something on Slashdot yesterday that they may have figured out how we can hold on to it. >> Pretty wild. >> Are you working on a next book? >> Yeah, I'm starting to work on a book about ideas and innovation in general, that won't be kind of another historical narrative like the last two, but will tell lots of different stories. But right now, I'm just in the middle of talking about this one. >> Right. >> So, I don't have a lot of time. [Chuckles] >> Steven, thank you so much. >> Anytime, my pleasure. >> I appreciate you're stopping by. The book is called the Invention of Air. It's available in bookstores now and online. Stay with us, Download of the Week is next. [ Music ] [ Background Music ] >> Hey everyone. I'm Molly Wood. Host of CNET TV's Mailbag. Here at the Mailbag, we love to read your letters and e-mails, the lover mail even the hater mail. And apparently, you like it too 'cause when we tried to make the show biweekly, [background cries] boy, did you raise the seat. So we're back to every week and you can all just calm down. But don't stop writing in 'cause I need you, bad. Look for the new edition of Mailbag every Wednesday at cnettv.com. [ Music ] >> Welcome back to CNET Live, Tom Merritt, Brian Cooley. >> That's right. >> Brian Tong. >> Yep. >> And several other Brians all trying to take your questions and answer your calls at 888-900-CNET, 888-900-2638. >> Before we get back to those calls, though, it's time for the Download of the Week. [ Background Music ] >> Okay, Download of the Week brought to us by our dear friends at download.com, and this time spawned by an e-mail coming in from Matthew Burley [phonetic] who writes in and says, "Hey guys, is it possible to take a USB webcam like so, and put it on my projector which connects via VGA, but add graphics and texts". So he wants to run the webcam into his computer and then VGA out of his computer to his projector, the reason being he can do the overlay of graphics and texts. He wants to make a lower third like, you know, a write about down here on the screen. So we think we've got that figured out with an app called Magic Camera 4. Let me load this guy up right here and you'll see what it looks like. It takes and puts graphics and/or will put texts on your actual output of your camera. And so you've got this thing here where you can capture the camera, the screen, you can play video, do a photo slideshow, any of these options here, and when you do that, you get all these frames of sorts. Now it can be seen as being a little hooky, sure, but here they are, here. You've got a preview window so you can put any of these frames around and then here is the all important text tab you can hit, and this will allow you to put text balloons and other types of graphics around your image. Now, we're still struggling with the driver for our webcam, but this is what you need here Matthew to be able to augment the output of your webcam. And then by the way, another tip in terms of getting that up without there, just set up your VGA port on your computer to Extended Desktop and just move your Magic Camera out to extended desktop and then that'll just send that out to your projector. So, good luck with that. That's Magic Camera 4 over at download.com. Let's get to your calls now at 888-900-CNET. Who do you want to go first guys? >> Oh -- [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> You like the USB-powered monitors? >> Lets start -- are we? Are we liking it? >> I think we are now 'cause I just hit the button. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> Alright, we like it then. We love it. Michael. >> Michael's in for it. >> Wait on us. >> Hi guys. >> Hey. >> What's up? >> Hey, I'm looking to this kind of do-two-things-at-once here. I want to expand the screen space on my laptop as well as unwire my laptop at the same time and I found this little MIMO USB powered monitor. It's a 7 inches, and it has a built-in webcam, a built-in microphone and built-in speaker out. It's just cool 'cause I did take my stereo speakers plug in to that in the monitor and then put the monitor into my computer and then I wouldn't have to worry about having all these wires run into my computer, right, but I take a step further, and actually run the monitor off of the wireless USB hub in that way I could just use wireless USB to connect to my laptop and then I wouldn't have any wires going into my laptop except for my power cable. Would that be possible? >> Well, the thing about -- >> Brian Tong. >> Yeah, I know. So, I kind of -- you know, we haven't seen this device before but just to let people know at home know what we're looking at. This is the MIMO UM730. And basically, it's a miniscreen that is powered by USB and has some of this features like you said like the microphone and really -- are you asking? Can you -- it doesn't even say deliberately how many ports this screen has. I would assume if it is USB-powered, it might have one port and maybe an additional one, but are you trying to say -- you want to send information to the screen? Is that what you're asking? >> Yeah, what I'm thinking about doing actually is the screen itself doesn't have to have any USB ports on it. I'm going to run the screen off of a USB hub, and I want that hub to be a wireless USB hub as opposed to a wired USB hub. But I wasn't sure if any -- or some accessories don't run well off of low power USB ports as opposed to the high powered ones that are usually -- >> Yeah, I think that's the main problem here is this your monitor gonna draw enough power out of that wireless USB hub. I mean is your monitor that you've got now getting any power from any other source or is it entirely powered from USB? >> I actually -- I don't even have the monitor yet. I wasn't gonna go and drop 170 dollars. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> Hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean do you know -- does it also plug in? >> Yes, it is supposed to plug in just via USB, regular USB at the [simultaneous talking]. >> Yeah. So you should, you should be fine. The thing is anything -- you should be able to run the monitor off. Now, you should be able to get the monitor's signal through it, I would guess, but anything that's going [background sound] to be -- have a problem running off with the wireless USB 'cause of low power is also gonna have a problem running off of that monitor's USB 'cause you're essentially just daisy chaining them. I don't see why it wouldn't work because as long as that monitor's not powering off the USB, which I don't even think you could power a monitor off a USB, there's not enough juice in there. >> No it's a little 5 volts, isn't it? >> But as long as it's getting a signal which that's easy, you just send a data through it. I think it would work and I'm not gonna warrant that [laughter] but I'm guessing it would work. I mean it's the kind of crazy thing I'd try. >> Hmm. >> Yeah. >> It certainly is. I'll vouch for that. Alright. Good luck [stuttering] with that Michael. Hmm. >> I'm mad at the guy that have the QBasic question hung up on us [simultaneous talking] because I had a great QBasic [simultaneous talking]. >> You've spent the last hour getting ready for it. >> I mean I don't know. I know about this side. I've loved QBasic. >> Yeah. >> I've used QBasic for like 15 years. >> Yeah. >> Qbasicstation.com if you're interested in programming games and QBasic dude, go to QBasic Station. I don't know why he hung up but anyway. Alright. [Simultaneous Talking] We showed you a first look at Windows 7 Beta earlier in the show. Now, here's how you can get a look at it for yourself. This goes to our earlier caller. Take a look. ^M00:26:34 [ Background music ] ^M00:26:39 >> During CES 2009, Microsoft announced it'll let you download a Beta Version of Windows 7 for free until January 24th. I'm Tom Merritt from Cnet.com. Here's a quick tip on how to get Windows 7 even maybe if it's after January 24th. Now the Beta is officially available from Microsoft at microsoft.com/windows/windows-7. You'll have to sign in with a Windows Live ID, then you'll get a key to use to activate the copy of Windows. Now apparently, there are only a limited number of keys. I don't know how many exactly, maybe half a dozen or so. So your key isn't going to be unique. Now if you're afraid of giving your info to Microsoft, or their servers are swamped, or it's after January 24, there's something you should know. Since the Beta is free anyway, some feel it's fair to download it elsewhere, say a Torrent search engine like the Piratebay. You'd still need to obtain a valid product key to activate it though. This is probably not legal but Microsoft is less likely to go after you. It's a free Beta after all and it's set to stop working altogether in August anyway. I'm wanting to run Windows 7 in a virtual machine. I downloaded the image from Microsoft but the file kept getting corrupted. So I downloaded a virtual machine image from tuxdistro.com, thanks to a tip from a friend. Now, once again, you still need to get an activation key which I got when I downloaded the corrupted copies. Once you've obtained Windows 7, however you do it, you're gonna want to install it. So, look for our video from Seth Rosenblatt. It's an Insider's Secret on setting Windows 7 up. That's it for this Quick Tip. I'm Tom Merritt, CNET.Com. [ Music ] >> Thank you, Tom. Thank you so much. That was appropriate though. >> Should be careful though if you're out there looking at torrents like not only the legal aspect of it but normal torrent warnings apply. >> Yeah. >> If you're in torrent land, there's lots of viruses, lots of malicious stuff out there. So, it's not for the faint of heart. >> No. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> But just casually, user don't do it. >> Let's do a quick lightning around here. One quick call, one quick e-mail. I wanna get Derrick in Texas. He's been waiting patiently. Hello Derrick, quick question here on CNET Live. What can we do for you? >> Hey, what do you all think of the new Canon Camcorders? The HF20 and the HFF10. Do you know about those? >> Okay. Now BT, you've got the HF10, is that right? >> Well, I'm-- >> I've got the 11. I just bought it and I can return. I wondering if I should. >> Okay. So, Derrick has an 11. Brian you've got experience with this. >> Okay. Yes. >> So, should he return the one he bought and hold-off? >> Yeah. >> Yes, he just [stuttering] wants to know really what is so great about the new cameras coming and if really, it's worth holding on to your old one versus getting the new HF20, correct? >> Yeah. >> And what they're going to cost, any, if you have any idea. >> I don't know off the top of my head it cost wise. I don't know if it's on or -- say yeah, but we did-- [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> Say, surprisingly, we do that. >> Yeah, we did some digging in. First of all, your HF11 versus the HF20, they have the same -- sorry, storage capacity which is 32 gigs but really, it comes down to the advantages of the digit processor in the camera itself. So with the new models, they have, you know, some improved features like better face detection. They also have some feature where you can take like 4-second snapshots and kinda build a highlight real. But it is really the processor of the camera that is a little improved on the new one versus the old one. If those features don't really make a difference, then you might -- you probably are good sticking with your HF11 but I'm not sure about the pricing off the top of my head. >> And what I would also is to check the size of the sensor. Don't just get caught up in the mega pixels but how big of a sensor chip are they using to get those mega pixels. I always like more chip if the mega pixels are the same in the sensor to get the result because you're gonna get a little better light sensitivity and little better quality of image in my experience. >> Yeah. >> So check that. I don't know the size of the chip in your 11 offhand but you can find that out easily. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> Alright. It's not about mega pixels anymore. It's about the size of your sensor. >> Boy, you said that. >> The sensor chips [inaudible] is larger in the new one. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> An e-mail from Shannon to -- [simultaneous talking] directly to me. >> I'm sorry about that. >> Shannon says it's actually quite true and in a way -- I'm sorry. Shannon says, "I am not sure if you were able to answer my question but I would be grateful if you could. I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina and I wanted a satellite." Essentially, Stellar came out and said, "Ma'am, you got a big tree line. We're gonna have to put the dish up on an 8-foot pole in the front corner of yard so we can face the southern sky and then I'll just run the cable over to your house." >> Alright. >> "Turns out that he ran the line on the ground across my drive way and in the front yard into my house." >> That's pretty. >> "Needless to say, I was not happy and I asked why he ran it that way as he could have run the cable from the left corner of my house and then right below across the front of the house. He said he had to go to the most direct route because it could only run a hundred feet to receive HD. Is this true or is he taking the easy way out?" Well Shannon, he's partly true. In Direct TV Land, they will only pay the installers up to hundred feet of cable. >> Okay. This isn't a technical limitation. [ Simultaneous Talking ] >> So if he ran over a over a hundred of feet of cable, he'd have to charge you and maybe he just didn't wanna do the paper work or maybe he was trying to do you a solid but essentially, they can't run over a hundred feet and get paid by Direct TV. They have to charge you after that. Now saying it was because of HD, sure, longer cables are going to degrade the signal slowly. I [stuttering] know people who have HD over longer cable lengths. So I don't-- >> Yeah. It was a technical limitation in this case, okay. >> I don't think it is unless I'm mistaken about something, I don't think it was. >> Yeah, that's just poor, very poor signal coming out of the dish but it seems unlikely for a new setup. Okay. By the way, Derrick on the camcorder question, we still don't have any information on the pricing on the FH20. I think we're done now. >> Wow. >> Alright. >> Next week, what do we got? [ Background Music ] >> Next week, we have Ben Heck. I'm excited. We'll have him on web cam. He is one of the guys who takes some game consoles and squeezes them down into laptop form-factors. >> He's kinda like you with those damn thumb drives. >> Oh, he's much better than me. We're gonna find out what he's up to. Tune in next week. >> Okay. It'll be 4 o'clock Eastern on Thursday. >> 1 PM Pacific. >> 11 AM in Hawaii guys. Come on, let's do it. >> Here we go >> There we go that's it. >> Alright. Alright. >> Hold hand. ^M00:32:04 [ Music ]

Up Next

This Van Builder Has Tips for Life on the Road
thumb-vanlife-2-00432-1

Up Next

This Van Builder Has Tips for Life on the Road

Super Nintendo World: We Tried Everything!
question-block

Super Nintendo World: We Tried Everything!

Real Estate Pro Breaks Down Property for Sale in the Metaverse
experts-react-11

Real Estate Pro Breaks Down Property for Sale in the Metaverse

Reggie Fils-Aimé on Nintendo and the Future of Video Games
gmt20220518-190025-recording-avo-1280x720-00-15-09-11-still001

Reggie Fils-Aimé on Nintendo and the Future of Video Games

I Lost My Mind on Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster
1202231812667975-b8hrndwonamcg2sdaf5l-height640.png

I Lost My Mind on Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster

I Went Shopping in the Metaverse and Tried On a Gucci Bag
shopping-1

I Went Shopping in the Metaverse and Tried On a Gucci Bag

How to Download Kanye West's 'Donda 2' for the Stem Player
donda-for-site

How to Download Kanye West's 'Donda 2' for the Stem Player

MoviePass will be back this summer -- this is how it'll work
moviepasscnet

MoviePass will be back this summer -- this is how it'll work

Watch ferrofluid turn into art
ericmesple

Watch ferrofluid turn into art

How Black Friday is very different this year
htdia-blackfriday-v2

How Black Friday is very different this year

Tech Shows

The Apple Core
apple-core-w

The Apple Core

Alphabet City
alphabet-city-w

Alphabet City

CNET Top 5
cnet-top-5-w

CNET Top 5

The Daily Charge
dc-site-1color-logo.png

The Daily Charge

What the Future
what-the-future-w

What the Future

Tech Today
tech-today-w

Tech Today

Latest News All latest news

Apple to Talk AI in June: This WWDC is a Big Deal
240328-yt-omt-wwdc24-v07

Apple to Talk AI in June: This WWDC is a Big Deal

New Xbox Leaked
240328-yt-xbox-leaked-image-v01

New Xbox Leaked

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter
pic3

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter

Apple and Meta Are Competing for Your Memories
screenshot-2024-03-22-at-17-41-16.png

Apple and Meta Are Competing for Your Memories

Nvidia's Project GR00T vs. Tesla Optimus: Competing Robot Strategies
240321-site-nvidia-project-groot-vs-tesla-optimus-v1

Nvidia's Project GR00T vs. Tesla Optimus: Competing Robot Strategies

What Google Gemini AI on the iPhone Could Look Like
240321-site-apple-and-gemini-ai

What Google Gemini AI on the iPhone Could Look Like

Most Popular All most popular

First Look at TSA's Self-Screening Tech (in VR!)
innovation

First Look at TSA's Self-Screening Tech (in VR!)

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: More AI at a Higher Cost
240123-site-samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-4

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: More AI at a Higher Cost

'Circle to Search' Lets Users Google From Any Screen
circlesearchpic

'Circle to Search' Lets Users Google From Any Screen

Asus Put Two 14-inch OLEDs in a Laptop, Unleashes First OLED ROG Gaming Laptop
asus-preces-00-00-25-11-still003

Asus Put Two 14-inch OLEDs in a Laptop, Unleashes First OLED ROG Gaming Laptop

Samsung Galaxy Ring: First Impressions
samsung-galaxy-ring-clean

Samsung Galaxy Ring: First Impressions

Best of Show: The Coolest Gadgets of CES 2024
240111-site-best-of-ces-2024-1

Best of Show: The Coolest Gadgets of CES 2024

Latest Products All latest products

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter
pic3

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter

Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar
240320-site-nuro-r3-first-look-v1

Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar

First Look: The $349 Nothing Phone 2A Aims to Brighten Your Day
240304-site-nothing-phone-2-first-look-v3

First Look: The $349 Nothing Phone 2A Aims to Brighten Your Day

Best of MWC 2024: Bendable Screens, AI Wearables and More
240229-site-best-of-show-at-mwc

Best of MWC 2024: Bendable Screens, AI Wearables and More

This Concept Laptop from Lenovo Has a Transparent Display
240225-site-lenovo-translucent-laptop-concept-v3

This Concept Laptop from Lenovo Has a Transparent Display

Motorola's Rollable Concept Phone Wraps on Your Wrist
240225-site-motorola-rollable-concept

Motorola's Rollable Concept Phone Wraps on Your Wrist

Latest How To All how to videos

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features
240311-site-windows-11-hidden-tips-and-tricks-v2

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3
VisionOS 1.0.3

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra
240216-site-galaxy-s24-ultra-tips-and-hidden-features-2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro
tiktok-on-vision-pro-clean

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro

Get Your TV Ready for the Big Game: Super Bowl Setup Tips
superbowl-tv-settings-thumb1

Get Your TV Ready for the Big Game: Super Bowl Setup Tips

How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro
240202-site-spatial-computing-on-meta-quest-3

How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro