Welcome in to TPN Weekly #94. We hope you enjoy the podcast as we venture down the road of tech, leading us in so many directions. As the domestic economy continues to struggle, where does that leave us as tech users and consumers? This week, we discuss how to use technology to our benefit in a sluggish and slow economy. Yes, we spend plenty of money on our tech gadgets. So, let’s use the tools and resources we have right in from of us and keep a little bit more of our hard earned money in our wallets. Check out the simple tips and tricks that we can all use. Finally, we dive into the discussion of things that have gone away due to technology advancement and innovation. We offer up our thoughts on the topic. We truly hope you enjoy this week’s TPN Weekly podcast and hope that you continue to ride…the waves of tech.

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Using technology in a bad economy

• Job searching

• Smart phone for gas price searching

• Hybrid autos

• Business innovation and start-ups

• Entertainment

• Bounce ideas around on social sites

• Health apps in the home

• Shopping online for deals & coupon codes

• Subscribe the blogs rather than buying books

Things which have gone away due to technology

• Winding a watch

• Floppy disks

• String tensioned car radios

• Manual TV channel selection

• Sports timing

This weeks episode is brought to you by Waves of Tech part of NetCast Studio Production

Please check out all the Show notes and links at the Techpodcasts.com Blog. Please send an email or audio comment to tctpodcast@gmail.com and let me know what cool tech you think should be on the list.

Email:  tctpodcast@gmail.com

Greetings, everyone! I’m Rick Savoia, host of The Force Field, a podcast about the business of tech.

Sponsor: Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts

In this episode I will introduce myself and give you some inside information about the computer repair business you need to know as a well informed consumer.

Topics of discussion:

I will tell you a little about my experiences starting small tech businesses that were too far ahead of their time.

We will find out how and why I created The Force Field podcast and portal.

Most importantly, we will talk about the field service technician who shows up at your door to fix your PC, who he really works for, how much money he really makes when he shows up to service your computer, whether or not he is even qualified to perform the work and your rights to such disclosure as a consumer.

If you want to know more about starting and managing a computer or IT service business, give The Force Field podcast a listen. Questions, comments or feedback? Visit us at http://www.theforcefield.net, visit our forums or email comments(at)theforcefield.net.

This week it’s Mike Dell from the Extra Topics – The Ham Radio Podclass

John Martin, was unable to record today so Mike is flying solo.

The topic of today’s podcast is personal radio communications. Not a Cell phone, but other means of using radio technology for your personal communications.

*** Sorry, but this mostly applies to the United States. Rules and services available will differ form this in other locations.

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CB Radio 26 and 27mhz
- Limited to 40 channelized frequencies.
- Limited to 4watts AM and 12watts SSB.
- Used for short range communications.
- In the USA, 155 mile range rule

FRS – Family Radio Service – 462 and 467 Mhz
- Limited to 1/2 watt
- Limited to 14 channelized frequencies
- Can not have a removable antenna
- No license required

GMRS – General Mobile Radio Service
- License Required ($85 to the FCC)
- immediate family members can use your license
- 50 watts on GMRS frequencies (although 1 to 5 watts is more common)
- Detatchable antennas are allowed

MURS – Multi-use Radio service
- No licensee required
- 2 watts with detachable antennas allowed (4 times what is allowed on the FRS band)
- 5 channels in the VHF band (151mhz area)

Marine Radio VHF
- No license Required
- MUST be on the water to use this service
- Channel 16 (156.8 MHz) is the Emergency / Calling frequency
- US Coast Guard (in the USA)

Aviation Radio service (Air Band)
- VHF band between 108 MHz and 137 MHz
- UHF frequencies (225 – 400 MHz) which are not part of the airband and are Mostly Military.
- Licenses are required in some cases
- For more info on Listening to Aircraft, check out Mike’s Website – www.flightradio.com

Part 15 devices
- Baby Monitors
- Cordless Phones
- Intercom systems
- Anything that transmits
- R/C Cars and Planes

Ham Radio – The Amateur Radio Service
- License Required
- Lots of frequency bands from Short wave to Microwave
- 1500watts allow (with the right class license)
- No equipment or antenna restrictions
- Several Modes of operation

Thanks for listening! We will see you in Vegas at the Blogworld Expo Look for all of the RawVoice and Blubrry team at the Blubrry booth on the show floor.

You can find Mike Dell on the web at www.mikedell.com
You can find John Martin on the web at www.kf8kk.com

Happy New Month!

John Martin and Mike Dell here from the Extra Topics Ham Radio Podclass. We are very happy to bring you our version of the TPN Weekly podcast.

Sponsor: Go to Meeting – Get a free 30 day trial of Go To Meeting by going to www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts

Our podcast can be found at www.hamradioclass.org. Our main podcast is a class that teaches you what you need to know to pass the US Amateur Radio exams at an FCC sponsored Exam Session. In our archives at the site, you can download the Technician class (the First Ham Radio License) or the General Class (the Second level License). Extra Topics is the Extra Class (the Third and Last level of License) and will also be a continuing podcast about topics in ham radio that will be of interest to all Amateur radio operators.

Today we talk about Tech in ham radio and a bit of background on what ham radio is now as opposed to what it was back in the “good old days”.

We talked about Packet Radio, APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System), Ham Radio Satellites and Ham Radio’s Digital conversion.

We also talked about the US Television conversion to digital broadcasting which is only 12 days away (as of this posting).

Links mentioned in this podcast:

In addition to the ham radio podclass, you can find Mike on the web at www.mikedell.com. You can find John on the web at www.kf8kk.com.

Twitter Mike: twitter.com/mgdell
Twitter John: twitter.com/duckmeister

Hey Everybody!  I’m Amos “Nguy” Ngai, host of The GamerWok Hour, and editor in chief at GamerWok.com.  I will be hosting TPN Weekly Episode 6 for your listening pleasure!  For this episode, I’ll be showcasing for you a taste of what you can expect each and every week from the crew at GamerWok.  We feature all things related to the “Geek Lifestyle”, whether it be games, technology, electronics, hacking, modding, even geek wear, GamerWok has you covered.

For our complete archive of past GamerWok Hour shows, visit GamerWok.com/Podcasts

And be sure to visit our main site, updated daily, for the latest in tech and gaming news, reviews, and in-depth articles: GamerWok.com

Follow Us on Twitter: @gamerwok

This week’s podcast is sponsored by GoToMeeting.com

Try out this outstanding online meeting service absolutely free for 30 days at gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED!

Show Notes:

• Building a PC equivalent to a PS3
• Assumptions:
  • PC has to run out of the box so OS is a must
  • This will be connected to a TV/LCD which means HDMI video/audio is a must
  • PC has to run games as fast/good as a PS3 if not better
  • PC must play BD movies flawlessly
  • Performance will be judged based on PS3 game resolution chart by Quaz found here at Beyond3D
  • Frames per second isn’t recorded in PS3 benchmarks but we will assume that PC games has to run between 35-45 FPS to look as good as PS3
  • We will be using Canadian price of $499.99 for the PS3 and not the US price of $499.99
  • All parts will be purchased from one store to save on shipping and simplicity
• Full Build: http://bit.ly/PS3PC
• Final Price at time of recording: $556 CDN
• PC/PS3 pros and cons
• Bottom line: It’s possible with a bit of leg work to get the price down
• You can shave the cost of OS down by getting the Windows 7 RC that’s free from Microsoft until March 2010