The latest version of the Adobe Flash player fixes nine bugs, some of them critical. Quicktime also has bugs. Some nifty utilities such as HD Tune, HP USB Disk Storage Formatter and the Flash Memory Toolkit.
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A recent Microsoft patch broke IE7. A serious bug in Quickbook. Apple releases a large amount of patches. Our guest was Bill Machrone and mostly we discussed computer processors (cores). Differences between single core and dual core. Are they significant? Bill also modified a guitar to add a USB port.

The transistor just had a big anniversary. You can get a free copy of Vista from Microsoft if you are willing to let them watch your every move for three months. Cyberlink is having a free software giveaway. Say goodbye to CompuUSA. Rear projection TVs. Saving electricity by turning off electronics.

Our guest was Richard Stallman, the main author of the GNU General Public License, the most widely used free software license. He explained how "Linux" is a misnomer, the only part of a Linux computer that technically is Linux is the kernel. A more correct term is GNU/Linux since most of the software is GNU. Stallman uses the term "free" to mean free speech rather than free beer. That is, free software, to him, means the user is free to do anything with the software, including copying it, modifying and even selling it.

Since the mid-1990s, Stallman has spent most of his time advocating for free software, as well as campaigning against both software patents and what he sees as excessive extension of copyright laws. Stallman has also developed a number of widely used applications, including the original Emacs, the GNU Compiler Collection, and the GNU Debugger. Most of the listener questions were about GNU/Linux.

No listener phone calls, we pre-taped the show. A new virus is attacking Skype IM users. We like a new web site called priceprotectr.com which aims to help you with price guarantees from retailers. Google and Microsoft are offering lots of new software for free. Google even includes Star Office, a competitor to Microsoft Office which used to be $80. Alfred reported on display panels. Refresh rates of 120Hz. New thin models from Sharp. New thin bezel models from Toshiba. He highly recommended a forthcoming 65 inch rear projection TV from Olevia - great picture for cheap. Michael Dell says he is not a crook. We like Linkscanner from Exploit Labs to protect you from malicious web sites. How to email us your questions and problems.

Monster.com admitted the data theft from their customers was was worse than they had originally said. Sony's flash drive with a fingerprint reader used a rootkit, a big no-no, they owned up to. There is a big battle over new file formats for Office files. Some states want Microsoft to still be treated like a monopoly. You can downgrade the two business editions of Windows Vista to Windows XP Professional. Iolo System Mechanic has no more rootkit like behavior. Microsoft says it will improve Vista to be less annoying. Listener phone calls.

More on the data theft at Monster.com. Acer is buying Gateway. A teenager in New Jersey unlocked the iPhone from the AT&T network. New battery technologies: paper and sugar water. Via released a very very low power x86 processor that uses only one watt and does not require a cooling fan. Chicago gave up on citywide WiFi. EarthLink was their partner and they just announced the firing of 900 of their 1,900 employees. Listener phone calls.

We had two guests, Brian Krebs who writes the Security Fix column for WashingtonPost.com and David Perry of Trend Micro. Brian filled us in on the ugly situation involving online jobs websites such as Monster.com - Trojans, Spyware, theft of personal information. Skype was knocked offline for about two days. Was it the fault of Windows Update? Many shareware and download websites were shown to be a scam. They awarded 5 stars to a program that does nothing, one that doesn't even run. Alfred filled us in on the high definition DVD format wars. Listener phone calls.

Microsoft released another clump of bug fixes, many for critical problems. There was a legal ruling regarding the copyrights for the Linux OS. Nokia will replace up to 46 million batteries in their cellphones. There will be a service pack 3 for Windows XP which continues to sell well. We recommend buying a new Windows computer with XP rather than Vista. Does Vista support High Definition video? Star Office is now available for free as part of the Google Pack suite of software. Registry cleaners. Listener phone calls. More...

The show starts its 24th year this week. No one topic. Sony is recalling some of their digital cameras. Epson printer cartridges force you to replace all of them when one runs out of ink. Apple released a new line of iMacs. A Dell telephone sales experience. Do you have an IDE or SATA hard drive? You can now order a Gold Card at the WBAI website. Listener phone calls. More...

Back to our normal format. No one topic, instead we went over computer stories in the news. More on the patent office and royalty payments by online streaming radio stations. New York State and Chicago are complaining about the battery in the iPhone. Ethernet will be getting faster. Samsung is open a new plant to make huge LCD HDTVs and solar panels. The head of Acer is complaining that Windows Vista stinks. We all endorse XP over Vista. Joe told of a Dell salesperson selling someone a much more expensive system than they asked for. Listener phone calls. More...

Catching up on a wide range of computer stories from the last few weeks, things we didn't get to because of the WBAI membership drive. Just Hank and Michael this week. As this show was not heard over the air, there were no phone calls. More...

Membership drive continues. We offered the same premiums as last week, Gold Card Tech Support for a year from everyone on the show and three different CDs filled with software. Our guest was Mary Ginsburg and the topic was finding reliable health information on the Internet. No listener phone calls. Next week, the show will not be heard over the air, but we will record a show for podcasting or downloading. More...

Membership drive. Glare is good? We discuss matt vs. glossy screens. Samsung sold a monitor with phantom optional speakers. Alfred wasn't too surprised. If you are in New York City next week come hear Alfred talk at an NYPC meeting. See nypc.org. We're trying to avoid iPhones but the subject came up briefly. No listener phone calls. More...

This show was not heard over the air, but was recorded at WBAI studios on the 4th. We had the mandatory iPhone discussion. New colorful laptops from Dell. In a YouTube video some lawyers come clean about the fraud in the H-1b program - ads never intended to find a qualified applicant. Suggested backup software. Broadband speed tests. High definition TV over the air with rabbit ear antennas. No listener phone calls. More...

Apple released more bug fixes for the Windows version of their Safari browser. Who cares? The iPhone is almost here. Michael and Alfred felt with new ground-breaking technology products, it's always better to wait for version 2. If you can't wait, an iPhone will cost $1,800 as you have to pay for a two year contract at $60/month and the phone itself. And there is no getting out of the contract. To protest the huge increase in royalties for Internet radio see www.savenetradio.org. Alfred explained the strange terms in an advertisement for a flat panel monitor. Listener phone calls. Next week, Wednesday is July 4th and the show is pre-empted. However, we will be in the studio recording a show that will be made available here, on our home page and via podcast. More...

New malicious software has been found on many innocent websites, mostly in Italy. This malware is a big step up in the cat/mouse game of good guys vs. bad guys. David Perry of Trend Micro discussed the problem and solution. More...

Our guest was Maurice Hamoy from Noromis and we discussed their photo editing software Noromis PhotoLab. More...

More on the Windows Update bug that slows your computer to a crawl. Are Macs cheaper than Windows machines. More on software patents. Goings on at Dell. The attorney general for Connecticut is suing Best Buy. Via competes with Intel on support chips. An update on FAT32. Fighting the Nigerian (a.k.a. 419) scam. More...

Has your computer been running slowly lately? If Task Manager shows svchost.exe is using 99% of the cpu then you may be the victim of a bug with Windows Update. Yet more bug fixes for Quicktime. A new phishing scam works in IE7, but Firefox users are safe. LG is closing a plasma TV factory but Alfred sees big improvements coming in plasma technology. Our guest was Rebecca Mercuri and the topic was electronic voting. Her web site is Notable Software. Florida is going to get new new voting machines after just having gotten new ones. Maryland is also replacing their electronic voting machines with optically scanned paper ballots. Listener phone calls. The various free virtual machine products from VMware. More...