For the show broadcast between June 26th and July 2nd, 2010
This week, Benny came on the air with Benjamin for the entire show, since he had free time now that summer has arrived. One thing they talked about was organizing your e-mail, and the many ways to do it. With flags, categories, folders, and the search bar, you have many tools at your disposal for e-mail navigation, so use them all!
The father-son duo also discussed Google Voice, and it’s new open-door policy. While previously open only through invites, Google has opened its VoIP service to all users. Now anyone can use the service.
In other news, Mastercard and NAGRAID Security are working on new Display Card credit cards, which display a one-time use pass code when you press the button on them. This will help strengthen credit card security.
Also, a bill has been proposed to give the President a kill-switch for the internet. Scary stuff…
In the “Changing World” series, Benjamin talked about true relaxation time, away from computers, cell phones, music, or even books, and just relaxing, listening to the things around you. Take time to take a walk, maybe to a park, and just listen to the birds and the wind.
For a green tip, the Benjamins talked about old tech, and what to do with it when you need to get rid of it. You could sell it, donate it, of recycle it. Perhaps you have an old game system that a neighborhood kid would enjoy. Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so keep these things in mind, instead of leading your stuff into a landfill.
For health reasons, Benjamin discussed “cyberchodria,” a play on hypochondria, where people search the internet for symptoms they have and automatically assume the worst. Because they frequently follow only the top few results, they see some disease of epic proportions and believe they have that, instead of, say, a common cold. While it’s always good to be informed, always take these things with a grain of salt.
In other news, Starbucks will now be offering free wi-fi to all visitors. Because people are more likely to buy coffee if they sit down to surf the web, it provides a way to both ring people in and keep people in. Good move, Starbucks.
Also, the Supreme Court has now decided that employers may check up on the business phones of their employees, looking for overly personal use. This followed the discovery that an Ontario cop was using his phone to send personal and occasionally explicit messages to his wife.
Additionally, it seems that a retired auto dealer found Dr. Kevorkian’s van in his possession, and attempted to sell it on eBay. I guess you just can’t sell classic history online these days, but probably for the better.
The team also discussed keyboards and computing, and how they relate to ergonomics. There are various styles of keyboards out there, and you should get the one that fits you best. Also, you rarely want to just buy the cheapest on the market, as they frequently will break.
For Benny’s segment, the duo discussed the three big consoles these days, with a comparison of the three. They compared games, age ranges, demographics and audiences, and gameplay features, as well as upcoming features.