adminLeave a commentFeatured, TechtalkRadio, ,

Congratulations to our Winners of System Mechanic 10

Banner for Contest at TechtalkRadio
Enter to Win

TechtalkRadio is back with some great Contest! Congrat s to our Winner Stuart W of Tucson who won a copy of the System Mechanic 10 Software and to Rey in Phoenix who won while listening to the show. We also gave away a copy of the Software on Wednesday to a follower on Twitter, Leonard L in New Jersey!

The Software for the PC is designed to speed up and correst issue in your system that can slow down start up time and cause problems with programs to run. Both Slick and Andy Taylor recommended this program for optimizing your computer system, especially for those that aren’t familiar with the inner workings of the System Registry, Startup and File Fragmentation. Let System Mechanic 10 do it for you.

Andy Taylor talked with System Specialist Abbas Mehdi about the Program and some of the features that can be found in this new release of the software as well as those that can be found in System Mechanic Pro 10. Both Andy and Slick agree with the idea that households are continuing to add PC’s in the home and the new Licensing scheme for System Mechanic 10 allow the program to be installed on as many computers that are available in the home. You Can listen to that interview on the TechtalkRadio Site.

We have more Contest Coming to TechtalkRadio, Be sure to Visit http://www.techtalkradio.com/contest.htm TechtalkRadio hopes to continue to have Downloads, Services and even Hardware and DVD’s  for visitors to the site to Win. Be sure to follow us on Twitter as well for a chance through the week to also Win.  Good Luck and we promise to look into some cool programs we can make available for our Mac Friends!

Rayven5 CommentsComputers, Entertainment, Online Safety, TechtalkRadio, TTR Website, , ,

I Spy Something That Begins With “W”

Unlike many of my Disneyland Blogs, this is NOT one of them . BUT, read on and find out what I have been pondering….

So, I was searching the Internet reading Disney Blogs, Disneyland Twitter, looking for TRON exclusive updates  and playing with my boyfriend’s new Daft Punk  inspired Android App when I came across something interesting. A website proclaiming it can track and monitor your child’s internet use including screen caps of their web pages, content filters, keystroke loggers  records of IM conversations and even live viewing of their current business on the Internet.  This website sounds pretty user friendly and parent kind.  So I begin to think to myself, ” Self,” I ask ” What would keep a spouse from using the software for purposes of catching a cheater in the relationship?” And this is when I visited the website.

I’d like to start by adding a disclaimer: I have not experienced this web program which proclaims the services to be top notch and  have viewed only the content on the website for the product.

Upon clicking the link to the site, I noticed that it proposes many uses other than the advertised version I previously explained. In fact, it seems more like a “spying” software program which is being marketed to government agencies to record and log information from workers, at Schools to record information about teachers and student’s use of the Internet, and low and behold ” Catch a Cheating Spouse” software. Now, I am sure all of these uses  are part of the same program, but how funny was it that I thought of this after looking into the program that was being marketed to parents to spy on their kids? HA!

So, the reason I chose to write this blog was simple. I , like many  in my close inner circle of Geeks and Freaks, have a moral dilemma on my hands. IF I had children, which “technically” I do not, and IF they were using the Internet would I choose to monitor them digitally without their knowledge using this program? Likewise, IF you thought you had a cheating significant other, would you do the same? I don’t think I would. So I leave you with this to ponder and respond as you have free will. Maybe someone is watching you? Makes you wonder doesn’t it?

IF you want to check out the site or test the software out for yourself the Program is called Web Watcher and it’s located at

Andy TaylorLeave a commentTechtalkRadio, ,

Andy Taylor posts an article on Web Planning

After talking with a few customers that have been contemplating websites, I decided to share with some of you in that same thought process where you really should be approaching the idea of having a site built. My article can be found at the TechtalkRadio website in our Articles section. http://www.techtalkradio.com/articles/newsite.html

I laugh when I see those commercials for Intuit which helps customers get on the web as well as manage the many facets of the business. The sad thing about that commercial is the complaints that many of the businesses portrayed. actually mirror what many Small Business Owners feel. Either a website was started months ago and no real development was seen, a friend of a friends kid was building the site or for the most frustrating,  they themselves were trying to build the site.

Getting a website built doesn’t have to be that difficult and with the right information, you not only could have a site built for you that can drive new customers into your business but also have returning customers increase loyalty by visiting often and sharing thiers and your site with others. It’s a Win Win for both the Web Builder and for the business. The article shares some of the finer points of getting started but I’ll reiterate here, it is communication. Talk with your web builder but remember, you own the product. It should be 100% your vision with the function defined between you and the person or company undertaking the project. Enjoy the Reading, I plan on posting more articles on tips for getting a website built from picking the service plan, deciding on a monthly updating fee and other considerations for your overall site.

Thanks for checking it out, also – if you are looking for tip and solutions for problems encountered when working on a site – check out our forums, Register and Post there and we should be able to help you. Forum=http://www.techtalkradio.com/forum

— Andy

Admin Note: Andy also shared a link in the article for the Archive.org site where the TechtalkRadio.Com site from 1999 can be viewed.

Take a look!

Andy Taylor1 Commentsoftware, , , ,

SalonBiz Light – Free Software for the Beauty and Spa Salon

When I repair and upgrade customers computers, occasionally I become familiar with specialized software and databases they might need reinstallation or backing up before doing work. I recently worked on a system for a small independent hair salon in midtown Tucson that ran the business part of the operation on her laptop computer. This allowed her to have more time with creative work with clients hair as well as marketing her business.

She used a software from a company called Neill Technologies which is part of the Neill Corporation, one of the largest Aveda distributors in the United States. What surprised me about the software SalonBiz Light was that it was a free program she downloaded from the SalonBiz website. Usually when a person or company tells me they downloaded a free software program from the internet, red flags are raised and I begin to get concerned for my customer. This was not the case after looking at the reputation of Neill Technologies and the products they market. According to the Director of Sales for Neill Technologies Jill Gentry, they decided to offer the SalonBiz Light for the salons that may be running  4 stations or less that need to have an organized system for charting appointments, job tickets and keeping track of inventory.  

The software even for being a Light version, is rather full featured. There are certainly good reasons for upgrading or subscribing to the Full version however for the start-up or non-computerized, this is a great way to get ramped up. The full version offers marketing features such as emailing customers to remind them on appointments or sending out announcements of specials. Full Support and webinars are available with at your own speed online training as well. Online appointments can be made by the Salon or Spa professionals appointments with a WebBiz 2.0 product that plugs seamlessly into your website.

If this is your business or you know somebody that works as a salon professional, have them take a look at http://www.techtalkradio.com/software/salonbiz.html. I interviewed Jill Gentry from Neill Technologies who shared with me some of the finer points of the SalonBiz Light program as well as new technology including an iPAD application for the full users of SalonBiz. Be sure to check out the website for the company at http://www.salonbiz.com and the Blog at http://salonspabestpractices.com

If your business uses a special software program geared at your operation, we would love to know about it and possibly feature it in one of our segments on Industry Software.

Andy Taylor4 CommentsEntertainment, TTR Website, , ,

Felicia Day talks with Andy Taylor

Photo of Actress Felicia Day
Felicia Day - Red: Werewolf Hunter

I really love my job. Actually..it’s not really a job, it is more of a passion for me. The ability to tie in my professional radio career to all this technology is rewarding.  In my professional career I have talked with the likes of Ozzy Osborne, James Stewart, Mickey Rooney and even Jerry Mathers..yes, the Beav. Today I spoke with not only somebody that works in entertainment but also I respect for her passion for technology and the spirit to take a series to the web and see it through. I am talking about Actress, Producer and Writer Felicia Day who has taken her concept TV series “The Guild” and turned it into a successful web series.

The story of “The Guild” is simple yet includes all the ingredients for the shows I enjoy, Great characters, dialog and production value. As Felicia told me, they still  shoot the episodes in her house and everybody has a good time doing them. While I really enjoyed the Bollywood Dance Video that can be seen at the Official Site http://www.watchtheguild.com .

The Season Finale for Season 4 features an appearance from Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg. The finale  not only features some great visual effects but some very funny character development. In a scene that had me laughing,  the character of  Zaboo played by Actor Sandeep Parikh and his traditional Indian Mom played by Actress Viji Nathan are playing the MMORPG game. Zaboo’s Mom is partaking in a mock wedding with the character of Vork played by Actor Jeff Lewis. At One point, she asked her son in her accent which immediately had me thinking of my Mom of Indian decent delivering the line “Zaboo…how do I hug you in this game..”  

Our real reason though for talking with Felicia Day was to highlight her upcoming film on the SyFy Network Red: Werewolf hunter. The Original Movie tells the fictional story of Virginia “Red” Sullivan, a descendant of Little Red Riding hood, who brings her fiance home to meet her family, and that is where he not only discovers they hunt werewolves but also falls prey to the bite of the Wolf.  The family, predicting the outcome of the werewolf bite demands he be destroyed and Red fights to keep him alive.  The Movie is a change from the roles that Felicia has played in the past however it is in a Genre she is familiar with. As she told me during the interview she’s dealt with Vampires in Buffy the Vampire Slayer “I have killed Zombies in Doll House and it would make sense to go after Werewolves.” The movie will premiere on SyFy October 30th at 9pm.

Listen in to our Interview with Felicia Day and find out what costume she wore for last years Halloween, her thoughts on this years BlizzCon, Comic-Con and what she has planned for 2011. http://www.techtalkradio.com/celebrities/feliciaday.html

I am hoping we see more of The Guild, be sure to take a look at the series yourself.  You can check out episodes of the Guild at http://www.watchtheguild.com and follow Felicia Day’s Blog http://feliciaday.com/blog and find out about her work on Fallout 3 New Vegas and other projects she’s involved with. Her Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/feliciaday

Check out this Scene from Red: Werewolf Hunter