Andy TaylorTechtalkRadio, , , , , , , , , ,

News13 – Giving Life to the Old Laptop/Computer – Linux!

In October of 2025, Next Year, Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will reach its End of Life. That does not mean it will stop working, but it indicates that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates to the Windows 10 Operating System. The Company has been on a Push for the past year to get users to update for free to Windows 11 from Windows 10 However, Not everybody could do it.

Your System would need to Support the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 for tighter Security. In Some cases Manufacturers have TPM 2.0 devices that can plug into Motherboard that will add that support but they didn’t include them. We were excited to do this upgrade on a board in our studio, however after ordering the proper TPM2.0 module, Windows 11 would not support our 6th Generation Processor. Something to check first. For this system we would need a New Motherboard (Which we went ahead and purchased – Asus P790), Processor, Memory and Windows Install!

So instead, Older Systems have been finding a viable solution when using it for Work or School, Linux or Ubnutu. We have taken a couple of Laptops. one that is not that old and installed the Free Wunbuntu – It looks just like Windows 11 and performs just as well. We can run Chrome, Edge. OpenOffice, Steam and most programs with Wubuntu and it’s free.

As always, there is No Company behind Linux. To help out those programmers, It is Developer supported so users can spend 35 bucks for extra tools and further development. On an Older laptop, which was running Windows XP until yesterday, We installed Cinnamon Linux Mint 22. This Distribution of Linux based on Ubuntu has been getting a lot of praise. It is zippy and has a lot of features, and a wonderful creative team. Again, Donations can help! If you want to try a live distribution your can install it to a DVD or Flash Drive and run it without installing it to a hard drive, not as peppy but cool to get a look at it.

Find Winbuntu at https://www.wunbuntu.org and Linux Mint 22 at Linuxmint.com.

Andy TaylorTechtalkRadio, , , , , , ,

New Carpet and The Cat’s Yacking Again! This Weeks Radio Show

For this week’s TechtalkRadio show, Slick and Andy find out the latest on Justin’s flooded studio which has now been completed. After the completion of the carpet getting installed, Justin’s Cat claims it as his, thus the name for this week’s show – “The Cats Tacking Again!”

Slick – This is too Peoply!
Justin and the GOAT!
The Late Stan Lee

Justin has found a great companion for learning about home maintenance and has been watching videos on YouTube. This includes HVAC maintenance which helped him share with a friend about a capacitor that went out. Andy notes that many schools don’t teach Auto Shop, Home repair and other subjects that are found in many of the videos found on YouTube. You can find the HVAC guy’s Videos at https://www.youtube.com/c/HVACGUY  

Slick and Andy have been dealing with Monsoon Storms and Slick has to navigate getting home through flooded streets, it serves as a reminder for safety to stay out of the washes. The storms also serve as a reminder of the danger of lightning. The guys talk about Surge Suppression and why having them could be a benefit.   Andy reminds us that Surge Suppressors aren’t forever products, over time the protection is degraded with every surge.

With Justin and Slick on this week’s Show, a Discussion on the recent CrowdStrike Issue is covered. The question regarding pushing an update on a Friday or running a big update is always frowned upon going into a weekend. Justin mentions Read Only Fridays. 

After a failed attempt to upgrade to Windows 11, Andy has continued to try out Wunbuntu and has been enjoying the experience. The Ubuntu distribution, which looks like Windows 11 in most respects has been responsive. Linux distributions have been popular for older machines. Andy mentions a new Linux Distribution, Linux Mint 22.  Slick has used a previous version of Mint and tells us it was solid. Andy wants to know if there is a Linux Distro that looks like XP!?

Slick shares some info that he has found about ATSC 3.0. After buying a Tuner he notices some channels had DRM Lock icons for some content. Slick shares the MeTV Toon Channel and how he has enjoyed it. Slick isn’t recommending buying an ATSC TV as of yet but was surprised that this antenna also featured Wi-Fi connectivity. This has Justin look at the possibility of Interactive connection now having access to your viewing data. What could be ahead for ATSC 3?  

Justin tells us how he was approached by some friends about DJ’ing a Wedding Reception. With some experience behind him he was hesitant until looking into what it would take to make it happen. DJ Spyder – aka Justin looks at the software, Virtual DJ for the Software mixing portion and then using the Tidal Music Streaming Service. A Hardware based mixer can run under $200.00. Majorly different from the days when Andy was doing this type of work.  Andy goes old school talking about lugging milk crates. Andy finds a story about a device that is a Virtual Friend, Called Friend, it was created by Avi Schiffmann and is reportedly set to sell for around $99. While it reminds the guys about a Tamagotchi, this is driven by AI to interact through your smartphone. 

This week’s show wraps with Andy talking about another great find at the local Amazon Super Sale Bin Store. He was able to find the A8 Plus Fifine USB Microphone for $15 bucks. The return item or discontinued item stores are popping up throughout the country and can find great deals. Slick shares how he wasn’t a fan of Robert Downey Jr announced as Dr Doom at the San Diego Comic Con while Andy applauds Justin for not giving spoilers on the Deadpool vs Wolverine movie!