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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Kim Komando

Aired November 10, 2002 - 10:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check in with our digital goddess. You may know her better as radio talk show host and "USA Today" columnist Kim Komando. She joins us with what's new in the digital world, and she also has some advice on how to deal with those online annoyances like pop-up ads and spam. Kim, good to see you again. Thanks for being with us.
KIM KOMANDO, "USA TODAY" COLUMNIST: Hi. Good to see you. My pleasure.

SAN MIGUEL: Before we talk about spam and the pop-ups, I wanted to get your take on these new tablet PCs that just came out last week. Microsoft has spent a lot of money to promote these. We've got one in the studio here, and I wanted to kind of demonstrate it. This is the ACER Travelmate C-100 that I'm showing right now. It is a normal laptop, as you can see there are the keyboards. But you can spin the screen around, put it flat and then write on this thing just as you would like a big chief tablet, like you had back in school.

We've got this handwriting recognition that we wanted to run by you here, to see what you think of it. I think this is input directly into our cameras. There you see what the screen looks like. I'm going to write my name and just enter it, and it comes out, Renay. Now, I have always been called Renoir. I have been turned into an impressionist painter with this tablet PC software that Microsoft has developed. I'm curious what you think about just the overall concept of a tablet PC. Do you think these things are going to sell either in corporations or for the home user?

KOMANDO: Well, any time you talk about new technology, you necessarily don't want to buy it until the price comes down. But as far as a tablet PC, it's really not that innovative. It is, but it isn't, because you could have this handwriting recognition and wireless service right now by using a Palm Pilot and your battery would last, say, three or four times longer than that of a laptop.

SAN MIGUEL: Yeah. The idea is of just being able to write on those kind of things. The battery power also, if you have to hold these things for eight hours of meetings in the office, I mean you are going to have to charge up sooner or later.

KOMANDO: It's not going to work. It's just not going to work. The table PC battery is probably going to last anywhere from two to three hours, which isn't even a cross country flight, so I think they need to work a little bit on it. And so maybe take a look at this product in about a year, and it still pretty pricey. You're looking at an entry level computer at, say, $1,700, and the one that you really want is probably going to be closer to $2,500.

SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. Just may as well get yourself a nice regular laptop. Let's move on to some of our e-mails, because one of these e-mails does deal with -- why we've called you here today. An ad labeled web pop-up -- this comes from Rona. "An ad labeled Web pop-up has been popping upon my computer while I have been offline. It appeared in the middle of a text file I was writing on my desktop, and so on. It doesn't give a we address, only a phone number, and not even an 800 number. How can I stop this kind of intrusion? It's especially disruptive when I am working -- and also suggests that my system might be vulnerable to more serious invasions." She has got Windows XP, she uses AOL 8.0, a cable connection through Comcast, and Norton Antivirus firewall. What do you recommend here?

KOMANDO: You know what, these are just a nightmare. Any time you talk about pop-up ads. If it keeps coming up when you're not online, the net tells you that this has done a little bit more damage than probably your normal pop-up ad that you see with those X-10 cameras as you're on the web. And so, what you need to do is dig a little deeper. And that means to get maybe a little technical. And you go to 'start, run' and you type in 'ms config' and go to the startup tab. And you're going to uncheck anything that looks like it's editing the registry. And in addition to that, you want to make sure that you do run a pop-pup killer, and you probably want to download a program called AD WARE. And what AD WARE does, is it will search your entire computer for any type of advertising remnants and anything that you downloaded that could be giving you that pop-up ad.

SAN MIGUEL: And also, just don't install any software without knowing exactly what it is and checking -- clean the system using AD WARE. Always good advice there. This one comes from Eileen in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. "My kids are asking for MP3s and PDAs for Christmas." This poor woman. "Is there any product out there that would cover both?" Give her some help here. Is there a one-in-all type of product that could satisfy the kids here?

KOMANDO: That's kind of what we were talking about before, Renay, with the tablet PC, that you can have one device that maybe does it all. And now if you're talking about MP3s where the kids are so into downloading these tunes on line and sharing them, and then the PDAs to keep their appointments so that this way they can remember to do their homework and also to remember to buy mom and dad an anniversary present, that you want to look at one device and that would be your hand held computer. And these are something like say the Compaq IPECK (ph).

And so instead of buying them the $200 MP3 player and then the $200 or a $100 PDA. And Palm has a new one out, by the way, that's only $99. That you can buy them one of these all-in-one devices that would allow them to not only hear their MP3 tunes, but also connect to their desk top computer, to keep their calendars. And also some of them even provide some wireless connectivity, so if they want to do e- mail and IM their friends, they can even do that, depending on how much, of course, that Santa wants to pay for this.

SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. And also the Sony Cleo (ph), I believe, you can download MP3 files and the latest one has a digital camera in it as well, so you can e-mail those if you want.

KOMANDO: Yeah, and that's probably where the technology is going. Instead of us all carrying all these different devices, like you mentioned the digital camera, that we will have one device that will allow us to do it all. But then, you remember, you sometimes sacrifice quality, just like when you talk about those multifunction printers. They may not be as good as the all-in-one things.

SAN MIGUEL: But they do everything, but do they do them well?

KOMANDO: Right.

SAN MIGUEL: That is always the thing to keep in mind here. We also -- we need to talk about spam, because we still get a lot of e- mails about folks wanting to know how do I get rid of spam? I have set my filters to the maximum on my browser and on my ISP but I still get spam. What's the latest that you have for us on that?

KOMANDO: Well, I will tell you, spam is going to be a part of life. There's really not a lot you can do to eliminate 100 percent of it. It's just like the regular mailbox. You are always going to get junk mail, right? And what you do is you just throw it away. But now with new software and new technologies, there's no software programs that will help you out. Like for example, if you're using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, there's a program called, believe it or not, I hate spam, which we all do. Then if you're using any other type of e-mail program or even outlook, there's a program called mail washer. It does a pretty effective job and also it's free. What they ask for is a donation. I believe I hate spam is around $20 to $35.

SAN MIGUEL: OK. If you want more information on all of this from our digital goddess, we suggest you go to www.komando.com. Kim Komando, thanks so much for your insight, and we'll check with you next time.

KOMANDO: Any time.

SAN MIGUEL: Thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 10, 2002 - 10:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check in with our digital goddess. You may know her better as radio talk show host and "USA Today" columnist Kim Komando. She joins us with what's new in the digital world, and she also has some advice on how to deal with those online annoyances like pop-up ads and spam. Kim, good to see you again. Thanks for being with us.
KIM KOMANDO, "USA TODAY" COLUMNIST: Hi. Good to see you. My pleasure.

SAN MIGUEL: Before we talk about spam and the pop-ups, I wanted to get your take on these new tablet PCs that just came out last week. Microsoft has spent a lot of money to promote these. We've got one in the studio here, and I wanted to kind of demonstrate it. This is the ACER Travelmate C-100 that I'm showing right now. It is a normal laptop, as you can see there are the keyboards. But you can spin the screen around, put it flat and then write on this thing just as you would like a big chief tablet, like you had back in school.

We've got this handwriting recognition that we wanted to run by you here, to see what you think of it. I think this is input directly into our cameras. There you see what the screen looks like. I'm going to write my name and just enter it, and it comes out, Renay. Now, I have always been called Renoir. I have been turned into an impressionist painter with this tablet PC software that Microsoft has developed. I'm curious what you think about just the overall concept of a tablet PC. Do you think these things are going to sell either in corporations or for the home user?

KOMANDO: Well, any time you talk about new technology, you necessarily don't want to buy it until the price comes down. But as far as a tablet PC, it's really not that innovative. It is, but it isn't, because you could have this handwriting recognition and wireless service right now by using a Palm Pilot and your battery would last, say, three or four times longer than that of a laptop.

SAN MIGUEL: Yeah. The idea is of just being able to write on those kind of things. The battery power also, if you have to hold these things for eight hours of meetings in the office, I mean you are going to have to charge up sooner or later.

KOMANDO: It's not going to work. It's just not going to work. The table PC battery is probably going to last anywhere from two to three hours, which isn't even a cross country flight, so I think they need to work a little bit on it. And so maybe take a look at this product in about a year, and it still pretty pricey. You're looking at an entry level computer at, say, $1,700, and the one that you really want is probably going to be closer to $2,500.

SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. Just may as well get yourself a nice regular laptop. Let's move on to some of our e-mails, because one of these e-mails does deal with -- why we've called you here today. An ad labeled web pop-up -- this comes from Rona. "An ad labeled Web pop-up has been popping upon my computer while I have been offline. It appeared in the middle of a text file I was writing on my desktop, and so on. It doesn't give a we address, only a phone number, and not even an 800 number. How can I stop this kind of intrusion? It's especially disruptive when I am working -- and also suggests that my system might be vulnerable to more serious invasions." She has got Windows XP, she uses AOL 8.0, a cable connection through Comcast, and Norton Antivirus firewall. What do you recommend here?

KOMANDO: You know what, these are just a nightmare. Any time you talk about pop-up ads. If it keeps coming up when you're not online, the net tells you that this has done a little bit more damage than probably your normal pop-up ad that you see with those X-10 cameras as you're on the web. And so, what you need to do is dig a little deeper. And that means to get maybe a little technical. And you go to 'start, run' and you type in 'ms config' and go to the startup tab. And you're going to uncheck anything that looks like it's editing the registry. And in addition to that, you want to make sure that you do run a pop-pup killer, and you probably want to download a program called AD WARE. And what AD WARE does, is it will search your entire computer for any type of advertising remnants and anything that you downloaded that could be giving you that pop-up ad.

SAN MIGUEL: And also, just don't install any software without knowing exactly what it is and checking -- clean the system using AD WARE. Always good advice there. This one comes from Eileen in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. "My kids are asking for MP3s and PDAs for Christmas." This poor woman. "Is there any product out there that would cover both?" Give her some help here. Is there a one-in-all type of product that could satisfy the kids here?

KOMANDO: That's kind of what we were talking about before, Renay, with the tablet PC, that you can have one device that maybe does it all. And now if you're talking about MP3s where the kids are so into downloading these tunes on line and sharing them, and then the PDAs to keep their appointments so that this way they can remember to do their homework and also to remember to buy mom and dad an anniversary present, that you want to look at one device and that would be your hand held computer. And these are something like say the Compaq IPECK (ph).

And so instead of buying them the $200 MP3 player and then the $200 or a $100 PDA. And Palm has a new one out, by the way, that's only $99. That you can buy them one of these all-in-one devices that would allow them to not only hear their MP3 tunes, but also connect to their desk top computer, to keep their calendars. And also some of them even provide some wireless connectivity, so if they want to do e- mail and IM their friends, they can even do that, depending on how much, of course, that Santa wants to pay for this.

SAN MIGUEL: Exactly. And also the Sony Cleo (ph), I believe, you can download MP3 files and the latest one has a digital camera in it as well, so you can e-mail those if you want.

KOMANDO: Yeah, and that's probably where the technology is going. Instead of us all carrying all these different devices, like you mentioned the digital camera, that we will have one device that will allow us to do it all. But then, you remember, you sometimes sacrifice quality, just like when you talk about those multifunction printers. They may not be as good as the all-in-one things.

SAN MIGUEL: But they do everything, but do they do them well?

KOMANDO: Right.

SAN MIGUEL: That is always the thing to keep in mind here. We also -- we need to talk about spam, because we still get a lot of e- mails about folks wanting to know how do I get rid of spam? I have set my filters to the maximum on my browser and on my ISP but I still get spam. What's the latest that you have for us on that?

KOMANDO: Well, I will tell you, spam is going to be a part of life. There's really not a lot you can do to eliminate 100 percent of it. It's just like the regular mailbox. You are always going to get junk mail, right? And what you do is you just throw it away. But now with new software and new technologies, there's no software programs that will help you out. Like for example, if you're using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, there's a program called, believe it or not, I hate spam, which we all do. Then if you're using any other type of e-mail program or even outlook, there's a program called mail washer. It does a pretty effective job and also it's free. What they ask for is a donation. I believe I hate spam is around $20 to $35.

SAN MIGUEL: OK. If you want more information on all of this from our digital goddess, we suggest you go to www.komando.com. Kim Komando, thanks so much for your insight, and we'll check with you next time.

KOMANDO: Any time.

SAN MIGUEL: Thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com