Episode 84 - Kevin Rose Co-Hosts, The Best Twitter Client Ever, Converting SD to HD,

[chuckles]

Kevin Rose steps in as co-host while Patrick is out on vacation. We show off the upcoming Seesmic Desktop which puts other Twitter apps to shame, how to upscale SD to HD, how to get the highest quality from the videos uploaded to YouTube, the best way to partition a new 1.5TB hard drive and showcase a site that gives you commercial software free and legal!

Watch and download here. (http://revision3.com/tekzilla/atkevinrose/)

[boldfire]

Great episode this week, I really like the dynamic between Kevin + Veronica. The show flowed really nicely (I dare say, better than usual - sorry Pat :()

I noticed a few of the buildings were painted black, honestly I found this kind of distracting but probably only because they were white last time and I'm a bit OCD about things like that.

I think I've suggested this before though, when doing the "websites" and "software" 'we just can't get enough of' segments I think they'd work better if there was a monitor (on the V part of the desk ideally) that they walked through as a team, rather than a monologue. I normally skip through those segments, but Kevin's Seismic segment was just like the software one but I watched through it because the banter and genuine questions that popped up were the same I had. You don't get that with screenshots and a voiceover. Just an idea.

[chuckles]

A great way to share high quality video is to host the files yourself and use @bitgravity's free flash player (http://player.bitgravity.com). It supports H.264 and FLV encoded videos.

-chuckles-

[fee]

Great Episode!

[metalcard]

I was wondering why they said YouTube HD isn't real HD? If you upload a 1280x720 onto YouTube it will convert it to a 1280x720 video. Sure, the bitrate is low so watching the videos at 1280x720 isn't that great, but in all reality it is HD.

I was also wondering why they didn't state that YouTube no longer uses the VP6 codec in the FLV container for their videos, and hasn't for a long time now, but rather the H.264 codec in the MP4 container now.

That was bugging me a bit. :/

Cool seeing Kevin on this week, nice little change up while Pat is taking a break.

[darknessgp]

I was wondering why they said YouTube HD isn't real HD? If you upload a 1280x720 onto YouTube it will convert it to a 1280x720 video. Sure, the bitrate is low so watching the videos at 1280x720 isn't that great, but in all reality it is HD.
...

Perhaps he's refering to the fact that the video gets played back at like 855x480, which technically isn't HD, even though the source file may be 720p.

[deviouscontrol]

They seem a bit too comfortable around each other...

[masterq]

Awesome to see the Screen Savers style Kevin Rose back in action... all we need now is a dark tip. The chemistry between kevin and veronica was great. I definitely recommend always using him when Pat isn't available.

Kevin: "Just keep it one big-ass" ::covers mouth:: "Can I say ass on here?"
Veronica: "You can say ass"
I lol'ed

They seem a bit too comfortable around each other...

I remember the one time on diggnation Veronica's name came up for something and kevin made a "mmmm" type of groan a little under his breath but still very obviously. I think thats a clear indication of why he was extra "chipper" during the show lol

[digitalguy]

Wow, what an incredible show. It makes the show so enjoyable when you can tell the hosts are really having fun.

[primeone]

Really enjoyed the return of the "D-Tip" to a tech help show.
Also the out takes with veronica going barbie made me fall out of
my chair laughing.

Also, HAR HAR!!! My Roger Chang Troll shop be up in dis heres episode!

Here is the original image i made in 10,000 hours of Photoshop
before using a demotivational poster text macro site

http://f.imagehost.org/0741/RogerChangTroll.jpg

[fishtoprecords]

Good show, good chemistry between Kevin and Bearonica.

And B, always wear your hair down,.

[ch28kid]

Really good show.

I gotta say.. I miss Kevin Rose doing Tech Show.

I think Kevin Rose should do it more often.

[windshield]

I was hoping the guy in the car would do a spinning burnout at the end of his question.
Maybe he did but it was past the 15 second mark?

[will_stutler]

Rose, go back to diggnation and stick with that

this was the worst show ever of tekzilla......let hope your never on there again

[kzap]

Awesome to see the Screen Savers style Kevin Rose back in action... all we need now is a dark tip. The chemistry between kevin and veronica was great. I definitely recommend always using him when Pat isn't available.

Kevin: "Just keep it one big-ass" ::covers mouth:: "Can I say ass on here?"
Veronica: "You can say ass"
I lol'ed
Though they did have you cut out his F**** near the end, did anyone else notice that

I remember the one time on diggnation Veronica's name came up for something and kevin made a "mmmm" type of groan a little under his breath but still very obviously. I think thats a clear indication of why he was extra "chipper" during the show lol
I remember that too, classic, someone should have shown Veronica that clip before hand, the show could have gone in a very different direction.
Although I found it odd him talking to her about the downside of Laserdisc's because it was hard to conceal them when they had porn on.
LOL
Great episode and he was better than Pat for a one off but Pat is probably better for long term, for example Pat would be a good wife and Kevin would be a good one night stand. (I can't believe I said that, I'm a man)

[kzap]

Rose, go back to diggnation and stick with that

this was the worst show ever of tekzilla......let hope your never on there again
Really? Your not being sarcastic? what exactly was bad about the show? It was the same as normal but more funny, is that bad?

[brynomite]

Really? Your not being sarcastic? what exactly was bad about the show? It was the same as normal but more funny, is that bad?

I agree. I haven't watched all the previous episodes recently, but this was certainly the best episode that I can remember.

[kzap]

I agree. I haven't watched all the previous episodes recently, but this was certainly the best episode that I can remember.
Out-takes where great, though Kevin was slow at the begining he got upto speed.
The first couple of lines he was obviously reading from a Teleprompter but he got better when he got into it and it got less scripted.

Also the set was better this week, they obviously look at the constructive (and not so constructive) criticism from the thread on it and got rid of the foil and dimed the lights on the background a bit.
Very nice.

[badweasel]

Great show by the way. Kevin did a great job!

The easy answer for Kevin is to take your pictures to Costco, they'll scan them for you for a song. It's actually very reasonably priced and you don't have to do the work.

Now for the HD upscaling. It's an interesting question because most HD TVs will upscale on their own. The question becomes which is better, getting a cheap upscaler or feeding the TV an SD source and letting it upscale. The fact is that you could spend several hundred on an converter and virtually have the same picture quality as if you just took that box out of the loop and let the TV do it's thing.

One option is to get an amplifier that upscales. I recently purchased the Harman Kardon AVR254. It supports Deep Color and HDMI 1.3 and has a Faroudja DCDi Cinema processor that handles the superimposition and transcodes (changes S to component and component to HDMI) the and upscales everything up to 1080p. That might be a good option because it's a multi-purpose box.

One thing to keep in mind in upscaling is that the better the source the better the upscaled image will be. I suggest using component video rather than composite or S. Use the best possible signal from your source box.

Here is my review of the Harman Kardon...

http://www.tomorrowland.com/2009/02/11/review-im-enjoying-the-harmankardon-avr254/

[m4rvman]

I loved this episode, Kevin is a good co-host with Veronica.

[windshield]

They seem a bit too comfortable around each other...

I thought the same thing while watching the last Digg Dialogg.

[kinugrove]

If you missed this Veronica Belmont was picked as the #1 hottest twitter chick by G4TV

http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/womenoftheweb/66410/Hottest-Twitter-Chicks-Pics.html

[yvesken]

Great show guys!!

don't justify .. LOL

[will_stutler]

Really? Your not being sarcastic? what exactly was bad about the show? It was the same as normal but more funny, is that bad?

Kevin's Ego seemed to fill the room. i realize that every one here adores him, but he seems to full of himself to be hosting a show to help people with tech stuff.

no disrespect to Kevin or his loyal following, so please don't come to my house with torches and pitchforks

[myketuna]

lol. idk. I thought he did a fantastic job. He didn't pimp diggnation, his twitter, or his diggnation tea. He didn't really pimp anything. Besides the diggbar, but it was more of a passing thing in the beginning than actual pimpage.

[power-inside]

haha i like it when when kevin actually said "ass" and enquired to vernoica if its okay to say so in the show.. LOL

Does that mean tekzilla is loose on other family unsafe words? I dont really mind though.

[kaiquan]

I really like this week's show.. there's certainly much more chemistry between Kevin and Veronica than there usually is btw Pat and Veronica. It makes it a fun and light hearted show to watch... Wish this would happen more often, it certainly felt as though that there was way more content than the norm, i like how Kevin added his own anecdotes but Veronica was kind of restraining...
Include more anecdotes please!! it makes the show way more interesting! (:

[veronicazilla]

I really like this week's show.. there's certainly much more chemistry between Kevin and Veronica than there usually is btw Pat and Veronica. It makes it a fun and light hearted show to watch... Wish this would happen more often, it certainly felt as though that there was way more content than the norm, i like how Kevin added his own anecdotes but Veronica was kind of restraining...
Include more anecdotes please!! it makes the show way more interesting! (:

If I did that, everyone would say we were too babbly. We try to find a nice balance!

[will_stutler]

Veronica, you where the only reason why i watched this episode

[magregerschaffer]

Loved the episode guys. Kevin fit right in without a problem. It was nice seeing Kevin host a "real" show for a change. He's still got it

[will_stutler]

what is it with you guys and Rose. you guys are feeding an already bloated ego.

i think Pat is much better, he is more professional and more down to earth than Kevin will ever be.

Kevin to me again is far to snobbish to be hosting a tech show, for the every day guy, even those whom are more techie he seems to come off like he knows more than anyone else.

i know you guys hate me for feeling this way about him, and i would like to say that i do not know him personally but he just seems to come off cocky.

[myketuna]

lol. I don't think anyone hates you. I'm not on the Kevin bandwagon, I guess, since I don't think he's incredibly awesome. But he's a pretty cool and likable guy. I think most of the people disagree with you here because they don't see what you're seeing. I thought he came off as his usual self and that's what people enjoy.

[casework]

This episode was excellent.

I stopped watching Tekzilla for awhile, and decided to check this episode out when I heard Kevin was the guest host. Kevin and Veronica had great chemistry. Kevin's a natural and the show seemed much more real and less scripted. Funny, too.

I love Patrick, but I wish Kevin had the time to do a show like this regularly.

[dewdrinker19]

It is so nice seeing Kevin back doing real content rather than drinking beer and rambling about nothing. I really wish there could be more quality content like this from him and Alex! :(

[cybersleeper]

Great episode this week, I really like the dynamic between Kevin + Veronica. The show flowed really nicely (I dare say, better than usual - sorry Pat :()


I agree, Pat is awesome but there was something that really clicked with Kevin & Veronica being together that made episode 84 one of my favorites. Also, seeing Kevin on there reminded me of the good 'ol Tech TV days.

As for the background, it sucks, too busy and very distracting.

[silentspyder]

I'd have to go against the grain. I like Kevin, I watch Diggnation but I prefere Patrick for this type of show. Not to knock Kevin but Patrick just knows more about this stuff. Kevin hasn't done a show like this and he even admitted he was rusty. I wouldn't mind seeing him on once in a while but Patrick still owns.

[bostontechguy]

Nice job by Kevin and Veronica, they certainly work well together. Still miss Patrick though, he has extensive tech knowledge.

Found it a bit humorous when Kevin, and Veronica were discussing OS reinstalls. That segment came across as if OS reinstalls are only needed on Windows. I use Mac OSX, and Windows extensively. I have been required to reinstall OS X three times due to machines that would not boot, or displayed a constant spinning beach ball. I say required because Disk Warrior etal, and AppleCare could not fix the problems. I was on the verge of a fourth reinstall on a different Mac, but decided to take the machine out of service instead.

I have done zero reinstalls on my Windows machines. For me, the just works machines are my XP, and Vista machines.

[veronicazilla]

Nice job by Kevin and Veronica, they certainly work well together. Still miss Patrick though, he has extensive tech knowledge.

Found it a bit humorous when Kevin, and Veronica were discussing OS reinstalls. That segment came across as if OS reinstalls are only needed on Windows. I use Mac OSX, and Windows extensively. I have been required to reinstall OS X three times due to machines that would not boot, or displayed a constant spinning beach ball. I say required because Disk Warrior etal, and AppleCare could not fix the problems. I was on the verge of a fourth reinstall on a different Mac, but decided to take the machine out of service instead.

I have done zero reinstalls on my Windows machines. For me, the just works machines are my XP, and Vista machines.

Hmm... well, obviously Macs need it too. If I remember correctly, the question was for a Windows user, so that's probably why we leaned that way for the answer.

[davmoo]

If I remember correctly, the question was for a Windows user, so that's probably why we leaned that way for the answer.

Making the answer fit the situation of the person asking? What are you, some kind of troublemaker?! :D