We’re always in the mood for Jay “Ghoulish” Garmon’s geek trivia (check out http://jaygarmon.net for more), and Mike rambles about current happenings in the tech world today.

Now, normally we’d have some cool sites to share – but with how interesting the talk was with Simon (and how unrestrained the time was without Dave), we just didn’t get a chance.  However … early on in the show Mike brings up an oldie but a goodie:

• Sharepod – Ever have a machine blow up on you and the only record of your music collection is on that iPod, but if you link it to a new machine you know it’ll only bring over the stuff you bought in the iTunes store and you’ll lose everything else and you’re really freaking out because that’s, like, your TUNES man, and omg what the heck is wrong with those Apple guys anyways that they won’t let you get your music off?  I mean, it’s YOUR music, right?  And you can’t get it off your iPod?  Well, calm down, stop freaking out, and just go get Sharepod – you may never go back to iTunes again!

Had to have some Halloween fun this week, so we started the show off with a little Ministry, and then tried to end with Johnathon Coulton’s RE: Your Brains!

That’s in addition to awesome new geek trivia (check out http://jaygarmon.net for more) Dave and Mike babbling about random news stories and the usual inanity you’ve come to associate with us weekly.

Wouldn’t really be a show without some great cool sites of the week either!

• Using Google Voice to call from your cell phone for FREE – We love free stuff, and though this might not be a free website per se, it tells you exactly how to enable Google Voice to make free phone calls all day and all night using the ‘fave 5′ and ‘friends and family’ options that most carriers have.  If you’re looking to shave a few bucks off your cell bill this is the way!  Via our good friends at lifehacker.com
• Microsoft SharedView – Like the idea of ‘GoToMeeting’ but don’t like the sky high cost?  Believe it or not, Microsoft has a perfectly serviceable (up to 15 attendees) and even more perfectly FREE option called SharedView.  Like netmeeting but on steroids. Free steroids, that is!

Feeling a little down and slow this week, so we capped it all off with Rufus Wainright’s “Going to a Town” from his album Release The Stars.

Plus, Mike shows off his shiny new TechTalk Google Voice number: 847-984-0847.  Call us, leave a message, get heard on air!  If we do use your voice on air and you’ve given us enough info to figure out who you are (say, an email address or something) you may get some TechTalk tchotchke’s too … or even a book!

With all the excitement going on, Dave being back on the show, and Jay Garmon’s awesome new geek trivia and personal website (http://jaygarmon.net natch), it would have been no shame to miss the cool sites of the week.  But instead, we bring you two fantastic coolsites this week – check ‘em out:

• TextHog – Looking for an easy, quick way to track your cash expenses?  TextHog may be the (free) answer for you!  You don’t have to load in a bunch of personal data, just an email address and then start texting every expense – tagged however you like – off to texthog and you’ll get all the charts, graphs, and trends you could want.   And you wont’ be taking money out of your pocket to do it!
• GroovyPost – No, this isn’t about where to score the most rad concert info on the Dead man.  It’s all about some groovy tech tips and tricks, how-to’s and makes for a ton of stuff!  Wondering how to get Google Voice on your iPhone?  Add some internet calendars to Outlook?  Click on over to GroovyPost!

And a jumping old-school podcast only song of the week “Is This New” by The Fall!

Jay Garmon does his usual Jay thing again, but we’re once again without Dave “Sparky” Saganaki.  If you’re missing Dave, send him some love at techtalk@wrlr.fm and see if we can’t beg, con, guilt or otherwise convince him to come back in the studio sometime soon!

We don’t have a huge amount of time for cool sites, but I did pick a real good one – with multiple areas – anyways:

• Aviary - With a whole host of online, free, and very cool products to check out you’ll definitely want to fly up to the aviary sometime soon.  I’ve played with the audio creator (named Myna), but you’ll have fun looking at everything if you’re more graphically inclined than me!  They’ve got flash image editors, fun color and vector editors, and more … this may be just one site, but it’s got tons of great stuff on it!

And finally, the podcast only song of the week is the totally rocking “Elvis” by These New Puritans!

We finish up as usual with some awesome coolsites of the week:

• How to Use Prey – Heard stories about folks getting their iPhones and laptops back … and nailing the crooks in the process?  Now you can too (at least for your laptop or desktop), with this free and opensource product called ‘Prey!’  It’s a little confusing to set up for first-time users though, so I’m linking you to this awesome TechRepublic site how-to.
• SuperCook – The the name of this site is hyperbole?  Maybe not once you check it out!  Similar to RecipePuppy.com, SuperCook lets you list what’s in your pantry and come up with some great new recipes … that you know you’ve got the ingredients to make!

We finish it out with a song that’s a lot of fun to listen to, Fun for Me by Moloko!

The inimitable Jay Garmon doesn’t disappoint us with Geek Trivia either, so it’s a great show (as usual, right?)!

Our coolsites of the week this week are perfect for any font geeks like Mike out there, and I just know there’s more than a few:

• Typedia – Billing itself as a ’shared encyclopedia of typefaces’ this site crowdsources information like a wiki to break down a huge amount of information about the various fonts, font foundries, and font families out there – as well as what they can best be used for and in many cases where to download them!
• FontCapture – Not happy with the fonts out there?  Think your own (or your kids) writing is the bomb?  Look no further; a couple of quick print-outs and then fill in your own handwriting to upload and make a downloadable font you can use anywhere here!  And of course, it’s totally free!

Sending some Ting Ting love out with their very cool ‘We Walk’ from the We Started Nothing album!

• Virtual Gumshoe – Looking to find out some information on a prospective employee, contractor, boyfriend or boss?  Look no further, Virtual Gumshoe will connect you with all the best free sites on the web that offer public records, civil and court case info, arrest data and more!  And of course, most of this is verified 100% free!

We don’t have a podcast only song this week, because we got a radio edit version of Shock Horror by The View so everyone can enjoy!  Check it out and tune in next week too!

And what would a show with Dave and Mike be without some truly awesome cool sites of the week? Wait, you don’t have to answer that, because we include some really good ones for you right here:

• TED: Ideas Worth Sharing – Suggested by our longtime listener and good friend Greg, this site is like a YouTube for awesome tech, businessm and entertainment industry talks and conferences!  If you’re like me you’ll easily blow an hour or two thumbing through some of the more interesting ones …
• Rainmeter – Want to customize your desktop way beyond what Vista or Google sidebars will let you do?  Not much of a programmer?  You’ve heard us talk about Rainmeter and Samurize in the past, but with Rainmeter 1.0 you no longer have to have a degree in programming and hours of time to flip through config files!  If you haven’t seen it before, check it out now and you’ll be amazed at how much information you can add to that boring desktop – and how cool it will look when you’re done!

Finally, the podcast only song of the week is He’s Frank (Slight Return) by The BPA feat. Iggy Pop. Truly a podcast only bonus; remember if you’re not listening to us on the web, you are missing out!

Next week we’re looking forward to having URLEsque back on to celebrate a “Day Without (Web) Cats”!

Don’t worry though, we’re looking to get Plextor back in the near future.  Of course, no show would be complete without some of the coolest of the cool sites on the web:

• How to Crack a WEP key – Our good friends at Lifehacker.com give us the full breakdown on how to use the free software Backtrack to crack WEP keys for fun and profit!
• Password Checker – Not sure how secure that password is?  Microsoft provides a free and easy way to check it.

And the podcast only song of the week is the rather melancholy “Disney’s Ice Parade” by Ballboy.  Note that this has some adult themed lyrics.

• GrooveShark – Looking for a tune you just have to hear?  This site will find dozens of copies and versions you can stream instantly and for free!  Jump on the grooveshark before the RIAA catches wind!
• TwitCam and CamTweet – Both excellent options for getting your face out there to all your tweeps … easy to set up, easy to use, and (of course) free!
• TheUserManualSite – Looking for a manual? Want to throw out those dozens of paper ones you have in the drawer? Check this free site out to combine all your manuals in one place, organized and downloadable!

The podcast only song of the week is “Dear God” by Black Landlord and is truly podcast only thanks to a few questionable words, so beware.   There’s a good chance you won’t be hearing from us for a few weeks … we’re on our summer vacation, but pick up a copy of the “The Geek Atlas” by John Graham-Cumming or hang out and wait for us to come back and talk to Plextor on August 22nd!