MagicJack

The YMax magicJack is a USB device that allows you to make phone calls with a regular analog phone (corded, cordless or headset), your home computer and a high-speed Internet connection.

Installing my magicJack was a breeze. I plugged it into my MacBook Pro, configured the preferences and input my physical address for the included 911 feature. The whole thing was ready to go in less than five minutes. I made the first phone call to my mom to discuss Mother’s Day plans. She couldn’t tell at all that I was calling from the Internet. I was thoroughly impressed with the sound quality - it sounds the same as a regular land line.

-- Alison Stewart, Click Chick, 5/21/08

polar bears endangered species

Once a symbol of Arctic wildlife's fierce resilience, the polar bear is now so vulnerable to the ravages of global warming that the US government placed the creature on the endangered species list yesterday.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the bears' habitat was literally melting below their feet. Bears depend almost exclusively on sea ice to hunt for ringed seals and other prey. Yet Arctic ice coverage fell to record low levels last year, and scientists predict it could decline another 30 percent by mid-century, he said.

The government declared the bears as "threatened," the first time an animal has been placed on the endangered species list primarily because of global warming. The designation means the bear is at risk of eventually becoming extinct and requires the government to protect it.

Jet Wings

Playing to a mesmerized audience, Swiss pilot and adventurer (some might say nutcase) Yves Rossy has soared above the Alps with homemade jet-powered wings strapped to his back.

Rossy, an extreme sports guy who has spent years assembling his wings, casually stepped out of an airplane at 7,500 feet, unfolded the wings and quickly passed from free fall to mellow glide. He then fired up the wings' engines and accelerated to more than 180 mph.

As if that weren't cool enough, Rossy showed off a bit, making a few dives, some figure eights and a 360-degree barrel roll before landing at an airfield near Lake Geneva.

"That was to impress the girls," he said after the five-minute flight.

Uninstalling a printer

I'm about to install a new printer since my old has broken. I guess I could just add it, but I figure I'd do it the right way by uninstalling the old one first.

There's actually a proper way to do it according to PC Answers.

It's a three-step process.

1) remove software installed with the printer with add/remove from the control panel
2) delete the printer
3) delete the printer drivers

Actually there's a better way for step 1 with HP All-In-One printers (link found while googling "uninstall HP Director). Just click Uninstall from the HP section in the Start Menu.

And just to be safe, I'm going to back up the My Scan folder before uninstalling.

* * *

OK, I ran the uninstall. What it did was uninstall the printer and drivers. But HP ImageZone and HP Director are still there. The question is whether I should uninstall these before installing the new printer. I would imagine the install would recognize the software and update it if need be. So I won't.

[5/22] WTH, I'll uninstall Imagezone from the control panel. Hey it got rid of both ImageZone and HP Director. All that's left is HP Software Update. I'll uninstall that too from the control panel. OK, that worked. The only thing that's left in the start menu is HP Digital Imaging Monitor and HP Image Zone Fast Start. And those are now shortcuts to nowhere. And I just manually deleted those items from the Start Menu. OK ready to install.

Vista eating resources?

When setting up a Vista notebook, I noticed a process eating up CPU usage. It turned out to be Vista itself or the new Vista interface.

What you can do to use the Classic Windows theme. Here's how vistafaqs.com explains it (and other things you can do).

Reverting to the windows "Classic" theme can also cutback on CPU and GPU load to help improve perfomance by making the graphics less consuming. To do this right click on the desktop and go to "Personalize" you can then click on "Theme" and change it to "Windows Classic".

The Food Crisis

You just know that something is astray when Afghan poppy growers begin to switch from opium to wheat. According to the Independent newspaper here in the UK, that's exactly what is now happening. I have no desire to enter into a pound for pound risk/reward analysis of producing wheat versus opium. However, the consequences of the rapid rise in energy and agricultural commodity prices are far reaching and perhaps not as well understood as they should be.

Timers

For some reason, I've always like timers. Maybe I like to see things running backwards or see things come to an end (a clock running forward doesn't end).

Anyway, from frwr-news, here's the best software timer I've used so far (not that I've tried that many).

TimeAfterTime v1.1 - 1830 KB
Run on Win98,WinME,WinNT 4.x,WinXP,Windows2000
A Multi-Timer which allows you to launch upto 6 simultaneous count up/down, stopwatch or alarm clock timers. Set timers to trigger once or recurring. Assign separate announcements for each timer - select from those that come with the application (via drop-down list) or allocate your own WAV files. Special algorithms ensure sound announcements do not cut each other off or overlap. Windows management features to help you handle many running timers.

Free Software

There are a number of places where you can get free software (besides good ole download.com) that sometimes are announced at frwr-news.

So I have started this post so I have someplace to list them.

trinityedusystems [frwr-news, 5/7/08]