WanderingSalsero

Oops! I guess my Magic Jack does work after all!!!

I just discovered that the reason my Magic Jack wasn't working was because I was using the wrong area code (for my sister).  Reason I thought to try that was I read on DavesESLcafe.com that there were several people over here using it.

So........my number is 713 219 9228.  I posted about it several weeks ago.  You could find that post.

I wish somebody would try it with me.  I think......it rolls over to a voice mail if I'm not here or if the phone's not hooked up.  I think........

713 219 9228

Who wants to fly anymore?

This whole airplane security thing is getting out of hand.

You know, sometimes events have unintended consequences.  What I'm referring too is the fact that I just read on the news that some airlines are now not allowing passengers to get up and move around the cabin during the one hour prior to landing.

Is that bullshit or what?

It sure is.

What are they going to do next?  Put everybody in straight jackets in order to prevent 'a bomber' from doing something bad?  I mean.....it's getting more and more ridiculous everytime somebody does something bad.

I wonder what would happen if a terrorist somehow used a roll of toilet paper to pass a terrorist note?  I guess the airlines would stop putting toilet paper on planes.

Anyway, my point about unintended consequences is that the security situation on airplanes might get so ridiculous that people simply find some other way to travel. There are such things as trains and buses you know.

And personally, I've always felt that lighter-than-air(LTA) flight had a lot of unrealized potential.  Just the idea of floating quietly (i.e. reasonably quietly.....compared to airplane engines) through the sky as the world passes below.......that always sounded great to me.

You know, LTA travel was very popular back before the disasters of the Hindenburg, the Shenandoah and Akron (Google it).  However, there were maybe three major problems that caused it's demise.

• A few of the ships crashed because of weather.
• A few of them blew up and burned because of flammability problems with the hydrogen.
• A few of them cracked up because of stress caused by weather.

Well, I think things have changed.

• We're better at predicting weather now.
• There's more helium around now.......or, as I've always felt, we might be able to find some process to actually generate it artificially.
• Our engineering is better now.

The fact is that LTA flight is already practical notwithstanding a few minor issues. It's just the 'public perception' based on media hype and old facts that keep it from coming back.  Several companies already have made, or have plans, for thoroughly operable types of craft.  I wrote about one of them last year (it's here somewhere).

Or what about 'mag-lev trains....i.e. those trains that float along the track on a magnetic field generated somehow by electricity?

All I know is that airline travel is already a super pain-in-the-ass with this airport screening stuff.  Now it's going to get even worse.  People are going to start looking for alternatives.

The international joke in Copenhagen

I've been picking up bits and pieces of the big Goofball Congress....otherwise known as the 'Climate Summit', in Copenhagen.  Seems to me it's become just the kind of farce that I, and others, thought it would be.

Of course, I'm not alone in my opinion that this climate-change issue has been totally misrepresented and blown out of proportion by the radical left for their own benefit.   Lots of people have been calling it just what it is, pure bullshit, for many years.  In a way, I think these recent happenings have really been good for our side. 

As an example of this craziness I'm talking about, here's an article I just read.  And to think that these people actually have fat expense accounts and can get away with what they're doing.  It's really appaling.

Mikie likes it....the Kodak Zi8

Top Video Quality In An Affordable and Portable Package

Here's a nice product review done my Mike Konig, the brains behind the hyper-effective traffic tool called Traffic Geyser.  Mikie apparently has a new site project for product reviews and this is the first product he's reviewing.

The review is on the Kodak Zi8 Portable HD Camcorder.  He says it is easily 4 times the quality of the Flip, which as you may know, has been all the rage in the inexpensive/portable camcorder product category for about 2 years now.

For those of you who want portability and highest possible video quality, this sounds like the unit to have.  The only extra thing you'll probably want is an extra battery or two.

The Zi8 isn't expensive either.  I think I'd like to get one soon.  See what you think. 

Here's the link again.  Click here.

Wanna try my Skype phone number?

Well, you know how much of an 'early adopter' I am.  I'll try anything that's new and shiney.

I don't remember if I've written about it yet but just recently I bought a Magic Jack.  I bought it because Jorge Elizando told me about it.  He says he's used it all around the world to make calls. 

I wanted to do the same thing.....from Korea mostly back to the US.  Most of the leads I get in my Veretekk business are from the US but some are from China, India and an occasional other foreign country.  So......I was hot for Magic Jack because I thought that using the keypad on the phone set would be easier than using the computer keypad to dial the numbers.

Only problem is, I couldn't get Magic Jack to work.  I get a dial tone but no numbers actually ring.  I'm more than a little pissed at their customer service.  They weren't any help at all.  They said that I should contact my Korean ISP.

I'm thinking..........'Yeah...sure.  I'm gonna get a lot of 'careing' from some Koreans who probably don't even speak English'.  It might be that there's something they can do here but frankly I doubt it.  But I'll eventually call anyway.  Either from here or after I get to Daegu/Gumi in 10 days.

For now, I'm planning on using Skype for my outbound calls.  But I did also buy an inbound Skype number.  It's:

281-506-2777

Supposedly it'll call-forward to my cell phone.  Great if it does but I'm not sure I really want it to do that anyway.  It'll be interesting to see if it does though.

If it does work correctly though, it'll establish a good way for those of you who travel to stay in touch with your friends back home.  All you'd need is a Skype number that people could call.  I'm not clear if it would 'roam' and seek you out if you weren't at your computer.  But if youn were (at your computer) you would get the call.

Somebody try it, please.

 

For you Boy Scout and Girl Scouts out there

Global Warming.......biggest scam in history?

The founder of The Weather Channel thinks so.

Energy.......things are looking up again.

According to this article, the energy crises is a thing of the past.  The phrase 'cooking with gas' was never more appropriate.  Especiallly in Texas and Pennsylvania.

The article informs us that new technology makes previously unexploitable gas reserves now reachable and extractable.  It's an interesting article and it implies that everything energy related (which is just about everything) will start to prosper again.

Beware of Sidewiki!

There's a fellow I know named Steve Waggenheim.  He's an internet writer and marketer and, as far as I know, he's pretty successful.  I'm sure he's more than qualified to write this post I'm linking to here.

The gist of it is that there's a new tool from Google called 'Sidewiki'.  As I understand it, it's a sidebar gadget which, if you authorize it, pops on your site any time somebody's looking at it. 

And you know where the information on wiki's comes from don't you? 

Anybody.  Yean.......anybody can put information on it(just like they can on most wiki's).

How does that sound to you?

See the peril involved there?

Would you want to take a chance that any numb-nutz could leave a malicious or uncomplimentary or embarrasing 'sticky-note' on your website that your visitors who you'd worked hard to get to it could see?

That's what it amounts to.  And I'll guarantee you that there are unethical people out there who would do exactly that.   Some people would do it just to prove how stupid they are.

You know how I'm usually an 'early adopter' of new technology.  But I'll guarantee you that I agree with Steve and ............I'm saying 'no' to Sidewiki.

New twist on Identity Theft (and what to do about it)

Remember I mentioned RFID's (Radio Frequency Identity Devices)?  They're very very small and can be embedded in all sorts of things.  Things like money, passports, and CREDIT CARDS.

Did you know that they can be 'read', from afar, with a simple $9 device purchasable on eBay?

Yeah, so..........that's not really so secure is it?

Well, luckily.......somebody has the answer to your protection.