CFLs have their problems…they take a few moments to get to full brightness…dimming technology for them is not fully developed…but they do come in a wide range of colors and sizes. The spirals have been covered by globes to hide their CFL origins.
We recently put through an order to 1000bulbs.com. The dimmable bulbs we ordered were on backorder, and it took a few weeks for them to show up…and we fully plan to detail our recent experiences with these bulbs.
Since energy prices can fluctuate rapidly based on demand, a frugal individual can lower their electric bills and help the environment at the same time. Win-win situation.
It includes some games, utilities, productivity…etc. Some of the programs we may be reviewing later.
PC Magazine presented this article on How to Unlock Your Phone. This includes a series of unlocking services, sites, etc. For free options, try Howardforums.com, a good forum for all things mobile phone…including hacks, reviews, advice, etc.
Of course, most of the unlocking services mentioned only work for GSM phone…the ones used on networks such as Cingular and T-Mobile. CDMA Phones, used by Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, etc, have to be individually authenticated by their networks. So, even if your existing provider lets you unlock the phone, your new provider will not add it to the list of approved phones on its network.
Most providers sell different versions of the same phones, using their own custom firmware(the software that operates the phone) which could be changed to the specific firmware for a different carrier. The carriers refuse to cooperate.
For those of you who use GSM phones, check out this ABC News article on the Best Unlocked Phones. Just bear in mind that without contract you will be paying more to secure them. Of course, that means no contract, which may be to your advantage.
Some say that with the prevalence of cell phones and internet telephony, that landlines are dead. We aren’t quite sure about that…but technology is continuing to enhance the old system.
Craigsnumber, apparently created with the goal of allowing those posting on popular site Craigslist to provide a phone number that will keep them anonymous, offers a temporary extension, although with limited area codes, that will be forwarded to your real line. You can specify the length of activation. Certainly a simple and uncomplicated service. Lifehacker has more details.
There are alternatives, of course. Freedigits.com offers a free VoIP phone line with a random US number. Their goal is to encourage you to go with them for paid service, but there are no strings attached to their free offer.
Another option is Grandcentral.com, which also offers both a free and a paid service. Their philosophy is one phone number…for life. Their free service offers three phones, caller ID, the ability to switch phones in the middle of a call, custom ringtones while waiting for you to pick up, the ability to record any call with a single button press, as well as SPAM blocking. The free service has a limitation of 100 minutes a month of calls received through them. It doesn’t offer any service not offered elsewhere as add-ons to other paid services, but it is a good option for some. Lifehacker reviews it here.
If none of these options work for you…you can always just pay for VoIP service. Just remember, despite our skepticism about customer service…if you give them money, they are supposed to help you. If you don’t…they have an excuse not to.
Engineers have designed objects designed to fail for years. Otherwise, how will they sell electronics to people satisfied with their old reliable pieces? Even if they themselves are not designing this way…the push to make the cost less expensive forces them to use cheaper materials…integrate components…The only positive side is that it forces engineers to find clever and often better ways to do things with less.
The VCR would likely die completely if not for the difficulty in using DVD recorders for temporary video recording. This market is held by the Digital Video Recorders(DVR). Most DVR packages do not allow for archiving of recorded programs to backup media. Until that changes, which is unlikely considering the video industry’s lobbying on the subject…VCRs will continue to linger as a backup TV recording device.
People don’t want a large amount of inconvenient restrictions on their music. Most people are willing to pay for music, but the music industry, to protect their profits…has limited what you can do with that music. More people prefer to buy CDs and rip the music to digital formats for use in music players.
However, this is annoying. No matter what the recording industry does…people will find ways to steal music. All they do by putting in inconvenient restrictions is discourage the impulse buying of singles that they desire. People will burn their DRM(Digital Rights Management) encoded music to CD, then back to an MP3 without DRM.
In the end…we have never purchased a song from an online music site…it seems more trouble than it is worth.
On December 15, a Russian programmer revealed a flaw that makes it possible increase a user’s privileges. Since Vista’s greatest improvements in security involve having users run under accounts with restricted privileges for security reasons, it is a major blow. Later, a Silicon Valley security firm discovered five additional flaws, one in Windows Internet Explorer 7.
Being that the company still has some time, hopefully it will be able to roll out an update repairing these flaws. Microsoft is counting on Vista to be a moneymaker for them. We’ve commented on its lack of significant impact…although like everyone, we’ll eventually have to give in and buy it as support for XP is eventually discontinued.