PC4PEOPLE.com Reviews, Tips & Tricks

The Sci-Fi Channel has managed to keep me around, even after the end of Stargate SG-1. Although I agree it was time to retire the venerable show, especially with Richard Dean Anderson not taking part, it still left a void with no show to fill it.

Then, they have a marathon of a show called Eureka. Set in Oregon, which always helps, although shot in Vancouver, B.C, it involves a super-secret town of Eureka full of highly-intelligent people who are all doing amazing experiments. Some go good, some go bad.

The show is set around the one average person in town, the former U.S. Marshall turned town sheriff. He helps us all relate to the things that are going on by asking the stupid questions: Is that bad? Could you say that in English? I suppose duct tape won’t fix it?

The show was not even picked up for a second season, until, like me, alot of people happened upon the marathon, and expressed real interest in the show returning, which it has for 13 more episodes in it’s second season.

Try it out if you like geek meets technology meets explosions and end-of-the-world scenarios…

Sometimes all of the technology around us can do too much. Tools that we use for convenience can actually keep is from doing things we used to have to. One example is phone numbers. We used to have to memorize each individual phone number. Now most people couldn’t tell you their own mother’s cell phone number, because we rely on the technology so much.

I love quizzes and brain games. I admit it. It is of no surprise that fun quizzes are a part of what keeps me entertained. I also think they are part of what keeps me sharp mentally. I am a sucker for a puzzle or an entertaining story problem, but give me a dumb blonde quiz, and I am in heaven. I’ll let you know when I score over a 10%… I still say they are rigged! Try some yourself and keep your mind sharp!

Last night, during the fade-out to commercial of the Monday Night Football game, they showed two San Francisco 49er’s helmets sitting on the bench. I noticed that they both had fairly bright green dots, positioned on the middle stripe. So, being inquisitive, I stared to pay attention to who had them, and who didn’t. It seemed the quarterbacks had them, but so did several defensive players.

So, how do you solve a puzzle like that? Well, only one defensive and one offensive player per team on the field had them. So was it some kind of captaincy label? No, that couldn’t be it. Was it some kind of digital tracking system? No, then they should have it on the ball, so they can accurately measure where the ball was, when the player was deemed down.

With a quick search, I find out that it’s, in fact, a marker put on the helmets by the NFL and the referees before the game. Each helmet that has a wireless microphone, has to be inspected by the NFL and marked, so they can be sure that only one player on the field can hear the communication from the sidelines.

The NFL is said to feel that it can be unfair for several players to hear the communications from the sidelines at the same time. Some say it has to do with the ever-newsworthy Vick and his running back last year, who were accused by teams of being able to change the play at the last minute to one specifically designed to exploit the defense being shown by several mobile runners.

It appears that technology will be used for good as well as bad, and we must always keep an eye on when and where it is being used and by whom. There is also a report that this weekend, a patriots staff member may have used a video camera to film a conversation of the Jets on the sideline. What next, a camera in the helmets of baseball base-runners to steal the signs of the pitchers from second base?

One piece of technology that we are often asked about is VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP is a way of using your existing broadband or high-speed internet connection for your voice and fax communications needs.

Many of our small and medium sized businesses are interested in VoIP for its cost-effectiveness and the want to move away from large, immobile, and over-priced telephone companies.

There are many facets to the VoIP technology, but this article will be mainly covering what is possible and how it can work for your small business, not how it works or particular end-user features. It will also try to give you an idea of what is possible and the diverse scalability offered.

VoIP phone lines work nearly identical to traditional lines. You can have a phone number with the same area code as your existing traditional phone lines, and/or add additional lines of different area codes, as well as toll-free numbers. You can even keep your current phone numbers and have them transferred to your new VoIP phone system or lines.

One question that is often asked is will you still have access to emergency services, such as 911. The answer is yes, you will, although you or your provider will have to register with emergency services to let them know the physical location of the virtual phone lines you are using.

In order to take full advantage of the services offered by the VoIP technology, you should consider either a PC-based software package or hardware VoIP dedicated phones.

For small businesses, the biggest reason to consider VoIP services is to save money. There are many reasons that you can save with VoIP:
1. You can purchase only the services you need at the time.
2. You do not have to purchase costly equipment.
3. Your business can save money by having unlimited local and long-distance calling.
4. You can set up an Auto Attendant for a professional image.
5. You can manage your extensions for multiple locations from an on-line control panel.
6. VoIP services are expandable. Add services and equipment as you need them.
7. Low cost on equipment and virtually no maintenance.

For us, we would be best served by using an auto-attendant to route or callers, saving the expense of a dedicated staff member for answering and directing calls. Also, the fact that we can use our existing Ethernet broadband infrastructure makes the cost of this change negligible. Also, we could use our existing business-class phones along with a broadband adapter. Also, Outlook integration is a must-have.

If you are interested in exploring your VoIP options, small business phone systems are available, along with more in-depth information, from Packet8.

For many small businesses, the low initial start-up costs, and the opportunity to only buy the products and features you need, make VoIP a real attractive option.

Check back later for more articles on VoIP and the features available to the end-user and administrator.