Vonage USB keychain phone September 28, 2006
Posted by Kathy in Gadgets & Hardware.1 comment so far
Vonage has launched a phone that fits in your pocket and your USB port.
By now you may know that the Vonage service transforms your home’s broadband Internet connection into one or more phone lines. Now with the Vonage V-Phone you can use your laptop to make phone calls from anywhere you have an Internet connection. The V-Phone looks like a flash drive — wait, it is a flash drive with 250MB of storage — and plugs into your computer’s free USB port. Plug in the included earphones, buy a Vonage plan, and you have a phone (and phone number) that travels with you. The device itself is $39.99, plus the cost of a Vonage plan, which ranges from $14.99 to $34.99.
Gripe: As a Vonage user with 2 Vonage plans already, I wish I didn’t have to buy a whole additional plan just to use this device. Otherwise I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
Would you buy this? Have you? Tell others what you think by posting a comment.
Hamachi: Just The Thing for remote access to your computer September 25, 2006
Posted by Kathy in Internet, Software.2 comments
I’ve been frustrated many times when I brought my laptop to a certain location, hoping to get some work done, only to realize that a file I needed to work on was sitting on my home computer, totally inaccessible. I knew that VPN (Virtual Private Networking) or remote access software like GoToMyPC could solve this, but I wanted a solution for free. Thank goodness I heard about Hamachi.
Hamachi is free software that lets you create a secure VPN with minimal or no configuration. In short, how it works is, you run the Hamachi software on your Windows computer at home. It connects to a central server and create your private network. Using Windows file sharing, you share the files you want remote access to. Then you run Hamachi on the computer at your remote location (like a laptop) and connect to the network you created. On the remote computer, map the shared network drive on your home computer, and all your files are there. Network traffic is encrypted for privacy.
(I found that Hamachi fell short when I wanted to do Remote Desktop Connection. The required setup was complicated and only available from a third party — though now Hamachi has “premium” paid accounts that include the needed setup. But Remote Desktop is doable with the free version: check out Slobokan’s site and then scroll down for the comment by Joel Matthias — he made an easy installer for Slobokan’s procedure.)
Fishnet Radio Episode 5: Of Mice and Men – Mouse Clicks September 22, 2006
Posted by Kathy in Uncategorized.add a comment
IDo you find yourself clicking wildly on icons and options in order to get them to work, not knowing which click will do the trick? In this episode you’ll learn the difference between clicks, double-clicks, and right-clicks, and what each is used for.
