Internet Telephony VoIP - VoIP Business Phone Systems - Office …

Internet Telephony VoIP - Looking for product reviews, news, and resources for the latest VoIP business phone systems?

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Internet Telephony VoIP - VoIP Business Phone Systems - Office …

VoIP & Gadgets Blog: Page Not Found

VoIP & Gadget blog with the latest news in the VoIP and gadget space, wireless, mobile phones, product reviews, opinion & analysis. About Me (Full Bio).

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VoIP & Gadgets Blog: Page Not Found

Truphone Is First To Provide VoIP App For Nexus One – Washington …

Product Reviews (blog) Truphone Is First To Provide VoIP App For Nexus One Washington Post That makes it the first VoIP client for that phone. In fact it turns out the Nexus One is going to be very important to Truphone’s overall …

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AdMob Sees Explosive Mobile Phone Internet Usage

VoIP & Gadget blog with the latest news in the VoIP and gadget space, wireless, mobile phones, product reviews, opinion & analysis. About Me (Full Bio). VoIP & Gadgets Blog: Tom Keating: CTO, VP, Founder TMC Labs; B.S

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AdMob Sees Explosive Mobile Phone Internet Usage

How to transfer VHS tapes to DVD

Stilton Company - As we now enter a purely digital age in America, one of the problems which remains is what to do with those boxes of old 8mm and VHS family movies.  One option is to buy one of may television based VHS to DVD recorders which copy the tapes directly to DVD, but these options do not allow for digital modification such as adding titles, fancy menus or cleaning up the video images.

There are hundreds of VHS to DVD recorders available, each one with its own unique feature sets and options, but if you want to turn your old VHS and 8mm movies into modern digital masterpieces, you’re going to have to buy a software package for your PC or Mac computer and the necessary adapters cables for your computer.

One of the highest rated solutions to copy those old tapes to DVD and even for storage and playback on your computer is the Roxio Creator 2009 Special Edition with VHS to DVD Adapter.

Roxio Creator 2009 Special Edition with VHS to DVD Adapter
If you’re like me and want the absolute best quality transfers from your VHS tapes to DVD, here’s the steps I took to get the desired results. I’m not writing about how to setup your VCR to your computer; only the settings within the VHS to DVD capture video options.

1) When you launch the capture video option in RC09, always select DV as your quality option. Note that a full 2 hour VHS tape will create a 25 or so gigabyte AVI file, so make sure you have a large capacity hard drive with plenty of free space.
2) Unless the tape is too light or too dark, I would leave the custom video adjustments alone. Your call on these settings.
3) Once the VHS tape is captured, launch the application SYNC IT! within the Roxio Creator user interface. Locate the settings options, and make sure it is set to MPEG2 output (this is set by default, but still check). Now locate the AVI file created by RC09. Drag and drop the file into the Sync It!”eye”. The conversion usually lasts around two hours, so go take a break.
4) Once the conversion is complete, you will have a new MPEG2 file around 4.75 to 5 gigs in size. This file is now ready to be trimmed, polished up and made into a DVD.

Roxio has become somewhat of a standard for home pc disc writing because many OEM manufacturers now include Roxio with new PC’s.  Most Dell computers come with Roxio CD Creator installed, but you will still need to go buy a VHS to PC Converter.  These can range in price from around $15 to $50 depending on the brand you buy.

If you are a MacIntosh user, you might want to check out the Roxio Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac which sells for slightly less than the PC version and like most things on a Mac, is a bit easier to configure and use.

Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac includes everything you need to easily transfer video from VHS, Hi8, V8 or analog camcorders to DVD. Perfect for digitizing and protecting home videos on outdated media. Easy VHS to DVD for Mac supports most analog camcorders, VCRs and even DVD players. Capture video at full DVD-quality resolution.  You can add Hollywood style menus and chapters for impressive results. Edit your captured movies in iMovie to add titles, transitions and other edits. Great for transferring videos to iPod or PSP too! Post finished videos to YouTube or your favorite social networking sites.

If you are looking for a more affordable solution on your PC, another popular VHS to DVD transfer software to look at is VHS To DVD 4.0 Deluxe which sells in the $65 price range and includes all the necessary hardware and software components necessary for the DVD transformation.

VHS to DVD Deluxe  includes a USB 2.0 Video Capture Device, a USB cable and software to convert analog video to digital, or reformat digital video, for recording on DVDs. PC users can either use the capture device interface or connect their digital video cameras and players to their PC to store the video. The VHS to DVD Deluxe  software formats the video for DVD players, Blu-ray Disc players and recording devices. It also supports converting HDTV quality video formats including: HDV, VHS, C-VHS, Beta and other video and audio formats to DVD and Blu-ray DVD.

There are many ways around this problem, and while the conventional hardware recorders do the job, they do not allow for any high tech editing and custom menu creation found in the computer software packages.  When buying a VHS to DVD recorder of any kind be sure to go online and research the product before you buy.

Create your company’s own online identity

Tired of your business being just another needle in the hay stack? Get out of the hay.
One of the biggest problems businesses face online is being just another needle in the global hay stack.    Many companies fall into the trap of doing what everyone else is doing to get recognized, but those methods have not been successful.

In today’s online business, you need to be different.  You need to try new ideas.  You need to embrace new technologies and new online trends.   You need to connect to your customers in ways you’ve never imagined possible.   You need to be accessible.

Driving business to your company’s website goes far beyond optimizing web pages for keywords.  It goes beyond filler pages of useless content to drive traffic to your website.

At Stilton Company, we are in tune with modern web trends and have been following the success and failure of many trends for over 15 years now.   Which ones work?  Which ones don’t?   How can your business benefit from Web 2.0? 

Web 2.0 is the global interconnectivity of websites that use various communication, management and community based applications that seemlessly integrate your entire target market.

You online presence should go beyond your website and reach into the pages of thousands of websites worldwide.  At Stilton Company, we have built networks of  communities with tens of millions of connections world wide, just waiting to learn about your products and services. 

Let us help you get noticed by embracing content rich and targeted relevant information that can be syndicated globally in a matter of minutes.    Stand apart from your competitors.  Embrace technology.

UPS Backup for your home office

APC Back-UPS RS 1200 LCD - UPS
APC’s Back-UPS RS1200 is an excellent UPS unit. The price is perhaps a little high, although you do get a lot for the money. In addition to battery backup, this UPS features telephone line surge protection and automatic voltage adjustment that works without switching over to the battery. You also get a site wiring fault indicator lamp and communication to an attached computer for safe unattended shutdown capability.

Initial setup is easy. All you have to do is connect your loads to the right set of outlets. There are eight outlets, six of which are battery backed. The remaining two are surge protected only. Once you’ve connected your loads and telephone lines (if desired) to the unit, you can then connect the optional communication cable to your computer. This will allow the UPS to tell your computer when it is running low on power and to shut everything down gracefully.

APC’s software receives mixed marks. If you are using the UPS with a relatively new PC (running Windows 2000 or newer) or Macintosh (Mac OS X 10.3 or newer), these operating systems contain built-in support for the UPS. In these cases, when the battery gets low, the operating system will hibernate or shut down gracefully. This feature works very smoothly. The only drawback to using the operating system’s built in UPS support is the fact that you can’t adjust any of the UPS unit’s settings.

For older (and newer, if desired) systems, APC includes PowerChute Personal Edition software. The PC version of this software is reasonably full featured, and lets you adjust some parameters of the UPS, such as the voltage transfer points, sensitivity and alarm settings. The Macintosh version is nowhere near as fully featured, so Macintosh users will have to hook the UPS to a PC first if they need to adjust some of the UPS settings.

If you have a really old computer with only serial ports and at least Windows 95, APC provides an offer in the box for a serial communication cable and a copy of the APC PowerChute Plus software. I had one computer where I needed to take advantage of this offer. APC had trouble fulfilling my request–at first I received only the communications cable without software. I called technical support about this only to find that the people I spoke with had no knowledge of the offer I received with this UPS. Later I received another serial cable and a software CD. Upon installing this software, I found that it would not recognize the UPS at all. I tried several computers with working serial ports and got the same result, so my belief is that the serial connection is no longer functional in recent versions of this UPS.

Should you need additional run time, this is one of the few consumer-grade UPS units that will easily accept an external battery. APC’s BR24BP plugs into the back of this unit and sits alongside it by extending the floor stand that ships with this UPS.

The UPS hardware itself is great and highly reliable, even in the face of truly poor electrical service. All factors considered, the software included with this unit is only fair and mars an otherwise excellent backup power solution.
APC Back-UPS RS 1200 LCD - UPS

Gaming router also great home business router

D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Selectable Dualband Draft 802.11n Gaming Router

This router has solved all my home networking woes and I’ve had a lot of them. Granted, it’s fairly complicated for a home network in that there are many devices connected both wired and wirelessly from various macs and PCs, home theater receiver, music server, network printers, network storage drives, game consoles (ps3, xbox, wii), etc. In the past I’ve used a combination of various routers to make things work properly. From different versions of Apple airport (express, extreme, extreme “N”) to various Belkin and Linkysys models, even the supposedly foolproof WRT54G model.

The problem with the Apple airport models has been their inability to allow open NAT for Xbox Live gaming, not to mention the playstation network. I love Airport networks and their integration with OS X and all its cool file/music/drive/printer sharing and networking features but I’ve always had to combine an extra router to handle the non-Apple side of things. The D-Link DGL-4500 is the first router I’ve had that plays nice with everything on the network. It just works. It works with Apple-based networks, it provides Open NAT for Xbox Live, it works with PS3 (with some minor tweaks), and it works with just about any challenge I throw at it. Music and video streaming, latency-sensitive online gaming, you name it.

The Xtreme N gaming router is the jack of all trades. It does it all and looks great to boot. The OLED display looks sharp, has access to basic functions and status on the unit itself (a nice touch), and setup was a snap. It basically worked with everything right out of the box without much customization. The only change I made was to set the PS3 in DMZ in order to get from NAT type 3 to type 2. But Xbox 360 had open NAT out of the box. My favorite part about the DGL-4500 is the web-based interface. Although it’s not exactly simplified, it is very flexible and well organized. If you have a basic understanding of designing networks, this user interface is everything you could ever ask for. The web-based interface on my previous Linksys and Belkin were all cryptic by comparison. The only thing better is Apple’s own Airport utility application, but you can’t win ‘em all.

A small nitpick I have with the router is the bright blue power LED that shines like a beacon in a dark room. While the OLED display is just as bright, at least it shuts off after a few seconds. The power LED stays on all the time and is quite annoying if you have it setup in the bedroom, bookshelf, or on your home theater cabinet. There is no way to turn it off or turn it down. Cutting a circular piece of duct tape and taping it over solves the problem quite easily.

Although I purchased this router at an attractive price of $175, it still seems pricey for a router. I do think it’s worth every penny considering that an Apple Airport Extreme “N” costs as much brand new but isn’t nearly as capable or compatible. Highly recommend if you want a comprehensive, do-it-all, compatible-with-all, high-speed 802.11n router.

D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Selectable Dualband Draft 802.11n Gaming Router

HP IQ506 TouchSmart Desktop PC Review

HP IQ506 TouchSmart Desktop PC (2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5850, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)

I have had this PC for only one week, but remain wowed by HP’s execution. From setup (easy and intuitive; far fewer wires than a traditional desktop) through operation (responsive and stable), my early experience has truly been a joy.

The 22″ touchscreen display is extremely bright, vivid, and crisp. The touchscreen functionality itself takes advantage of Vista’s “baked in” tablet PC functionality. As a longtime tablet user, this is the first implementation and integration of the Vista tablet functionality on a desktop that I am aware of. The touchscreen functionality clearly works best with HP’s own “TouchSmart” application shell. This shell has been designed to work well with touchscreen functionality and provides an easy-to-use interface to music, video, calendar, photo, and game applications (among others). There’s even a specialized TouchSmart web browser, though it appears to have limited utility to those web pages that HP has specifically designed to take advantage of the TouchSmart shell. This might appear alarming, but you still have full and complete access outside of TouchSmart to traditional browsers such as IE, Firefox, or Safari.

I have no problems to report with the integration of my existing peripherals, including a Netgear wireless router, a Canon Pixma multifunction printer, and external speakers and subwoofer. Setup of all of these truly was “plug and play.” I also really like the wireless keyboard and mouse that HP bundles with the TouchSmart.

The only problem I’ve encountered is installation of Nikon’s Transfer application (for transfer of digital photos from my wife’s Coolpix camera). Each of three installation attempts ended with an Install Wizard error message. I learned from Nikon Support that none of Nikon’s apps are engineered for 64-bit operating systems. However, there are still multiple options for uploading photos from the camera (e.g., Kodak’s free EasyShare application works great).

Overall and as an IT professional, I am surprised even by my own enthusiastic reaction. Over time, the “wow” or “gee-whiz” moments with PC technology have become fewer and farther between for me. The HP TouchSmart is an exception to this. For general purpose home computing (it’s not a gaming platform or a high-end engineering workstation), it merits your serious consideration.

More: HP IQ506 TouchSmart Desktop PC

D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router Review

   
D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router
I’m sitting on this thing right now. Man oh man…im getting a “very good” signal where my connection used to be dropping…
 
 I used to have a few problems with WiFi. The first problem was obviously the range…as I said a few moments ago, the DIR-655 fixed that…I mean, even though it claims 6x range, but I was going to be happy with just a 25% improvement…I seriously think that this router increased my range 50-75%!
 
 I used to always be frustrated with the lack of settings in many routers. Some would have QoS (Quality of Service…something that can prioritize important internet activity like Voice Over IP…internet phone) but it didnt really work. Some would be lacking in semi-advanced routing features…others would barely have any non-novice features at all…This one has plenty of options for the advanced user to have a lot of fun screwing with settings. The most beautiful thing about it though, is that there is a wizard in the interface so that even the most novice of users can set up a great network with strong security. It also has context sensitive online help…what that is, is when you are trying to adjust settings and you dont know what something means, there is a little help button right there that you can click to get an explanation right then and there! Its kinda like the Yin-Yang of routers…
 
 I want to mention that I have been looking at draft-N routers for a few weeks now and have been reading the reviews. The reason that I am writing this review is that it was so hard for me to find a good review on this router. Cnet doesnt even have an official review (as of 2/13/07) but it does have very positive user comments. From my homework though, (user reviews, and more importantly official reviews from Cnet, engadget, etc) every Draft-N wireless router has some kind of problem. Some dont work well in environments with more than a couple neighboring networks, some dont have good throughput, and some dont have better range. Again, I didn’t want to buy this one because I couldn’t find any solid review on it. After going through a couple of different Draft-N routers, Let me help you out. This is the one.
 
 BTW…im not running an “N” wireless adapter…this thing even increases the range of “B” and “G” signals. GREAT JOB D-LINK!

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