TechBite by Steve Bass: Newsletter #19

MagicJack: Reader Comments Oh, my, but you're a vocal bunch. When you like something, you tell me. Ditto for when you don't (that's where the idiot comment came from, but you guessed that already). If you're new here, read magicJack: The No-Brainer Money Saver.

Here are some responses to the newsletter that landed to my inbox -- and a few of my comments.

Some of you couldn't believe I had a perfect, landline-quality connection with magicJack. That's not quite what I said. When it works well, I said, it's terrific. At times, though, I'll make a call and the voice quality is dreadful -- snapping, popping, and crackling. So I redial. Since I started using MJ, about 75 percent of the time I get good calls on the first try; 25 percent of the time I have to redial. And yes, bad connections and redials are annoying. But in this economy, so was paying AT&T over $300 a year for my extra landline. Now my yearly cost is $20.

As with all things technological, kids, everyone's mileage varies. Bad connections could be because of your ISP's lopsided tubes, your kids downloading music on a networked PC, or the USB 1.0 ports on your '486.

MagicJack doesn't like Canada as well as it does in the United States. That's obvious because magicJack doesn't carry any Canadian phone numbers. Using magicJack in Canada means you're stuck registering it with a U.S. phone number, and your Canadian buddies have to call the U.S. number. But you folks have great medical care, and very few paparazzi, so I guess it's a trade, eh?

I had a dozen messages wondering if magicJack steals passwords, sends spam, or kidnaps children. The most notorious of these accusations -- read it on BoingBoing-- is a year old. It's all been proven false. Bob Rankin, a trustworthy journalist, wrote about it in his "Magic Jack - Good or Evil?" series: part 1 and part 2.

In this corner are the lovers of Skype-- and there are lots of you. Funny thing, I use Skype to speak to my Web designer in Singapore for free. But I don't use Skype often because I already have a headset for my phone; I don't like needing another one-- a USB headset -- just for Skype. (That may change: I'm testing Jabra's GN9350e, a cool-sounding, dual connection wireless headset that lets me swap between the PC and my landline. I'll keep you posted.) Okay, enough about magicJack. Now on to some time wasters.

Time Wasters Become a pilot, watch an expensive jet flyer, discover how CDs are made, and lots more to fill your day.

First, something totally pointless. (What'd I tell you?) [Thanks, Brad.]

You think you want to be a Royal Air Force pilot and drop a load of cargo over a drop zone? Now's your chance. [Thanks to Lucy Amish.]

The JETLEV-FLYER looks cool and it's a mere 99,000 Euros (about $128,000). Watch it in action. [Thanks to Truman and Rick Brucker]

Visit a site and you may face a Flash animation (known as a preloader) that's entertaining, interesting, and occasionally amusing. The one from Adobe a good example. Prettyloaded is your chance to browse through lots and lots of preloaders. [Thanks, Cousin Judy.]

I don't know if you've ever seen exactly how CDs are made. Sure it's silly, but how else do you think they do it, huh? [Thanks to Mike D.]

It's time once again for an installment of Photoshop Disasters, a site with a compendium of ads in which some doofus creates an image with remarkably dopey mistakes or worse, exaggerations. Things like the spinning wheels of a BMW that's just been parked, deformed arms, flat shadows, discombobulated bodies, and more. BTW, if you like Photoshop alterations, read this interview with Avi Muchnick, of Worth1000, the premier spot for weird photos.