If you’re sick of spam email and everything it takes to control it, it’s time you signed up for a Gmail account. I’ve been using Gmail for a little over a year, and it’s practically eliminated spam email for me. Sure, a few sneak through now and again, but nothing like the hundreds of bizop, porn, SEO and other spam messages I used to receive DAILY. It got to a point where I couldn’t let my daughter use the computer until I first had a chance to sanitize my Outlook Express inbox.

Anti-Spam Software Stinks

I had tried a few different spam filters, like Vanquish, but none of them really eliminated the spam problem. Yes, they “controlled” the problem, but they also gave me an additional task of checking the emails they filtered out to make sure none of them were messages I really wanted, which happened more often than I liked. I was still a victim to spam. Plus, there was the annual subscription fee. Not much, mind you – Vanquish is about 25.00 per year – but in a small business, why spend money when you don’t have to?

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If you’re not into paying for software (like me), here’s a great list of free stuff from Gizmo Richard.

“Listed below are 46 different freeware categories with my selection of the best products in each category. The list is ordered by program function rather than merit so you’ll get the most out of it by browsing it at leisure. The pathologically impatient can consult the index.”

We will, however, forgive him in advance for choosing Internet Explorer over Firefox.

From PCStats, here are 104 tips to “make using Windows XP faster, safer and more enjoyable.”

High Speed Conferencing allows you to conduct a teleconference with up to 500 callers, including Skype users.

Ever wonder if you could have a large conference call on Skype™?

Now you can…

with up to 500 people.

High Speed Conferencing works with Skype™ and regular phones to provide conference calling for everyone.

Sounds interesting enough. And it’s only 3 euro cents/minute for the basic service. Choose the upgraded package at 5 euro cents/min and you have the ability to record the teleconference, as well as a few other features.

Alterenatively, if you don’t need room for 500 people, you can get a free conference line at MrConference and use Gizmo to record it.

I bought some music from iTunes the other day. It was my first time … buying music from iTunes, that is. See, I don’t use an iPod. Mine is a Creative Zen Micro. Anyway, after downloading the music, I tried to copy it over to my Zen Micro. No dice. Seems the iTunes file format isn’t compatible with much of anything except an iPod.

What to do now? I’ve got these weird m4a files or something that I can only listen to through iTunes or QuickTime. After I got over my initial little tantrum, I managed to figure out how to convert these odd, little iTunes, m4a-or-something-type files over to mp3.

All I did was burn the files to a CD (you can do that through iTunes). Then I ripped the files back onto my PC via Windows Media Player, and viola, I ended up with fresh mp3 files all ready to load onto my Creative Zen Micro. The only problem is the new files don’t retain the ID3 tags, so no titles for the music in my Zen.

Update: 05/23/06: I figured out how to do it in a way that retains ID3 tags …

Step 1 is to rip the files to a CD.

Step 2 is to select all those file, then convert to mp3 from the iTunes “Advanced” menu.

When that’s all done, go into your iTunes library where you will now have two copies of the song/product. Select the mp3 versions, right-click and copy them, then paste onto your hard drive, then to your non-iPod mp3.

According to Mercury News staff writer Michael Bazeley, Yahoo will soon expand their Yahoo Messenger IM application to allow users the ability to make and receive low cost phone calls to and from land-based telephones and cell phones.

“Yahoo is expanding its reach in the fast-growing Internet calling market, offering a service that will allow people to make and receive low-cost computer calls to and from regular phones.

“The long-expected move could make the Sunnyvale company one of the biggest players in the Internet phone-calling market, along with eBay-owned Skype Technologies, Vonage and others.”

Messenger users have been able to make voice calls to other Messenger users for several years, but Yahoo’s latest move positions them to compete with the very popular VoIP service, Skype. Not only that, Yahoo seems to be aiming to underprice Skype with calls priced at $0.01 per minute for calls to the U.S. and 0.02 per minute for calls outside the U.S.

This is a very smart move on Yahoo’s part. They must have hundreds of thousands of people already using Messenger, so it only makes sense to hang onto them by offering this added service. My only question is the connection quality. Has anyone had experience using Yahoo Messenger voice?

As I’ve mentioned before, I really enjoy using Skype, the popular VoIP application that allows you to make free phone calls anywhere in the world using your computer. One drawback to using Skype – as well as any other VoIP application – is that you’re chained to your computer via your headset. And who hasn’t wanted to get up and go to the bathroom or refill your coffee cup during one of those longer conversations with your friend from Malaysia? Yes, you can ask the other party to wait as you remove your headset and go do your thing, but sometimes that’s just not practical. So, I searched high and low for a sinple and inexpensive solution that would allow me to use Skype without my mobility being limited by the length of the cord on my headset.

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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is quickly becoming the dominant communication platform for the savviest of solopreneurs. If you’re not yet one of them, it’s time to take that step. Why? Low Cost. If you have clients or colleagues beyond your own town, you feel the pain of long distance charges each month. If you have clients beyond your own country, you really feel the pain of long distance charges.

For the uninitiated, VoIP is basically telephony via the internet. As an example, I can sit right here at my computer in Northeastern Connecticut, USA, and call as far away as Australia for free. And it’s free no matter how long my conversation lasts. You can do the same thing with Skype, one of the most popular VoIP applications on the market today. The trick, of course, is that for the call to be free, the other person has to also be using Skype. But with over 100 million Skype users (and growing everyday), it’s well within the realm of reality.

There are people the world over using Skype as their main telephone line for both personal and business purposes. The other key, however, is you really need to be using a broadband internet (i.e. cable, DSL or EVDO) service. Skype says you can use a dial-up modem as long as it’s running at least 33.6 bps, but I doubt the quality will be that great.

With Skype you can call other Skype users at no charge. You can also call non-Skype users via Skype’s Skypeout program, and you’ll pay about 2.3 cents per minute to most destinations. They also offer a whole host of other features, including your own telephone number for people to call you, voice mail, conference calling and a lot more that’s worth checking out.

If I sound a little over-excited, it’s because I am. I can’t tell you how great it is to be able to communicate and collaborate with anyone on the planet without worrying how much it’s costing me for the call. Do yourself a favor, go download Skype and just try it out for a bit. Make a few calls. If you want to call me to see how the quality is, my Skype id is mdp8593. I look forward to hearing from you.

By the way, there are alternatives to Skype, and we’ll get to those later.

If you’re like me, you spend quite a bit of time on the phone. And most of the time, you’re probably speaking to someone who’s a little further than the next town over. In fact, some people with whom you speak are probably on a completely different continent.If your only option were the standard long-distance carriers out there, the cost could be a real bitch. That’s the beauty of voice over internet protocol (aka internet phones; aka VoIP) services. With VoIP, you can make long distance calls at a fraction of the cost compared to regular long distance.

Skype is one example of a well-known VoIP service, and one that I use a lot. With Skype, you can make free calls to any other Skype user on the planet (currently, there are over 4 million Skype users). If you call a non-Skype user, the cost is quite inexpensive (like $0.02/minute). But Skype’s quality is not so great when calling a non-Skype user, and I’ve also had problems when calling into a teleconference (Skype-to-Skype calls are crystal-clear though).

Recently, I began using Vonage, and I really like it. The call quality is exactly like my regular land-line phone. Plus, I’m not tied to my computer headset like I am with Skype. I just plugged my regular cordless phone into my Vonage router, and I get unlimited long-distance for 24.99/month.

Those aren’t the only two options for VoIP service though. It’s a growing market with new services popping up all the time. In fact, what prompted this post was a Slate article titled: Smooth Operators. In the article, Sam Schechner reviews several VoIP services and assigns a rating based upon several metrics, including sound quality, reliability and portability.

In order from worst to best, here’s his list of services and how he rated them (the maximum score was 50). Be sure to check out the rest of the article for his detailed review.

• BroadVoice – 22.5
• Skype – 31
• Verizon VoiceWing – 32
• Packet8 – 33
• Vonage – 36
• GalaxyVoice – 40
• AT&T CallVantage – 41

This gadget allows you to use your landline phone via Skype.

TRX-20-35B – Deluxe Telephone Recording Jack (3.5mm Jack) – This is a handy little device to help you record telephone calls.

Computer Podcasting Recording Equipment Recommendations – You’ll find several different podcasting systems here.

nedwolf – Free Software – Windows Freeware – This is a most impressive display of free software. Never buy another piece of software again. Sorta.

I neglected to offer a link for the software I mentioned yesterday. Sorry. Thanks Jake (communityguy). You can get info about Magix Music Maker 2005 here.

Also, there is another program called mixcastlive that is apparently designed just for podcasters. I’ve not used it yet, but I’m investigating it further.

Finally, Audacity is a free, open-source program for recording/creating and working with sound files. It’s a pretty well-known program among geeks and podcasters. You should check it out if you’re gong to get into recording your own stuff.

“Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing
sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and
other operating systems. Learn more about Audacity… “

Received this suggested free PDF creator (PDF995) from Marc Snyder. Haven’t tried it yet, but it looks interesting and has pretty good reviews from CNET’S download site.

Hey, thanks Mark!

You can also try Office Ready 3.0 Professional. They offer a free version that integrates well with MS Word.