texascavers Digest 13 Aug 2011 14:21:26 -0000 Issue 1367
Topics (messages 18334 through 18348):
Re: How Bats Avoid Clutter
18334 by: Louise Power
OT - VoIP Phone service
18335 by: Sheryl Rieck
18336 by: Stefan Creaser
18337 by: Diana Tomchick
18338 by: Herman Miller
18339 by: Terry Plemons
18340 by: Fritz Holt
18341 by: Fritz Holt
18342 by: Louise Power
18343 by: Terry Plemons
18344 by: Sheryl Rieck
Re: [SWR] 2012 NSS Convention Registration Website NOW LIVE!!!
18345 by: J. LaRue Thomas
Re: OT - VoIP Phone service - devils in the details
18346 by: Rod Goke
Free Sony TV
18347 by: Ron Miller
Re: Wanted: Disto-X
18348 by: Bill Bentley
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
And was that a famous bat-linked bridge in Austin I spied during the video? If
so, those were not bb bats.
I'm forwarding this to our bat guys here at the office.
Louise
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:38:02 -0500
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] How Bats Avoid Clutter
Mark, thanks for that link. Yes, it was strange that they use some WNS bat
images. I suspect that they just glommed a bunch of video and still images
from the internet for that piece, since the interview was obviously done over
the phone. There were multiple species of bats shown in the video, some of
them not even from North America. They didn't identify the test species in the
article, but the abstract from Science says they were big brown bats, which is
what the first couple of still images show.
BTW, if anyone has a subscription to Science and can download the full PDF of
the article from their website, I would appreciate a copy.
-- Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Minton [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:20 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] How Bats Avoid Clutter
New research has shown how bats use their sonar to distinguish between intended
targets and background clutter:
<http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/07/bats>. Check out the video. It's
weird that they include a couple of photos of bats with WNS, which isn't
mentioned and has nothing to do with their research.
Mark Minton
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
month for a home phone.
Thanks.
Sheryl
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
If you have an internet connection then Skype works just fine. You can even get
a 'mailbox' so that you can get messages when your computer is not on.
Cheers,
Stefan
From: Sheryl Rieck [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 8:55 AM
To: TexasCavers; GHG
Subject: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my cell
service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a month for a
home phone.
Thanks.
Sheryl
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
If the device you use to access the Internet has a web camera, you can use
Skype for video-conferencing. We do that a lot at work, to communicate with
scientists in Chicago.
It beats having to travel there to talk to people.
If you wish to use Skype to make phone calls to phones (either cell phones or
land lines) it will cost you some money. Last I looked it was only a few cents
a minute inside the US. It requires you to sign up for the pay service.
If you are traveling outside the country and wish to call home, Skype doesn't
know that you aren't in the US, so you still pay the same few cents a minute
for the call. Sure beats the roaming fees on a cell phone (AT&T charges $0.99
per minute if you sign up for International roaming). Of course, if you are
hoping to use that same phone to make local calls in the country you are in and
don't want to be gouged, you'll have to sign up for a second Skype account
that's based in the new country. Your friends and family will still be able to
call you using your US phone number, and they won't be charged for an
International call, either.
Of course, all this depends upon you having a stable, easily accessible
wireless connection. Once the power goes out, you no longer have phone service
for emergency calls.
Most cell phone companies now have more reasonable pay-as-you-use plans--have
you looked into those?
Diana
***********************************************
Diana R. Tomchick
On Aug 12, 2011, at 8:55 AM, "Sheryl Rieck" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
> cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
> month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
________________________________
UT Southwestern Medical Center
The future of medicine, today.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Google mail is running a promo on there new VoIP, free until next year
On Friday, August 12, 2011, Sheryl Rieck <[email protected]> wrote:
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Consider MagicJack - about $20/year.
On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Sheryl Rieck <[email protected]>wrote:
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
> cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
> month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Sheryl,
I assume a land phone line is needed because cell phone reception is poor in
your particular area. We have an AT&T land line at our Galveston beach house
for certain emergencies and it is rarely used. I have it on a limited use plan
where we can make only 25 calls a month for a monthly price of $10.10 with no
outgoing long distance calls which may be a requested option. The bad news is
that with all the taxes and fees the monthly charge balloons to about $26.50.
Of course there is the one time installation fee if you don't already have
service. Well, that was not a helpful solution. :(
Fritz
-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Tomchick [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 9:38 AM
To: Sheryl Rieck
Cc: TexasCavers; GHG
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
If the device you use to access the Internet has a web camera, you can use
Skype for video-conferencing. We do that a lot at work, to communicate with
scientists in Chicago.
It beats having to travel there to talk to people.
If you wish to use Skype to make phone calls to phones (either cell phones or
land lines) it will cost you some money. Last I looked it was only a few cents
a minute inside the US. It requires you to sign up for the pay service.
If you are traveling outside the country and wish to call home, Skype doesn't
know that you aren't in the US, so you still pay the same few cents a minute
for the call. Sure beats the roaming fees on a cell phone (AT&T charges $0.99
per minute if you sign up for International roaming). Of course, if you are
hoping to use that same phone to make local calls in the country you are in and
don't want to be gouged, you'll have to sign up for a second Skype account
that's based in the new country. Your friends and family will still be able to
call you using your US phone number, and they won't be charged for an
International call, either.
Of course, all this depends upon you having a stable, easily accessible
wireless connection. Once the power goes out, you no longer have phone service
for emergency calls.
Most cell phone companies now have more reasonable pay-as-you-use plans--have
you looked into those?
Diana
***********************************************
Diana R. Tomchick
On Aug 12, 2011, at 8:55 AM, "Sheryl Rieck" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
> cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
> month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
________________________________
UT Southwestern Medical Center
The future of medicine, today.
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
MagicJack is advertised on Houston TV as being available at Radio Shack, I
believe.
Fritz
________________________________
From: Terry Plemons [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 10:26 AM
To: Sheryl Rieck
Cc: TexasCavers; GHG
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
Consider MagicJack - about $20/year.
On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Sheryl Rieck
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my cell
service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a month for a
home phone.
Thanks.
Sheryl
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I don't know anything about the device or the service, but I just saw it on
www.woot.com for $139.99. In addition, they have the world's coolest t-shirts.
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:55:00 -0500
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my cell
service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a month for a
home phone.
Thanks.
Sheryl
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Its $40.00 at Best Buy. You need only an internet connection.
On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Louise Power <[email protected]>wrote:
> I don't know anything about the device or the service, but I just saw it
> on www.woot.com for $139.99. In addition, they have the world's coolest
> t-shirts.
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:55:00 -0500
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]; [email protected]
> Subject: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
>
>
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
> cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
> month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Thanks everyone for your feedback and suggestions. I decided on an Ooma that
I purchased from Woot.com . It does exactly what I need. It is great that I
have all you very clever people to get input from when I am trying to gather
information. Thanks again.
Sheryl
On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Sheryl Rieck <[email protected]>wrote:
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
> cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
> month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
FORWARD:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone,
The pre-registration website is now OPEN for the 2012 NSS Convention in the
Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia!!!
Please visit www.nss2012.com <http://www.nss2012.com/> and register. Also,
check back often as the site will be updated throughout the year.
Even if you want to pay by check, you can still register online! Just click
the appropriate box, and follow the payment instructions.
There will be updates to field trips and other special events as time goes
on, and there will likely be more than one possible geology field trip. The
coordinators will contact you with that information once it's released if
you've already registered, so go ahead and sign up if you like.
Please feel free to share this email with any caver listserv as well, and
forward to your caver friends.
There is also a group facebook page for MayaCon 2012 that will keep you
updated with news as the year goes on.
Info on Pre- and Post- camps will also be posted on the website soon. So
please stay tuned!!
Any questions? Check the website and find the person that may be best
suited to answer your question and pop them an email!
Want to see what there is to do in the Greenbrier Valley besides caving?
Visit www.greenbrierwv.com <http://www.greenbrierwv.com/>
Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming OTR, VAR,
and hopefully TAG---this year's OTR theme is a great warm up for MayaCon
2012 too, so bring your Mayan costumes!!
Jeff Bray and John Pearson
MayaCon 2012 Co-Chairs
__,_._,___
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
SWR mailing list
[email protected]
http://caver.net/mailman/listinfo/swr_caver.net
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I found the recent OT discussion about VoIP phone service very interesting, since I, too, have been interested in getting such a service, hopefully one that would be cost effective enough for me to dump my overpriced traditional telephone service. I haven't actually used any of the VoIP alternatives yet, but here is what I've learned thus far.
I tried the $139.99 www.woot.com link that Louise provided and found that it was for a refurbished Ooma device with VoIP service, but the ad also said that it was sold out. In a subsequent message, Terry Plemons said, "Its $40.00 at Best Buy. You need only an internet connection." but did not specify what device or service was $40.00 at Best Buy. I stopped by Best Buy in Austin yesterday (Friday) and found that the Ooma device with VoIP service was currently sale priced at $200 and that the regular price was listed as $250.
The Ooma device apparently is designed to provide wired telephone service over the Internet. You plug your existing landline telephone into a telephone connector on the Ooma device (instead of plugging the telephone into a traditional phone line), and you use an Ethernet cable to connect the Ooma device to your existing high-speed Internet service (either a DSL modem or a cable modem, depending on which type of Internet service you use). Since Ooma connects directly to the Internet (not to your computer), it should work even if your computer is off, disconnected, or nonexistent. The purchase price of this device is relatively high compared with some of its competitors, because it includes "lifetime" service and does not require any monthly or yearly fee (unless they convince you to buy their "Premier" service). In order for it to work, however, you still will have to buy high-speed Internet service somewhere, so you still will have to pay some ISP for that.
From what I've read about Ooma, it's supposed to have exceptionally good sound quality for a phone service, but as you might expect, high quality requires a high data rate. According to the requirements I've seen in the fine print of Ooma ads and on the box, it requires high-speed Internet service with "minimum 256Kbps upstream" data rate. At first glance, this doesn't look very demanding, since even the slowest "high-speed" Internet services advertise data rates faster than that. The problem is that the prominently advertised data rates of most Internet services are downstream (not upstream) rates, and when you read the fine print, you find that their claims for upstream rates are much lower than for their downstream rates and that for some of the cheaper "high-speed" Internet services, the claimed upstream rates are less than Ooma's required minimum. Furthermore, when you read the fine print from most ISPs even more carefully, you find that their claimed data rates are not guaranteed minimums, but are actually upper bounds on what they might provide. They typically advertise data rates "up to" some appealing value. What they actually provide can vary, and in some cases, may be significantly less than what customers think they are buying. The bottom line is that not all "high-speed" Internet services meet Ooma's stated minimum requirement, and if you are trying not to pay any more than necessary for Internet service, you might find that it's not easy to determine which services will or won't be adequate for Ooma.
One alternative suggested by Terry Plemons and Fritz Holt is magicJack. The initial cost of magicJack is much less than that of Ooma, but it requires a computer and involves a small yearly service fee. The magicJack device costs about $40 and includes the first year's service. Subsequent service costs about $20 per year. The magicJack device plugs into a USB port on your existing computer and uses your computer to access the Internet through your existing "high-speed" Internet service. The device has a telephone jack, into which you can plug in any ordinary land line telephone. A major difference between magicJack and Ooma is that magicJack depends on your computer to operate and, hence, only works when your computer is running and connected to the Internet. The last time I checked, magicJack was supposed to work with Windows computers and with Intel based Macintoshes, but would not work with the older PowerPC based Macs. I'm not sure what Internet service data rates are required to support magicJack. I'm hoping that its upstream data rate requirement might be less demanding than that of Ooma, but, thus far, I've not found that specified.
I see now that magicJack is also offering a free download of some VoIP software called magicTalk, which is advertised to provide "free calls to US phone numbers and other magicTalk/magicJack users anywhere in the world". This is labeled as a "BETA" version and appears to be something very new. I just discovered it on the Internet tonight and don't know much about it yet.
There also has been some early information released about a new device called magicJack Plus, which is supposed to be a new improved version of magicJack which is similar to Ooma in that it does not require a computer and can connect directly to your Internet service via an Ethernet cable. The preliminary information I read indicated that this new device with first year's service would cost about $50 (only $10 more than the original magicJack) and that subsequent service would still cost $20 per year. I'm not sure whether magicJack Plus is actually available for purchase yet or whether it is still in the testing phase.
That's about all I've been able to find on this topic thus far. I hope some of you will find it helpful and that the rest won't find it too boring. If any of you have additional information or actual experience with how well any of these VoIP services work in combination with which types of "high-speed" Internet services, I'd like to hear from you, perhaps off list if you think it's too OT for Texascavers. (Notice that in reality, most Texascavers subscribers don't object to, and sometimes even participate in, OT discussions when they find them interesting. The complaints begin whenever people get bored, or worse yet, whenever someone feels offended by what someone else says. Then even genuinely cave related topics are liable to get denounced as OT, so use your own judgement about how far to continue this genuinely OT thread on Texascavers, unless ..., perhaps, you can find a way to relate it to cave telephones. ;-)
Rod
-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Plemons
Sent: Aug 12, 2011 1:22 PM
To: Louise Power
Cc: [email protected], Texas Cavers , [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
Its $40.00 at Best Buy. You need only an internet connection.
On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Louise Power wrote:
> I don't know anything about the device or the service, but I just saw it
> on www.woot.com for $139.99. In addition, they have the world's coolest
> t-shirts.
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:55:00 -0500
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]; [email protected]
> Subject: [Texascavers] OT - VoIP Phone service
>
>
> Do any of you us VoIP phone service? I really need a home phone because my
> cell service here is horrible. But, I do not want to give Verizon $100 a
> month for a home phone.
>
> Thanks.
> Sheryl
>
|
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
We have a 32" CRT Sony TV in working condition with converter box for anyone
interested in the Austin area. It is a table top unit but very heavy.
Located in Rolling Oaks near Terry Raines.
RonMiller
512-694-4611
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Wanted: Disto-X
----- Original Message -----
From: Arjan van Waardenburg
To: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 3:12 AM
Subject: [Texascavers] Wanted: Disto-X
Anybody out there, who wants to sell (preferably), lend or rent me one (or
more) Disto-X ?
I tried to obtain a number of Disto-Y (= conversion board for a Leica Disto DXT
(Disto D210XT in the United States)) for an expedition to search and map
lavatubes on Mount Kilimanjaro. Due to problems in development of these, they
will not be delivered in time.
So I have to resort to the old Disto-X (= conversion board for a Leica Disto
A3), which are no longer in production, so I want to buy (or lend or rent) a
few second hand. Tear and wear is no problem, but must be in good working
order. If it comes with auxiliary equipment (e.g. Palm, tripod, transport box),
I will be happy to buy (or rent) that too.
Anybody who can help me?
Regards,
Arjan van Waardenburg
Samuel de Langestraat 35
5654 GE Eindhoven
Netherlands
Phone:+31 (040) 251 0736
Mobile: +31 (06) 4804 8607
Fax: +31 (084) 721 1884
[email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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