My Mouse Isn't Working

My dad, a network engineer, passed this along to me. He also does some tech support and sometimes he comes across emails like this. Check this out... especially if you have ever had to explain how to do computer related things to people that...just... didn't get it!

Caller: Hi, our printer is not working. Customer Service: What is wrong with it ? Caller : Mouse is jammed.. Customer Service: Mouse ? Printers don't have a mouse you fool! Caller: Mmmmm ? ? .. Oh really ?... I will send a picture. Scroll down........

YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA PASS THIS ALONG. . . . . . . .

Skype on Verizon Blackberrys and Google Phones

This is huge! I read this as I was looking up some information on the Google Phone. It originally from www.pcworld.com...

I'm not sure if this is just an intriguing partnership or a major moment in phone history. But at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Verizon Wireless and Skype announced that they're working together to bring Skype to nine BlackBerry and Android phones on the Verizon network. A version of Skype Mobile will be available next month, permitting free Skype-to-Skype calls, chatting, and Skype Out calls to any phone number, including cheap international rates. And it'll all be done using flat-rate data plans rather than phone minutes.

There's nothing inherently historic about Skype being available on phones -- it's on the iPhone (albeit over Wi-Fi only right now) and I first used the service on a Windows Mobile handset years ago. (Only briefly, though -- it taxed the phone to the breaking point, and voice quality was pretty miserable.)

But a major carrier such as Verizon not only grudgingly permitting Skype but buddying up with it as a selling point for its phones is an interesting twist. I look forward to trying Skype Mobile on my Droid when it's available. And I have a few questions in the meantime...

Is there any integration with the phones' standard phone features? Say, access to the phone address book from within Skype? Or-dare I wish for it-the ability to route all calls through Skype, as Google's Google Voice app permits on BlackBerry and Android handsets? (Yes, I know that Google Voice isn't comparable to Skype-it uses phone minutes, and Skype doesn't)

How well does it work for incoming calls? Skype Mobile can run in the background, and I presume that you can use a Skypein phone number to permit people to dial a standard phone number and reach you in Skype. But does all this work smoothly enough that you could comfortably use Skype to take calls rather than the phone's standard phone features?

How's the quality? As good as a standard cell call? Better?

Are there any gotchas? On paper, this whole deal sounds...suspiciously enticing. The better Skype Mobile works, the more likely it is that lots of Verizon customers will do most (or all?) of their calling using it. Even if Skype cut Verizon in on any revenue it made, that couldn't be good for Verizon's bottom line.

Is a computer masculine or feminine?

My dad sent me this and I was rollin!

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. "House" for instance, is a feminine: "la casa." "Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz,"

A student asked, "What gender is a "computer?" Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval.

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador") because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.

2. They have a lot of data, but still can't think for themselves.

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem.

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

(THE WOMEN WON)

8 Foot Multi-Touch Display Wall

This is SO sick!!!

Sell Your Gadgets Online

So I was listening to some online news and I ran across this new thing call Gazelle. It's an awesome web site that is widely known and admired because you can take your technology junk that's lying around in your house and sell it online! They ask you a few questions and then they give you a quote online. They even pay for shipping and handling :)

Check it out http://www.gazelle.com/