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new version of AIM available

You can now download AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) version 7…
Now, there is a “dock” feature which will allow AIM to be next to all windows at all times.
It looks like Bebo will be the service partner for profile information of AIM users.
The “Lifestream” service will all you to “Get updates from all your social networks and let your friends see your updates too…Set up Lifestream SMS Alerts and receive updates from your AIM Buddies wherever they are online…Activating allows AIM Lifestream to send text messages to your phone and you’ll never miss what your Buddies are doing!” Some of the supported services are: Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube.
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TV commercials too loud?…

{Updated 2009 September 19}
One of the things I have always hated is that television commercials can be louder than the program I was watching. If it happens during a show I want to watch (all of), I’ll mute the entire commercial break or switch to a different channel until the break is over. If it’s just a show that I have on, I might not return to the channel after I have left it…
I’ve never understood how many television receivers were made without audio leveling functionality as a standard feature, or a button on the remote control to allow for quick and easy lowering of the volume for when these horrible practices of presentation were on.
The Toshiba 46XV545U 46″ REGZA 1080p LCD HDTV (J&R Item # TOS 46XV545U) has StableSound…and a mute/half-mute function! It’s listed as a “Clearance Item” with “Limited Availability” for $1,099.97…so there’s no telling how long this will be around.
Kmart has a 26-inch LCD TV with HDMI unit (135000TOS-26HL67, Model# TOS-26HL67), with StableSound, for $712.49
And the least expensive TV I was able to find with StableSound is a Toshiba 15DLV77 15″ LCD TV with Built-In DVD Player (Model: 2009304) for $229.00
We can put a man on the moon and watch it on television, and watch Michael Jackson “moonwalk” across the TV screen, but ads like “We Love the Subs” for Quiznos need a leash.
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…and a press release:

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And, I recently received a message from SRS Labs:
“Right now you can find it in various models, most notably Samsung and Vizio TVs. It can also be found in Vizio soundbars.”
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be a game tester for Sony Playstation

The show will be on the PlayStation Network, and it will be called “The Tester”. The job will be in San Diego, California in the Sony Computer Entertainment’s Quality Assurance department.
You must be at least 21 years old, and legally eligible to work in…and a current resident of…the United States of America. There’s an online form that needs to be completed at http://www.us.playstation.com/PSN/thetester
In addition, you need to upload a video (MP4 or MOV, under 100 MB max, under 5 minutes long, and at least 640 x 480) and a picture (JPEG/JPG, and under 5 MB).
If you become a contestant, let us know!
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TCP/IP not secure in Windows 2000 and XP

As usual, when it comes to computing, we go forward and not backward…
Over the past week I have disposed of many electronic devices because…they are old. They worked, but no longer in “supported” scenarios: with current operating systems, with current connections (parallel printer/serial ports), etcetera.
I am not surprised, and expect this attitude…until I remember that netbooks are being released with Windows XP as the operating system! And I had been seriously considering getting one…
For other computers, in regards to their hardware and software, it’s time to evaluate whether Windows Vista (or 7) will be compatible. (As well as some version of Linux…)
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ARRL conducts emergency communications exercises

Before there was Prodigy, CompuServe, America Online…and the internet…there has been amateur radio.

(I ask that you indulge me as I reminisce.) To paraphrase the Henry Hill character from the movie Goodfellas, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a ham…” I never was able to have the money, time, and help. There was a time where I owned and operated at least eight Citizen Band (CB) radios, though. I remember my call sign that was issued by the Federal Communications Commission, and I might still be able to “tweak” a system. I miss my D-104…

This year, the main American Radio Relay League Simulated Emergency Test weekend is October 3-4. It is a nationwide exercise in emergency communications. I encourage all to consider amateur radio as a hobby (if not for yourself, for a younger person): computer equipment reliability, internet service, commercial power service, and telephone service are beyond your control.

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