Free Computer Consultant ………. Daily Insights

There are new video formats on the web all the time, and even some of the old tried and true websites change the way the video is handled. (Even YouTube continues to evolve.)

I like to download videos so that I can watch them uninterrupted and to play later for myself or a family member and not deal with the download time or the bandwidth usage a second time.

You might also guess that I don’t watch many Yahoo! videos, since they seldom play promptly - if at all. And no way I know of to download them.

I just updated my video download page on the website with a great new FireFox add-on that works on every site I have tried except Yahoo!

And it’s so simple to use. Just click the rotating balloon type button next to the address bar. It will come alive if there is a video on the page.

For those of you who wish to use your cell phone indoors, perhaps because you have dumped your land line, this ZBoost Wireless Extender is for you.

I have 2 cell phones, US Cellular because they have great coverage in my geographic area, and Verizon because of the broadband capabilites with my PDA. With my new Google GrandCentral service, I finally have the telecommunications services I have always wanted.

But my office is in the lower level. The US Cellular service works most of the time there, now that I have a Motorola Razor phone; but not always. And the Verizon? That “Can you hear me now?” moron has never been to my county. 10 miles or one hill away from the interstate and service is dismal.

I first looked into cell phone signal boosters (also known as wireless extenders) about 5 years ago. Prices were in the $1000 - $2000 range and you needed some technical know how to figure out what to buy.

But that has all changed with the zBoost Wireless Extenders YX 510-PCS/CEL Dual Band Cell Phone Signal Booster.

This was SO EASY to install and setup. The instructions show just mounting the antennae next to a window, but that is a bit unsightly. Mounting it on the roof is ideal, but be sure to get the optional grounding unit. Since I had a lot to do with the construction of my house, I have conduit from the lower level up to the attic. In minutes I had the antennae mounted and the unit plugged in.

Now, my US Cellular phone has full strength even indoors, and my Verizon phone is good enough to make calls with.

If your office is in a metal building, you likely can’t use your cell phone inside either. I would recommend an exterior mounting of the antennae for you. But once you have this “wireless extender” you will wonder how you ever got along without it.

And the price? Check it out yourself, but I just bought at a price below $300 with a $30 rebate besides.

Wireless Extenders YX 510-PCS/CEL Dual Band Cell Phone Signal BoosterDesigned for consumers, the zBoost cell phone signal booster extends a zBoost Cell Zone for single or multiple users in homes or offices. Dual-Band design covers all phones except Nextel. Package includes everything you need — amplifier base unit, power supply, base unit antenna, low-loss SATV coaxial cable (RG-6), signal antenna and mounting hardware. The omni-directional antennas are easy to orient and receive from multiple cell towers. BENEFITS: zBoost Dual-band model improves all 6 PCS sub-bands and both Cellular sub-bands Increases your indoor cell signal coverage up to 3000 sq feet (Multiply this with optional upgrades) Decreases dropped or missed calls Easy to install comes complete Staying wireless - no cradle or connections to your phone Extends phone battery life (uses less power when signal is stronger) Works with most phones and carriers (maintains network integrity) Manufactured in the USA with the highest quality control (individually calibrated)

A new PC that a client wanted me to setup came with IE7 already installed. Not my choice.

But they wondered where the familiar Internet Explorer desktop icon was. If you customize your desktop, the checkbox is gone from that screen also.

Well, it turns out that this is not a bug, but by design.

If you want the IE7 Desktop Icon, the simple instructions are found here.

It requires a registry change, if you aren’t comfortable with the registry, get help. And always backup the registry first before making any changes to it.

Then right click the desktop and select refresh when done.

Do you have more than one phone?

Would you like to give out one phone number where people call you, they are prompted to announce their name, then a system would call multiple numbers simultaneously to try to find you?

Then, when you answer, you can hear who is calling (and view the caller ID as it’s ringing), decide whether you want to take the call, send it to voice mail, or optionally listen in while the voice mail is being recorded?

When a message is left, you can have an email sent to you with a link taking you straight to the message to play it on your computer.

Have it send you a text message also.

Put a button on your website so that people can call you with their computer - but they won’t know your phone number!

GrandCentral.com is currently in beta, and you need an invite to join. I went to the website to ask for an invite and was successful in finding a number in my local area code that I liked and got started.

Currently the service is free, and I’m sure that will change.

But this service is ultra hot; for a person like me it’s absolutely perfect. I want one voice mail to check (not one for my office, one for my home and one for my cell). When I get a message I want an email so I can listen to it on my laptop wherever I’m at without calling in and navigating an answering system menu.

They even have visual voice mail for web enabled mobile phones.

This service has everything I want. Currently, they don’ t allow porting a phone number to the GrandCentral.com service - but I’m confident they are working on that too.

Check out GrandCentral.com and see if it fits for you.