I’ve recently dropped my Sidekick for a Motorola Q.  More on that later, but I wanted to let y’all know that I’m no longer on IM basically 24/7.  Now, the best way to reach me is via email, my Grandcentral number (206-428-7973), or my push email account of m y k o l e a r y A T m a i l 2 w e b D O T c o m for the more urgent of needs.

I am on MSN IM occasionally on it and can jump on at any point, but I’m afraid I haven’t found a good AIM alternative that is free or cheap yet.  If you know of one that is as great as Agile Messenger but not quite as spendy, please let me know.

Sorry to all those who are getting tired of only seeing my links.  I’ve been remiss in communicating for quite a while.  I apologize.  I think it’s because I felt that I wasn’t really reaching many people (no offense to those reading… )

I came up with a solution to save this blog and to reach the masses all at once - I started a new blog on Lockergnome called Tech Time (Chris’ reach is tremendous).

How is starting another blog going to save this one?  Well, because that one will have the more in depth posts that I have boiling inside me for tips, tricks, etc.  This one will remain the home of Myk and will continue to have my photos, links, and reviews.  It will also have the personal posts I used to have.  If you want the more in depth posts, go over there.  For some foreshadowing, read my intro post.

Welcome back to content, and amble over there and let me know what you think.

Most of you who read this blog know that I work for Network Magic (formerly known as Pure Networks). Well, we’ve been laboring hard over here for the past couple months and have some great news: we just released a new version today.

Some hilights:
1) FREE. We now have a free version of Network Magic that has a subset of features always available. If you’re a trialer, you’ll get a trial of the premium version that will turn into the basic version at the trial expiry. This basic version is free and still has some amazing features of it’s own.
2) Wireless network security and management. We now make it easy to kick wifi intruders off of your network. You can also choose to let Network Magic manage your wifi connections for ease of use.
3) Network health & security alerts. We monitor various tension points of your PCs and Network and give you an overall view of your network’s health. Do you have out of date anti-virus? Are you up to date on Windows Update critical patches? Do you have an open wifi network?
4) Access your web cameras. If you have a network web camera or a usb based web camera connected to your Net2Go server, you can now view live still shots or video (depending on your camera type and browser used) from those cameras by logging into your Net2Go site.
5) RSS feeds. Now, all Net2Go sites support RSS. You can subscribe to a site level feed that keeps you current on new shares that have been added to the Net2Go site you’re monitroing. You can also subscribe to individual shares so that as new content is added to those shares by the Net2Go owner, all RSS subscribers will see it in their reader/aggregator.
* Certain portions of some of these features may require specifc routers, go to NetworkMagic.com for more details.

There’s more to this update than just what I have above. Remember, I’m a developer, not a marketer so I’m putting out there what I love about it most. Everyone has different joys. Download it and find your own!!

Also, we still have our company blog (Network Garage) if you’d like to subscribe to it and keep up to date on everything we’re doing, as well as general home networking topics.

I have been waiting for this announcement for so long, I can only hope that it truly becomes a reality.

I once went to a movie and had all the ills befall me in one movie (I guess that’s what I get for trying to get a night out alone…) I had big hair sit in front of me during the quiz so I moved; during the previews Mr. cowboy hat sat down in front of so I shuffled over two seats; after about half an hour, a group of folks in the back were shouting at the characters like they could be heard; and right at the climax, someone got a call - and TOOK it!

Theaters may ask to jam cell phones
(Reuters):

Reuters - Movie theater owners faced with
falling attendance are considering asking federal authorities
for permission to jam cell phone reception in an attempt to
stop annoying conversations during films, the head of the
industry’s trade group said on Tuesday.

(Via Yahoo! News: Odd News.)

I just got a TMO phone (the Samsung x495) and activated service on their prepaid network.  I was talking to the rep to be clear on pricing, and she said t-zones access was free for whatever I could access.  Sweet!  Only problem is that pressing the t-zones button got me network unavailable.  I did some quick Googling and found a link to this T-Mobile customer service application in this thread at  the Mobiledia forums.

Click click click on the web site; recieve WAP message; click click click on the phone.  Whammy!  T-Zones access.

And hey, no yammering about having a crappy carrier, phone, or being weak for using prepaid.  I’m paying a lot less for my coverage than you are!  Unless of course you too are on TMO, in which case, hope you enjoy the tip.

The company I work for, Pure Networks, released Network Magic to the public this morning.

Network Magic makes management of a home network much simpler and provides a much easier way to setup Windows networking for sharing files and printers.

It shows the status of your network and all connected devices through a Network Map that is very easy to read:

Besides sharing files and printers, you can also detect wifi signal strength of any wireless device from any PC running Network Magic. You can track and defend against wireless intruders. It will also throw your computer into a “shields up” mode when you roam off your home network and protect your shares from other devices on the roamed onto network until or unless you tell it not to.

I might be a little biased, but I wouldn’t write up an entry suggesting you go download it unless I absolutely believed in it myself. It solves so many of my home networking problems; I think it can do the same for you.

From RCR:

The GSM Association (GSMA) announced plans to upgrade the system they use to track stolen GSM cell phones. Each GSM phone has a unique IMEI number (akin to a NIC card’s MAC address.)

When carriers get a report of a stolen phone, they can feed the information into this DB, which is available to all other carriers. They can then deny service to a phone which has been blacklisted.

Pretty much all cell phone makers support the plan and teh system. On the thieves side are LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

If you plan to get a GSM phone, go with another carrier listed in the article. That way we can help put a stop to theft of phones. There’s no incentive to steal a phone that can’t be used or sold…