Sponsor's Message

Next week I'm packing up the contents of my house and workshop and heading south -- and if that weren't enough hassle in itself, I also have to organise to have my postal mail forwarded and get a new phone number.

Since a lot of my business will still be conducted with people in Auckland, I checked out how much it was going to cost me to call from my new location and was shocked to find that, despite advances in telecommunications and fierce competition in the toll market, Telecom wants to charge me 49 cents a minute during peak hours!

Hey, that's significantly more than the price I currently pay to call the USA during peak hours using Telecom's service!

What a rort!

I guess I'll almost certainly be making far more use of email than I do now when dealing with Auckland-based businesses and individuals -- or maybe I'll just suggest that my friends and colleagues move to California :-)

It looks as if I'll also be exploring the many alternatives to Telecom's wallet-bleeding rates so if any of the second-tier telcos want to pitch an offer at me, just use the contact form and I won't consider it to be spamming.

But maybe there's a better way...

Since I will have a DSL connection (at last), it would make a lot of sense to use voice over IP (VOIP) to talk to my Auckland buddies and business connections.

But is there an easy way to use VOIP in such a way that I can dial-out into Auckland from my computer for just a few cents a minute?

Just what are the options (software and hardware) that might let me use a headset plugged into my PC's audio card to dial direct into Auckland or other major NZ metropolitan areas?

Sure, I could use a pre-pay calling card such as the ones sold by Compass and a number of other 2nd-tier telcos, but it would be so much nicer if I could just click on a PC-based address book and utilise my DSL connection for the outgoing call -- and perhaps even receive incoming calls the same way. This would effectively give me two voice lines for the price of one.

In the meantime, please note that Aardvark's publication may be a little erratic next week until I get everything set up in the new house.

Lighten Up
Argh! The Lighten-up cupboard is bare! Come on folks, send me more good links.

But, here's one for this week. If you're going to put your diary online and bitch about life without a job, then why not do it creatively using Macromedia's Flash. (warning, coarse language).

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