Tag Archive for 'magic jack'

Circle This Day, I Was Wrong – Twice. Magic Jack Didn’t Die and My Ab Wasn’t What I Thought.

Published on February 6, 2010 in Baby Boomer. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .


I’ve been listening to Rex Havens – a Christmas gift – and he’s a funny guy. He notes that in understanding women, there are only two lies a woman will tell to a man:
“Whatever makes you happy” and “Fine!”

Otherwise, the man is always wrong, and should never stop saying “I’m sorry.”

Those are the only things I’ve learned about men and women which are always true.

Love does not mean you never have to say you’re sorry.

If you’re a husband, love means you never STOP saying you’re sorry.

Love means a husband should start off each day with an apology before he even gets out of bed . . . for anything he did wrong in her dream. Because most every husband has been punished for fun he did not even have!!

This day I was wrong twice, but it had nothing to do with marriage – thank goodness.

First, remember when I thought I found an ab?
Wrong.

It was the bacon rising to the surface.

The second time was when I did a computer scan and restart and Magic Jack seemed to have died.

I almost just unplugged it and remained satisfied that I had a good run and didn’t pay that much for it anyway. But before I gave up, I gave it a half-assed hearted attempt to revive it.

Kind of like the commercial where the bunny is dead and the teacher rubs his hair with balloons to defibulate the critter.

First I reseated the USB plug. That’s tech talk for unplugged it and plugged it back in the same port.

Same message.

I got busy doing some meaningful things. (Buying new pants because my other pants are all too large! and releasing my inner Mark Phelps by doing some lap swimming!)

Next time I sat down and fired up the computer, Magic Jack tried to launch again and somehow their home page launched. There was an upgrade link, so I clicked it and Voila.

Magic Jack is still working like a charm.

Turns Out Magic Jack is a Cell Phone Tower!

Published on January 8, 2010 in Baby Boomer. 6 Comments Tags: , , .

Magic Jack, the doodad that lets you talk free via your computer can function like a cell phone tower.

A really, really short cell tower.
The gizmo is called a femtoJack.

Magic Jack has purred away on my computer for a lotta months and I’m pleased when I have to make a call to Boompa in Bangalore to troubleshoot why my four-year old Dell won’t run Windows 7 from a flash drive.

The new Magic Jack uses radio frequencies for which cellular carriers have paid billions of dollars for exclusive licenses.

Bwahahahahaha, you gotta love it. Magic Jack is sticking it to phone companies again!

YMax Corp., will start selling the gizmo in about four months for $40.

The size of a deck of cards, it plugs into a PC, which needs a broadband Internet connection. The device then detects when a compatible cellphone comes within a few feet and places a call to it. You enters a short code on the phone. The phone is then linked to the Magic Jack and, as long as it’s within range (they say about 3,000 square foot coverage.)
Magic Jack routes the call itself, over the Internet, and not going through the carrier’s cellular tower. No minutes are subtracted from the user’s account with the carrier.
There is a downside, it’s only GSM compatible… meaning AT&T and T-Mobile.

The FCC may come knocking at your door, but Magic Jack swears the gizmo is legal because wireless spectrum licenses don’t extend into the home.

Magic Jack Feed Back

Published on January 28, 2008 in Baby Boomer and Technology. 606 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I got the Magic Jack phone doo-dad today, and it works like a charm!

It’s about the size of a Tic-Tac box with a cable attached. One end of the cable has a phone jack connection, the other end has a USB connection. Plug in the phone, plug into the Magic Jack and wait for the software to install.

I had a glitch on that last part. The software wouldn’t auto-install because I had that feature turned off as a security measure.

They had a link on their website for Magic Fix which I ran a couple times before the installer finally launched.

The only drawback is the limited number of area codes to choose from as your “home” number. I picked Boca Raton, Florida because I’d like to live there.

Since we intend to us it only for outgoing long distance calls, it’s a non-issue.

I attached a cheapo phone and the quality of the call was excellent. No echo, no delay, no static. It was a better quality call than using our cordless landline. Far better than any Skype call.

Don’t call me, I’ll call you – free.

Leave your phone number in my comments, an area that is kind of like a toilet stall.

UPDATE: During the install, the set up for Magic Jack changes your default external sound. If you want your speakers to work, go into the control panel change the default for sound to your speakers.

My friend got his and ran into the same installation difficulties as I did. This is not plug and play – or even plug, run install, and play. It requires running upgrades and their “fixer” program and trial and error.

UPDATE 2: I went to their website and looked at the reviews and I don’t think these folks are scammers because of the glowing review from (among others) PC Mag.

UPDATE 3: Scariest story yet:

In short, it not only has one agree to ads with its paid-for system, but claims that the ads are necessary for it to work. It will also snoop on your calls to target ads more accurately, and has you sign away your legal right to take it to court if it defrauds or otherwise harms you. Delightful.

It gets sexier. When you access Magic Jack’s instant web help page, a bizarre series of “compatibility tests” take place first, reporting lies like “Your Magic Jack is functioning properly” even if you don’t have one installed.

UPDATE 4: Nice write up in Twice.com, the official newsletter of the Consumer Electronics Show. They might have spent more time on the customer service angle, however. Thanks Bob.

UPDATE 5: Anybody using Magic Jack with Vista and wireless?  How is that working for you? Easy-Peasy?

UPDATE 6: http://www.magicjack.com/techchat/ is where I found a live chat for tech support. Since I don’t have an issue with Magic Jack, I don’t know how good they are with their support. But it debunks the statement by many that there is no tech support. They may not be good, but they are available!

Gizmo Lets You Talk Free Using Regular Phone

Published on January 24, 2008 in Technology. 10 Comments Tags: , , .

I don’t get paid anything if you use this. Another Boomer is buying one to test and if it works, I’ll be getting one too.

magicjack.jpg

It’s Magic Jack and it plugs into your computer USB port, then you can plug a regular phone into it and make calls anyplace in the world free for the first year.

We messed around with Skype which is also Voice Over Internet Protocol, VOIP, but the phones didn’t work, and talking through the computer mic was iffy. I like the video portion of Skype, but even that was flaky.

To me this is perfect to use when I’m on hold with Bompa in Bangalore because my wireless is ginky. Or when Nancy is negotiating with Humana over the payment of her gut bomb.

I just thought you might want to check it out. They have a 30 day free trial.

Me? I’m letting somebody else do the work.