Union Maine

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A Dream of Heaven for Right to Work States

Someone who hates Unions must have thought this one up. If the Japanese employees are willing to put up with this, how long before they try it here? RFID technoloyg is growing fast and the need to wear a company badge would take care of reading where you are.

Read the whole post at CrunchGear.com.

After paying $21,000, factory management can simultaneously monitor the activities of up to 30 workers and then analyze and visualize the data collected (fee for a 3-day-analysis). Each worker has to wear a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor at the ankle and a mini video camera in the shirt pocket.

DSS also .......able to locate the workers, record their activity .....

Follow the link for the rest of the scary post at CrunchGear.com

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Have some fun, maybe lower your phone bill, Check out Magic Jack

No politics, just a short article on a toy we have all seen on TV, Magic Jack. Will the MagicJack work? Will it lower your bills? Yes and maybe. I am in the IT field and my job is telecommunications so I couldn’t hold out any longer. I spent $39.95 at CVS for the MagicJack and started playing.

If you’ve tried other PC-to-phone services, MagicJack is definitely in the running.

Installation and do you need to be a Geek?

Image via Wikipedia

90% of all installations will go smoothly, half of the rest will require light Geeking and a trip to tech support (on line chat) There will be some part of the remaining 5% that will require knowledge of terms like UDP, TCP, Port forwarding, VPN and firewalls along with a good grasp of very short meaningful words and phrases.

Buy a MagicJack online or pick one up at CVS, Radio Shack, Staples and more. When you get your Magic Jack you’ll be able to install it and start making phone calls in minutes, except for the small minority of people that will scare spouses and children once the frustration level peaks.

In the package you get the Magic Jack USB device and a short USB extension cord you can use if your USB ports are too crowded to fit another device next to another port. MJ is small, about 2-1/2 inches long by 1-3/8 inches wide, and 3/8 of an inch thick.

Plug the MJ into a USB port in your computer or laptop. You could have problems if you use a USB hub unless it is AC powered. If you have too many USB devices it can run your PC short of power as all USB ports share a single power source and then you will need to buy a powered hub, but that is not a fault with the MagicJack.

After the first step the MJ will do nearly everything for you, after all, it is magic. Step one: Plug it in. It will take a minute or two to load and download the software to make it work with your computer.

You’ll see a picture of the MagicJack; you get several messages while the software is loading, then the “soft phone” screen which will live on your desktop. You can minimize the soft phone screen when you’re not using your internet phone for calling, but be prepared for it to pop to the front any time you receive or make a call. This can be annoying but can be lived with.

How do I use the Soft Phone?

The Soft Phone is especially useful if you decide to use a headset with a microphone in place of a regular telephone. You can use the Soft Phone to dial a number, or use any phone that you have connected to the MJ. While MJ advertises Caller ID, it will only pop up names for numbers you have listed in your contacts. You get free Voice Mail and 411 service through Free411. The Free411 service works fairly well but in Maine cannot tell the difference between Hampden and Hampton. If you don’t mind the ads the free 411 is worth it.

The Soft phone screen and the rectangle on the left may contain paid advertising in the future, but as long as I can use the phone without responding to an ad I’m OK with that. During installation you will be prompted for an address to assign your 911 location. You will have to put something in there and remember that if you move or have your laptop somewhere else, the 911 information being sent should be updated or the ambulance could show up 3000 miles away.

The 911 info is also the way MJ decides what area code to assign. WARNING Mainers, and users in other States, your area code may not be available and this could cause your next door neighbor to pay a toll call from a cell phone or landline just to call you. There is currently no 207 area code available. If MJ picks a wrong area code you are allowed one free change so be prepared to change it to somewhere useful. If your family or friends are in Florida you can have a number from Florida that may end up a local call for your friends.

How does the price compare to other services?

MJ costs $40.00 out the door and about $20 for a year of service. The first year is free with purchase. Skype is about $30 a year. Vonage is about $500 per year. Nuff said?

What does it sound like? Will I sound like I am calling from Mars?

VoIP always gets some negative reviews for sound quality. The quality is far better than expected, good enough to send faxes and free for long distance. At $19.95 a year, live with it as that is the current state of the art with VoIP. I don’t think there are any measurable differences with MJ compared to any other service.

Tech Support?

There are no numbers you can call, but there is an online live chat service. It is exactly what you expect for under $2.00 a month, but in most cases you will get an answer 24x7.

Customer Service?

I don’t think they included that one.

I like the MJ and you can get a 30-day free trial, although I recommend Staples where you can get a refund if returned in 14 days and you won’t pay shipping for a return.

What do I get With MagicJack?

You could get, A phone number with your area code, (not yet in Maine)

If you choose an area code outside of Maine you may get to choose from several local exchanges in your chosen area code, further reducing the cost for friends to call you.
Free voicemail. The voicemail feature works even if MJ is not connected to a PC, if you remember to set it up. It is not automatic.

Portability. It is only a little bigger than a thumb drive and you can carry it with you. You can use a laptop, a friend’s pc and when in a hotel you won’t have to pay roaming charges on your cell phone or the huge hotel per-call fees as long as you have an internet connection. You can plug the hotel phone into MJ or just carry a headset with microphone with you.
Unlimited calling within Canada and the United States.

With MagicJack as long as you are connected to the internet and can plug in, if someone calls you, your phone rings. Do you have kids that tie up a line at home? A second line for your kids is cheap with MJ.

The MagicJack is a great way to save your cell phone minutes, especially for those of you with no landline.

Downside……You Could Also Get

A higher electric bill, to use Magic Jack, your computer needs to be turned on. No computer, no calls. Incoming will go to your free voice mail if your PC is turned off but only if you remember to set it up. No power, no internet, means no Magic Jack.
Magic Jack as good as the rest, most of the time, but the forums will tell you that it can be unreliable at times. The problems seem to be related to a rapid growth, not an unwillingness to invest in infrastructure.

Summary is it worth it?

There is nothing cheaper than Magic Jack if you are going to use VoIP. It is easiest VoIP solution to install. If you are a beginner MJ will make the installation and use painless and if you are a professional there are a number of other features and tweaks that are not covered here that you will discover on your own. For VoIP, Magic Jack, while not perfect, is at least equal to the rest and at an unbeatable price. Top of Form

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Friday, July 3, 2009

Palin Resigning, Won't Seek 2nd Term as Alaska Gov.

Image by Image Editor via Flickr

Palin Resigning, Won't Seek 2nd Term as Alaska Gov.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made an announcement Friday that she is resigning from office on July 26. No explanation was given. The guessing game is on, is she quitting to run for the White House in the 2012 race?

The ~~failed~~ former Republican vice presidential candidate called a hasty news conference Friday morning at her home in Wasilla, giving only time enough for a few reporters to make it to the announcement. Her spokesman Dave Murrow refused to give details about the governor's future plans or reasons for quitting.

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," Palin said in a prepared statement released by her office.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the end of the month. The governor to be, said he was only told on Wednesday evening.

Palin, elected in 2006 has found her popularity plummeting mostly due to the local partisan politics she has brought back to here home state on her return from the presidential campaign. Her current term would have ended in 2010.

Palin said she planned to make a "positive change outside government," Editor: Palin being outside of any government is a positive change.

I also have to agree with (comment clipped with extreme prejudice) her comment on twitter “this is in Alaska's best interest”….Stay tuned"

Palin's short notice is seen as another blow to the (everybody’s doing it) Republican Party reeling from the destruction of two other possible 2012 presidential hopefuls, affairs by Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina’s Argentine lover Gov. Mark Sanford.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Union Seamen Too Expensive

Image via Wikipedia

The American Union seamen tossed pirates off the ship.

The sad truth corporate spokesman Bligh said is that the Union help was just too expensive.

They cost too damn much what with expecting benefits, pay, and even funeral expenses if they were dumb enough to get killed! They just had to go.

It would have been far cheaper to have just paid off the pirates and gotten the ship to port on time.

This was just another publicity stunt. The only way they did it was with long practice being Union thugs.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

I'll Drink to that

6/29/09

New Hampshire, What did they do?

The State of New Hampshire passed a budget by a narrow margin last week. The budget is for $11.5 billion for the two-year plan, starting July 1.

Things are so bad in NH that even an income tax is looking good to some voters. Like Maine, programs and services suffer; and the hunt for alternative revenue starts to look like a drunken party game where no one is laughing.

Legislators settled on a mix of fees, increased tobacco taxes and cuts to come up with a something both sides could vote for. Like Maine, except for Bangor, they rejected the expansion of gambling and an increase in the gas tax.

In Maine we could have told them how to pass gambling. Refuse to let natives or in Maine’s case native Americans run a casino which would have kept all the money in Maine then allow an out of state firm to ship 50$,000,000.00 a year to Connecticut.

Funds from a gas tax could have paid for bridges and roads. New Hampshire’s gas tax was last increased in 1992. The wealthy have again refused to pay a faire share and their worshippers in the legislature voted against higher taxes on the wealthy.

N.H. and ME. have even more in common, State workers. The budget passed Gov. Lynch to cut the labor bill by $25 million, through layoffs, furloughs or other means.

State employees have already seen 200 layoffs announced, but to cut the budget by $25,000,000.00 the total could reach to an additional 750 layoffs. The following announcement was posted on the SEIU 1984 website.

Governor Lynch's public statements about the Budget have included discussion of additional state employee layoffs. If you receive a notice of layoff or transfer, contact the SEA immediately at 271-3411. The ability of SEA staff to assist you will vary according to several factors -- one key factor is how quickly you contact the union after receiving notice. So please do not delay; contact the SEA immediately if you receive a notice of layoff or transfer.

The courts: The budget will force cutbacks of both employees and hours and will threaten public safety while delaying justice.

At least N.H. still has State liquor stores which will expand to provide more revenue to the State. When does the time run out on the outsourcing of State revenue in Maine end? Can we bring our liquor stores back into the revenue stream?

Attacking State employees is an old trick. It is a trick that can’t solve the N.H. budget crisis and did nothing to solve the problem in Maine. What gimmick will the Republicans insist on next time around?

Don’t think your pensions are safe, the Repubs are salivating over what have worked a life time to earn.

There are many ways to get at your retirement and only one way to protect it. Get involved, get your family involved and let the legislative critters know you vote.

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But Wait, there is no more.

Note: Late Post, I have no idea why this did not go out last week.

Image by kowitz via Flickr

Superstar of the Infomercials Billy Mays died at his Tampa, Florida, home Sunday morning.

Billy Mays is pitching health insurance hahahaha!

Image by Roscoe Van Damme via FlickrImage by Roscoe Van Damme via Flickr

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Union Maine

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A Dream of Heaven for Right to Work States

Have some fun, maybe lower your phone bill, Check out Magic Jack

Friday, July 3, 2009

Palin Resigning, Won't Seek 2nd Term as Alaska Gov.

Palin Resigning, Won't Seek 2nd Term as Alaska Gov.

Friday, July 3, 2009