Costa Daily News

SwapThing.com, the leading online system for trading goods and services, is prepared to go international. After nine months of operating solely within the United States and Canada, SwapThing is listening to the demand from swappers around the globe.  The website has now opened for business to an international audience.

VoIP is a word you've probably heard flying around a lot recently, but what exactly is it? VoIP stands for Voice over IP, but is sometimes also referred to as Internet Telephony or IP Telephony. VoIP is a means of carrying voice signals over an IP-based network like the Internet or a LAN. All you need to use it is a VoIP device (like a computer with VoIP software installed) and a network connection or broadband Internet access.

Communication Matters

Telephone and Internet for Everyone

I would guess the first question to be answered is "why it is so difficult to get a normal telephone line in your house or office?"

Well, here are some reasons (there are others) :

1. The telephone network here in Malaga was designed many years ago. It was sized to cope with the population demands of the time with spare capacity to grow at normal rates. What happened was 3 million foreign people and a few 1,000 new companies came to Malaga and all wanted a telephone line.

2. The terrain and the constant construction is also a major issue. Telefonica would have to spend millions in road digging, laying cables and would have to drill through some very big mountains (for inland) to install new cables to deliver the connectivity to all the houses. Without a "return on investment" this is not a viable option for any company.

3. The majority of people that have houses here in Malaga do not live here full time, Telefonica could never expect to make a "return on the investment" - if you are not here you do not use the telephone, which means they make no profit (simple economics).

Interactive Voices are voice-over agency in America and is a busy hub of podcast voice-over activity, everyone from indie podcasters, to large companies are all looking for a signature voice to host and or provide a professional feel for their podcast.  Now using the Interactive Voices website podcasters will be able to find, audition, and hire voice-over talent within a matter of minutes.  This valuable podcasting service organizes responses online with demos and quotes from a variety of qualified voice over artistes while sorting and promptly identifying the voices that are most suited to their needs and that vocally match the overall vision of the podcast.

Don`t get fooled this Valentine’s day.

February is a busy time for email messages and hidden amongst some of those messages of love this time of year is a fair amount of spam.

We have already seen an increase in email based virus and malware attacks. An email arrives with an attachment, the email appear to come from an admirer with titles like “I Love You Because”, “Sent with Love” and many more, These are just a number ways to trick you into opening a virus or Trojan file and infect your computer. Once opened the file takes control of your computer downloading files and in the really nasty cases captures the data you enter in forms and sends it back to the criminals that are stealing identities.

Some rules to follow

Only open email attachments that come from a trusted source, make sure your virus program is scanning your emails for Virus and Spyware. If you are not sure who an email is from, delete it without opening it.
Be extremely wary of emails asking for confidential information; confirm suspicious requests before responding in email, look at the email address,

I have my email program set for reading emails in plain text, often I have received a fake email that in HTML mode looks like it was sent from eBay asking me to confirm my details, in text mode it is very obvious that eBay don't use hotmail as their email server.
Even with virus protection and spyware protection if you open a suspect attachment if could already be too late as in some cases a suspect files first job is to disable both the virus and spyware programme on your computer. Once these tools are disabled your personal information is fair game for the hacker.

Should you be having problems contact me, I'll be more than glad to help.

Russell Vaughan – Mintmicro computer repairs – 952596346

Not satisfied with the iPhone’s camera? Wish LG’s Viewty had a larger screen? Think your Nokia looks a bit ordinary? Well, one manufacturer will now make you a handset to order, built from the chipset upwards, with all the features you want, for an eye-popping price.

Just as Dell Computers revolutionised the computer industry with mass-customised factory-direct PCs in the 1990s, a new service by zzzPhone delivers factory-direct custom mobile phones.

Customisation starts with customers choosing a base model and a custom pattern or colour for the mobile phone case; standard features such as a beautiful extra-large touch screen panel and dual SIM card slots are immediate standouts. Next, customers may add various features such as GPS navigation, a second front-facing camera, and even a flashlight. Various upgrades are available as well, such as; 4GB memory, stereo quality speakers, and even a 5 or 7 mega pixel camera with a high quality processor. Customers can also select from a range of accessories such as Bluetooth headsets and handsfree car kits, and can even have their favourite music and movies pre-installed at the factory so their new phone is ready to use when it arrives at the door.

Since zzzPhones are tri-band and unlocked, these phones work with almost any mobile carrier service worldwide. Simply swap the SIM card into a zzzPhone and even pair a second SIM card to allow two phone numbers to be used at the same time on the same phone; especially useful for international travellers and individuals who want to separate business from personal phone expenses.

To make this service even more accessible to the public you can customise your new phone online using Phone builder and see what your customised phone my look like. You can see the new phone builder at our website zzzPhone Phone builder here