Well, I just got word from our Sys Admin that the server was fine and no other reports came in. Near as we can figure out the PHP script got fouled up in Internet Explorer.  I was out of the office and remoted in to send the mail out. I think may have caused the script look that sent out 50+ copies of the email.

The good news is that I think its time to upgrade our entire system and I will be working on that over the next week or two. The new back end CMS will be for more robust and faster to accommodate our growing readership.

Thanks for reading and sorry again if you were eon of our readers who received multiple mailings.

Bill Landon
Founder

I am still looking into the catastrophic email loop that happened on the server earlier. Our Server host is checking logs to see why it spit out 50+ copies. Damn PHP scripts.

Again…sorry.

Sorry...I just sent out our review notice and it appears it replicated about 30 times. I am looking into the issue. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Jabra has been in the mobile phone accessory business for a long time and I have been a fan of their products ever since I bought their first Ear-Gel wired headset for my Nokia phone.  Over the years, they have improved the product line and moved into Bluetooth products.  Having reviewed a number of Bluetooth headsets, I was curious to see how they improved their latest top-of-the-line product, the BT800.

The BT800 is a lightweight (3/4 ounce), small (2.7? x 1.3? x 1?) headset that fits over the ear and has more features than any other Bluetooth headset that I have tried.  The features include:

When Bluetooth (short range, radio frequency communication standard for wireless connectivity) first became available, one of the first devices to take advantage of this new protocol was the cellular phone.  The protocol was perfect for short range use such as synchronizing the phone to your computer, using the phone as a modem, or wireless, hands-free headsets.  I have always been a fan of hands-free headsets.  You could talk on the phone while keeping both hands on the car steering wheel and the earpiece made it easier to hear the person you were talking with.  Not to mention reducing the radiation dangers from holding the phone to your head. 

One of the best reasons to have Bluetooth in a mobile phone is the possibility of using a wireless headset.  However, many people are hesitant to pay $100 or more for a Bluetooth headset.  Especially since many lower price phones are beginning to have Bluetooth as a standard feature, it is hard to justify paying more than half the cost of the phone just for a headset.  Jabra, one of the leading companies in the mobile phone accessory market, has decided to enter the price-sensitive segment of the market with its first entry-level Bluetooth headset.

Bluetooth headset are great for giving a wireless, hands-free connection to your mobile phone, but when I am in the car or office I want a speakerphone.  I want the ability to talk without something in my ear.  I want to talk comfortably without any physical obstruction to my work or driving.  A few mobile phones offer a speakerphone feature, but they almost always have poor performance, weak speaker volume, and poor microphones.  Jabra’s new SP100 Bluetooth Speakerphone brings true hands-free functionality to your car, office, or home.

The SP100 is a 6 ounce, 4.9” x 2.9” x 1.3”, rechargeable Bluetooth speakerphone with a pivoting microphone that gives excellent audio quality and voice pickup.  Most people that I have talked to with the SP100 said that they could hear me clearly.  A couple of people complained about not hearing me clearly or hearing static.  Moving the microphone seemed to fix the problem.  The optimum distance seemed to be 1-2 feet from the microphone.  Adding a noise canceling microphone to this product would have greatly improved its performance.  The volume levels from the 2 Watt, 96 db speaker are good, but I wish it had more amplification since I drive a noisy sports car.  The volume levels should be fine for most cars and environments.  The microphone pivots on a soft, flexible arm for optimum voice pickup.

This is a very appropriate saying with regard to sound isolation. We are often asked questions like: “What can I do to this wall to stop the sound going through to the bedroom on the other side?” It’s almost incomprehensible to people that the wall may not be (and probably isn’t) the only part that is leaking sound to that bedroom. The other parts might well be the floor, the ceiling joists and other shared walls. You could make changes and increase the STC (Sound Transmission Coefficient) dramatically for that wall, but the result might be marginal because the majority of the sound is getting through elsewhere.

In order to deal with sound control one should understand how sound travels. In residential environments it will either be air borne or structure borne. Air borne sound is pretty simple - this is what we hear within the room. A combination of air borne and structure borne approaches need to be considered for sound isolation. One may ask, “But if the room is sealed, isn’t all the air borne sound contained?” To a point the answer is yes, but a ½ inch layer of gypsum is not going to stop 50 Hz, just slow it down (i.e. attenuate) and it could become both an air borne wave and a structure borne vibration in the next room.

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/128699.html

GuruNet Corporation (AMEX: GRU), creators of the Answers.com reference-based search engine, announced the launch of a beta mobile version of its product, accessible at mobile.answers.com. This new version enables users to view Answers.com’s quick, concise facts on their mobile devices, including the TreoTM, the BlackBerryTM, Windows-CETM-based devices, and browser-based telephones.

“Were taking our goal of supplying ‘Answers at Your Fingertips’ pretty literally,” explained Bob Rosenschein, Founder and CEO of GuruNet. “The rapidly increasing use of mobile phones has made the accessibility of reliable reference on the go a natural extension for us. If you communicate on the go and get your e-mail on the go, why not get instant facts on the go?”

This new edition includes all of the reliable reference sources available in the classic version of Answers.com, and has been specially formatted for the smaller screens found on wireless handheld devices.

Franson Technology has released Franson GpsGate, a Windows and PocketPC utility that lets you run many GPS applications using a single GPS. You can create any number of virtual serial ports, simulate a GPS, and log and replay GPS data.

Serious GPS users often have several applications that they want to run simultaneously. Without Franson GpsGate, it’s necessary to shut down one application before beginning another. With Franson GpsGate, you can share one GPS among several applications. Simply create additional virtual serial ports, and most NMEA-enabled GPS applications can connect to them.

With Franson GpsGate, powerboaters and sailors can access their navigation systems and, at the same time, use other GPS software. Car drivers will benefit by being able to switch between their route-planning software and driver’s journal. Amateur pilots can simultaneously access their flight plans and weather data.

Franson GpsGate has a built-in simulator. Define a set of waypoints, and Franson GpsGate will simulate a GPS travelling between those waypoints.

A small handheld device may lead to big improvements in patient care when Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania begins distributing 250 handheld computers to physicians in an effort to improve patient safety and to reduce prescription drug costs.

The personal digital assistants (PDAs) are powered by the industry-leading Epocrates(R) Essentials mobile clinical reference suite. Blue Cross will provide an additional 250 subscriptions to physicians who already have PDAs, giving them instant access to the Essentials suite that includes all of the key decision support applications—drugs, diseases, and diagnostics—required for today’s health care professional, seamlessly integrated at the point-of-care.

The Blue Cross list of covered drugs is available through the Epocrates hand-held drug references designed for the Palm OS and Pocket PC platforms and through the Epocrates Rx Online(TM) reference available for Internet-connected desktop computers. All Epocrates products are easily downloadable via the Internet and are currently used by over 28 percent of Pennsylvania physicians.

Using one feature of the Epocrates Essentials suite, providers can easily check formulary status, prior authorization requirements, alternatives, generic substitutes and quantity limits. Overall, Essentials includes over 3,500 drug monographs, along with adult and pediatric dosing, contraindications and cautions and adverse reactions, and the MultiCheck(R) function capable of checking up to 30 drugs simultaneously for interactions; an infectious disease treatment guide; 1,200 conditions and diagnoses described in extensive detail, with signs and symptoms, differential diagnoses, quick treatment reminders and more; and a lab reference covering hundreds of diagnostic tests and panels including information on collection, preparation and cautions, interpretation (disease, drug and spurious causes) and follow-up guidelines.

Handmark(R), the leading developer and publisher of software for smart mobile devices, today announced that its Pocket Express(R) news, sports, and information service for wireless mobile devices offers subscribers an amazing benefit in these uncertain times: near perfect weather forecasting.

CustomWeather, Inc., the supplier of weather services found in Pocket Express, has earned a near perfect record for precipitation forecasting for the 1-5 day forecasting period. The enviable score was amassed through a comprehensive study of Probability of Precipitation (POP) forecasts by ForecastWatch.com, a service of Intellovations, LLC. According to ForecastWatch.com, CustomWeather has beaten every major competitor in its study of 839 U.S. weather stations-including the National Weather Service.

ForecastWatch.com analyzed nearly 1.5 million forecasts made from February 2004 to February 2005. The study showed that the average error for the 105 day period between CustomWeather’s forecasts and the actual recorded probability of precipitation was 3.51 percentage points. Error rates in CustomWeather’s predictions dipped as low as 0.12 percentage points at 80% and never rose above an error of 5.53%.

Infuzer, a leading provider of web-to-calendar technology solutions, continues its history of providing the most convenient way for fans to track favorite sports teams with its launch of free schedule downloads for the 2005 Major League Baseball Season. Each free schedule can be added to a user’s PC or PDA calendar to quickly and effortlessly keep up with their baseball teams of choice. Infuzer is compatible with the Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop and Lotus Notes calendar platforms. Users can select any team schedule to be imported to their PC or PDA calendar. Additionally, users may opt-in to Infuzer’s Premium MLB Service, which will send previews, final scores and game recaps directly to the calendar entry.

Beyond the ease and convenience of this permission-based tool, an important feature is that the fan is in charge. “Users are able to specify the information they receive and modify their choices at any time,” says John Jocke, Infuzer’s Business Development Manager. “They do not have to scour the Internet or follow a link in an e-mail to find the specific information they want. All they have to do is refer to the updated event entry in their calendar.”

With electronic calendar usage growing in popularity, Infuzer provides sports fans with a unique way to receive real-time stats and scores, delivered directly to their desktop or mobile calendars. To register for this service, simply visit http://www.infuzer.com/ .

Orb Networks, Inc., a developer of streaming media software and services, today announced the company’s groundbreaking streaming media software, Orb Media, will now be FREE to all users. Orb’s software and service gives consumers the ability to spontaneously access their live TV, music, photos, videos, and other digital content located on their home PC from virtually any Internet-enabled device, from anywhere in the world, and now provides that service without adding any new monthly fees for new and current customers. Additionally, Orb has added a new Photo Sharing service to its solution allowing customers to share all of their selected photos with friends and family at any time.

Orb’s mission is to provide consumers with the easiest, most innovative way to access their digital home media files wherever they are. The Orb solution is available to the millions of Windows(R) XP operating system and Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition users in the United States and is now made even more convenient for users to access their digital worlds by providing Orb Media absolutely FREE.

Orb is aggressively forming strategic partnerships with content providers and consumer electronic companies. These partnerships will provide Orb with a sustained commerce stream through co-marketing relationships and transactions for music, video, audio and other services.

The goal of all speaker placement for movie soundtrack playback and multichannel music reproduction—even stereo—is a smooth, consistent and unbroken soundstage across the front, coupled with a sense of envelopment in the ambient surround effects. In other words, you’re after a sense of location, whether that is suggested by what’s on-screen, by the recording venue or even the dry, intimate acoustic of many pop/rock studio recordings.

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/129023.html