VXI BlueParrott B100 Specifications download pdf (Page 35)

DIFFERENT DRIVE, SAME CD

SNAFU

I have Plextor’s 716SA SATA DVD

burner, and it appears to dislike

random CDs. At first I thought it was

a problem with older, damaged CDs,

because my computer would reboot

spontaneously every time I got to disc

four of Baldur’s Gate 2. But I experi-

enced the same problem on disc five of

The Bard’s Tale, straight outta the box.

Suspecting I had a bum drive, I

went out and bought a standard IDE

CD-ROM drive—nothing fancy—and

it does the same thing with the exact

same discs.

I’ve got all the newest drivers

and firmware for my BIOS. I also tried

removing the SATA DVD drive, and yet

I get the same error with the other

optical drive. Any ideas?

—SPC Clark

From the description of your issue,

it sounds like your motherboard is

based on nVidia’s nForce4 chip-

set. This product certainly didn’t

have the smoothest rollout. One of

its early quirks was that it didn’t

play well with some optical drives,

including Plextor’s 716SA. Poor plan-

ning? Cultural differences? Only the

Intelligent Designer knows for sure.

But the Doctor suspects the cure for

your ills is to reinstall your Plexy and

upgrade its firmware with the most

current version available on Plextor’s

website. Firmware version 1.08 ironed

out virtually all issues the PX-716SA

had with the nForce4 chipset.

There exists an exotic species of hominid

who communicates exclusively through text

messaging, and they have the giant thumbs

to prove it. You can establish diplomatic

relations by sending text messages to their

cellphones via email, but it’s always a hassle

because you need to know the carrier’s

domain, and in turn, the carrier itself. Teleﬂ ip,

on the other hand, bridges the gap by allow-

ing you to use any SMTP (outgoing) mail

server to send SMS text messages to cell-

phones, so you don’t have to know all the

minutiae of your carrier’s info.

You can ﬁ nd your SMTP server informa-

tion in the Accounts setting of your mail

program, or in the Help section of your free

web-based email service. First, access the

Teleﬂ ip settings in the Tool menu. Input your

email address, server information, username,

and password and you’re all set to text your

heart out. To send a message, access the

Teleﬂ ip tool in the Tool menu and click Send

a Text Message. After entering the recipient’s

cell number and your message, hit OK.

Teleﬂ ip then zaps your communiqué over the

net and into the airwaves.

Absent-minded ambassadors can take

comfort in Der Browser Timer, der best way

to remind yourself to send a thoughtful mes-

sage, with a countdown-style timer or audi-

ble and visual alarms that jog your memory

at regular intervals.

Ask the Doctor

Diagnosing and curing

your PC problems

Messaging

how

IMPROVING YOUR PC EXPERIENCE, ONE STEP AT A TIME

Time Savers

Tabbed browsing is just plain cool—how did

we ever live without it? The same can be

said about a nifty little extension that makes

switching between tabs even easier—the

Tab Scroller. Just hold the right mouse but-

ton down and move the scroll wheel, and the

page names of every tab will be displayed in

a popup menu. Use the scroll wheel to select

the desired tab and, voila, you’re there. It’s

quick and makes life easier, especially if

you’re an incorrigible tab-maniac.

Autocopy takes the Control-C out of

copying text. When active, any text that’s

selected with the cursor is automatically

copied to the clipboard. Autocopy can be

conﬁ gured to turn on or off via the status

bar, context menu, Edit menu, or all three.

A turn of the scroll wheel is now all

you need to change from tab to tab.

Fares, Weather

If you’re constantly leaping from airport to

airport, or even if you’re just planning an

upcoming vacation, the FareWatcher exten-

sion is a great way to stay abreast of the

best airline prices. The extension sits on

the status bar and relays customized fare

results via RSS from Farecompare.com.

The Settings menu allows you to tailor the

results by limiting price and specifying the

airline and service type (coach, business,

or—you lucky bastard—ﬁ rst class). It’s

currently limited to domestic ﬂ ights within

the U.S., however.

ForecastFox is like having your

own personal meteorologist hanging

out on your status bar. Powered by

Accuweather.com, this extension shows

current and forecast weather as well

as regional satellite information. Plus,

you can create proﬁ les deﬁ ning location

and unit of measure; so you can get the

weather in your hometown in Fahrenheit

and then effortlessly check the condi-

tions in Glasgow, in Celsius, just by

switching proﬁ les.

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VXI BlueParrott B100 Specifications Page 35

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