The MT-Blacklist plugin for movable type is a brilliant extension for Movable Type and it does a cool job of stopping comment spammers.
You can get the plugin from here: http://www.jayallen.org/projects/mt-blacklist/
Its really easy to install and to use! :)
A guy going by the username of AkaDruid suggested this great idea in the GenieTexter forum.
If you used the txt2speech GT script in conjunction with GT's POP3 mail checking function. You could get GT to read out new mails that arrived in your pop3 mailbox. The great thing is you can set up filters in GT to only alert you to important emails.
I couldnt get this idea to work previously, but realised just now that though i had put in all the right settings for the pop3 checking, i hadnt actually started the mail checking function. I had presumed once you entered all the settings, it would automatically go off and start checking. DOH!
Anyway the idea works really well, try it out.
To make it work, you need to install the txt2speech script (using the Service Manager in the Tools menu) then select that script. Then setup the POP3 settings in the Edit/ POP 3 Setup menu. Then start the POP3 checking by selecting File/Start POP3 checking
Recently found this really cool site called Stanaphone.com. They have their own VOIP network, and are offering 100 free minutes of calls to international destinations per month for everyone who signs up for a free account.
Quoted from the website:
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What is StanaPhone?
StanaPhone is the first free and extremely easy to use internet telephone with real US phone numbers. It allows you to call and receive calls from regular home and mobile phones as well as place free calls to and receive them from any StanaPhone number, regardless of its location. All incoming calls to StanaPhone are free. Beta version of StanaPhone is free to download and free to use. It does not require any special computer knowledge to make it work. All you have to do is download our free software and sign up for a free StanaPhone number.
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so basically U gotta download their small easy to use software phone and create a free account, when i did it, u didnt need to give credit card details, though this might have changed, as they recently changed their system. The sign up process was really quick and installation of the software is really easy too.
u get $2.00 free calling credit every 30 days, and can use that to call a huge list of countries ( including the UK! ) (this is pc to phone, not pc to pc, though u can use it to call pc 2 pc too)
Its even possible to call mobile phones using the free credits, though I think its much more expensive than the flat 2 cents rate for calling other countries and "normal phones" and of course as usual with VOIP phones, you can call other VOIP phones for free anyway, and you can also use it to call Freephone numbers in other countries and i presume calls to freephone numbers are not taken off your call allowance, will have to check this out.
the companys website is http://www.stanaphone.com
and theres more info on their about page here http://stanaphone.com/whatsstana/ including the list of countries you can call.
when your free credit runs out for the month, its only 2 cents a minute to call anywhere in the world!
you also get a free US "regular phone number" for free, (you can choose what area code you want) so people in the U.S can call u for the price of a local call!
and even though its a U.S company, you can sign up for an account from any country :)
Apparently its possible to set up X-Lite the "softphone" to use multiple VOIP services, at the same time, havent actually got this to work myself, but ive been told u could have mysipphone, stanahone and freeworlddialup all working on a single phone. Sounds cool! :D
*UPDATE* 06/10/2004 They have decreased the free credit to $0.20 Oh well, its still 10 free calling minutes! :)
*Further Update* 29/10/2004 You now only get $0.10 of free credit, so its just 5 free minutes...
To get a voucher for a free stepometer / pedometer / step counter / walkometer click here. You will be taken to a form. Once you have submitted your details on that form a voucher for a free pedometer will be displayed, just print it out and take it to your nearest O2 shop and exchange it for a pedometer. You better be quick as its only while stocks last, and the offer started on the 23rd July!
*UPDATE 7/10/2004* Walkers Crisps are now offering a free pedometer / walkometer, you can apply for one at: http://www.walkers.co.uk (N.B you need to copy and paste the url into your browser for some weird reason)
*UPDATE 03/11/2004* Walkers Crisps + The Sun in conjunction with Asda, are giving another chance to people in the UK to get a free walkometer, to get this one, buy the Sun newspaper this saturday 6th November, and it will have a voucher for a free walkometer in it, just take the voucher to your nearest Asda supermarket and exchange it for a free walkometer.
*Latest Update* 11/2/2005 The free stepometer offers are now closed, please do not ask me to send you a free stepometer as i dont have any free ones:(
Ive written a new GenieTexter script called Txt2Speech, it doesnt actually send a message to anyone at present. It just sends the message to a text to speech converter and plays the sound back.
The text to speech converter is at http://www.research.att.com/projects/tts/demo.html The voices are quite good quality, and some of the "foreign" ones are quite funny :)
Anyway theres an interesting discussion about my new script in the GenieTexter forum here
All the spam i get in my inbox i report to http://www.spamcop.net, when you report the spam they give you a report listing the networks the spam was transmitted from and the networks hosting the sites being advertised in the spam, and it allows you to send complaints to the owners of the networks regarding the spam.
Recently all the spam i am getting seems to be advertising sites hosted with the following companys certcc.or.kr , hanafos.com and hanaro.com . Something needs to be done. I dont know what, I dont know how, but somebody sort this lot out!
Just found another cool VOIP company sipphone.com they are offering five free 1 minute international calls per day through their VOIP network.
Read more about it here http://sipphone.com/5free1/
Though i've signed up for an account I havent actually tried it out yet, as im just about to go out, but when i get back im definitely gonna give it a go :)
VOIP rocks!
BT know this and they are planning on converting all their phone systems to VOIP (Voice Over IP).
Dont get left behind, download a VOIP softphone such as X-Lite now and try it out! :) Its fun :) You can use it to dial freephone numbers in america, japan, holland and supposedly the uk (though i havent managed to get this to work yet) Have sucessfully called Japan though :) There is also beta support for calling freephone French numbers.
In theory if you want to call a "normal" phone you can connect to a phone service provider/calling card provider on their freephone number then dial out from that to the number you require, for cheap calling rates. Though Im sure there are other ways of doing it.
You can get an easy to setup and use VOIP "softphone" called X-Lite, useable with the FreeWorldDialup (FWD) network here:
http://www.freeworlddialup.com/support/quick_start_guide
BT have just launched a cool new product called BT Communicator, its an application that lets you use your pc like it was a phone, i.e you can make and receive calls as if it was a normal phone, and as an incentive to sign up they are giving away one months worth of free national and local calls through the service :)
Havent actually tried the service out yet, gonna look thru the T+Cs to see if theres any catch, so far havent seen anything. Looks like a good offer to me
One drawback is the minimum pc spec required is a 700mhz windows machine. My aging 500mhz pc might struggle to get it to run. They say it should still work on slower machines, though the call quality might suffer..
Heres a link to their webpage with info on how to signup and download the program: http://tinyurl.com/6tgkp
I just wrote a script for GenieTexter called TPCFaxSender (available through the GT service manager)
It allows you to send free international faxes. Not all numbers are covered by this service, so there is an extra function in the GT extras menu, that allows you to check whether the number you want to send to is covered.
GenieTexter, the free SMS sending application is available for download at http://www.genietexter.co.uk
If you are in an NTL cable area in the UK, you are eligible to apply for their wicked new offer. The deal is they come round and install a cable broadband connection and give you a 2 month free trial of their service. You can choose between a 300k, 700k or 1.5meg connection, guess which one i went for! ;-)
If after the 2 months you decide not to continue with their service you can cancel it at no charge.
To apply you can ring their freephone number: 0800 234234
More info here: http://www.ntlhome.com
You can get free gifts such as a Microsoft Wireless Optical TiltWheel Mouse (IntelliMouse Explorer with 5 programmable buttons) or a copy of Encarta 2005 Premium Suite or a choice of various computer games at microsoft's mobile training website just for completing some easy free online training courses
The only catch in the terms and conditions is that you might be asked to prove you are an employee of a company that sells Microsoft Mobile devices.
To sign up and do the courses required to get the freebie go here: http://tinyurl.com/2t8au