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http://www.thinklink.com

Jr. Skulker Stuart Russell told us about yet another free voicemail service, ThinkLink.  Sign up on their web site and they will give you two unique phone numbers for free, one being a regular phone number (they have numbers in many parts of the U.S. so hopefully one local to you) and the second being a toll-free number.  The first time you call one of the numbers, you can record your name and custom greeting so that people calling your numbers will get a greeting in your voice just like any other voicemail system.  You can retrieve messages by dialing in to one of your numbers, or from their web site.

In the registration process, they want your credit card number because they have some paid services that you can use at any time.  Your two voicemail phone numbers are free of any monthly charges and there is no charge for you or others calling the local number, but there is a charge any time you or others dial the toll-free number.  The numbers can be used for outgoing calls: you dial into one of your numbers, enter your password, then you can instruct it to make outgoing calls and there is a charge for these.  You can be paged when voicemail messages arrive and there is a charge for that.  A description of all charges is here:
http://www.thinklink.com/account/rates_dom.htm
but remember that you can make productive use of ThinkLink totally free as long as you use only the local number and don't make outgoing calls.

WebSkulker was a little disappointed with the sound quality of ThinkLink.  The voicemail outgoing greeting and system prompts sound like cheap Internet telephony, but everything could be understood.

http://www.innoconcepts.net/nts/client

http://www.innoconcepts.net/nts/client/switching/panel/panel.html

http://www.innoconcepts.net/nts/client/switching/motor/motor.html

Jr. Skulker Christopher Baldwin is much too young to be interested in this stuff, yet he is fascinated with the old electro-mechanical telephone switching systems from the last century and put together this web site devoted to the old Bell System and the history of telephone switching.  It is very much under construction at this point, but he has some interesting pictures, sounds, and other material.

WebSkulker (operating under another of his aliases) gave Chris an article on the history of panel and rotary switches (the second link above) obtained from the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum.  In case you are curious, that article is presented as four pictures of pages printed by an old teletype at the museum.  WebSkulker has no idea where the article came from, but one of the museum volunteers typed it in and they use it and other articles to demonstrate the teletype mechanisms to visitors.  It is very important  reading for jr. skulkers interested in phone history, especially because it is about the only thing WebSkulker has seen about rotary, or motor-driven, switching that was used primarily in Europe, but surprisingly was developed by Western Electric.

The third link shows some pictures that WebSkulker took inside the Boulder City central office near Las Vegas in 1969 showing this rare rotary equipment.  WebSkulker is not aware of it ever being used in the U.S. except in the Las Vegas area.

http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/1101/fea0068.htm

This article describes a free resource that comes on Windows 98 CD's, but that few jr. skulkers ever heard of:  the Windows 98 Resource Kit.  Microsoft sells a large book and CD with that name which has a lot more, but the free Resource Kit that you already have on your CD is worth skulking through and this will tell you all about how to install and use it.

http://www.sciam.com/2000/0500issue/0500amsci.html

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~maarten/work/soapflow/soapintro/basicsoap.html

http://mills.mps.ohio-state.edu/~maarten/links/ScienceGallery/right_aps.htm

One of WebSkulker's favorite activities at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco is their big pool of bubble solution and large hoops that let you create soap bubbles several feet in diameter.  A physicist at Ohio State University has this beat: he makes soap bubbles, or at least sheets of soap film, four stories high!  The first link above is an article from Scientific American Magazine about his work.  The second and third links show more details and pictures.

Submitted by Jr. Skulker Sid Bernay

Rules That Guys Wish Girls Knew
Please note...these are all numbered #1 ON PURPOSE! 

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. 

1. Do not cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then, you are stuck with her. 

1. Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again! 

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to; expect an answer you do not want to hear. 

1. Sometimes, we are not thinking about you. Live with it. 

1. Do not ask us what we are thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, the shotgun formation and monster trucks. 

1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be. 

1. Shopping is not a sport, and no, we are never going to think of it that way. 

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really. 

1. You have enough clothes. You have too many shoes. 

1. Crying is blackmail. 

1. Your ex-boyfriend is an idiot. 

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work. Strong hints do not work. Obvious hints do not work. Just say it! 

1. No, we do not know what day it is. We never will. Mark anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand. 

1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes-tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress? 

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for. 

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor. 

1. Foreign films are best left to foreigners. 

1. Check your oil. Please. 

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days. 

1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys. 

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one. 

1. Let us ogle. We are going to look anyway; it's genetic. 

1. You can either ask us to do something OR tell us how you want it done -- not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself. 

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials. 

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we. 

1. The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it. And quit whining to your girlfriends -- like THEIR relationship is SO MUCH better. 

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like WINDOWS default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is. 

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that. 

1. If it is OUR house, I do not understand why MY stuff gets thrown in the closet, attic, basement or worse, the garbage. 

1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you. 

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

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