The safety button has been at the centre of an embarrassing public row for Facebook, one of the world’s most popular social-networking sites, which resisted requests for a so-called panic button on all young people’s profile pages. The American company faced an unprecedented fusillade of pleas from Ceop, police chiefs, politicians, charities and campaign groups who supported its use.

He has just gotten his first credit card so what would suit him is an rfid blocking wallet; they protect your chip and pin card and guard against fraud as well. Your details cannot be scanned and they work even when folded over. Brilliant idea!

And the discovery means that it would be far easier for humans to one day set up a space station on the moon’s surface. Tapping a local supply of water would be a lot more convenient than ferrying it from Earth while it can also be split into its two component gases. Hydrogen can be turned into rocket fuel to enable astronauts to explore other planets in the solar system and oxygen is vital for breathing.

To be precise, the scientists found evidence of hydroxide ions – negatively charged molecules identical to those of water but missing one hydrogen atom. The hydroxide was discovered in apatite, a calcium phosphate mineral, the researchers reported in the journal Nature.

The discovery was made after US researchers examined a basalt rock underlying the moon’s surface that was formed by lava flows billions of years ago and brought back to Earth by the 1971 Apollo 14 mission.

Not to worry though, I am a dab hand at stamping my foot at returns counters in stores and know my consumer rights from a to z and shall expect very soon to be taking delivery of a brand new laptop for my son. It is just as well he made a back up disc last month as he has been doing his exam course work and to lose it would have been a catastrophe.

For instance, we were heading off to the UK for a while I thought that it would be an idea to get a little modem for my Sharp SL-5500 Zaurus. Anyway, a quite hunt round e-bay turned up maybe a half-dozen compact flash drive modems . Would they work though?

A quick search on google revealed next to nothing about connecting such things to the Zaurus. Anyway, I figured that the HP modem would be pretty standard and at £5 wasn’t a massive outlay either.

So, what do you need to do to install it? Nothing, just plug it in and off it goes. That’s how Linux handles such things. So no need for the CD that came with it to add the Windows drivers.

Ancient man did all this but without the fancy rigging. And they knew a lot more about the stars than many of us know and learn’t it all the hard way. A stone formation, The Hurlers, on Bodmin Moor in England has been baffling visitors, and scientists, for many years. The Hurlers were placed in a pattern 1500 years ago and it seems an amateur astonomer has been the one person who has solved their mystery. The Hurlers are formed in a pattern that mirror the belt of Orion and it is believed it was used as a calendar by inhabitants of the area at the time.

This is when local people were going from being hunter-gatherers to being farmers and used the Hurlers as a way to monitor the changes in season.

The uncontrolled chain reaction could make some orbits unusable for both commercial or military satellites, according to the U.S Space Posture Review sent to Congress in March. Since the first object, Sputnik One, was launched into space 53 years ago, mankind have created a swarm of perhaps tens of millions of items of debris.

The rubbish circling the planet comes from old rockets, abandoned satellites and missile shrapnel.

Business Phone Systems: PBX, IP and Everything In-between

Most businesses have a phone system these days and words like ‘PBX’ and ‘IP Telephony’ are often bandied around as an ingrained part of business conversation, yet what exactly is a phone system? How does an IP PBX differ from a PBX? And how can a phone system benefit your business in discernable ways? This article will answer all these questions and more and leave you with a workable knowledge of business phone systems.

What is a Phone System?

To properly understand the differences between phone systems, a basic knowledge of what a telephone system is needs to be attained. A phone system acts as an exchange that allows people to communicate both internally and externally. Rather than each phone having a separate line to the Public Telephone Network (PTN), a phone system enables your business to connect all phones, using a limited number of lines.

As well as placing and receiving internal and external calls, phone systems also employ certain basic features designed for business – these will be discussed further on.

PBX Phone Systems

Let us first explain the acronym so as to avoid confusion – PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. A PBX phone system consists of internal and external phone lines, a console and a computer server. The PBX is a switching system used to manage internal calls and provide external lines to internal phones when needed. Distinguishing itself from the Public Telephone Network though, PBX phone systems can route incoming calls to extensions and connect calls to answering services as well as other more business-specific features that are the trademark of phone systems and which we shall come to later.

IP PBX Phone Systems

An IP (Internet Protocol) PBX does the same thing as an ordinary PBX except it is designed to deliver voice (VoIP) or video over a data network and interoperate with the normal Public Telephone Network. IP PBXs can be either hardware or software based and can provide more advanced functions than ordinary PBXs by integrating with computer systems.

PBX and IP PBX phone systems are not the only business phone systems available, however they act as a standard around which other phone systems are based and are the most widely used phone systems in the business arena.

Phone System Basic Features

Phone systems all share a common set of features that make businesses more efficient – after all, time is money. These features include:

Call Conferencing – the ability to share a phone call between more than two people which can save time and travel

Call Hold – an important feature for business phones – on-hold music or messaging can be added

Call Routing – saves time by routing calls to the right internal extension

Voicemail – one of the most important business telephone system functions. Voicemails can be accessed by individuals or departments and can be also be forwarded

Auto-Attendant – this feature is well used especially with small phone systems as it negates the need for a secretary

These features as stated before, are common to all phone systems. Different types of phone systems however can have different features and as IP phone systems are becoming ever more popular, it is worth noting a few of the extra features that they can provide for your business:

Click-to-Call – uses computer-telephony integration (CTI) so you can simply click on the screen to call

Call Logging and Tracking – this feature is useful to find out call history and other information

Call Screening – allows you to see who is calling before you answer

Benefits of a Business Phone System

A common misconception is that you have to be a multi-national, filthy-rich corporation to have an advanced phone system but that is not the case. Many small and medium businesses have small phone systems that cost little and save them money. A VoIP phone system can seriously reduce costs for instance – calls can be routed over the internet rather than the Public Telephone Network, eradicating almost all call charges. Many businesses also bypass the cost of hiring a secretary by using an auto-attendant instead.

Certain features on a phone system can create the right impression with customers too. On hold messages and on hold music in particular can make a business seem more professional, as first impressions do go a long way.

Many businesses find that a phone system increases efficiency and functionality. For example, phone conferencing can reduce time spent in business travel, speed dial and click-to-call can also reduce time spent looking up phone numbers and voicemail is much more efficient than an answering machine. In the fast-paced world of business, the utilisation of time-saving and efficient tools can often be the difference between a good business and a mediocre business.

Phone Systems – Communication is the Key

Business phone systems then are exchanges that allow people to communicate internally and externally via the Public Telephone Network. Phone systems can come in many different versions with the most popular being the standard PBX and IP PBX phone systems. Phone systems are characterised by bespoke business features common to all phone systems and they can save businesses money as well as making them run more efficiently. Phone systems are becoming one of the essential tools of business now – communication is the key no matter what business you are in and business phone systems undoubtedly broaden communication horizons.

The new owner has installed a cell phone signal booster which should make his life  alot easier than ours ever was. We forever had guests moaning about how their phones would not work and could they use our house phone – which we always said ‘no’ to…ever since one guest phoned Mom in America at peak-rate time and refused to pay for it when she left!

Next will be the addition of a driveway alarm as well as the start being made on the new bathroom and the paving of the entrance hall. We are planning to know down a wall or two as well and replace old fashioned carpets with floor tiles and slate. Much easier to clean and  much more contemporary look for the house too.