Nafcom's Personal Site

If you are searching for a way to get your XBOX360 remote working in Windows Vista, check out this post on the All Reviews Online blog!

You got a Media Center infrared receiver and have the problem that it doesn’t install in Windows XP X64? There are some manuals (for Windows Server 2008 32bit) on the internet and some hints but they are spread everywhere and are outdated and don’t work in most cases.

So I sat down and figured it out on my own within 2 hours.

Like some some headsets and some scanners, the drivers for Windows Vista X64 will also work in Windows XP X64, however 3 issues:

1) It is downloaded from Windows Update severs for installation
2) It won’t install on Windows XP X64 without modification
3) The installation process has some issues

First of all, I copied the following files from the Windows Vista X64 Service Pack 2 folder into a separate folder (Just used search function within the Vista folder):

circlass.inf
circlass.sys
CIRCoInst.dll
hidclass.sys
hidir.sys
hidparse.sys
usbcir.inf
usbcir.sys

Then you create a sub folder and copy all files of one of the Windowswinsxsamd64_input.inf folders of Vista.

It has to contain the following files:

hidclass.sys
hidir.sys
hidparse.sys
hidusb.sys
input.inf

Now open and edit the files

usbcir.inf
circlass.inf

replace all places containing “NTamd64…1” with “NTamd64” otherwise the drivers won’t be installed.

Now you boot up Windows XP X64, it will ask for the drivers. Select to choose your own, click on “browse”, select your folder with the driver files.

It will then ask if you really want to install, confirm this.

Notice: Now at the end of the installation, the installer will crash. It might also accidently cause another action like a program start (it tried to start Sega Rally which I had installed) or it will simply freeze the installation window of the driver routine.

Afzer you killed the frozen installer talk, Windows will tell you it found new hardware and installed it successfully.

Then it will find an “unknown device” and ask for those drivers. Go now to the subfolder in which you put the 2nd driver and select this. Also here you confirm you really want continue installation! And done!

If you want the driver you can also email me.

Technorati Tags: X64, IR
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I figured out recently Skype overcharges you when dialing premium numer services of Germany.

Instead of charging 14 € cent/minute like any other landline company does (well, Skype is more likely supposed to charge like a landline /traditional voip service than your mobile phone compan who wants 90 cent/min for premium call numbers) Skype charged it 20 € cent/min so like a mobile phone call.

Pointing it out resulted in 1) sending me the info page for UK premium numbers and when I pointed out it were German premium numbers they sent me to the main rates sites.

As you can see in the Skype forums here I am not the only one with the problem.

Skype refused so far to give me the money back I was overcharged. It was only a small amount but still a bad sign.

update: I have now got my money back for the overcharging including the follwing statement:

“Hello Joerg,
Thank you for writing back.

The number you called is a shared cost number in Germany, these numbers
are unfortunately charged at a higher rate than regular landlines.

Thank you for calling our attention to the fact that these numbers are
not listed separately on our price list, we have forwarded the issue to
the appropriate department and we apologize for the inconvenience.

Please accept these Skype credit vouchers with our deepest apologies to
compensate you for the price difference:

-(2EUR)
-(1EUR)

You can redeem the vouchera here:
https://secure.skype.com/store/voucher/redeem

Again, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

Should you need more assistance, feel free to contact us again; we will
be glad to help.

Best regards,

Eva S. – Skype Support

Skype Customer Support

Visit www.skype.com for latest news, updates and tips.”

Technorati Tags: Skype, SkypeOut
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There are a lot of people who want Dutch SkypeIn numbers but Skype never could make it as of yet, well the waiting is over, now there is the free xoip service who offers that and more.

The costs for this will the caller pay. See package info.

There is also a downside if you use the fax ability:

Quoted from their “terms and conditions.

” DIGITRIEVE BV COMMERCIAL FAX POLICY

7.1 Digitrieve will not make personally identifiable information such as name, address, email address or telephone numbers available to a third party. The remainder of commercial fax policy is subject to change without notice.

7.2 With reference to point 4.5 of the terms and conditions, Digitrieve BV may send commercial fax messages to XOIP numbers from time to time.

7.2.1 Faxes are sent to inactive numbers, to cover costs of numbers not in regular use.

7.3 No more than one commercial fax per week should be sent to users not making regular use of their assigned XOIP number. It is likely that less than this maximum number of faxes will be sent.

7.4 Users not wishing to receive any such commercial faxes from XOIP should either ensure that they receive one fax per month, or if they do not receive one fax per month, should call their own number for at least 30 seconds in that month.”

I sent email to them asking for more details regaring this.

update: here it their reply

“XOIP does not have any current active program of sending commercial messages. We however have this in our t&c’s so that if we need to send messages in the future, we reserve the right. This is doubtful though.

Our intention is to give you the best user experience. We’re very careful of this.

Kind regards
XOIP help-desk”

Technorati Tags: Skype, SkypeIn
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So thanks to a friend I have followed the hype and got also a twitter account.

And I learned that the homepage of Twitter4Skype is no more. Thanks to Google I found an Article on SkypeJournal telling about it.
So it’s not really an extra, it’s a contact to add to your Skype contact list! They appear to have been down but back now as their mood message write “sorry for long sleep and test now.”.

I have tested it and yea-ha, it works! however notice that the update delay is 60 seconds (not really a big problem)

Technorati Tags: Twitter, Skype
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Over the time my forum has been up and down thanks to problems with the db, backups had had been restored, etc. Unfortunately I was told by the old free hoster of it that this time the db got corrupted totally with no way of recovering the data.

Sad for the people that registered and posted there (eventhough not really many people in the last 1-2 years due to the technical issues).

I have got a new forum now running on SMF and its features are awesome so far, plus I can backup it myself anytime if I need to! So please visit my forum! 🙂 Thank you! And sorry for the lost posts, there was no way to recover them.

Given by the possibilities now this shouldn’t happen again!

Technorati Tags: blog, forum
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There finally has been a Push-To-Talk client for Skype released! The download is here. More details about this client can be found Skype Forums here.

A Push-To-Talk function was requested by many Skype users since years, but unheard by Skype as it can be seen e.g. here.

One notice by the way: The client didn’t start from me from any other browser except Internet Explorer.

Technorati Tags: Skype, ppt
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According to recent IT related media’s reports Skype’s getting bright days due to the momentary world wide financial crises since everybody tries to save serious money in the telecommunication are.

So, it’s time for a guest writing about it!

By Robert Pearlstein

How to Slash Your Monthly Phone Bill with VoIP

With the economy continuing to be in a state of flux, almost everyone is actively looking for new opportunities to reduce monthly expenses. However, one household budget cut that is commonly overlooked is switching to VoIP for phone communications. This innovative, easy to use technology is not only far less expensive than traditional phone service, it is often free!

By signing up with a high quality VoIP service provider, consumers are frequently amazed by their newfound ability to make free domestic and international calls. This can be a tremendous savings for both individuals and families who are currently paying long distance charges. For those who have family and friends overseas, having free international calls to select destinations is an incredible opportunity to stay connected with loved ones without having to be surprised by exorbitant phone bills every month.

Consumers who choose to make the switch to VoIP find that calling is just as reliable, convenient, and simple as with traditional phone service. The sound quality, even for international calls, is crystal clear, and only a headset attached to a PC is required. Of course, you do need to be connected to the Internet.

However, what takes many by surprise is that VoIP systems are not only just as good as traditional phone service and far less expensive, they also deliver a variety of free, highly useful tools that enhance communications. Instant messaging with presence is one of the most popular tools that VoIP service providers offer. This easy-to-use feature enables users to let their friends, family, and business associates know of their availability with a presence indicator and even allows unlimited text messages for free.

Multi-user voice conferencing is another tool that can be used to connect with up to five participants simultaneously. For large families or home-based businesses, this can be extremely beneficial for impromptu get-togethers and meetings.

While there are many ways to cut monthly expenses, there are few that are as convenient and beneficial as switching to VoIP. The cost savings alone makes it worth the time. However, for anyone who enjoys keeping up with friends and family, the benefits are even more substantial.

To truly take advantage of the cost savings and convenience that VoIP can deliver, it’s essential to choose a high quality provider that offers a full range of calling capabilities. Look for one that lets you make both free PC-to-landline and PC-to-mobile phone calls, as well as PC-to-PC calls. It’s also important to select a provider that offers free calling to the areas that you most frequently phone. Most providers offer free calling to certain countries but may charge for other global destinations. Once you’ve done your research and have chosen a provider that can meet your specific needs, you can start enjoying the tremendous savings and convenience that VoIP delivers.

About the Author

Robert Pearlstein is vice president of business development and marketing for Media Ring, a pioneering provider of VoIP services globally. Robert has over 18 years of experience in internet and communications technology and has been instrumental in the market growth and development of several other companies including Sylantro Systems Corporation and RingCentral, Inc. He holds an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management – Thunderbird and has completed the Stanford Executive Management Program.

Technorati Tags: Telephony, voip
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After having solved issues with the surround sound support via optical digital sound output I still had the problem in PowerDVD 7.3 (that is supposed to support everything in its blu-ray edition that came as OEM with the LG HD-DVD/BluRay drive) that it wouldn’t play DTS as surround but as 2CH sound mirrored to the 6 speakers (so sound was identical on front and rear speakers). I found on the English CyberLink site that there is some DTS plugin required for PowerDVD 7 OEM which I purchased and it didn’t work, as it would say the key is invalid.

The nightmare continued with PowerDVD support keeping sending me keys and a download for versions that have no HD support (quite useless then…). Meanwhile they released a new version (Yes, everytime they add support for newest BluRays you have to download THE WHOLE program again!) that obviously has a bug and makes it crash. It’s known since years (example here!!) and a really working solution is not in sight. I updated my problem to PowerDVD support with this detail, their reply was an email with another serial number.

I asked Elements5 (the seller of the DTS plugin for PowerDVD7 OEM) to give me my money back. The process is pending verification now.

Frustrated by this and the fact that later vesions do no longer HD-DVD supported (hey the HD-DVDs are cheap and their quality is awesome just like bluray!) made me looking for an alternative. I came to try WinDVD that works awesome! It automagically detected the special features for video playing of my graphics card and the optical sound output of my sound card and for the first time I had real surround sound with no hassles anymore!

Thank you Corel for continueing this awesome product and make it full featured in the “WinDVD9 with BluRay” version!

Extra surprise: The new CyberLink PowerDVD remote control can control WinDVD9, too (pretty much even! Amazing!!!).

THANK YOU!

Technorati Tags: PowerDVD, WinDVD
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Recently I saw in a shop Need For Speed Carbon for 10 bucks, I thought ok go and get it. Well, unfortunately after getting it to run with the commpatibility mode for Windows 98 (strange as it is supposed to be a Windows XP game) I had to realize, the break pedal is always active in the game so I cannot use it as within the game it will always break and within the game menu it will always push down. Letting the foot rest on the pedal at a certain place will make it stop but you cannot play this way of course. In such moments I adore people who own a console, you just plug it in and it works 🙂

Well, regarding this I am now working on the solution together with Thrustmaster support.

Technorati Tags: old+computer+games, need for speed carbon
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The iPhone has a big problem; It doesn’t allow applications to run in the background (with exception of the iPod application) . Now there is a fix!

fring comes up with the solution!

Quoting their blog:

“Several people have asked us about their always-on presence option even when fring is turned off, so here is a communal explanation for y’all:

The new Always-On feature keeps you logged into fring even when the fring application is closed on your iPhone/iPod touch.

It works like this:

To activate the Always-On add-on, click on ‘More‘ –> Add-ons –> Always on.

How do I get the notifications?

To get the notifications in real time you should have your email address configured to be “pushed” to your iPhone/iPod. Once you got that done, you’ll get an email whenever someone’s trying to call/chat you. Just open the mail and click the link –> fring will open up on your phone and display the message.

If you don’t click the link within 5 minutes – we will log you off from the Always-on service and won’t send you more notifications until you log in again to fring (we don’t like spam…)

Currently this feature is available for UK and US users only but no worries… we will gradually make it available to all countries.

Technorati Tags: Skype, fring
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