A lot of my friends and the people I know have switched to, or at least tried out one of the various VoIP (Voice Over IP) phone services over the last few years. It’s a technology that has certainly made an impact in the phone market, and can result in significantly lower phone bills (especially for long distance). As someone who makes a large number of long distance phone calls, I am starting to seriously consider moving over to a VoIP provider.

As when choosing any service, its important to review the different companies available, the features they offer and their pricing plans. One that I am considering is the VoIP service from a company called Lingo. I found an absolute boatload of information on Lingo Voip as well as many other Voip providers on a website called www.voipinreview.com. The website offers information on the pros, cons, expenses, consumer opinions and more on a variety of Voip providers. I certainly recommend that you check them out when doing your search for a phone provider.

As far as Lingo Phone specifically, I found some interesting information regarding the services they provide. For example, they offer a money-back guarantee (which I always appreciate), as well as some exceptionally affordable plans. The Lingo service also comes with all the features most users will ever need, such as caller ID, voice mail, and call waiting. From everything I have researched on them, they do seem like a good service to try out — especially with that money-back promise!

Microsoft appears to be considering a different angle in regards to future software sales and pricing models. At least that’s what a new patent recently submitted by the computer giant would indicate. Their newly applied-for patent would essentially have them charging users for software on a new pay-per-use system.

For example, instead of doling out a large amount of cash to say, tinker with Photoshop or the suite of Microsoft Office applications, users could try out the products on a per-use basis. Now, normal, full purchases of software would still need to be available, unless Microsoft has lost their sanity as well as a solid business model.

A lot of folks seem to be doubting whether the new system indicated in the patent will ever see the light of day, but it is something interesting to ponder. I can certainly see the cost-benefit to it, especially for those looking to try out a new software. Perhaps some will even stop downloading software they can’t afford from torrent sites, as paying a per-use fee may be easier.

Also, it’s speculated that if the new system is implemented, there could be a very inexpensive range of PCs launched, which would include only a very small amount of full-version software.

What I would describe as curious and worrisome news out of the UK is circulating the blogosphere these days. That is because the UK government is considering a new internet model where websites would be rated (similar to how movies are already), and those which contain offensive or otherwise inappropriate material would not be shown. In other-words: censorship. I firmly believe that if no laws are being broken, that the internet should remain a free place for information to be shared.

Now that’s not to say the UK government has bad intentions, in fact, quite the opposite. They are clearly trying to protect minors from unwelcome and non-age appropriate material. However, in my opinion, the internet is not for kids, but rather adults. It should be up to the parents of web-using minors to police what their children do online, and install the necessary safeguards in order to protect them from dangerous websites. Or, you know, they could tell their children to go outside and play.

As for teenagers, somehow I think there are a lot more dangerous places for them to be hanging out than the internet. Rather than censoring everyone, why don’t we go back to teaching our kids common sense, and responsibility?

The holiday season is fast approaching and this usually indicates that plenty of money is about to be spent. However, we are going through an economic downturn and an increasing number of companies begin to cut their prices with deep discounts so people will come and buy their products.

This is what a company like Newsmy is doing. Newsmy is a Chinese producer of consumer electronics brands, and has more than 500 Specialty Stores in China. Its product line spans a wide array of items, from digital AV, mobile storage, car electronics, communications, imaging, and more. Many people even believe it has the potential to become China’s Sony or Samsung. Newsmy is offering one of its product promotion in partnership with LightInTheBox.com. LightInTheBox.com is a China-based online distributer of 1000s of products, serving both business customers in more than 100 countries.

The special offer is for the One-Dollar-MP3-Player and One-Dollar-Cellphone, which aims to draw in more global customers to Chinese-made consumer electronics.

Do remember that shopping online is becoming more popular and is more comfortable, and well as being a safe way to get those holiday gifts. You can visit the Sandbox Online Shopping site for additional information on this promotion that can go easy on your wallet.

The Republic of Estonia just got a high-tech new way to vote. The Estonian government has agreed to a resolution that allows their people the ability to cast votes via mobile phone. Pretty amazing, and making voting so convenient pretty much takes away any excuse to not participate in the electoral process. The new cellphone balloting option will be available to Estonians starting in 2011.

Estonia has been on the cutting-edge of voting technology for quite some time now. In fact, a few years past, they became the very first nation to allow their citizens to vote via the internet. While that was a newsworthy venture, unfortunately only one percent of voters chose the internet balloting option. I would expect it to become more mainstream in the future as younger, more tech savvy Estonians become of legal voting age.

Now, voting via wireless phone will take a little bit of extra work, as users will need to have their mobile equipped with a special chip available from the Estonian Governmental offices. The chip is necessary in order to confirm the voter’s identity, and prevent fraud.

For those of you planning to attend Macword this year, you may want to reconsider, as a major attraction — the Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) keynote speech — will not be taking place this year. Instead, you can expect to see Apple’s Senior Vice President of marketing deliver the conference’s core speech.

This is not just a one year pitfall, either. It is said that Steve Jobs will not be giving anymore Macworld keynotes, and after 2009 Apple will no longer be presenting at Macworld, at all.

In the past, Macworld was the place to be for Apple news, as both the iPhone and the iPod made their debut at the tradeshow. Apple now states that they will be scaling down their tradeshow efforts, and putting a greater emphasis on their retail outlets.

Getting the right Hearing Aid is essential and is likely to affect most of us at some point in our lives. There is a website, called AidRight.com, that intends to help customers who are seeking low-cost digital hearing aids with the promise of a quality service. The website offers information on the various types of hearing aids and related information such as insurance.

The website contains links to manufacturers of affordable hearing aids. The prices are affordable due to the sheer number of patients they treat nationwide. The price includes a complementary hearing test by a hearing professional, a specialist who will help the customer with the process of buying, custom device programming, custom impression fitting for the ears , a 45-day trial period, a 1 to 3 years money back warranty for breakage, loss or damage, and a full year of follow-up service and adjustments. AidRight is able to save its customers $400 – $1200 off of retail prices. Zero percent and low interest payment plans are additionally available. These plans have no pre-payment penalties or annual fees.

AidRight has produced quality products for over 30 years. The company is one of the biggest hearing aid providers in the United States and is worth checking out.

NORAD is set to track Jolly Old Saint Nick again this year, closely monitoring his around-the-world gift-delivering adventure.

Tracking starts on Christmas Eve, and can be watched at the Noradsanta.org website. Check out the below video for a trailer!

PC manufacturer Dell plans to continue its environmentally friendly ways by reducing the amount of packaging used for both its laptop and PC computer offerings. Dell plans to reduce its packaging by twenty million pounds in just four years. This move should save the company over eight billion dollars.

Dell also has plans to increase the amount of enviro-friendly packaging it uses to seventy five percent. It will do this by lessening its dependence on current, non eco-friendly packaging, and instead make use of an air-filled cushioning  material, as well as recycled HDPE cushioning. The latter of which is one hundred percent recyclable.

Dell has a good track record of making environmentally sound improvements. For example, in the year 2007, Dell was able to reduce the amount of packaging it uses by over ten million pounds.

Trophyhorse.com is an exhilarating way for anyone to feel the stimulating world of horse racing in this interesting online game. This is a game for everybody, whether you have been involved in some way with horses, are an avid racing fan, or even if you have never been around a horse at all.

The Trophyhorse.com website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Trophyhorse.com is a strategy game. You start with five horses & $100,000 game dollars to begin with. You then select your jockeys, races, etc’. You can even provide your horses with workouts, participate in buying and selling auctions and breed your horses. The horses cost a certain amount per day, all based on the breed. Once the horses compete, although some people lose their virtual money, there are numerous stables that make lots of money. There is also a community section, which is basically a message board, filled with useful information and members appear to be enthusiastic to help out. There are options to have a free as well as a paid account and the price is quite reasonable.

The game is missing more of a visual component. It is completely a statistical game without a race viewer. Some people may enjoy viewing the horses race itself but if you do not care about the visual aspect and cheering on your horse as it gets closer to the finish line then you could truly enjoy this game.