NEARLY FREE CONFERENCE CALLS

There’s a new service at ConferenceCalls.com that lets you connect group phone calls anywhere in the world for charges ranging from 2.7 to 16 cents a minute. We tried it, and the sound quality was excellent.

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PRINTING LABELS

Avery has a new version of Avery Wizard, its label-printing program, which you can download from its Web site (Avery.com) for free.

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INTERNUTS: BOB VILA HOME REPAIRS

BobVila.com is a how-to site for home repairs, construction and crafts projects.

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SPAM BY THE NUMBERS

A trip to SpamNation.info is enough to depress the Good Humor Man. Spam, it notes, accounts for more than 90 percent of all e-mail. This is a huge drain on Internet resources.

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GAMES

“Ultima Online, the 9th Anniversary Collection” is $20 for the PC, plus $13 a month for online membership. “Ultima” occupies a special position in adventure games.

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TALK IS CHEAP AND GETTING CHEAPER

We’ve been using a new Skype WiFi phone from Netgear that’s just like a cell phone but cheaper to use. If you’re in a location with good wireless Internet access, the calls are as clear as any land line phone. Joy called London and the conversation was “clear as a bell,” she says. The other good news is Internet calls are free or nearly so.

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AH, THAT GOLDEN SOFTWARE

We recently discovered a treasure trove of old software at VetusWare.com and it’s all free. They call it “Abandon Ware,” because the producers have either gone out of business or given up supporting it.

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INTERNUTS

Computer tips at WorldStart.com and information on drug prescriptions at Epocrates.com.

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A MUSICAL EDUCATION

“Discover Bach” is a three-CD set for Windows. One of the disks has several musical games. You try to identify the instruments used in several compositions. Another CD is a documentary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s life;

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A FREEBIE FROM SYMANTEC

1Norton Security products are a boon or a blessing, depending on who you talk to: Joy thinks they’re great; Bob thinks they are evil destroyers.

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