Odds & Ends: MP3 comparisons; MS Y2K page; GlobalFax; more

The MP3 Encoder Quality Comparison page has recently been updated to include SoundJam MP 1.1 and Proteron's N2MP3 1.0.2. (Thanks, Joe Holmes.)

Microsoft Y2K page Microsoft has created a Year 2000 Portal Page for information on the year 2000 information and Microsoft software updates. "In order to work properly after the year 2000, some Microsoft products may require a year 2000 software update."

GlobalFax 2.6.9 is coming We have reliable information indicating that a new version of Global Village's GlobalFax will be out soon. It will update all TelePort software (although apparently not PowerPort software). It may well be the last update for this software.

MouseWorks download problem Several readers reported that the link for the Kensington MouseWorks 5.3 update does not work. When we tried it, we could not get it to work either (using Explorer). A couple of readers suggest it is simply that the server is "overloaded." After several retries, they were able to get the program to download successfully.

USB X-Keys for Macintosh is a fully programmable keypad that comes in two distinctive flavors, a 20 key Desktop model and 58 key Pro model. Both models come packaged in special Macintosh coordinating plastics and include MacOS USB drivers.