Calisto Pro Home Phone System Giveaway

Oh you're going to like this--in fact, I've received quite a bit of grief from those who shall not be named for giving this away. Apparently I've been in possession of the World's Coolest Phone and me offering it as a giveaway item doesn't sit well with the rabble around here.

I've had quite a few electronics items lately--probably because of the approaching Father's Day--but this one is definitely fun. The Calisto Pro Series Home Phone System is made to allow you the freedom of switching between your land line and VoIP calls (Voice Over Internet Provider--such as through Skype or Vonage that go through your internet lines).

There's a little handset that charges directly in the cradle and the Bluetooth headset that allows you to take calls with your hands free up to 300 feet from the main phone set. That means that when I'm doing my regular Friday cleaning and call my sister to chat through the boredom of mopping now I can do it with my hands free and without a crick in my neck. Brilliant.

And while there are several phone systems that allow you hands-free conversation, with the Calisto Pro series you can also run the phone line through the USB port in your computer, unload the software disc then answer calls over Skype with the push of a button. That's cool. I talk to my parents in India regularly via Skype and having my hands free and not being stuck to the computer terminal is a terrific thing.

As an added feature (which I haven't tried) it says you can take the headset with you to use as a Bluetooth for your regular mobile phone as well. Completely interchangeable once you've configured it to your mobile device.

The basic set up is easy enough, you'd think there would a huge manual that comes with this thing but the instruction manual is pretty small and it's not hard to put it all together. There are diagrams to show how to hook it up through your computer and the sound quality is good, it's just a quick little button push and you can switch between lines, put someone on hold or switch back to an original call. Not bad.

So I'm offering this phone system to a lucky winner here this weekend and if you'd like your chance at it simply follow the directions below.

Here's how to win:

Before 12 am Monday go to the giveaway entry form on this page and enter your name and email. I will pick one of the names at random, contact the winner via their email and publish the winner's first name and home town in next Tuesday's post. See the bottom of the entry form for more details.

I'm sorry but this giveaway is only open to those with a U.S. address.

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Andrew and I went for an early show of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull yesterday and--if you haven't already suspected as much--it's not as good as the original Raiders of the Lost Ark or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade BUT it's probably better than the Temple of Doom. Probably. Yes it's cheesy but they're all cheesy and I kind of like that. Yes Harrison Ford looks old but he's still looking good and has a nice presence. Yes it's predictable but it's not bad.

It's a little long and I'm a little tired of the treasure hunt movies--Raiders was the original and the best but after National Treasure and the rest I'm thinking that it's all been done to death and it's time to retire the genre. Sorry Mr. Lucas.

A few too many crunching, sliding doors of stone and floors disappearing beneath people's feet and cobweb-infested caverns. I've seen it all before and it really didn't add much new to the scene but I kind of liked Shia LaBoeuf in the cast and the motorcycle chase scene is good.

I'd give it a C--it could have been better but it could have been worse.

BUT . . . if you're looking for a good video rental I'd definitely recommend The Martian Child. My sister made a DVD copy for me months ago and I finally got around to watching this sweet drama with John and Joan Cusack about a widower who adopts a quirky kid who thinks he's from Mars. It's warm and sweet and funny and squeaky clean (though just a tad long)--the little boy is pretty cute. An A from me and the gang.

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