Hi, Im Rob, just joined. I live in Fort wayne, Indiana. One of our bird observation buildings has a microphone hanging under the eve or the roof and picks up everything in the feeding area. The microphone wasnt made for a feeder but works well to pick up the whole area. we have a little computer speaker with a volume knob inside. Have you ever used bird audio to attract or call birds? this is very interesting. I do it several ways. One is by putting my computer speakers outside the patio doors and playing bird calls. They come! Some respond better than others and the season plays a role in how well they respond. Here is a good link for calls: http://www.enature.com Another way is, I purchased a bird guide (book)with a little speaker on it. You can pick it up at any Barnes and Noble or other good book store. Walk through the woods and play a White breasted Nuthatch and see how many will practically land on your head! I have the bar code scanning wand as well. Works great! All these ways work very well for bringing in the birds to you or to your feeder. Try! Rob Cassidy Ft Wayne, Indiana

In your run line, type in SndRec32 and see what happens. Quick yahoo search found something that said; The unimodem half duplex audio device is not a sound card driver per se, it is software used to enable Telephone Answering Device (TAD) functions of modems that have the capability to be an answering machine as well as a modem.

As you are using Vista you must have a fairly recent computer. If so there may well be sound, mic and USB ports on the front of the case, perhaps behind a drop down cover? You say you plugged it into the only port available so what do you have plugged into the other 2 ports? Check what you have in those 2 ports, perhaps one is wrongly placed. If you mic is not new is it possible this has quit? Not sure if this is exactly right on Vista but click Start, click Control panel and look for the Sounds and Audio link and have a look around.

Thanks everyone! All of you who said the spacing between the DW and sink is too close, you are right. :-) I stood in front of where I positioned the sink, took out my tape measure, and mimed opening the DW door. I think what happened is I had more space in an earlier iteration but with a blind cabinet in the corner (like today's kitchen has). Then when I put in the corner cabinet/susan instead, I found I had some extra inches on that wall. I must have shifted the DW over next to the corner cabinet thinking 'yay, a wider drawer by the range', and forgot about actually being a person standing there. Hi taximom_co, I haven't ruled out hiring a kitchen designer yet. I believe they add value if you get the right one that meshes with one's style. I've had a hard time finding a real design-skilled KD, who takes the time to understand how I would operate in the space. I've had a few bad encounters over the last year in talking with people from 'design/build' firms, even with the firms that were recommended by friends. Given the beautiful kitchens that I've seen posted on this forum, I know there is talent here and I wanted a "gut check" that my ideas weren't completely off base. I would swear that two of the guys I talked to never cooked a meal in their lives. I had one guy from a 'design/build' firm actually arguing with me over not putting the microwave over the range. (I mean, if he's going to argue with me before I give him any money, and so he's spending time arguing on his dime vs mine, I could only imagine what it would've been like working with him under contract.) cheri127 yes, I love a large sink. In fact, the layout ought to show a single large sink, but either the software didn't have that one or I chose the wrong one. I'll attempt a layout with a corner sink over the weekend and post it to see what you think. Hi buehl, thanks for your comments about the fridge placement--it's is precisely for that "easy access for snackers/don't interfere with the workers" that I'm hoping to achieve. It's good to hear someone has it working in real life. :-)