The little mic symbol on the left side at the bottom - above the loudspeaker symbol- if you click once on that, it switches on the mic and holds it - if you click again - it releases it.

I use an alleged 56K dialup (but the speed is line condition limited to just above 33 often) - but my regular thruput to Paltalk is rarely above 2 - 2.5 Kb.sec - well within the modem capabilities - I can dnld mudcat pages etc at the same time with no interference to the paltalk connection. I am using a P3 1Gb win 98SE though...

Paltalk I have found to be generally regularly beset with minor technical difficulties - dropouts, sudden total loss of sound necessitating shutdown and restart of paltalk s/w, 'yodelling' effects, and various other hassles - but considering the alternative (nothing!) and the relative cost (bugger all compared with other current technologies!) it's bearable - reminds me of the quality of Short Wave Ham Radio, but listenable.

My only complaint is that my current cheap desk mic doesn't drive the soundcard hard enough to put the mic at a reasonable distance away, but there are a few threads here on PC sound & mics, that may be useful.

Robin