iPhone voicememo fun!
LR
I'm Laura, and this is my blog. I am a film & theater teacher. I also make films. I hope you enjoy them. My company: http://olivestreetfilms.com
Google voice, worth every penny
I bought a Google Voice number on eBay, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I paid less than $100 for the area code I wanted (after some minor haggling; some area codes had an asking price of over a thousand), and so far it's been totally worth it. The ability to track, screen, and best of all, block calls for free (ok, minus what I paid up front) is priceless.
The other huge feature is voicemail transcription. Without getting into a huge rant here about how much I loathe voicemail--a simple web search can lead you to several blog posts and articles with similar sentiments--one of my peeves is the fact that voicemail requires you to have to stop what you're doing, log in (usually), listen to the message (sometimes several times, if the sound quality is poor or the speaker mumbles), and occasionally have to replay it to write down some other info. Voicemail transcription, when it's accurate, saves you all of that agony. Google voice transcription is by no means flawless, but does improve with use.
I should note that, prior to my GV bid, I had been using PhoneTag, a vm transcription service that offers a free trial week and reasonable monthly or per-use fees. PhoneTag's transcription, by the way, is excellent, and worth it if you're mainly interested in this feature alone and can wait for the Google Voice beta to go public...
...which, so I hear, will be "soon".
Sent on the go from my Peek
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Slate Article: You Have No New Messages—Ever
Finally, someone who actually tells the truth about this outdated, awkward technology. PS< I'm in the market for a Google Voice account, can anyone help me out? Willing to negotiate.
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Day 3 with the peek pronto
I've had my peek pronto (http://getpeek.com) since wednesday, and so far its taken some getting used to. That doesn't necesarily mean I don't like it; I do, however, need to keep telling myself over and over:
It's not a smartphone.
It's not a smartphone.
The Peek Pronto, in case you've read this far and still don't know what it is, is a device that sends and receives emails and text messages...that's it. No phone calls. No pictures. No video. No games. No "app for that". So why would anyone want such a thing in this age of iphones, blackberries, vues, etc.?
Some people don't want a smartphone, but want more access to email. These people exist, really. We sometmes refer to them as Luddites, althoug that term doesn't always apply to every person who is loathe to embrace a smartphone.
Some people just don't want that much access...or at least not all the time. Believe me, I truly love my iPhone. I love the visual voicemail, the map function that tracks my car with GPS accuracy, my audiobooks, my camera that posts to twitpic...I could go on. But lately I've been waxing nostalgic for my old pager, a device that kept me in touch with the outside world just enough for me to feel connected but still in control. Something simple and relatively non commital; more than any other device, the Peek gives me that. Sometimes I just really don't want that much access. And for less than $90 for the device and $20 a month with NO CONTRACTS, the Peek gives me less for less---and that's a beautiful thing. Of course, if Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Work Week (whose audiobook I just listened to on my iPhone) knew I was responding to a blinking message light on the Peek, he might serve me a hook kick to the head. Sorry, Tim, I'm still working on
the low-information diet, but I still need to know I have access to my ring dings.
Sent on the go from my Peek
It's not a smartphone.
It's not a smartphone.
The Peek Pronto, in case you've read this far and still don't know what it is, is a device that sends and receives emails and text messages...that's it. No phone calls. No pictures. No video. No games. No "app for that". So why would anyone want such a thing in this age of iphones, blackberries, vues, etc.?
Some people don't want a smartphone, but want more access to email. These people exist, really. We sometmes refer to them as Luddites, althoug that term doesn't always apply to every person who is loathe to embrace a smartphone.
Some people just don't want that much access...or at least not all the time. Believe me, I truly love my iPhone. I love the visual voicemail, the map function that tracks my car with GPS accuracy, my audiobooks, my camera that posts to twitpic...I could go on. But lately I've been waxing nostalgic for my old pager, a device that kept me in touch with the outside world just enough for me to feel connected but still in control. Something simple and relatively non commital; more than any other device, the Peek gives me that. Sometimes I just really don't want that much access. And for less than $90 for the device and $20 a month with NO CONTRACTS, the Peek gives me less for less---and that's a beautiful thing. Of course, if Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Work Week (whose audiobook I just listened to on my iPhone) knew I was responding to a blinking message light on the Peek, he might serve me a hook kick to the head. Sorry, Tim, I'm still working on
the low-information diet, but I still need to know I have access to my ring dings.
Sent on the go from my Peek
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the world: your trash can
I am nearly 45 years old, but for most of my adult life (with the exception of the last 3 years) I have lived in apartments. Some were in buildings, some were in private homes; but regardless, I never, EVER, threw my trash out the window. I put it in a bag and took it down to the dumpster, or threw it down the incinerator, or put it in a can by the curb. It actually never occurred to me that one could dispose of it out one's window. And in fact, I hadn't even been aware of the practice until a few months ago when we noticed that the abandoned building across the street, which stands next to a house that has several apartment units, has a rooftop covered with trash bags.
It has to be one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a long time. Maybe I find it so disusting because I pay several thousand dollars a year intaxes to live in a house that's in full view of it. I have never been one to be picky about my "neighborhoods". I never felt the need to live in an area that was associated with a particular demographic or reputation. As long as the neighborhood was affordable and close to the things I needed, it was sufficient. Clearly, I didn't look closely when I examined the area where my house currently stands. I might have actually noticed the abandoned plot of overgrown land next to my house, littered with old clothes, beer bottles and plastic bags that we jokingly refer to as "the hobo camp". I might have observed the trash repository atop that abandoned car garage. I would not, however, had been aware that my next door neighbors on the top floor occasionally like to use my driveway to toss trash: at first I thought it might have just been a good gust of wind that blew a laudry detergent bottle or a soiled diaper onto my back lawn, but after a while it seemed like all the junk ended up in the same spot: just within tossing distance of the small terrace outside the second story back door.
Today, I found a coconut shell. It began to occur to me that one of the drawbacks of owning a home is that it becomes much more of a personal matter when you find things like trash on your lawn or hobos on the other side of your fence. It also dwaned on me that, alhtough I didn't appreciate it at the time, one of the benefits of being an apartment dweller, is (along with many other lacking commitments such as taxes, insurance and a damned mortgage) the freedome to throw one's refuse out the window like tossing away a bad habit on New Year's Day. Why not?
It has to be one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a long time. Maybe I find it so disusting because I pay several thousand dollars a year intaxes to live in a house that's in full view of it. I have never been one to be picky about my "neighborhoods". I never felt the need to live in an area that was associated with a particular demographic or reputation. As long as the neighborhood was affordable and close to the things I needed, it was sufficient. Clearly, I didn't look closely when I examined the area where my house currently stands. I might have actually noticed the abandoned plot of overgrown land next to my house, littered with old clothes, beer bottles and plastic bags that we jokingly refer to as "the hobo camp". I might have observed the trash repository atop that abandoned car garage. I would not, however, had been aware that my next door neighbors on the top floor occasionally like to use my driveway to toss trash: at first I thought it might have just been a good gust of wind that blew a laudry detergent bottle or a soiled diaper onto my back lawn, but after a while it seemed like all the junk ended up in the same spot: just within tossing distance of the small terrace outside the second story back door.
Today, I found a coconut shell. It began to occur to me that one of the drawbacks of owning a home is that it becomes much more of a personal matter when you find things like trash on your lawn or hobos on the other side of your fence. It also dwaned on me that, alhtough I didn't appreciate it at the time, one of the benefits of being an apartment dweller, is (along with many other lacking commitments such as taxes, insurance and a damned mortgage) the freedome to throw one's refuse out the window like tossing away a bad habit on New Year's Day. Why not?
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garyvee does it again!
You Can Do Both from www.garyvaynerchuck.com. This one was a little hard to swallow, only because I *wanted* him to say, "give up your day job and focus all your time/energy on building your brand/biz!".
But he doesn't. He tells you that you can do both (oh crap), yet he doesn't fail to encourage us to get out there and hustle for it if you want it.
But he doesn't. He tells you that you can do both (oh crap), yet he doesn't fail to encourage us to get out there and hustle for it if you want it.
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I love stories like this!
I'm sure by now most of you have heard about Pure Digital (the makers of the Flip camcorder, my favorite gadget) being purchased by Cisco. Read the NY Times article here.
A Tiny Camcorder Has a Big Payday
By ASHLEE VANCE
Published: March 20, 2009
The maker of Flip video cameras was bought by Cisco Systems for $590 million, in a move that may help Cisco extend its videoconferencing technology to mobile devices.
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