November 11, 2009
fun with Google Voice
Yes, I’m one of the ones who managed to somehow make it through Google’s mysterious vetting process, and after a 6+ week wait, have been invited to open a Voice account. I’ve had the account now for several more weeks, and am just starting to discover some of the more interesting uses.
First off, since I only have one actual real phone, the multi-ringing feature is lost on me. What I have been able to make good use of is the free texting and calls to Canada, and via Sprint’s conditional voice-mail forwarding I am now using Google Voice as my default voice-mailbox and handler.
For those of you who have no idea what this means, it’s like having Gmail for your voice messages. Recorded greetings/messages can be then embedded for sharing, etc.
Another fun thing is the call widget. Embedded widgets allow website viewers to connect to your account and to your phone; click, enter your number, and Google Voice rings both parties and connects the call. For free. Well, free in the US and Canada. Well, free inside the US and for US connections into Canada.
I’m going to try posting such a widget and do some experimenting; ideally, it should work out to be a “call me collect for free for everyone” button for my many Canadian friends.
October 30, 2009
beautiful lips and infinite sadness
Dear Miss Zellweger,
Last night I had the most interesting dream about you, well, about you and I. We had met somewhere, taken a train together, and later taken together the views from some windowed place. I had admired you some long while as we sat -near, but not really together- in those low canvas slingback chairs, eyes narrowed against the seawind, seasalt, and seaview of some Connecticut beach.
I felt that we were friends, save for a certain formality; I thought of you as Renée, and yet never addressed you as such. I felt nervous around you; not for your star-power, but for your lips pursed against the wind, and the incredible loneliness wafting from your eyes, and for the want I had to say to you:
How beautiful you are! and why such sadness? But the words are never said, never spoken, and in morning I wake and rise, pedal away to the coffeeshop, letting cool predawn airs wash away the image of your fingers trailing in the sand, and my own little fears of finding out why.
But At Peace,
Me
October 17, 2009
Reviews
Yes, yes, reviews. I find myself making more and more purchases online these days (does anyone else get sick of walking into retail stores and hearing, “Oh yes, we carry that, but we don’t stock it… But we could order it for you!”).
Part of online shopping is reading as many peer reviews as you can stand. I like to get a wide cross-section to flatten out any bias, but it’s still hard to find frank and direct reviews written by neither either elitest snob haters nor cross-eyed gibbering fanboys.
So I’m doing my part, and writing up a few reviews of stuff I’ve picked up, with a focus on picking up on those facets not covered anywhere else I’ve encountered; the little everyday things that most reviewers miss, the stuff that only shows up after a little hard usage and time.
Yes, boring stuff for many of my three regular readers, but maybe useful for some other practical online shoppers out there.
