Archive for December, 2009
Stem Cells Cure a Man’s Blind Eye
Dec 24th
Seriously people, if this isn’t better living through technology then I don’t know what is.
Doctors in England have grown a man’s replacement cornea from a combination of his own fluids and cells (ewwwww). This once unlucky guy lost sight in one eye from a fight that ended with ammonia in his face (yup, that’ll usually end a fight), but has now completely regained his vision.
Best I can tell it sounds like they grew a new cornea for the guy (cool), gave him a cornea transplant (cooler), he doesn’t need the anti-rejection meds transplant patients are left to take for the rest of their lives (awesome), and, oh ya, he can see again (freakin’ unbelievable).
Pretty impressive stuff folks…
via {gizmodo}
4 Ways Google Voice Can Help You
Dec 23rd
Google Voice’s tagline is “One number to rule them all! err The way phones are supposed to work err Teach Your Phone New Tricks – Voicemail like email, call routing, voicemail transcription, and more” and that’s only the beginning!
If you don’t know what Google Voice does this will get you up to speed and if you’re not sure it’s for you this will help you decide.
When I first signed up for Google Voice I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d use it, but now that it’s been a while I want to share 4 ways I’m using Google Voice that could help you immediately.
The Use Everyone Should Use … Google VoiceMAIL
“I HATE VOICEMAIL!”
If you hate voicemail and you probably do…Sign up for Google Voicemail NOW! As a feature of Google Voice you can forward your regular cell phone calls to Google Voicemail instead of your carrier’s voicemail service. Very quickly you’ll get transcriptions of your voicemails, control over what callers hear what message, and much more. My single favorite feature is that each voicemail is emailed to you both with a transcription and an audio file. I’ve always hated dialing into check voicemail and with Google Voicemail I’ll never have to do that again (though you do have that option for those times where you don’t have internet access).
This one is a no-brainer folks. It’s better then your current voicemail, Go Get It!
Most Obvious Use
“I need a second line for work.”
I’ve always wanted to have a second cellular line for a business number but could never justify the extra cost. Now I’m using my Google Voice number as my business line and my regular number as my personal line. It’s great! I can manage what voicemail message people here depending on what line they dialed (no more customers hearing unprofessional outgoing messages) and I know when I need to answer a call professionally (vs. answering as the National Porn Archive and the like).
Most Comforting Use
“I lost my phone and I don’t have a landline to check messages with!”
Recently I lost my phone and I don’t have a landline. It’s a terrible feeling in particular because I was expecting some calls. I have a Skype account, but that only handles my outgoing calling issues (I don’t use Skype for incoming, though that is another option). So, using Google Voicemail I was able to get e-mailed transcriptions of my incoming voicemails and call people back more efficiently then if I had to use Skype to constantly check voicemails. I’ve always been a fan of this feature, but didn’t expect it to be so helpful when my phone was never to be seen again.
Trickiest Use
“My apartment building has a call box at the door but my roommates and I don’t have a landline… Can Google Voice help us?!”
Yessir it can! As always when there are roomates someone will have to take charge.
- Signup for a GV account
- Setup each roommates phone in the account (pick a night when everyone is home to make all the coordination of confirmation codes easier).
- Have your landlord setup the call box to call your new GV # (consider adding *82 as a prefix to make sure the call box caller ID shows up). It’s very important that the call box caller ID be displayed.
Voila! If this is all you use GV for and you want all the roommates phones to ring when someone is at the door… then you are done!
If you want to customize who gets called when, then you’re in luck. Part of GV’s feature set is the ability to manipulate which phones ring based on the incoming number and the time. For example, I work from home so my phone is set to always ring when the call box is dialed, but since my roommate works a 10-4 9-5 I set his phone to only ring in the evenings on weekdays.
When we moved in we thought we’d need to get a landline (blech!) or have only one phone attached to the account (lame!), but Google Voice gave us the solution we needed.
Conclusion
I hope I’ve demonstrated a few of the ways that Google Voice might benefit you quickly and without any real change to the way you currently use your phone and e-mail. If you’ve got your own uses for GV I’d love to hear them.
Google Calendar Makes Following Your Favorite Teams Easy
Dec 23rd
Earlier this month Google Calendars introduced a new and improved version of a feature they had mysteriously pulled a while back. “Interesting Calendars” is a subscribe-to-calendar type feature that makes adding common calendars/schedules to your own calendar simple and clean. Not only can you add the birthdays of your contacts with just a few clicks, but you can also add the entire schedules of your favorite sports teams (and I’m not talking just the 4 US majors). Over the course of the season you’ll have every game listed in your calendar and during the game it’ll be updated with scores and results in real-time.
It wouldn’t occur to most people to check their calendar to get a score, but when you think about it, it’s actually super convenient.
via [the official gmail blog]
Google Apps = Awesome
Dec 22nd
Hey Everybody! [Pause for Simpsons Fans]
Today’s topic, and a personal favorite is Google Apps. In case you’re unaware, Google Apps is a suite of applications that enable users to collaborate through e-mail, calendars, documents and customized sites. Businesses small and large can use a combination of Google Apps and Microsoft Office to keep themselves organized and productive.
Most people are familiar with gmail and google docs, etc, but Google Apps Standard Edition allows you to setup these and other applications on your own customized domain (e.g. docs.yourdomain.com). This allows for companies, teams, organizations, etc to create their own set of hosted apps and intranet to keep everyone organized and facilitate communication.
I’ll get into more details of Google Sites in another post, but for now you can see some examples from Google here. The sites are simple to setup, easy to customize and support integration with numerous widgets that extend the functionality and crossover to other companies (like Salesforce.com). I’ve used Google Apps as both a company’s intranet as well as a customer facing dashboard and CMS.
Anyway, enough on what it is and on to why you should care…
- Google Apps is well known and easy to use. New employees and customers will probably already be familiar with the applications and how to use them. And in many cases they can integrate multiple Google accounts.
- All the basics are there from document creation, to chatting and collaboration to Exchange-like features (available in the Premier Edition, more on that later) to excellent mobile access.
- It’s freakin’ Google! They are constantly rolling out improvements, better cross platform integration, mobile access, etc and it’s all backed by one of the world’s biggest internet leaders. Generally the upgrades you see public versions of gMail, Google Docs, and gCal are the same you see in your Google Apps setup.
- Low overhead. No hosting on your side (!!!) and if you hire a new employee there is no need to set them up with MS Office, just create an account for them and they’ll automatically have a calendar, document repository, and web based e-mail access (plus all Gmail’s bells and whistles).
- Most importantly… Google Apps integrates with everything. Whatever other decisions you make or platforms you choose in the future Google Apps API and open nature will support, integrate or export to make a transition simple.
These are just some of the reasons that you should check out Google Apps both for apps you use for personal reasons (like I do with jeffshariat.com) and for businesses. It’s definitely not as powerful as Microsoft Office, but it IS easier to use and still provides the majority of functionality that most people need (and who needs MORE Microsoft in there lives?).
So, to recap, Google Apps = awesome.
In future installments I’ll cover Google Apps Premier Edition ($50/user/year gets you actual real live phone support), Google Sites, Google Labs, and some of the really cool features that Google has recently rolled out in response to customer feedback and need.
Featured Site: BillsAreIn.com
Dec 22nd
I really wish this site had existed when I was in college. No doubt more than a few ‘discussions’ would have been avoided if we had been using BillsAreIn.com.
BillsAreIn.com is a small website with a simple solution to long time problem…arguments over money between roommates. The site provides a simple and clean interface to capture what bills have come in, who owes how much, and what’s been paid. In additon to managing bills (all manually for now) you can also track who paid for dinner, who did or didn’t chip in on the keg, and who borrowed $100 from who in vegas that one weekend. You know the weekend I’m talking about.
The site navigation is simple and the interactions are clean. Signup took very little time and I haven’t gotten any more emails then were necessary to alert me to my account and the money my roommate said I owed him from the strip club grocery store.
I’m at a point in my life where I don’t seem any major arguments breaking out over the house finances, but this tool is still a super convenient way for my roommate and I to stay on top of our shared expenses and we love it. If you’re in college, have multiple roommates, have shady roomates, or just like clean transaction records then BillsAreIn.com is definitely worth a look.
Feature Set
- Add / view a bill – Capture the due date, amount, category, and % split amongst the roommates
- Add / view IOUs – Capture due date and amount of non-bill related money between roommates
- Add / view Payments – Capture the date and amount of payments. Includes a feature to request confirmation from the roommate being paid back.
- View Statistics – A nice summary and breakdown of where all that money is going and who is paying it.
- House Wall – Quick and dirty way to leave a note for roommates.
- Payment Summary – A simple table summary of the net amounts owed by each person.
via [BillsAreIn.com]
Holiday Gift Guide Round-up
Dec 21st
Hanukkah might have just ended, but Christmas is just around the corner. If you’re like me, you haven’t done nearly as much shopping as you were supposed to and now you’re starting to panic. Have no fear! There is still time (click here for a list of retailers and the drop dead dates for pre-xmas delivery) to get your presents under the tree in time for that bleary eyed wonder we call Christmas morning.
To help you sort through all the options we here at TechtoLiveBy have compiled a list of our favorite holiday gift guides. In no particular order…
Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide 2009
Engadgets gift guide is always a personal favorite for gadget shopping. It’s rarely the most creative gift list, but it’s suggestions are solid, main stream (so generally well received), and expansive. You can’t go wrong starting with this list.
Favorite Suggestion: iPod Touch – See, it’s not creative, but it’s a damn good present.
Make: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
Like any good gift guide Make offers categories for boys, girls, cheap and expensive…But they’ve also got guides for DIY everything, ‘Mischief Makers’, Retrotech, Robots, Dangerous Giving, and much more. These gifts are not for everyone, but the people that like them will LOVE them and they might even learn something.
Favorite Suggestion: Absinthe and Flamethrower – A fantastic title and it’s described as “…a sure-fire hit for people who want to get in touch with their inner MacGyver and for fans of television shows like MythBusters. (The book’s projects …) often involve building things that shoot or explode.” Yup, not for kids…
Craft: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
Make’s sister site Craft offers just as much DIY goodness but with less of the hardcore geekiness. Lists include ‘For the foodie’, green gifts, wearable tech, for gardners, and much more (including for the beekeeper).
Favorite Suggestion: Ventilated Bee Suit with Astronaut Hood – Because, really, who doesn’t need a bee proof suit!
Toolmonger
Cheating a little bit with this one. They don’t seem to have posted a gift guide, but just scroll down the first page of articles. Every tool there would seriously entertain the handyman in your life.
Favorite Suggestion: Home Automation - They cover Insteon and X10 products for getting started with home automation. Have no fear, this will be covered extensively here on TechtoLiveBy.
GLOSS Holiday Gift Guide 2009
This one is for the ladies… Mygloss is a mommyblogger site and offers a more feminine take then some of the sites above. The lists are short, but the suggestions are good ones.
Favorite Suggestion: Mindflex – The wow factor of these new ‘brain controlled’ toys is pretty high.
Gawker Luxury Gift Guide 2009
Saved the most expensive for last. Gawker has put together this list of high end gifts that most people would want, but probably wont be receiving this year. Highlights include, golf clubs, a corset, wirless speakers and the Aston Martin Vantage.
Favorite Suggestion: Icon Light Sports Craft – Is it a Jet? Is it a Jet Ski? I have no idea, but it definitely IS $250,000. But hey, it only requires an LSA Pilots Liscense and a small truck to tow it to your garage.
Happy Holidays from TechtoLiveBy.com!
