Chatterbox : Geek Speak

Geek Speak: Do you have a voice?

Steve Pham — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:17:00 GMT

Google Voice that is... but wait, what is Google Voice?

Google Voice is an internet based call forwarding service, FREE of charge unless placing international calls. It's currently released by invite only but it's pretty easy to get an invite. Just ask me how if you're interested. Now, I am sure your thinking "Whoopty Doo", what can it do for me? Well, here is what it did for me.

It gave me a local number (you can choose any number you want, from anywhere in the US). This helped a lot. I moved to Charleston not too long ago from another state and do not have a house line. Now I won't get a confused look when I give people my phone number.
It also seconds as a business line. I can make outward calls using the Google Voice number.
Another awesome feature from Google Voice is the option to screen all calls before answering. By screening, I do not mean caller-ID. I mean Google Voice informs you of who is on the other line and blocked numbers will not go through unless they announce themselves. No more random phone calls you send straight to voicemail.
Google voice also has phone management, which is similar to email management. If you are familiar with Gmail, then you will be familiar with Google Voice. You can manage all calls, voicemails, text messages, and contacts using Google Voice.
You also have a block list. You can block any calls from annoying telemarketers, relatives, exes, etc.
Oh yea, did I mention it transcribes your voicemails for you? Well it can! You can get an email, text, or both of your voicemail. No more "wait, what number did they say?" or "what do they want?"
A feature I haven't used yet but can see myself using in the future is the ability to add multiple lines to the Google Voice number. So instead of just forwarding it to my mobile, I can forward the number to my house, work, another sibiling (in the case it's your parents), and more.

As you can see, I've discovered a lot of great features and I just started using it on Tuesday. And knowing Google, I'm sure they will continue to develop it. One key note... Google is very smart about adding a revenue model into the majority, if not all, of their products. Make sure to pick a number that you like or otherwise it will cost you $10 to get a new number.

Don't forget to comment and let us know how you use Google Voice and what benefits or flaws you see. My one wish right now? I wish they would let you have more than one number.

Geek Speak: Twitter Tools to Twind Tweeps to Twollow

Steve Pham — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:57:00 GMT

Try to say that title one time fast (yeah, don't even bother with three times fast)! Phew!

Why the alliteration? Well I recently signed up for Twitter a few months ago to see what it was all about, and it wasn’t until I understood the power of it that I began to really dive in. After a month or so, I began to get frustrated because I wanted to find people to follow, but not just anyone. I wanted to follow those who had something to say or those who I could potentially build a professional relationship. So naturally I turned to Google to solve my conundrum. My results? Well, that's what I'm hoping to share here in this blog post. Here's a list of tools that helped me.

Twitter Search – I used Twitter Search to see if anyone I knew was on Twitter. You can also use it to find a conversation about a particular topic. Great to use when you're just getting started.
Twellow – Twellow is definitely not the prettiest tool to use, but it contains a massive database of users that you can search by location or category. Great tool, just a bit clunky.
LocalTweeps – Local Tweeps is fairly new. However, the database is growing and the main focus of this is to find Tweeps (Twitter people) that are in the same locale as you. I found quite a few people to follow using this tool.
WhoShouldIFollow – Who Should Follow is an interesting site, you enter your Twitter name and it finds users that match what you have tweeted, your bio, and who you are already following. This tool didn't help me as much because lately my focus has been finding people in my locale because I just moved to the area.
TwitterLocal – Twitter Local is an Adobe Air application that is great. Basically you follow conversations that happen in specific areas - based on city, zip code, state, etc. It's great to see what is going on locally and to see who the big players are in the area.

Each of these tools helped me find more people to follow.

Other Helpful Hints -
It's also a good idea to see who the people you are following, who they themselves are following. Typically they are interested in the same people, so it's always good to check that out. Also, one of my favorite things to do is to check out the twitter user's ration. What's the ratio of who they follow to how many people follow them. I like to make sure its kind of close, however, if you are following a celebrity or a group or company, you cannot expect the ratio to be close. In addition, I also tend not to follow people without avatars, or a few quality updates. I do a quick twitter history check to verify quality and not just quantity. Sometimes those with quantity lack conciseness and worthwhile tweets.

These are just a few things to look out for when you are looking for more people to follow. Hope this helps and happy tweeting.

Feel Free to follow me @Phamtastik and Lindsey @lindseyrobbins

Geek Speak: Do you fear having your email address visible to spammers?

Steve Pham — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:43:00 GMT

Well have no fear, because Scrim is here! Scrim is a wonderful new tool that masks your email address from the spam bots that scour the internet to find an email to send their "spicy meat" to. Think of Scrim as Tinyurl for your email address (why didn't I think of this?), you simply enter in your email address and let Scrim do its business. After it works its magic, you get a URL that a user will have to click on and correctly select the captcha to reveal your email address. I created a fake email address for fun (ieatspamforbreakfast@fakemail.com) and this is what Scrim created: http://scr.im/15b.

Oh yea, did i mention you get 12 characters to create your own link? Unfortunately, if you already created a randomly generated link for your email address you are stuck with it. So now place your email address freely on the web and let Scrim do the spam fighting for you.

Geek Speak: Facebook and Gmail sitting in a tree...X.O.O.P.I.T

Steve Pham — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:31:00 GMT

Facebook and Gmail sitting in a tree, how does that happen and what does Xoopit have to do with it? Well, Xoopit in a nutshell, is a Firefox plugin that integrates with Gmail. Xoopit enhances Gmail by displaying your photos, files, and videos from your emails all from within the Gmail interface. See the cool example below!

But wait...there's more!!! Xoopit just released an update to their plugin. Facebook users can now view profile photos and status updates, as well as set your own status updates in Gmail. Best yet, you can get all this for the low, low price of...FREE!

I can't wait to spend some time up that tree with Facebook and Gmail. Who knows what productivity and fun I'll be able to find up there?!

Geek Speak: Google Releases Multiple Inboxes

Steve Pham — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:57:00 GMT

When I saw the headline I was ecstatic with a grin the size of the Joker's. Mainly because I have multiple Gmail accounts for personal, business, junk, etc., but I've always wished I could view these different inboxes without having to login and out of each of them every time. I know there are others that are in the same boat as me. However, don't get too excited, because it was all TRICKERY!!!

What they really meant was you can view one inbox in sub-divided panes to see the different filters/labels that you may have setup. I mean this is great for users of filters/labels (which there are plenty of), but for me, not so much. If you are a filters/labels user, would you use this tool and how excited are you about this new feature?

Introducing Geek Speak with Steve

Lindsey Robbins — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:21:00 GMT

I’m excited to have a new regular guest blogger, Steve Pham. Steve joined the documentation team as a technical writer a few weeks ago – moving here from the great city of Philly. Hmmm… wonder why he did that? He must be drawn to beaches, sunshine, and friendly people .

I quickly discovered Steve had a talent for speaking geek and digging around the interwebs so I stealthily recruited and convinced him to write with me. After all, then I could have more time for *work*. Steve’s done some blogging here and there but I’ll still be here to keep my eyes on him.

With the new Geek Speak segment, Steve will share any cool new features or tools that might make our lives a little bit easier. But don’t let his geekiness fool you; while he’s a technical writer by day, he’s a DJ by night. DJ Phamtastik, as he’s known, hopes to keep you reading by day just like he keeps people dancing all night!

Please give a warm Chatterbox welcome to Steve!