Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Archive for April, 2007
Hanging Up On Vonage: Time to Switch To Verizon VoIP VoiceWing Internet Phone
Apr 18th
Looks like the bell tolls for Vonage with their latest admission that they have no workaround for the Verizon-challenge on their VoIP patents for internet-based calls passed to landline phones…
If you were about to sign-up for Vonage, you probably should look at other options like SunRocket‘s $10/mo plan or $17/month unlimited plan or even Verizon’s own “VoiceWing Broadband Phone Service” for $19.99 or $24/month.
It’s hard to believe that Vonage might actually go bankrupt in the near future…
Windows Tip: How To View Folder Sizes in Windows Explorer
Apr 18th
Sometimes when I’m using the computer, there are times where I stop and just think, WHY DIDN’T THEY ADD THIS FEATURE? It’s so obvious to the user, but for Microsoft and other developers, it must NOT be that obvious…clearly a times where you can see that programs are designed by engineers…without the users they’re programming for in mind.
Here’s a great example: When you’re using Windows Explorer in the DETAILED VIEW, you’ll see a column called “SIZE” which displayed the size of FILES that are in any given folder you are viewing. But if there’s a FOLDER in the list, it neglects to calculate that folder size and instead displays a blank. Why wouldn’t the Microsoft programmers that made Windows add that information? C’mon! Read the rest of this entry »
Free International Long Distance Calls on Your Cell Phone (like my Samsung Blackjack)
Apr 17th
Here’s a great tip if you’re traveling short-term or long, and have a bunch of people you regularly call that requires international long distance…and it’s perfect for cell phones like the Blackjack, Blackberry, Treo, iPAQ, Motorola Q, Nokia smartphones, SonyEricsson, etc.
A free service with a twist on VoIp is available from JaJah.com. Instead of direct calls to someone else using VoIP, the service takes your telelphone or cell phone number, and the phone number of the person you want to call through their webpage — after you hit go, they call you first, and then connect the call to the other party. THUS, neither of you need a VoIP adapter, hardware, etc. You can use and call any phone in the world. And of course there’s the network effect — calls between JahJah members are free globally.
JaJah.com just came out with a mobile edition of their site, so you can now initiate calls from your web browswer on the Samsung Blackjack or other smartphone with a web browser. Just go to… Read the rest of this entry »
Scan Blogs While Reading Your Gmail (How to add “webclips”)
Apr 16th
One of the neat features of Gmail is a one liner at the top of your “Inbox” called “Webclips” — it auto-refreshes and rotates headlines from various interesting sites on the web. A great function of Webclips in Gmail is that you can customize the feed so that it can scan your favorite blogs too.
2 Million Songs On Your Cell Phone (like my Samsung Blackjack) for $5.99
Apr 15th
Lately I’ve been trying to explore different ways to use my Samsung Blackjack to exploit the fact that it handles various media files very well. Music mp3 is one of them. I started with iTunes and ripping my own CD’s to get mp3 files onto the Blackjack (TIP: don’t load them into your device’s memeory, instead copy them onto the microSD card so you don’t run out of room on your device.). Then I found out that eMusic has the same catalog of songs for MUCH cheaper — think of it as a discount iTunes.com
But then there’s Yahoo!Music, which I never really gave much thought too, until someone told me that it supports Windows Mobile devices like the Samsung Blackjack on AT&T Network. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Get Free Local Business 411 Directory Assistance
Apr 13th
It looks like it will be a battle between Google, who recently launched 1-800-GOOG-411 vs. Microsoft, who is acquiring TellMe Networks, operator of 1-800-555-TELL. Both now offer free 411 for local businesses in your area. And both are ways to avoid the $1.25 or $1.50 directory assistance charge from cell phone providers slapped onto your bill each time.
I personally like Tell Me’s various services, including the ability to connect to any airline free of charge without ever having to memorize or write down the telephone number.
Just dial 1-800-555-TELL (1-800-555-8355) and you can get weather, sports scores, headlines and now local directory assistance for businesses including restaurants, banks, clothing stores, dry cleaners, electronics stores, etc.
They’re working on a beta for 411 services where you speak the name or type of business and it will give you the results + map on your cell phone. This is just a hint of what’s to come since voice recognition is finally practical to utilize for more and more services.
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!