GeekSugar

Use Dial My Calls to Send One Message to a Group of People

GeekSugar — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:02:15 -0800

Ever wish you could send out a voice message to a group of people in your contacts list? Thanks to a neat site that I discovered on Lifehacker, this is now possible! With Dial My Calls, you can send one message to all your friends for things like sharing an announcement, telling them there's been a change of plans, or reminding them of an upcoming event. Kinda like sending a mass email, except this message comes with the sound of your beautiful voice.

Leonard Nimoy Talks Tech, Star Trek 2, and Fringe

GeekSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:47:12 -0700

If you haven't been watching Fringe, you're missing out on a solid sci-fi thriller that will help fill a void where BSG left off. Sure, there's no space, but there are alternate universes . . . and Leonard Nimoy.

The original Spock made his appearance on the Fox series in last season's cliffhanger finale as William Bell, and will be gracing the screen again in tonight's episode. I can't tell you how excited I was to get an opportunity to talk to Leonard Nimoy himself in a conference call yesterday before his season two debut, but I'm sure you can imagine that I had to take a few deep breaths before dialing the number - come on, he's a geek legend!

Check out what Mr. Nimoy had to say about his sci-fi career, the state of the genre today, and what he's up to now when you read more.

G: Your body of work (even before Star Trek) leans heavily toward sci-fi, so I was wondering if you have always been a fan of the genre yourself?
LN: It's a good thing if you can find your niche as an actor. Back in 1951, I acted in my first science fiction project, which was probably not very well known (but I thought it was going to rocket me to stardom if you pardon my expression), and it was called Zombies of the Stratosphere. I was the third group of zombies that came to earth to take over earth's orbit, and it was a great project. But science fiction has been a fertile ground for the kind of work that I do, the kind of presence that I offer, and I'm grateful for the niche that science fiction has given me.

On if he's a "techie": I use a computer. I don't know if that qualifies me as a techie, but I'm pretty good on a computer!
On how he feels about the current state of the sci-fi genre on TV and film: I'm concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance. When I see a lot of explosions and a lot of chases, I'm not terribly impressed. I think that there are three important elements that must be given priority position in science fiction (as well as any other kind of drama). The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story. If the story is compelling and interesting, all the other elements will find their place.
On other projects he's working on now: I'm doing a lot of photography work. That's one of my major creative outlets right now. I have an exhibition opening at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art next year that I'm really excited about.
On his relationship with J.J. Abrams and how he came into his role on Fringe: Well I first met him about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together and I went to a meeting with him and some other production staff where they told me a very good, strong, and touching story about their feelings about Star TrekStar Trek series. I had a brilliant time working with them, so when they contacted me about working on Fringe - the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity - it was very enticing.
On if he'll be making a cameo in Star Trek 2: Frankly, I doubt that I'll be called upon again. I think I was useful in this last film to help bridge the original characters and the new cast, but with the new cast in place, I'm sure they'll move ahead with that. I don't see at the moment why they would need me, but I wouldn't hesitate if they asked.

You Are Now Free to VoIP Via 3G on Your iPhone

GeekSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:44:57 -0700

As you may have heard me say before, the iPhone can do pretty much everything under the sun except open a bottle of champagne thanks to its amazing apps - except use its 3G goodness to make calls from Skype, that is. You could use any open WiFi signal to dial up your pals for free over the Internet, but Apple drew the line at you hopping on its 3G signals to use voice over IP.

After much grumbling from the geek population (including a few gripes from yours truly), Apple has finally allowed 3G voice over Internet calling, which includes using your free Skype App. Hop on your signal to call whomever, whenever, and now you don't have to go searching around town for a free WiFi signal in parts of town you aren't familiar with. If only this would have come up a few weeks ago when I was abroad, it would have made my traveling life so much easier.

Tech Dating 101: How Not to Virtually Stalk Him

GeekSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:33:27 -0700

One of my favorite scenes in He's Just Not That Into You is when Gigi and Janine are at a bar, and Gigi tears up a guy's business card for not being clear about if he actually wanted to call her. It's a lightbulb moment, since previously she had been staring at her phone non-stop and checking her voicemail every five minutes. We've probably all been there at some point in our lives, but now it's even easier to find out about people on the Internet. With MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and a number of other social networking sites, you can see where people are, what kind of food they like to eat, and what kind of music they are into with just a few clicks. Now that I say that, it's actually kind of scary, right?

And if you're just starting to date someone, it can be very tempting to Google his name and start checking his Twitter feeds every hour to see what he has been doing. But please, resist the urge my friends. If you already know everything about a person after only a few dates, what kind of revelations and cool facts will you uncover when you're actually in the same room? I've put together a list of things you shouldn't do in the early stages of a dating relationship, so you can make the most of your time together, and generally not come off like a creepy online stalker. Find out what they are when you read more.

Stay far, far away from 123 People.
Don't friend him on Facebook until there's an intro. Like one of you asks, "Hey, so are you on Facebook?"
Definitely don't follow him on Twitter (or secretly follow him on Tweetstalk) unless you've exchanged Twitter names.
Don't assign him a speed dial until the relationship is on solid ground.
Don't call and hang up. You should know this by now.
Don't Google Street View his address and try to guess which apartment is his.
Don't bookmark or loiter around his Flicker photo stream.
Don't friend him on Loopt until you're in an established relationship, or have decided to just be friends. This would be creepy.

Call In Your Tweets to Twitter With TweetCall

GeekSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:01:03 -0700

Try saying that ten times in a row - such a mouth full! There are already so many tools and tricks to enhance your micro-blogging experience with Twitter, well now it's possible to send your tweets by calling a number. This voice-to-text service called TweetCall is not an April Fools' joke as I originally thought.

I actually set myself up with the service - all you have to do is fill out a quick profile with your info and create a pin - and then I dialed 1-877-TWEET-CALL to take TweetCall for a test drive. I can't say I left a detailed 140 character message, but it did work as my message showed up on Twitter a few minutes after calling TweetCall. Keep in mind that it will say "from TweetCall" under your tweet.

iDialUDrive App Helps You Stay Handsfree

GeekSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:00:00 -0700

With California's Hands Free Law in full effect, I'm always looking for creative ways to help me stay handsfree so I can keep my eyes on the road. Even those two or three seconds you spend navigating your way to your contacts list to dial a number are a few seconds too long to spend looking down.

Well a new handy app called iDialUDrive works as a simple way to automatically dial your contacts - without using your hands! With iDialUDrive you can create custom lists of the people you want to call, then by pressing one control, this App will call the first entry in your call list. After the call is finito, it will hang up for you and continue down the list automatically so you don't have to lift a finger!

iDialUDrive costs 99 cents from the Apple App Store in iTunes.

Going Cruising? Cellular at Sea Has You Covered

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:00:35 -0700

I just got back from a fab trip - a bunch of friends and I boarded a Carnival Fun Ship in honor of their birthdays. I have to admit, although I was looking forward to a relaxing vacation, I was nervous because I knew I would be out of cell range while we were spending the day at sea. What is a geek girl to do when she is totally disconnected!? Sure there are those iCafes aboard the ship, but who wants to spend money on those shared computers? So of course, I was ecstatic when I picked up my phone to see full reception – 23 miles off the coast!

Cellular at Sea is the Wireless Maritime Service that provides you with reception on a number of cruise ships, even when you are in the middle of nowhere. There are plenty of roaming partners that work with Cellular at Sea, so you should be able to make your calls while on vacay. But let's get real, you should keep it short – you're supposed to be relaxing!

How did my Cellular at Sea experience go? Find out when you read more.

There were times when I got the dreaded "No Service" message after dialing, but for the most part I had great reception everywhere on the boat. Just be advised that international roaming charges do apply, so you may want to restrict your calls to only those that are absolutely necessary. I haven't received my phone bill yet, but I'm crossing my fingers I didn't go overboard on the phone calls home! Get it? Overboard? I know . . . I'm pretty funny.

Supertooth Light Bluetooth Speakerphone Is Easy on the Ear

GeekSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:06:14 -0700

My home base of California is now a handsfree state, which means it's illegal to drive your car and talk on the phone unless you are using a Bluetooth device or headset. I've tried my share of Bluetooth earpieces and understand their place and function, but I don't love having a device crammed in my ear. This weekend I took my sister's Supertooth Light Bluetooth Handsfree Speakerphone (on sale for $70) for a spin and it won my affection after two test phone calls.

You mount the device on your car's sun visor (I didn't have to take off my earrings! Brownie point number one!), and it features voice dial activation, redial and call reject and a retractable sliding microphone.

To see what I liked and disliked about the device, read more.

The packaging claims the Supertooth Light Bluetooth Speakerphone uses "real-time audio to process any echo or background noise resulting in the improvement of the sound quality of the user’s voice regardless of whether the car is stationery or traveling at high speed," but I'm unsure how to actually test that. The sound was clearer than the headset that came with my BlackBerry and because it's a speakerphone I didn't feel like I had to yell. If you are self conscious about talking on a speaker with other people in the car this might not be the right device for you, but if you don't mind sharing your conversation with the carpool the speaker is easy to use and does a great job of keeping your hands free.

I was initially a little confused about the pop out mic (you turn on the device by pushing out the retractable mic - there's no power button), but after using it once I figured it out. Supertooth claims the battery works for 15 hours, but my sister says it's lasted her about a week of car use. The stand-by time is actually 800 hours (who would leave a headset on for that long?). The good news is that you charge the device by plugging it into your car lighter so you can always juice up on the road.

The Blueant site has a whole rundown of device compatibility, but it works for all the biggies, like BlackBerry, iPhone and Bluetooth enabled devices from Cingular, Motorola, Nokia, LG and TMobile. Overall, I found the device easy to use, think it's a fair price (especially now that it's on sale from $100 to $70) and the sound quality is right in line with some of the better earpieces I've tried.

View 8 Photos ›

Geek Tip: Use PhoneVite to Send Invites and Updates

GeekSugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:02:54 -0700

I'm sure you all know and love eVite for sending quick and easy invitations. But I've come across an interesting situation with some of my non-tech-savvy pals: they can go days (even weeks) without checking their email, causing them to miss out on fun evenings cause they didn't get the notice! Can you imagine?! But I still love 'em, so I try to figure out ways to work with them, and not against them. Which brings me to my new fave invite service that's friendly to techies and nontechies alike: PhoneVite.

PhoneVite allows you to batch-send invites, updates, messages, and reminders by voice message to your recipients' phones, and even lets them send an RSVP or message back. To learn how to get started with PhoneVite just read more.

All you have to do is log in to PhoneVite's website, record your message on either your computer microphone or cell phone, enter the phone numbers you want the message sent to, and select either "send now," or schedule a call to go out later. Presto! Your non-email-checking, landline-loving, dial-up Internet pals will still get your invite, and everyone is happy. Oh, and did I mention it was free?

Source

Waiting for the iPhone? Connect Your iPod To Your Cell

GeekSugar — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:47:20 -0800

Wireless devices for iPod are suddenly all the rage. Last week at Macworld Belkin was showing off its new sports command for iPod set up and now everyone is talking about MyBlu a new system that connects your iPod to your mobile phone wirelessly via Bluetooth.

When you're using MyBlu and a call comes in, your iPod music pauses and the caller's details are displayed on your iPod (like caller ID) and you can accept or reject the call with the buttons on myBlu. When you are done with the call, iPod music is resumed. Users can also choose from a list of the nine most recent or dialed numbers off the iPod with the clickwheel and start a new call. Though the Mavizen company admits some users have been experiencing caller ID issues in Asia and that other users have had trouble displaying non-English characters, on the iPod display, Mavizen says it's working on the bugs. So do we still need to drop $599 for an iPhone?