Porting your mobile voicemail to Google Voice

Google released a new feature for Google Voice wherein you can now forward your mobile phone voicemail to Google Voice. Google Voice is a service that allows you to have a phone number "in the cloud" ( to use an over-hyped buzzword ) that you can then control all of your inbound and outbound call activities through one interface.

This new feature allows you to have your mobile voicemail be stored at / with Google Voice instead of with your mobile provider. The advantages ( if it works well ) are that you have central voice mail for all of your phone numbers, and get all of the voicemail features of Google Voice ( transcription, email alerts, etc. )

The process took all of about three minutes to complete, and is supported for most of the major carriers in the US. You just go into the 'Settings' section for your Google Voice account and choose to 'Activate Google Voice voicemail for this number'. Once you select it, you will be prompted to enter the number sequence to forward your voicemail. You get immediate confirmation.

I intend to test it for the next few days and see how it works.

Update:

GV users...calls to your cell can either ring other phones or go straight to VM. Go to "Edit" a phone, hit "Advanced Settings", and choose 'Go Straight to Voice Mail'

My initial review of Google Wave

I have been using Wave for the last couple days, mainly for doing project and task planning with our offshore developers. I have also used it just to goof around and generally insult others that are on Wave as well, all in good fun. Here are my thoughts so far:

Good:

• The real time editing paradigm that Wave uses is really powerful for doing things like discussing screen mocks, editing content pieces on the fly, and recording everyone's thoughts about a particular item in one spot. We were discussing mods to a particular piece of code today with our team in Mumbai, and we were able to paste in a proposed TODO list, and rip thru each item on the list and make decisions right away. The great thing about it is that you can insert your comments in the exact spot in the thread where they apply. Unlike IM, where the conversation is in date time order ( you see the posts chronologically if you are in a group chat, even if you are responding to something from five minutes ago), you can edit and branch anywhere in the Wave. Very nice.
• The ability to quickly embed content such as videos, pictures, and other gadgets on the fly is great. We dumped in four or five pictures, and there is a slideshow feature that allows you to view them all in a really nice viewer. I also embedded a sudoku gadget and played Sudoku with a couple other folks on the thread, just to see how that would work.
• There are numerous keyboard shortcuts ( some of which worked, some of which I had "issues" with ) that made editing and responding on the wave very fast. No mouse required.
• The 'Replay' button is quite nice. It essentially plays back the wave in order, so you can see exactly where and when all changes to the wave took place.
• As with most Google apps, it already has an API. I downloaded Waveboard and immediately started seeing Growl and desktop notifications as waves were changing. This made it so much easier to track when things were happening if I did not have my browser open at that time.
  

Bad:

• I found it really frustrating that you had to click on every new post in the wave to mark it as 'Read.' I understand why it is the way it is ( sort of ), as if you had a really long wave, you might miss something. I might be missing a way to mark the entire wave as read, but when you have 20 messages that are a sentence a piece, you don't need to physically click on them in order to have seen them. I would have liked a way to just say 'I am caught up on this wave, please mark it read.'
• There is very little configuration of options and settings. If you click on it, it is obviously on the way, but its not there yet.
• There are no notifications if waves change. So, if you are not logged into the site, and don't have a program like Waveboard, you have no idea that things are changing.
  

Ugly:

• I found it very disturbing that I could both edit anyone's post, as well as anyone could edit mine. This needs to be under permission control, and probably will be in future versions. But, it bothered me.
• I love the live preview of what others are editing as they are editing, but at times I was wishing that I could turn off that feature for me. I pictured myself typing something I perhaps did not want others to see, but it being too late even if I backspaced. If I want to insult someone on the wave, I at least want the chance to rethink it before they see it! :)
  

Other:

• It would be really nice if you could email reply into a Wave ala Posterous. Send an email with a certain set of the right data on it, and it shows up in the wave you designate. ( Thanks, Heath. This was a good one )
  
• Thinking about how you could integrate SMS within the wave in similar fashion. Not sure on that, but seems like it could / should be possible.
  

Overall, I am really impressed. Google is again changing the way we think about communicating, just like they did with Gmail. Its a sea change, and I think it's in the right direction. Can't wait for the follow-on releases and new features.

Read 'Free' for free

I just got done reading Free by Chris Anderson. I got my copy for free from Michael Hyatt at Thomas Nelson for posting on his blog about why I wanted to read the book.

I am going to do the same thing to continue on with the experiment.

Post a comment and tell me why freeconomics interests you, and what industries you see the march to free affecting next. If I like your entry, I will contact you and get you a copy of the book, both libre and gratis. I will give away five books ( if I get enough interest ).

Make sure you leave me enough info in your post to contact you.

I will be posting my review of the book in the next day or so.

Money or Happiness ( Or Both )

I ran across this interesting graph in another article I was reading this morning.

The theory behind the graph is that money and happiness are inversely related. The more money you make, the less you do of the things you love to do. The graph, courtesy of Juhan Sonin:


This relates to my post earlier in the month on becoming a manager. It has been confirmed in meetings this week where I work currently. The higher you get in an organization, the less you do of the things you really love to do ( typically ). Instead, you are telling other people what to do.

If your life's goal is to retire with a gold watch and put in years of service to an organization, that's certainly a fine career path.

I just wonder how much you miss the juice of taking on impossible problems, getting your hands dirty, and coming out on top.

The Right To Say What You Want - As Long As You Agree

The news out of Washington today is very troubling. According to numerous sources, the administration is shunning Fox News, and asking other networks to follow suit.

After a scuffle on Fox News Sunday regarding a secretary for Veterans Affairs, the Obama administration has started pulling guests off of the network. In addition, senior advisor David Axelrod has been quoted as saying that the administration does not consider Fox to be a legitimate news source. "Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way," Axelrod counseled ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "We're not going to treat them that way."

Thankfully, not all in the Obama camp see through the lens of complete paranoia that seems to pervade the White House. Both David Gergen and Donna Brazile have criticized the administration openly for the escalating war on Fox.

I don't particularly care for Fox News. I don't like Bill O'Reilly, and I really don't like Glenn Beck. I don't really care for any major network news, either. It all has a slant, either one way or the other. I think the only legitimate news source left may be the BBC.

That being said, I cannot recall such a deliberate, calculated attack on a dissenting viewpoint since I have been paying attention to these things. It is troubling, and we should all be watching this one.

Someone, please convince me I am overreacting here...

Google Wave - Amazing Demo of What's Coming Next

I use Google tech for just about everything:

Google Voice
Gmail
Docs
Search
Picasa

This demo about Wave, which is not yet released, may be one of the best demos I have ever seen. Wave is a new way to think about not only email, but how you communicate in real time with the rest of the world. Both of these demos are meant to show the nature of real-time conversations where you can embed literally any kind of content.

Warning to those who are easily offended: Both of these clips contain language that will offend you.

Rush and the NFL

I have been following the story regarding Rush Limbaugh and his pursuit of buying an NFL franchise, the St Louis Rams. Rush was approached by the owner of the St Louis Blues and asked if he would be interested in buying the Rams.

The reaction from both other owners and the NFL brass was less than favorable. Citing Rush's polarizing political views, as well as comments he has allegedly made in the past regarding black players, Roger Goodell ( commissioner of the NFL ) said that there was basically no chance Rush would ever be approved by the other owners.

Rush has taken to the airwaves, crying foul, and pointing to this injustice as a sign that the country is headed over a cliff. Read about it here.

I have a couple of thoughts about this:

1. Rush, you have spent your whole career and made millions upon millions of dollars making half of the population hate you. If you were not so divisive a figure, you would not have the money to buy the team in the first place. I don't begrudge you any of it. You have made a great living for yourself, and you are entertaining to those that enjoy your show. Don't whine like a baby and doom the country to the pit of hell because you did not get your way. An NFL team's primary job is to, say it with me, MAKE MONEY, and if you don't think that you being an owner would have a negative effect on that, then you are delusional.

2. I remember reading about Al Sharpton denouncing the possibility that Rush could be an owner of an NFL team. Seriously? I am dying to say something about a pot...

Rush, go do what you do best. Entertain your listeners, rail on about Obama at will, and count your blessings. Shut the heck up about your perceived injustice. It just rings a tad empty.

"Now I'm Just A Manager"

I played tennis on Sunday with a guy that works in the server hardware group over at IBM. We were in between games, and chatting about our respective careers. When I asked him what he did for IBM, he said "I am an engineer by trade, but now I'm just a manager."

This is one of the stranger things about corporate America to me, and it happens where I work as well. If you are good at what you do, you eventually don't get to do what you are really good at anymore. You eventually just shuffle spreadsheets around, go to meetings, and argue about inane things to justify your existence.

I find it to be both discouraging and a horribly bad idea.

Idol worship?

It's not popular ( or maybe it is ) to disagree with Mark Driscoll, the high-flying pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. He has become the spokesman for a new generation of Christians and holds tremendous sway within the Christian community. I recently watched a segment on ABC News Nightline where Mark was talking about idolatry in our current culture.

The clip:



Mark does a reasonable job in his interview of laying out modern addictions to the typical vices in modern culture: Sex, alcohol, co-dependency and so on. They then interview a number of people from the Mars Hill congregation, and they confess that they too are a victim of modern idolatry, pointing out their addictions to fitness at the gym and so on. The interviewer and Mark then take a ride around Seattle in Mark's jeep, where Mark points out the modern temples within which this idolaters worship. The modern office building, the Starbucks headquarters, Qwest Field are identified as the new place of worship for today's new brand of idolaters.

I have to say, Mark, I just don't get it. Maybe your comments were taken out of context, or maybe these are things that you really believe. What would you have us "post-modern" Christians do?

Comment #1, on work:
"How many people are going to work today, giving up their bodies as sacrifices to these companies?"
I don't think that the majority of people working today are "worshiping" the company they work for. Most people are trying to make a living, and provide a good life for their family. Their motives may not be 100% pure, and they may have their priorities out of whack a bit, they may like having things that maybe you think they shouldn't like having, but idolaters?

Comment #2, on Starbucks logo at the top of the building:
"The Starbucks logo is high and exalted, in a pre-eminent position, where God's supposed to be"
Should Starbucks put their logo on the pavement, and hope people can figure out that this is Starbucks headquarters?

Comment #3, on sporting events:
"If someone were dropped in from Israel 2000 years ago, they would think they are at a religious event"
I have been to probably hundreds of sporting events by now where the arena was full, and people were having a good time. Not one time did I feel like I was at a religious event. I think 97% of the people that attend sporting events or concerts ( Michael Jackson not included ) are just having fun, and enjoying someone being really really good at what they do. I had an absolute blast at the U2 concert last Saturday night, but I was not worshiping at the altar of the band just by being there.

Maybe I am missing something. I have not studied Biblical text to the extent that Mark has, and he may be way ahead of me on this one. I am also sure that there is a good bit of truth in what he is saying. The problem I have with it is that the message just feels way out of touch with reality for the majority of the population.

I would love to be corrected if I am way off base. It has happened before, and I am sure it will happen again.

I agree

“To be honest,” the president said “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”

Christmas in October

Last Saturday night in Raleigh, my wife and I had the good fortune of taking in the U2 concert at Carter-Finley Stadium.

This was my third time seeing them, the last time being in 2005 when we traveled to Philadelphia. If you have read about my experience seeing Coldplay back in August, you know that I don't particularly care for outdoor concerts. Usually the sound is horrible, you can't see, and you leave wanting something more.

However, after seeing Coldplay and being relegated to sitting on the lawn about 150 yards from the band, I made a pledge to do whatever it took to get close for the U2 show. I started trolling Craigslist about a month before the show, looking for better seats. Through a set of wonderful circumstances, we found ourselves in the Red Zone, about 40 feet from the stage for the concert, and right on the outer ring that was used throughout the concert as a runway for the band. To give you an idea of just how close, here is a picture I took ( a bit blurry ) of the Edge as he passed by with my phone:


The concert itself was unbelievable. Muse, the opening band, got things started with Uprising. It made me want to fly to Iran and take on Ahmandinejad myself. Later, Bono told me that I should embrace peaceful resistance. I was a little confused. The sound was crystal clear, and not overpowering. It was amazingly good for an outdoor concert.

My highlights:

Elevation
Sunday Bloody Sunday ( with someone singing 'People Get Ready' from the audience )
Where the Streets Have No Name
City of Blinding Lights
The Unforgettable Fire
... and just about every other song.

I did not get to see much of the light show and effects because of where we were sitting, but I heard they were tremendous. I would not have traded any of that for getting the experience of being so close to the stage.

I think the only person that enjoyed it more than me was my wife. She has loved U2 for probably 25 years, and it was fun to sit back and watch her revel in being so close to a band she has followed for so long.

Great night, can't imagine what will top it in the entertainment realm.