Hey, Jimmy
I’m done with that confirmation.
February 28, 2011
July 20, 2009
I finally got my Google Voice invite
Last week, I finally got the email I waited months to get:
You are invited to open a free Google Voice account.
If you know about Google Voice, you’ll understand my excitement. If you don’t, read on.
Google Voice is a free service that uses Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to allow management of phone communication, including voice, text messages and voicemail.
Here’s a quick overview:
The service has been described simply as “one number to rule them all.” Users can choose a number in most U.S. area codes. Vanity numbers are even available. The Google Voice number then becomes the user’s central contact number. A simple web interface allows the user to link that number to existing lines — work, mobile, home, etc.
Call Routing
Calls to the Google Voice number can be routed in any number of ways, even down to the level of individual callers. For example, I can configure the service so that if my wife calls, all my phones (home, work and mobile) will ring simultaneously. When I answer, the call is routed to the correct phone through Google’s network. Unknown callers can be sent directly to voicemail or blocked outright.
Routing rules can also be enforced on a group basis. This means that I can restrict work contacts from calling me at home, or send family calls to all my phones.
In-Call Management
Google Voice offers several features during a call. Press “star” while on a call, and your other phones will ring, allowing you to transfer the call to another phone. Press 4, and Google Voice will record the call and make it available to listen or download from the Google Voice site. If another call comes in while the user is on a call, he can merge the calls into a conference call. The process can be repeated, allowing four callers to confer simultaneously.
Voicemail
This is where Google Voice really shines. Users can configure different outgoing messages for different classes of callers — informal for friends and family, or strictly business for work contact. Greetings can even be customized to individual callers.
Voicemail messages are stored online and can be retrieved by phone or via the web. When a caller leaves a voicemail message, a Google algorithm transcribes the audio into text and notifies the user via email or text message. In practice, the quality of the voicemail transcription is poor. Transcription is by far the weakest link in the Google Voice system, but it’s improving.
Mobile access
Google has created Google Voice applications for the Android and Blackberry platforms, allowing users to access the full spread of features from their mobile devices. Users of other mobile devices can access a limited feature set via a mobile website.
Looking ahead
The biggest drawback to Google Voice — the one thing that will keep people from using it — is the high switching costs. It’s just a big hassle to change phone numbers, inform all your contacts, update business cards and the like. I’ve had the same phone number for more than five years, and I’m pretty tied to it. But Google plans to allow users to port their existing number to Google Voice. If Google can pull this off, the results would be huge. Users could transition seamlessly and switching costs would fall to almost zero. It remains to be seen whether mobile carriers will cooperate, however.
Are you excited yet? Go get an invite.
For more information:
November 15, 2006
Animated favicons? Ooh.
Hey, this is pretty cool.
You can have animated favicons in Firefox! The icons for each site on the Firefox tabs are animated and when you bookmark them, the bookmark icon is animated too. A quick peek at the HTML of a page with animated favicons shows they simply have a 16×16 animated gif and point the page to that as their favicon with this:
link xhref=â€images/favico.gif†TYPE=â€image/gif†REL=â€iconâ€
That can be pretty slick, if it’s done well. I’ll have to add one. Need to add transparency, too.
Matt Bramanti | November 15, 2006 at 2:11 am
Posted to Blogging,Design,Tech,Uncategorized
7 comments
Posted to Blogging,Design,Tech,Uncategorized
7 comments
October 31, 2006
Kerry: Stay in school or ‘get stuck in Iraq’
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is a disgusting, wretched scumbag:
[gv data="vLuMWiQ6r2o"][/gv]
I guess my brother Tommy, a cavalry officer and Notre Dame graduate, really should have stayed in school. Maybe he could have made something of himself.
Matt Bramanti | October 31, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Posted to Education,Military,National,Politics,Scumbags
7 comments
Posted to Education,Military,National,Politics,Scumbags
7 comments
October 30, 2006
What a weekend
This weekend I headed up to Austin for Wes’ birthday and a Halloween party. The following things happened, in no particular order:
- A guy tried to sell me ecstasy,
- Then he stole my malt liquor from the fridge.
- Captain Morgan and I talked about Notre Dame football.
- I was forced to wear a halter top.
- We discovered the nicest Dairy Queen in the world.
- Supergirl fondled my chest angrily.
- We convinced Wes to leave his tomahawk in the car.
- Bobby farted at least every 15 minutes for 6 hours.
- We ate “love butter” at the Magnolia Cafe.
Good times.
September 20, 2006
In which I call out an inconsiderate person as such
It’s going to be a long night at the office, so I went to Randall’s for a Diet Pepsi and a TV dinner a few minutes ago. I approached one of the express lanes, which was clearly marked with a large sign: 15 items or fewer.
The woman in front of me had approximately 40 items splayed all over the conveyor belt, which bugged me. But I didn’t say anything. Then, as the woman was bagging her groceries, she asked the cashier why there wasn’t an employee there bagging her groceries.
The cashier responded that it’s an express lane, and the sackers work at the regular lanes.
The shopper, a bit flustered, then said, “I didn’t know that.”
Bullshit.
First of all, there’s a large sign proclaiming “Express Lane,” and specifying the details thereof. On this sign, the letters and background are in contrasting colors, and the text is printed in block letters in the English language. The sign is suspended directly above the entrance to the lane. Furthermore, it’s positioned in such a way that you can’t see the light indicating the lane is open without having the sign directly in your field of vision.
Secondly, this store is configured like virtually every other grocery store in the English-speaking world. The first two or three lanes are always express lanes.
The cashier started to say something, and the woman cut her off: “Why didn’t you tell me? You should have told me.”
Now, I have a working knowledge of human nature. I understand that all people — myself included — have an inclination to duck responsibility for their mistakes. No one likes to think they’ve failed, so people shift the blame. I understand that. But this woman didn’t blame circumstances, or society, or something else out of her control. She blamed an innocent person for her wrong action. And that pissed me off. I had to say something, so I did.
“No, she shouldn’t have told you,” I said. I turned and pointed to the sign above the register, a sign you can’t miss, even if you’re a stupid, inconsiderate boor.
“There’s a big sign right there. It says ’15 items or fewer’ in 8-inch letters. You can’t miss it.”
The woman quickly, but not quickly enough, bagged her groceries and left in a huff. I paid for my purchase and the cashier gave me a smile. Made my day.
Matt Bramanti | September 20, 2006 at 5:57 pm
Posted to Out and About,Overanalysis,Personal,Stupidity
17 comments
Posted to Out and About,Overanalysis,Personal,Stupidity
17 comments
September 18, 2006
New digs at MattCo
I now have my very own office. Four walls, a door, the whole nine yards.
One of my coworkers recently tendered his resignation, an event which freed up an office here at the palacial MattCo executive suites. Prior to this event, I had been sharing a larger office with a colleague, which was cool (I really like the guy), but it’s nice to have my own space.
The furnishings are much better. Now I’ve got a larger L-shaped desk with more surface area:
Sweet.
I also have two bookcases, a table big enough to spread out blueprints and a cushy wheeled chair that reclines startlingly far.
As far as decor goes, it can best be described as…um, basic. Speckled, nondescript carpet, off-white walls, flourescent lighting. The boss’ wife put a sort of plant on one of the bookcases. Not really a plant, though. More like a few dried sticks in a nice vase. I hung my diploma from the wall and put a picture of Diane on my desk. I’ll have to put something else on the wall, too. I’ll keep an eye out.
First things first, though. I have to go through all the crap I moved from my old desk. I managed to throw out quite a bit. The sort of thing you hang onto in case you need it, but you never do. But here’s the stuff I do need — contents of file drawers and current files:
Yikes!
Actually, it looks worse than it is. I’m going to get this all cleaned up by lunchtime. Or rather, I’ll refuse to eat lunch until it’s all cleaned up.
September 15, 2006
‘We got the panty-droppers!’
I was coming out of the 11th Street Border Stop — a combination gas station, convenience store, check-cashing place and taqueria near MattCo Headquarters — when I was approached by a young, smiling guy carrying a laminated list. Here’s how the conversation went down:
Guy: “Hey man, what kind of cologne you wear?”
Me: “I don’t.”
Guy: “Nothing? Well, today’s the day to start!”
Me: “Nah, that’s okay.”
Guy: “Come on, man, it’s Friday and we got the panty-droppers!”
Me: (laughing and getting into my car) “Sorry, dude, not interested.”
Guy: “Put this on, you’ll wake up tomorrow with 15 kids and child support, it’s that good.”
Heh. That made my day.
Back on the grid
Got my phone yesterday and got it all charged up. Works like a charm, so I’m back in modern life.
It sucked not having a phone for a couple days, but from a customer-service perspective, it was a pretty good experience. Got the phone via FedEx when I was supposed to, and it worked beautifully. Verizon’s customer service has always been really helpful, and I strongly recommend the company.
I didn’t want to re-enter all the contacts manually, so I used a little app by Verizon called Backup Assistant. It backs up contacts to a remote server over the air. Then when you get a new phone, or your phone gets wiped out, just install the Backup Assistant app and restore all the contacts. It worked great. Costs $1.99 a month, though.
I used it and then deleted it, because I’ve got better uses for two bucks a month.
If the application also backed up ringtones, photos and text messages, I’d gladly pay $2/month. Are you listening, Verizon?
September 12, 2006
Sluuuuuuuuuut!
There is a group on Facebook called “If this group reaches 100,000 my girlfriend will have a threesome.”
Okay, dude, if she agreed to that, she’s already had a threesome. And you weren’t in it.
Oh, here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again
Check out this video. Four dudes, eight treadmills and “Here It Goes Again” by OK Go.
[gv data="pv5zWaTEVkI"][/gv]
September 11, 2006
More free tunes
Don’t forget: today is Monday, which means there’s another free 25-song sampler on iTunes.
Cut off from the world, Part II
I went to the Verizon store yesterday to see about getting a new phone. It was actually a pretty good experience. I had to wait in line longer than I would have liked, but I explained the problem, the guy looked at the phone, and offered to replace it.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any of my model phone, so they’re shipping me one via 2nd Day Air. Pretty sweet. All I have to do is ship the crappy one back when I get the new one, and we’ll be good to go. I should get the new phone on Wednesday.
Until then, no cell phone for me. If you need to get in touch with me, drop me an email.
Matt Bramanti | September 11, 2006 at 9:18 am
Posted to Business,Out and About,Reviews,Tech
1 comment
Posted to Business,Out and About,Reviews,Tech
1 comment
September 10, 2006
Cut off from the world, a liveblog
My cell phone died yesterday. Well, it didn’t really die, but it’s critically ill and in a coma. The screen flashes on and off, I can’t receive calls, and it’s totally unresponsive.
So now I’m on the phone with “Alicia,” my helpful and friendly Indian customer-service representative. I’m telling her about my problem, and how it is entirely due to a manufacturing defect by Motorola, since the phone has not suffered any physical damage.
Now she’s putting me on hold for the moment, and the hold music is some haunting sitar stuff with a cool beat. Someone at Verizon has a sense of humor, anyway.
Back to Alicia. She’s telling me my options:
- Remove the battery and put it back in
- Call Verizon
- Take it in to a service center
- Send it in to Motorola to get fixed under warranty
Okay, thank you, Alicia. Bye-bye.
Here are the problems with those options:
- Did not work.
- Verizon’s reps are friendly, but not very empowered to help the customer with problems.
- I think they’re gonna charge me an arm and a leg.
- It’ll take two weeks, during which time I’ll either be without a phone, or using an old one which I’ll have to activate.
Damn.
Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez
I’m watching “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” I always get a kick out of the scene where Tuco is about to be hanged, and the executioner is reading his convictions. His rap sheet is so long, diverse and over the top that you just have to laugh:
…wanted in fourteen counties of this state, the condemned is found guilty of crimes of murder, armed robbery of citizens, state banks and post offices;Â the theft of sacred objects, arson in a state prison, perjury, bigamy, deserting his wife and children, inciting prostitution, kidnapping, extortion, receiving stolen goods, selling stolen goods, passing counterfeit money and contrary to the laws of this state the condemned is guilty of using marked cards and loaded dice
Heh. Soon after escaping, he finds himself in the same pickle, but with an even more colorful rap sheet:
wanted in fifteen counties of this state, the condemned standing before us…sitting before us…Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez has been found guilty by the third district circuit court of the following crimes: Â Â Murder, assaulting a justice of the peace, raping a virgin of the white race, statuatory rape of a minor of the black race…derailing a train in order to rob the passengers, bank robbery, highway robbery, robbing an unknown number of Post Offices, breaking out of the state prison, using marked cards and loaded dice, promoting prostitution, blackmail, intention of selling fugitive slaves, and counterfeiting. Â Crimes against places of high authority include burning down the courthouse and sheriff’s office in Sonora. The accused is also guilty of cattle rustling, horse thievery, supplying Indians with firearms…misrepresenting himself as a Mexican General, unlawfully drawing salarly and living allowances from the Union Army
He’s the Audie Murphy of banditos.
Here’s a very rough transcript of the movie.
September 7, 2006
In honor of St. Joseph
St. Joseph doesn’t get a whole lot of attention, but he’s really a model of what a man should be. His story is woven into the Gospels. First, he’s a gentleman:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
He’s unwilling to associate himself with sin, but he will not embarrass a lady. Next, he remains open to the words of the Lord and he obeys those words:
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Next, he was a law-abiding man. He lived in an occupied territory, but he respected the civil authority:
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
This proved a good example to his son, who would later say:
“Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Joseph went to great lengths, literally, to protect his family:
So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
Next, Joseph did what was required of him by his religion:
And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS.”
As a father, he kept up the family tradition with regard to his faith:
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;
Joseph was a carpenter, and he probably taught his son the trade. Other than that, we don’t know much about his work, but that’s sort of the point. He labored quietly, and the Gospels suggest that he was pretty unremarkable. Just another craftsman and small business owner, working to take care of his family:
They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”
Just an average Joe. He was tossed into situations way over his head — try raising the Son of God — but he kept plugging away, doing the best he could, with the grace of God. And he’s still hard at work in the real estate business.
I got thinking about this because of a prayer my mom sent me. I printed it out and hung it on my desk at work, and I say the prayer every day. Here it is:
Prayer to St. Joseph by Pope St. Pius X:
Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations;to work with gratitude and joy, considering it an honor to employ and develop, by means of labor, the gifts received from God, without recoiling before weariness or difficulties; to work, above all, with purity of intention, and with detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account which must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch St, Joseph. Such shall be my watchword in life and death. Amen.
Amen. Back to work!
September 4, 2006
Labor Day
Today is Labor Day, a day when Americans celebrate the contributions of organized labor, which include the following:
- Globally uncompetitive automobiles,
- Weekly airline bankruptcies,
- Unionized millionaire baseball players, and
- the Democratic Party.
Thanks, Commies. I’m spending this Labor Day by laboring.
August 28, 2006
Just another manic Monday
I’m trying to turn over a new leaf in the health department. Accordingly, I got up early today and headed to the gym.
Going to the gym isn’t exactly a new leaf; going to the gym first thing in the morning definitely is. I generally go after work, but it’s busier then, and I have to wait longer for a machine.
Anyway, I did my stretches, knocked out a half-hour of cardio while watching Fox & Friends, and topped it off with a stint in the sauna. I’m gonna have to visit the sauna more often, and bring a book. It’s really relaxing, and you feel great coming out of there.
It’s sort of like the joke where the guy smashes his thumb with thumb with a hammer over and over, and his friend says “Dude, why are you doing that?” And the guy says, “It feels so good when you stop!” The quacks at Harvard Medical School have this to say about saunas:
“All in all, saunas appear safe for the body, but there is little evidence that they have health benefits above and beyond relaxation and a feeling of well-being,” says Dr. Harvey Simon
But what the hell do they know?
Anyway, then I headed home and whipped up a smoothie (2 cups skim milk, half a pound of strawberries, a banana, half a cup of Fiber One and a scoop of Nitro-Tech). I’ve heard great things about Nitro-Tech, but it doesn’t taste too good. I’ll have to pick up some sugar-free chocolate or strawberry syrup to kill the nasty aftertaste.
Then it was off to MattCo to begin another week of adding to GDP. This week is going to be a bitch, too. I’ve got a meeting today for the St. Pius X jubilee, a roundtable at the Chron tomorrow, I have to take Diane car shopping on Wednesday, and I’ve got a pretty busy work week. Plus, this weekend I get to help Diane and her roommates move, and we have to do it fast so that we can be done by the time the Irish game comes on.
August 25, 2006
Rally, sons of Notre Dame…
It’s just about time for football season, folks. Here’s the schedule for the 2006 campaign:
- 9/2 – At Georgia Tech
- 9/9 – Penn State
- 9/16 – Michigan
- 9/23 – at Michigan State
- 9/30 – Purdue
- 10/7 – Stanford
- 10/21 – UCLA
- 10/28 – at Navy
- 11/4 – North Carolina
- 11/11 – at Air Force
- 11/18 – Army
- 11/25 – at USC
Here are some excellent resources for following the Irish.
- The House of Twelve: a blog by a bunch of my buddies from Notre Dame, including a former Observer sports editor.
- FanBlogs’ Notre Dame Blog: a quick roundup of Irish news stories.
- Blue-Gray Sky: Another great Irish football blog.
- The Rankings: AP and Coaches’ polls.
- ESPN Clubhouse: Roster, news, photos, standings, all that stuff.
By the way, here’s the Notre Dame Victory March as performed by the Dixieland Ramblers. Very New Orleans sounding, but without the gunfire and failed welfare state.
