LostInTechnology

Why You Should Use Google Voice

Posted on 15. Mar, 2010 by Squealing.Rat.

Google Voice, previously Grand Central, is a free service that gives you the capacity to merge your phone numbers into one, transcribe your voice mail, send text messages from your computer and more. This service can be extremely helpful for the those who spend a lot of time on their computers and smart phones.

While Google Voice is still in an invite only stage, many have reported that they received an invite within a week after applying for one on the Google Voice invite form.

After getting the invite, you are invited to port your own number over or pick a new one for free. I would suggest that you pick a new number, because it is free and with that you get the full features list. I’ll call this account the full account, because with the full account, you not only get a new number and have access to all of the features, but also the option to port your own number over as well. You can see the difference between a full Google Voice account and a ported number Google Voice account here.

You can pick your Google Voice number by searching through their long list, either by number phrase or word phrase. Once you pick your number (which can have any area code), you are asked to enter your forwarding number. This can either be a cell phone or a land line. While Google Voice is ideal for someone with several numbers, one forwarding number will suffice.

Google Voice will guide you through the process of setting up that forwarding phone. You will be called, and asked to enter a two digit number which is displayed on the screen. After that, you can press one to begin recording your greeting messages.

After that,  you can begin tweaking your settings. If you have another phone you would like to add, click settings at the top of the screen, then add another phone.

If you and your partner both want to have Google Voice accounts point to one number, you are in luck. While Google Voice limits a mobile number to only one account, they do allow you to activate a home phone to two different Google Voice accounts.

Let me take you through some of the features that explain why I recommend Google Voice to others.

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Verb: User Focused Task Management and Sharing

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by srikanth.

VerbApp is a free web based user focused task management and sharing application. If you are looking for an effective task management application then, VerbApp is for you. It’s the perfect solution for freelances who would like to manage their tasks and collaborate in an organized manner.

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How To Create Custom RSS Feeds for BitTorrent Clients

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by UzEE.

I’m sure everyone here knows that BitTorrent is one of the most popular digital content delivery networks out there. The Peer to Peer distribution technology amounts for nearly 30% of the total web traffic and is used by a number of leading corporations, movie studios and media outlets including 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount, Spike TV, MTV, Netgear and D-Link.

Here at Lost in Technology, we have covered torrent related topics in great detail including tips on how to make torrents, open ports, optimize bandwidth utilization and improve speeds. Today, I’m going to share a neat trick which lets you setup custom RSS feeds for your favorite torrent clients which allows you to control your client from anywhere in the world.

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How To Access Google Services in Chrome with One Number

Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Umar.Anjum.

Google is constantly trying to better their products. To enhance the functionality of their internet browser, Chrome, Google has released a number of extensions that complement the browser. Many of these extensions integrate many of Google’s existing services into Chrome. For example, there is a Google extension for Gmail which places an icon in the address bar showing the number of unread messages. A similar Google extension exists for Google Reader.

These extensions are quite helpful for a person who is using one of these services. But if somebody is using both services, then installing these extensions can create an unwanted clutter in the address bar.

Recognizing this, a third-party developer has combined the functionality of these extensions, added a few more functions, and created what is called One Number.

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What’s the Buzz with Buzz and Buzzers and Buzzing

Posted on 02. Mar, 2010 by Squealing.Rat.

We all remember the beginning of Twitter, right? Before there were tweets, retweets, tweeters, and tweeps? And now, there is a new kid on the block: Buzz. Buzz, by Google, is slowly becoming quite popular. But, being so new, no “buzzwords” (no pun intended) have been officially christened. I thought I’d lay out the new buzzwords for Buzz.

1. Buzz n- The current news on Buzz. The buzz today is all about Tiger Woods.

2. Buzz v- (buzzing, buzzed, buzz) The act of updating to Buzz. I just buzzed about our new baby. He was buzzing constantly about his unbelievable luck. I buzz daily about my personal life.

3. Buzzer n- a user of Buzz. Everyone was talking about the buzzer who took a picture of Steve Jobs using Microsoft Word.

4. Sting n- a particular update that was widely talked about, an attention grabber. Did you see that sting about Obama that Gizmodo buzzed? What a zinger!

5. Boz/Buzz (used interchangeably)  n- an update on Buzz. Leo’s buzz explained the what he like about the service while King’s boz was more negative.

6. Outbuzzed adj- an update on Buzz that was flooded with comments, making it desirable to mute. Boy, Gina’s latest boz was outbuzzed.

7. Unbuzz v- to stop following on buzz. I had to unbuzz him because of his constant barrage of buzzes.

To sum up, buzzers who buzz on Buzz will occasionally see stings, but for the most part, buzzers will see bozes and and outbuzzed buzzes which may cause them to unbuzz those people.

What are your thoughts on Google Buzz?

The writer of this post compiles the latest tech news and more at Squealing Rat, and writes about tricks and tips of deception, trickery and survival at Lone Iguana. Find him on Twitter.

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2 Apps to Add Multiple Users to One Twitter Account

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by Aminul Islam Sajib.

Have you ever wanted to have more than one user on a Twitter account?  This is probably the case if you have a business Twitter account that many people in the organization can use.  You could just share the password around to all the users on the account, but this isn’t the best solution.

Today, I’m going to tell you about two applications that will make sharing a Twitter account much easier.

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9 Free and Great Crowd Sourced Applications

Posted on 23. Feb, 2010 by Squealing.Rat.

The wonderful thing about working on the Internet is the sheer amount of information that is available for free. Most of the time, the information is free, because it is supplied to us by people like you and me. This system of relying on the users to supply the end content is called crowd sourcing. Here are some of the best crowd sourced applications.

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Find the Perfect Movie with Jinni

Posted on 22. Feb, 2010 by Francisco.Heredia.

Suppose it’s Wednesday night, you get out of work and the radio forecasts heavy rain. You only want to go home and watch a movie. But the day was tough and you don’t even know which one; you don’t want to even think of it. You stop at the video club and start asking the employees about “nice movies” you might watch tonight. Of course, the guy that works there doesn’t even know you nor the things you might like. So he decides to suggest the first movie that comes to his mind. You pay for it, go home and watch the first fifteen minutes of an incredibly boring story. You go to bed angry at life and money spent for a movie you do not even watch.

Luckily, a bunch of people that like Internet, media, and movies (among other things) decided to start what they call “The First Taste Engine”. Assuming that the usual keywords and genres are not able to fully define a movie.

Jinni is a film database and social networking site which not only separates its entries by genre or usual keywords. It presents a new way of classifying movies. The browsing criteria includes mood, plot, genres, time/period, place, audience, and praise. Sometimes you are not 100% sure of what you want to see, however, you have some idea. The search engine allows flexible searches according to a wide variety of keywords and situations. There is an interesting keyword: “like:”, which would correspond to saying “I would like to see a movie like (e.g.) Star Wars”.

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