Need a Voice? Google Voice

August 2nd, 2010 by Fernando Cuis

Honestly, this is long overdue and one of the coolest features we’ve come across recently. It’s so cool in fact, that we are already using it.

Google Voice is one of Google’s latest gadgets to hit their network of tools. Google Voice essentially gives you one phone number to replace all your phone numbers. Come again?

The concept isn’t new to you… you’re just not thinking out-of-the-box. Google Voice allows you to create your own phone number (any area code you desire) and then map or “point” all your other phone numbers to it.  You can then instruct your Google Number to forward all calls to any one of your lines.

What’s great is, you have the option to use the Full Version or the Google Voice version (non-Google number).  Here’s a breakdown of each:

Google Voice with New Google Number

When you sign up for Google Voice, you can choose a new number that is tied to you instead of a specific device or location. Your Google number isn’t the number of your current mobile device or land line; you’ll get to choose a new number when you sign up.

  • Use one number to manage all your phones; your Google Voice number is tied to you, not to a particular device or location.
  • Voicemail like email: Save voicemail messages for as long as you’d like, star important ones, and search through them
  • Voicemail transcription: Voicemail messages will be automatically transcribed to text and sent to you via email and/or SMS.
  • Customize your callers’ experience (custom voicemail greetings, decide which of your phones ring based on who’s calling, send some callers straight to voicemail, etc.)
  • Define which phones ring, based on who’s calling, and even ListenInTM on voicemail before answering the call. We use smart technology to route your calls. So, if you’re already on a Google Voice call, we’ll recognize it and use call waiting to reach you on the phone you’re on.
  • Works with mobile phones, desk phones, and work phones. There’s nothing to download, upload, or install, and you don’t have to make or take calls using a computer.
  • International calling: Make low priced international calls from the web or from your phone.

Google Voice with your non-Google phone number

With this option you won’t get some features (i.e. call forwarding, screening, and call recording), but you’ll still get plenty of others, including:

  • Voicemail like email: Save voicemail messages for as long as you’d like, star important ones, and search through them
  • Voicemail transcription: Voicemail messages will be automatically transcribed to text and sent to you via email and/or SMS.
  • Custom voicemail greetings: Customize your voicemail greeting based on who is calling.
  • International calling: Make low priced international calls from the web or from your phone.

For a complete list of the features with each option, click here.  You can also check out a video about Google Voice’s set up options.

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Posted in Strategy, Technology
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jQuery Slide Menu – IE8 Objected Expected Error

April 27th, 2010 by Fernando Cuis

This post stems from using the jQuery Slide Menu system found over at the very cool Dynamic Drive website.  For the most part, this menu system works 98% spot-on out of the box.  But if you attempt to view this in IE8, you will definitely find that it does not work.

Spent a lot of time researching this very obscure error that Microsoft IE produces.  Some of you know it very well, it’s the oh-so-descriptive “Object Expected” error.  It kindly gives you a column/character reference, but its completely useless as it does not correlate with the actual line/column numbers in your actual file.  Here’s a screen grab for your viewing pleasure:

Object Expected Error IE8

Pleasing, isn’t it?  Let’s not stray away.  I really did search high-and-low on Google, and my ever-so-favorite Experts-Exchange, and various other nooks on the ‘Net and not a single page to help.

Alas, I’ve found the solution.  And as easy as it is, you’ll be kicking yourself for not having thought of this yourself sooner.

Part of the setup for the menus is to link to two JavaScript files.

Here they are as presented on Dynamic Drive’s page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.6/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="jqueryslidemenu.js"></script>

Easy enough right? Copy/Paste into the head of your document and your good-to-go.  Yes and no.  Yes it’ll work “as seen on” Dynamic Drive, but not in IE8.

Solution to Object Expected Error

Store jquery.min.js locally at the root of your site and make sure you update your script string:

FROM:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.6/jquery.min.js"></script>

TO:

<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.min.js"></script>

Upload both your files and refresh.

Hope this works for you as well as it did for me!

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Posted in Erroneous, Web Design
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What Pipes? Yahoo Pipes!

April 21st, 2010 by Fernando Cuis

Yahoo Pipes

Yahoo Pipes is a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mash-up content from around the Web from Yahoo! The name of the service pays tribute to Unix pipes, which can make it easy to chain simple utilities together on the command line.

Talk about total control over data. This overwhelming, futuristic application is intimidating at first – but once you get a grip – hold on for an amazing ride.

The application works by enabling users to “pipe” information from different sources and then set up rules for how that content should be modified.

A typical example may be CNN through Google Images, a pipe which takes CNN’s RSS feed and adds a photo from Google Images based on the keywords of each item.

Pipe Building

You make a Pipe by dragging pre-configured modules onto a canvas and wiring them together in the Pipes Editor.

Sharing a Pipe

Once you’ve built a Pipe, you’ll be able save it on Yahoo’s server and then call it like you would any other feed. Pipes offers output in RSS 2.0, RSS 1.0 (RDF), JSON and Atom formats for maximum flexibility. You can also choose to publish your Pipe and share it with the world, allowing other users to clone it, add their own improvements, or use it as a sub-component in their own creations.

I’ve recently set-up my own pipe, to merge my blogs into one seamless feed. I then tied that RSS feed, into my Facebook page.  This allows me to bypass Facebook’s single feed dilemma.

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Posted in Search Engine Optimization, Technology, Web Design
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