Tag Archives: google

The Better Person plug-in

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Imagine an email plug-in that scans what you have written and then runs it through a “tone” algorithm. “Neutral,” “Friendly,” “Sympathetic,” “Encouraging,” etc. If your words and phrasing do not match the tone you’ve selected, the plug-in rewrites accordingly. If unable to do so, it asks you do re-word the message.

It could know something about the recipient, based on previous emails, text messages, and voice-to-text phone messages (i.e. Google Voice)

If such a plug-in existed, it could eliminate misunderstandings. It could make you seem like a nicer person.

Would you use it?

Google Voice now for everyone

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Google Voice was “invitation only” for a long time but now they’ve opened it up so I’m going to start using the number I’ve had for a while. Only way I’m going to get the hang of it. Video above runs about 90 sec. The link in the sidebar will probably take you to my voice-mail, at least until I learn the ropes.

Image above is the Google Voice in-box. Google Voice does a fair job of transcribing the voice mail message (close enough). I can also play the message, of course.

I also received an email that had pretty much the same thing. You can also set it up for a text alert.

Google voice does a lot more but I’m not going to try to explain it until I have a better grasp. And the video at the top of this post really has all you need.

While I might not wan to give out my mobile number to everyone, I can safely give out my Google Voice number (573-200-6776) and rely on Google to help me manage it all. For example, I can have Barb’s calls come straight to my iPhone… while sending calls from her sister right into voice-mail.

Google Buzz Redux

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I’ve been (unconsciously) dividing web stuff into two piles. Something that has a little shelf-life (to me or others), and stuff that does not.

Increasingly, the first group is being made up of things I have written or created. These usually get posted here at smays.com. In the days before YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and all the rest… pretty much everything was posted here because there was nowhere else to park them. (This became very clear to me during my recent weeks-long clean-up.)

The second pile really never makes it to pile status. It’s commonly referred to as a “stream.” Bits and pieces that flow by but don’t warrant saving in the sense described above. In fact, tags and permalinks make it easy to find just about anything that drifts by.

There’s no real point to this post other than I’ve been thinking about this, so I write about it.

I’ve added Google Buzz back to my Gmail page and think I might make it the stream into which my other little tributaries flow. It really seems well-suited for this. If you’re a regular here and use Buzz as well, let me know.

I won’t abandon the blog because I have a good bit invested in it and it has more of a permanent quality to it. A place that I own and control.

Search “cancel xm radio”

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I cancelled my subscription to XM Radio a couple of years ago and it was such a hassle I shared my experience here. That post continues to generate comments and Google juice. First, the latest comment:

“Even though my credit card expired, they continue to send me bills. I have called numerous times to cancel but they refuse to do it. Instead, they continue to bill me through the mail and call relentlessly for the money. I am on hold now for at least 45 min. This is a problem that every XM subscriber should be aware of.”
How do these lost souls find there way to my obscure little post? Google search “cancel xm radio”

More than 10 million search results and the 2nd one (right after the company FAQ page) is a bunch of folks with horror stories about the company.

Google Buzz

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I’ve been noodling around with Google Buzz a bit and my early impression if very positive. Now, I’m not going to even try to explain Google Buzz. You can watch the video below if you’re interested. And I’m not going to encourage you to “follow” me on Buzz. Or try to sell you on social media, or anything else. This is one of my “for the record” posts.

I will say that more and more of what I find interesting is going to my social media streams, which will now mostly show up on my Buzz profile page. If you have a Gmail account you have (or soon will have) Buzz.

“Information is not a scarcity”

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A few ideas from today’s post Jeff Jarvis’ BuzzMachine blog:

“If you are selling a scarcity — an inventory — of any nonphysical goods today, stop, turn around, and start selling value — outcomes — instead. Or you’re screwed. Apply this rule to many enterprises: advertising, media, content, information, education, consultation, and to some extent, performance.”

“Relationships. That’s what the business of media must become. In our New Business Models for News, we began — just began — to project the value of the relationship a new media service can have in its community: creating events; educating; gathering and selling data; selling goods directly (as the Telegraph does, quite successfully); running networks to help others succeed; saving money by collaborating.”

“Information is not a scarcity, or at least it isn’t scarce for long. Yes, when I don’t know something, then the answer is scarce. But now it’s much easier to get that answer; Google will have it in .3 seconds and if it doesn’t and if enough of us ask it, then someone at Demand Media will write it for me and the rest of the world for $20. When news is new, its value is scarce (as Thomson Reuters Tom Glocer says, his information has its highest value in its first 3 milliseconds); but then that value deflates.”

Alrighty then.

Back to Google Reader Shared items

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On several occasions I have gushed about Posterous, the life-streaming/blogging tool. I used it for most of the past year but put it aside a couple of days ago. At least for my personal use. Several of our company blogs are using posterous.

I had to stop for sort of a silly reason. I kept sending personal stuff to one of the company blogs. Not good. The only sure way to avoid this was to pull the plug on the personal account.

I like having a place I can quickly share something of interest and it was there all the time, in Google Reader. For me it does all that I liked about posterous (with a few bonus features). Latest links are back in the sidebar.