Entries Tagged 'Phone' ↓

Imagine never having to remember your cell. Imagine always being in contact. Never having to charge or plug in. That’s what a new concept device promises.
The device is a cellphone that is surgically implanted under your skin. The phone is powered by the blood of the person who has it implanted. I personally think this is a pretty cool idea. Though several of my freinds think it is pretty creepy.

Read the article for the whole story. PysOrg: Electronic tattoo display runs on blood

Yesterday I posted about some real telephone messages that were recorded from pay phones and other automated telephone systems. I was pretty interested in a lot of them, and then I found these messages.

Someone collected a bunch of the various telephone messages from Monty Python and put them up on the website.
My favorite is the following:

‘Oooh, hello love, fancy you calling in now, well, I can’t talk to you dear, I’ve just got to go and boil the cat, yes, little bugger, won’t keep still, wriggling about all over the place, just leave a message and I’ll get back to you honest I will love I really will, just a soon as I’ve called Mrs. Satre’

Check it out: Monty Python Answerphone Messages

Monty Python was one of the best comedy acts of all time. My favorite skit is the Dead Parrot sketch. So I thought I would post it here. Enjoy

This is a rather strange archive, but I thought it was worth posting. I’m not really sure why anyone would collect these. But someone collected a huge amount of payphone and other automated phone company recordings.

I’m actually thinking of some of the odd things I could do with the messages. Maybe even use one as a ringtone on my cell phone.

Check them out. Some of them are really old. Phone Recording Archive

Jan Chipchase a researcher at Nokia gave this very interesting presentation on how cell phones are changing peoples concept of self and place. I was really intrigued by this video. Mainly because I wonder what the future will hold for us as our “connectedness” increases. Watch the video. I personally think it will be worth your time.

Via TED: Jan Chipchase: Our cell phones, ourselves

Wired has an interesting article by Rob Beschizza titled, “Ten Reasons To Throw Away Your Cellphone.” The article lists all of the reasons why cell phones can make your life harder and more complicated. One of the reasons, and the one I identify with most, is listed below.

It makes you perpetually available
If it’s on, they can get you. If it’s off, they wonder why they can’t get you. It’s a lose-lose situation for your Zen.

Personally I think the benefits far outweigh the detriments, but obviously not everyone agrees. So I’ll be keeping my phone for now. What about you?
Read the article for the rest of the reasons why Wired thinks you should throw out your phone. Ten Reasons To Throw Away Your Cellphone

Edit: I just realized how ironic it is that this post has Cell Phones ruining your life, while two posts ago cell phones were saving lives. LOL

Over the weekend Google launched into public beta a new free 411 service for your phone. You can access it by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone. The service is currently completely free, and totally automated. It’s also only available in the US right now. The automation thing could be a problem. If you can’t get the computer system to understand you, there are no human operators on the other end to talk to. But that aside, this could seriously upset the big telecoms. The 411 market in the US is currently a $7 billion a year money maker for the telecoms. So I doubt they will be very pleased with this new offering.

It works by connecting to the local search info in the normal Google search engine. So if your business isn’t listed in the local search database, then Google wont be able to find it in it’s free 411 service.

I haven’t had a chance to test it out yet, but I am hopeful that it will be a viable alternative to the current 411 service and it’s associated charges.

From TechCrunch: Google Launches Free 411 Service
Google’s official site: Goog411

[edit] I tested it using both a specific business name and a generic business type. Both worked great. I had to repeat the business name twice before it understood me, but then it found the right business. The generic business type seemed to come out correctly even when I was purposely slurring and mumbling my words. The voice recognition is actually pretty good with common words, but more obscure words seem to need more precise pronunciation.