Ideas from Mark Stout

If you have an old Android or iPhone sitting around, you can set it up with free wireless service.  Sort of. This week's Family Tech column.

So many of us enjoy calling by Skype.  Chances are, your parents don't know about it, yet may have the equipment they need to do it. Help your parents grow close to far flung family with video phone calls via Skype and others. This is the topic of this week's Family Tech column .

There's no doubt I love Google Voice.  Now sad news from Google.  They are closing down Gizmo5.  The desktop VOIP client usable with Google Voice will be no more. Google bought Gizmo and integrated its technology into the their Gmail phone service.  Rumor has it that there was once a wonderful Google developed/Gizmo5 based Windows Voip client being tested inside Google, but it will never see the light of day.  They instead want 100% web options. TechCrunch has all the history and a copy of the email going out to Gizmo users.

Earlier this week, Google rolled out telephone calls within Gmail. Basically what they did was to allow phone calls to be made from within Google Chat.  If you already have a Google Voice (GV) account, then the call is made with your Google Voice number as the Caller ID. When I first tried it, it required I download and install the   voice and video chat plug-in .  No problem. Unlike Google Voice, it dos not make a call to one of your phones before connecting you to the caller, but rather connects you directly to the microphone and speakers (or headset) on your PC. To make a call, just click "Call Phone" that appears on the left hand column, underneath Chat. A dialpad appears.  You can either type the number using the keypad, type in a number in the search box, or search your contacts by typing into the search box. Without Google Voice, you cannot receive calls from the phone system.  If you do have GV, you can click Settings,  Voice Settings, p...

It seems everyone and their brother are writing posts listing the apps they have on their iPad.  I read everyone one I come across and have found several new programs I didn't know about. In honor of my sister receiving an iPad for her birthday today, I thought I'd do my own list. Unless otherwise noted, all apps mentioned are free. E-Mail and Calendar Oddly, the built-in Calendar and E-mail apps don't do much for me.  Since I share the iPad with my wife, I tend to use the web versions of Gmail and Google Calendar.  I do have my e-mail credentials in the e-mail app so I can e-mail out pages from applications. Books The #1 need here is to add Amazon's Kindle app.  Amazon currently has more books available for Kindle then Apple does in the iBook store.  More importantly, the Kindle is cross platform .  You can only read iBooks on the iPad and iPhone.  You can read Kindle on those and Android phones and many other platforms, including of ...

One of Google Voice's many cool features, was its ability to call the Gizmo5 soft phone.  Using Gizmo5 I could take calls on my computer much as you can with Skype.  With the calls originating from Google Voice, there was no cost for incoming or outgoing calls.  Technically, they were all incoming calls since Google Voice called Gizmo5. When Google bought Gizmo we all started the wait for a Google branded Gizmo soft phone.  TechCurnch reported a while back that Google was testing one internally (Google calls it dogfooding, as in to eat your own dog food). With it, you can type in the number or choose your contact on the app and it invoked Google Voice to place the call. TechCrunch also reported that the project was on hold, and maybe even likely to be killed.  Apparently Google Founders do not want them developing software that runs outside the browser.  Hello!  Google distributes Google Earth, Picasa, an...

This week's Family Tech talks about the advantages of Voice Over IP for the family.  Call anywhere, if not for free, then for a very small amount.

Getting a new computer for Christmas or anytime, gift or not, is like buying a car with some assembly required. You really can't just fire it up, and take off.  There are a host of irritating little jobs you need to do before that new computer is truly useful About once a year it seems, someone here gets a new computer.  Since there are three of us, that's about right.  Rotating your computer every three to four years isn't extravagant, especially for the two here who carry laptops out into the world--that's rough on a machine. My son and wife truly want the power up and go experience from a new computer, so I've gotten rather used to prepping a new computer.  If you are giving a new computer as a gift, perhaps my little workflow can help you. Note : This is going to assume a Windows 7 laptop with wi-fi as an example PC. Take Notes Before you even take it out of the box, open up either a paper notebook, or if you have another computer close by, open up...

TechCrunch is reporting Google has snapped up Gizmo5 .  If true, this could mean fascinating things for Google Voice. Day 2 : Nov. 10, 2009 :   Still unconfirmed.   Andy Abramson has some insights. Day 4 : Nov. 12, 2009 : Confirmed by Google Voice Blog.

Back in March when I really became infatuated with Google Voice, I made five predictions about where Google might be taking Google Voice. One started coming true last night. To review, the predictions were : Google will have a phone spam list similar to Gmail's spam list fax send and receive Google will have their own soft phone, maybe even buy Skype Someone can send an email to you by sending to [your Google voice phone number]@gmail.com The Google Voice inbox and the Gmail inbox will merge, making a Global Inbox Last night Google announced that Text messages sent to your Google Voice number could be forwarded to your email address. Since you have long been able to have incoming voice mails sent to e-mail, #5 is done. You are able to check for email, SMS text messages and voice mails all in one inbox. To set this up, in Google Voice, go to Settings, Voicemail & SMS tab, and click the checkbox by SMS Forwarding to select it. Let's take a moment to review the other four pre...

Looks like E-Bay has managed to sell Skype , or at least 65% of it. Never did make much sense to me why they bought them in the first place. I guess there was thinking at one time it would give buyers and sellers a way to communicate. They never really implemented that. I know a lot of people swear by Skype. I know people in the US with family and business contacts oversees. Skype makes it affordable for them to stay in touch. Several years ago while my family did an archaeological dig in England, it cost me $2.48 a minute via AT&T to talk to them. With Skype, today, it would be twenty-one cents a minute. In March a study showed Skype handled 8% of international calls. That is more then AT&T. Think about that a moment. A piece of software has seriously undermined the bread and butter of what was once one of the predominant corporations on the planet. This internet thing is sure causing some upheavals, isn't it? One thing I could never understand was why Skype di...

I realized today from a question I saw on Twitter, not everyone knows about one of the coolest things about Google Voice . You can not only make free calls to and from your landline or you cell phone, but also via your computer. The person asking the question was afraid they'd have to pay for Skype In minutes to use Google Voice from their computer. They didn't know about the free Gizmo Voice Over IP (VoIP) client interacting with Google Voice. Some calls just need the kind of hands free I get from computer headphones and the ability to look up information or make notes I do best at the computer. Google Voice Help tells you all about it. See my other posts about Google Voice.

For the past week, I've used Tweetdeck to catch up on Twitter feeds at the end of the day. I follow only a handful of people so I get more quality then quantity out of Twitter, which is okay by me. Tweetdeck lets me quickly scan my Friends twits, but also quickly see if I have replies or Direct Messages. More useful is the panels I can have for search. I can easily see new Twits from everyone, not just friends on topics of interest. Yesterday, Google Voice stopped working with Gizmo5. Since I use Chad Smith's Google Voice Firefox Add to easily dial numbers from my work's CRM, that was a hassle. I spent the days channeling outgoing work calls to another phone, but I missed being able to use my headphones with Gizmo. There was an active thread on the Google Voice Help Forum , but as the day wore on, no responses suggested Google Employees may not have seen the post and knew of the problem. Finally, I had the bright idea of twitting @googlevoice and also the Twitter addr...

Google Voice may be a game changer. Google recently renamed Grand Central to Google Voice and moved it out of beta. They acquired Grand Central some time ago, and since then the service accepted no new users and nothing changed as Google re-engineered the product to their specifications. Somehow, probably a blog giveaway, I acquired a Grand Central account over a year ago. I used it for some outgoing calls, but never handed out its phone number. I was fearful what the service would eventually cost, so I didn't want to make it my primary contact phone number. However the cost for US domestic calls looks like they are going to remain free. International calls are cheap with Canada costing about a penny a minute. In a nutshell, Google Voice gives you a phone number of your own. I was able to pick one with the same prefix as cell phones commonly use in my region, so anyone I give the number to thinks it is my cell phone, and that is fine. When some one calls for the first time, i...

I'll write a post soon on Google Voice. I've had it since it was Grand Central, and now that it is out of beta I'm giving out its phone number more. Suffice to say, I love it. I just had the greatest idea, and submitted it to Google as feedback. They assign every Google Voice user a phone number. My idea is this : if someone emails [my phone number]@gmail.com then it should deposit that email in my gmail inbox. Then with one 10 digit identifier, someone could send me email, call me, leave a voice message, or send me a text message. And if they follow another feedback suggestion I made, send me a fax too. Could the truly global inbox be a few Google features away? I sure hope so.

I'm a big user of Voice over IP (VOIP) aka telephone over the internet. Here's a site I ran across that measures your internet connection to see how well it will work with Voip. http://myvoipspeed.visualware.com/

President-elect Obama has apparently pledged to appoint a National CIO. Considering the impact technology is having on our society, this is a wonderful idea, and overdue. A website has even been created to allow you to vote on what you believe are the most critical technology issues this CIO should address. I happen to agree with, and voted for, the current #1 choice : Ensure the internet is accessible and network neutral. The cable and phone companies have a unique opportunity. They get to engineer their own demise. Both sell broadband to their customers. For my cable company, it means they have doubled the revenue they get from me each month. And DSL customers are providing more money to their phone companies. These companies love this. Each is using the increased broadband coming into your home to try and put the other out of business. Cable companies are selling phones using VoIP , and my phone company is wiring their customers with FIOS (fiber) as fast as they can and then...