Those of you who have phone reception during work may be reaping the benefits of Google Voice. One of the shortcomings of distributing your Voice number, however, is that outgoing calls from your cellphone or office still display the number in use. That is thoroughly confusing for your clients, especially if they save your “outgoing number” on their caller id’s. To avoid this issue, Voice has an outgoing calling option that requires you to dial your Voice number, and enter it through a menuing system. This is the same procedure for using its international dialing service, which is relatively inexpensive.

Fortunately for smartphone users (a la Blackberry, iPhone, and Android), Google has a suite of applications for Voice that use your data line, saving your monthly minutes. After you download the app, using it is self explanatory.

For those still stuck on a voice-only cellular plan, there is still an option with outgoing calls via Voice. As I can recall from my limited phreaking knowledge, voice lines all have a pause signal that you can deliver to the telephone stream. This can be invoked to automate your responses through a menu. Depending on the model of your phone, this pause signal can be represented by a number of symbols which may include the following:

• comma: “,”
• pause: “P”
• asterisk: “*”
• plus: “+”

My Samsung flip-phone has a dedicated pause signal that is invoked from the plus key when held for 1 second. With the pause signal in mind, dialing out with Voice is simple, albeit slightly slower with so many keystrokes.

For instance, to dial out Andrew via Voice, I program this into my address book:

XXX-XXX-XXXX P YYYY P 2 ZZZ-ZZZ-ZZZZ

“X” is my Voice number. “Y” is my PIN. The number ’2′ is the option to dial out via Voice. “Z” is Andrew’s number. The pauses are spaced out so as needed so that your keystrokes are registered. I’ve discovered that I do not need to deliver a pause signal after the ’2′ option. Again, no spaces are needed.

The entire process takes about 3 seconds to make the connection, but it is a reliable work-around for those of you without a data plan.

computing tech

Those of you who are tech types probably have heard about OpenDNS, a [profitable] Internet infrastructure firm founded on venture capital. They recently became accountable for 1% of the world’s Internet usage. That is impressive.

I have been using OpenDNS for quite some time simply as a means to speed up my internet connection. It works. OpenDNS serves as a domain name server (DNS). It is free for personal use, and also available for business/institutions for DNS resolution. What does this really mean? Every website name that you type into your browser is translated into an IP address via the DNS. Typically your ISP has its own DNS that is either configured automatically or through your router/ethernet software setup. Depending on how efficient your ISP’s DNS backbone is, your website resolution can vary by a magnitude of seconds. Furthermore, a good DNS can provide an additional layer of security to your computer by filtering phishing websites or preventing cache poisoning.

The more impressive aspect of this company is its success. It is managed essentially by three people. Its CEO, as I recall, graduated with a biological anthropology degree from WashU. It has a deliverable product that is available freely to the public, as well as a commercial version for generating revenue. The service doesn’t blatantly intrude into our lives a la Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, yet plays a substantial role in IT. Bravo indeed.

Go out and use OpenDNS. Most of you do not have an internet backbone like MIT‘s with a direct connection to Akamai. Enjoy the reliability, speed, and security of a trusted DNS.

*Note: I have no disclosures with OpenDNS, although am available for technical consultation by any party. *

computing tech

Fighting against bottled water. Very interesting.

economy economy

Several years ago, TSA implemented a checkpoint system for airport travelers, in hopes of streamlining the security lines. At LaGuardia, there are four lines:

1. Family Traveler
2. Casual Traveler
3. Expert Traveler
4. First Class

While each category of traveler is self-explanatory, I can’t fathom ever opting for the Family Traveler line (conceivably the slowest moving line of all). Of course, this line is intended to prevent single travelers stuck behind a family of screaming kids with strollers.

Interestingly enough, when I checked through security last week, the Family traveler line was clearly half the length of the “Expert Traveler” line. I took a gamble on the “Family Line” and breezed through security in about five minutes–it would have taken me at least 15 minutes to get through the “Expert Line”.

The next time I travel, I’m definitely going to take note of the “Family Line”.

misc travel

Many years ago on March 13th (the day before Pi day), I interviewed for a summer position at Microsoft. I was a freshman in college, and was two months into my first computer science course ever. I knew little about computing at the time, and had a desktop computer built mostly from parts I found in the dumpster.  My operating system was Debian Linux 2.0, since I didn’t have a copy of Windows. Indeed, it was ironic that I was interviewing for a M$ position.

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computing humor, tech