Yesterday afternoon, I got invited to join Google Voice (formerly Grand Central), Google’s “Gmail for your phone”. Google Voice does many things including giving you a lifetime phone number that you’ll never ever ever have to change again, transcribing voicemails, allowing you to call any number for free within the US, call international numbers for very cheap, send SMS messages for free, and offer a user interface similar to Gmail that shows voicemails and SMS in conversations/threads.
The permanent phone number and forwarding options are pretty neat especially if you have multiple phones in the vicinity that you’d like to pick up a call from. Also, the screening features are superb (I sorta don’t have to worry about unknown numbers anymore or spam callers).
I’m obviously still getting a handle on it all, but I’m pretty fascinated by the new service. I could easily see this being a big deal in the near future.
I had no idea that inhaling sulfar hexafluoride does the opposite effect of helium to your voice. Whereas helium makes your voice go higher, sulfur hexfluoride makes your voice go much deeper, making it sound like you’re speaking in a slow-motion video when you really aren’t. [via]
I’d love to see somebody inhale sulfur hexafluoride and say something really fast. And I wonder if this is how they get evil characters in movies to laugh the way they do.
Jack sent me a link to this Moshi IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Alarm Clock that sets itself on voice activated functions. After saying “Hello Moshi” aloud, the alarm clock allows you to set basic clock and alarm clock settings using nothing but your voice. From the demonstration, it seems to work pretty well, but then again, the demonstration is taking place in a completely quiet room, so who knows how well this will work in a louder setting.
But seriously, I feel like this would shave off a couple of minutes from every day, allowing me more seconds to enjoy the things I really love…like not setting my alarm clock.
Also, imagine the ease of sabatoge that this voice-activated alarm clock allows for. You know, walking into a room and not having to worry about how to figure out the settings on the alarm clock. Just speak the change in alarm time and have your mortal enemy miss an important meeting! HA HA HA! DELICIOUS!
Sesame Street had some truly weird programming back in the day. Check out a young James Earl Jones here reciting the entire alphabet as slowly and clearly as possible. [via]
