1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. This podcast 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: is brought to you by Audible dot com, the internet 5 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: leading provider of spoken word entertainment. For a free audiobook 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: of your choice, go to audible podcast dot com slash 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: tech Stuff. Hello to everybody, and welcome to tech Stuff. 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: My name is Chris Poulette, and I'm one of the 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: editors here at how stuff works dot Com. Sitting next 10 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: to me, as always, is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: all right, So, uh, I like your voice. You seem 12 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: to be in good voice today. Are you coming onto me? No? Alright? Good? Um, Yeah, 13 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: my voice is all right today. And uh and your 14 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: your voice is always is smooth and enjoyable like my coffee? 15 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: Are you coming on to me a little bit? So, anyway, 16 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: we thought with this wonderful segue, we just go right 17 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: into talking about a fairly new product, at least you know, 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: new to us, Google Voice. Yeah, it's a it's not 19 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: really new, no, because it's it's actually an evolution of 20 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: an older product, which I guess we can start with yeah, 21 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: I think we should because I have to freely admit 22 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: my embarrassment. See a few years ago, UM, there was 23 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: this company called grand Central, and UH it was. It 24 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: was a really cool new idea for basically routing all 25 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: of your calls UH through one number to multiple numbers, 26 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: so your home phone, your cell phone, your work phone, 27 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,639 Speaker 1: all through one UH phone number. And I actually got 28 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: an invitation to this closed beta and never acted on it. 29 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: And then then Google decides to acquire this property. And then, 30 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: of course, the way Google does with everything, it kind 31 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: of sits on it closes it off to everyone else 32 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: while it starts to fiddle with it. And until recently, 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: that was the way things were. If if you were 34 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: an existing Grand Central customer, you could continue to use it, 35 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: but if you weren't, then you had to just sit 36 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: around and wait and hope that Google would open it 37 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: up again. And that's kind of where we are now. 38 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: Google has started to open it up. It's still not 39 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: wide open for the general public as of the recording 40 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: of this podcast at any rate. You have to have 41 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: an invite to get into it, but you can just 42 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: request and invite and eventually they'll get around to you. 43 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: Both Chris and yours. Truly, we've we've requested and invite 44 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: and and we have it. So we've been playing with 45 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: it for a little while. Yeah, they didn't even send 46 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:34,959 Speaker 1: me a snarky note like, well, you didn't use the 47 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: last and we gave you, so what makes you think 48 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: you're gonna use this one? So thanks Google for not 49 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,399 Speaker 1: rubbing it in that nice Yeah. So, the idea here 50 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: is that instead of a phone number going to a 51 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: specific phone or specific device, the phone number goes to 52 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: a specific person, so you can port that number wherever 53 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: you may go from now until you shuffle off. The 54 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: mortal co will essentially. Uh. The idea here being that 55 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about giving out someone your 56 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: work number and your mobile phone number and your home number, 57 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: and say, hey, if you can't reach me here, try 58 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,119 Speaker 1: this one. If you can't, if I'm not there, try 59 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,119 Speaker 1: this one. You give them this one number, and then 60 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: you have the control to say which phones ring at 61 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: what times and for which people. Yep, and uh, it's 62 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: it's got some really nifty applications to whereas you know 63 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: some of the things you can do with it. It's 64 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,639 Speaker 1: it's pretty cool. The let's Let's let's kind of give 65 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: an example to sort of break into it. So let's 66 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: say that you have three phones. You put your home phone, 67 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: your mobile phone, and your work phone right all right. Now, 68 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: what you would do is, once you receive the invite 69 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: to join Google Voice, you would go in and you 70 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: would first put in your area code and try and 71 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: find a phone number for you. That would be your 72 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: Google Voice number, And this is the number you would 73 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: give out to other people. The one number you would 74 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: give out. You wouldn't have to give out any other 75 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: phone numbers to anyone else period. So you you put 76 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: in your area code, you choose whatever phone number you 77 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: you know is up there. You can try different combinations. 78 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: You could even see if you can find a combination 79 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: that corresponds to a word. Yeah. You can search by word, 80 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: which is really nice. Yeah. So you know, if you 81 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: always want to, you know, your your phone number to 82 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: spell something out, you can see if that was available. Now, 83 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: of course, it's not going to be available everywhere. Not 84 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: every word is going to be available, and of course 85 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: they have to have the right number of letters or 86 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: else it doesn't work. But uh, once you get that, 87 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: then what Google will do is it'll it'll call you 88 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: and ask you to put in a confirmation code, a 89 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: two digit confirmation code two say yes, this is in 90 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: fact my phone, this is my account. Once you do that, 91 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: you're set. You're ready to go. You can start setting 92 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: things up and telling it which phone numbers, UM correspond 93 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: with your Google Voice account. Yeah, one of the other 94 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: other things. Before we get too much further, UM, just 95 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: like to point out that you can also choose area codes. 96 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: So if you want to be someplace across the country, me, 97 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: you can put in a Californian code and go, oh, yeah, 98 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: I'm in l am working on my next movie. Yeah, 99 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: and you can totally do that as long as the 100 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: numbers available, right, Yeah, that is true. You don't necessarily 101 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: have to choose an area code that does correspond with 102 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: your specific location. If you want to be one of 103 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: those people who you know, let's call long distance, right 104 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: or yeah you know, or or you or you are, 105 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: say an aspiring screenwriter, and you don't want people to 106 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: know you're not actually in l A. Uh. There are 107 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: reasons I can think of why you would want to 108 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: mask your zip zip code, your area code. And uh, 109 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: so let's say you've got these three phone numbers that 110 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: you've entered into your account. Now, just if you just 111 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: had it where it would ring for all three when 112 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: everyone called you, That's exactly what would happen. Someone would 113 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: call your phone number, your Google Voice phone number, and 114 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: all three of those phones would start to ring, and 115 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: then whichever phone you picked up first, that's the that's 116 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: where the call would be rounded through. Oh, I was 117 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 1: just going to say that. One of the cool things 118 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,119 Speaker 1: about this is say you've answered the call on your 119 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: home phone and you realize that you, uh, we're gonna 120 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: head out for an errand, and you went, oh, man, 121 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: I wish I had answered my cell phone and said 122 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: you can actually transfer the call. That's true while you're 123 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: in the middle of it between different different lines, which 124 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: I think is pretty awesome. You just hit the star 125 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: button and Google Voice will call you on your other phones. Meanwhile, 126 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: the phone at your desk is ringing at work, and uh, 127 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: you pick up your cell phone extension and there's your conversation. 128 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: You can hang up your your home phone right and 129 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: just walk out the door, no interruption whatsoever. That is 130 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: a really cool feature. The other cool one is that, 131 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: or actually there's several, but another cool one is that 132 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: you can tell your through your Google account. You can 133 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: tell it which phones you want to ring for specific callers. 134 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: So let's say it's your family and you wanted to 135 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: reach you, no matter what, you can tell him, all right, 136 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: make all three phones ring. But let's say that it's 137 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: someone at your job and you don't want to necessarily 138 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: I have your cell phone or your home phone ringing 139 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: every single time this person calls you. You can designate 140 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: so it only rings on your office phone, yep. And 141 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: you can also block calls from certain people if you 142 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: want to. It's very easy to do that. You can 143 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: either send it well really, you just send it straight 144 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: to boysmail, so you know, you never have to deal 145 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: with that annoying uncle who calls you in the middle 146 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: of the night to ask what was the name of 147 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: that movie that you know he really wanted on DVD 148 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: for Christmas but you forgot. I'm just speaking from personal experience, 149 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: all right. So look, look, look, some of us just 150 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: can't bring ourselves to purchase Uncle Buck. That's all I'm saying. 151 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: So moving on the but yeah, and you can also 152 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: say it for for certain times, like saying, you know, 153 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: between the hours of nine am and five pm, my 154 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: office phone will ring, but my home phone own and 155 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: cell phone won't. That's a very nice feature, right, Uh. 156 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: And then after five pm, just my cell phone and 157 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: home phone, and maybe after you know, ten pm, none 158 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: of my phones will ring. Yeah, you can said do 159 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: not disturb, so that you're all the all the calls 160 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: go straight to voicemail and you don't have to worry 161 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: about it waking you up in the middle of the night. 162 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: And uh, which is nice, you know. Sorry, go ahead. 163 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: I was going to talk about. Another cool feature regard 164 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: to voicemail is that you can actually listen into voicemail messages, 165 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: a feature which I have not successfully gotten to work, 166 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: but I've been playing with it for a few days. Um. 167 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,479 Speaker 1: But you should be able to press three and um 168 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: after a call has gone to voicemail and listen in 169 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: and you go, oh wait, I need to take this call. 170 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,839 Speaker 1: You can answer the phone. You can actually pick it 171 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: up like you would if you were listening on your 172 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: old style answering machine. And this person I'm okay with, yes, yes, exactly. Yeah. 173 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: You might. You might see that a call is coming 174 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:00,959 Speaker 1: in from someone you thinking, well, I don't know that 175 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: I could really take this call right now, you let 176 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: it go to voicemail, you use the listening feature, which 177 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: I believe is actually trademarked. Uh. You use the listening 178 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: feature and you realize, wait, this is a really important call. 179 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: I do need to take this. You press the star button. 180 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: There you go. Um. Or you can just let it 181 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: go to voicemail and you hang up and you say, 182 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: I'll deal with that later. It's not important right now. Um. 183 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:24,559 Speaker 1: It really gives you a lot of control. The thing 184 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: that I like about Google Voice when I first started 185 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: using it is that it's, uh, the layout on the 186 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: website is a lot like Gmail almost. Yeah. In fact, 187 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: I would not be surprised if we see Google Voice 188 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: in Gmail integration in the foreseeable future. And I can 189 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: think of some reasons why, but we'll get to that 190 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: in a minute, right, But at any rate, So, the 191 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: nice thing is it's familiar for anyone who's used Gmail 192 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: or any of really any of the Google apps, because 193 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: Google Docs does have a kind of similar look as well. 194 00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: Um exactly. So it's it's not a brand new interface. 195 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: It's going to take you a while too, uh to learn. 196 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: It's actually very intuitive. And here's another cool feature. There's 197 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: an automatic transcription feature. That's one of the things that 198 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: I think would help it integrate with Gmail. Yes easily. Yes, 199 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: So someone calls you, they leave a voicemail if they 200 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: if they're calling through your Google Voice number, it's going 201 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:27,439 Speaker 1: to your Google Voice voicemail and Google Voice will try 202 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: to transcribe this message and you'll be able to read 203 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: it through your Google Voice account. You won't have to 204 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: listen to it, which can be very helpful. But there 205 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: are a couple of caveats. Yes, the voice recognition software 206 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: is not perfect. Right if someone is not speaking clearly, 207 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 1: if they have a very heavy accent, if they're not 208 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: speaking English, if there's a lot of noise in the background, 209 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: it may not be able to transcribe the speech accurately. 210 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: And if it detects that there's enough of a inner 211 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: parence there, if it can't easily transcribe the the voice 212 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: to text, it will actually send you a message saying 213 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: that it was unable to transcribe. You'll still have the recording, 214 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: you just won't have the transcription. Um And I've heard 215 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: of people having difficulties with certain words. Uh I used 216 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 1: her as an example all the time on here. I 217 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: was listening to episodes recently, and I realized how often 218 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: I've mentioned her, But it's because I know a lot 219 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: about the kind of issue she's had with this. But 220 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: Natalie del Conti of sen It, No, she has never 221 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: seen a successful transcription of her name. It comes across 222 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: as Daddy or Maddie or Madeleine or you know, but 223 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: not Natalie, which is not an uncommon name. But so yeah, 224 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: you have certain words and and certain dialects may give 225 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: the transcription software a little bit of a problem. I 226 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: actually tried the transcription UH featured by accidents sort of. 227 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: I was trying to call actually I was trying to 228 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: get the listen into work, and UH. As I was 229 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,719 Speaker 1: doing that, I was leaving myself a voicemail message, and 230 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: when I hung up, suddenly I got a text message 231 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: from from Google Voice with the transcription of my call, 232 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: which was basically, I wonder if I can't get this 233 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: thing to work, And it was verbatim exactly what I 234 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: had said, or at least what I remember I had said. 235 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: And then I checked my Gmail and there was another 236 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: transcription of it there, So there you go. I guess 237 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: the nice thing is it's automatic, so you're not thinking, Wow, 238 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: some human being somewhere had to listen to this incredibly 239 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: inane thing I just said and then write it down 240 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: and then email me with it. That's a job that 241 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: you don't stay in very long. So I jeez, here's 242 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: another one of those. Get the milk and the bread, 243 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,319 Speaker 1: you idiot, got it. I'm actually glad that I can't 244 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: hear my own voicemails that I've sent to other people, 245 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: because by the time I hang up, I realized, you know, 246 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: I could have left that same message and in half 247 00:12:55,880 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: the number of sentences, at at the most half than 248 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: the ones I actually used. And then I feel like 249 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: a complete idiot. Yeah, you should hear the podcast before 250 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: they're edited down. Yeah, they are like four and a 251 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: half hours long. Peter Jackson is an executive producer of 252 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: our podcasts. By the way, that is not true, so 253 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: Mr Jackson, please don't come after me. Another cool feature though, 254 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: Uh we're talking about transcriptions and we're talking about the voicemail. 255 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: You can record phone calls. Yes, you have a voice, 256 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: so if something. But here's the trick. You can only 257 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: you can only record incoming phone calls. You can't call 258 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: out and then record using Google Voice. They the person 259 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 1: has to call you on your Google Voice number and 260 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: then you can activate the the record call function. And 261 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: because recording calls is kind of a sticky issue legal 262 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: issue in several states and countries, Google Voice has an 263 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: automatic uh audio clue that the call is now being recorded, 264 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,199 Speaker 1: and I think it actually says the call is now 265 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: being recorded, so that way the person on the other 266 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: end of the phone doesn't, you know, say something incredibly 267 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: incriminating and then it's recorded for all time. I assume 268 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: it transcribes the recordings as well, though I haven't. You 269 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: haven't checked that yet. It would be incredibly useful for 270 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: people such as journalists because occasionally we have to call 271 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: and and do a phone interview and uh we often 272 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 1: you know, of course, we have to record those so 273 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: that we have a copy of it, and then we 274 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: have to transcribe it, and the whole process can be 275 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: very time consuming. To boil that down into a program 276 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: where it will record it and transcribe it all automatically, 277 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: is uh, that's just very enticing to me. You can 278 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: even download the voice recording, yes, so that if you 279 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: were a journalist, uh and needed to save a copy 280 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: for archival purposes. You could you know, conduct your phone 281 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: interview and then download a copy and you know, put 282 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: it place, or you know, you could leave it on 283 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: Google because you probably have a you know, pet a 284 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: bite now of storage servers already, So that's pretty cool. 285 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: I I did send a message because there's one of 286 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: the neat things about Google Voice right now in the 287 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: early stages is, uh, if you if you really hunt 288 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: around at the different features, it'll tell you what's supported 289 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: and what isn't and if it's not supported. It gives 290 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: you a little button where you can say, hey, send 291 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: us feedback if you want this option, let us know. 292 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: And if enough people say, hey, we really could use 293 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: this option, that will will prioritize that we'll try and 294 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: implement it. So of course I did that for the 295 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: outgoing calls. If you were to make a call from 296 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: Google Voice, and you might wonder, well, how do how 297 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: do you make a call from Google Voice if it's 298 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: not tied to a device, Chris could tell you because 299 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: he's done it. Yeah, actually, um there is a button 300 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: on the main Google Voice page and it says you 301 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: know that you can make a call, and you go, oh, well, 302 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: that's kind of cool. I can use v I P 303 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: to make a phone call. Well no, not exactly. What 304 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: you need is one of your Google Voice phones. Uh, 305 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: and then you can initiate the call from the website. 306 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: And basically it's Uh, it's kind of weird because what 307 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: it does is it dials both the recipients phone and 308 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: your Google Voice enabled phone at the same time. And 309 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: then when the two of you pick up, you're on 310 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: the phone call, but the computer. You're not actually talking 311 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: through the computer. No, it's kind of like an operator 312 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: the operator. First, first, the operator dials you, your phone 313 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: starts to ring, you pick it up immediately. Then the 314 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: the it starts to dial whoever you were trying to call, 315 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: and then they pick up, and now you're connected through 316 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: Google Voice. And the person who receives the call should 317 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: see the your Google Voice number on their color I 318 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: D as opposed to your cell phone's number or your 319 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: office phone number. That's what they should see. Well yeah, yeah, 320 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: and that's the point of doing this. The reason why 321 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: you would want to initiate the call from your computer 322 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,959 Speaker 1: rather than from your phone is because it actually uses 323 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: the on the caller idea. It actually uses your Google 324 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: Voice phone number. If you call from your regular phone. 325 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 1: Suddenly your recipient may be surprised to go, wait a minute, 326 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: that's not the number I have for them. Um. And 327 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: you can actually do that yourself on the Google phone. 328 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: Say you're out, uh, not your Google phone, your Google 329 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 1: Voice enabled phone. Two entirely different well, not always two, 330 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: usually entirely different things. Exactly. If you happen to be 331 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: out and about and want to make a call on 332 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: your cell phone and want it to appear with your 333 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: Google Voice number, you dial your own Google Voice number 334 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: and it recognizes you as you you know, you have 335 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: to put in your pin and then when you do that, 336 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: then you um, you know, it says basically, who do 337 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: you want to call? And it uses that to transcribe 338 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: the number through the Google Voice system, and you know, 339 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: when you call already shows up, it will be from 340 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: Google Voice and not from your cell phone number or 341 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: your work phone or your home phone or whatever. Um. 342 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 1: So that that's how that works, And that's kind of 343 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: important to know, because otherwise people are gonna say, you know, 344 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,119 Speaker 1: I've got sixteen different numbers for you, which one of 345 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: them are supposed to be using, which defeats the point. 346 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: SMS is kind of the same way. You can send 347 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:19,160 Speaker 1: an SMS message from Google Voice and uh, basically it's 348 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: going to put your your Google Voice number on it. 349 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,199 Speaker 1: But when a return message comes back, if the the 350 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: recipient replies, it's going to have a weird Google Voice 351 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: ish phone number attached to it, a strange number that 352 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 1: you've never seen, even though this may be somebody you know, 353 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: for example, spouse speaking from personal experience, you know, and 354 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 1: wait a minute, that's not her number. Well, as it 355 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: turns out, you need to add that number to your uh, 356 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: to your contacts information for that person, and then it 357 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: will show up as the right person. But that's another 358 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: weird transcription thing. And I actually got that from life Hacker, 359 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: which has a totally um, a very a good uh 360 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: introduction to how to use Google Voice, and it's you know, 361 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: written in the life Hacker style, which like, if you 362 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: really are going to use this service, you need to 363 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: tell people call you with this number, don't give them 364 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: any other numbers. You know, you've got to You've got 365 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: to embrace it or it's not gonna work. Create business 366 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 1: cards and this is the only number on it. Exactly 367 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: kind of thing. Yeah, if you were to call someone 368 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: with Google Voice the first time you call them you've 369 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: never called them before on this number, assuming they have 370 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: the option turned on, because they can turn it off. 371 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: You will encounter the call screening process and it asks 372 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: you for your name, and if you you say your name, 373 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: and that way the person receiving the call when when 374 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: you call, they'll when you first start to try and 375 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: pick up a Google voice call, you actually have to 376 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,360 Speaker 1: go through a series of pressing buttons to do it right. 377 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: It's not just pick up the phone, so it'll say, 378 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,160 Speaker 1: it'll actually give the voice that you use. He'll say, 379 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: if I were to call, you say phone call from 380 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, unless of course I wasn't paying attention, in 381 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: which case I'll be starting my message. I'm like, hey, there, 382 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: how's it going. Listen? I wanted to bleep, and they're like, oh, 383 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 1: that's an idiot Jonathan Strickland and uh, but that's how 384 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:14,400 Speaker 1: it identifies the call, and from there on out, that's 385 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: the recording that's going to use to identify that person, 386 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: unless you can change it down the line. If you're 387 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,920 Speaker 1: tired of hearing everyone start a voicemail message instead of 388 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: saying their name, which is apparently that happens a lot 389 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: because we're all kind of trained. We hear that beap, 390 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: we just go into message mode. We don't necessarily think, oh, wait, 391 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: I was just supposed to say my name. Um, I 392 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: had that problem with bells. You ring a bell and 393 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: I salivate, Yeah, alright, Pavlov. So the that's the that 394 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: will happen the first time anyone tries to call that 395 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,280 Speaker 1: number if they're not in your context list already, and 396 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: then um, that can kind of throw you off a 397 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: little bit. I think I know that there are some 398 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: people who use Google Voice who talk about how that 399 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: no one has ever just said their name. In my defense, 400 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: the one time I did it, I was on a 401 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,439 Speaker 1: very noisy showroom floor at E three, and I couldn't 402 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: hear what the recording was asking me to do, so 403 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: I thought I was leaving a voicemail message. Yeah, the 404 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: tech savvy guy who who um, golly, what else can 405 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: we say about Google Voice. I think it's gonna just 406 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: get further tight into other Google apps. I mean, we're 407 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: gonna see things like this kind of loop into the 408 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 1: Google Chrome operating system that was announced not too long ago. 409 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: It's already got Google for one one in it yep. 410 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: So I mean it's it's pretty much going to Uh 411 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: it's just another step of Google trying to take over 412 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: the entire world. Yep. And uh, if you think that 413 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: it's completely unique, you'd be wrong. They actually have some competitors, 414 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: the biggest one that I've seen being tell Centrists. It 415 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: has a an act called vox ox Um, which now 416 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: is vox ox too. They have a brand new version 417 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,119 Speaker 1: out or coming out um, and it offers many the 418 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: same services, except it's got a few more that I 419 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: specifically searched for and got that box that you were 420 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: talking about if peopould like to see this functionality added 421 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: for Google Voice. So in some ways voxox has some 422 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 1: of the other stuff going on that you might not see. 423 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: I mean, it's already got you know, the voice number, um, 424 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: you know, text messaging, I am. It's also got video conferencing, 425 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: the ability to facts, uh, file sharing, and social network integration. 426 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,680 Speaker 1: So I would not be a bit surprised to see 427 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: Google Voice adding a lot of new features, probably over 428 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: the next twelve to eighteen months, and you know, opening 429 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: up to more and more and more people. You know, 430 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: and since you've already got a Google account, maybe even 431 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,439 Speaker 1: seven of them. Uh, you you probably, I mean, all 432 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: you'll have to do is basically tell it. Let you know, 433 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: log in your account, say yeah, I'd like to be 434 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 1: notified when this is available, and they'll just add you 435 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: right in and it integrates with everything else. I can 436 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: think of one other feature that I wanted to mention 437 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:59,360 Speaker 1: before we sign off on this. Okay, the widgets. The widgets. Yeah, 438 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,719 Speaker 1: you can actually add a Google Voice widget to a website. 439 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: So let's say you're building a website and you want 440 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: people to be able to contact you. Uh, you can 441 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: set you can create a widget on your website a 442 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: little bit the icon. People click on it and they 443 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:17,400 Speaker 1: can call you using that widget and send you messages 444 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: through Google Voice. I can't imagine setting that up because 445 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: I don't like the idea of slogging through page after 446 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: page after page of voicemails. But then I think you 447 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: and I have a slightly higher visibility than the average 448 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: Google Voice user. That's probably true that you know. Then again, 449 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,919 Speaker 1: once you're compared to other people, but you well, even so, 450 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: I mean, it all depends on how many people go 451 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: to that website. Lots of people go to our website. 452 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: On the other hand, you know, this is just off 453 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: the cuff here, but you could theoretically set up a 454 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: Google Voice number just leave it on do not disturb, 455 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,880 Speaker 1: and let people leave you voice messages, you know, rather 456 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 1: than using a telephone number, and then you could just 457 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: check it. Just check the transcriptions. You don't even have 458 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: to listen to them, yeah, unless they have a very 459 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: strong accent. I think I think we've got a way 460 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,160 Speaker 1: of putting in song requests, not that we can play them, 461 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: but you make the request. So and so is requested 462 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,880 Speaker 1: that we play such and such. Well, just I'm gonna 463 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: tell you what I tell everybody. We can't afford the rights. 464 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 1: Moving on. Yeah, great, well that's uh, that's all the 465 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: Google Voice stuff I have right now. Remember if you don't, 466 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: if you go to Google Voice and it says that 467 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: you need an invite, you just click on that little 468 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: button and put in your email address and you will 469 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: receive an invite Eventually. We both put in the request, 470 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: not that long ago, or I think you put it 471 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: in before I did it, but we both got the 472 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: the invitation pretty much the same day. Yeah. Yeah, And 473 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: there have been reports that Google was reserving large blocks 474 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 1: of phone numbers, which makes sense because that's what they 475 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: would need to do. Just you know, it's a little 476 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: handy thing. This is one of those things that stuff 477 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 1: like Gmail makes possible. Switching carriers. It's gonna be a 478 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: lot easier to because I've I've had services where I 479 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 1: wanted to change, you know, Oh, well that v O 480 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:12,880 Speaker 1: I P services you know, thirty dollars a month cheaper 481 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: than what I'm paying now. Like, oh, we can port 482 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,200 Speaker 1: your phone number, but it's gonna take you know, eight 483 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: to four fifty three weeks, right, Well, I really want 484 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: you know, when we can set you up with a 485 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: brand new phone number. Well, Google Voice, you could just 486 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: add that new phone number and say who cares? Yeah, 487 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: if you or if you just move, like exactly for 488 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: those of us who still have a landline, that wouldn't 489 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: be me. Yeah, I just have a cell phone and 490 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: my work phone. But if I were to still have 491 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: a home phone, you know, tethered to my house, and 492 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,679 Speaker 1: then I were to move, well I wouldn't necessarily be 493 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 1: able to keep that phone number, depending on how far 494 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: away I moved. That's true. In some places they restrict 495 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: you to the to the prefix the first three digits 496 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: so if you were even moving in the same metropolitan area, 497 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: they may say, well, you can't keep your phone number 498 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: because you know you're moving two blocks away. Yeah. So 499 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: in that case, a Google Voice number will be very 500 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: handy because you wouldn't have to let everyone know, Hey, 501 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 1: now you have to change all your address books because 502 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: my new phone number is blah blah blah. Um. If 503 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: your Google Voice number would stay yours until you know, 504 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 1: essentially until I guess forever, until Google folds, or until 505 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,479 Speaker 1: maybe maybe they'll wait two d years and say, all right, 506 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: he's probably dead by now, let's go ahead and give 507 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: that number to someone else. Um. So yeah, I mean 508 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: that's all I've got to all right, are you all 509 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 1: all googled out? Well, that brings us to a time 510 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: I like to call. Let's thank our sponsor. Oh yes, 511 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: our sponsor would be audible dot com. It's awesome. They 512 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,959 Speaker 1: have over sixty titles in audio now. And it's not 513 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: just books, it's also podcasts and magazines, all sorts of stuff. 514 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,479 Speaker 1: And uh, some of your favorite books, i'd wager are 515 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:58,359 Speaker 1: up there in audio format, and some of them are 516 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 1: read by the authors themselves. We each have a little 517 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: suggestion for you for your next audible dot Com purchase, 518 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: and if you register through the website, we'll be giving 519 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: you in in a second you can get your first download 520 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: for free. That sounds awesome. Yeah, so what's your suggestion? Well, 521 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: I I picked two. Um. I think maybe an appropriate 522 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: one for this podcast would be What Would Google Do? 523 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: By Jarvis Um. Yeah, and that is another one of 524 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: the books that is actually read by the author himself. 525 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: So excellent, awesome, all about Google? So that did you 526 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: say you had to? I do have too, But you 527 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: know that was just in case you went first and 528 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: you picked mine. Oh no, mine has nothing to do 529 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: with Google. Really, Yeah, okay, mine has to do with 530 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: a book I read on the flight home yesterday series 531 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: back to Atlanta yesterday, And uh, I read a very 532 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,439 Speaker 1: simple book. But I've already seen the movie and I 533 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: definitely wanted to read the book. Neil Gaiman's Coraline may 534 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 1: have two different versions of it up on audible dot Com, 535 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: including the one that Gaman himself narrated. Awesome, So that's 536 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: my recommendation. It is different from the movie. So if 537 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: you saw the movie and you thought, well, I've already 538 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: seen that story, the book version is different. So there 539 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: you go. Excellent. So what's your second one? I'm curious 540 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: to hear now. I was actually going to use a 541 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,719 Speaker 1: planet Google, which is a subtitle is one Company's audacious 542 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: plan to organize everything we know by Randall Strauss. Does 543 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:28,159 Speaker 1: sound audacious depending on how you pronounce it. So if 544 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: any of those three books as your first free download, 545 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: you can go to www Dot audible podcast dot com 546 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: slash tech stuff. That's www. Dot audible podcast dot com 547 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: slash tech Stuff first downloads free. Thank you audible dot com. 548 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 1: Thank you very much, And that brings us around to 549 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 1: our favorite segment of all time. Yes, yes, listener mail ah, 550 00:28:57,840 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: yess I didn't yell at at this time, I did, 551 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: thank you. This comes from Matthew from Seattle. In your 552 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: Computers of the Future podcast, you mentioned the quantum physics 553 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: principle that when you observe something, you change its behavior. 554 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: You didn't mention, however, that that principle has a name. 555 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is named after Werner Heisenberg, who 556 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: won the nineteen thirty two Nobel Prize in physics for 557 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: the creation of quantum mechanics. The principle basically states that 558 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: a particle's position and velocity cannot be measured simultaneously with 559 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: any degree of accuracy, and that the more precisely measure one, 560 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: the less precisely you can measure the other one. Also, 561 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 1: I wanted to say that your description of quantum mechanics 562 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 1: was extremely good, in that I believe that anyone could 563 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: understand it as far as you describe, because we only 564 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: describe the very beginning. I agree with you both that 565 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: the finer points of quantum theory are complicated and brain busting. 566 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: Thank you for your informative podcast. When I began listening, 567 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy it because I 568 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: am not well versed in technology jargon. However, I have 569 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: found that it is incredibly easy to listen and learn 570 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: from you guys. I really appreciate all the sci fi references. 571 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: You guys have the best jokes, no matter what the 572 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: other podcasters say about your punts and stick it in 573 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 1: your face. That was that was from us, not from 574 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: Matthew in your face. And Atthew is far more polite. Yes, indeed, 575 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 1: you know actually had to tell you the truth before 576 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: we did any research on that. I thought quantum mechanics 577 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: were very tiny people who worked on your car. Yeah, 578 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: it turns out not so much. I was very disappointed 579 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: because I think my car has y know, coorns in it, 580 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: and I don't know how to get rid of them. 581 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: It runs on magic, it does. If any of you 582 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: have anything you'd like to say to us, you can 583 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: email us. Because we don't have a Google Voice widget yet, 584 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: email us at tech stuff at how stuff works dot com. 585 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: If you want to learn more about Google and the 586 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: ways it's going to organize your life for you, you 587 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: can check that out at how stuff works dot com 588 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 1: and Chris and I will talk to you again really soon. 589 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: For moralness and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff 590 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,560 Speaker 1: works dot com and be sure to check out the 591 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: new tech stuff blog now on the house stuff Works homepage, 592 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 593 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: It's ready, are you