Web/Tech

Bye Grandcentral, Hello Google Voice

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I have been using Grand Central since December 2006. When it was announced I thought it was the perfect idea that solved most of the issues I had with multiple phone numbers that I have been trying to solve since 1996! Grand Central had great promise but two issues I had with it prevented it from being the solution I wanted it to be. The first issue was simply the quality of the calls recieved via Grand Central. For me at least the performance was hit or miss. I couldn’t rely on it as my main inbound phone number because I got burned so many times by call quality issues. The other issue I had was that Grand Central required you to press 1 once you picked up a call. The options it offered (1 to answer a call, 4 to record, and other options to send to Voice Mail or listen in on the VM) were nice, but 99% of the time I pressed 1 to answer the call. On a smart phone such as my iPhone it was a pain to find the virtual keypad and press one. It was even worse if I was using a headset. They never offered an option to turn off that requirement to press an number when you answered a call, until now.

Google bought Grand Central what seems like ages ago and nothing ever happened with the service. I was happy to keep using my Grand Central number as the default number I gave out when signing up for something or to a doctors office, the pharmacy, etc but I still used my mobile number as the main number I gave out. Recently at work I started using Grand Central as my main contact number and my mobile as my backup since I move around allot but people still get my mobile to reach me on. This week Google announced the release of Google Voice, aka the relaunch and upgrade of Grand Central. I patiently waited until my account told me I can upgrade to the new Google Voice. So far I am very impressed. My major technical issue regarding having to always press the keypad to start a call has been resolved. I now have the option of turning that off, so I did. I also liked the SMS functions, and the ability to leverage my existing GMail contacts. The transcribe feature is nice, but just bells and whistles to me for now.

I am hoping that the quality of the calls are consistent with the new Google Voice. If they are, it is an almost perfect solution for me. I look forward to using it more over the next few weeks to put it through its paces. It took google a while to get this update out, but so far it seems worth the wait!

Data, Data, Everywhere

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I read allot about cloud computing now a days. It makes me laugh because before that I read about grid computing, or web based apps, or web 2.0, etc. Someone writes up some new buzz words. To me alot of these terms boil down to getting access to my stuff from anywhere. If that is in a cloud, grid or web app, I don’t care. I want ubiquitous access to my stuff.

I have written about some of the technologies that make this happen for me before because it is very important. Something so minor today that happened to me reminded me of how important this is.

Today as I was winding down at work and preparing to go home I was updating the tasks I need to work on the rest of the week. I use Remember The Milk (RTM) for my task management, and I was having problems with google gears updating my offline copy of data so I was syncing my data and verifying all my tasks I worked on were updated. After I closed Firefox and began to shut down my laptop to go home I realized I had 3 pieces of paper with notes I took in a meeting that I needed to update some tasks with new actions. To turn my laptop back on and boot it up would take like 15 minutes (don’t ask why XP takes that long, I don’t know), and putting the papers in my bag to take home was a good idea. The only issue was I knew I would forget to input the info when I got home. Knowing I had to do it while I remembered I grabbed my iPhone and opened my Remember The Milk app on it and sync’d down a replica copy of my data. I updated the most important items to RTM and put the few remaining notes that could wait a few days to add into my bag. It took a bit longer to enter info on the iPhone but everything was updated. I then made further updates on the Subway on the way home, and then re-synced the data when I got home on my Wifi connection. I could have done it walking from the Subway but it was just faster to use my WIFI connection. The entire process was entirely seamless. During the entire process I had my information up to date anywhere I need it. My home computer, phone, or work computer! To me that is the perfect example of having my stuff, data, whatever anywhere I need it to be.

RTM uses a web browser, Google Gears, and the iPhone with data synchronization to enable data everywhere. Other applications or tools I use have different methods.

I used to use VoodoPad as a personal wiki. Then I started using multiple computers. One of then happens to be a windows XP box so a Mac only app like VoodoPad no longer cut it. I needed the data in that wiki more than when I was just sitting at home. I tried Google Apps, then Zoho, and then I ended up with my own installation of Mediawiki. I secured the site and now I can access the wiki from any computer with an internet connection. No cloud needed. Just a simple web application worked. For some work related stuff that I want to track for just me I still use Zoho since they have a nicer GUI, and WYSIWYG editor.

For email I used to use a simple IMAP mail store, but I only had recent mail (past few months) online. Then I started using Google Apps and got addicted to having all my mail from all time in one place. I never thought I would ditch an application for a web browser as my email but I did. I had some things I didn’t like Google Apps for (I previously talked about it), so I ended up using Zimbra. Now I have all my personal mail in 01.com’s cloud. Not sure if it is really a cloud but that is what they call it. I can now access my mail from any browser (and it looks fantastic), any IMAP application, Outlook with the Zimbra plugin, or they even have their own app that sync’s data. And there is Mac version of the app too. I use the Exchange connector on my iPhone to sync all the address, mail, and calendar data from Zimbra to my phone. It automatically sync’s up when data changes. No need to plug in and sync. Knock on wood i haven’t had any noticeable issues with the syncing. I also sync the same data to my Address book & iCal on my Mac for offline editing. I can access that data anywhere, and I do use all the options I have to access it!

The last major application I use to access my data anywhere is probably the coolest. It is SugarSync. I have written about it before, so I won’t really go into why I like it. What I will say is I have started putting more data into my SugarSync replica. Jayson got me thinging about it when he started playing with the Amazon S3 cloud for backups of his personal data. I have used SugarSync to keep my office type documents backed up for a few months and I have loved it. I want to start using it or something like the S3 to backup all my important stuff. My close call a few months a go that almost cost me all of my backed up data got me thinking. Just having 2 hard drives wasn’t enough. I started putting my archive of photo’s onto the S3 today. I hope to calculate how much doing the same to video’s will cost. These systems (S3 or SugarSync) gives me access to my files from anywhere. I have used SugarSync to open files on my iPhone to grab information. It has been very useful. If I sync everything up in a cloud storage system I could use any computer just like I was at my own. Yes there are some pitfalls to that system (I like locally downloaded replica copies of stuff for ease of use) but overall it is a really cool idea that has worked for me!

Twitter

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About a month or two ago I signed up for Twitter. I thought it was a cool idea, but as usual most of my friends aren’t using the system so I didn’t do anything with it. About two weeks ago I had second thoughts about the system and started Tweeting anyway. I plugged in Twitter to Facebook so now whenever I Tweet my Facebook status is updated. I thought that was a cool idea. Last week I added a Twitter plugin to Typepad so my latest Tweets are now in one of the colums on my blog.

I find it cool that I can blast out a quick Twitter message from my iPhone when I am bored somewhere!

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Google To Zimbra Update

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So far I am liking Zimbra, but I do have a few features that I miss from Google Apps. I miss the ability to search and apply tags to everything that is already in my account. Zimbra cannot do that, but version 6 should be able to fix that. I miss the linking of messages to one thread in Google, but on the other hand I don't miss it sometimes. That was a controversial function for me.

I miss the extra drive space. My current Zimbra account only gives me 2 gigs. When I am done uploading all my mail I will need closer to 4gig, and Google apps gave me around 7. I knew this going into the Zimbra, but more space would be nice!

I am liking the syncing to my iPhone. The only quirk is that the photo caller id pictures I have on my Mac address book won't sync with the iPhone anymore but they will sync with the Zimbra server. Weird. I am also having issues with getting the calendar on my mac to sync with Zimbra. I was able to do a one way import to the server but getting it back down to my iCal has been a problem. It hasn't bothered me yet since I don't really use iCal as much as I used to now that my work world lives in Exchange.

I have had a few other odd issues with mail not replicating to Outlook using the Zimbra plug in, but I haven't gone crazy over it yet. Overall Google Apps was a good solid web app, so change is difficult. That being said I am happier that I have a bit more control over my most sensitive data. Sorry Google, I love you in many ways but I am still a bit skeptical about your privacy and data retention policies. And in a nutshell that is the final reason I moved to Zimbra. I still use my Gmail account as a backup, but I haven't logged into my Google Apps account all week.

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Free Google Apps, to Paid Zimbra!

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My brother in law reminded me that he lost everything in his Gmail inbox a few months ago. He can’t recall how that happened, and there is no way to get the data back. Knowing him, I don’t think he did something to delete it. This story on top of several people I have spoken to about percieved issues with Googles privacy policy has got me wondering if I should be relying on Google Apps for my mail. To be truthful I was originally a skeptic of Gmail but I have been using Google Apps for about a year with no major issues. That being said hearing horror stories about lack of support or loss of mail (or loss of access to mail), hijacking of accounts, etc got me thinking. I am willing to pay for rock solid service from a mail provider, but even paying for Google Apps doesn’t (in my eyes) solve the security and privacy issues with Googles terms of service.

All these concerns got to seriously look at using Zimbra again. Earlier this year I had tried out 01.com‘s personal Zimbra hosting but ended up sticking to Google Apps. What has changed? The iPhone for one. The need in my opinion to have my contacts synced with my mail system. The fact that I have an iPhone so I switched to Remember The Milk for task management. One major reason I didn’t keep using Zimbra was it didn’t sync tasks to the Mac and at the time that was a requirement. With me using RTM that isn’t an issue anymore. I could have used my existing hosting provider and used simple IMAP mail like I did for years, but I grew attached to a nice web UI. The ability to have the same mail experience on any computer became very compelling, so going back to simple IMAP mail wasn’t going to cut it.

Last week I signed up for a business account with 01.com (biz account offers me more features over the personal one I previously tried). I have already moved the majority of my mail from Google Apps over to Zimbra. The moving of mail was slow since I was just coping messages between the two services using IMAP. Getting my contacts and calendar into Zimbra was easy with the import functionality as well as the iSync connector. I am having issues sync’ing my calendar back with my Mac, but everything syncs up perfectly with my iPhone. If I realized Zimbra would work so well syncing with the iPhone I would never have renewed .mac (mobileme). I would have been better served just using sugarsync and Zimbra, but I didn’t know about sugarsync in July. I know for next year not to renew mobileme!

Now all I need to do is sort out a few minor glitches with my Zimbra experience and I will be happy to stop using Google Apps.

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My Mediawiki

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I have been using VoodooPad for a few months (actually pushing a year now, wow) and it has been a great product. With me at a new job that requires me to use a company issued computer having all my wiki information on my Mac is not the most functional setup. If I am at work our out and about I cannot access my data. Because of that I have been trying out Google App’s Sites. It is a decent wiki like application, but I don’t like the fact that I cannot export my data easily. I am also becoming more and more wary about Google’s privacy and security policies. I tried to setup PHPWiki on my web hosting account, but ran into issues with it. I used PHPwiki at Partsearch and we had all of our department documentation on it and I loved it. More recently however I have been liking Mediawiki.

I finally sat down and tinkered around with my hosting account and got Mediawiki installed. Because this is a private wiki, I had to password protect the directory that the wiki resides in on my hosting server, but otherwise the install wasn’t so bad. I have to get used to formatting my pages for the wiki. Voodoopad spoiled me in that way. It was like writting in word when you wanted to format text in Voodoopad, but this is the price I pay for having my data availible to me anywhere I have an internet connection. I have already leaveraged that benifit of my new site by accessing it on my iPhone. I also like the fact that I can backup the DB and port it to another Mediawiki install if I ever have to. Overall I have been happy with my experience!

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SugarSync

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I have been using .Mac on and off for a few years as a remote file storage location for my documents. The service was the only one that I found that had a workable system that kept a local cashed copy on my computer and synced the changes to a central server. The problem is that .Mac doesn't work that well. I stopped using it back in January when my annual renewal was coming up. I didn't want to keep paying it since I didn't think I was getting my money's worth. In June I changed my tune since the MobileMe functionality was coming out with the iPhone 3G. I thought those added functions were worth it the fee, and if I was already paying for the MobileMe syncing I might as well use the iDisk feature as well.

That decision hasn't worked out well for me. I constantly get sync errors when I have documents open that iDisk is trying to "automatically" sync. I have had iDisk totally corrupt two of my personal wiki's I have using VoodooPad.

I was happy to stumble upon an article that talked about among other things different file syncing and storage services. I had heard about Xdrive, and Box.net, but I looked up a new one called SugarSync. On paper it does everything I need:

  1. Price is reasonable
  2. Mac & WIndows clients
  3. Local (or multiple local) copies as well as the server copy
  4. Sync on when changes happen
  5. Plus it offered other features that I didn't think of but probibly could use.

Best of all the reviews were all really good, and from reputable people like Mossberg and Pouge (I hope I spelled their names right). With all this good "sounding" information I signed up for a 45 day trial with 10gigs of file space. I am slowly syncing my documents folder to their system now. According to their status meeter it will be about 7 more hours before the data is fully synced. I will then give it a true test drive at work tomorrow. I will also be able to install the Windows agent on my Vaio laptop at work and see if I can access everything. That was something I couldn't do with iDisk.

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To Skype or Not to Skype

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As I said in a post a about a week or so ago, I have made a decision not to renew my .mac subscription and instead I went back to my traditional hosting provider, even if I don’t use it that much. I do use it enough to warrant a traditional provider that gives me flexibility. Another technological decision has also been on my mind as of late. This one involves VOIP phone providers.

I currently have a Broadvoice VOIP account. I have had one since I moved into my apartment in Manhattan in 2003. I have my number setup on a Cisco 7940 IP Phone. I think the service and the phone are fantastic. I haven’t had many reasons to complain, but I just don’t use the service that much. On the other hand I also have a Skype In number, and until recently I had Skype Unlimited. Now I am paying month to month for Skype Pro. The problem is I don’t use both services enough to justify the expense of one, let alone both. I have a mobile phone that is my primary number, and I don’t even go over my monthly minutes on that. It is smart to have a VOIP phone since it is really cheap. I want one just in case I have issues with the mobile, but like I said I don’t use either of them that much.

To cut costs I have been thinking about dropping either Broadvoice or Skype. The problem is both services have their pro’s and con’s. Skype is actually cheaper per year and if I started using it more the cost is also fixed since I get unlimited inbound and outbound calls on the plans I have. Broadvoice has a few nifty features Skype does not but I don’t use it enough to make it worth my while. What Broadvoice does have in its advantage is that I can use my Cisco 7940 phone with it. That phone is great. It has a good speakerphone, and I have a really good headset for it. The Skype cordless phone I have has a good speaker, but no headset. I can use a headset with Skype if I use my computer, but there is no way to change from headset, to handset, to speaker on the same call if I use the computer. As weird as that sounds, it happens more than you would think.

My final option is to do what I have done for years in the past before VOIP. That is drop all other phones and just use my mobile. All the major wireless carriers announced unlimited phone plans this week, so that is a very viable option right now. What to do…

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Flickr Spree

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Over the past two months I have been tasking myself with a digital clean up so to speak. I have been spending some of my free time going through my photo album in iPhoto. I have been uploading everything of value onto Flickr. The uploading isn’t too hard, but I am trying to take the time to tag and organize everything. Back in September when I shut down my hosting account I wanted to put my photo’s somewhere, so I upgraded my Flickr account to Pro. Since I didn’t have a Gallery site anymore I wanted my photos on Flickr.

I now have my recent history in photo’s up online. I think I have most photos back to about 2000 uploaded. There are still allot since 2000 that are not up, but they are the less important photos. Next task is to get to some of my older photos I have taken at camp, either as a councilor in the 90’s or on my teen tour’s as a camper in the late 80’s. After that it will probably be the photo’s I got from my parents of the family. That might take a while, because there is a lot of them. I don’t think of this as a waste of time, because it is like organizing my life in pictures. It is kind of fun. This is going to be a work in progress for some time. The big question is always what photo’s can be made visible to all, and what if any of them should be left more private for friends and family? So far I have been pretty open about what I put up there, but with a young niece and nephew you have to be worried about crazies getting too much information off of some post or picture.

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Web Hosting

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Ok, I made a mistake by canceling my web hosting account. I miss the flexibility of having a hosting account even if I don’t really need one all the time. I went back to Site5. They were good, and the only reason I canceled the account was because I didn’t want a provider at all. I am in the middle of configuring the site now.

I am trying to keep my Internet spending down this year so to offset the hosting costs for the year I am getting rid of .Mac. I don’t really use it, so I am going to let the account lapse when it is up for renewal at the end of February.

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