A bit bleary-eyed after a day of working at the computer. Coffee is my daily starting point.
Mobile post sent by bostonmargy using Utterz.
Replies.Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday, October 22, 2007
No Computer Necessary!
About a year ago, I set up a blog for my family. I thought it would be a great way for all of us to keep in touch with each other. We could post our latest news, upload photos, share videos and the rest. I was really excited, until I realized that I was the only one who was making any entries. Try as I might, I couldn't get anyone else onto the computer. I had to call mom and dad every time I posted, and even then there was a lag of time before they finally read what I had to say.
Why? My parents, bless their hearts, are seriously pre-internet. In fact, they're seriously pre-computer. My mother remembers the day when typewriters had two carriages: one for upper case and one for lower case. My dad served in WWII, as a Navy bombadier. In those days, you used a phone - if you had one. Otherwise, you walked over to your friend's house and caught up over tea on the front porch.
Alas, those days are long gone. Americans are scattered around the country now. We shop in supermarkets and malls instead of the corner store where the owners knew every customer. That may still be the case in some instances, but I'll bet the corner store owner's kids are in a different city these days. My parents still live in a little time warp, blissfully ignorant of the internet, despite my many attempts to introduce them to it. For one thing, my mom's vision just isn't what it used to be. She has difficulty seeing the screen. My dad will occasionally turn on the computer, although most of the time it stays off and forgotten. It's just not part of their thinking, and who can blame them? I still can't figure out how to program a VCR and mostly ignore it unless I'm playing a video.
So, what's a far-away and internet-loving daughter to do? Simple: find a way of enabling internet access without actually using a computer. And, yes, it's possible! Not only that, it's also mostly free, like so many things on the web these days.
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Actually, this little exploration began with a quest to find audio access for my blind friends. They have screen readers, or magnifiers, of course, but I thought it would be a lot easier for them to hear posts rather than read them (well, I was wrong, but that's for another blog posting). I searched for ways of leaving voice messages via email and on blogs. I didn't have a microphone at the time, but I soon discovered ways of leaving voices messages via my telephone. That's right - a telephone! The service would take my voice message and put it on an audio player. It would then send it as an email or post it to a blog of my choosing. Since I'm pretty internet-savvy, I could set this up from my end and just have them call a number, enter a pass code, talk and then hang up.
I've since become a great fan of voice posting. I don't need an internet connection to speak my mind, and neither do my friends or family. I just dial and talk. The service provider takes care of the rest, and all for free (with one exception). It doesn't get much better than that.
Of course, it's nice to read posts and see pictures as well, but if that's not a viable option, then a voice posting might be a better way to go. An entry of this type also introduces your audience to the sound of your voice. I think that's a nice way of personalizing an otherwise impersonal medium, don't you agree?
Let me talk about a few of the voice blogging/emailing options I've been able to find. They're all quite simple to set up and use, although it might take a few tries to get it right:
1. Gabcast. This was the very first service I was able to find on the internet. It's a telephone voice messaging system, designed for blogs and for email. You can also leave a message right on the Gabcast website and have your friends find you there. Gabcast is free, at least for the base configuration. A paid option gives you a bit more privacy. Gabcast also lets you send voice emails, which none of these other options so. This service can be found at www.gabcast.com.
2. Hipcast. Hipcast costs a bit of money, not much, and for the bucks you get some really nice formatting options. You can call in your message by phone or via a microphone which is built right into the site (cool, huh?). If you're really feeling ambitious, you can also upload videos to Hipcast and automatically post them to your blog. You can find hipcast at: www.hipcast.com.
3. Live Journal Voice Posting. This is probably the easiest way to go, since you have a grand total of one option: call in a posting and it will automatically be posted to your Live Journal blog. It will be a bit more confusing to set up, but once you're there you have absolutely nothing else to do except enter a PIN number. Of course, you're stuck with Live Journal, but that's okay. By the way, Live Journal is a blogging service and the one I set up for my parents. Visit Live Journal for more information about this option. Like I said, it's a bit more complicated at the beginning, but once you're set up you're home free. Live Journal, like most blogs, is free although it does have paid options as well.
4. Utterz. This service is kind of new, and incorporates voice along with photos. You don't need the photos, though. You can just call the number and it'll post an audio message to your blog. Their address is (you guessed it) www.utterz.com.
Try these out on your parents, or have a more knowledgeable friend set something up for you. No computer necessary. Just talk! Check out some examples below:
Why? My parents, bless their hearts, are seriously pre-internet. In fact, they're seriously pre-computer. My mother remembers the day when typewriters had two carriages: one for upper case and one for lower case. My dad served in WWII, as a Navy bombadier. In those days, you used a phone - if you had one. Otherwise, you walked over to your friend's house and caught up over tea on the front porch.
Alas, those days are long gone. Americans are scattered around the country now. We shop in supermarkets and malls instead of the corner store where the owners knew every customer. That may still be the case in some instances, but I'll bet the corner store owner's kids are in a different city these days. My parents still live in a little time warp, blissfully ignorant of the internet, despite my many attempts to introduce them to it. For one thing, my mom's vision just isn't what it used to be. She has difficulty seeing the screen. My dad will occasionally turn on the computer, although most of the time it stays off and forgotten. It's just not part of their thinking, and who can blame them? I still can't figure out how to program a VCR and mostly ignore it unless I'm playing a video.
So, what's a far-away and internet-loving daughter to do? Simple: find a way of enabling internet access without actually using a computer. And, yes, it's possible! Not only that, it's also mostly free, like so many things on the web these days.
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Actually, this little exploration began with a quest to find audio access for my blind friends. They have screen readers, or magnifiers, of course, but I thought it would be a lot easier for them to hear posts rather than read them (well, I was wrong, but that's for another blog posting). I searched for ways of leaving voice messages via email and on blogs. I didn't have a microphone at the time, but I soon discovered ways of leaving voices messages via my telephone. That's right - a telephone! The service would take my voice message and put it on an audio player. It would then send it as an email or post it to a blog of my choosing. Since I'm pretty internet-savvy, I could set this up from my end and just have them call a number, enter a pass code, talk and then hang up.
I've since become a great fan of voice posting. I don't need an internet connection to speak my mind, and neither do my friends or family. I just dial and talk. The service provider takes care of the rest, and all for free (with one exception). It doesn't get much better than that.
Of course, it's nice to read posts and see pictures as well, but if that's not a viable option, then a voice posting might be a better way to go. An entry of this type also introduces your audience to the sound of your voice. I think that's a nice way of personalizing an otherwise impersonal medium, don't you agree?
Let me talk about a few of the voice blogging/emailing options I've been able to find. They're all quite simple to set up and use, although it might take a few tries to get it right:
1. Gabcast. This was the very first service I was able to find on the internet. It's a telephone voice messaging system, designed for blogs and for email. You can also leave a message right on the Gabcast website and have your friends find you there. Gabcast is free, at least for the base configuration. A paid option gives you a bit more privacy. Gabcast also lets you send voice emails, which none of these other options so. This service can be found at www.gabcast.com.
2. Hipcast. Hipcast costs a bit of money, not much, and for the bucks you get some really nice formatting options. You can call in your message by phone or via a microphone which is built right into the site (cool, huh?). If you're really feeling ambitious, you can also upload videos to Hipcast and automatically post them to your blog. You can find hipcast at: www.hipcast.com.
3. Live Journal Voice Posting. This is probably the easiest way to go, since you have a grand total of one option: call in a posting and it will automatically be posted to your Live Journal blog. It will be a bit more confusing to set up, but once you're there you have absolutely nothing else to do except enter a PIN number. Of course, you're stuck with Live Journal, but that's okay. By the way, Live Journal is a blogging service and the one I set up for my parents. Visit Live Journal for more information about this option. Like I said, it's a bit more complicated at the beginning, but once you're set up you're home free. Live Journal, like most blogs, is free although it does have paid options as well.
4. Utterz. This service is kind of new, and incorporates voice along with photos. You don't need the photos, though. You can just call the number and it'll post an audio message to your blog. Their address is (you guessed it) www.utterz.com.
Try these out on your parents, or have a more knowledgeable friend set something up for you. No computer necessary. Just talk! Check out some examples below:
Monday, July 9, 2007
Social Networking for Geezers
I have a confession to make: I'm over 50. Despite that, I lead a full Internet life. I surf the web, use search engines, create blogs, upload videos, join in on chats and, in general, socialize online. I'm not the only one, either. General impressions to the contrary, social networking is not just a young person's game. Just as the race is not always to the swift, the social networking world is not always for the young. In the last few years, sites like My Space and Face Book have been getting some competition from old comers like Eons and BoomerTowne. There are some Boomer blogs out there, too.
Social networking for boomers is a relatively new phenomenon. This surprises me, given the size of this demographic. Boomers may not spend every waking minute in front of their computers, but they certainly do use them. What's more, baby boomers have the income and time that younger folks often lack. Perhaps social networkers assume that older people are afraid of their computers. Perhaps they assume that we don't really know how to use them. Nonsense! Who taught all those new employees? We’re just as capable of pointing and clicking as is anyone else. We love to shop, as any retailer will tell you. We enjoy socializing with our peers and keeping up with the latest news. We baby boomers have our own set of needs: healthcare, retirement, etc.
Social networking sites for older users take all of that into account. One of the better-known sites, Eons, even has its own age-appropriate search engine. There are book clubs, "getting to know you" social clubs, travel information, site-based blogs and places for health, relationship-building, elder care, humor, games, money, careers - you name it. It's fun and, like its younger relatives, it's also free. You can laugh to the latest joke, and engage in a political discussion, watch a video, discuss a favorite book or recommend one and, in general, have a wonderful time. All you need is a computer and the desire to use it. Come on in - the water's fine!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Take That, Microsoft!
I'm a cheapskate at heart, so I'm always happy to hear of new productivity enhancements that are either free or nearly so. Google's new online suite of office applications - Google Aps - made me a happy camper almost immediately.
Google Aps combines a MS Office-type work environment, with word processing, spreadsheet, calendaring, domain-specific email (like margyr@virtualhelper.biz!) and instant messaging and internet telephony via Google Talk. It's free, completely and entirely (unless you'd like the Premiere edition. Then it's a whopping $50 per year). It's also extremely easy to use: if you can figure out Microsoft Word or Excel, you can use Google's Docs & Spreadsheets. It has fewer bells and whistles, but I think it's the perfect product for any small business that needs to land (and stay) on its feet with a minimum of expense and fuss.
I'm particularly fond of the fact that I can store my work online and bring it down from the internet wherever I happen to be (assuming there's an internet connection, of course). Not only that, everything is in one place. I'm writing this on my Google word processor (with spell check and auto save!). When it's ready I'll press a button to publish it to my (Google) blog, where you can all read it. If I need to share my opus with others prior to publishing I can do that, too. Like so many other Web 2.0 applications, it's completely collaborative - and easily so. I can start draft I of my marketing newsletter and other writers can pick up where I left off. If we need to check our budget for the aforementioned project, all I need do is click on the "spreadsheets" part of Google Docs & Spreadsheets and we can all do the same thing.
Like all good internet office productivity suites, Google Aps also comes with a calendaring application and chat. I haven't used these as much, since I've been using other services for these. If they're as good as Docs & Spreadsheets, though, I'd be comfortable recommending them sight unseen.
Before you go running off to download these nifty applications, bear in mind that there are other online office suites out there too. I've recently created an account on Zoho, which includes all of the Google programs plus a rudimentary database, Wiki software (don't worry, I'll be explaining that soon enough), project management software and more. There's also the powerful Open Office with even more fun stuff. And, Open Office is open source, which means that programmers and developers can snatch the source code (i.e., brains) and modify it as necessary for your specific business needs.
These online applications are just too good to pass over. Check them out today!
Google Aps: https://www.google.com/a/
Zoho: http://www.zoho.com/
Open Office: http://www.openoffice.org/
Google Aps combines a MS Office-type work environment, with word processing, spreadsheet, calendaring, domain-specific email (like margyr@virtualhelper.biz!) and instant messaging and internet telephony via Google Talk. It's free, completely and entirely (unless you'd like the Premiere edition. Then it's a whopping $50 per year). It's also extremely easy to use: if you can figure out Microsoft Word or Excel, you can use Google's Docs & Spreadsheets. It has fewer bells and whistles, but I think it's the perfect product for any small business that needs to land (and stay) on its feet with a minimum of expense and fuss.
I'm particularly fond of the fact that I can store my work online and bring it down from the internet wherever I happen to be (assuming there's an internet connection, of course). Not only that, everything is in one place. I'm writing this on my Google word processor (with spell check and auto save!). When it's ready I'll press a button to publish it to my (Google) blog, where you can all read it. If I need to share my opus with others prior to publishing I can do that, too. Like so many other Web 2.0 applications, it's completely collaborative - and easily so. I can start draft I of my marketing newsletter and other writers can pick up where I left off. If we need to check our budget for the aforementioned project, all I need do is click on the "spreadsheets" part of Google Docs & Spreadsheets and we can all do the same thing.
Like all good internet office productivity suites, Google Aps also comes with a calendaring application and chat. I haven't used these as much, since I've been using other services for these. If they're as good as Docs & Spreadsheets, though, I'd be comfortable recommending them sight unseen.
Before you go running off to download these nifty applications, bear in mind that there are other online office suites out there too. I've recently created an account on Zoho, which includes all of the Google programs plus a rudimentary database, Wiki software (don't worry, I'll be explaining that soon enough), project management software and more. There's also the powerful Open Office with even more fun stuff. And, Open Office is open source, which means that programmers and developers can snatch the source code (i.e., brains) and modify it as necessary for your specific business needs.
These online applications are just too good to pass over. Check them out today!
Google Aps: https://www.google.com/a/
Zoho: http://www.zoho.com/
Open Office: http://www.openoffice.org/
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