Most wireless carriers do not offer the option of revealing available phone numbers to their customers and allow them to freely choose one. By chance I discovered a way to browse among hundres of numbers almost in any area code, and pick anything I want.
What you will need: Internet, a working phone, and $3.00.
Steps:
1) Sign up for Google Voice at http://www.google.com/voice
You could use your existing Google account. There shouldn’t be any issue except later you will need to disclose your Google account name and password to your wireless carrier. This is a one-time operation and you can always change your password before and after.
2) Browse among the pool of numbers and pick any number you want. You can specify any area code, but some area code may have limited numbers.
3) Activate the GV number. You will need to set up a working phone as the forwarding phone. Either landline or cellphone is fine. You can always cancel the forwarding later.
4) Unlock the GV number so it can be ported away. You will need to pay a one-time fee of $3.00 to Google: http://www.google.com/voice/unlock
5) Call your wireless carrier and have them port in the GV number. Tell them you have a number that’s ready to be ported in. Carrier is Google Voice. Provide your GV’s account name and password. Be aware that your current number will be replaced, and you will need to notify all your contacts of the number change.
6) Wait for GV to authorize the request and your wireless carrier to complete the process. After a waiting period suggested by your wireless carrier, you should be enjoying the new number.
I got a really fun number myself. 
Filed under: Techie & Nerdy | Leave a Comment
Tags: choose phone number, Google voice
“We could not complete your call. Please try again later.” – On Google Voice and Sprint Integration
Integrated my Google Voice (GV) and Sprint number out of ignorance. Lessons learned the hard way:
1) Integration with the option of replacing GV number with Sprint number
This basically means terminating your relationship with Sprint (be aware of early-termination fee), porting in your Sprint number to GV, and starting to use a new GV number. However GV is not a wireless carrier; rather, it’s a number forwarding service. You will still need a real number in order to call or text on your phone.
2) Integration with the option of replacing Sprint number with GV number.
In this case, Sprint will put a “Google Voice Code” on your account and reroute all traffic to GV, so that GV can modulate all your texts and calls. This allows your GV number to be displayed when you text/call. Also international calls will be placed automatically via GV (which is very affordable). However texts in a language other than English are unlikely to go through. iMessage will reveal your real number. MMS and subscription messages are not supported. Changes on your Sprint account are likely to cause rerouting problem, resulting in error message ”We could not complete your call. Please try again later”. To completely de-integrate, you have to not only cancel the integration on GV’s website, but also call Sprint and have the Google Voice Code removed from your account.
3) Despite a phone-related service, the best way to get support from GV is not via phone, but through their forum.
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Tags: Google voice, Sprint, we could not complete your call
Interesting Facebook Covers
While I have been reluctant to accept the Facebook timeline, the cover did become an incubator for inspirational ideas.
Below are some of my favorites:
Finally, my very first Facebook cover:
Feel free to post on my wall.
Filed under: Art & Design | Leave a Comment
Tags: cover, design, facebook, timeline
Jeune Fille Rêvant. I hope Picasso will like it
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Tags: art, Jeune Fille Endormie, pablo, painting, picasso
Dance to Express, Not to Impress
The first thing I do when I enter a dance floor is to pick out my favorite dancer. Gradually it made me think: what defines a good dancer?
Undoubtedly, there are dancers who demonstrate impressive skills. They can spin at a speed of 1080 degrees per second, or spin continuously for one minute, or toss each other as if they were juggling balls. Interestingly they repeat exactly the same move for every partner and for every song. I may get caught up the first or second time they do their fancy move, but definitely not the third time.
Then my eyes will go to dancers who are interpreting the music. I can feel that if the music is on mute, I could still tell the rhythm and theme of the song, and where the transitions are. Some are so good that I can’t even tell whether the choreography was made for the music, or the music was composed for the choreography. They are good dancers; they keep my eyes fixed on them like a little girl staring at her favorite barbie doll.
Ultimately, some dancers express themselves, using both their body and the music. To them dance is a body language, and they are using the language to deliver messages, as fluent as how we use our everyday language to communicate. They are peerless dancers, even if no one is watching – they don’t necessarily need audiences; they dance for themselves.
Filed under: Art & Design | 9 Comments
Tags: dance, dance to express, define, good dancer
I was working on some performance-driven computer animation when I came across with the question: Why am I doing this hi-tech work, while many out there are still suffering from hunger? Do they really care about watching a CG movie or, all they want is simply a piece of bread? Doesn’t it make more sense to work toward satisfying the basic needs of the needy, instead of adding luxury to the classy?
I want to do something that’s worth doing. I need some kind of assurance for the value of my work.
The Butterfly Effect: A hurricane’s formation could be contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks before.
A proverb: The rich would die without the poor supplying bread.
Here’s one theory: All jobs are equally important, in the sense that they are intrinsically connected. The only difference is some jobs seem to have more explicit impact, while others implicit.
For instance, politicians seem to be more important than artists. But think in a different way: politicians need to maintain good physical and mental health for making good judgements and decisions. If they are deprived of art – i.e. they see ugly photos, books, ads, films, furniture, architecture, etc all the time - can they still function well?
Similarly, the president wouldn’t be who he is without all the occupations. He needs bread from farmers; he needs clothing from tailors; he needs education from teachers; he needs assistance from secretaries, drivers, maids, and many others.
Therefore, all jobs are important. What I am doing is important. It doesn’t seem to be meaningful now; but one day it will entertain someone, contributing to his mental health, so he clicks on the ‘purchase’ button for a ticket to Africa, where he will distribute some bread.
Filed under: Live & Learn | 7 Comments
Tags: importance of jobs, job value, jobs, occupations, The Butterfly Effect
So Google is to merge user data across various Google products, and use the integrated info to improve search results for us. While some people panic about privacy and criticize Google for being ‘evil’, I see both sides. It is not always bad to have our personal data improving search results. It is bad only if our personal data is always used to modulate search results.
I can envision scenarios when I desire personalized search results. For example when I google someone’s name, it doesn’t hurt to see my connections with him (for example emails we exchanged, common friends we have, online discussions we both participated in, etc), plus everything else.
On the other hand, I definitely want unbiased search results as well. We might be doing a study, or search on behalf of someone else, or just want objectivity.
Can we have both? I guess so. If you have no problem signing out of your account after every use, and wipe all personal data before you perform a search, that can be it. If you like the convenience of saving all passwords in your browser (like me), solution #2 is to have a second browser that doesn’t accept any cookies, remember any password, or save any history. For me I use Chrome to save all passwords, and leave Google do whatever it wants (it’s owned by Google anyway), and Safari to remember nothing. Every time I open it, it is like brand new – no autofill, no history, nothing. It proved to be helpful when I need to use a browser for professional demo, or send information that I don’t want to be collected. Now it has an additional functionality of performing unbiased search!
Good that Facebook is not using the ‘like’ button to improve search results… yet.
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Tags: Google privacy policy, Google search, merge personal data, search plus your world
