My Best Cell Phone Tips and Tricks

Get 411 for any business listing without paying.
Instead of paying your cell phone provider $1 or $2. Try Goog-411 Put 1-800-4664-411 on your speed-dial and use their voice recognition to find business listings in your area. In my experience the voice recognition is acceptable as long as someone isn't trying to talk to you at the same time. The listings tend to be useful although where they get their listings isn't exactly clear and some businesses don't appear. The good news is that most do return correct information. Advantages include:

• Handsfree dialing while in traffic
• No cost for the service
• Free connection to the listing anywhere in North America (so if you lookup a business in another state/province, that long distance call doesn't cost any more than a call to the 1-800 number)

More info here: http://www.google.com/goog411/

Use handsfree dialing via a Bluetooth headset

Today's bluetooth "handsfree headsets" are a completely different experience than the disappointing "handsfree" headsets that came with your phone when you first purchased it. I remember my disappointment when I first learned that my cell phone's "handsfree" headset consisted of half a pair of stereo earbuds (with a microphone). My disappointment turned to irritation as I would shoulder-check in traffic and the wire would pull the earphone out of my ear. Today's bluetooth headsets make dialing as easy as scratching your ear.

Do make sure you get a headset that is comfortable on your ear (it should not fly off when you rapidly shoulder check). Pay special attention to the noise and echo cancellation features. (The issue is that the people you talk to can hear an echo which degrades their listening experience.)

It is possible to get a decent bluetooth headset for $30 CAD, but consider the sets with better echo cancellation.

One nice bonus with phones which support voice dialing from your address book like the Blackberry Curve and Blackberry Bold is that dialing a number while driving is as simple as touching the headset on your ear and telling the phone who you want to call.

Power Managment Tips to Save your batteries

Despite battery advances, more features using data from the cell network means more radio transmission and often shorter battery life (before your next charge). By making a few changes you can stretch your battery life to double or better;

• Start by adjusting the screen brightness so it is only as bright as you need it to read clearly. Some phones auto adjust brightness for the ambient light to save power.
• Configure your ringtone profiles to not use vibrate unless you need a vibrate only option. The electric motors used in the vibrator function use more power than a speaker playing a ringtone.
• If your phone supports it schedule an "auto-on" and "auto-off" time when your phone will turn itself on our off on weekdays and weekends. Mine turns on at 6AM and off at 10PM weekdays.
• If you have an older phone, ensure your phone is set to use digital mode when possible rather than analog, this way it will use less power.
• If you use bluetooth, turn it off whenever you are not actively using the bluetooth as this second radio transmitter (after the cellular radio) uses a significant amount of power. Consider assigning a 'quick access' key to enable and disable your bluetooth for fast access.
• Try speaking in a squeaky high pitched voice as high pitches require less power to transmit. Nah, just kidding that last one is a complete lie I just threw in for fun.

Text Safely

Pull over or wait for a red light to type in addresses or text messages. Texting and driving while tempting is probably the most dangerous thing you can do while driving.

Use web enabled applications to extend your phone's functionality

Google Mobile tops my list of useful applications, you can get started at http://www.google.com/mobile with;

• Search (including voice search which allows you to just ask google your query)
• Gmail meaning all of your contacts and emails are handy
• Google Maps (which supports GPS if you have it, but will work fine using cell tower triangulation)

Quick Access to;

• Google News
• Google Docs
• Google Calendar
• Google Reader
• more...

Customize your ring tones for subtlety

Subtle ringtones can allow you to answer your phone before people bust you for leaving your ringer on.

If you are 30 or under, consider an ultrasonic ringtone. The idea is that as humans age they lose their ability to hear very high pitch noises, so it is possible if you are the youngest person in the room that you might be the only one who can hear your phone ringing. (very subtle, and apparently something high school teachers are having "trouble" monitoring.) Find some here: http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/ (via LifeHacker). Or record your own subtle ringtone (tapping, a snap noise, water running) something that doesn't sound like a "normal ringtone."

Make use of free digital transcription

Option A

Use your existing voicemail to record "notes to self" for later retrieval. When working on a difficult problem, apart from the benefit of talking out ideas, having the ability to capture an idea verbatim is very helpful when you find yourself between home and office with nothing to write on.

Option B

Use free services like dial2do which allow you to call, record a message, and have them transcribe the message and email it to you. Frequently I phone dial2do, say reminder, and dictate what I need to pick up at the store while I'm driving. In the store I just open up my gmail and there is my shopping list.

Max out your speed dial list

Speed dial is faster and safer than using your address book. Make sure that you have numbers handy that you might need in a hurry.

• Add the local traffic radio station because often not only can you report traffic, you can ask them what is going on and get an answer faster than by listening to the radio.
• Add your local "commercial vehicle enforcement" tip line to report those scary truck drivers and perhaps save a life
• If you travel through several communities on your commute, add local emergency services for each community
• consider the "city engineering" departments for flooding / wires down and other road related hazzards you will encounter.
• Add your work's general number so that you can hit the voice recognition engine and voice dial anyone in your company. (or let the receptionist connect you which is safer than you looking them up in your address book while driving)
• Last but not least, add your home number so you can let your spouse or roommate know when you'll be home for dinner.

OK, so that rounds out the list of my best cell phone tips and tricks. Let me know what your tips are in the comments section.

Cheers,

Greg.

Blog posts imported successfully to Blogger from Wordpress

I was happy to find a useful utility for importing Wordpress Blog posts and comments (with original dates) to Blogger today.

After a couple false starts with utilities that did not deliver, i found a Google Code project Announced on the Google Blog . The project features a number of converters including the "Wordpress2Blogger" converter I used. The blogs I could see supported include "movabletype", "livejournal", "blogger", "wordpress".

First I logged into my Wordpress account and did an Export (under tools) which gave me an XML file with the entire blog's content. Then I presented that file to the (online) converter, and it gave me a new file in blogger export format. Then on Blogger (under settings, under basic) I used the import blog option. Thank you blogger for allowing me the option to import everything "unpublished" which allowed me to go through the posts and determine if there were any I did not want to bring across (same for comments). Blogger was also really good about displaying the previous status of the posts. "previously published", "previously saved draft" etc.

I'm happy to say the content came across really rapidly. Good work Google, Google Code volunteers and Blogger!

Thanks.

Greg.

Saving water 2 - water conservation tips

It has been a long time since I shared some tips for conserving water, so I'll add some more that I think are quite effective. The first one is really the most amazing one, because in no way does it reduce the way we enjoy and use water, but it makes a huge difference to our "water bill". In fact one of our neighbours wanted to compare their bill with ours and we found that with 4 people in our house, we were using almost half the water they used with 3 people in their house.

Install "low flow" aerators on all your taps.

What this does is mix air in with the water so that you still feel the "pressure" you would normally, but with less water being used. At our house the following flow rates work quite well for us:

• Bathroom sinks (hand washing and tooth brushing) 1.5 GPM (Gallons per minute)
• Kitchen sink (filling pots and washing things) 2.5 GPM
• Shower head 2.5 GPM

Installation only requires a pair of plyers.

1. Look for and read any small writing on the spout of your tap, look right where the water falls out (this is in case you already have one). You are looking for a number and GPM (or LPM if you are metric)
2. Purchase an aerator for your tap
3. Cover your tap's spout with a piece of cloth to prevent the plyers from scratching, and remove the round piece on the end of your tap's spout.
4. Screw your aerator back on there to replace that piece.
5. Save water

Buy a timer for your garden hose

For $6-$14 you can purchase a mechanical hose timer (no batteries required) that will let you water your lawn for increments of 15 minutes up to 2 hours. Very handy in places where there are watering restrictions. This way you can start your watering and not need to fear wasting water, while at the same time, not needing to come back at a specific time. Most models come with an option to "bypass" the timer allowing for on/off operation like normal.

Water your yard more effectively

Water your garden and lawn in the early morning or in the evening when the sun and the day's heat is not likely to evaporate your water.

Use pinholes in bottles of water to target irrigation right to the stalks of the plants you want to water. (2Litre pop bottles and 2Litre waxed cardboard milk containers work effectively.) Fill them up and leave them unattended to supply your plants with a slow and steady amount of water that won't flood them.

Turn off your water supply to your toilets before you vacation

If you have a slow leak in your toilet, while you are on vacation, your toilet will faithfully continue filling itself which wastes lots of water. If your toilet tank cracks for some reason and starts to leak onto your floor... your toilet will faithfully continue filling itself which wastes lots of water and destroys the floor, walls and anything else that gets in the way. Do yourself a favour, if you are going away for a couple nights camping or traveling, turn off the water supply and flush your toilet (you can usually time the flush so you don't waste any water ;-) ) This small step can not only save you from wasted water, but it can protect your house against the unlikely but nasty situation where a toilet decides to convert your house into a giant aquarium.

Use a rain barrel for watering your garden.

My relatives have a giant plastic rain barrel at the side of their house which catches water from the downspouts that drain from their roof. If the barrel is full, the water diverts like normal to the downspout and out onto the lawn, otherwise, a mesh cover on top keeps the barrel clean from debris and that soft rainwater that plants love so much is available for watering on weeks when there isn't a lot of rain falling. By positioning the barrel on the side of the house that is a little higher and elevating the barrel with a platform, a hose at the bottom provides adequate pressure for flowing into drip irrigation hoses and the like.

OK, I'm all out of ideas. I'd love to hear yours. Check out the previous post linked above and if you've got something new, or comments about these methods. Let everybody know down below in the comments section.

Cheers,

Greg.

Save Gas Right Now - Strategies for going farther on a litre of gas.

I found a useful article today on http://beyondoil.nrdc.org today. What caught my eye was the honest attempt to monetize the effect of the gas saving tips. With free advice being readily available, but not always of great quality I thought this angle helped lend credibility to the gas saving tips they were sharing. Perhaps nothing in their article is revolutionary, but it was a nice compilation of tips for saving gas.

In a nutshell

Maintaining your car well Potential savings: Up to $271 a year

including advice to: Remove heavy items from your trunk and roof racks can improve fuel economy by 2 percent.

Driving Smarter Potential savings: Up to $294 a year

including advice to: Ease up on the pedal. Slowing down from 75 to 65 miles per hour will drop your highway gasoline consumption by about 15 percent. In town, avoiding rapid acceleration and aggressive driving can improve fuel economy by up to 5 percent.

Driving Less Potential savings: Up to $236 a year

including advice to: Share a ride to work, telecommute or use transit. If each commuter car carried just one more passenger once a week, we would cut America's gasoline consumption by more than 50 million gallons each week.

So head on over to the National Resources Defence Council for the full article "Save Gas Right Now"

MakeLifeExcellent is born

I've been blogging at http://qualityinlife.wordpress.com because I really liked some of the publishing features over there, but I'm not sure that is where I will stay. There are some excellent options here at blogger that make this a good choice for blogging. So we'll see what happens. Stay tuned as I make my articles available here on blogger.

Cheers,

Greg.