Ok, here is a picture for now...

I took this a few days ago, and just wanted to share how nice the city looks.  I admit it would have been better if that tree weren't there and you could see the mountains, but still, it's a nice picture.

First round of pictures.

As I sort of said I would do... here are some pictures... however, there are more to come.


Later,


SteveO

So... umm... yea, My assignment was extended...

Ok, I admit that I have been severely neglecting my blog.  It's not that I haven't had time to update the blog, but rather I am just not in the mood to update my blog.  When I look back, this has kinda happened to all of my blogs.  Live journal, Myspace, Wordpress, the first time I started using Blogger, and a few other blogging clients that don't exist anymore.  Anyway, I think the difference with this blog is that I actually keep updating it... even though sometimes I neglect it for extended periods of time.

So, what's the title about?  Well, technically, when I sign contracts for jobs at Microsoft, they are always 3 month contracts.  Then they get extended to 6 months... 9 months... a year max.  Today was the day that I was notified that my contract has been extended until October.  To be honest the date means nothing.  My Zune contract got extended from October to January a week or two before they let me go in November.  I am convinced the whole thing is just set up to make us contractors feel unstable in our position... a trick to try and improve our performance so we can get our contract extended.  It doesn't matter though.

This leads me to exactly what it is that my blog readers are missing out on over the past... while.  I went to Oregon... I have pictures to put up still...  I need to get some pictures from Scott... I guess I'm waiting until I get pictures from Scott (which I just need to ask him for.)

Scott came to visit!  He showed up on Wednesday (2 weeks ago... jeeze I have fallen behind.)  and we went to visit Lloyd Thursday... which by the way I should really call Lloyd, it was fun hanging out with him.  Anyway...  So, yea... where was I.  Umm... OK, so we ended up dropping Jaani off with my friends Ricky and Elly... which I kept hearing from everyone in Renton about how surprised they were to see Jaani with someone else... I think Jaani loved visiting with them.  He didn't want to leave.  Anyway... Off to Oregon we went.

It was exciting in Oregon!  We stayed in Portland the first night, then we went to the Honeyman dunes in Florance Oregon the second night... The third day we were at the Country Fair, which is like a huge ren-fest with live music and concerts all day... and the third night we stayed in Portland again.  The final day before we left Portland, we went for a bike ride to check out the stores and other cool stuff around where James and Emerald live... finally we managed to get back into the Seattle area at around 9PM to pick up Jaani and take him home.  We finished off the night with Sushi at Nijo... which is one of my favorite sushi places... Mainly because they have good saki.

The following day, Scott and I got up and went to Beth's Cafe... I really think of places like Beth's as authentic Seattle cuisine.  Lots of bacon, eggs, and hash browns.  Anyway, after that we made a quick stop in Fremont, and then it was off to the airport.

ok, so that's what happened in a nutshell.  I'll have some pictures and more details soon.

Later,

     SteveO

It's 12:34:56 7/8/9!!!

That's right folks, it's 12:34 and 56 seconds on july 8th of 2009 (also known as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9).  A special second that only happens once every century!

So, even though in the east cost it's like 3:34... yea, I'm celebrating this second.

By the way, the next interesting date is 11:11:11 11/11/11...

Later,

   SteveO

I have a chat room!

So, as part of my efforts it incorporate Google's Friend Connect service into my blog, I have added a chat room off to the side.  I don't know if it will be useful yet, but I hope that some people will see it, or at least try to talk to me when they visit my site.  It basically is just a way for people who happen to be visiting my blog at the same time, to talk to each other.  So, you can see if anyone else is currently reading my blog by peeking over at the right side, and looking at the Clackpoint gadget... I know, the name is really weird, but what are you going to do?

Anyway... that's it for now.

Later,

     SteveO

I'm still on a rant about Google Voice!

So, I was reading this article by the New York Times about Google Voice's voicemail transcription feature and I have to agree the feature is pretty experimental.  If you click the link you can hear the original message and read the associated transcriptions that many people left in the author's voice mail inbox.  Some of them are sort of funny.

In my own experiences, I've finished setting up a station near my computer for answering the phone using a free online service for incoming calls.  Which means in the event that I were to travel to a foreign country like India or Australia, then I would be able to answer calls made to my Google Voice account's phone number.  Of coarse the neat thing about that is that I could do so without any long distance charges, however I would have to find a relatively good quality internet connection.  I'm sure that could prove difficult outside of major cities.

Some of the stuff I played around with this weekend were features like:

• Call screening, which allows me to send someone directly to voicemail, then listen to the message, and even pick up if I determine it's someone I actually want to talk to.
  
  
• Call Recording, which allows me to record a telephone conversation for future reference.
  
  
• Temporary numbers, which is a feature that allows me to use my cell phone to any phone number as a temporary number.  Meaning, that I can use that number to modify account setting, and the phone will ring when my Google Voice number is called. (Like if I go stay at my parents' house, which is a notorious dead zone for all cell companies including Verizon, I can have their house phone ring when my Google Voice number is dialed.)
  
  
• Call Transfer, which allows me to answer the phone on one phone service (like my VOIP account, cell phone, or a land line) then transfer the call to any other number I have registered with the service.  Including temporary numbers.
  
  
• Contact groups, which allow me to choose which phones ring for each group of contact, which voicemail message each group hears, and even what time I accept calls from each contact.  So, if you have a company running off of your Google Voice account, then you can either send people directly to voice mail after 5PM, or only have the work phone ring when those people call.  I set it up so those annoying recruiters will go directly to voice mail and hear a message indicating that I am not seeking employment, but please leave a message.
  
  
• Text messaging option, which allows me to send and receive text messages for free using my Google Voice number, but having them forwarded to my cell phone still uses a text plan.
  
  
• Ring Schedule, which mean now, when you call me at work, you will go straight to voice mail.  Which is actually a good thing, because I can check the voice mail on my computer as soon as you are finished leaving it.  Then I can respond via email or text message immediately, or I can call you back at my next break.

     There is so much more that can be done with Google Voice, and the service is definitely changing the way I use my phone, and think about my phone number.  All I need now is one of two things: either a second Google Voice account that will allow me to port my existing cell phone number over and forward to my main Google Voice Account, or a way to link two phone numbers to my Google Voice account.

     My concern is that once my Verizon contract is over, I want to be able to get rid of the Verizon account, but still keep the phone number.  In other words, come on Google, you can do it!

So, what is my over all take on Google Voice?  Well, it's like when I switched from an AOL account that was liked to a specific paid subscription service that provides internet access, to my gmail account, which is a free service that isn't liked to the person I get my phone service from.

Anyway, that's all folks!

Later,

     SteveO

OGM I have Google Voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think even I realize how excited I am about this!

So, there is this thing I requested an invitation a couple of years ago for called grand central... at the time, Google purchased it. Now, Google renamed it Google Voice, and it is totally awesome!

I can do stuff like this:



and people can use it to call me, but I can screen the calls... so, it tells me who is calling, and I can send the call to voicemail and listen in as they leave a message, I could just let voicemail handle it, or if it is someone I never want to hear from, I can just block their number.

It also allows me to record phone calls that I make and receive... I have one number that is linked to me.  I can then have that number call any number I want it to call.

There is just so much I can do with it!

anyway... that's all for now.

Later,

     SteveO