Merlins Tower

Moleskine Museum - Photography of Various Historical Moleskine Notebooks

Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Coffee, Communication, Drawing, Journaling, Life, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Notetaking.

Today, while I finally had a few moments to peruse the web and finally catch up on a few of my favorite websites and blogs. Let me tell you it was really nice to site down with a nice cup of coffee from the aeropress coffee maker (Still using it and loving it more and more each cup of coffee I make from it)

Well, even though I have not used a Moleskine Notebook in quite some time - (Since I switched to Miguelrius Notebooks) I still like to keep up and see if there would be anything I could use or be interested in. Well, today I noticed what I call the Moleskine Museum. It is a collection of journals and notebooks used by famous or semi famous people. You can see photographs from Picassos Notebook cover to James Chapin, Paul Bowles, Guillame Apollinaire, Georges Bataille, and Emily Sowden. Below is a sample from James Chapin.

Technorati Tags: moleskine, modo, de, museum, historical, photography, notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, sketchbook, journal, notes, note+taking

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Google Announces Free 411 Service

Posted on April 8th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Cell Phone, Communication, Gadgets, Google.

Google keeps getting more useful as the days go by. Today they released Google411.

Google Launches Free 411 Service (1-800-GOOG-411)

Google has released a new product called Goog-411, which is a free telephone based information service that could replace toll 411 calls.

According to UrbanLegands Web Page - About 6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market.

Basically you do is to place a call to 1-800-GOOG-411 and use an automated 411 system that can connect you to the business for free or even send the information to your cell phone as a text message. I have played around with this and this really is a cool service. It works pretty good. Does take a little getting used to a service that works this well.

Here is the info about the service from Google GOOG-411 Page:

Using this service, you can:

• search for a local business by name or category.
  You can say “Giovanni’s Pizzeria” or just “pizza“.
• get connected to the business, free of charge.
• get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone.
  Just say “text message“.

And it’s free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.

Note: Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests. It’s currently only available in English, in the US, for US business listings.

Here is the Cheat Sheet for using this service from Google:

Cheat Sheet

When you are asked for city and state, you can:

• say the city and state like “Pittsburgh Pennsylvania”.
• say the zip, e.g. “nine-oh-two-one-oh”.
• type the zip code using the key pad, e.g. “9-0-2-1-0″.

When you are asked for a business name or category, you can:

• say a business name, like “Frank’s pizzeria”.
• say a category name, like “hardware stores”.
• say “go back” to change city and state.

When browsing through results, you can:

• say the listing number (e.g. “number two”) or press the corresponding key (e.g. “2″) to choose a listing or navigate between results.
• say “text message” or press “9″ to receive a text message, when you are calling from a mobile phone.
• say “details” to get more information about the current listing.
• say “start over” or press “*” to start from the main menu.
• say “go back” to change business or category.

Don’t Forget You can also use the Google SMS Service And you can read my write up about it here.

Technorati Tags: Cell+Phone, Phone, 411, Free, Service, Telephone, Information, Info, Directory, Assistance, Free411, Directory+Assistance, 555-1212, call, Google, Pizza

1 comment.

Cool Tool: Jott - Now in Open Beta

Posted on March 29th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Computing, Email, Notetaking, Web Service.

I just came across a new online service called Jott.

Jott has to be one of the most useful online web applications I have come across. I know I will be using this service as this solves many issues of being out and about and not being able to jott an (Such as an Idea, Phone Number, Web Address, Email to a Friend or Colleague, Note to Remember)

Basically Jott is the electronic version of the Post-It note on Steroids. This service is better then any PDA or SmartPhone because instead of having to
(1) pull out your PDA -
(2) then turning it on -
(3) pulling out the stylus -
(4) jotting the note down -
(5) saving and
(6) turningthe PDA off -

All you do is
(1) call a toll-free number and
(2) answer who you want to Jott - Such as by saying “Me” and
(3) then you are given a beep and you can record your message (Up to 30 Seconds) that will be transcribed and sent to your email.

What can be simpler.

And it is just as easy to send and email to a friend and or a colleague as well.

Jott is just as easy to setup and get started as well - Visit their site and register - It will take you under 5 mins to signup and verify your email and phone number. During this setup you get a chance to send your first test message to yourself to see how quickly this system works.

I went ahead and used the service to send several messages and several notes to myself today and found that I got the transcribes notes in my inbox under 15 mins. Plus you also get to listen to the original message on your Jott page inbox as well as being able to read the transcribed note.

So if you want to try out a free (Currently) service that will help you send and email, take a note and free up some time for you. Then Jott is for you.

Technorati Tags: jott, notetaking, transcription, trascribe, cellphone, service, beta, testing, email, note, free,

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Lending a Hand - Friend visiting Culinary Arts School

Posted on March 19th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Announcement, Communication, Food, Life, Travel, Web Service.

I have been helping my friend plan her son’s trip to New York - He is heading off for several days to go and visit the culinary institute that he is looking in to attending.

Robert is getting so psyched about going to see this top notch Culinary Institute. All I have to say is that I have had a chance to eat some of Roberts projects in the past. He has been attending Culinary School while in High School and well he needed to practice so I got to volunteer. Even when it meant that I got to eat some Sushi  - well California Rolls and many other wonderful creations.

Currently his teachers he as at the High School Culinary Art Program are fantastic. I really can see Robert Hitting the big time.

My nephew was also following this same path as well a few years back. He was even in the same Culinary School that Robert is in currently. And My nephew did get to work in a really nice Restaurant here in Pittsburgh before it closed. He worked at Poli’s Restaurant as a Sous Chef preparing and prepping the dinners. But this was before he got his other calling in life as a sound technician. I wonder what would have happened if my nephew went to any Culinary Institute where he would have turned up. Not at all saying what he is doing now is bad - In fact it really is not - But that story for another day.

Ok Back on track - I was helping them plan the trip and Robert needed to get around New York and Needed a subway map. I was able to find him one at: Amadeus.Net - As they have many subway maps ready to print and use all across the world. Amadeus.net makes it easy with these Free Printable Maps.

Now - Readers - I would love your help - in helping Robert out - Besides the Culinary Schools that he will be visiting in New York - Can you suggest any Culinary Schools in your area that might help him out or do you know of any Top Notch Culinary Schools either near you or any that you may have had the chance of knowing someone that attended these schools or possibly you attended. He still has some time before he need to make up his mind on which culinary arts program he wants to attend. I know he is not interested in baking or desserts. He is mainly into the Restaurant Management and General Culinary Skills. But they are looking to send him to the best of the best culinary arts program. Feel Free to leave your comment below as this really can help him decide on where he will be spending the next 2 to 4 years.

Merlin =-=-

Technorati Tags: Culinary+Institute, Culinary+Arts, Culinary+School, Restaurant+management, New+york, Culinary, School, Arts, Program, Subway, Free, Printable, Maps

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Cool Product for the Office - Paper Email

Posted on March 19th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Email, Gadgets, Notetaking, Office, Shopping, Weird Stuff.

Yes you saw that right - PAPER EMAIL - now you can have paper email in the office instead of those little pink pads that people write their memos on or while you were out pads. This is just a fun replacement for some of your office supplies that you normally take for granted. Honestly I think this pad is easier to read then the standard pink telephone call memo pad. Plus this Give you all the information in a standard format (EMAIL :-) )

Just something to have some fun with while at work.

Technorati Tags: Adult, Office+Pron, Email, Analog, Weird+Stuff, paper, products, notepad

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Youtube Video: GetHuman Customer Service Help

Posted on March 13th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Video, YouTube.

After posting the entry on why I hate Automated Voice Prompt Systems when you are calling a company and only want to talk to a human. Here is a video put together to show this frustration with computer phone systems. 

Frustrations with Customer Service. 

Technorati Tags: Automated+Customer+Support, Voice+Systems, Youtube, Automated, Sytems, humans, hate, gethuman.com, get+human

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I hate Automated Customer Service Systems and A Solution

Posted on March 13th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Hack, Human, Tutorial, Web Service.

I had a horrible time this morning - I had to call and get some paperwork straightened out about my vehicle. I had to call the bank the used to have my auto loan and try and get them to send out some paperwork that dealt with a lean on my vehicle that doesn't exist anymore and had not since 2003. Well, this morning I went through Customer Support H E Double Hockey Sticks. I really despise those automated voice prompt systems. (And I used to work with one at my previous job) But they seem to be getting harder to use.

I used to know the trick of pressing 0 to get a customer support specialist - well now they switched up and when you don't press anything or keep pressing the wrong buttons it switches over to the computer telling you to please speak your answer instead of connecting to a human.

Is it me or do those computer voice recgnotion systems really make things worse. After I tried pressing 0 - I was put into the voice prompt maze - Say 1 for this - Say 2 for that - say 3 for anything but the human I desired to talk to (Heck I would have been happy to even talk to a script reading operator located in some foreign land).

Since my issue is not that common (At Least I hope is it not that common) to have it's own voice prompt menu item. I kept switching from menu to menu and back over a few again - trying to find the correct combination to get to a person or by chance to a menu system that may have what I was calling about.

Now - the really furious thing happened  - The computer said it was not sure what I wanted to do and was told to call back when I had had all the proper information and proceeded to promptly hang up on me. Ouch 17 mins wasted in a phone menu maze and then the system hung up on. Yes, HUNG UP ON ME - How rude and very poor customer service.

Well I proceeded to check the internet to find alternative ways to get ahold of someone at this bank - Which honestly I should have checked in the first place and was able to find this God Send of a website — Get Human .COM — Using the database I was able to find the 800 number (The Same One I previously called) and it had all the keystrokes I needed to get to a human being right away.

This time around I was talking to a live human that was able to help me in a matter of only a few minutes and was able to send me out all the paperwork I needed. Complete phone call 7 minutes. I am so happy that I found this website and I just had to share this experience with you.

Make sure you share this website with your friends and family. Print out a list and keep it in your daytimer if you use one. This can be a big timesaver for everyone.

Technorati Tags: Customer+Support, Voice+Prompt, Phone+maze, Customer+Service+Hacks, Hack, Hacks, DIY, Operator, Information, Banking, Amazon, Auto+loan, Banks, Automated, Customer+Service, Customer, Service

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