For as cool as Google Talk could be.. Where are the phones?

You know for all the Skype phones that are pouring into the market, why aren't there more phones for say Google Talk? If you look at their site under accesories all you get is some $250 wireless usb headset. Not exactly what I am after. If they had a (in the range of) $100 handset I would be inclined to buy several and give them to family and friends. You figure, that has got to be cheaper than burning through cellphone plan minutes, I could probably even drop a tier on my plan safely if calls to family where VOIP. Both of our parents have high speed internet,wireless coverage and Gmail accounts because of my efforts. I think it is time to leverage that and reap the benefits of that labor, and the piss poor set of options is not going to cut the mustard.

Listen, I am not a developer, and I don't want to have to roll my own but damn it Google fan boys make me the Jabber phone that I am looking for or I will be forced to wield my soldering iron and total lack of useful knowledge to build my own. Results may not be pretty that is all I am saying. Simple display, you could use the Y-port to simplify the 802.11 part, there has to be some embedded Linux general purpose hardware that you could slap an lcd onto, and plug in a Y-port to, add a linux jabber client and some dialing logic and bam. Google talk phone.

Tags: Google Talk VOIP Convictus

Google Trademark

I was walking to lunch today and overheard someone using the Google as a verb and started thinking about Xerox and what happened when they believed they might loose their trademark for Xerox once everyone was using it as a verb. Right now it seems a little innocuous as when most people say that "Googled" something it means that they used Google to look for something as opposed to a generic search term.

Hold on Google, and pray someone doesn't jump you for returnable results or easy to remember stripped down fast loading accurate searches anytime soon or you may well be facing a similar situation.

For a run down on the history of what I am talking about look Here or Here

Life as a Temp... a Vinette

It's 5:50am on a Saturday and the alarm is going off. The room in black and cold. I finished my drug test and background check yesterday on my lunch break to get this dispatch. By the time i start moving and grab my lunch bag there are only 45 minutes to get to the job site.

Out the door the sky in gray and the clouds are rolling like creme in coffee. The evenings cool has left the windows covered in dew and rain. In side the car food scraps litter the console, passenger seat and floor; the cabin smells of too many drive thru dinners, lunches, and breakfasts. The car now over 100,000 miles starts hard and warms slowly. Idling roughly as it warms the smell of decaying food scraps rises and I promise myself again to clean the car out tonight. Finally the windows are clear enough to see, and in first the again clutch wines and hops out onto the street, makes a right and heads towards the freeway and on towards the job. Only 35 minutes until 8am and check-in

On the freeway, traffic is light and the still warming car growls to 60 and grumbles as it accelerates to 75. Towards the job site following a printed map from Google, praying the directions are accurate. After several wrong turns and missed turns, the car comes shuddering to a halt with 10 minutes until the start of the project. I sit in the smelly, roughly idling car like the other temps waiting for the site manager to arrive. Many are smoking, most are drinking coffee, and some are reading certification books or fantasy novels.

At 8:05 on the clock that is likely too fast, workers emerge from their trucks or cars and seated out of the rain hiding places and congregate near the entrance to the building.