Making telephone calls without a telephone

I have just had an experiment with telephoning from Apple's iPad; any microphone-equipped iOS device can do it (even if by use of a headset such as Apple's earbuds with in-line mic).  (Actually, the oldest of the iPod touches may not run a sufficiently recent OS for the required software.)  Instead of using the cellular voice network, it uses wi-fi or 3G to connect to the world; therefore it does not "use minutes".

For quite some time, Apple banned software that could imitate or replicate iPhone functions, but through whatever change or policy alteration there is now a way of making non-phones seem very much like telephones.

Required:

• iOS device, microphone equipped: The first iteration of iPod touch lacked a real speaker, and the first two generations lacked microphones.  I am not certain offhand about the original, but in the second generation both deficiencies can be made up by use of a set of earbuds with in-line microphone.
• Wi-Fi: Network access to the outside world.
• Google Voice telephone number: A popular and free-of-charge way of connecting with real telephones <http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html>. Originally, a way to use a computer as a telephone and to add "features" to one's existing telephone service(s). Will take voice-mail and notify you of a missed call. (With a transcript--although those can frequently seem /odd/.)
• Talkatone: iOS software "telephone" <http://www.talkatone.com>.  (UPDATE: there may be other apps that can serve here.  MagicJack <http://www.magicjack.com> and Skype <http://www.skype.com/en/offers/skype-number/> can also imitate telephones.  There may be others.)

After installation and configuration, the combination of hardware, network access, account, and software permits the iPod touch and iPad to work as telephones, both originating and receiving calls from real telephones out in the world.  Not a bad thing to have on a real iPhone, too; permits having free calls via wi-fi with telephones that don't have your cellular provider's _no-minutes_ privileges.  (In which case--at home--don't have it receive calls over wi-fi; the interface gets confused when both the iPhone and Talkatone receive the same call simultaneously; yes, this can happen.  When you explore Google Voice features, this will make sense.)

So: When a household has only one celephone, the _other_ spouse can still have a telephone number with access to the device's iOS addressbook--which is much superior to what most cordless (or other?) household telephones have.  That "virtual telephone" would work while it had access to wi-fi at home, at a friend's, at the library, or at a coffee shop.  Hardly as ubiquitous as real cellular, but perhaps good enough to seem attractive to people who already have iPods touch or iPads, and who would be interested in extending their functionality in that way--with no charge whatever.

If that sounds intriguing--and if I have explained it badly here--get in touch.  It does seem to work pretty well (so long as nobody is running the microwave, of course).

Mark_
06 July 2013

Cindy has left her job.

Briefly, Cindy has retired a year earlier than she had anticipated being able to.  It was pretty sudden, and we are still processing it, but it is an accomplished fact.

Also, we are headed for Yellowstone in caravan with Phil & Ann R. (_Andy_), Dick & Dorothy S. (Bigfoot), Dick & Evalyn L. (Forest River), and Henry & Miriam S. (rented 27' something MH).  We hope to see Charless & Marjorie F., who live near part of our itinerary, and Larry & Cheri C. (Lance), who will be passing by on their way home from the Canadian Maritimes.  We will be in our very new-ish hard-side travel trailer, the Casita Liberty _Arcadia_, for our second big trip since acquiring it only seven months ago.

Our original plan was to do the trip (roughly three weeks), then head home so she could resume her duties as principal.  Now she doesn't have to consider that when considering when to end the trip.

We expect to post pictures to our two Picasa albums.

In other news, reliable cellular coverage has finally filled in at our house; we have abandoned our household LL telephone in favor of our two cellphones.  Those and our four wi-fi-based comms systems should permit us to remain in contact with the outside world during Retirement.

All excellent!

Mark_
06 July 2013

AMBER Alerts on iPhones

Several of us were awakened in the middle of the night recently by AMBER Alert notifications to our iPhones (and to other "modern" smart-phones, apparently).  It made a very loud Emergency! sound different from anything else I had heard the phone do; I was very, very, annoyed.

I looked online, and found what we need to turn off AMBER Alerts on our iPhones.  One thing said "opt in", but it is obviously _on_ by default, requiring _opt out_.  Not polite.

  Settings > Notifications > [scroll down] > Government Alerts ...

I disabled AMBER; I'll leave Emergency Alerts enabled, just to see what happens.  (I don't yet know what's covered by that feature.  Weather?  Nuclear attack?  Car alarm?)

I have been through the list of Notifications many times, and this feature was never there before.  I don't know if it arrived with the most recent update (weeks ago), and I just had not happened to need to see the bottom of the Notifications list since then, or if they pushed a mini-update while we were not looking.  At any rate, that's how to avoid having that particular feature awaken us in the middle of the night in future.(Stupid, intrusive "feature".)

Oh--I guess it isn't actually Verizon's fault, as I had assumed at first.  It is, as they say, BIGGER THAN WE THOUGHT!

I hope this is helpful.

Mark_

Down the Coast with _Arcadia_

We spent Cindy's spring break driving down US-101 toward Jedediah Smith State Park in northern California, "camping" along the way in the new Casita travel trailer.

It was Big Fun among Big Trees, and served as another illustration of our belief that, for some kinds of things, the impulse to do them may not be satisfied by actually doing them.  We hope to return along that route, to that destination, soon.

Along the way, we visited trees, beaches, hiking trails, some of Cindy's relatives, and a king ("Lear", in Ashland, OR).  We increased our acquaintance with our new trailer, and were pleased to find that a week in it was not too much.  

Our itinerary: 

Down US-101 to Jedediah Smith in northern California, and back up I-5 from Ashland, OR.  We were out for eight days.

• Cannon Beach RV Park, Cannon Beach, OR

• Honeyman State Park, Florence, OR

• Humbug Mtn. S.P., Port Orford, OR

• Harris Beach S.P., Brookings, OR

• Day-trips into the woods; one day to Jedediah Smith.

• Glenyan RV Park & Campground, Ashland, OR. (a little commercial place; we saw a play ["King Lear"], and enjoyed a very nice visit with Cindy's relatives)

The southern half of the drive north on I-5 from Ashland is very beautiful as it winds along valleys and over passes; it was most enjoyable.

It was a great trip.

Pictures are in place on my Picasa collection.

Mark_

Seattle

Our Casita Trailer, Christened

We had very much liked the name of our previous R/V, the Coleman Santa Fe pop-up _Walden_, for its literary and historical associations: connotations of simplicity, Nature, and contemplation. I had a bit of difficulty coming up with anything like it for the new trailer. Despite our fondness for that name I did not want to break my own rule about recycling the names of vessels, RVs, and vehicles, so our shakedown outing occurred before christening.  (Perhaps this isn't uncommon; I don't know.)

However, a week or so ago I arrived at a name that I believe will do--a name that has historical, literary and artistic, social, aspirational, and to some extent mythological associations.

Phil & Ann R. (R/V _Andy_) helped us christen the trailer by dining with us during our Point Hudson, Port Townsend, "camp"ing outing over the 2012-2103 New Year's holiday. 
<https://picasaweb.google.com/socrates4718>

In addition to dinner, Champagne has been consumed in celebration of the advent of our new "camping" thing, the R/V _Arcadia_. 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_(utopia)>


Mark_
03 January 2013

Our New Casita Travel (Camping) Trailer

Several months ago, we began thinking ahead to Cindy's retirement--and about how we would like to travel among these great United States (and Canadian provinces) on an extended basis. Pop-up trailers are not so good for this kind of travel (although plenty of people do use them for that) because of the inconvenience of the format:

- No access while on the road.

- Roughly an hour to cycle up and then down.

- Only a tent between you and cold or heavy weather--or bears! (Really.)

The benefits of the form are unmistakable: Despite the small footprint when closed, they can seem unexpectedly large when open. In good weather, all of the walls "disappear", because everything opens to screens.  In cool or wet weather the large side windows admit a lot of light and view.

They are great. However, we knew that we would chafe at the inconveniences, so we began considering a _next camper_.

We knew that we wanted the usual amenities (hot, pressure water; forced-air furnace; air conditioning for travel to places where heat and humidity are issues; real head with shower; good-sized refrigerator; twin bunks; all in a small package that is easily towed and parked. The sleeping arrangements are very important to us, and because not very many people like that style--there were none like it on the used market--we ordered one from the factory in Rice, TX.

Casita manufacturer:

<http://www.casitatraveltrailers.com/showroom/liberty/liberty-exterior.html>

Ours is a 17' Liberty Deluxe, which means that its interior has a split galley and a real head with stand-up shower; twin bunks can be converted into a king bed or a very large dinette.  We believe that by converting the entire sleeping arrangement to dinette it may be able to dine _eight_; six would be easy.  Enclosed head compartment, stand-up shower.

Its dry weight is only a little more than _Walden_'s (note that it has far more tankage); it tows extremely well.

They would have delivered it to our home, but going half-way for it seemed like more fun; Phil. R. and I drove to Crescent City, CA, for the handoff. There are pictures.

Casita Handoff Trip with Phil, to Crescent City, CA:

<https://picasaweb.google.com/socrates4718>

We will miss using the name "Walden" for our place of away-from-home refuge, because of the literary and other associations that come with that name. However, we are going to move on. (Nothing has come to mind just yet. "Casita Royale" and "Eggstended Vacation" just don't seem quite right.)

We'll see.

Mark_

11:42 04 December 2012

Another E-Mail Scam

A friend just received an e-mail message from Comcast saying that his credit card had been declined on attempting the automatic payment that keeps him connected. It included a convenient link to where he could provide the information needed to guarantee uninterrupted service.

This friend was smart enough to call the telephone number in his personal address book--instead of using that very convenient Web link--so that Comcast could assure him that there was no such trouble.

What makes this one even more scary is that one of the data being requested was his social security number. Linking the two might have permanently unlocked his identity to some terrible person.

Interesting that that same friend had recently lost control of his credit card number--without having actually lost control of the card itself. He had done nothing wrong--nothing out of the ordinary--but had he not noticed the trouble soon after its occurrence, he might have been out quite a sum of money.  (The malefactors had already charged hundreds to it.)

At present, there seems to be no reason for concluding that the two incidents are related. There is so much criminal activity of this sort that it is inevitable that we might encounter more than one attack over short periods of time.

(And now I must go double-lock my doors and close my drapes. Not sure what I'll do when night falls....)

Mark_

13:31 06 November 2012