Its been a crazy second half of 2009, I thought I’d just hit the highlights:

• July/August >> Was on a road show for KIT digital. Awesomely successful!
• August/September >> Moved from Dubai to New York. Lived in LES and bought sexy shoes from @foodrap and @jeffstaple
• September/ October >> Moved from New York to Prague. Rented uber loft, went to Cannes for MIPCOM, welcomed @TheXander as inaugural couch surfer.
• October/November >> Road-tripped from Prague to Cannes through Germany/Switzerland/Italy, went to Colombia (Miss Colombia pageant), went to Cairo (@KITdigital KISS conference), went to Barcelona for long Thanksgiving weekend shenanigans with @SirGosha
• December >> Staying in Prague and will hop to Chicago in the 20s of the month.

If you follow my twitter or are one of my nearest/dearest Facebook friends, these would have streamed right in

The nice thing about taking a long break is that now I got a shit-ton (1 shit-ton = 2.8 metric tons) to write about without having to think too much about it…

Hello all.

Service this past week has been shitty… the next week looks like it will be crap as well. Pimpin’ ain’t easy.

I’ll try to queue up some fun content while I do some globe trotting

Follow my twitter at www.twitter.com/sheynk for updates.

To make up for that here is a dope mix by the legendary KGBeats for your ear orgasmic pleasure:

Yeah I said it.

Believe me… I was the most psyched person in the world about Google Voice. As you might remember (or if you don’t here is a link), I have a fairly complex phone system. 5 numbers, 3 cellphones, 1 desk phone. I manage it pretty well using Skype (international forwarding/calling, messages) as a hub.

Out comes Google swinging with this awesome idea that you can use a single number as an “Uber Hub”. I start thinking to myself: “Self, you can have one number that gets voice mail (VM) from others, SMSes out, can call internationally for a discount, and can ring any phone as long as you have credit”. I was giddy when I got my invite to the service. I was wrong.

Read on for the full post!

What Google Voice does:

1. Forwards calls to any US number
2. Dials your contact and your cell…connects.
3. Lets you call from your cell with special dialer (BB & Android only)
4. Dial with their international rates (like a call card).
5. SMS within the US for free from the Google Number
6. Forwards SMSes from Google Number to your devices
7. Records VM coming to your Google Number

Before I even consider fully converting I would need:

1. forward to international phones
2. the ability to take over VM services (like YouMail) for ALL devices
3. make me not think about the dialer (there is a paid 3rd party app to do this)

Problem #1:

If I make a call from my dialer while in Dubai, I still pay AT&T roaming on my US line. International forwarding is a MUST. That’s right, including a self sorting way to always call and receive from a local “Google” number even if my main line is US-based.

Problem #2:

Imagine this scenario:

I go to California and meet Michelle. Michelle (disclaimer: not an actual person) is a lovely lady who works for a content producer who my company is likely to do business with. We exchange information and then set up a follow up meeting. Michelle confirms the meeting by SMS that I get on my US (non Goog) number because I am mobile. I reply from that number.

Now Michelle has 2 numbers for me. With my current system it doesn’t matter which of the 5 you call, I pick it up in one place. With Google Voice if she calls the Google number and I don’t pick up it leaves a message in Google. If she calls my US number it leaves a message in Skype.

So I am in Dubai and miss a US call (Michell wants to meet me at MIPCOM in a few months) because I didn’t bring my US cell while I went downstairs for coffee. Now I have two potential sources of VM outside the physical phone on me. This isn’t simpler than what I have already.

Problem #3:

People will exacerbate problem #2 if you can’t make a dialer that “takes over” the phone. On a BB you are introducing a bunch more clicks to the process of calling someone. I’ll do it for international calls to save money… but will not be bothered otherwise. BB and Android are a start… sad to see S60 from Nokia didn’t make the cut as they have more handsets in the market than Google and RIM combined.

There is a third party tool to fix this. It is called GVdialer and was recommended my a commenter in my last post about the topic. I love “the little guy”, but for lasting communication solutions I like big companies. Unfortunately for the GVdialer team I think Google will make this capability free in the near future.

Conclusions:

Now now… Google can (and likely will) fix all 3 rather easily. I imagine these grievances being tended to in the order described here. I would say #1 before ‘09 is out.

However… I have a philosophical question: Who am I doing this for? This costs money and I still have to carry many phones until all 3 of my issues are fixed. Except for adding a decently cool number to my list of ways to be reached… what has Google done for me TODAY? Most people know to reach me by email, skype, or gtalk …. My numbers are appended to every email signature… just call the one you like, makes no difference to me

For now I will just be happy with using my 5 invites to prank people into sexting.

One of my favorite features of Dopplr is the “Dopplr Report”.

The service automaticaly generates sexy reports of your travels. Here is mine for the first half of 2009. Something tells me that the second half is going to be even more air-mile-tastic.

My Dopplr Report

Whatever happened to space being cool? I am not talking about Trekkie space or Star Wards space or Vin Diesel assassin space. What I am talking about is big white spacesuit, moon rovers, rockets, and the quest to conquer the unknown. Back when the USSR and US were duking it out for world mojo, countries would unite behind their space programs.

We need to go to space again, and in a big way. Some world leader (perhaps someone charismatic, educated, outspoken, and loved by all (so far)) needs to pull a Kennedy and say we will colonize the moon within a decade. I am not talking a tiny pod either. Something with a low gravity foosball table and everything.

“But Gary, we are too focused on the financial blah blah blah…” OK, I get it, but get over it. This recession business is the official cop out for getting shit done now… cut it out.

Innovations in space exploration lead to creation of durable and lightweight materials, compact food storage, flight dynamics, miniaturization, advancements in muscle atrophy prevention, and etc etc you get the point: space is pretty cool.

OMFG I’m running late. My heart is pounding. I am pale. I do not know what to do.

I’ve never missed a flight in my entire life because of forgetting something or just not leaving early enough. Half a year ago I joined that club on both accounts.

The flight was to Cannes. The conference was MIPCOM. I am now planning MIPTV, so I need to heed some lessons:
What was the result of my panic?

• 4 speeding tickets (really)
• 1 bewildered coworker (I was Maverick, he was Goose) who I drove (quickly)
• 1 missed flight

The right thing to do was to drop off my coworker (which I ended up doing anyway, just much quicker). Calmly return to my apartment and rebook my ticket. I ended up doing that anyway… only I aged 7 years and lost more money in the process. In case you haven’t figured it out, I left my passport.

Here is the deal: IT IS OK IF YOU MISS YOUR FLIGHT. Sure, it is not a good thing to miss flights, but realize that there are always other planes and that at the end of the day your safety and nervous system are worth more.

MIP TV Conference for KIT digital.

**Testing Dopplr automated blog posting!!!**

How many phone numbers do you have?

Some of us are lucky enough to just have one, others (like me) don’t have that luxury. To keep sane I have a pretty well sorted system that I use to keep it all in check. Here are my phones and how I sort them:

1. US private/personal mobile number
2. US BlackBerry work mobile number (with attached unlimited world data plan, cheap data no voice plan)
3. US “Desk” Skype number
4. UAE “Desk” phone number
5. UAE mobile

I will let you in on a little secret: there are only two devices.

My ATT BlackBerry is just an email device. I do not give that number out to anyone. The ATT BlackBerry data plan is the cheapest I’ve seen in the world.

Now for the other 4:

My private phone is on a family unlimited US plan. That number calls to my US based skype number which has unlimited international calling. The skype number forwards to my mobile phone from Etisalat in the UAE that has free incoming.

My UAE desk phone forwards to my UAE mobile phone.

My outbound calls are either made through my UAE cell or if international my Skype Out account (connected through a VPN since its blocked in the UAE). Etisalat also happens to have some of the cheapest roaming charges around.

In case I miss a call, my voicemail system sends me an MP3 via email that I can sort and listen to at any time.

I use a Nokia E51 (highly recommended, pictured above) for all my voice calls (including skype through Fring) and a road warrior Curve as my mobile data hub.

In short: Use an online call/routing system to call a line that has free incoming calls as a “hub number”. Have that number be the number where you get a lot of calls from, but not where you local mobile is.

Shoot me an email or leave a comment if you have a better system

When you travel, bring a power strip. This is something that I practice. I often have a laptop, a camera (or two), and a cell phone (or two) with me when I travel (iPod can be USB charged, so can phones…but that’s extra nerdy ?). On average that is four devices that need to be charged just for me. Four outlets in a hotel room are hard to come by. At the very best you will be running around the room collecting (and forgetting) chargers when you pack up. Save yourself the hassle and pack a 5-6 outlet power strip in the front pocket of your suitcase. You will save yourself the headache (I’m big on “headache savers”) and drastically reduce the number of plug adapters you need to carry (to 1). Yay!

So here is a lesson in traveling to start off 2009: DO NOT BUY SNOWGLOBES

I purchased a snow globe (of the Burj Al Arab, not that one ) at the DXB duty free for my cousin. My flight took me through Heathrow where the nice folks at the security checkpoint had a problem determining whether or not the Snow Globe has 3oz of fluid in them.

Now… I travel a lot and understand the reason for security… but ruining the gift wrapping and taking 25 minutes of my short connection time to figure out if its ok for me to take this thing on board was a wee-bit frustrating.

The lesson here: don’t buy people souvenirs (at the airport :p )