Just made it by the skin of my teeth today! Anyway, on this day in 1888, a press conference in London featured the first phonograph recording to be heard in England: “The Lost Chord,” by Arthur Sullivan, recorded by Thomas Edison. This is that recording, gone all 21st-century. They didn’t use click tracks back then…
Today is Fidel Castro’s birthday, apparently.
On this day in 1981, the IBM PC debuted, thus changing the way humankind interacted with computers (OK, I’m exaggerating, but still). Let this ditty stand as a warning.
I’ll come right out and say it, this one is just silly. Keeping with the “this day in history” shtick, I was delighted to find that today is Hulk Hogan’s birthday.
PS, there isn’t a single real guitar in this track!
OK, we’re back on track now with the Ditties. Today I was at a total loss for what to write, so I decided to do a “this day in history” ditty. And I found the ridiculous story of Vasa, a Swedish warship that sank about 100 meters from shore on its maiden voyage, August 10, 1628. It’s a ridiculous story, and I thought it needed to be told as sea shanty, naturally. Pay special attention to my expert mandolin stylings on this one. Yyyyyeah.
I don’t normally write how-to articles here, but I figured one out recently that may be helpful to other people. I was on vacation outside of AT&T’s regular coverage for the last week and a half, and roaming charges are pretty outrageous. I also figured that I would have some limited internet access while away. Knowing these two things, I wanted a way to prevent my phone from ringing (therefore pushing all calls to voicemail), and get my voicemail over the internet, without having to use roaming minutes to listen to it.
About a week before leaving, I got the Google Voice invitation I had put in for. The service is really cool, and does lots of useful things. One of these things is “Do Not Disturb” mode, which routes all incoming calls to voicemail, which gets stored on the Google side, accessible from the internet. Plus, AT&T offers call forwarding, which routes all incoming calls to another number, for free. “Aha!” I thought. Here’s how to get my way.
- Turn on call forwarding so that all incoming calls to the cell phone actually ring the Google Voice number.
- Turn on “Do Not Disturb” mode at Google Voice. (This is very important, since leaving this option off could actually cause an infinite loop of the two numbers calling each other.)
- Turn off all SMS alerts associated with Google Voice, to avoid being charged per text message while away. Likewise, leave all email alerts on, so that you may be notified about all incoming messages.
With this setup, it’s extremely easy to log on to Google Voice (either the full website, or lightweight mobile version), and check your voicemail from there. You can even check your missed calls if the caller didn’t leave a message.
But there’s one killer feature that makes this even better. Google Voice transcribes all voicemail to text, and will forward these transcriptions via email. This means, then, that all your voicemail meant for your regular mobile phone is basically converted to email that you can check and simply read while you’re away. It actually worked while I was gone, and it’s something I’ll do every time I’m away from now on.
This one is from guest dittyist Nina Vyedin! It speaks to a common addiction.
Hi Rick,
We all know travel is supposed to be fun. And I get it, it’s confusing to be dropped into a foreign land, clueless about the local customs, food, attractions, and the like. But please, for the love of God, stop publishing this information.
I really do admire that you’ve done so well for yourself, amassing detailed reviews of expensive restaurants and luxurious hotels. And it’s impressive how thoroughly you’ve researched each of the destinations you write about. But I think it’s time to back off, Rick.
I can’t remember the last family vacation I went on that didn’t revolve around your advice. I’m sure this advice was well-intentioned; you seem like a good guy, after all. But is that quaint Italian eatery three bus stops away really any better than the one downstairs? Is it worth the two-hour pilgrimage to that wonderous waterfall you say we simply must see?
The problem here is that in order to make these books quickly and efficiently consumable, you only touch on a handful of things to do. This is all well and good, but when you’re all big and famous, people tend to take your advice extremely seriously. I know my mother won’t consider eating in a foreign land without your blessing. So cut us a break, Rick.
At least put a little “I haven’t been everywhere” disclaimer at the front of the book. Or better yet, include a “Very Impressive But Free Or Cheap” section in each book. Even my father would buy it and read it then.
I’m really just trying to help you out here, Rick. And I appreciate what you do. But at the end of the day, you’d be better off to realize that there are some real travel nuts out there, whom you’ve accidentally become responsible for.
Best,
John
