troy austian | blog

GrandCentral: Acquired by Google

It seems that Google is buying everything.  Well, everything good.  They seem to have a good, forward-thinking understanding of the market and of where things are headed with web-based and mobile technologies.  Those are two huge technology arenas that are blending in many ways, and there's great opportunity in the integration of those technologies.  Google really seems to get this, and it definitely shows in their developments, partnerships, and acquisitions.  They seem to be very strategic in their approach, and certainly looking toward the future as they continue to develop their offerings and expand their very successful empire...in the course of which they're certainly not afraid to just buy something they like.

This was the case with Google's acquisition of GrandCentral Communications and their product, GrandCentral.  I learned about GrandCentral because Google bought them, and because of friend of mine uses the service.  GrandCentral's functionality is pretty slick and can be a great value to those who make use of it.  GrandCentral provides a web-based voice communications platform that helps you manage all your phones and phone numbers through one simple interface. You get a single phone number that forwards to all of your phones, a number that's not tied to a phone or location but tied to you, giving you one number for life.  You can be reached with that single number, answer a call at any phone you want, seamlessly switch phones in the middle of a call, and even know whether a call is important before you take it.  Their features include the ability to:

• Check your messages by phone, email, or online
• Keep all your messages online for eternity
• Record and store your phone calls (just like voicemail)
• Quickly (and secretly) block an annoying caller
• Click-to-dial from your address book
• Surprise your callers with a custom voicemail greeting
• Forward, download, and add notes to your messages

Google acquired GrandCentral Communications because its communications services fit into Google's mission to organize the world's information and to provide services and features that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between users.  The service is still in beta (a testing stage, not full production).  While I don't know Google's long-term plans for it, GrandCentral is currently inviting a limited number of users to beta test their service. If it interests you, you can sign up for an invitation here.

The Ultimate Gift Available on DVD

I blogged about a movie called The Ultimate Gift (IMDb) when it was in theaters...well, when it was in some theaters.  It's a great movie, but wasn't picked up by all theaters and didn't get much publicity or exposure.  That was unfortunate because it really is a well done, excellent film that's clean and enjoyable and has a good message.  (It's hard to find all of that in one movie.)  I rented it recently and enjoyed it again, so I thought I'd recommend it again.  It's also a great family film, and there are even a number of resources available for families, like one that's geared for talking with your kids about life lessons.  Click HERE for my prior blog about The Ultimate Gift.  And as someone commented on my prior blog, Minnesota's own Sara Groves has a song in the film -- see the 03/08/2007 entry HERE for details.  If you rent or buy the DVD, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

       

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving started a day early this year, which was great.  It's kind of like opening some of your Christmas presents early...except it's turkey and it's not wrapped...and it's not under a tree...and, well, in any case, Thanksgiving started early at my house this year and we had a ball!  My mother cooked the whole meal (Thanks, Mom!), and we had our neighbors and some other family friends over on Wednesday night...Thanksgiving Eve.  We had a great time and enjoyed some great food.  There were lots of delicious things on the table, from the turkey to the gravy to the sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce...but my favorite is my mom's cornbread stuffing.  There's just nothing quite like it, and I never get tired of it.  For me, even the turkey is an accessory to the cornbread stuffing, even though it and everything else is so good.  Good food, good friends, good fun, and a Thanksgiving feast a day early!  This may need to become a tradition.

On Thanksgiving Day, we joined friends at their beautiful new home along with a whole bunch of people for a big Thanksgiving celebration.  It was a great time, with more great food, and I really enjoyed spending time with friends as well as meeting new ones. We had a great afternoon, and really appreciated the invite.  Thanksgiving night was spent having fun and leftovers with friends back at my house.  All in all, what a great couple days!  I'm so glad we have a holiday set aside for giving thanks, because we need to take time to do that.  And what better way than with people we care about and who care about us.  And what a powerful thing to take time together and give thanks to God who takes great pleasure in giving His children good things.

More to Come. Really.

Thanks to all of you who have come back to my blog a bunch of times lately just to see nothing new.  Thank you, and I apologize for my blogging lapse.  I'll dive back in here, but wanted to let you know that there really is more to come.  Really.  Among other things, I have a story about a great sports-related experience I had in Argentina -- this will be a rare occasion to hear me talk about sports! ...but it was something really cool, a true experience, that I want to tell you about. (I'm just waiting on the pics!)  I may have to do some backblogging!