Google Goggles

Google Android just keeps getting better.

Android is the operating system that powers dozens of smart phones, and this is just the beginning.

Happy Day – Google Voice is Here

I’ve been on the waiting list for months for the new Google Voice service, and finally received my invitation.

Google Voice revolutionizes the way we think about receiving phone calls. The video below helps explain more:

I love that Google Voice will transcribe messages for me so I don’t have to listen through to the end of a voice mail to find out what it’s all about. I also like that on my Google Android phone (BlackBerry phones can do it too), you can have your outgoing calls register as from your new Google Voice telephone number.

The service is free, and international calls range from 2-19 cents a minute depending on if you’re calling someones land-line or mobile phone.

You can also record telephone calls as they happen or listen in as someone is leaving a voice mail and decide if you want to “pick up” the phone and answer.

With Google Voice you can screen calls, mark calls as spam, and have different incoming phone numbers ring your various phones.

Secret Location for the 4th

We had a fun 4th of July and went to a park where there are hardly any people.  It was great.  The location is right outside the city, but there were hardly any cars there on the 4th of July.  You’d think it’d be packed.  We caught a few fish, got rained on just a little, but had a great time.

We’d like to say where this place is, but it’s just too good of a secret!

Oh, the joy.

We also attended a baseball game that had fireworks after the game.  The picture above was taken with my Android G1 Phone.  The game went into the 12th inning, and it was a lot of baseball.  Our brother-in-law caught a foul ball while there.

Just Jumpin’ Around

Well, it took Megan a little while to warm up to the jumping house, but she did, and all the cousins had fun with the jumping house. I was amazed that it fit in the basement.

I took these videos with my G1 Android phone. When I hold the phone for video, I keep forgetting that my hand is covering the microphone, so you can’t hear very well, but it was fun because I can upload the videos straight from my phone to YouTube.

Awesome Tour of the New Church History Library

The open house for the Church’s Library is underway this weekend only, and we decided the opportunity was too good to miss.  The Library houses old manuscripts, books, etc., from LDS Church History.  On display during the open house were some pretty awesome artifacts.

I took a few pictures with my G1 Android Phone, and was glad I had it there because some of the things on display won’t be open to the public (I asked if I could take pictures with no flash, and they said I could, just FYI for all you document preservers out there).

Also, this library is different than the Church History Museum and the Family History Library.  The facility is brand new and is across the street from Temple Square (North Side).

Above is a picture of the library.  The building has many large windows which offer a great view of Temple Square as well as the Capitol.

We enjoyed seeing a very moving film about Church history and records (didn’t know they could be moving did you?).  The film depicted the late 1800′s with a brother Millet who was told by his children that their neighbor, brother Hall did not have any flour or bread for food.  You’ll have to watch the movie there to see what happens.

We walked through the preservation room (kind of reminded us of National Treasure) and saw the temperature controlled storage rooms.  They said that by lowering the temperature 18 degrees, they can double the life of the documents.  They had some rooms in th 50′s and others close to freezing.

We enjoyed seeing the reconstruction/preservation room.  They had the old presses there on display, but we also saw that they used the old machinery to fix old books.  One of the restorers of the Book of Mormon…ha…ha…he restored copies of the original Book of Mormon was there and was explaining with the aid of a flat screen TV and video what he did to restore one of the original copies of the Book of Mormon printed in 1830 and put on display for us for the open house.  It was pretty fascinating, the technique, the old tools as well as modern that he used to put the book bind back together.

This picture is in the same room as shown/mentioned above.  The restorer is at the front (sorry, not a very good picture), but you can also see the Capitol in the background.

Here it is, an original copy of the 1830 Book of Mormon.  Only 5,000 copies were printed in the first run.  The handwriting in the book is by Joseph Smith and addressed to the recipient of the book who is also mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants.  This is the book that was talked about in the restoration…ha..ha…room.

One of the neatest things we saw was an actual page (not a replica) of the original transcription page from the Book of Mormon.  Absolutely fascinating.  Sorry, there was glare from the overhead lights.  I tried to move to get it out of the way.  The page details Nephi’s interaction with Zoram.