Google grand central

Earlier this year RWW reported that Google had made plans for the telephony service it acquired in July, 2007 called GrandCentral. GrandCentral was reborn as Google Voice, which includes all of GrandCentral's features and much more. Google Voice's free service will allow users to unify all of their phone numbers and transfer calls to all of their devices, convert voice calls to text messages, call multiple parties at once and make discounted international calls.

This week, John Fontana of Network World reported that Google has reserved 1 million phone numbers with communications and information services company Level 3. The company has not announced anything yet, but on the GrandCentral website it says "if you are a GrandCentral user, over the next few days you will be prompted to upgrade to Google Voice". These look like clear signs that it is getting ready to go live any time now, so check those emails and get ready to claim your number, they could go fast.

Google has continued to keep the old GrandCentral service, but has not allowed new users to sign up. Currently only GrandCentral users have access to Google Voice and new numbers are only available for American area codes. The GrandCentral users we spoke with love the service and are thrilled to try Google Voice. Our own Frederic Lardinois says it looks like a winner; "it takes the best features of GrandCentral and adds a number of important and interesting new features...clearly this is one of the most important products that Google has released in the last couple of months".

Judge for yourself. Below are three videos that show how easy it is to place calls, set up a conference call and how the phone calls are routed. There is some speculation about future integration with Android and we are certainly looking forward to that as well.

Shahid Kapur's Punjab connection

MUMBAI: Bollywood's boy-next-door Shahid Kapur, who shot in the fields of Punjab for his hit film Jab We Met, returned to the state for his upcoming movie with Yash Raj Films. Shahid recently completed a stint in Punjab for tentatively titled Hadippa, co-starring Rani Mukherji. He is now all set to shoot in the fields with Anushka Sharma for another untitled film for the banner.

Celebrate west hartford 2009

Celebrate! West Hartford is a highly attended, annual tradition that promotes, embraces and celebrates community life.
Attracting well over 30,000 people each year, Celebrate! also provides festival attendees with a wide range of wholesome family activities – an award winning juried arts & crafts show, great food, entertainment, games, rides, a certified 5K road race – as the saying goes, "something for everyone".
The event offers civic, service, sports, schools and charitable organizations a way to increase community awareness and an opportunity to raise funds for their worthy causes.

24 hours of le mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, it is organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and runs on a circuit containing closed public roads that are meant not only to test a car and driver's ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24 hour period.

Today show weekend

The weekend broadcasts continue the TODAY tradition of covering NBC's Amy Robach interviewing newsmakers, reporting on a variety of popular-culture and human-interest stories, covering health and finance issues and presenting the latest weather reports. In addition, the show offers visitors to New York City a chance to observe firsthand the workings of a live television broadcast with its windowed studio on Rockefeller Plaza. Interaction with the crowd outside the studio is a major part of the program. Barbara NitkeNBC's Jenna Wolfe
Weekend editions are tailored to the priorities and interests of weekend viewers — offering special series such as "Saturday TODAY on the Plaza," featuring live performances by the biggest names in music, and dance and theater from famed New York City shows outside the studio every weekend throughout the summer.

Six flags bankruptcy

NEW YORK: The amusement park company Six Flags is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it needs to reorganize and shed $1.8 billion of debt.
Mark Shapiro, the New York-based company's chief executive officer, says the move won't affect the operation of its 20 theme parks in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Six Flags says it actually had a great year in 2008. It saw 25 million visitors and posted record revenues. But executives are trying to lighten a $2.4 billion debt load that they say is unsustainable.
Saturday's bankruptcy filing came after an earlier plan to negotiate an out-of-court deal with creditors failed.
Six Flags shares have traded below $1 since September. They closed at 26 cents on Friday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Statue cruises

the Statue of Liberty’s crown will be reopened to the public for the first time since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The NPS will start taking reservations this Saturday.
Lots of people feel that this is a development long past due. When security concerns forced the closing of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a coalition of New York/New Jersey boosters and tourism industry interests immediately began exerting political pressure to get it reopened. Millions of people throughout the country agreed that reestablishing public access to Lady Liberty would be an important expression of national pride and resolve.
Great joy attended the reopening of the Statue's base, pedestal and outdoor observation deck in 2004. Attention then came to focus on the matter of reopening the crown to public visitation.By last summer, reopening the crown had become a very hot button issue. With political pressure ramping up swiftly, the National Park Service was really feeling the heat. Initial NPS resistance to the crown reopening transitioned to a cooperative stance, and a detailed feasibility study was ordered. The study showed that it could be done (no surprise there), and when newly-appointed Interior Secretary Ken Salazar contributed his enthusiastic endorsement, the deal was sealed.
The first batch of crown visits will take place in less than a month. To cope with heavy demand, the Park Service has worked out a reservation system that has these salient features:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/