Just about my whole life is computer-based, so when I’m out, emails, tasks, calendar events, and the like can all fall by the wayside.

Or, I can just pick up the phone, dial a number, say a few words, and everything gets done for free, using Dial2Do.

Dial2Do is providing a great way for users to use their voice to do all kinds of things, and interact with all kinds of services – it’s like what Jott used to do, but without the sudden added cost.

Here are just a few of the many things you can do with Dial2Do: add stuff to Evernote, add tasks to Remember the Milk, send emails, send text messages, add calendar events to Google Calendar, listen to your email or RSS feeds, or post updates to your Twitter account. And that’s only a few of the choices.

Once you create a free account with Dial2Do, and associate your phone number with your account, all you have to do is dial a given phone number (the service is available in 24 countries, each one with a different phone number).

A voice comes on the phone and says “What would you like to do?” You tell it, say, “Calendar.” You’re prompted then to speak your calendar event, like “lunch with Bill, today, 2pm.” There’s a brief pause, and that same voice comes back and says “that’s done.” Either hang up or stay on the line to record more. Once you hang up, you’re done! Your event shows up in your Calendar, your Twitter, or wherever you told it to go.

The true usefulness of Dial2Do is that it does interact with so many services – there’s nothing new to learn or check with Dial2Do, because it already integrates with the services you already use.

Even if you’re not a user of all the services though, Dial2Do still offers a bunch of great features. By adding contacts to your account, you can send emails or text messages on the fly without typing a thing. Contacts can be added manually, or imported from a number of different services – Google, Yahoo, Outlook and the like. Texting while driving’s a dangerous, but popular, enterprise – Dial2Do makes that both easier and safer.

The transcription service is one of the most accurate I’ve seen in a service like this, better even than Jott. In all of my first few transcriptions, the only mistake Dial2Do made was to transcribe “parliamentary” as “polimentary.” Apparently polimentary is a word in Dial2Do’s world, but still – the success rate was impressively high.

The biggest drawback to Dial2Do, and one that’s common to applications like this, is that every service and contact you use has to be set up beforehand. If you decide “oh, I need to email John,” but John’s not in your contacts list, you’re out of luck. Same goes for adding to calendars, or checking email, or anything – whatever you want to do, it needs to be done at your computer.

My advice would be to set up every service you might possibly use (they’re simple and quick to set up), and add every contact you can (Dial2Do allows 100) – you’ll be surprised how often you use them, especially given how good the transcription is.

If Jott is any indication, Dial2Do won’t be free forever. For now, though, it’s a totally free, totally useful service that helps you get all kinds of things done with a simple phone call. Use voice-activated dialing, and you may never touch your phone keyboard again.

How do you, or how do you wish you could, get things done with your voice?

Photo Credit: PartsnPieces

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I have made a new friend – well actually I am becoming reacquainted with an old friend. Have you heard of Smarterchild? Smarterchild is an AimBot, an automated assistant that can be added to your instant messenger contacts. It can help you remember things, lookup headlines, find out about local movies, and so on. Now that AIM has been integrated into Gmail this might be a great combination for making SmarterChild into your virtual Personal Assistant.

Smarterchild can not only shoot the breeze with you it can grab data for you, remind you to do things and be a smart ass. So from anywhere you are connected via AIM you can add SmarterChild to your buddy list and but him to work. The first time you connect to SmarterChild he will ask you a few questions and then you are ready to roll. Math, Definitions and a news aggregator? Oh and so much more. Sure you could use Google or Yahoo for searching but this is so much more fun… Check out our conversations with SmarterChild.

KarlGeeZBT (6:59:30 AM): Hello There Again SmarterChild
SmarterChild (6:59:31 AM): Hi again, Admin!Let’s talk!

KarlGeeZBT (7:00:42 AM): basic help
KarlGeeZBT (7:00:59 PM): order me a pizza
SmarterChild (7:01:00 PM): I know about pizza! It’s a food!>>> If you need to know the capital of South Dakota for some crazy reason – ask me.

KarlGeeZBT (7:01:19 PM): hmm how about get me a beer
SmarterChild (7:01:19 PM): I don’t know.
KarlGeeZBT (7:02:21 PM): what do you mean you dont know son
SmarterChild (7:02:21 PM): What do I mean I don’t know son? I’m not sure.
KarlGeeZBT (7:02:29 PM): a wise guy eh
SmarterChild (7:02:31 PM): 1 wise guy what?
KarlGeeZBT (7:02:44 PM): never mimd
SmarterChild (7:02:48 PM): No prob.>>> I bet you don’t know the capital of Suriname. Ask me.

KarlGeeZBT (7:11:32 PM): I love AskTheAdmin.com
SmarterChild (7:11:37 PM): I know about love. It’s hard to describe what love is.>>> What are your friends thinking? Type pollmaker and crunch the numbers.

KarlGeeZBT (7:13:04 PM): Hello
SmarterChild (7:13:05 PM): Nice to see you again, Admin. What would you like to do?
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:12 PM): Set reminder
SmarterChild (7:13:13 PM): That right?
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:25 PM): help
SmarterChild (7:13:26 PM): OK, please tell me what you’re trying to do.
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:32 PM): reminder
SmarterChild (7:13:32 PM): What would you like me to remind you about?
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:38 PM): Call the wife
SmarterChild (7:13:39 PM): When would you like me to remind you about call the wife? (Type a time, date and time, number of minutes or number of hours.)
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:50 PM): 7:14pm 12/22/2007
SmarterChild (7:13:53 PM): No problem. I’ll remind you about call the wife at 7:14:00 pm ET.
KarlGeeZBT (7:13:59 PM): awesome

SmarterChild (7:14:00 PM): -)>>> Ask me for info such as news, sports and movies!
KarlGeeZBT (7:14:03 PM): movies
SmarterChild (7:14:03 PM): Movies playing in or near Brooklyn, NY (11235) on Saturday, December 22nd:
1 National Treasure: Book of Secrets [PG]
2 I Am Legend [PG13]
3 Alvin and the Chipmunks [PG]
4 The Golden Compass [PG13]
5 Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story [R]
6 Charlie Wilson’s War [R]

Type more for the next set of results.
>>> Type nhl standings and I’ll show you who’s hot in hockey.

SmarterChild (7:14:09 PM): Hey, don’t forget about call the wife.

KarlGeeZBT (7:14:12 PM): nhl standings
SmarterChild (7:14:12 PM): Select the standings you’d like to see:
1 Atlantic Division
2 Northeast Division
3 Southeast Division
4 Central Division
5 Northwest Division
6 Pacific Division
7 Eastern Conference
8 Western Conference
9 Full NHL Standings

KarlGeeZBT (7:14:29 PM): weather
SmarterChild (7:14:30 PM): Current weather conditions for Brooklyn, NY:
Currently: 40 F
Condition: Overcast
Wind Chill: 33 F
Dewpoint: 33
Humidity: 77 %
Visibility: 10 mi
Wind: ENE/10 mph

To get the forecast for Brooklyn, NY, just type forecast.

KarlGeeZBT (7:14:45 PM): find me a pizza restauraunt
SmarterChild (7:14:50 PM): I’m sorry, I couldn’t find any Web search results for “me a pizza restauraunt.”>>> Type poll archive to take polls you missed or view updated results.
KarlGeeZBT (7:15:03 PM): get me a pizza
SmarterChild (7:15:05 PM): I know about pizza! It’s a food!

KarlGeeZBT (7:15:37 PM): what is 137 times 379
SmarterChild (7:15:41 PM): 137 * 379 = 51,923>>> Type word scrambles and we can really mix it up.
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:02 PM): what is pi
SmarterChild (7:16:03 PM): Which of the following do you mean?
1 Look up “pi” in the encyclopedia
2 Look up “pi” in the dictionary
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:08 PM): pi =
SmarterChild (7:16:09 PM): Who’s Pi?
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:20 PM): how many ounces in a pound
SmarterChild (7:16:22 PM): One pound is 16 ounces. (1 lb = 16 oz)>>> Remember, you can always see what my newest features are by typing what’s new.
KarlGeeZBT (7:16:28 PM): how many grams in a pound
SmarterChild (7:16:28 PM): One pound is 453.59237 grams. (1 lb = 453.59237 g)>>> Type calculator help to see a list of sample calculations I can perform.

KarlGeeZBT (7:16:51 PM): go get me a pizza
SmarterChild (7:16:51 PM): I’ll do nothing of the sort.
KarlGeeZBT (7:17:00 PM): what good are you
SmarterChild (7:17:01 PM): That’s crazy. I don’t know, Admin…>>> Wanna change my font and colors? Type colors now!

KarlGeeZBT (7:17:29 PM): basic help
SmarterChild (7:17:31 PM): OK. Basically, you make requests and I answer. Try it! Here are examples of basic requests you can make:
1 What is my horoscope for today?
2 Leave a message for (username).
3 What movies are playing today?
4 I want the top headlines.
5 What is the definition of “romance”?

Next time you want to see this, just type basic help.
Type more for more basic help. To see shortcuts you can use, type shortcuts.

KarlGeeZBT (7:17:38 PM): 4
SmarterChild (7:17:39 PM): Headline news provided by Reuters, © 2007.
1 Clinton targets women voters, rivals bicker (12/22/07 06:17 PM)
2 Turkish planes bomb Kurds in northern Iraq (12/22/07 04:21 PM)

Type more to see the next set of stories.>>> I’m a hoops fan. Type nba to see what I know.

KarlGeeZBT (7:18:36 PM): what is the capital of new york
SmarterChild (7:18:41 PM): The capital of New York is Albany. Do you want more information about New York?
KarlGeeZBT (7:20:03 PM): nah son I’m out
SmarterChild (7:20:04 PM): OK.

Are you ready to start? Add “SmarterChild” to your buddy list and give him a friendly Hey – how you doin?.

So as you can see this free service works and can give you a chuckle while you use it. But just like my real personal assistant – they have a smart mouth and talk back.

Do you use Aim Bots? What are you favorite? Do you use other similar services? Let us know in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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For my first MakeUseOf post I will be taking you through the wonder that is Goog-411. You dial up 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any (US) phone. After you get a friendly Google hello you follow the voice prompts which are extremely intuitive.

Start by saying your city and state. You hear the Google engines spinning in the background and then you will be prompted to say what business listing you want (pizzeria, repair shop, Burger King, etc.). They understood me every time even when I put on various accents. I had previously tried out 800-free-411 and they never understood me – it was infuriating!

Now Goog411 will also complete your call for you FOR FREE or send you a text message FOR FREE with your listing, a link to their website, a link to a map and directions or any other information they have. For a list of all the commands check out this page here. This is all easily save-able on your mobile. The service is still in its beta stages and currently has NO ads! Suck it up while you can this is the way most services will be going in the near future. If you are interested in seeing a video demo go to GOOG411 on MUO Directory.

Goog411 currently only works from the US and we got mad love for our international readers so we have Google SMS for you. Well, for most of you.

Just save 466453 “Google” into your phone and text it with your query and Google will hit you back with all sorts of free information. How about dictionary definitions, calculations, curency exchange rates or movie listings (Google SMS -All Features). Give it a shot – its free minus the cost of the text messages of course.

Got to love the Google!

For other similar alternatives you can also check out Free411 Dial Directions and TellMe.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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(1) PDF@koolwire.com

Koolwire is a simple, no-login required PDF conversion service. Simply send the document (DOC, PPT, XLS, JPEG, GIF, RTF, and TXT.) to ‘PDF@koolwire.com’ and shortly after get it back as PDF.

(2) WHATEVER@drop.io

Drop.io lets you create so called drops and use them as private file storage boxes. Drops can be shared with others on a variety of access levels (viewer, contributor, etc.). Best of all, each drop gets its own email address, so everything emailed to that email will be added to the drop.

(3) DOC@scanr.com / WB@scanr.com

If you sign-up with Scanr you will be able to use your mobile or digicam as a scanner. You can send it a blurry capture of your notes and you will get back a cleaned up, decrapified and even OCRed PDF version of your image. (Register before)

(4) GO@9cays.com

9cays is a very cool service that allows you start group email conversations by emailing your thread to GO@9cays.com. Add participants by adding them to ‘Cc:’ field. Best part about it, all exchanged messages (and attachments) will be nicely embedded on a custom webpage. (Register before)

(5) DUTEOUS@your_username.iwantsandy.com

An invisible personal assistant that sits in your email program. You can ask it to remind you about something, or even help you organize meetings with friends. (Register before)

• Schedule Reminders: Hey Sandy, remind me to do my laundry on Sunday. or Sandy, remember my haircut on 11/4 3-4pm.
• Group Reminders: Just add others to ‘Cc:’ and reminders will be sent to everyone on the list.
• Daily Digest: Morning email with everything you’ve got going for the day.
• and more.

Got any another useful email contact? Share it in comments

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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