Shortcuts for Google Voice Actions App in Android

Voice Actions Android App is like Siri App in iPhones but has been there for a long time in Android phones.Here are some short cuts, you can use to get the most of it. Voice Actions is built in Android phones, so you can use it right away without any other download.

• Send text messages
  Say "send text to [recipient] [message]*"
  e.g. "send text to Allison Miller Running late. I will be home around 9"
• Listen to music
  Say "listen to [artist/song/album]"
  e.g. "listen to the decemberists"
• Get directions
  Say "navigate to [address/city/business name]"
  e.g. "navigate to the DeYoung Museum San Francisco" or "navigate to 1965 Page St."
• Call businesses
  Say "call [business name] [location]*"
  e.g. "call Pizzeria Venti Mountain View"
• Call contacts
  Say "call [contact name] [phone type]*"
  e.g. "call Allison Miller home"
• Send email
  Say "send email to [recipient] [subject]* [body]*"
  e.g. "send email to Mike LeBeau How's life in New York treating you? The weather's beautiful here!"
• View a map
  Say "map of [address/city]"
  e.g. "map of San Francisco"
• Go to websites
  Say "go to [website]
  e.g. "go to Wikipedia"
• Write a note
  Say "note to self [message]"
  e.g. "note to self grocery list banana milk eggs pizza"
• Search Google
  Say "[your query]"
  e.g. "pictures of the golden gate bridge at sunset"
  Learn more

Do you use any other shortcuts for Voice Actions app?


Also, try a similar app, Voice Actions Plus App from Pannous.

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$15.95 Ebook is free today at Amazon: '51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness'

$15.95 fiction Ebook is free today at Amazon: '51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness'. It has 4 star reviews in Amazon.

51 dates. 50 weeks. That was the social experiment Kristen McGuiness—single, living in LA, and entering her thirties newly sober—embarked upon. McGuiness thought facing her struggle with alcoholism would be the hardest part, with love coming easily afterwards. It didn’t. Rethinking her previous dating strategy, she embarks on the ultimate social experiment: 51 dates over the course of 50 weeks, and a chance to claim the life she thought was supposed to be hers.

Dodging CHAs (Cheesy Hollywood Actors) and men with self-diagnosed RAD (Relationship Anxiety Disorder), McGuiness is determined to find the "perfect guy" by being the "perfect girl." But McGuiness, like all of us, has her own issues to contend with: a longing for the wrong kind of men, a penchant for swearing, and a difficult relationship with her father in maximum-security prison. But as the year progresses, McGuiness begins to develop a new hope for her future—the dates transform into truth-seeking missions, and point her toward a life with satisfying work, a supportive family and, with the help of a local shaman, a comforting spirituality. Told with wry humor, pathos, and an engaging lack of self-pity, 51/50 is a moving adventure.

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Get $10 Free credit for Kindle e-Textbooks in Amazon

Amazon has a special offer in their e-Textbooks section. Go to this link and enter ETXTBOOK to get $10 Kindle book credit in Amazon. No purchase necessary.

If you received a confirmation that your code has been entered successfully, your $10 credit is now in your account and will remain there until it has been applied towards the purchase or rental of eligible Kindle e-textbooks or until it expires at 11:59 p.m PST on January 9, 2012.  

Search for your textbook in the search bar on top of this page. Verify that the Kindle e-textbook that you want is eligible for this promotion. All Kindle e-textbooks eligible for this promotion will have the following message on the product page.

Please note the code works only for e-Textbooks not the regular Kindle ebooks. In this link there are some text books under $10 on many subjects. 

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Try Kiva.org for Free With a $25 Starter Gift

I received an email from Kiva.org, a micro-lending site, where I have lent for more than 3-years with great results. You can try and see how it works with the $25 gift at http://kiva.org/ladieshomejournal (New Lenders only). It is available only for a short period of time.

The message reads the following:

"Now your friends and family can try Kiva for free! 

Kiva and Ladies' Home Journal have partnered to make a small number of free trials available for new lenders. Since you're so good at sharing Kiva, we're giving you a chance to tell your friends first. 

All you need to do is share the link below with your friends, family, colleagues, classmates, or anyone else you can think of. Just post it on Facebook or Twitter, send it in an email, paint it on your house... you get the picture. If they're quick, they'll be able to make a loan for free. 

The link is: http://kiva.org/ladieshomejournal

The free trials will get snatched up quickly, so don't wait. Nothing says "Happy New Year" like a few new Kiva lenders! 

Thanks for a great 2011, and here's to an even bigger and better 2012 for all of our borrowers."

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Monopoly Android App free in Amazon

Amazon.com: Monopoly Game App for Android is free until end of today.

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Jack Dyson's CSYS LED task light lasts 37 years

The CSYS LED task light is a project undertaken by Jack Dyson, son of the famous James Dyson. Like father, like son, Jack Dyson is another design wizard. Here he has created this special LED lamp that will last 37 years and with mechanized rollers, you can move up or down, rotate any direction to suit your needs.

The CSYS LED task light is a dimmable LED task light which marries the latest technology with sleek design.  It is designed with innovative positioning, refined thermal management and electronics systems producing a bright warm white colour with astonishing efficiency. The thermal management heat pipe technology cools the LED’s to ensure peak performance from the LED’s for 37+ years.

The one limiting factor for this product may be the price. According to Uncrate, the CSYS LED task light costs £550 about $860. But if we do a cost-benefit ratio, the savings in energy alone will be much more compared with other CFL and incandescent lamps.

More photos of the task light are shown below:

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Migrate Data with Ecquire Productivity Tool For Businesses

Ecquire is a Google Chrome extension and a good productivity tool for businesses. Whenever you encounter a contact in Gmail, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, you can add their data easily to SalesForce, Highrise, MailChimp or Google Docs with a touch of a button, instead of copy and paste.


Move your data from:

* Gmail
* LinkedIn
* Facebook
* Twitter

And with one click, store it in:

* SalesForce
* Highrise
* MailChimp
* Google Docs

Migrating data to Google Docs is free but for unlimited data migration to others, Ecquire charges a nominal fee of $5 a month.

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Beach House - Better Times

Nice mesmerizing music by the Beach House from their album "Teen Dream" (Amazon link, iTunes link).

Better Times Lyrics:


I want you to know the truth
'cause I've been around before
Thought I was looking anymore

Been a fool for weeks
'cause my heart stands for nothing and your soul's too weak
Got a will that's been around for days
Goes far if you want it
It needs to behave

But then you, you come around
Big mistake

I don't want to know
We don't need a sign to know better times

Running around 'cause you beat yourself up
And you made a crack and the one that you love is gone
How much longer can you play with fire before you turn into a liar?

I've been around before
Thought you weren't looking anymore
But then we, we come and go, go up in smoke

I don't want to know
We don't need a sign to know better times



Lyrics from SongMeanings.net.

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Free in Amazon: Disney's Where's My Water? Android App

Today's premium app free in Amazon is Disney's "Where's My Water?", a fun game app for Android phones and tablets. It has more than 120 levels to play with. It has 4+ star reviews so far. 

Android App: Where's My Water?

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Rent Christmas Story Movie for $0.99 in Android Market

A Christmas Story is a great movie and is one of the must-see movies for Christmas. Now you can rent it for $0.99 in Android Market, where usually the rental rates are $3.99. It will be good to watch in Tablets but watching it in Smartphones will be good as well.

You can also rent the movie if you want to watch it in desktop at YouTube link.

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Google logo for Christmas Holidays in New Zealand

Google New Zealand, posts a nice logo for Christmas Holidays, when you visit their site.

Google also makes it page snowy when you search for the term "Let it Snow" and when you watch any YouTube video, there is a snow button in the video makes the video fill with snow (the snow button is missing today in the video, not sure why).

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Electronic Arts releases Real Racing 2 App for Android

Nice racing app for Android, you can download it from Android Market link here.

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LogMeIn iOS App for iPad and iPhone Originally $30 is Free Today

LogMeIn, a remote login app for iOS devices are free today. You can access the documents in your computers remotely from your iOS devices such as iPad or iPhone. Usually it is priced at a hefty $30.

The iTunes download links for iOS are LogMeIn for iPad and LogMeIn for iPhone.



Via Fatwallet.com.

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Video: A Geek's Love Story

Tim in Singapore proposes to his girlfriend Audrey. 

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Madden NFL 12 By EA Sports For iPad is $0.99 in iTunes

The ever popular Madden NFL 12 by EA Sports is $0.99 for a limited time for both iPad version and iPhone. Right now it has low ratings, but I still think Madden NFL is a great game app to have in iOS.

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34 cents a bar sale: Clif Crunch Bar, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, 1.5-Ounce, 10 Count (Pack of 2)

Clif Crunch Bar Sale, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, 1.5-Ounce, 10 Count (Pack of 2)

 After you add the item in the cart, use the Subscribe button to get this discount. Please see the other varieties have regular prices, which are higher than this sale price item.

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Free Android App: NFL Pro 2012 by GameLoft in Android Market

I saw this offer in Android Central, NFL Pro 2012 by Gameloft free today in Android Market.

Not sure how long this offer will be, but you can download it today in Android Market. Please see this app may or may not be compatible with your Android Phone. It doesn't work in HTC Droid Incredible, Gingerbread OS version. It should be a great app for Android Tablets also.

It is free for Apple iPad users also at this iTunes link.

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Top 10 Most-Watched YouTube Videos of 2011 in UK

Top 10 Most Watched Videos from YouTube UK.


1.) Ultimate Dog Tease


2.) The T-Mobile Royal Wedding.

 3.) Songify This - Winning - a Song by Charlie Sheen



4.) Nyan Cat [original].

5.) Michael Collings - Britain's Got Talent 2011 Audition - Embedding available in YouTube only.

6.) Masterchef Synesthesia - Swede Mason


7.) Diary of a bad man 5


8.) Rebecca Black "Friday" (Brock's Dub).


9.) Talking Twin Babies

10.) TomSka

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Google+ Update: More features added for Photos section with the New Photo Lightbox

Lots of good features have been added for Photos section in Google+ such as full screen browsing, improved tagging faces feature, navigation buttons are moved and made smaller instead of the giant navigation button before, and easy to jump from one photo to another photo in the album instead of going in sequence.

It already has a great photo editing software, this will make watching photos in big screens much better. It appears they are moving Picasa to Google+.

These are not the only new features, there are new features in other sections of Google+ also.

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Google Street View - Google Germany GmbH

Google Germany posts a nice video of Google Maps "Street View" option.

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Any.DO: Best To Do List Manager for Android Phones

If you want a good To Do manager for Android Phones, then Any.DO is an excellent one to have. It has a nice design and simple to use. You can either type your tasks or voice input them. To clear tasks, just swipe across the screen like we cross-out things. When we shake the phone it clears the completed tasks. Best of all it syncs with the Google account, for now it needs manual sync, if they add automatic sync it will be even better.

Some of the main features are:

- Keep track of your todo's, anytime, anywhere. 

- Drag & drop tasks to plan your agenda. 

- Sort tasks by date, folder or priorities. 

- Set reminders for the things you MUST do. 

- Add notes or use them as sub-tasks - Swipe a task to mark it as complete. 

- Shake to clear the completed tasks. 

- Check out your to-do's from your home screen with one of Any.DO cool widgets.

Any.DO doesn't have an iOS app yet, but if you want to be notified when it is released then you can visit their site and enter your Facebook ID or email.


Move tasks to different folders or share the task with others.


Erase the task with a swipe across it.


Also, a call option available in Any.DO app.

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Monopoly Here & Now Game for iPad and iPhone is free today

The fun Monopoly game app "Monopoly Here & Now" is free today in iTunes. This is another variation of the original Monopoly game with only slight differences. 


I heard it is crashing a lot but worth a try. 

Also free for iPhone in iTunes.

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108 Free Songs in Google Music

For a limited time, the following songs are available for free in Google Music. Even though they are free, they need a debit card or credit card for future purchases just like iTunes does.

There are lots of great artists in the lists, so check it out.

• 49 Rock Songs 
• 26 Country Songs 
•  33 Pop/Hip Hop Songs

After you download the songs, you can either listen to this music via Google Music Android App or in the browser. There is no iOS app for Google Music yet, but you can listen to the music in the browser.

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Lizard plays games in Android Phone

Lizard loves Android game "Ant Crusher" and it is an expert too.

• Smash ants with your finger in this great game! 
• Ant Smasher is more social now - you can smash your friends' pictures!!! 
• Highly entertaining for kids, boys and girls. 
• Special virtual goods that make the game easier for young players can be acquired! 

Apparently the game is not only entertaining for kids but also for lizards.

The game is available in Android Market: http://goo.gl/9zT3M

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Android Market Billion Apps Promo Day 10: Top 10 apps for 10 cents each

Today is the last day of the Android Market Billion Apps Promo, in which 10 premium apps are sold for 10 cents each. 


The Star Chart is a good app for astronomy lovers, I use Google Sky Maps but this is slightly a better one with nice stars and galaxies identification. 

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Android Market Billion Apps Promo Day 8: Top 10 apps for 10 cents each

Nice set of apps are selling at a bargain in Android Market. Go download it before they start selling at a premium price.

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SkySafari 3 for iPhone, iPad free until today in iTunes

Astronomy lovers should have this app, just aim your iPad or iPhone at the sky, SkySafari 3 will list the names of the stars and planets.

It is free until today at this iTunes link.

There are two other versions available besides this version, Sky Safari 3 Pro, and SkySafari 3 Plus. You can compare the features of three versions here and see which one is suitable for you. The Pro version has more stars in the app's database compared to the other two.

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Android Market Billion Apps Promo Day 6: Top 10 apps for 10 cents each

You can download the above apps at this Android Market link.

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Android Market Billion Apps Promo Day 5: Top 10 apps for 10 cents each

Day 5 Promo for the Billion apps downloaded in Android Market are as follows available in Android Market at 10 cents each.

• Pano
• Apparatus
• The Sims 3
• Age of Zombies
• Drop7 by Zynga
• Season Zen HD
• Snowfall Live Wallpaper
• SlidelT Keyboard
• Kids Connect the Dots
• Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD

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Free Amazon Kindle Ebook: The Flinch by Julien Smith

I received an email newsletter today from marketing guru Seth Godin and in it he recommended this book "The Flinch" by Julien Smith.

A book so important we refuse to charge for it. Julien Smith has delivered a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come. The idea is simple: your flinch mechanism can save your life. It shortcircuits the conscious mind and allows you to pull back and avoid danger faster than you can even imagine it’s there. But what if danger is exactly what you need? What if facing the flinch is the one best way to get what you want? Here’s a chance to read the book everyone will be talking about, before they do. What are you afraid of? Here's how to find out. 

You can download this Kindle eBook for free in Amazon. 

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How to open a wine bottle with a shoe trick?

The tip to open a wine bottle with a shoe is shown in the above video. The instructions in the video is in French, but is self-explanatory. It is a good technique to use without spilling wine everywhere and letting corks fly like a missile. You can impress your guests next time with this clever tip.

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Google Currents - Great Magazine and Newspaper Reader for iPad, Android and iPhone Smartphones

Google had a terrific magazine app for browsers called "Fast Flip" but earlier this year they discontinued after Google co-founder Larry Page became CEO. If you are used to that app then you would see lots of similarities in Google Currents, but only Currents is optimized for Tablets, iPad, Android Smartphones and iPhone.

All you need is a single Google account and it syncs across multiple platforms via the cloud. Google Currents is comparable to Flipboard for iPad app or Flipboard for iPhone app, but has more features and options in Google Currents. It is one of the must-have apps for Android OS or Apple's iOS.

For Android, you can download Google Currents from this Android Market link and for iPad, you can download it from this iTunes link.

I tested it in Droid Incredible and iPad2, works great in both. It is ideally suited for big screens but works nice in mobile also. It is much better than Flipboard in iPad in my opinion.

Don't expect it to be smooth after you install it, it takes some time to download magazine data from the servers, which depends on the speed of your data provider. For now only free magazine versions are available, later paid versions will be added.

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10 Billion Downloads Promotion Day 3: 10 Android Apps for 10 cents each

The following 10 apps are available in Android Market for $0.10 each.

Please see they are valid only for 24 hours, so hurry.



10 Billion Downloads! - Android Market

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Top Android Apps available on sale for $0.10 in Android Market Part II

Android Market has reached a staggering 10 Billion app figure in just two years. Android started celebrating yesterday by selling top and premium Android apps for just $0.10 each. And today, they are continuing the same trend with 10 new apps for $0.10 each including the top selling Beautiful Widgets shown in the video below:

Today our 10 Billion app downloads celebration continues with a new set of premium apps available for just 10 cents (or ~90% off in your local currency) for the next 24 hours. Enter the Fruit Ninja dojo to hone your produce slashing skills, shoot for par (or sink some birdies) with Flick Golf and snag some Beautiful Widgets to make your home screen just a little more homey:

• AirSync by DoubleTwist: http://goo.gl/EFPYE
• Beautiful Widgets: http://goo.gl/nLllP
• Bernstein Bears Bedtime Battle: http://goo.gl/OrkLr
• Christmas HD: http://goo.gl/bVZ06
• Flick Golf: http://goo.gl/Yo9T0
• Fruit Ninja: http://goo.gl/Zp9Jx
• NFL Rivals: http://goo.gl/dnSE8
• Read it Later Pro: http://goo.gl/TrMz1
• Reckless Racing: http://goo.gl/jQSU8
• Star Chart: http://goo.gl/IsRyY

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Top Android Apps available on sale for $0.10 in Android Market

A number of Android Apps are selling for $0.10 in the Android Market, US, check the below links to grab them before they disappear:

• Great Little War Game
• SketchBook Mobile
• Paper Camera
• Sound Hound
• Asphalt 6
• Fieldrunners HD
• SwiftKey
• Minecraft
• Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro

Via Android Central.

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Ad: Beats By Dr. Dre Studio Limited Edition Headphone

Beats By Dr. Dre are high end stereo headphones and now they are introducing color versions of it as limited editions. The video below is their ad campaign for their new color headphones. The headphones are available in Amazon also.

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Photo: Kansas City Library - A Building of Books?

I saw this photo of Kansas City Library with books in its building, I thought it was Photoshopped, but they are real. Here in Street View in Google Maps you can see that. Clever idea and nice architecture. Who won't be inspired by such an image in a Library.

Street View - Google Maps


View Larger Map

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Get Invitation for Senzari, a Pandora like music site

I received a Senzari invitation and am using it right now, it looks nice like Pandora. But according to Chris Pirillo it has more music tracks than Pandora radio. You can click this temporary link to get access to the site, you also need a Facebook account to use this site:

"Thanks to TechCrunch, I gained access to a limited beta of Senzari - which is like Pandora with 10x the library (even though it inexplicably uses Flash). I guess this invite link will work for only 24 hours - uses Facebook Connect, US and Brazil only:

http://www.senzari.com/techcrunch"

Once Senzari has more features, mobile options then it will be a good competition for Pandora.

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Free Six-Track Music Download From Nine Inch Nails

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (US Version) is going to be released soon. The music composers Nine Inch Nails are offering a special promotion, free download of their 6 songs from the movie.

We’re offering a variety of purchasing options including multiple format high-quality digital files, CDs and a really nice limited edition deluxe package containing vinyl and a flash drive. In addition, RIGHT NOW you can download a six-track, 35 minute sampler with no purchase necessary

 For more details click Nine Inch Nails website. You can enter you email address in the below widget to get the link for the six-track download.

The musical group did the same when they did music for "The Social Network", a movie about Facebook

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Check whether you have Carrier IQ installed in your Android phones

For the past few days there has been a big controversy whether Carrier IQ, a small app installed by the phone carriers is spying on the Android phone user's activities.

To see whether you have Carrier IQ installed in your Android phones, use the free Voodoo Carrier IQ app.

It is very user friendly to install and run the app. Once you open the app, it gives a quick score whether you are infected with spyware from Carrier IQ.

Also, install the spyware and security app, Lookout, which does a decent job in issues like this reported one.

 For more information, click the link Androidcommunity.com.

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