Phil Huang

Month: June 2009

  • VoIP Incoming Call Routing

    I use a company called Viatalk and since it’s a VoIP, it comes with a lot of free features that either aren’t available with landlines or you have to pay extra for. I especially love the Incoming Call Routing feature that Viatalk has. It gives you a lot of flexibility in handling incoming calls from specific numbers. It’s really helpful for blocking telemarketers or other unwanted callers. For example, you can make calls go straight to voicemail, give a busy signal, or play a handful of different messages. You can play a “disconnected” message that plays the recording you get from the phone company when you call an invalid number. You can even play a “blacklisted” message that literally tells the caller they’ve been blocked and to “go away”!

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  • Bing

    Bing

    Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, ain’t too bad. The results are pretty good and I can find what I want easily. I’ve actually switched to Bing as my default search engine to test it out. I like the interface too, it’s feels clean and refreshing – a nice bit of style without being too complex or too simple. I also think the 12px Arial looks so much better than the 11px Verdana Microsoft always uses on their sites.

  • Roger Federer Wins the French Open!

    Talk about playing his best tennis when it really matters. Congratulations to the greatest player ever! 14 slams and a career grand slam – wow!

    Roger Federer Wins 2009 French Open
    Roger Federer Wins 2009 French Open

    P.S. I called this a few months ago after the Australian Open. I wrote it down on a piece of paper. I felt making the prediction pubicly on the site here would jinx it. I sooooo called it. Fed wins the French Open. :-D

    P.P.S. Anyone notice that wicked backhand half-volley winner from the baseline late in the match? The commentators didn’t even mention it because they were busy talking about the GOAT. Seriously that was a frickin ridiculous shot. I mean, his forehand half-volleys are badass, I’ve never seen him make this shot though. No one in the world except Roger could pull that off.

  • NBC Coverage of French Open 2009 Men’s Semifinals SUCKS ONCE AGAIN

    See my rant last year about NBC’s POOR coverage of the French Open semi-finals here. Well NBC sucked it up once again this year. As tennis fans know, Federer is arguably the most popular tennis player, despite being ranked #2. He is on the brink of making history, going for his 14th major to tie Pete Sampras and the career grand slam. NBC had exclusivity which means no other channel could air or live stream the French Open men’s semifinals today. Their coverage today was also limited to just a 10 AM to 1 PM time slot. What do they decide to do?

    Instead of airing the 5th set of Soderling vs. Gonzalez live and then covering Federer v. Del Potro, they decide to air a taped replay of Soderling/Gonzalez. So there was NO live coverage of Federer’s semifinal match in the US. NBC, you suck. You suck so much, it’s ridiculous. Your tennis ratings probably suck because you air taped replays, packed with commercials, of matches people don’t want to see. If you can’t cover the tournament properly, then don’t cover it all you jackasses!

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  • French Open: Road to Semis

    Yes, another French Open post. Murray has just lost and I wasn’t surprised at all because while Murray has improved, he’s still not really great on clay. And Soderling shows his win over Nadal was no fluke, when he beat Davydenko pretty handily earlier today. I had actually thought Davydenko would come through since he’d been playing well and dispatched Verdasco relatively easily.

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