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Friday, January 9, 2009

"Calling America" for Free

Outside the US it's tough to have free calls to America. But I figured out a site offering free calls to America and it works. I am from the Philippines. I tried to call my friend in New Jersey and we got a great conversation. But before that I tested if it really works though, so I tried calling Best Buy online store contact page.


So here's the details of how it works and the issues.
1. I go here
2. First I register to get rid of prompting back again to register from time to time. Registering the site is damn easy.
3. So, once the account is verified and created, I log in to the site and paste 1-888-237-8289 as is with dashes. The site understands it.
4. Hit Free Call Now button so it will try to dial the number. The system will try to detect the built-in microphone and speaker. For plug in headset, it just doesn't detect it. So better use the built-in speaker and microphone. This is common in laptops and notebooks.
5. I wait for the ring...it should ring out like a normal phone.
6. Then presto! I got a "hello" conversation with the operator and immediately put it down. Now try this with your friends or loved ones residing anywhere in America.


Should it failed to ring out, just refresh the browser and dial again. Sometimes the site will ask you again to re-log in.

There. Hope it helps. I tried this and worked well.

Happy calling. Let me know your experience through comments.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

"odesk test answers?" Seriously?

You reached this page for answers in oDesk? You are kidding.

Here are the answers:

There's no short cut of building credibility in oDesk by cheating. Go make some sweaty preparation for the test. One tip is to open simultaneously the browser for instant research and have IDE let say for C# test on your side. C# Programming Test has lots of compile related tests and you can save some of your answers to assure correctness.

Some providers associated with companies has less than 20mins time spent on tests. You gonna be kidding! I bet they record the tests for their consultants. So that's the last tip. For a serious recorder, go seek desktop recorder like CamStudio. Remember oDesk test has almost a month of interval before you can retake the test so go take your best shot and good luck!