In my last post, I spoke about MagiCall, a software program that enables smartphone and pocket PC owners to manage who calls and contacts them. I really think this is a nifty application. I don’t get prank calls too often but the other day, I got a call saying that I needed to pick up Chinese food that I didn’t order from a restricted number. Turns out it was one of my friends, but I actually ended up calling the operator and Verizon Wireless to see if I could find out who called me. I was told that I had to wait until the end of the month for my phone bill to come and even then, there was no guarantee I’d see the number, depending on how the called chose to block and call me. It would have saved me some grief to have had MagiCall (and a smartphone, for that matter).
This software is a godsend to mankind because we really can seem to get no privacy these days. We’re constantly bombarded with mail from NYU, Facebook messages from my friends, text messages and calls, but with software like this, we’re able to maintain some modicum of solitude from being constantly contacted.
Social norms are constantly changing around us and advancements in technology just happens to play a large part in these changes. I wrote a couple weeks ago that the smartphone itself changes the way we interact in that it dwindles down face-to-face conversation as it becomes replaced by instant messaging. I think MagiCall can also change the face of communication. Technology is supposed to facilitate our lives (even though it often causes more destruction than assistance) and this new software helps us to better exercise control over the communication we have on a day-to-day basis.
I found an article about how Japan only recently got the iPhone this past July. This shows that the smartphone revolution has a global perspective with its target market. Unfortunately for us, MagiCall can’t prevent the government from keeping tabs on us, it’s sort of comforting to know that privacy can be increased for everyone worldwide, all the while changing the way we communicate by making the internet accessible to us with a simple touch.
For you smartphone users out there, MagiCall can be yours for just $25.
A short while back, my friend started to receive prank calls from a strange number. The caller would proceed to talk nonsense in different accents and bother her. She called her cell phone provider and tried to block the number but she was unfortunately told that the process wasn’t that simple. She gave up and thankfully, the calls stopped after a week or two. Even so, why was she not able to block a number that was harassing her? Well, if she had known about MagiCall, her life would have been much easier.
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For those of us not willing to jailbreak our iPhones, we’re stuck in jail. But the good news is, it’s not half bad!
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Mushon, I know you’re gonna hate me for posting so late all the time. But I really did think very long and hard about how to improve my 3rd travelogue and I THINK I may have found something? I’m not sure. It’s still making new developments in my head.
MagiCall is a smart, rule based software for dual-way calls filtering and SMS filtering.
You can block unwanted callers, delete SMS spams, and prevent numbers from being dialled. And you can also easier use calling cards because MagiCall can automatically insert card number and pin in front of the original number for you.
In addition, MagiCall can send SMS or launch application with filtering, such as replying SMS to the caller or the sender or playing music.
So I was thinking something along the lines of privacy in real life versus on the web? Privacy on cellphones (you can’t block numbers very easily, I think) versus privacy on smartphones? Is it still too vague? Be honest (you always are). I wanna finish the 3rd travelogue and make it not retarded.
Jailbreaking is a term that’s really only emerged in mainstream culture since the iPhone came out last year. Almost as soon as Apple released their smart phone for people to use the way they wanted them to (i.e. with AT&T/Cingular, with a specific interface, etc.), people were figuring out ways to override their blocks. I remember being in India in January, only six months after the iPhone came out, and already there were unlocked iPhones for sale alongside bootleg DVDs.
So what are the benefits of jailbreaking your iPhone? Why would you do it?
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In my initial post, I raised the question of why people are slowly switching over to smartphones (iPhones, Blakberrys, etc.).
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