"i'm sorry, i'm on a deadline"
An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#32Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#33I created a version of this in 2006 (I think), called Getmooh.com - Get Me Out Of Here. The idea was to get people out of bad dates with an automated call. I used the Skype API with VB6 and some natural voice libraries from AT&T. We mostly got used for prank calls with pre-recorded messages we had. Worked OK. But cost us money and I got bored once it was built. We got maybe 60,000 sign ups I think.
I'm pretty sure this was a feature of an old dumbphone, you could set it up so that holding down the number 5 (say) on the key pad would trigger a 'call'. Might have been a Samsung?
I hand an old Nokia (That had a sliding keyboard !!) with this feature (press down volume 4 times), it also had a scheduling feature with personalized ring-tone, number and display name!
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#34pretty standard feature on Japanese phones for unemployed people or people who wanna look more busy or important, I guess people in West don't care do much about losing face our impression
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#35Resume your focus! ...until our partners call you on a hourly bases for the rest of your life. ;)
lol so true.
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
And your point is? Advertisements can still be useful to discuss. And commercial products and services are featured on HN all the time. Plus, it's not like HN is anti-commercial either.
This is a blatant advertisement for a way to collect phone numbers. I'm not sure breaching privacy and social engineering scheme are welcome or else HN would be filled with malwares and the likes.
>This is a blatant advertisement for a way to collect phone numbers.
Not anymore than any other service that to work asks for phone numbers or email addresses.
You might not appreciate or have a use for the service, which is tongue in cheek, but that doesn't make it "malware" or "social engineering".
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#37Just be honest and say "please don't think I'm being rude, but I really need to get on with this work." You can be assertive without lying or being nasty.
please don't think I'm
being rude
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#38Just be honest and say "please don't think I'm being rude, but I really need to get on with this work." You can be assertive without lying or being nasty.
That's ideal and needs to be the first approach. In practice, people that communicate all day don't always understand than other jobs require uninterrupted focus. That's why engineers try things like no-meeting-wednesdays and schedule blocks for coding. I wouldn't use the tool in question, but I relate to the motivation.
if you need to use this tool, the uninterrupted focus is most likely already gone, damage done. it's even likely that the person will return once your call is done to interrupt you again.
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#39Just be honest and say "please don't think I'm being rude, but I really need to get on with this work." You can be assertive without lying or being nasty.
please don't think I'm being rude By saying that you remind the interlocutor that being rude is in fact an option (indeed a widely used one) and you may simply be rude ... ah the subtleties of communication.
> no offence, but [offensive remark].
Re: An app that lets you pretend to receive a call when a co-worker distracts you
#40I never understood why a telephone gets precedence over somebody who made the effort to come to you in person.