Calling all geeks.  There is a new and amazing program that’s hoping to come to Savannah that could offer you, the geeks of this community, a great way to give back by donating your unused and unloved computers to at risk youth.  The concept isn’t new and in fact has been replicated in communities around the country.  It has a quirky name, Free Geek, which began as a non-profit community organization that was established in Oregon in 2000.

FREE GEEK recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need in exchange for community service.  In the eight years since its formation, Free Geek has recycled over 1,500 tons of electronic scrap and refurbished over 15,000 computer systems that are now in use by individuals and organizations in the community.

Free Geek does most of this work with volunteers. The volunteers disassemble the donated equipment and test the components, which are either recycled as electronic scrap or recycled into refurbished systems. These refurbished computers are then loaded with Open Source Software, such as GNU/Linux, Open Office, and other Free Software.

(Watch the Free Geek video on YouTube.com.)

Ok, so this is totally off (Savannah) topic, but I don’t care.  I need to get something off my chest. (Plus, I promised Lucas I’d write a geeky post once in awhile.)

The thing is, I hate voicemail. It sucks.

PhoneTag’s (formerly SimulScribe) NYC taxi-top marketing campaign

Navigating through messages en masse, rewinding/fast-forwarding to find that phone number you’re looking for that’s annoyingly left at the end of a 3 minute message,  enduring an endless dialogue of “press {some number} to {perform some action}” inflames my impatient sensibilities and is generally an inefficient waste of time.

In the past I’ve coped with this inconvenience by doing what I normally do when encountering something I really don’t like: Deny it exists.  Instead of listening to voicemail,  I just return phone calls from my “missed calls” list (to the annoyance of my friends and family).

But that’s all in the past. I have, in fact, now exorcised the demon. Praise be to you, Lord PhoneTag.

PhoneTag (formerly SimulScribe) is a service that sends you an email with a transcribed copy of your voicemail AND an mp3 (or .wav) attachment of the original message.  No more dealing with lame menus, long voicemails or a full voicemail box. Instead, you just read an email. It’s beautiful.