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Our Gods at Google Give Us GOOG-411
Google is once again taking something that everyone uses, but doesn't really think about, and making it way better. But it has nothing to do with the web. The "something" I'm talking about is 411, the directory assistance number that is called around 6 billion times a year.
They've now created GOOG-411 (but you dial 1-800-466-4111), a free 411 service that lets you search by a business name, or you can also search by business category, which then gives you the top 8 results that match your criteria. I've tried it several times and the voice recognition technology is great, and you don't have to worry about talking to some cranky woman from South Carolina if the computer didn't understand you. You can also have the businesses phone number and address sent to your mobile as well, which can definitely be handy at times.
Still though, my favorite part is that it's free. I've been a Cingular/AT&T customer since 1997, and I've honestly never had any problems with them. But it sucks that they charge me $1.79 for calling 411. For letting a computer run a quick search of a number. Totally lame. So next time you want to order sushi on your way home from work, but don't know the number, don't make your provider any money when you can get the number free from our Google Overlords.
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