Gavin Baker

I got my Google Voice invite about a month ago. I think the service is intriguing so I was excited to see the email in my inbox.  First you have to pick a number  – this was a big deal to me since they don’t offer number portability, yet.   I decided to select an 865 (Knoxville, TN) number even though my mobile is a 513 (Cincinnati, OH) number.  After number selection I started playing around with the web app and what not but I pretty much just left it as it was.

Then I found out there was an iPhone app – not fully official but still available.  Then Google released official BlackBerry and Android apps that can take over the native dialer and sms function with the promise of an iPhone in the pipeline.  This was like a fresh roll of cotton candy to my eyes as I LOVE synergy.  If I’m going to use Google Voice, I want it be be as native as possible.  Then the whole FCC Google, AT&T, Apple fiacso got rolling and all possibility of that was shelved for a bit. Although I did download the non official Google Voice app via Cydia which the developer Sean Kovacs released amazingly for free.

Addtionaly, I did some checking and I got my Google Voice up and running on the desktop with a couple of tricks.  First from this article I installed a Firefox extension, but honestly it didn’t do what I was hoping.

So I figured Fluid would be the way to go.  For those uninitiated, Fluid is a program that creates site specific browsers, i.e. creates launchable applications out of browser based web apps.  I currently use it for CoTweet, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Reader.  I’ve never encountered any odd systemic failures but it goes without saying that you try this at your own risk.

So here’s a bit of a tutorial of sorts to add Google Voice with Growl and Javascript icon notifications.  Props to the developer who created the script to make this Google Voice magic happen, all of this information is adapted from his original post here. If you’re already familiar with adding userscripts to Fluid apps you can get the script here – for everyone else.  Read on.

Prior to this step you’ll have needed to download and installed Fluid and then created an app for Google Voice.  Use the URL “http://google.com/voice” and the PNG for the icon here.  You’ll also need Growl running for notifications.

All photos will enlarge when clicked for details.

Step 1: Browse for userscripts from within the Fluid app you created (mine is called G Voice)

This will open a new window you’ll search in.

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I’m late to the party, but I just saw this quote about 5 minutes ago.

We don’t need web-based versions of our desktop software. We need web software that takes advantage of being online.

Quote of the day in my book.  We need stuff that is designed with interactivity and connection in mind, not just solo me, on my computer.

Quote from Allstair Croll’s GigaOM post about Google Forms

Down here in Knoxville, WUOT our National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate just finished it’s fund raising drive which has raised my awareness of NPR’s website.

Their website is great, no more then great, it is awesome!  It’s also got a contemporary feel that many news sites are looking for, but just haven’t gotten quite right yet.

What I mean is it’s easy to get around, easy to listen, easy to find out more information then they mentioned on the show.  Which is perfect for my knowledge hungry self and others like me.   I like to listen to the show again at work, or delve deeper into the stories.

What strikes me as crazy is that NPR isn’t the newest kid on the block by any means.  Which also means there is hope for everyone else that’s been around for a while.

NPR is using their radio platform in conjunction with the web, way better then any radio station I’ve come across.  The great thing is that they aren’t annoying or turning away listeners.  If 80% of the people that listen on the radio never go online, that’s not a problem, because the radio content isn’t shortened or minimized.  And those that ONLY go online get the national content, and those that do both get a great amount of local and national information.

The way I see it NPR is playing the game right.  I say well done.

But that’s just me, what do you think?

Have a great day.