Google Voice on the iPhone

Given that everyone with (non-jailbroken) phones is still waiting for a Google Voice app for the iPhone, I thought I'd post how I have set up my integration even though I occasionally use the GV Mobile app. This is for people who don't want to fully switch to their Google Voice number. If that's what you're looking for, check this Lifehacker transition guide.

1) Go get Google Voice

2) Set up forwarding of incoming voicemails on your number to Google Voice

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/voice/thread?tid=00a93855af6943b4&hl=en

3) Change what the voicemail button on you iPhone does.

http://www.haklabs.com/2007/iphone-voicemail-button-fix/

Enjoy!

"Fast and Famous" in Silicon Valley

Jay Leno recently tried to discover the inner racetrack around his home in Beverly Hills/LA; he subsequently filmed a movie similar to "Rendezvous" with a front-wheel view of the drive around the track (video). He sized it to be about the same as the famous Nurburgring, around 13 miles or so. Over the summer, driving to Stanford, I found a similarly thrilling route around I-280, which traces the hills around Silicon Valley. It stretches through Los Altos Hills and through the foothills of Palo Alto hills before heading into Portola Valley. On my drive to University Avenue yesterday, I came across an Aston Martin DB7 as well as a Ferrari 599 Maranello and tried to "race" them. That's when it came to me that this drive could indeed be the equivalent of Jay Leno's drive around Mulhulland Dr, through Canyon Valley, and back along Sunset Blvd. I decided to tweak it to give it a proper allowance of both hill driving and curves as well as a great straightaway for speed. The route is highlighted belwo. While Foothill Expressway is a little too much of a long straightaway, it is nonetheless exhilarating to speed down when you get a streak of green lights. Furthermore, it is very well paved and most traffic moves at 10 above the limit. It's a nice parallel to Sunset Blvd and gives a nice view of the hills along the way. Anyway, the 'ring starts on Magdelena Rd, right by the Rancho Shopping Center in Los Altos. Down this road and one signal light away is the onramp to I-280, which cuts around the hills and up to Page Mill Rd, which cuts back down the hill in a usually empty stretch that connects back to the backbone of the route, Foothill Expressway. This drive may not cut through the homes of Hollywood's stars, but nonetheless takes you by many VC offices that funded the big names in tech.

Kid Cudi Wallpaper

I've never seen the alternate/inside cover of "Man On the Moon" till today. I decided something needed to happen to bring the front and back together.

BMW M7

People flock like no other to the E-Class AMG (various flavors, but in general), and that goes well in head-to-head competition with the M5. I certainly see more E-Class AMG's around, but that's simply because I think it seems more luxurious while maintaining its bad-ass attitude on the exterior. But certainly BMW is making some good money off that M5, right? The M3 is tearing apart the C-Class AMG as far as I can see - the M3 has long been the gold standard of its class and there's good reason for that. Now let's take a look at the high-performance luxury flagship sedan - the 7 Series vs. S- Class. Both do well in terms of sales, but when it comes to downright luxury, few people want the BMW. But there's not even a choice for those who want a kick out of their behemoth sedan - there is no M7!! There is only the S-Class AMGs, which are exorbitantly priced and are selling extremely well. Why can't BMW plop a nice turbocharged engine in their standard 7 and run with it? Maybe just use the same one from the M6? I feel like there's money on the table. And yeah, the Alpina B7 isn't enough. Make it production and not impossibly rare!

Grammer Policing: Alumnus/Alumna License Plate

So every day while driving around I see many of these license plate holders that let me know where somebody went to college, as it says "Alumni College X". The point of the message is usually to convey that the driver of the car is an alumnus/na of the school, right? Or is it to serve as a source or pride for the alumni association? I have seen some plates that explicitly state "Alumni Association" - I have no issues with this. However, I have met far too many people, even from good schools (the people who flaunt this invariably went to an Ivy or Stanford, but certainly something with a brand name), who don't properly use the singular and plural versions of alumnus/alumni. What's going on here?

If I had a million dollars...

If only legal and not under the imminent threat of legal action from Apple, I would love to take what Psystar did for desktops and extend it to laptops (but inversely). My ideal computer, after some consideration this evening, has presented itself to me. Though I love the look of the newest Dell Studio XPS 13 and Adamo, they're still trying. The MacBook Pro on the other hand, doesn't. It just is. And it is very well. Without trying, it makes the statement that it gets the job done. But as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't as long as its running OSX. So what would I do if I had some more cash? Install Windows 7, the best operating system available (in my opinion of course) on as many of these MBP's as possible. And of course, I need to revert to having two REAL mouse BUTTONS in addition to my fancy touchpad. I'm just not sold on this whole finger gesture movement, because even the most deft of my friends aren't as fast as I am with my PC touchpad with all its "unnatural" number of buttons.

In conclusion:

Best laptop ever = MacBook Pro (13 or 15, as preferred) + Windows 7 + Buttons on touchpad.

Twitter Hotkey

Finally, exactly what was needed for massive numbers of Twitter posts. An app that comes with its own Hotkey and doesn't require me to read and look at all the other posts when I want to post myself. Twitter Autohotkey Script, which includes TinyURL support (why not bit.ly I'm not sure, since its better...) as well, just lets you simply press Windows-T to easily launch a box which you can type in your tweet. No need for Launchy, Quicksilver, or anything complicated. Furthermore, unlike standard desktop Twitter clients, it is lightweight (currently under 4 MB memory footprint) and doesn't show me tweets when I don't want to read them. Sometimes I just want to get my thoughts out without reading others (whereas other times I want to read without writing)... this in addition to my previously mentioned Chrome Application Shortcut seems to be the simplest, most elegant solution.