Blogging in Buzz

Since Blogger is hard to access from here in China, I'll be instead using Google Buzz as my blog.

Feel free to follow me here:

http://www.google.com/profiles/josh.estelle#buzz

Shanghai

Hi everyone,

Sadly the last time I posted on this blog was 4 months ago, when I was on my way to Australia for a week to work with the Google Wave team. Bringing me back to the blog is my upcoming trip to Shanghai.

I will be spending the next 3 months in Shanghai, working with the part of my team (Google Translate) that is based there.

While on this trip I intend to breath some new life into this blog, hopefully writing more frequently about my trip.

Adventure awaits!

PS... I stole that fantastic picture above from http://shineanthology.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/a-travel-schedule-part-1/, who it appears stole it from Frank Giral. Here's the original.

Going to Australia

I'm headed to Australia to work in the Sydney office for a week. Should be a blast! Crazy that the flight leaves Thursday and gets in Saturday. Ridiculous!

Google Voice, iPhone, and Voicemail Transcription

I've been playing with Google Voice a lot lately, and for me, the killer feature is voicemail transcription.

Now it's not always perfect, but being able to read a rough transcription of a voicemail makes handling voicemail so much faster and easier.

I'm not quite ready to make the jump to using my Google Voice number as my primary number, I suppose I'm still a little attached to the number I've had for the past few years.

But I did manage to get Google Voice working just as a voicemail replacement, here's how I did it:

1. In your Google Voice settings, put Google Voice on Do-Not-Disturb mode. This causes all calls to go immediately to voicemail. More details



2. Use special GSM codes to modify where your calls are sent if you don't answer, are busy, or are unreachable:
   
   
   
   • If no answer: *61*[google voice number]*11*[seconds delay]#
   • Example: *61*14153331212*20#
   • This forwarding rule is for when your phone rings, but you don't respond in any way.
   
   
   • If busy: *67*[google voice number]*11#
   • This forwarding rule is for when your phone rings, but you actively decline the call.
   
   
   • If unreachable: *62*[google voice number]*11#
   • This forwarding rule is for when your phone can't be reached, i.e., you have no service or your phone is off.
   
   
   • More details

Now my iPhone still does everything like it use to, except when calls go to voicemail, they're handled by Google Voice. When I get a new voicemail, I get a text message with the transcript of the voicemail, and I can use http://www.google.com/voice to view those messages (in a visual voicemail sort of way) or dial my own Google Voice number to listen to voicemails the old fashioned way.

Pretty sweet.

Note: The methods described above should work for any phone on a GSM network, not just the iPhone. So if you're on AT&T, T-Mobile, or any other GSM network, then this can work for you.

Call Me

I'm trying to more seriously test out Google Voice these days.

So far I'm super impressed.

Click this to call me:

Where is Routesy?

When the iPhone App Store first came out, I remember fairly quickly finding out about the app Routesy.

Routesy is an application that provides its user with realtime updates on San Francisco MUNI (public transportation) schedules and timing.

It does so with great integration with the iPhone, using built-in Maps, location-sensing, etc.

It's as easy as opening the app, saying which bus line or train you want to take, and it knows what the nearest stop is and when you can expect the next bus/train.

All of this is powered by the realtime GPS data collected by the MUNI buses and trains.

Now when I first bought this app, I was kind of annoyed. The app cost $1.99, which for some reason annoyed me, because I could get the same information for free online, I was annoyed I was getting charged two bucks.

But now, after having paid for it, and used Routesy for quite some time, I would gladly pay more than that, for the excellent user experience the Routesy app provides. Routesy does a much better job than any of the other options available now, and for me, makes using SF MUNI a much more enjoyable experience.

But all of that ended, when NextBus Information Systems "claimed that an agreement from 2004 gives them full authorization to collect $1 per download from any application developer", and the got Apple to block Routesy from the App Store, and broke existing installations of Routesy.

Now SF MUNI already pays NextBus for their service. Our tax dollars already pay for this information. Now NextBus is trying to get Routesy to pay them again, or to get consumers to pay $4.99 every 6 months!

Ridiculous.

The service they offer doesn't even look like it's as good as Routesy. It'd be one thing if they offered an equivalent service, but now they're demanding I pay more, for a worse experience, for something that my tax dollars, through MUNI, already pay for.

Yea... not cool.

So, support Routesy. Routesy finally got a good lawyer and they're fighting the good fight. I for one will do everything I can to help make sure NextBus doesn't screw us all over.

Follow Routesy on twitter.

Steller Brewing Company

Check out http://www.stellerbrewing.com/ !

The blog has been quiet since it's inception, but it just got 3 blog posts in as many minutes! Whoa! I'm a blogging machine.