Up to now, I’d access Google Voice on my Mac or netbook right through my web browser. But over the weekend, I started using a nice Adobe AIR implementation of Google Voice called GVoice. Even cooler is the fact that one of our own readers created it! RStoeber is a regular here at jkOnTheRun, and he pinged me to share the app. I’ve been running it nonstop ever since he told me about it — you can find it here, along with a few other projects.

In this early version, the app is exactly like the mobile version I see on my iPhone. Voicemails even play within GVoice — I tested it with a message James left me because Google’s translation went awry in a few spots. Since GVoice runs on Adobe AIR, it’s cross-platform so I can run it on either my Mac, my PC or a Linux box. While I could just leave a tab open in my browser for Google Voice, I like this standalone implementation better. It refreshes the Inbox every minute, so I’m always up to date on my voicemails and text messages without having to look at my phone. Of course, I can send texts from it or initiate a call to a contact from one of my two phones, as well. Developers started to add Growl support to Adobe AIR last November, so a future version of GVoice could support instant notifications of messages, too.

XPize is the product of a project run by volunteer developers, and it updates many of the UI elements in Windows XP to make them look fresher. It adds a number of nice visual styles that don’t change Windows XP; they just make it look more modern. It is perfect for netbooks, most of which run XP. Give it a try if you want to spruce up that old XP interface. There is also a Vize for you Vista users, and the group plans a Sevenize once Windows 7 is released.

(via I Started Something)

Phil pointed out another useful battery meter utility, and since I’ve been taking a closer look at Windows 7 on my UMPC (more on that later), the timing is perfect. I’m always looking at different battery meters because I like to auto-hide the Windows taskbar on the small screen. That, in turn, hides the native battery icon in the Windows system tray. Business Hacks thinks that BattCursor could work for folks like me. The free app adds your remaining battery level percentage to the cursor on your screen.

That might sound annoying, but you can customize the transparency level of the notification. And your cursor can be configured to turn yellow or red when the battery level gets close to the critical level. The software can even turn your Aero Glass windows yellow or red as you approach a low battery level. The BattCursor devs say this uses an undocumented feature of Windows, so that function could disappear. As your battery levels decline, the utility can auto-dim your screen and disable Aero Glass in order to save a wee bit more juice.

BattCursor runs on Microsoft Windows Vista and 7, at least up to the Release Candidate of the latter. Thanks, Phil!

The highly flexible media application is part of the Portable Apps suite, which means you can carry VLC on a flash drive in your pocket. The download is 20MB, but will only take up to 37MB on your flash drive. The portable version has may of the same features as the latest desktop version and supports MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg and many other media formats.

The free program offers on-the-go translation of simple words and phrases. The translated phrase appears on the screen and can be played in audio with the tap of a button. Having a translator in your pocket can turn a difficult situation into a good one and the program is free, so trying it out is simple.

Lifehacker must have sensed my immediate need because they mentioned the free MixMeister BPM Analyzer for Windows and Mac today. The software is really meant for the DJ scene, but BPM means the same to DJs and runners, so I grabbed it. You just drop tracks or whole folders in and the software will analyze the music to figure the BPM. I have one or two iTunes DRM-protected albums and it didn’t work on those, but all of my other music looks supported. MixMeister updates the ID3 tags of the files, too, although I had to do a “Get Info” on my music files to see the change take place. That feature should help me make a few smart playlists for various workouts. After this, I might have to splurge for one of the Nike+ sensors for tracking data since the new iPhone supports it. Wow, the hardest part of my workout will just be the running part after all this tech.

For a while, I tried to use my iPhone camera to capture and carry the barcodes around, but it’s just not suited for close-up, detailed photos. I’d say I had a 50 percent or so success rate with that method.

The Consumerist just made mention of CardStar, which you can find in the iTunes App Store. It’s currently free, but only for a limited time, so I just nabbed it. At some point, it will cost 99 cents, which I still think is a bargain. CardStar doesn’t need the barcode image from your reward cards. Instead, you simply enter the numbers from your card and CardStar creates the barcode for you. It makes for a much cleaner look and should be easily readable when at the store. CardStar includes support for over 190 merchants, and you can add your own using the Advanced features.

Richer in what way, you ask? Skyfire supports Flash 10 and Silverlight 2.0, so you can get your YouTube and Hulu on, to name just a few sites that are often taboo on handset browsers. And the Skyfire folks added a real-time activity wall recently, too. With it, you can find all of your favorite RSS feeds, Twitter updates and Facebook statuses.

Have a look at the new version, demonstrated by Skyfire’s CEO, Nitin Bhandari, and tell me you don’t want to download this app.

For some reason, the 16GB SD memory card I was using suddenly got hosed. I’m not blaming the new camera because I’ve had this same problem with the older XSi that the T1i replaced and I’ve even seen it happen with my Kodak Zi6. I can’t determine the exact cause, but at random times, the cameras simply can’t read the card. They know the card is there, but the files can’t be seen nor can I format the card using the camera. Essentially, the memory card becomes utterly useless…and so does the camera I’m trying use.

I formatted the hosed card a number of times on both my Mac and PCs. The formatting always did what it was supposed to: the computers were able to read and write to the card with no issue. However, the camera still couldn’t see the card. I tend to swap and use this card on all three cameras plus I’m mounting the card back and forth on PCs and a Mac, so I’m likely causing the issue. Regardless of the cause, I was all set to make a Best Buy run for a new card, when I tried one, last-ditch solution. And it worked.

I hit up the official SD Association web site looking for any help and I found a free utility called SD Formatter. The software is supported on Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and Vista, but I used it on the release candidate of Windows 7 without a hitch. All the software does is format SD memory cards but it “complies with the official SD memory card requirements.” That was enough credibility for me to try it.

I’m assuming that based on the options I chose (Full Format, Erase On) that the application does a byte-level format based on the real-time status, and because of the lengthy amount of time it took to format the 16GB card. I didn’t time it, but I’d guess that it ran for at least 45 minutes. Once completed, the card finally worked again in my Ti1. Going forward, I think I’ll only use this card in the T1i and in a card reader with my MacBook. I do my photo and video processing on a Mac, so I’ll take the PC and other cameras out of the equation to see if I gain some stability.

While I can’t guarantee that SD Formatter will “save” your hosed SD cards, it’s free to try and just might save you from tossing out that memory.

Have you ever lost data due to file corruption? Jonathan Greene lost around 100 digital pictures recently. Actually, his Nikon D70s did that for him and he wasn’t happy at all about it. The digital camera somehow corrupted the photos on the CompactFlash storage card and Jonathan figured that he’d never see those images again. Since they were from his son’s birth, it’s not like he could set up for a re-shoot. Luckily PhotoRec rescued every single image!

This free, open-source utility “ignores the filesystem and goes after the underlying data“, which is exactly the aggressive type of approach these situations require. The software runs on practically every platform and can recover data from several filesystem formats: FAT, NTFS, EXT2/EXT3, and HFS+. Best of all, it doesn’t just work on hard drives. PhotoRec can be used with optical media, flash storage cards, and even portable media players like the iPod. Over 180 file types are supported for data recovery.

I’ve actually never lost any pics on my Canon XSi but it’s nice to know that this free utility worked for someone; especially since the new Canon T1i is arriving shortly. Oh wait… did I just hear a UPS truck pull up? Gotta run!

Rocketdock is donation-ware so if you use it you should drop them some coin so development can continue. The program is great, with all aspects of it customizable, from the skin to the icons used. The developers have a nice collection of gadgets you can download for free to extend the usefulness of Rocketdock. Rather than try to explain how cool and useful the program can be just take a look at my current UMPC desktop. I’ve included snaps in both landscape and portrait orientation to show how well Rocketdock makes the transition.

I’ll warn you now that this free add-on will delete mail from your mailbox. Of course, that’s the intent of it, but I wanted to disclose the risk right up front. Thread Compressor uses the “conversation” threading feature of Outlook to identify and then remove redundant messages in the thread. Essentially, using TC will remove all messages in a thread except for the most recent, that way you have the entire thread in one single message and the rest are deleted to save space.

Again: This add-on is designed to delete mail from your mail account, so be careful! Thread Compressor for Outlook works on all versions of Outlook on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

(via Jason Langridge)

I have used commercial solutions, but it’s hard to justify paying more than $50 for one when you use it so rarely. That’s where freeware EASEUS Partition Master steps in. This free utility (personal edition) does everything the big boys do but at a cost that makes sense for seldom-used utilities. The program can do all of the copy, re-size, move and conversion functions you’d expect and works on Microsoft Windows XP and Vista.

(via Techblog)

Call Client is a free manager for the BlackBerry that aims to address this need. It is a simple-to-use call list manager that keeps track of every call made or received on the BlackBerry and adds the useful ability to add call notes by hitting a button. Information can be added as appropriate to make sure nothing gets overlooked.  Call Client has a decent feature list for a free program:

• Handles multiple call lists
• Unlimited phone numbers with Call Client call lists
• Add notes
• Unlimited Call Client call lists supported
• Indicates status of each phone call (complete or incomplete)
• Import and export any properly formatted .CSV file
• Tons of shortcuts for easy use in one hand

The ability to export the call list comes in handy at client billing time.

(via Blackberrycool)

It’s no secret that we’ve enjoyed using Skype for audio and video calls for the past several years on our various mobile devices. Aside from free Skype-to-Skype calls and paid SkypeOut services, the company also offers unlimited monthly subscription plans as low as $2.95 a month, although they’re subject to a Fair-Use Policy. That restricts the total number of calls, minutes used, etc… So how do you keep track of your usage against the Fair-Use terms? That’s where the free Subscription Monitor for Skype comes into play, which I found through Voice on the Web. This Windows application summarizes your Skype subscription usage in real time.

The compelling factor to me is how this works even if you use multiple clients with Skype, as I often do. Call history is normally localized to your machine, so if you Skype with more than one device, you’d have to manually aggregate your call data; But not with this freeware. Of course, this requires you to configure the app with your Skype credentials, so be wary. Another nice touch? The icons change in color from green to yellow to red, giving you a visual indicator of where you stand against the limitations at a given point in time during the month.

The Freeware of the Moment is from the folks at AccuWeather, who know an awful lot about the weather.  Their new Stratus desktop widget proves they know a bit about those, too, and this Adobe Air widget is first-rate.  It blends in with any desktop as the frame and controls all fade to nothing as the Stratus widget sits on the desktop, leaving only the pertinent information you crave.  Move the cursor over the widget and those controls come back to let you configure Stratus just like you like it.

You have to have Adobe Air installed to use Stratus but it will work on any system with Air.  Which is appropriate for a weather widget, don’t you think?  Head over and give Stratus a try and when they ask tell AccuWeather that jkOnTheRun sent you.  I guarantee you they’ll say “who?”.