Blog from your phone, call for free or use your computer to make free phone calls. Google Voice isn’t the easiest Google service to explain to non-techies, partially because it can be used for so many different things. Find a short list of those things below.

Using only a phone to manage voicemail is old fashioned: Google Voice does a much better job. Manage your voicemail on your computer or phone, and enjoy unlimited free texting within the US and Canada. It’s a service no human should be without, but which is sadly (still) limited to humans who reside in the United States of America. Google, remedy this!

Find below just a few advanced Google Voice tricks. Know some more? Leave them in the comments below the article and share them with the world.

Blog From Your Phone

Imagine being able to blog by phone, from anywhere. It’s not farfetched: our very own Ryan devised a method of voice blogging. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great way to get in a quick blog post from the road.

Free Calls and Texts To Canada

Cell phone has no concept of long distance, provided I’m calling or texting a US number. It’s another matter when you call or text Canada: that costs extra. Good thing I have Google Voice: it allows you to call or text Canada for free.

You can do this one of two ways. The first is to call Google Voice number from my cell phone, then call Canada from that. It’s easy, but requires some extra dialing.

The second way requires some setup, but works very well: have your Canadian friend send a text message to your Google Voice number. Assuming you’ve set up Google Voice to forward texts to your phone, you will now have an American number you can use to reach your Canadian friend. Save this new number and you can call your friend as though it were a domestic call, anytime.

Free Calls From Your Browser

This isn’t exactly a secret, but many people don’t seem to realize it: you can make free phone calls from within Gmail, provided you’re calling a number inside the US or Canada.

Even cooler: if your Google Voice number is your primary phone number, you can pick up your phone calls in Gmail. You just need to turn on chat and install the Google video chat browser extension.

Another related but also lesser-known trick: you can add any phone number to a Google Plus Hangout, allowing you to include people without Internet access in your conversations.

Combine Google Voice and Skype

Skype is a very affordable way to make long distance phone calls, but there is one problem with it: unless you set up a call display number you appear as ‘unknown caller’ on the phone of the person you’re trying to reach. Many people will, assuming you’re a scam artist, and refuse to pick up.

You can buy a phone number from Skype to avoid this. Or, if you don’t want to spend money on a subscription, you can set up your Skype account to display your Google Voice number for call display. That way people you call will see a real phone number.

You might consider doing this even if you’ve paid Skype for an incoming number: people will call you back at your Google Voice number instead of your Skype number, meaning you’ll get the call on all of your phones instead of just Skype.

Add a Voicemail Feature To Your Blog

Want to hear from the people who read your blog? Add a voicemail button to it. This allows people to leave you a voicemail without telling the world your phone number. People who visit your site can enter their phone number and, in one click, connect their phone to your voicemail inbox.

Read the full instructions for setting up a voicemail feature on your blog here.

Other Cool Tricks

Of course, there are many more cool things you can do with Google Voice. Ryan outlined several of them in 2010, and his tricks still work very well. They are:

• Integrating Google Voice for all mobile calls
• Listening in to your voicemail in real time
• Automatic transcriptions of all voicemails
• Recording phone calls
• Custom greetings for different groups of people

(Via MakeUseOf.com.)

You probably won’t always remember to bring an umbrella when the weather is gloomy, but as long you’re wearing thisPuma Urban Mobility Backpack from designer Hussein Chalayan, you’ll always have a quick way to keep your head dry.

As an added bonus, when the backpack is particularly full and heavy-laden, you can put the hood up for some extra support. After all, haven’t doctors been telling us to lift with our necks all these years? There’s no word on pricing for the pack just yet, but it will be available as part of Puma’s upcoming Spring/Summer line. [Puma via Hypebeast]

Just to get a brief idea on how much the Raspberry Pi computer was in demand, here is a statistic that you might be able to identify with – we are talking about 700 units per second. That amounts to 42,000 each minute, and it is no wonder that the demand for the Raspberry Pi during its recent launch actually led to the website crashing. This is truly a phenomenon, where a British-designed system that costs a mere £22 is in such high demand, at least according to one of its main distributors in the UK. Meant to make programming a snap as well as accessible for children, the Raspberry Pi also picked up plenty of envious glances over from a Middle East country that is outlining plans to furnish each schoolgirl with a Raspberry Pi. This is one unique case study that goes to show how the most powerful hardware necessarily “wins” in the long run, giving people what they want and need tend to ensure victory instead.

(Via Ubergizmo.)

Not everybody will want tech wizardry on their musical instruments, but if you do, the Gibson Firebird X is definitely something to consider. The guitar features automatic tuning, previously seen on the company’s Robot guitars, and offers a suite of effects built-in. You’ve got the standard pickup selector, volume and tone controls, an 11 position rotary knob for selecting effects such as echo, reverb, compression, distortion, modulation and EQ. There are also switches for mixing effects’ signal strength and changing between the standard and piezo pickups. The inclusion of Bluetooth for wireless pedal switching also takes it one step closer to gadget Nirvana. Pricing hasn’t been mentioned just yet, but it’s expected to be available on a limited run from December 11th 2010, so don’t expect it to come cheap.

(Via Ubergizmo.)

A Macworld article indicates there are currently over 500 guitar-related iPhone apps.

Every up-to-speed tech geek, guitar player will want this mechanical interface.

You’re looking at the Guitar Sidekick, an accessory for mounting your iPhone, Blackberry, Droid or other similar media devices to your guitar. The above article link tells you all about it, but the picture basically says it all.

The Guitar Sidekick is available at: www.castiv.com

(Via Strat-O-Blogster Guitar Blog.)

You’ve already forked out plenty for your iPhone or iPod touch, so why tax your wallet further by buying an expensive stand?

Whether you want to save money, keep your personal drain on the planet’s resources to a minimum, or are looking for a quick-fix solution at your desk, we’ve found five fantastic iPhone stand designs that require no more than everyday objects — and some MacGyver-style skills.

Have a look-see below at our homemade docks, then have a go at making your own and let us know the results in the comments box below!

1. The Paper Clip Stand

What you’ll need:

Overview:

This solution utilizes a large paper clip, cunningly straightened and then twisted to make an impromptu stand for your iDevice. Depending on how strong you are, you might need pliers to help manipulate the clip, but the principle is pretty darn simple — and pretty darn effective. Mods include wrapping a rubber band around the ‘legs’ to aid stability.

In the immortal words of MacGyver himself: ‘A paperclip can be a wondrous thing. More times than I can remember, one of these has gotten me out of a tight spot.’

MacGyver Rating: 5/5

2. The Cassette Case Stand

What you’ll need:

Overview:

We love that this takes (almost) obsolete tech and upcycles it into a useful object. You can use either a cassette case from an old camcorder tape, or an old audio tape (which, if you’re of a certain age, you’ve almost certainly got lying around at home).

Put the tape and the cardboard sleeve to one side, open the case, flip it around, and — presto! — a minimalist desk stand. To make it a super-stable solution in landscape, you might want to use a file to make a nice neat groove for the iPhone to better sit in.

This really works for us as an easy way to keep our iPhone out of calamity’s way on a desk surface.

MacGyver Rating: 4/5

3. The Pencil Stand

What you’ll need:

Overview:

This easel-esque stand can be created from five pencils and several rubber bands. It will require some dexterity to get the pencils in the right place, as you use the bands to hold it all together, and then a little more to get it to stand up straight. However, it is a strikingly simple design once made, and can be collapsed down to nothing again, should the occasion require.

Although this requires the most stuff to actually make, the Boy Scout-style binding process keeps it firmly in MacGyver territory.

MacGyver Rating: 4/5

4. The Sticky Tape Stand

What you’ll need:

Overview:

Perfect for those ‘I just want to catch ten minutes of [insert favorite show] while I eat lunch at my desk’ moments, this devilishly simple solution requires only a roll of sticky tape to work. Simply stick a bit of tape to the back of your iPhone or iPod touch — and voila! — your iBuddy is propped up at a nice angle while you consume both your lunch and choice of video-based media.

It’s not quite duct tape, but damn!

MacGyver Rating: 5/5

5. The Paper Stand

What you’ll need:

Overview:

The instructions call for the use of at least a 270 gsm paper or card stock, so assuming you have that, simply print out the template (available for both A4 and U.S. letter size paper), cut, fold, and faster than you can say ‘origami,’ you’ve got yourself a new dock.

And this one really is a dock (rather than just stand), as it includes space for the iPhone’s cord underneath. We would suggest that anyone not old enough to have a Facebook account should find a responsible adult to take care of the craft knife elements.

(Via Mashable!.)

Music and technology aren’t unfamiliar bedfellows, but the i-Tab offers a unique method for enhancing your guitar with gadgetry: clamp it on. Like a TomTom for tunes, the electronic songbook prompts players with chords and lyrics for thousands of songs.

For hundreds of years guitarists have mastered their instrument with patience and practice. But this is 2010—who has time to practice? The i-Tab accelerates the learning process by offering thousands of dynamic tabs, scrolling chords at any tempo while you stumble your way through the song.

The device has a 5′ touch screen—using your guitar pick as stylus is encouraged—and 4GB of memory to hold the songs, which can be downloaded through a tab store. The company claims there will be 5000 tunes available at launch.

On some songs you can accompany your noodling with backing tracks that can be played over speakers or headphones. And youll probably need them—having the i-Tab clamped to your guitar isnt likely to win you many bandmates. Sure itll fast-track your fingerpicking, but at what price.

Well, the price of $199 and looking like a dweeb, as it turns out. Pre-orders are slated to be filled first week in March. [i-Tab via Oh Gizmo]

(Via Gizmodo.)

If the Griffin Simplifi is too expensive for you, this $15 generic iPhone/iPod 3-port USB hub will allow you to sync an Apple product while accommodating up to three other devices that resent your favoritism. [USBFever]

(Via Gizmodo.)

What you’re looking at above is the computer that sent the very first email via ARPANET, 40-years ago on October 29, 1969. Simply put, ‘the message was sent from the UCLA SDS Sigma 7 Host computer to the SRI SDS 940 Host computer.’ Click here for first picture in gallery.

Like most systems of the era, the latter machine had a tiny core memory allowing between 16 and 64 kilowords.

(Via Tech Blog.)

It’s the last day of an unusually long weekend, and there’s absolutely nothing on the schedule. Break out the tools and pull up one of these nifty DIY projects to improve your living space and boost your can-do cred.

10. Light up your yard with mason jars

Buy a mess of ground-staked, solar or battery-powered yard lights from your local big box store, and people might be impressed at your ability to space the sticks you plunge into the ground. Convert some run-of-the-mill mason jars into hanging votive lanterns, battery-powered backyard lights, or go the way of weekend editor Jason and make your own solar-powered sun jars, and you’ll get some real kudos, and have a nicer looking yard, to boot.

9. Make your patio a Wi-Fi hotspot

Three different solutions of varying DIY-ness can get your Wi-Fi out to your grassier spaces. A self-powered solar extender is the ultimate in techno/eco-cred. If that kind of cost, soldering, and circuit knowledge is a stretch too far, you can install DD-WRT or boost your household router with Tomato to boost its signal strength and, in the case of DD-WRT, turn an old or spare router into a dedicated repeater. That still involves a bit of installing, though, so for a casual shot at backyard Wi-Fi, try a tinfoil parabola, a wok-style strainer, or a dollar’s worth of extender parts.

8. Build a backyard pizza oven

If you’ve had wood-fired pizza before, you know it’s notably different and tasty, and almost always pricey. You can have the good stuff whenever you feel like building a fire, however, with two different Lifehacker readers’ brick-by-brick instructions. Kevin Lester showed us his fourth pizza oven build, while Mike Wilkie based his two-level oven on Forno Bravo’s extensive wood-fired guide. You can do the same, and become the grill party invitation nobody turns down.

7. Assemble an outdoor movie theater

Your couch can only seat so many people. Your yard or patio, however, can fit as many folks as feel comfortable, and offers a much nicer environment to eat, drink, watch, and enjoy the waning bits of summer air, whether for the kids or with friends. Wired.com has hit upon this project twice, once with a house-mounted sheet and DVD/projector. Then the Geek Dad tackled the idea with a stand-alone outdoor screen, built with PVC pipe, mounted in cement, and ready for easy setup and take-down. You’ll need a decent projector for either setup, but often times, nobody at work minds if the presentation room is a little de-stocked on weekends.

6. Power up your Wii

You can’t pull off the total renovation that you can with an XBox Media Center, but your Wii can do a lot more than let you play tennis against the in-laws. You can surf the web with the recently-made-free Opera browser, and once that’s installed, a free Orb software package lets you use your Wii as a media center. These days, opening your Wii to the Homebrew channel doesn’t even require the purchase of an (admittedly great) Twilight Princess game and extensive hacking, and once that’s done, you can back up and load games from a hard drive, play old-school games in an emulator, and much more.

5. Build yourself a serious knife block

Two or three good, sharp knives are really all you need, but you’ve probably got more than that. If you bought them piece by piece, or don’t want to shell out for a generic hunk of wood, consider making your own wall-mounted magnetic holder for easy access and visual appeal, or cut a holder out of a counter for super-quick access. We’re also partial to Chris DiClerico’s DIY universal knife block, which requires only a few bucks of wood, dollar store bamboo skewers, and access to a table saw.

4. Get creative with enhanced paints

Go beyond the color spread at your local paint store, and you’ll likely find a good deal of neat paints that can inspire some awesome projects. Dry-erase or ‘whiteboard’ paint lets you jot down your ideas anywhere, and that inspired reader Chris Burke to make this awesome wall-size speech ‘bubble’. He also layered some magnetic paint underneath, the kind that lets you hang posters without nails or tacks. If school-style chalkboards are more your speed, you can grab a bucket of chalkboard paint, or make your own, and then craft an erase-as-you-go wall calendar, kid-friendly table, or wall mural (sorry, original link is apparently dead). If they made tinfoil-based Wi-Fi boosting paint, we’d simply declare the whole house in need of a new look.

3. Fold and cut your own furniture

You only occasionally need an extra seat or two for groups of guests, or maybe you just need a cheap place to sit when working in the garage. The Evil Mad Scientist blog suggests buying a few sheets of paperboard or plywood and crafting some flat-packing but sturdy stools. If it’s little ones you’re looking to seat, and entertain while you do so, the FoldSchool tutorial site details how to help kids make their own stepladders, creative kids table seats, and much more. (Original post)

2. Add rope lights for cheap ambient improvements

Gina’s father-in-law used rope lights (and a nifty reverse circuit switch) to craft an automatic pantry light system. Jason added an eye-pleasing and light-improving touch to his extreme home office makeover with strategic rope lights. Other crafty folks have found rope lighting useful for kitchen looks and ridiculously awesome home theater setups. It’s inspiring, illuminating stuff, and fairly easy to get started with.

1. Spruce up a bare wall

Not every notably blank wall in your dwelling requires custom-framed artwork or expensive prints. Gina combined her Flickr account and a few dollars of craft store hardware to craft a sleek wire photo wall, inspired by this wood block example (original link down). Adam found his inspiration in used record stores and great album art, crafting an album art wall on the cheap. If great-looking books are what you want to show off, you can get by with very little by converting a colored wire hanger.

(Via Lifehacker.)