» Smart Phones, Web Design, Google or whatever
Email and Gmail
Email and Gmail, especially the latter since I think its such a great email platform.
Father’s Day Free Calls to Dad (US + Canada)
Jun 19th
Gmail posted a shameless plug/reminder today that you can call dear Dad (or anyone, really) from the US to anyone in the US or Canada for free.
They also cited their great rates for long distance in other places – view Google Voice International Rates.
YouTube Video: About Google Voice
MORE
LifeHacker Rings in on Free VOIP Google Voice Calls
Gmail Adds Copy-n-Paste for Images
Jun 13th
Back in May of last year, Google added a new feature in Gmail allowing dragging and dropping images into Gmail, which now also works in Firefox 4, but NOT Internet Exploer 9.
Just today Gmail one-upped drag-n-drop images into Gmail with copy-n-paste images from your clipboard into Gmail,. Simply hit your Prt Scr button in Windows, or Command-Control-Shift-4 on your Mac and you can then paste your image into Gmail.
Next? Maybe cropping and rotating your image in Gmail? Well, sort of… after pasting into Gmail in Chrome if you right click, you can selecgt image size small, medium, large or original size. This is also how to delete the image once pasted if you change you mind. Very nice …. cropping and rotating next?
One of the Guys to Blame When Gmail Goes Down
Jun 9th
Okay, first off the header up there is a JOKE, this guy is NOT the person to blame when Gmail goes down. But he’s one lucky computer dude!
When Gmail does go down or seems unusually slow Hareesh Nagarajan (or his co-workers) or Gmail usually aren’t the cause. Usual suspects for Gmail issues…? Don’t forget your ISP. How about your computer (RAM, CPU, how many programs you are running, etc)? Also how many features have you chosen in Gmail? Also, try these tips to get Gmail running faster.
Moving on, Hareesh Nagarajan is one of the guys that works with computers at Google – how cool is that job? Can you imagine being paid to work on computers at Google?
Hareesh Nagarajan, lucky google dude
SOME DUDE: Hey, what do you do?
GOOGLE DUDE: Me, oh, I work with computers at Google.
SOME DUDE: So, you play video games all day?
GOOGLE DUDE: Nah, I upload my photos to my Picasa account, and pretty much basically I google stuff all day. Like yesterday I was googling how to improve my golf swing, and the latest statistics classes I could take to brush up.
SOME DUDE (in conspiratorial tone): C’mon man, you can tell me. Google has a bunch of Alienware PC’s and you guys game it up all day, right?
GOOGLE DUDE: No, get serious, that’s just the break room you’re describing.
Ok, back to serious again… Hareesh Nagarajan loves statistics and data, writes software, blogs and writes software. Faces of Google also points out Hareesh also does NOT play video games at work, but helps keep their datacenters running at max efficiency. Did I mention he writes software? Oh, twice… read the Gmail blog post and maybe you’ll see why.
Gmail Slow for you? Try These Tips
Jun 9th
Gmail too Slow for you? Try These Tips is an old cross-post from my other blog.
I’ve made a couple of posts recently about Gmail and had feedback that for some people Gmail runs slow. You might want to try these one at a time to see if they help. If you do the first one and Gmail’s fast enough then why go on?
This post won’t solve everyone’s slow Gmail problems, but you can try these tips for a start. For more information, some suggestions have links to Google’s Gmail Help Center labeled “(read first)”. These links should open in a new browser or tab and will give you more info on what you are about to do.
TIPS TO SPEED UP GMAIL
- Log into Gmail, click the Settings Gear, Mail Settings, then click the General tab you will see a dropdown where you can set the number of email conversations per page, set it to its lowest setting of 25 conversations per page. Don’t forget to save changes.
- (read first) While you are in Gmail’s settings, click on the Web Clips tab and uncheck the “Show my web clips above the Inbox” checkbox. Don’t forget to save changes.
- Read the Google Gmail Help Center’s help item Gmail is Slow
- (read first) Disable chat, scroll down to the bottom and click “turn off chat” in the second line from the bottom
- (read first) View in HTML, scroll down to the bottom and click “basic HTML” in the second line from the bottom
- (read first) Try http://mail.google.com/gmail?nocheckbrowser to stop gmail from doing a browser check when you login
- (first make sure you have all you need to reactivate/re-install) Minimize javascripts and remote calls – are you one of those cutting edge users that’s tricked out Gmail? Maybe you’ve skinned Gmail… maybe you are using it as your personal online hard drive, or maybe you have it showing your Remember the Milk to do list. Possibly other Gmail-related add-ons or plug ins are in use? If you’ve got enough of them it may slow down your Gmail so try turning some or all of them off and see if it makes a difference.
- (read first) (also read first) Try turning off your contact’s pictures. Click Settings Gear, Mail Settings, then click the General tab to the right of Contacts’ pictures select “Only show pictures that I’ve chosen for my contacts”. If you do this and you haven’t chosen any pictures for your contacts then you shouldn’t see any.
- Turn off snippets. Click Settings Gear, Mail Settings, then click the General tab. To the right of Snipetts click “ – Show subject only.”
- Do you have like 100 different labels? Maybe you’ve got too many… try pairing down the number of labels you use and get organized at the same time. Especially if your Inbox has LOTS of emails and the function of the archive button is a mystery.
- Check the Gmail Help Center
Did any of these help? Make it worse? Drop a comment to help improve these tips!
REFERENCES:
https://mail.google.com/support/
http://www.bloganything.net/187/improve-gmail-loading-time/ (now offline)
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/3262
Google Dumps Google Search box lab, Graduates 3 Others
May 31st
Gmail has dropped the redundant Google Search box lab and had “graduated” Superstars, Nested Labels and Advanced IMAP Controls. IMAP mail users and organization freaks will be very happy that these 3 features have made it out of test mode, Gmail’s Labs.
Personally, I use Superstars and have used IMAP with Thunderbird (before it frustrated me into uninstalling it – again) and I am looking forward to checking out Nested Labels. Its nice when a feature you’ve grown to use and find valuable graduates out of Gmail Labs because then you can breath easy in confidence that it most likely will not go away – unless replaced by an improved feature.
MORE DETAILS: 3 Labs graduations, 1 retirement
Gmail Adds Background Sending
Apr 30th
A new feature has been added into Gmail Labs, Background Send. Background send could save time while you go onto other things and let Gmail handle the email as you continue on. Google had this to say:
We’re always looking for ways to make Gmail faster. One of the most common delays happens after you hit that “Send” button, when you’re waiting patiently for a couple seconds for Gmail to send your message. If you send a lot of email, that can add up to a lot of lost time.
I’ve got to admit that I agree, and I’ll be reviewing and pruning my Labs features and trying this one out soon. What do **you** think about Gmails new background send feature? Sound off below in the comments, be sure to tell us if you are actually using this feature or just commenting on it.
Totally Unrelated Post:
Used Car: 2000 Dodge Neon, Journal #1
Customize Your Gmail Theme with your own custom background
Apr 14th
As I hoped for in an earlier Gmail Themes post, Google has just announced today that you can now invent your own fully customized theme by choosing not only colors but using your own background image.
Is Gmail Broken? NewsFlash!
Apr 7th
Well, is Gmail broken? Some would say yes, but I say no, at least not for me. I have a WinXP computer and its probably 3+ years old, though I do have 2GB of RAM, its otherwise an ordinary, outdated Windows PC and Gmail runs with all of the bells and whistles I’ve chosen just fine. So what is Gmail fixing?
Here’s a quick list, and you can read the entire Gmail Fixing the Little Things post along with their cool little graphic, too. Here’s that list of changes:
- auto-save contacts setting
- better warnings for typos in email addresses
- fewer annoying error pop-ups
- easier transitions between certain actions
- keyboard shortcut guide for everyone
- refresh button repalces refresh link
If that little list whetted your appetite pay the folks at Gmail a visit and click the link above!
