Bookmark your GMail Messages

I recently discovered you can bookmark you GMail messages. You may ask why you'd ever need to do this. Suppose you are looking for a specific email which is buried in your GMail inbox (which maybe 45% full!). When you find and open the message, the URL in your browser URL bar is unique to the email, and it can be saved as a bookmark. Later when you want to open the same message again, just open the bookmark you saved.
I think I'll find this useful when I get receipts for things I buy on the web. The receipts usually have a link to tracking packages or order status. I can bookmark the email making it easier for me to check later -- Beats having to do a search again.

too = two... Sergey Brin's new blog

too

Sergey Brin has launched his own personal blog. He is talking about Parkinson's Disease, his risk of getting the disease, and some other posts. The blog is very new so doesn't have much content but I think I will be reading it fairly regularly. It's called TOO, kinda like google is malformed googol, Too is played off of Two. According to him on his first post, Two = in addition = his life outside of work.

Sidenote: Really ugly blog design, cannot believe of all the standard templates Blogger has, he chose something that's this hard to read.

Gmail - finally with IMAP

Not all my readers are going to understand this, but most who care about getting access to Gmail from devices or email clients or anything else other than the browser, and want their actions (delete, forward etc) to be consistently seen from wherever they access GMail will be pleased to know Gmail is switching on IMAP for all users. I might actually start using Microsoft Outlook again with my Gmail account. Yipee yay! Here is the announcement...
Official Gmail Blog: Sync your inbox across devices with free IMAP
Technorati Tags: gmail, google, email, imap, productivity

Not sure when to buy your plane tickets?

If you are like me when it comes to travel planning, you are never sure if the price your favorite online travel booking website quoted is the lowest possible you can get, nor do you know if the price is going to drop two days after you buy it. Enter Farecast - it will predict if the flight you want is going to be cheaper or more expensive in the future, giving you a clear indication if you should pull out your credit card and buy it. Check it out. Farecast | Airfare Predictions, Find Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets
Technorati Tags: travel, airfares

Google sued! (yawn!), but for crimes against humanity (Wow!)

I wonder if there is a website that tracks all dumb lawsuits. I know there is one that lists all the dumb laws. In any case, if you find a dumb lawsuits websites, this one definitely is for the hall of fame. Dylan Stephen Jayne is suing Google for crimes against humanity -- he claims his social security number when turned upside down, and de-coded spells Google! How creative! I wanna smoke what he is smoking since that might help me solve a few sudoku puzzles!
A bit more amusing I found was the copy of the lawsuit filed....written by hand, but still legal.

Google Paper, coming soon to a mailbox near you!

I have been fooled by Google. Yes, it did last for about ten seconds, and then I realized Google did what they have always done on April 1st in the last few years. There was the whole research center on moon, and some other gag about Google Romance, and now, this year it's Google Paper. It says, Google will print your emails and send it via mail...and that too unlimited emails. Now, Gmail was announced on April 1st, and it doesn't surprise me, they have chosen the Gmail log in page to play the joke. And if this turns out to be true in any manner, I will ....ok....this will never be, and can never be true. Google 1, Sumit 0

Go dogg! Fetch! Sports statistics search engine

Speaking of dogs today, here is one that wont hump your USB port (see the previous post), but instead get you sports statistics from the web. Everyone knows how I suck when it comes to knowing anything about sports -- but everyone also knows how I kick some serious ass when it comes to finding cool new websites on the web. Ever get into an argument over what Sachin Tendulkar's batting average has been or who won the 100m men's finals at the last Olympics, and when you searched on Google to verify your argument, felt frustrated at Google's over-generous results that included among relevant results, links to Sachin Tendulkar fan websites, or annoying links about the fart olympics. Well, worry no more, ask Statdogg and let it fetch the cleanest results from all the top sports statistics websites. I have to warn you, this website will suck away at your time.

Gmail Mail Fetcher: Another deathly stab at Hotmail

I don't have it yet, and I am not happy about it. Any new feature on Gmail, and me not having it leads to an unhappy situation. But okay ignoring this feeling for the moment, the future holds email bliss for me and others like me. Google is going to be able to fetch other emails, yay!! I was waiting for it to be able to do that, i.e., get other POP3 mail, but I am really curious to see if it actually gets Hotmail and Yahoo even if you are not signed up for the premium POP service in Hotmail or Yahoo. Do you know the answer to this? Please leave a comment below and let us all know! I think it's time for me to stop obsessing about email or Gmail.....but I really wish the Mail Fetcher feature works for Hotmail and Yahoo accounts. Hotmail's spam filter is horrendously incapable of filtering out crap, and Gmail's spam filter is horrendously efficient.
Well, if you have Mail Fetcher in your account, here is how you would set it up. (Thanks Rakesh for letting me know all this)

UPDATE (12-12-06): I know now Gmail mail fetcher wont fetch my Hotmail or Yahoo at least as long as I don't pay Hotmail or Y! for the premium POP3 access. :(

Blogging platform confusion

Even though this blog doesn't get enough traffic, I am thinking of trying out some other blogging platform. I considered Wordpress.com but not satisfied with any of the free template offerings.

I know Typepad does not offer a free hosted solution. And don't want to use Rediff or indiatimes or any of the "portal" type of blogging tools.

:|

Google + Firefox = Free Music Downloads

In case you ever want to find music on Google and want to download the MP3's or videos for free (and of course, as the author mentions, you own the files for sure, but you still want to download the songs and videos etc) then please follow the instructions on this page: Google + Firefox = Free Music Downloads. I am just simply amazed how people figure these simple tricks out. I tried it and yes, its awesome.

Gmail on the go - super fast Gmail app for your phone

Google says it's new and fast - I say it's absolutely smashing! Made my day yesterday when I was browsing through Techcrunch and found the announcement for Gmail App. Quite frankly, it wasn't something I was waiting for or even expecting Google to come up with....in fact, I had not even thought about a Java app that would do email for me. But for those who are still wondering what this Gmail app is, in short, its a Java app that you download from www.gmail.com/app , install it on your phone, and use Gmail. Why is it better than checking Gmail on your browser you ask? Because its FAST!!! Enough said!
Here's what Google says about it:

Download it once, and start accessing Gmail on your phone with just a click or two. You'll also like it because:

• It has the same Gmail interface you know and love
• Your account stays synchronized whether you access it from your computer or the phone
• You can easily view attachments such as photos, documents and .pdf files

Yes, the last bit, I tried. I could view the text in a PDF file I received as an attachment.

No excuse to be dumb anymore

Google has answered my prayers once again. Now there is no excuse for not knowing every random detail about the world we live in. Google News Archive's timeline feature is the best. I did some random searches on "India", "awasthi" and some random inane queries....and I liked what I saw!
I didn't know there was free access to archives dating back to 1902 and before...
Google News Archive Search

Mobile Gmail in Firefox Sidebar

After I looked Erica Joy's post where I learned how to put Google Personalized Page in the Firefox Sidebar, I liked it so much I set out to try different things I could load in the Firefox Sidebar. I tried Meebo. It was pretty useful since I could load an IM window in the sidebar, without installing any IM application on my computer. But then I tried Mobile Gmail. I must say that was just awesome and simple to do. It's useful because now I dont have to load a new window to read Gmail, and if I need to read the whole message, it comes in a quick-to-read format on the main page.
You'll know what I am doing once you try it for yourself.
Steps:
1. Right click on the Bookmarks Toolbar

2. Create New Bookmark

3. Use http://m.gmail.com as the location

4. (Important): Check the "Load this bookmark in the sidebar" checkbox.

5. Now press the newly formed bookmark button and enjoy minimalist look and feel of the Gmail Mobile interface in the sidebar of the Firefox.


Do keep in mind, since its the version of Gmail that loads into WAP browsers, you may not be able to read the whole message in one screen, but there are simple links at the bottom to go to the "Next Page"

Let me know what you think.


Here are some more screenshots.