Tuesday, August 24, 2004

How to Add a Gmail Signature

Step-by-step instructions for creating a personalized signature that will automatically be appended to the end of every Gmail message you send. Also includes questions and answers about Gmail signatures and how they work.

Google's New Gmail Helper Toolset

Google appears to be developing an optional multi-purpose toolset that will add features to their new Gmail Web-based electronic mail service that many beta testers have requested. Google's first two (still in beta test) offerings are the the Gmail Notifier tool and its optional "associate mailto links with Gmail" component. For more information about those tools see the two entries below this one.

New Tool for Associating Mailto Links with Gmail

The Gmail Notifier tool released this week by Google is primarily a Windows-based Gmail alerting tool but it also allows a user to associate "mailto" links with Gmail. The installer allows a user to select one or both components of the program.

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Google Releases Gmail Notifier Tool

"Gmail Notifier" is a new tool being beta tested by Google that alerts a Gmail user when new Gmail messages have been received. It displays an icon in the system tray that announces new Gmail messages and also displays their subjects, senders and a bit of the message itself, without requiring a user to open their Web browser (note that this beta version was released for Microsoft Windows only)

Three New Gmail Google Groups

Thank you to Bill Holmes, editor of the GMusers Blog and founder of the Gmusers Google Newsgroup, for telling us about these 3 new Google groups for discussing Gmail [GMusers Announcement]

Friday, August 20, 2004

Meet Me in Sacramento This Weekend

Today I'm off to the city of Sacramento in Northern California to report on an Aggressive Skaters Association (ASA) Pro Tour event at the California State Fairgrounds. I do expect to have Internet and email access while I'm away so if I come across any interesting Gmail news or information I should still be able to post it. I'll be back home again on Monday...[More Information]

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Does (kathiefry@gmail.com) = (kathie.fry@gmail.com) ?

Does Gmail consider both of these email addresses to be equivalent? According to this discussion at GmailForums.com, you have to log on to your Gmail account using the exact form you used when you applied, but email for either address will be sent to the same Gmailbox. I'm off to do some experimenting... [Discussion at GmailForums.com]

Gmail Invites Are Flowing Again

According to these messages in the Google Groups "Gmail Users" forum, Google has started issuing invitations again. This has been confirmed by some of my friends with Gmail accounts, who tell me the invitations are being doled out 2 or 3 at a time. If you have a Gmail account, look for words like "Invite 2 friends to Gmail" below the far left column of your Gmail account home page [Gmail Users Forum Discussion].

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Quick Reference Guide to Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts

This handy quick reference guide for Gmail keyboard shortcuts was created by Min-Yen Kan at the National University of Singapore. It is available in four different formats: HTML, PDF, RTF, and Microsoft Word [Keyboard Shortcuts]

The Complete Playboy Interview

Here is the complete text of an article in the September 2004 issue
of Playboy Magazine that was entitled "Playboy Interview: Google Guys". This is a reprint that appears on the Securities and Exchange Commission Web site at SecInfo.com (if you can't see the article when you first connect to this page, see the link "Appendix B September 2004 Magazine Article" at the bottom of the first column of the Table of Contents) [Complete Playboy Interview]

Google IPO Continues Despite Playboy Boob

Google's IPO ran into another problem last week. Google's founders will appear in an upcoming issue of Playboy magazine, and although the interview was apparently held before the IPO hype, some reporters are speculating that it *may* have broken US Securities laws about pre-IPO quiet periods.
[Search Engine Journal Article]

Monday, August 16, 2004

180 Gmail Domain Names

Wow - check out this list of 180 registered domain names that include the string "gmail" (posted by Bill Holmes in the GMusers Forum) [Gmail Domain Name List]

Six Gmail Trademark Applications

Here are links to the actual U.S. Patents and Copyrights listings for all 6 of the applications filed to use "Gmail" as a commerce trademark or service mark. So far there have been 6 applications: 5 of them were filed after Google announced their new Gmail service and one was filed in 1999, abandoned in 2000, and refiled in April of 2004 using a different company name [Read Full Article]

Gmail Tools by Function

This weekend I reorganized and updated the "Gmail Tools" section of this Web site. I decided it would be more useful if the tools were organized by function, so that's what I did. To see the new, reorganized list of Gmail tools connect to [Gmail Tools]

Friday, August 13, 2004

UK Firm Threatens Lawsuit Over Gmail Name

After the British company "Independent International Investment Research" widely publicized their claim that they own the name Gmail and their intention to vigorously protect that ownership, the value of their company's shares sored 77%. [Full Article at Independent.co.uk]

A Brief History of Gmail and Other Free Email

"The idea that there could be a better way to handle email caught the attention of a Google engineer who thought it might be a good '20 per cent time' project (Google requires engineers to spend a day a week on projects that interest them, unrelated to their day jobs). Millions of M&Ms later, Gmail was born..." [Full Article at TheStar.com]

Thursday, August 12, 2004

A Gmail Hacking Tool From Australia

An Australia-based hacking group has announced a new tool called "Gmail Hack" that will supposedly allow a user to perform a brute force dictionary hack against Gmail accounts. Will Gmail's visually oriented anti-robot test protect users from this hack? [Andrew Bonar Article]

Yahoo Acquires OddPost Email Service

Yahoo has purchased the San Francisco based Oddpost.com, a provider of Web-based email, photo sharing, and newsfeed aggregation services. The Oddpost email technology functions like a desktop application through a combination of dynamic HTML, XML, and javascript. Effective immediately, Oddpost programmers will begin developing a new, advanced, and more powerful YahooMail technology for Yahoo.com. Oddpost is not taking any new applications for its services and current Oddpost accounts will be migrated to the new YahooMail service when it is launched. Current OddPost account holders will also receive one year of Premium YahooMail service for free [Announcement at OddPost.com]

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Gone to the X Games!

I might not be able to post anything on this Web site August 5-8 because I'm working the X Games at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, California. If you watch the live broadcast on ESPN look for me standing on top of the halfpipe taking photos and screaming my head off. I will be posting daily reports and photos from the X Games here: 2004 X Games Special Report. See you Monday!

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Gmail Watch Blog by Vivek Gite has Moved

If you are linking to the Gmail Watch Blog by Vivek Gite of Pune Maharashtra India, note that Vivek has moved it to this URL: http://fearside.org/~vivekgite/gmail-watch.

Unofficial Index to the Google Web Site

I added something to the right side of every page at GmailUsers.com. It's an unofficial index to the pages I visit most frequently at Google.com (Google is the provider of Gmail). If you're wondering why I added those little notes next to AdSense and AdWords, its because I keep getting confused about which one is which! For my unofficial index to Google.com see "From Google" on the right side of this page.

My Gmail Forums Section Has Been Reorganized

I reorganized my "Gmail Forums" section to separate the general-interest forums from the forums set up only to discussion Gmail tools and Gmail invitations. I think (I hope) this will make it easier for Gmail users to connect quickly to the most important and most active Gmail forums on the Internet. You can go directly to this page at any time by selecting the "Forums" link in the pale green bar at the top of every page of GmailUsers.com [Gmail Forums on the Web]

Monday, August 02, 2004

22 Year Old Spammer Drives a Jaguar

If you have recently received email offering to refinance your mortgage, buy health insurance, install a burglar alarm, or extend your auto warranty, Ryan Pitylak might be the man behind your spam. This 22-year-old college student, is doing very well, with a home valued at $450,000 USD and a late-model Jaguar parked in his driveway [Article at KansasCity.com]

New Google IPO Web Site

Because of the massive interest in the Google Initial Public Offering (IPO) a new Web site has been launched by Google at [IPO.Google.com]

Email Fatigues Workers and Reduces Profits

The never-ending task of emptying email in-boxes is taking a toll on employees, with 56 percent of those surveyed complaining of mental fatigue from handling and receiving time-wasting messages [Article at UWO.ca]