gmail account

Apr 27 2009

Mail Count

We’ve covered apps that watch email accounts before, but with the recent addition of Gmail to the free email scene, there’s been a few new (free) utilities for monitoring your email.

mu Mail Count Mail.appetizer

This utility pops up a transparent window with the incoming message’s sender and subject. As the name implies, this one requires Mail.app and Panther.

mu Mail Count MacBiff

Sounds like a tough app, huh? MacBiff lives in your menu bar and monitors your IMAP mailbox for incoming mail. Once it arrives, a drop-down menu will let you know which folder it is in.

mu Mail Count gCount

This menu bar monitor alerts you to the arrival of new mail to your Gmail account. With invites showing up more often, and the release not too far away this is a timely arrival.

mu Mail Count YMail

I know we just covered this one, but with the new 100 MB storage limit, Yahoo! mail has become more useful, and so has this free app.

mu Mail Count MSN Messenger

To round out the big free email providers, it is worth noting that MSN Messenger monitors Hotmail accounts, and alerts you on message arrival.

More next week,

Brian

mu Mail Count Downloads provided by MacUpdate

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: appetizer, free email providers, gCount, gmail account, huh, imap mailbox, incoming mail, limit, Mail, mail count, mailbox, message arrival, MSN, msn messenger, name, new mail, Panther, sender, storage limit, timely arrival

Apr 27 2009

Get a Grip on Gmail

Gmail invites have gone from exclusive to practically falling from the trees. Here’s some handy new free apps.

mu Get a Grip on Gmail AddressBookToCSV

This free tool enables you to export your Address Book to a Gmail-compatible csv file. This app requires Panther.

mu Get a Grip on Gmail Gmailto

The downside of any web-based email is the inability to set it as your default. This app directs mailto links to your Gmail account. This one also requires Panther.

If you use gCount to watch your incoming Gmail, you should upgrade to the newest version for a compatibility fix.

mu Get a Grip on Gmail Word Browser Plugin

In a major upgrade to the Microsoft Word document plugin, Manfred introduces a toolbar and font size control. While this free app does not require a Gmail account, but does require Panther.

Feeling left out on Gmail? Contact me at brianburnham AT gmail DOT com to for a shot at a limited number of invitations.

Update: Out of invites, thanks for the mail…
Brian

mu Get a Grip on Gmail Downloads provided by MacUpdate

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: Book, browser, compatibility, csv file, downside, free apps, free tool, gCount, gmail account, Gmail-compatible, Grip, mail brian, manfred, microsoft word document, Panther, tool, toolbar, version, web based email

Apr 27 2009

Stay Secure and Synchronized at the Office

Brought to you by: James

If you find yourself stuck at your work computer during breaks, you may be tempted to browse the internet, but I can name two things that are probably keeping you from enjoying your short browse. You’re probably concerned about security, which keeps you from checking your email. And, you probably find it difficult to keep your news feeds and bookmarks in sync between your home and work computers. Don’t worry, it’s not as difficult (or insecure) as you think.

The first thing that you’ll probably want to do is pickup your email. To stay in sync and avoid installing any third-party applications, just access your email through a web-based interface (aka “webmail“). Your first priority when accessing webmail on a public or work computer is to confirm that the connection is secure. A secure connection will keep peering eyes away from your password and email activities. If the connection is secure, you will notice a small lock icon at some location in your browser. In safari, the lock icon is at the top-right of the browser window. In Firefox, the lock icon is in the address bar. If you are connecting to your webmail via a URL that has an “https://” header, chances are that it’s secure. Generally, you can get secure access to your webmail through either your ISP or webhosting provider. If your ISP does not provide secure webmail access, and you don’t have a webhosting provider, then ask someone for a Gmail account, or find another free webmail service with a secure login system.

The next thing you’ll probably want to do is check all of your favorite RSS or Atom feeds. To stay in sync and avoid installing any third-party applications, just access your feeds through a web-based interface (aka “online news aggregator“) like NewsGator or Bloglines.

After that, you’ll probably want to browse through your favorite sites. To stay in sync and avoid installing any third-party applications, just access your bookmarks through a web-based interface (aka “social bookmarks manager“) like de.lirio.us or del.icio.us.

If you are paranoid enough to require complete anonymity while browsing at work, then look no further than The Cloak. With The Cloak, you can surf via an anonymous proxy (hiding your identity from the sites that you visit) and optionally encrypt your entire browsing experience. For an added ounce of security, use a browser with which you can easily delete the cookies, cache, and history. Firefox is one such browser. Safari v2 also offers a secure “Private Browsing” feature.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy staying secure and synchronized at the office!

By admin • Articles, Power User Monday Tip of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: aka, bloglines, bookma, Cloak, computer, free webmail service, gmail account, home, ISP, login system, news aggregator, newsgator, party applications, password, priority, Safari, security, Sync, work computer, work computers

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