mail client

Apr 27 2009

Undercover with GnuPG

Now, I know open-source software can be a bit intimidating. GnuPG may look mean, but it is a breeze to install. Just give me 15 minutes.

First off you need to download the software. GnuPG runs in the terminal, and has no GUI, but don’t worry. You won’t be accessing this much. Just download the package and run through the installer. You can set GnuPG from the Terminal, but let’s hold off and download some goodies first.

You’ll need this one for 10.1, this one for Jaguar (GnuPG is available for OS 9, but its setup won’t be covered here).

Now, time for the toys. First off, rather than mess with the Terminal to configure things, lets download GPGPreferences, a preference pane that allows you to tweak settings. As you use GPG, you will have reason to come here and change things.

To get started, you will need to generate a key for yourself. GPGKeys will help you here. This app manages your keys. Hit “Keys” and “Generate…” and the app will fire up the Terminal and walk you through the setup process. As soon as you have a key, you can encrypt, sign and send secure messages to people with keys.

Now, goodies for your mail client. Grab either EntourageGPG or GPGMail (10.1 and 10.2 versions available), download and install it. This addition will allow you to send and receive secure messages from Entourage or Mail. These behave differently, but both verify that your recipient has a GPG key and make sending and receiving encrypted messages easy.

Note: Eudora and Mailsmith scripts are available too, but not covered here, because I don’t know anyone who uses them.

For those of you that use an online service like Yahoo, there is still a way to encrypt and decrypt messages. You can use GPGDropThing to encode and sign text to paste into your email message. GPGDropThing also decrypts and verifies.

If you’d like to encrypt files, then you’ll want to try out GPGFileTool. This app provides a GUI for file encryption using your GPG key.

GPG takes a little getting used to, but becomes very natural to use. If you’d like to practice on someone that won’t make fun of you, send me some encrypted feedback on today’s episode.

As always, remember that these powerful security tools and intended for the forces of good!

Tune in next week for more free tools!

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2009

Opera Spotlight

Opera has been around for ages. Thanks to a recent change of heart (or

business model) by the Norwegian software company you can now download and

use the Opera browser free of charge. While previous free versions were

saddled with ads, not Opera sings a different tune.

So, to get in on the fun, run over to

href="http://opera.com/download/index.dml?platform=mac"

target="_blank">Opera.com and download your copy. Not convinced? Check

out the browser’s unique features:

Speed

I’m used to browsing with a tn of extensions loaded in Firefox, so when I

took off with Opera, I was suprised at the speed. I found it even quicker

than Firefox without extensions. That’s saying something, considering that

Opera is loading a mail and newsfeed client as well.

operatoolbar Opera Spotlight

Polished Interface

Opera’s interface sports a great balance of function, simplicity and polish.

Address options emerge only when you click on the web address. Other options

are so well tucked away you forget about them (the mail and chat client –

for example). Everywhere you go in the browser, you find things taking up

the minimal space, and put in just the right place.

operamail Opera Spotlight

The Mail Client

The mail client, complete with IMAP and POP support and spam filtering, is –

you guessed it – fast. The import wizard actually supports Mac Mail clients

including Thunderbird and Mail.app. Contacts are intuitively managed. Both

mail and contacts fit into the main window on tabs.

Customizing Opera

You can tweak everything from your themes and sidebars to menus and mouse

gestures. Opera’s portal also offers a photo album, blog and web-based

email. There’s even a tutorial for making your own theme.

operanotes Opera Spotlight

Odds and Ends

Another thing I liked was the fact that the RSS reader is actually a reader,

not some kind of feed-bookmark thing. I also thought the notes were nice.

Together with “copy to note” and spellcheck Opera could be your next text

editor too.

Gripes

Opera is a lot of fun, but you have to meet a lot of criteria to become my

default browser. For most of my browsing, I’ll have to stick with Firefox,

thanks to extensions and standards support not found in Opera. While Opera

imports all kinds of settings including bookmarks, contacts and mail

accounts, it does not export to any formats besides its own.

The Fat Lady Sings

For many, the new free status of Opera is huge. I have to admit, it is a

superb browsing experience – fast and feature packed. For those not heavily

invested in Firefox add-ons or Safari’s ease, Opera makes a great browsing

choice. Who knows, maybe someday it might make default.

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2009

AJAX Applications, Part 1

Most of the high-profile AJAX web applications are commercial and run on corporate servers like Google Maps or Flickr. We’re going to start with some lesser-know solutions that are Open Source, and can be hosted on your own PHP/MySQL enabled server.

Since we’re diving into a new subject, I’m going to take a couple lines in explanation. AJAX or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML is a programming method that allows interactive interfaces in web applications. What? You can now drag-and drop and change options without reloading a webpage.

This week’s picks are great examples of this technology that enhance your web experience and replace some of your desktop applications.

Gregarius

Forget Bloglines. You can run a feed reader with the convenience of web-based access, but the quick interface of a desktop application for free (of course).

gregarius AJAX Applications, Part 1

Gregarius retrieves your updated feeds, searches them and organizes them with tags. The Open Source PHP application is still in early development, but already supports plugins and theming.

Webnote

This project offers a sticky note solution, complete with live editing and dragability. This system provides a unique note taking system that is accessible from the web, but quick and easy to edit.

RoundCube

This Open Source project offers a webmail interface to your IMAP email account. Unlike other webmail applications you’re used to(unless you are part of the Yahoo! Mail beta), this one allows you to drag messages to folders and toggle read/unread status instantly.

roundcube AJAX Applications, Part 1

I know you’ve got the point already, but the implementation of AJAX in this webmail interface again makes it as quick and user-friendly as your desktop mail client. Because the mail is still stored in your IMAP account, RoundCube won’t clog your database with mail either.

Monket Calendar

This early project gives you an iCal-inspired dragable interface, supports events that span multiple days and reads the iCal .ics format.

Since we’re still in the early days of AJAX evolution, expect these projects to mature – and more to emerge.

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 2