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Wednesday, April 28, 2004
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Gmail Impressions
After a week of beta testing, here are my opinions on Google's free mail service:
Things I like:
- Emails are sorted by conversation. This has the effect of less clutter in your inbox. All messages with the same subject line, whether prefaced with a RE: or a FWD: or not, are shown as one conversation. When you click on a conversation, you will see all the relevant messages, in a playing-card hand fashion. To see details of a specific message in the conversation, click on the header, and the message will expand. This is a very concise and organized way to store and display email! Very well done. [See screenshot below]
- Fast loading, refreshing. Since there's no banner ads, and therefore no graphics to load, this makes for much quicker screen load times. I haven't tried using Gmail on anything other than a high speed connection, but my guess is that you could do your email almost as speedily on a dial-up connection.
- Instant Contacts. When you compose a message to someone and type or paste their email into the TO: field, the sendee is automatically added to your Contacts list. You can edit their information later by clicking on the Contacts link. This feature would be less necessary if they had a Contacts import, but that's for the next list below.
- AutoComplete for My Contacts. When typing an email address, you can just type in the first few letters of the recipient's name or email address, and a list of possible matches appears below your cursor. Simply click on the correct address and that email will appear in the TO: or CC: field. Yahoo has this feature as well now, but Google's seems a bit smoother.
- All about the Search. Coming from Google, you know this is their strong suit. I haven't used it too much, since my email box hasn't gotten huge yet. However, finding that one email isn't a chore, with a rich advanced search that doesn't require an advanced degree in computer science to implement.
- Storage, Storage, Storage. I don't know that I'd make the big switch if it weren't for this. ONE GIGABITE OF STORAGE. 500X the amount that Hotmail gives you. 250X Yahoo. That's all that needs to be said.
click on the image to see a larger version
Now for the not so good...
Things I don't like | Needs Improvement:
- Sigs aren't available. So far, they haven't added the feature to allow for signatures. It seems like this would be very easy to do, and what email program doesn't have them? This would save a lot of typing for me, as I use my email sig to solicit traffic to my website (are you surprised?).
- Where are the Contact Lists/Groups?. This would be another time saver, and all the other free web-based email providers have this as well. When I send regular emails to my family to notify them of new baby pics, I don't want to have to type the name (or part thereof) of each recipient. I want to be able to create a distribution list for this purpose. Again, I believe this to be something that could be easily added.
- The Border is Blocked. So far, they don't have a feature in place to import your contact list. Since I have more than a hundred emails in my Yahoo Contact list, this would be a BIG time saver. I can live without it, but I am waiting on Gmail 1.0 before I manually add my entire address book. Of course, with automatic Contact list population, I might not have to by that time.
So, overall, I really like it. The benefits definitely outweigh the setbacks. And if they don't add the aforementioned features -- although disappointed -- I'm still sold. Check back later for further updates. Please list your comments below.
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Thursday, April 22, 2004
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Fasting from the Tube
This week, the Dreifuss family is participating in National TV Turnoff week. On Sunday night before going to bed, I placed a sign on the TV that says 'Find something else to do!' The sign really does help. It's become somewhat of a habit to vegetate in front of it: turn on the TV, turn off the brain. I know that it's much tougher on Meg -- being home all day -- than for me. But there are already good things happening as a result -- reading more and talking to one another more. I encourage you to try doing the same -- taking a fast from the TV for a week.
Some TV related info:
According to this website, The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that doctors should urge a TV cutback as vigorously as they ask patients to stop smoking.
The first 4 countries to have TV: England, The U.S., The U.S.S.R., and Brazil.
At the 1900 Paris Exposition, on Friday, August 25, 1900, a paper was read by Mr. Constantin Perskyi, to the International Electricity Congress, which he describes a device called "Television." This was the first time the word "Television" is used.
ARTICLES:
Too Much TV Ups Obesity, Diabetes Risk in Women
TV-addicted kids face health problems
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
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It's not necessarily about finishing first!
If any of you were disappointed that Kwame Jackson didn't win the role of The Apprentice last week, take heart .....
It looks like Kwame will be in the spotlight for quite a while to come. Check out what your favorite runner-up is up to.
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I'm a Beta-Tester!
When I logged into Blogger this morning to make an update to my 'Now Playing' list (see bottom left), I saw a message offering a free Gmail account:
First off, welcome. And thanks for agreeing to help us test Gmail. By now you probably know the key ways in which Gmail differs from traditional webmail services. Searching instead of filing. A free gigabyte of storage. Messages displayed in context as conversations.
You're one of the very first people to use Gmail. Your input will help determine how it evolves, so we encourage you to send your feedback, suggestions and questions to us. But mostly, we hope you'll enjoy experimenting with Google's approach to email.
Funny, when I have to do testing, it's work. When I choose to do testing, it's fun! :)
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This is also pretty cool: You are currently using 0 MB (0%) of your 1000 MB.
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Tuesday, April 20, 2004
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Defying all Reason
This article reveals survey results indicating that "70% of people would willingly give up their computer password in exchange for as little as a bar of chocolate." Well, I've got a bag of Reese's Cups -- will you give me your bank account number, mother's maiden name, and PIN? If so, email me! :)
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
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Gmail Follow-up: Apology Requested
Re: Dear Senator
I think it's hilarious that this guy sent an email (from a Gmail beta account) to Senator Figueroa concerning her attack on Google mail, requesting an apology and a common-sense check. Note that he also uses the same commercial-before-the-film reference that I did a few days ago.
Great minds think alike or fools seldom differ, I've always heard.
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Welcome Brooke!
This past Friday our close friends, Michelle and Jason Ferrell, gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Brooke Jehlon. Bert and I have known Michelle and Jason since before they knew each other (going back almost 9 years ). Michelle and I were roommates in college, as were Jason and Bert for a time. Brooke wasn't due until the end of April, so we are grateful for her safe arrival on April 9th. She's a 5 lb. 9 oz. beauty. Just how beautiful is she, you ask? Click here to see!
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Drool...
Here's news about a new WW2 fps multiplayer online game for the thinking man. From what I understand, this is a mix of shoot 'em up with strategy and tactic elements. It seems that they took painstaking efforts to be historically accurate, and the initial screenshots look nice. Especially this one. I await the release eagerly, but in the meantime, I'll continue to play Call of Duty.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004
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Right On!
There's some fun quizzes over at Quizilla. I took the "What Movie Do You Belong In" quiz, and this was the result:
Lord of the Rings! although I don't totally agree with the detailed prognosis
What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
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A Grand Waste of Time
Tell me why: California Senator To Block Google's Gmail???
If you don't want targeted ads based on email content, DON'T SIGN UP FOR IT! If you want to do something useful, propose legislation to ban commercials before first-run movies. I mean, I pay $15.50 for me and my wife to see a movie, an extra few bucks for a babysitter, and I am expected to watch a commercial??
In the article, Senator Figueroa opines that "This proposal is little different from asking people to let the phone company listen in on their calls and butt in at any time to say, 'This call is brought to you by...'"
Um, no! Nobody's forcing relevant ads in your email. If you want it, you sign up for it. You PAY for telephone service, and an intrusive ad like that would be intensely annoying. Furthermore, I believe that Google is being very up-front with their strategy. It only makes good business sense to do it. And if there's not enough interest, it won't fly. Get your email through Hotmail, Yahoo, or your ISP. There's plenty of other ways to get your e-fix.
I'd say that if anything, the Yahoo screaming banner ads are more intrusive and annoying, and more akin to this telephone metaphor than text ads. Have you seen these text ads? They are easily avoidable and dismissable. However, I cannot miss the suggestive look of a young single female advertising a dating service in my Yahoo mail even if I try. Luckily, Google's handy ad blocker on my IE toolbar takes care of some of that.
Anyway, I think this is a case of chicken little myself. Aren't there more important issues at hand, such as crime or poverty? Just wondering aloud. Comment if you wish...
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Monday, April 12, 2004
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Kids say the funniest things...
... about Church:
A daddy was listening to his child say his prayer "Dear Harold." At this, dad interrupted and said, "Wait a minute, 'How come you called God, "Harold?" The little boy looked up and said, "That's what they call Him in
church. You know the prayer we say, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold be Thy name."
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And this particular four-year-old prayed: "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
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A five-year-old said grace at family dinner one night. "Dear God, thank you for these pancakes." When he concluded, his parents asked him why he thanked God for pancakes when they were having chicken. He smiled and said, "I thought I'd see if He was paying attention tonight,"
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A little boy's prayer. "Dear God, please take care of my daddy and my mommy and my sister and my brother and my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a really big mess,"
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A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say, " the mother said. The little girl bowed her head and said, "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
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A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if You can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am.
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Hope you got a few laughs out of these. Have a great Monday!
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Sunday, April 11, 2004
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He is Risen!
John 20
The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
14"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
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Friday, April 09, 2004
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Good Friday, Part 3 of 3
The Death of Jesus
28Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," 37and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."
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Good Friday, Part 2
The Crucifixion
17So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
22Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,
"They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
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Good Friday, Part 1
John 19
Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified
1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.
4Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"
6As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!"
But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."
7The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."
8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."
13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.
"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
15But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"
"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.
"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.
16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
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Thursday, April 01, 2004
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Great Google - mooga!
Google is going to offer searchable email accounts soon, with a google's worth of storage -- for free!
You've got Gmail!
What's next from Google? Some ideas...
- Google Star: In-dash automobile 'never-lost' system which allows you to search for the nearest Starbucks, Blockbuster, or McDonald's -- as if that was needed.
- Home Google: Keychain browser helps you locate your wallet, remote control, cordless phone, pet hamster, and possibly children. You're out of luck if you lose your keys, though.
- Google Match: Move to a new city? Or traveling on business? Use your Google-enabled wristwatch to search for people with similar hobbies and interests to set up a 'blind' date or golf outing. Background checks cost extra.
What are your Google-rific ideas?
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