Lots of friends and colleagues are starting to get their Google Voice numbers. I’m still waiting for mine. I went to enter my brother’s new number into my Google Contacts database and saw that the choices for phone number type were still limited to Home, Work, Mobile, Home Fax, Work Fax, Pager, and Other. I think it’s time for Google to add a new choice of “Universal,” “Multiple,” or “All.” And if they had to remove a choice to fit the new one in, I don’t think too many people would mourn the passing of Home Fax or Pager.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Google |
In this article for small businesses, Lesley Spencer Pyle recommends five services for common small business tasks:
- BaseCamp for project management
- Box.net for file sharing
- SnapPages.com for web design (I hadn’t heard of this one before)
- Google Docs for word processing
- Google Voice for phone call management
Yesterday I asked why I wasn’t seeing images embedded in Gmail messages even though I told Gmail to display them. Today I answered my own question:
I was answering “yes,” I want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely. The text was being delivered securely but the images were not, so I didn’t see the images.
If you’ve answered yes and then changed your mind, you’ll have to close and re-open your browser before re-opening the message.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Gmail |
I’m having trouble lately with opt-in e-mail marketing messages displaying correctly in Google Apps Gmail. Look at this:
When I opened this same message in Outlook, at first I got the notification that pictures were not being downloaded. But when I told Outlook to download and display the pictures, it readily complied. Not so for the Gmail web interface. How come?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Gmail |
Subscribers to Google Apps Premium Edition have access to some pretty good tools for synchronization with BlackBerries. But it’s harder than it should be to find instructions for setting this up. So I’m taking this opportunity to provide some direct links to the Google help documents.
BlackBerry users can also download the Google Mobile App by visiting http://m.google.com from the BlackBerry itself.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 has become one of those programs that gets installed automatically for folks using Windows Update or Microsoft Update. I thought I’d give it a try, but at least one of the cloud services I use doesn’t play nice with it. So I uninstalled it. No problem on my XP laptop, but I couldn’t find it in the list of programs to uninstall on my Vista desktop. That’s because it’s an update, not a program. Microsoft has instructions for uninstalling on Vista and all other platforms.
One problem – if you consider it that – with Gmail and other IMAP accounts is that Outlook doesn’t by default pop up that little envelope at the bottom of your screen when a new message arrives.
Lytebyte shows you how to configure an Outlook rule to compensate. The rule is designed for Outlook 2007. I imagine, but have not proven yet, that this would also work for Outlook 2003.
“Gmail accounts hacked via unpatched hole!” That’s the headline on this article from Windows Secrets, which is generally a very good source of information. Based on the headline alone, you might think that using Gmail is inherently insecure. But a closer reading of the article reveals that Gmail accounts can only be hacked in this manner if they are protected weak passwords, which is akin to leaving your keys in the lock.
ALL computer systems are vulnerable to hacking if they have inadequate security measures in place. This is by no means limited to cloud computing applications. You should use strong passwords all the time, whether in the cloud or not.
The idea of putting an entire desktop environment in the cloud is hardly new. I remember companies like Centerbeam and Everdream trying to do this in the late 90’s. Technology has changed a lot since then. Does that mean the concept will finally catch on? A Swedish company called Xcerion hopes so, and they call their version iCloud.
I’ve just signed up for their free trial. It should be fun to play with, if nothing else. (First question: can you run a web browser from your desktop, that is itself being run by a web browser? Answer: yes. Second question: why would you want to? Answer: not sure yet!)
This blog now supports gravatars in comments. An avatar is a small picture or image used to identify comments posted on line. A gravatar is a Globally Recognized Avatar, which eliminates the need to upload images to multiple forums. You upload and edit an image at the gravatar home page and associate it with your e-mail address. Thereafter, any gravatar-enabled site will pull your gravatar into a post associated with your e-mail address. (I suppose it’s possible for someone to spoof your e-mail address on a post and consequently spoof your gravatar as well, but whaddya gonna do?)
WordPress 2.7 has automatic support for gravatars in comments, so now if you look at any post in this blog that I’ve commented on you’ll see my pretty little face next to my comment. Create your gravatar now and your pretty little face can be on this blog, too!
