ajb{log}: learn something new each day

Google just launched 30 new themes to Gmail.

Some people don’t see it yet. So, try to logout and re-login to see the new Themes at the Settings.

Really cool Gmail team!

Gmail just pushed an update to their rich-text editor adding a bunch of emoticons.

Pretty cool!

–aj

Yes. ASCII email spam is here and we hate it. This is what I got today (below).

There were no links on the email which means people will never have to click on something. But still, it’s annoying.

Email providers, please do something!

There’s a new security tool that Surf Jack that allows one to hijack HTTP connections to steal cookies - even ones on HTTPS sites. Works on both Wifi (monitor mode) and Ethernet.

Here’s a proof of concept to steal session cookies on HTTP and HTTPS sites that do not set the Cookie secure flag.

It’s really a scary to see that even Gmail was vulnerable before to these types of attack. So, how about Yahoo Mail? And what more if you use Hotmail Live? Makes you really think if there is such thing as 100% security nowadays.

This is great news for all Gmail junkies. I personally dislike that (un)feature. Here’s what Google posted on their blog:

“Google has finally realized that it’s a bad idea to automatically add to the list of Gmail contacts all the people you’ve sent an email. An updated version of Gmail’s contact manager has a separate section for the people you’ve emailed: “suggested contacts”.”

I love this move. Now, I have to give some time cleaning up my Gmail’s contacts because it’s currently marred with emails I don’t personally know.

Love it Gmail team!

More information

Yes. This is my newest browser home page. Goosh (http://goosh.org).

This is a unix-shell-like interface for Google. If you are like me who miss the quick links at the upper left hand corner of google for reader and Gmail. Just type in “l gmail” for Gmail and “l reader” for Google Reader.

For more quick commands, use “h”.

I don’t think I’m going back to the google.com interface if goosh.org improves the speed. Recommended to all geeks!

Wtg!

–aj

Remember The Milk (RTM) launches a Firefox extension that allows you to manage your tasks in Gmail (complete, postpone, and edit tasks), add new tasks (and connect them with your emails, contacts, and Google Calendar events), automatically add tasks for starred messages or specific labels, and more…

To use it, you’ll need to use Firefox (isn’t mentioned above yet?). Who needs IE anyway?

The guys at RTM are on steriods rapid launching products such as MilkSync (for Windows Mobile), iPhone / iPod touch App, Google Calendar integration, Google Gears Offline access this year and now Gmail integration!

So, what’s next on RTM’s list? Mac Mail, Yahoo! Mail, Live Mail integration? Maybe in 2008.

Sign-up now (FREE) if you don’t have an account yet.

Kudos to the RTM team. You rock!

–aj

Google silently pushed the new emoticons inside GMail Chat.

Cool huh?

–aj

I just logged on to my GMail and I thought there was something weird going on with my account. The red “Loading” status notification is gone. It was replaced with a plain black “Loading” and then the unexpected happened. I have the new GMail 2.0!

Some notable new features:

Chat window now features a way to adjust your chat list size on the options.

New UI for the contact info as you hover.

New “Add Contact” screen. It is sporting a 3-pane window for easier contact management.

Above is the 3-pane window for contacts management.

New compose message window. It now includes Google Calendars “Event Invitation” functionality built-in to the compose message window.

“More Actions” drop-down has a new style and I think (not sure) if the “Filter messages like these” selection is new.

The “Loading…” message notifier looks different. Old GMail 1.0 has the light orange while GMail 2.0 has the slightly darker yellow (Yes, I can tell).

Delete notification now tells you how many you are about to delete.

Forward all under a conversation is new.

You can easily change to the “Older version” if you want. But why?

New notification “Still working…” when sending large emails.

Inline changing of hyperlinks on the compose window.

Other significant changes:

• GMail 2.0 loads a lot faster than the old one
• When something is being processed, GMail 2.0 loads the content seamlessly almost without page reloads
• GMail 2.0 is a lot cleaner and has improved its frontend UI response

Some bugs:

GMail 2.0 seems to still have bugs like the one above. Can’t see it? Contacts is selected but the window is on the trash window. And clicking any link like Starred, Chats, All Mail does not work when you have encountered this. You will need to reload your browser again.

GMail 2.0 UI breaks on Safari 3.0.3 on Mac.

Inconsistency on different browsers. It’s “Event info” on Safari Mac and it’s “Add Event Invitation” on Firefox Mac.

Some other things to note:

• Better GMail will not work. Update might be coming soon. I hope!
• Google What’s New page is still not new. Still hasn’t announce these upgrades (still showing IMAP new feature). See screenshot below.
• It’s also not yet on the Google Blog
• If you are using Safari 3.0, you are still out of luck. It’s not yet fully supported. Arrgh!

Ok, those are the only things I saw quickly. I’ll try to update this page if I find more.

My overall impression on the new GMail 2.0 is that it simply rocks and it’s far cooler than the winter here in Canada!

–aj

Here’s a quick walk-through using Thunderbird 2.0 to download emails from GMail on your private computer.

1) Download the latest Thunderbird 2.0

2) Install Thunderbird, then launch the application (a wizard should popup during the 1st run. Choose Tools >> Account Settings >> Add Account to launch if using an old install.)

3) Enter your name andGMail username (name before the @gmail.com)

4) Click Next and select Finish

5) Enter your GMail password and you are done!

Thunderbird should download your emails from GMail.com immediately. If you have a large inbox, you will have to wait a little bit longer to complete downloading all your messages.

If you prefer to use IMAP. Refer to this help document from Google.

Hope this small tutorial helps.

–aj