14 September 2008

Gmail storage increased

I just noticed my Gmail storage has increased to 7132MB. I’ve been hooked on Gmail for several years now and feel fortunate I got in early enough to register with a simple user name.

I took the liberty then too of registering my children. They might thank me for it one day.

Google Docs is continuing to improve as well. I checked it out today for the new dictionary feature and it’s very good.

Just an aside on a new India-based webmail service: If you want a short email address visit www.in.com.

Tags: email, google
0 comments


12 August 2008

Late mail: Gmail was down

Most Gmail users around the globe have commented already on Gmail being down for a few hours.

Apparently Twitter was flooded with Gmail comments and on Google itself the system failure was one of the most searched terms over that period.

For Australians, or me at least, it was only a minor inconvenience. I noticed the problem when I arrived at work about 7.15am and the service was restored within half an hour.

The failure must have been overnight.

Tags: email, google, internet
0 comments


19 June 2008

Another webmail service goes

I logged into Gigya webmail tonight. I’ve always liked its clean, open layout and speed of operation. It also has lots of other sharing features and things I never used.

On logging in I was greeted with this announcement:

Note: the Gigya webmail service will be discontinued permanently on June 15th. We recommend that you forward any email containing important contacts or content to another email service of yours by July 15th. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Read more »

Tags: email, Technology, web-2.0
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18 May 2008

Trying four new web services

I’m currently trying four new web services and I’m pretty impressed with all of them.

Kwout is responsible for the images you see in this post and some of my other recent articles.

With Kwout you can quote part of a web page as an image with an image map. You need to add a bookmarklet to your browser or use the Firefox addon.

I’ve got the Firefox extension and find it the easiest way to add small extracts from web sites to my blog. It’s much faster than making a screenshot, which requires editing and uploading. Kwout even hosts the images. Read more »

Tags: email, internet, Technology
4 comments


6 May 2008

Five bad email habits

Continuing from the previous post, this list is based on observations and personal experiences:

1. Sending group emails to people who don’t really need to know;
2. Attaching large files;
3. Sending an email to someone in the same room about a mundane matter;
4. Asking to be notified when the email is deleted;
5. Phoning to see if the email was received (true)!

Tags: communication, email, etiquette, office
1 comment


6 May 2008

Slaves to email

I don’t intend to cross-post regularly between here and OzComments, but the issue of being slaves to email seemed worth mentioning at both places.

Sharon MacNevin from Email Management Solutions issued a statement today after speaking at a conference in Perth. In summary:

MacNevin said the rapid growth of email means that many organisations and individuals have forgotten the business guidelines for written communication, sending, receiving and filing of mail.

“People feel compelled to reply to emails even with just a ‘thanks’ adding to the overwhelming number of emails people receive. A simple ‘NRN’ (no reply necessary) can reduce the overload significantly,” she said. Read more »

Tags: communication, email, etiquette, internet, office, Technology
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2 February 2008

30gigs email

I checked in tonight at www.30gigs.com after a long absence. This was a free webmail service offering 30 gigabytes of storage.

It is no longer. There’s no explanation on the new site and Google doesn’t reveal much, but there are some comments on this post.

I’ve said before that new web services are interesting to try but how reliable are they? When you’re dealing with important personal items such as email and photographs you really need certainty that they will always be available.

I hope the failure of a few start-ups doesn’t deter new ventures. Users however, need to be wary of anything that doesn’t have a strong track record.

Fortunately I didn’t lose anything in the 30gigs shutdown. I can’t recall any communications from them either about the closure.

Tags: email, Technology
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2 February 2008

y7mail

Yahoo! has released a new webmail service offering addresses yourname@y7mail.com.

It’s targeted at Australians who weren’t able to get simple addresses with the main Yahoo! domains.

I logged in a few hours after the opening on February 1 and missed michael@ but managed to get gorey@. I hoped to move all my Yahoo account details across to that address, so far without success.

Tags: email, Technology
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9 November 2007

New look for gmail contacts

I read a lot of tech web sites, but I haven’t seen anything recently about changes to the Gmail look and feel. Either I’m way behind the times or this is breaking news!

I went to add a contact tonight and found the interface totally changed (pictured). It’s a significant improvement.

Adding contacts is much easier, likewise editing and deleting them. Well done Google; Gmail just keeps getting better.

And according to the counter, I am “currently using 661 MB (13%) of 4776 MB”.

Tags: email, internet, Technology, web-2.0
0 comments


9 November 2007

Online translation error

I would never rely on an automated online translation service to communicate with someone who speaks a foreign language. I might use it for a short sentence, or with apologies in advance, but never in a formal sense.

The Israeli journalists who questioned the Dutch Foreign Minister using a web translator must be extremely embarrassed.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry isn’t too happy either. “How could this email possibly have been sent? These journalists have sparked a major, major incident,” said an Israeli official. “Sure he can’t understand many of the questions, because the English is so bad. But he is being asked about the sleeping arrangements of his mother!”

Apparently the failed translation attempt was from Hebrew to English. I wonder what they would have got from a Hebrew-Dutch service if they’d found one.

I find the web translators useful for gaining a basic understanding of web sites, especially those in German and Dutch, which I partly understand anyway. That’s all I use them for.

Tags: email, language, list, sleep
0 comments