Why I [heart] Gmail... and the dire consequences that follow!

This is a two-sided entry, in that I'm going to attempt to explain my love for a particular Google email product while tempering that with some respectful fear of the juggernaut that is Google.

As some folks may be aware I used to be a die hard user of Microsoft Outlook for all my PIM and email activities. I didn't use is so much because I thought it was the best, but it was something I used on a daily basis at work, and I wasn't paying much for it either. Familiarity does have its privilege, and it made me a more efficient user at work as well. Outlook was (and still can be) a good option for many folks wanting to achieve a higher level of organization in their life, but only with hard work and a higher understanding of where your own strengths and efficiencies lay. Without extensive tweaking, Outlook sucks right out of the box, and always has. The Power, as with most Microsoft Office products, lies in the flexibility of the software. If you don't take the time to mold it to your needs first, you are really wasting a couple hundred dollars. There have been many Add-Ins devised for Outlook to make the jump to a higher level of productivity easier, but I became aware of them long after I had already made my own similar modifications for use at work. Oops!

When Gmail (still in Beta to this day) came along, like many other local email clients, Google refined the interface to allow more organization. The best part was that it was a web app, so you could access the same information almost anywhere. It literally puts any other POP-based email from your ISP to shame, and still takes the cake compared to the cluttered (and usually advertising laced) competition from most other webmail hosts.

The most powerful of Gmail's features are Filters. Using filters you can let the service sort your email for you, assigning labels, forwarding or replying, even deleting incoming email as you decide necessary. Some folks adhere to a task-based form of email sorting called Inbox-Zero, which makes use of deleting or archiving email you don't need in front of you anymore to do whatever job you are doing. Gmail does this exceedingly well. I don't follow these rules quite so vigorously, but I do archive (after labelling) any advertising to remove it from my inbox view. This keeps all of my inbox email limited to purchase transactions, voicemail alerts, and personal corespondence.

Another handy feature of Gmail is the ability to use "aliases". You can add extra text in the middle of your Gmail address to differentiate it for different purposes or senders. Check here for an example. I use "+voicemail" to let the filters know to label voicemail alerts appropriately, and "+shopalerts" for alerts from Dealnews and Pricegrabber.

The latest set of features is an expansion of the Google Labs concept, but for Gmail exclusively. Gmail Labs givs you access to potential Gmail features which may or may not make it into Gmail on a "permanent" basis later on. The ones I make use of rearrange the interface to make my most used functions more available. I move the labels above the contacts, set the reply button to default to reply-to-all, and add a Mark-as-Read button on the toolbar.

As with any "productivity" tool, a lot of the tool's strength lies in its ability to integrate with other applications. Google has made Gmail a central player in their "suite" of tools, making it a conduit for their Calendar, Apps, and Groups applications, and fully integrating Google Talk (now with AOL IM) into the interface as well.

And now for the dark side: Yes, Google has me. I share everything with them. And everything you share with me is then, by extension, shared with them as well. They are my Big Brother, but for the moment I am happy to play guinea pig if it means they can continue to make better tools and widgets to make my life easier. Thanks Google.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Flockin' A, man!

I was really excited to see that Flock's latest version supports Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, and Picasa Web Albums, but when it came down to using them, it really isn't happening much yet.

I like having my Picasa hosted pictures in Flock's Media Bar, but I don't really need the photo uploading capabilities because, oddly enough, I use Picasa's software locally on my computers to manage my photo albums.

The method for logging in and checking for unread email seems a little buggy still, so I removed the email button from the toolbar and stashed the icon for the Gmail Manager firefox extension there instead. Previews are better, and I can do more with it.

The one email related feature that does work now is the Share this Link button. Enough said.

Blogged with Flock

Back to my New Toy: Portability of Information

I'm still working out the kinks in my new-found access to information, where my phone has the potential to become a mobile navigation aide, help me keep track of appointments and items on my "To Do" list, and generally make life easier. I would love the Sony Ericsson K800/K790 even if it didn't have the camera. Here are some of the things I found I can do anywhere, rather than being stuck in front of a computer:

• Check my Vonage Voicemail: This one was tricky, but now works great. I love Vonage, but sometimes find their website a little frustrating. Their voicemail page is particularly slow to respond, so I went to some length to make it accessible from elsewhere some time ago. I set up a private Google Group for just Allison and myself, including virtual members like our cell phones' SMS addresses, to which our voicemail alerts are sent, with attached messages in .wav format. I had previously set the voicemail alerts to go to my Gmail account, which then passed them on to my cell, but I wanted Allison to have similar visibility and didn't want to keep cluttering my Gmail Inbox with these messages. The Google Group helps us both keep up to date with our home voicemail by letting us both know when somebody has cared enough to leave a message. I was getting the individual alerts sent to my phone, Allison to her Gmail Inbox, and I would also get a daily summary in my Gmail Inbox. Now that this Google Group contains lots of messages, all with the same information, it in turn has gotten hard to navigate and retrieve messages. This is where my K790 comes in. It supports IMAP "Push" email which, unlike SMS, supports attachments. After months of searching, I finally found a free IMAP mail service that supports this "Push" service. It's from our good old friends at AOL! Their AIM.com email service just happens to do what I need. I managed to dig up my account information (I had put it away after it got me married) and set up the email account. Configuring the phone was fairly easy as well. Sony Ericsson provided the setup for AOL email to my phone via SMS, which I then changed to reflect the AIM.com domain. Now, I get immediate notification that a message was left, I can download it to the phone to listen to, and then delete the message when I'm done with it.
  
• Check News headlines and weather forecasts: The K800/790 has a built in RSS reader, which allows each feed to be individually customized.
• Find lower-priced gas: I've found a number of services offering mobile access to prices at local gas stations. In 5 clicks (browser-down-down-down-select) I can see a list of the lowest gas prices in my area. This service is one linked to by Cingular, but if you want my all around favorite check out www.gasbuddy.com. They support mobile web browsers as well as SMS services. They also allow you to submit updated prices.
• For you Outlook users, there is software available called MobyToday, which taps your phone's PIM attributes (appointments and To Do list) and puts them together on screen like Outlook Today does as well as any Windows Mobile device. It's really handy to see these items on your standby screen if you are the type wanting that information in your face. I discovered I didn't really need it at about the same time I discovered I couldn't get my theme's background to show up as the MobyToday background. Oh well. Reminders are really enough for me.
• Navigation: This is still a work in progress. I've found a few navigation apps that can use a bluetooth connected GPS to show location information. You can find an appropriate GPS for less than $60. My idea is that I can leave the GPS in the car charging until I get in, dock the phone in it's dash holder, which would also charge it, and start the navigation app. Conceivably these devices could also be used as a two-piece bike computer as well. I've got an OLD Garmin GPSII on my bike now, which it is not ideally suited for, as it takes so long to acquire the satellites.

One other feature to note on this phone -and to look for on other phones-, is Bluetooth 2.0. Don't get a phone without it. In this day when hands-free features are becoming not only prevalent, but required by law, being able to maintain simultaneous connections is really handy. My Moto RAZR had decent bluetooth support, but I had to turn off (or tell the phone to disconnect) my headset if I wanted to wirelessly sync calendar/contacts, which then turned into a pain if someone called because it could only maintain one connection at a time, and I still don't like the idea of holding a cell phone up to the side of my head. With Bluetooth 2.0, I can keep the headset connected all the time, no matter what other bluetooth devices may be clamoring for attention.