I Love Gmail, But....

Ok, so I don't "love" Gmail, but I like it for many reasons.  Mainly, it blocks spam better than anything else I've ever seen.  It's free, will do POP3 & IMAP for email clients and it's fast.

However, in the past year*, Google changed the Gmail interface as well as the rest of its products' screens.  To their credit, Google made them look similar, with flat, colored buttons and added their own menu bar.  Over time, I would become more accustomed to the new look, as I also use Calendar, Maps, YouTube as well as the ubiquitous Search.

Or would I?  I still don't like the flat, icon buttons that appear when a message is selected from the list or a message is opened:

From the Settings page, icons can be replaced with text:

Note that 'Refresh' has no equivalent button when icons are displayed.

When Google first introduced this version of the Gmail interface, the biggest complaint was the difference between the unread & read messages was barely perceptible.  Well, they added a Hi-Contrast theme that - originally did not look much better - they eventually gave it more contrast.  I'd prefer either (a) still more contrast or (b) the ability to choose the background color for the read messages.  But I'm OK with the current one.  

Also - while I'm ranting - I did not like the new style because when the first message was selected, the icons would appear - and push down the list of emails.  It was jarring to see the whole list shift down, or back up if or when the message was unselected.  Plus, selecting the next message required me to jump over the message that I'd already selected.  Well, they fixed that.

Hey, I don't love it, but I do like Gmail.

But before I step off the soapbox, may I please sort the messages by something other than date?  

PS - CES starts January 8th.

January 18th:  Well, CES is over, not much to report but *Google did it again!  They're tweaking Gmail - especially the Compose view.  It's OK, I think it's improved.

Changes to the Look of Gmail

I have not heard one person tell me that they like the New Look of Gmail.  Me neither.  But I'm getting used to it and learning some of their tricks & shortcuts.

I've switched my Theme to High Contrast.  It helps when I'm looking at my Inbox or any other email list.

One feature that seemed to disappear was the (show me the) Oldest/Newest when sifting through the list of emails.  It's there, actually.  Here's how:

Gmail's List View

Here's the 1-2-3: 

1. go to your Inbox
2. move your mouse pointer to the 1-100 of x,xxx and hover there
3. as the Newest/Oldest box will appear, then click on Oldest

And, yes, I was on Papa John's Facebook page, wondering when my Free Pizza email from Papa John's will arrive.  I think the positive buzz is turning negative as hungry Rewards members have been expecting to order a pie tonight!

Contacts is not gone, either.  For much more about Google Gmail's new look, go HERE. 

For your Contacts, click on the little pull-down triangle next to Mail and the box to switch between Mail & Contacts appears: 

Tasks opens up a pop-up over either Mail or Contacts.  And when you want to go back to Mail, do the same thing;  the pull-down will be next to Contacts.

A Screen Shot is Worth More Than a Thousand Words

Circled All Programs in Paint on a Screen Shot

So you see something that you'd wish your tech nerd friend could see.  Perhaps your friend could explain it, fix it, or show how to work around it.  But they're not available.  What to do?  Take a Screen Shot!

Some Background Info

Ever wonder what the PrtScn (or it might say Print Screen or PrScr) key is for, now? A long time ago, it did what you might think. Push it and your printer would print an image of whatever was on your screen. It was kinda cool.  And helpful.

But that's not what it does in Windows today.

When you press the PrtScn key, you won't see anything happen.  But an image of your entire screen is placed on the Windows Clipboard. Now you can do something with it.

 

Like email it to a friend.

Here's How

We need to make a file out of it. Let's only use what's available in every copy of Windows.  

1. press PrtScn - I know, nothing "happens"
2. open Paint - click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then Paint
3. paste - you should now see an image of your screen
4. save this image to a file - but change Save as type to either JPEG or PNG  for a much smaller file
5. email your screen shot as an attachment - remember where the file was saved (usually Desktop, My Pictures or My Documents)

Note:  "click" means left-click. "Right-click" means, well, you got it.  And "double-click" means left-click-twice.... 

Summary

Can you see the value of this?  A picture is often so much clearer than any written explanation.  The screen shot also saves the time in typing.  

Extra Tips

• PrtScn takes a picture of the entire screen, as you see it
• Alt+PrtScn captures only the active window
• Highlight - when in Paint, use brushes to underline, or circles/squares to outline or otherwise draw attention to the part of the screen that's important
• Close Paint as soon as you're done saving the file - you might mistake the Paint image for the programs and desktop behind the Paint window
• PrtScn does not work on blue screens, any BIOS or other startup screen - rule of thumb:  If you cannot open Paint, you cannot take a screen shot

a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)

READ ALL ABOUT IT - CLICK HERE!

Here's the drill:

1. An email or even a link on a website shouts some attention-getting headline  
2. If the source is not both obvious & trustworthy, don't click on it
3. If you are still curious - verify the content - first - before clicking! 

Whether the news is true or false, always consider the author or the provider of the information before clicking on it.  I often use Snopes.com if I cannot identify the author or the publisher.
A friend sent me an email about a virus behind a link to a video about Osama bin Laden being captured & hung.  Snopes says it's real risk but could be a hoax.  This particular warning was first identified in 2004.
Makes sense?  I'm trying to say, "Look before you leap."  So go to my Facebook page and "Like" me!

Just Say, "No Way, Jose!"

Got an email that isn't quite what it says it is.  Is Comcast really alerting me to unlock my account?  No!  A screen shot of this email appears below.  This is a phishing scam and it's also known as spoofing - it looks official, but it is truly fraudulent at least and possibly malicious as well.

The highlighted link does not go to my Comcast account.  It does not go to Comcast at all.  Here's the link (with a big red X inserted to disable it):

http://Xwww.kcaer.re.kr/zboard/data/yy.php

So - anyone care to go there, test it out?  Be prepared for a virus or some sort of malware at the least, and perhaps the need to reformat your hard drive.

The email sure looks official, including the sender's address:

How Important is Email?

Do you need to save emails?

Are you stymied or just plain frustrated by spam?

Do you want - are you willing to pay for - email protection from spam and malware?

Do you demand 100% absolute certainty that your emails - sent and received - are safe, secure, delivered & received?

For my humble opinions on email, read on....
__________________________________________


If you answered "Yes!" to the first three, I can help. If you answered, "But, of course YES!!!" to the last one, well, sorry. No one can guarantee that.

The good news is that most email programs and webmail offer some form of spam blocking and gives protection through anti-virus software. Let's look at the two types of email.


Web-based Email
My personal email is a Gmail address free from the good folks at Google. They do a fantastic job of filtering out spam and storing it in a spam folder for me. I have seen only one spam mail in the past four months. And that's genuine spam, not something that I got because I bought something somewhere or registered on a website.

Just the other day, I noticed Gmail decided that one of my subscriptions was spam and began filing these in the Spam folder. I noticed the lack of these emails, went looking for them in the Spam folder and found them there. I was able to identify them as "Not spam" and now they show up again in my Inbox. I really should look at 'em once in a while, though - no wonder Gmail thought they were spam!

I also hold a Yahoo email account, their basic free email. It is similar to Gmail with similar spam blocking protection.


Email Clients
I also use Thunderbird, which is similar to Outlook and Outlook Express. Email clients that save emails on the local hard drive. Emails that you've already downloaded can be viewed even after disconnecting from the Internet. Since my emails from Thunderbird are saved on my hard drive, I can back 'em up. And I save all of my HFTPC emails. All of 'em, incoming and outgoing. And, yes, I do back my email folders up.


Another Option
Tom Merritt and his guests at Tech News Today, as well as Leo Laporte at This Week in Tech promote MailRoute.Info for spam and virus filtering.The key benefit of MailRoute, as I see it, is a virtually invisible layer of protection and spam filtering for any email account.

No protection you choose, however, can or will stop you from clicking on a link to a scam, or going to a bad website, uploading a virus from a flash drive, or opening an attachment that turns out to be a Trojan. There is no substitute for common sense and a healthy amount of skepticism when facing unknown entities.

If you're not sure, ask around. Feel free to email me with your questions.

The only 100% certainty, however, is that there are no 100% guarantees! Have you backed up your important files today?