Last post ran a little long, so I decided to put off talking about my latest finds/toys until… well, now. So for the millions of you who have been on the edge of your computer chair, feverishly clicking the refresh button… the time is now.
Today, I would like to tell you about three new (to me) ‘things’. First I will talk about Gmail, then Google Calendar, and lastly, well I’ll let you know what it is later, its my favorite :-)
Gmail:
Yes, I know, Gmail has been around for quite some time, although it is technically still in Beta. I have had a Gmail account for quite some time, probably since its first Beta release, but I had never really investigated to see its full value and capacity. Google has brought so many amazing things to our techy world, and I kick myself for not giving notice sooner. Ok, so Gmail. Gmail is your normal e-mail account with an amazingly large storage space. I currently have some 2.8 Gigs available for my use, which is almost 3x’s my 1 Gig Yahoo mail account. Storage isn’t an issue though, so that falls to the backburner. What really makes Gmail unique are its innovations. Folders are a thing of the past to Gmail, we now have Labels. At first I was very skeptical about the labels, as I wanted different mail in different locations, however, Gmail makes it very simple to view only specific labels at a time. This ties into the main reason I am now using Gmail. Sure, I have [email protected], but I never give that email out. I had been using Mozilla Thunderbird for a number of months, grouping all my emails to one location and (an extremely important and) allowing myself to send emails from all those addresses from the same location. Thunderbird was perfect!…. except, my email was on my computer… on only one of my computers…. and not at work either. You see my dilemma? Gmail fixes this issue very quickly. They provide an SMTP server for sending out emails along with settings for all your POP or IMAP servers. Perfect!
I could talk more, but I think I covered all the main points, and I’d like you to keep reading the rest of the post.
Google Calendar:
A very pretty and functional calendar indeed. The best feature? I don’t use this feature to its full extent, but I am sure I will at one point. Google Calendar’s best feature is its sharing capabilities. Or rather, your calendar subscriptions. You can subscribe to other calendars to overlay your own, so you can keep up with other group/club meetings, and you don’t have to worry about scheduling them, you just subscribe to their calendar. Genius. The main reason I use Google Calendar is because Google makes API’s so readily available that their applications are so functional and available to so many other applications. In other words, let’s talk about the third topic, my favorite.
Cingular 8125:
Ok, all you phone techy’s… I know, this isn’t really news. I picked up this new phone from cingular just this past week and I am blown away. Originally from HTC under codename Wizard, this phone was released beginning 2006, or maybe end 2005. It’s been around, but now it is available at a reasonable (college student) price. I got mine for 50 bucks, yes, it is a refurb, but it works wonders. The Cingular 8125 is a smart phone, so its capabilities are huge. With a very large screen, 1.3mp camera with digital (yuck) zoom and flash, Windows Mobile 5.0 (including Excel, PowerPoint and Word), and best of all… WiFi access being able to pick up B/G signals. I love it. I sit on the couch at home and just surf the web with a nice big screen, and a full Querty keyboard. This phone is now my personal calendar. I installed a 3rd party software that enables me to sync my phone calendar to Google Calendar. This feature is amazing. Also, with a miniSD slot available, I will soon have an addition 4 Gigs storage space in addition to my already 128mb of storage sitting next to 64mb ram, 200MHz Processor. A little on the sluggish side, but what makes up is the amazing battery life. I’m not 100% sure yet of its capabilities in length of battery, because I play with it all day long, but I expect I will be able to charge it every other day, or even every 3rd day with normal use. Good stuff.
Well that sums it up. I didn’t go in as much depth as I had planned on any of the three topics, but I think the length of the post is an important factor to weigh, and I believe I got all the general concepts on board. Let me know if you have any questions and I can hopefully dig up some answers.
Weather is looking good,
Looks like Friday I will be flying (and possibly Saturday as well)
Later!
Jason