Mar 20, 2006 | blog
I’ve been using GMail for domains for about two weeks now. I’ve not moved fully to it, but have set up what will probably turn into my main email account going into the future. The service is still in “beta” – one of those long beta’s that Google is famous for – and seems quite solid to me. Of course I’d be surprised if I ran into issues – this is the same GMail system that everyone can sign up for, with the simply addition of being able to point your domain’s MX records to it.
The service comes with room for up to 10 accounts, each getting the now-expected 2GB storage and Google search capabilities built in. You also get the ability to use the chat functionality built into GMail. While I’m not a big “chat” or IM user, this functionality built into the GMail interface is fantastic. We use it at the office since we don’t have an IM system in-house and would rather not use any of the IM clients even though they can now handle the proxy/firewall setup we have. Having this simple chat tool in the browser allows us to send really short, really simple questions and get answers, though I could not see using it for long chat sessions.
The rest of the system is identical to your regular GMail account save for the ability to send invitations. Also, the first account created is the admin account which you will use to manage all other accounts for the domain. Overall the admin interface is simple and straightforward. Very easy to use.
So I recommend anyone who has a domain that needs a powerful, flexible, and affordable set of email accounts sign up for the “beta”. It may take awhile to get a response (mine took two weeks – your mileage may vary), the system itself is fantastic. As a strict Microsoft guy, I’m very fond of my new email setup for the domain your visiting right now. Check it out!
Mar 20, 2006 | blog
Mike Torres makes a nice point on his blog Torres Talking on competing with Google or anyone else. In it he says Microsoft is successfully creating an end-to-end encompassing set of solutions that span from your local PC to mobile device, to online services, to media services & solutions with their products. Yes he’s a Microsoft employee, but coming from the MSN side of things, I think he has some interesting viewpoints on their strategy – check him out.
Mar 18, 2006 | blog
So I’ve been using SBSH’s Pocket Weather (PW) for about a year and a half now – from way before SBSH picked up the product and its creator Adrian Oliver. While I’ve always been fond of the app, it has recently been even more useful then ever.
From its roots as a simple app that grabs the current conditions and forecast off the ‘net, to the current version that is highly configurable with custom radar & satellite maps, animated maps, and large number of locations to configure. The community has embraced it as well with numerous skins, themes, icons, buttons, etc… to help mesh with the overall look a person may be going for on their PPC.
Since I have the T-Mobile MDA, it has become very useful – simply because PW now does not have to connect to my phone over bluetooth and dial the ‘net, the data connection is built in. This of course applies to all such applications that access the Internet, but I’m talking about PW right now. The current conditions now update every 15 minutes, the weather maps every 30 minutes. I can whip out the MDA at any time and give everyone a quick full-featured weather report when needed. Talk about awesome!
This application alone has driven a few people to consider a PPC Phone like the MDA or other HTC Wizard based platform. And don’t forget the integration with SBSH’s PocketBreeze program that allows multiple Today Screen plug-ins to use the same screen space – highly recommended! There is much more but I’d recommend reading a review on Pocket Weather, and visiting the exceptional SBSH support forums for this and all their programs.
Reviews:
Mar 18, 2006 | blog
I’ve become very fond of Box.net in a rather short period of time. It seems like there is tons of data on my systems at home, but as I go through all the bits piled on various hard drives, laptops, removable cards and such, I’m finding that I have very little that I could not recreate (CD/DVD tracks, downloaded installers, etc…). When I look at the bulk of what is really critical that I not loose, it is only a few GBs. So I’ve copied much of it up to my Box.net account. I’ll probably pull the trigger on one of the premium accounts soon as I do have more than 1GB of data to keep.
What I really like about Box.net is that I’ve finally got an off-site, secure repository for my data. I can back up all my web sites to this repository and greatly reduce any concerns that I’ll loose anything on any of the sites. Very handy.
Thanks Box.net!
Mar 18, 2006 | blog
So there is an update to WordPress out now (v2.0.2) that fixes some security issues:
“The problems addressed are unannounced XSS issues privately discovered and reported to the WordPress team. Thanks to Mark Jaquith, Robert Deaton, and David House for assisting with this release.”
Please check out the update at WordPress.org
Mar 16, 2006 | blog
Robert Scoble commented today about the rising noise in the blogosphere. A mob of people who seem intent on simply flaming and blasting or arguing their way through many blogs. The trend is disturbing and is discouraging to many who have helped build the tech blogosphere that we know today – and many like me who have grown from reading the ‘A List’.
Through Scoblizer and many other blogs, I’ve been able to learn many new things, find the interest and intent to become a blogger (whether I’m good or bad at it) and try to add to the conversation, to add value as I have gotten out of the blogosphere.
Here’s to more intelligent conversation about technology, the implementation of tech, and how it enriches our lives.
