May 18, 2010

Secrets of Gmail and Google Labs

And you thought email was all about send and receive
You might think that using webmail makes you as tech-savvy as you can get. Well, you’re wrong, as Google’s Mail offspring is so full of secrets and magic ideas it’ll turn you into a power user to impress your friends.


Labs


Mail Goggles
If you’re one of those ‘I think I’ll email the ex after a few beers’-types, then you’ll probably want this feature. Set a time each week that signals DANGER (i.e. you’ve had one or two sherbets) and you’ll have to answer maths questions to send an email. Now, if only this would work for texting...


Offline Gmail
Google has taken webmail to the next level: not using the web. So you might think it’s just mail! Well, not so, as Google will download your most recent messages to your computer to let you browse them at your leisure... so the Tube ride need never be disconnected again.


Mouse gestures
Firefox users will appreciate this feature, as it allows you to interact with Gmail simply by holding down the right mouse key to navigate through the menus. A big pleasing grey button appearing only adds to the mystique of the adventure.


Random signature
If you’re fed up with being all unimaginative by writing your boring old name and perhaps number at the bottom of each mail, why not add a random quote? Not only will you look clever, you’ll get more mail!


Old Snakey
Nokia phones just aren’t the same without old-school Snake to play, and thankfully Google has fixed this. A simple shortcut allows you easy access to the old favourite, and you may even find the keyboard will help you get that elusive high score.


Email addict
Google might love you looking at its screens all day long, but even it recognises you need a break once in a while. This feature works by blocking the screen for fifteen minutes and making you invisible in chat... so you best hope nothing vitally important happens while you toddle off to the toilet.


Canned responses
If typing the same words all the time is too much for you, then perhaps you need to make some canned responses. When you need to write the same thing over and over, enable this feature and select it when composing a message, so you can save valuable seconds that could be better used reminding yourself how important you are.


Themes
You can probably guess what this is, and yes, it does basically re-skin your Gmail experience. No customisable versions as yet, but we’ll say just one thing... Ninja.


Gmail’s secret features


Videos in Gmail Chat
If you use Gmail Chat to converse with your friends regularly, then you’ll probably be pleased to know that if they send you a YouTube video link, you won’t have to open a separate browser window to check it out... it’ll appear in the chat section!
Probably best to hope it’s not one that requires close-up viewing... or the dramatic hamster. Just because we’re getting bored of it.


Keyboard shortcuts
This is an easy one. Turn on keyboard shortcuts in ‘Settings’ and you’ll never have to pick up the mouse to operate your Gmail again. There’s a shortcut for practically every function, so be careful you don’t get confused between that and ACTUAL typing... else your message may look a little bizarre.
For a full list of shortcuts, check out Google’s help page.


Advanced search operators
Although Gmail is a fave among the web savvy thanks to its ease of use, one major failing it does bring is the inability to sort messages by name or date received.


Well, if you want to love Gmail to the max then get your head around these sets of operators. Simply pop them in the search box (i.e. from:T3) and it will call up all the messages from us. There are loads more, but it’s best you check them out yourselves.


Forgotten attachment detector
ANYONE who has ever sent an email has done this: sent a message and referenced an attached document... and then forgotten to attach it.


Well, this feature scans through your message, checks to see if a file was mentioned, and makes sure it’s attached. If not, then it will save the embarrassing follow-up email, and we all know that’s got to make the world a better place.


Add characters to get more email addresses
Your Gmail address is more than it seems... you can add in extra characters to get more addresses. Basically, add ‘+anyword’ (anyword being just that... any word you wish) to the end of your gmail username (i.e. t3+anyword@gmail.com) and it will still come through to your inbox.


Not only that, but insert full stops into your username, anywhere you want (i.e. if you’re called happychappy@gmail com, you can have h.appychappy@gmail.com, h.a.ppychappy... you get the picture), and Google will ignore them, meaning you have an almost infinite number of email addresses!


Source - Google , T3
4JW9J739G38N 

0 comments:

Table of Contents

Blog Archives

TechnoBlog

  © Technoblog All Rights Reserved by Sajin 2010

Back to TOP