Emails | Bay Geeks Computer Repair Services

February 9, 2010

Google Making Gmail Into a Communications Hub

Filed under: Emails, Google, gmail — admin @ 4:13 pm

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Gmail users will soon have more ways to keep up with their friends via a widget that shows quick status updates like Facebook and Twitter do, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The move would further turn Gmail, which revolutionized online e-mail, into a comprehensive communications hub. The intent is to keep people’s attention centered on Google, by making Gmail, not Facebook, people’s first stop online — and their default place to send and receive messages. Gmail users can already chat via Jabber or AIM, make video calls, and send SMS messages from Gmail’s web interface.

As the Post reports:

Google has been trying to fashion Gmail into more than an e-mail service for years. The service currently lets users set an “away message,” which can be a link to a Web page, that their friends see when they instant-message them. Now, it plans to launch a new interface that will aggregate updates from more friends in a stream.

The new stream will also eventually include content that a user’s connections share through its YouTube video site and Picasa photo service, according to one person familiar with the matter. But whether those features will also be announced in the coming days remains unclear.

The full extent of the new features remain unclear, but Google is inviting reporters to a launch event Tuesday on its Mountain View, California, campus promising “some innovations in two of our most popular products,” according to an e-mail sent to reporters.

Yahoo has included similar features in its e-mail service, letting users see what photos their contacts have uploaded to Flickr, for example.

Google could integrate updates from a user’s Twitter account, since most of that is public. And it could likely make it easy for Gmail users to post to Twitter as well, due to Twitter’s liberal API policy.

Facebook, however, will not likely let its rival re-publish status updates, or allow users to publish to their Facebook pages through Gmail. Facebook, much like AOL and Compuserve back in the early ’90s, is a controlled and sanitized version of the larger internet, but it relies on closed protocols.

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August 8, 2009

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT

Filed under: Emails, Funny — Alden @ 7:48 am

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If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, ‘Who’s on First?’ might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on…
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know.. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’………….

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February 26, 2009

Three Great New Gmail Add-ons: Offline Gmail and More

Filed under: Emails, General — Alden @ 5:03 pm

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Google has added new features to its Gmail service during the past couple months that make the Web-based e-mail service more business-friendly and versatile.

Click to continue reading “Three Great New Gmail Add-ons: Offline Gmail and More”

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February 10, 2009

Email Alert - New Spam Threat

Filed under: Computer Advice, Emails, Malware, Security, spam — admin @ 4:59 pm

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You may be aware of the debate going on in this country over the development of a stimulus package to aid in our economic recovery. Unfortunately all of those dedicated spammers out there are using this as an opportunity to defraud the general public. There are now emails circulating that appear to be from the US Internal Revenue Service and promising an “Economic Stimulus Payment”. They are designed to facilitate the theft of your identity. They generally contain links to online forms where you will be asked to submit personal information or they will ask you to reply to the email with sensitive information. They may appear authentic as they include official looking seals however the IRS other US federal agencies never make unsolicited contact with citizens via email.

If you receive one of these messages, delete it immediately. Do not reply to it or click on any links in the body of the message.

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January 19, 2009

GPS & Cellphones

Filed under: Emails, General, Security — Tags: cellphones, gps, mobile phones, Security — admin @ 11:30 am

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Security is an important part of life in this day and age. With this recession, we anticipate an increase in crime (as unemployment increases so does crime typcially).

Few of us take the time to think about simple things we do that can put us in jeopordy. The following is an email I received that I thought was so important, I wanted to post it here. While I do not know who to give credit to as the author, I am greatful for this well thought out message.

GPS
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their
car broken into while they were at a football match. Their car was
parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and
specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included
a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been
prominently mounted on the dashboard..

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been
ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used
the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the
house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew
what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much
time they had to clean up the house. It would appear that they had
brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

MOBILE PHONE
I never thought of this…….
This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her
mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained
her cell phone, credit card, wallet…etc… was stolen.

20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him
what had happened, hubby says ‘I received your text asking about our pin
number and I’ve replied a little while ago.’

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the
money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell
phone to text ‘hubby’ in the contact list and got hold of the pin
number.. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their
bank account.

Moral of the lesson:
Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your
contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart,
Dad, Mom, etc…. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being
asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back. Also, when you’re being
text by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back
to confirm that the message came from them. If you don’t reach them, be
very careful about going places to meet ‘family and friends’ who text
you.

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