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Folders for Gmail
I’ve been using Gmail more and more for various reasons. Most significantly, Gmail offers IMAP for free, which allows me to check my mail in Thunderbird. Generally, I’ve preferred Yahoo as a free e-mail service. One of the things about Gmail that bugged me is the lack of support for folders (at least in the traditional sense, not labels). I found a cool GreaseMonkey script that uses some JavaScript trickery to convert labels to a folder-like treeview in Gmail. It only works in Firefox with GreaseMonkey installed, but it works pretty well.
Maybe now I finally have a good reason to move away from 1and1′s e-mail service. My only head-scratcher is that some of my mail being sent through Gmail’s SMTP is being marked as SPAM. I’ll have to look into that further – it may be because I’m using a different “reply-to” address through Gmail’s SMTP, which some SPAM filters may flag.
- Folders4Gmail at userscripts.org
September 6th, 2008 
Tags: Facsimiles
Am I the only one who finds using fax machines annoying? I’ve had a free eFax account for receiving faxes via e-mail for many years, but I have to use alternative methods for sending since I do not have a paid account.
For some reason, some agencies require that signed documents be faxed or sent via snail mail (e-mail not allowed). I understand the possible legal advantage of using a fax instead of e-mail, as well as the perception of added security (though I would aruge that point). Being at the tail end of generation X, I need instant gratification and thus U.S. mail isn’t always desirable.
So where does that leave me? I can pay for a land line just for a fax machine, which is not going to happen. I can also pay for online services such as TrustFax for $4.95/month, but I send faxes so infrequently that I dislike having the recurring fee. My final option is to pay $1 per page at the likes of Kinko’s and Office Max, which is what I often end up doing. Many of you may be fortunate enough to be able to use your employer’s fax machine.
Regardless, I find it funny that I can scan in a signed document in full resolution and quality, fax it via a service like TrustFax, and then have it come out in super-quality 5dpi chicken scratches. That method is acceptable, but simply e-mailing the higher-quality document (in PDF, no less) is not.
I think it’s time we embrace encrypted e-mail.
1and1.com
I’ve been using 1and1.com for a couple years now to register “lesser” domains where I didn’t need the extra DNS features or WHOIS protection. Since my previous e-mail provider recently died on me, I was looking around for a new one. It’s been incredibly difficult to find a provider that supports at least two e-mail boxes on a single domain of my choice and charges less than $40/year (most charge $25-$40 per address).
Although I had tried 1and1.com e-mail hosting in the past, I wasn’t impressed. Desparate for a bargain, I decided to give them another look. They only charge $0.99/month for a 2GB IMAP account with webmail. Pretty cheap. I tried it again and found the experience more pleasant than the last time. Although their control panel still sucks, it’s been improved since the last version and is at least bareable now. Although I prefer Horde, their webmail interface is adequate.
They do create a strange random username for your e-mail boxes, although you get to choose the password. Also, it took me a long time to figure out which MX records to use. I found it nowhere in their documentation, and their support never replied. Fortunately, Google came to my rescue.
In the end, it’s a sweet price with the features I need, and the server speed isn’t bad. Their support is non-impressive and their control panel sucks, but for the price, I think it will be swell.
In the process, I also noticed that 1and1.com now offers WHOIS protection for free with domain registration, which is only $5.99! It doesn’t have complete DNS control, but offers a single A record (for a web site) as well as up to four MX and backup MX records. So if that’s all you need, it’s not a bad deal with the free WHOIS protection. For my domains where I want more DNS features, I usually go with namecheap.com.
Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 Released
Joy and rapture! My e-mail client of choice, Mozilla Thunderbird, has reached its 1.0 release. Get it while it’s hot (and while you can connect to the servers).
- Link: Mozilla Thunderbird
- Save their bandwidth: BitTorrent Download
- Vote for a my feature request: The ability to POST messages to Thunderbird folders
Firefox News
Well, anyone who follows Slashdot already knows that Firefox RC1 was released today, although it still contains the Slashdot rendering bug. However, it is apparently not an actual release candidate as the version number suggests, but merely an interim version. While skimming the comments on Slashdot, I found a link to processor-specific optimized Firefox and Thunderbird builds. The trunk versions fix the Slashdot bug, but have the old Find (Control-F) design. It’s unfortunate I have to choose between my preferred Find method and proper rendering of Slashdot, but I guess you get what you pay for. Right now I’m running the MOOX M3 optimized build of RC1. Not too shabby.
Battle of the E-mail Providers
Searching for an e-mail provider that offers the most bang for the buck is a daunting process. There are several good commercial providers (MailSnare, FastMail) that offer great features for varying fees. Recently, Google has thrown fuel on the fire by offering a free 1GB e-mail account, which required competitors like Yahoo and Hotmail to follow suit with their own offerings. None of them are perfect. Whether it be expensive, lacking features, or it just doesn’t feel as comfortable as Exchange, the hunt continues.
Recently, however, I found a cool little online service for accessing your Yahoo or Hotmail account via IMAP, called IzyMail Online. Now you can use your favorite IMAP client to access your free e-mail account. The service is only $10.95/year for a single account. I think it’s cool because I get the powerful web interface of Yahoo Mail at a price cheaper than most commercial offerings.
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