email accounts, mail programs, and The Stamp

Hi Adam --

Hope you're well.  I started teaching at TheUni this semester and am forwarding my .edu mail to my .com account.  I'm just wondering if I need to set up my Uni email in my email program.  It does forward, but I don't have a separate icon for TheUni email account.  Part of the problem is I don't know if it's a POP server, etc, and couldn't seem to determine that.  What is the advantage of having the separate icon/account?

Thanks,

Jane

adam@computersWTF
to Jane

Hi Jane-

It's purely a personal preference. Think of the Mac Mail program (aka The Stamp or technical term: mail client) as an old mail room in a big office building- sorting, filing and ultimately providing you with your mail as you like it. If you want to have a separate "box" for each of your accounts, each with it's own inbox, sent folder, and so on, then Mac Mail can do that. If you want to have TheUni forward their mail to another account and come in that way, you can obviously do that too as that is your current setup. Each computer has a different mail client (or more than one, like Thunderbird, Outlook, etc), as do mobile devices and tablets. Conversely, web-based email can be logged into remotely from any device or computer with Internet access. Most email accounts can be accessed either way, although some companies/orgs choose to go with one or the other.

Best,

Adam

What to do when your email password has been compromised

This is such a wonderful resource, not only do I wish I wrote it, I wish I'd read it 5 years ago.

Google, search personalization, and filter bubbles

[or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Turn Off Search Personalization]

Eli Pariser gives a great TED Talk about the way we search:

As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

then...

Click here for a great how-to on disabling personalized Google search results.

Extend

Xmarks is a free utility that keeps your bookmarks, passwords, and even open tabs synced across multiple computers/mobile devices. They also have a great, easy-to-use extension for all your favorite browsers.


...and while we're on the topic of browser extensions: the goo.gl URL shortener, Email this Page, and Google Voice add-ons for Chrome are all quite convenient. Find extensions for your browser here:Chrome (our recommended browser), Firefox, and Safari.

If you're wondering what an extension is, it's an easy-to-use add-on that makes your web-browsing experience more useful and functional; watch a tutorial here.

Googley-eyed back ups

There was a Gmail crash back in February, with 40,000 of their users affected (0.02%), which got us thinking: not enough people are backing up their web-based email. Google publishes a tutorial for backing up Gmail; please don't hesitate to call if you need help with this or any other web-based email providers (don’t forget to export/backup those Contacts too!). For backing up Google Docs, there are a few 3rd party applications out there, but the best all-around goes to Syncplicity, which was simple to setup, inexpensive, fast and easy to use. Finally, if you make changes to your contacts that you want to undo, you can restore your full Google contacts list to an earlier saved version.

Boomerang brings scheduled sending to Gmail

The wonderful folks at Boomerang have developed something for which many Gmail users have been waiting: an extension allowing users to schedule the sending (and receiving) of messages. Need to ‘send later’? Wish that email you just received would be at the top of your inbox right at 9am on Monday morning instead of on Saturday at 6pm? Boomerang makes it happen. We love this feature, and think it's amazing a third party beat the Labs gang to it.

Full museum navigation

Google has taken a landmark first step in moving 'street view' indoors with ArtProject, which makes the first wave of many artworks as accessible as books. Thanks to Slate's Cultural Gabfest for the story.