How To Use Gmail On Your iPhone

Gmail is fast becoming the most popular email service in the world. The primary reasons for this are that they provide an ever increasing amount of storage space for your emails and also provide a very easy to use user interface. Since Gmail uses Google's search facilities you are able to locate your emails quickly and easily. If you have already set up a Gmail account you will no doubt want to be able to log in and check your Gmail account wherever you are.

If you have both a Gmail account and an iPhone you will also probably want to set up your iPhone so that you can access your Gmail account directly from your phone.

It is possible to access your Gmail account by adding a protocol called IMAP to your iPhone. This application allows you to check your Gmail account using any offline email reader. This makes it perfect for use with the iPhone. The first thing you need to do is log in to your Gmail account and enable IMAP. To do this log in and go to the Settings section. Under there click on the Forwarding link and under POP/IMAP click on the Enable IMAP option.

The next thing you need to do is to get your iPhone and tap on Settings and then tap on Mail. After that click on Add Account and rather than selecting the Gmail option select the Other option. You will need to enter your name, then imap.gmail.com for the host and then your full Gmail address including the @gmail.com at the end.

The next step is to set up your outgoing mail so that you can send mail as well as receive it. To do click move to Outgoing Mail Server or SMTP. Enter smtp.gmail.com for the hostname and then save your changes. You have now successfully set up your iPhone to access Gmail via IMAP which will allow you to view all of your Gmail emails on your iPhone.

Having the ability to check your email wherever you are in incredibly important in today's world. No matter whether you are a high powered business executive or just somebody that likes to have regular access to their email once you have activated IMAP in your Gmail account and set up your iPhone you can stay in touch with your email contacts wherever you and your iPhone happen to be.

Using Gmail As a Network Drive

I am an avid user of Gmail, Google's free web mail service that gives you 2Gigs of free storage for your email and attachments. Now as many as I may write, I seriously doubt I will ever need that much storage for my mail.

There are some clever boys that have created an extension that allows you to use your spare capacity as a virtual drive. Just Google the word viksoe. When you install their program, it will create an extension that links directly to your Gmail account. To use it you just have to open the Gmail Drive under Windows Explorer, enter your logon details, and start dragging files in and out of the Gmail Drive. Installation is straightforward so you shouldn't have any issues.

The tool emails files to your Gmail account, so is limited by the maximum file size you can email. This is traditionally 10mb but isn't written in stone. As with normal emails Gmail will place the files into your Inbox folder. If you start storing a lot of files, this can get pretty full, pretty quickly. Create a rule that moves your stored files into the Gmail Archive instead, which will keep the Inbox clutter free. All files uploaded using the GMail Drive have a subject that contains the text GMAILFS. You can create a filter that automatically places any messages with that text into the Archive. Login to Gmail and click on Create Filter link next to the search button. Enter GMAILFS as the subject filter and go to the next step. Tick the box to skip the inbox and then create the filter.

Now when you upload a file it will automatically bypass your Inbox and be stored in the Archive.

The Value of gmail

If you don’t know about gmail, then you’re way behind buddy. Way behind. Let me get you up to speed.

Forget about yahoo, hotmail, and all those other free email services.

Your one and only choice is gmail, why?

Gmail is the premiere and sexy email service from google. I know, you’ve read somewhere that other new services offer 1 MB of email storage, but gmail went above and beyond that.

Gmail now offers over 2.5 GB of space, that’s more than enough space for anyone.

But the space is not the key, the best features of gmail are as follows:

* A virtual secretary

* Virtual storage and extra hard drive

* Organization of email topics

VIRTUAL SECRETARY

What am I talking about, come on dude, you done lost it!

No, I haven’t. This is one of the secret ways to use gmail’s features. This new feature, the ability to chat, allows you with so many wonderful uses.

As of now, you can only chat with one person, but that’s fine. Think about this, you can start off with a gmail account right.

Then you start a small company and you’ve got 10 employees. You invite them all to gmail and now your entire staff has a gmail account. What does that mean? That means you can now “chat” with each employee. So instead of chasing down folks, keep them on gmail and chat with them during the day. Also, you can talk to them about different ideas and hold “special meetings” with each employee. And guess what? When you’re finished chatting, gmail keeps all your chats.

This is important for you.

You had a long night, can’t remember your conversation with the marketing manager. Go in gmail and look up the chat (they’re listed by name and date) and also read over and refreshen your mind.

Be a little more creative and realize the potential for things that can save your lives. For example, as a guy I can lose track of the details. But guess what?

By chatting with my wife, I’ll be able to go back over our chats and remember that I have to pick up her shoes and clothes from the cleaners tonight. And when you get married, you can go over your chats and make a checklist of everything you need to go, email yourself, and now you have a checklist handy whenever you have internet access. Is that sexy enough for you?

And in addition, gmail has some wonderful networking features. For more information on this aspect of gmail, go to http://www.gar.no/gmail/gmail4.htm.

VIRTUAL STORAGE

Given 2.5 GB of space, you can email yourself all sorts of wonderful things: resumes, bill information, blueprints, business plans, scans of contracts, screenplays, research papers, etc. What this does is cut down all the stuff you have to carry around all the time. Forget about burning CDs for smaller files, just email and attach these files. Then archive the files in your storage LABEL and your files are backed up, ready and available whenever you have internet access.

EMAIL TOPICS

Through gmail, you can now organize your mail in a new and entirely different light. The idea of folders no longer exists, gmail has replaced this archaic ideal and replaced with LABELS. By labeling an email, you “attach” it to a LABEL, which is synonymous with topic. For example, you can use a label called psychology dissertation and all emails between you, your professor, and advisor are put in this “conversation.” Conversations are what gmail calls the emails in a label. And rather than cluttering your inbox, you can “archive” the conversations and now you have all the emails about your dissertation in one place and manageable. Who said email couldn’t be sexy too?

These are a few of the wonderful features of having a gmail account. So, you wonder, what’s the catch? And yes, there’s a catch.

You have to be invited. Now you can say, I don’t know anyone. But like all things, sometimes you gotta fight.

Is Gmail Hacker Proof?

Just when you thought your Gmail was safe, hackers have found a way to hijack your email accounts. This was revealed some months ago when Gmail customer support started getting concerned letters about the amount of spam received in their Gmail accounts.

This phenomenon is caused by hackers hijacking your Gmail account using a technique called Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF), Techniques requires that you click a link on a dummy hacker site, spam mail or a pop up ad while logged into your Gmail account. This action can transplant a digital spy in the form of a cookie or java script code into your PC. When your Gmail account is open, this digital spy tricks your web browser into sending an invisible request to Gmail servers.

This request could be to download your account data, your contact list, or your emails. As long as you kept your Gmail account open the digital spy could download info uninterrupted until you logged out of your account. This technique could also load spam and other hacker scripts into your Gmail account. The stolen information would be used to pilfer other account information. Or hackers can profit by selling the Gmail account info to spammers for the highest price.

Google was able to respond to the Gmail flaw quickly by tightening up their security structure. But, the CSRF attack can work also with your Google Toolbar and other websites, not only Gmail. If hackers are able to hijack your Gmail accounts, this technology could be used to request financial information when you’re a doing online transactions. There have been reports that CSRF attacks were able to initiate the transfer money by embedding a java script code in the web browsers during online banking activity.

A CSRF technique relies primarily on the users’ ignorance and trust they have for major websites. There are techniques that would reduce this kind of attack from happening. Here is a simple strategy to stop hackers from stealing your online information.

1. Never instruct your browser to remember your login information. This allows hackers to easily enter your trusted sites using a hijacked web browser.

2. Set your browser to block cookies or a least require notification before being loaded. Also perform a “secure delete” of cookie history after logging off the net. Visit www.delete-computer-history.com/delete-cookie-history for instructions.

3. Use a third party firewall with settings at high security to monitor incoming and outgoing net traffic.

4. Use Firefox as your primary web browser. Firefox’s active development allows the web browser to immediately respond to security threats. For example, downloading the No Script Firefox add-on will guard you against this kind of attack.

5. Always logout of your websites when activity is finished. And log off from the net when your online activity is completed.

If you following these simple techniques you are already many steps ahead of most PC users. This action also provides a decent amount of online security against these kinds of attacks. However, online security flaws are not necessarily the fault of the internet users. Security flaws in a trusted website is the major avenue used for an attack. Trust in major sites is the weapon CSRF attackers use to steal information. For this reason Gmail and other web mail providers are the best places for hackers to launch an attack.

All in all, having a constant broadband connection to the net comes with a high price. The price is your security. If you don’t protect yourself the door to your online personal information is open. And leaving the door open for anyone to enter your home or in this case your computer.

Extending Gmail

I’VE been a fan of Gmail ever since Google launched the test version of its free Web mail service in 2004. At the time, Google created quite a stir by offering one gigabyte (GB) of storage while Microsoft was offering a paltry 2 megabytes (MB) on Hotmail and Yahoo had a 6MB limit on its free e-mail service. The two have since caught up, and Yahoo now offers unlimited storage—but since I haven’t come close to using up my 2.8 GB on Gmail in the last two years, and I really appreciate the ability to quickly search through all my e-mail, Yahoo’s latest move really wasn’t a big deal to me.

Google has added features to Gmail since it was introduced three years ago, but many more enhancements are available from third-party developers who have extended its functionality by writing add-ons to the Firefox browser.

To get these extensions in Firefox, go to the Tools menu and choose Add-ons, then click on the Get Extensions link on the right bottom corner of the pop-up window. This opens up the Mozilla Firefox Add-ons page where you can search for the extensions you need. Once you find them, click on the Install Now button and Firefox will download and install it, and make it available the next time you fire up the browser.

Here are some of the best Gmail extensions:

Better Gmail. Most extensions do just one thing, but Better Gmail packs 25 new features into Google’s mail service, making it a must-have add-on for all serious Gmail users. These features include the integration of Google Reader for RSS feeds; icons that tell you at a glance the type of file attached; a bar graph of the storage space used and remaining; a message preview panel that can be activated by right-clicking an e-mail entry; new sidebar options; more keyboard shortcuts; and skins that change the way Gmail looks—including a really sharp imitation of the Mac e-mail client. (Another extension, Gmail Skins, lets you choose the color of your inbox, but I found it problematic.) A caveat: the version of Better Gmail on the Mozilla Add-ons site is old and does not have all the latest features. The newer version (0.8) can be found on the Lifehacker site (just Google “Better Gmail”).

Gmail Manager. Gmail Manager can notify you of incoming mail in multiple Gmail acounts. Running the mouse pointer over the mail indicator at the bottom right corner of the browser window reveals details about the acount, including unread messages, saved drafts, the amount of storage used, and snippets of any new mail. As a bonus, you can also use Gmail Manager to make mail to links on any Web page open up a Gmail compose form. While this feature is also available in Better Gmail, I prefer Gmail Manager’s approach, because it first asks you which of multiple accounts you’d like to use to send the e-mail.

Gspace. This extension allows you to use your Gmail account to store files. After installation, a Gspace item appears in the Tools menu. Choosing it opens a tab that lets you log into your Gmail account and copy files to and from it. This works like Gmail Drive on Windows, gDisk on the Mac or GmailFS for Linux , but because it’s browser-based, Gspace will work on any of the three platforms.

E-mail this! Not all Web sites have a link that will enable you to quickly e-mail a page to a friend. This extension, originally called Gmail this! now supports Hotmail and Yahoo Mail too. Simply right-click on an empty spot on a page and choose E-mail This and choose which service you want to use. The extension opens up a new e-mail form with the link already pasted onto the the body of the e-mail message.

Mailplane 2.0 public beta

Mailplane was one developer’s answer to bridging the gap between desktop e-mail clients and Google’s highly popular webmail service: Gmail. The app looks just like a site-specific web browser for Gmail - however, it has many extra functions that a regular web browser won’t provide you. Mailplane allows you to quickly browse through the iLife Media Browser and attach a file from iPhoto or iTunes, and convert or resize images as necessary. You can also use multiple Gmail/Google Apps accounts within the single app - this is very useful for those with multiple accounts, who often find themselves having to constantly login/out from Gmail. It can also be the default app responding to “mailto:” URLs and can be launched from Address Book - rather than having Apple’s Mail.app be the default.

Version 2.0 public beta supports “Gmail 2” shortcuts and add-ons, e.g. the new Apply/Remove Label and Navigate to Level functions. Attachments can now be formed from the clipboard, which is a useful tool. Account notifications have also been improved from the previous version, now with a “do not disturb” status mode. Mailplane costs $25 and version 2.0 will be free to registered users of version 1. Mailplane requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer.

Auto Email Account Creator

The computers and the Internet have opened up new avenues for communication and business. While communication has become a lot more efficient and considerably less expensive via the Internet, the world of business has improved significantly with the advent of the World Wide Web. Many businesses have taken advantage of the Internet as a powerful medium for advertising, while many other businesses are conducted primarily or exclusively on the Internet. Working and making money at home has become easier than ever before, and many people are enjoying the advantages of working at home and being self-employed. There are many online activities that represent a powerful source for generating cash and substantiating your earnings. If you are into sales of products or services and have been trying to find the most efficient way to promote them, you have probably already heard of Craigslist. This is the biggest web site for classified ads and receives about ten million unique visitors each day. It is free to use and its marketing power is absolutely fantastic. The effectiveness of marketing your products or services on Craigslist can make a huge difference for your business, provided you are aware of the most effective way of using this marketing power.

Simply put, the marketing potential of Craigslist can be used to the maximum if you post as many ads as possible, and the posting of each ad requires a different and active email account. If you look at things from this perspective, it is easy to understand how useful a Gmail auto account creator or a Yahoo! auto account creator could be. Instead of spending hours on end creating new email accounts and Craigslist accounts, which would leave you with hardly any time to post ads, you would be a lot better off using a piece of software that can create and manage Craigslist accounts and email accounts automatically. A Gmail or Yahoo auto account creator can spare you all the trouble of having to create such accounts manually, or hiring additional staff to perform this operation for you. If you are already sick and tired of typing details over and over, you can download a Gmail auto account creator and have your email accounts created in a matter of seconds.

Many software developers have acknowledged the fact that a Yahoo or Gmail auto account creator is a powerful tool in process of making the most of the opportunities that Craigslist marketing provides. As a result, Gmail and Yahoo auto account creator is available from a variety of providers. However, some programs are more efficient than others in that they are able to automatically create email accounts without following a predefined pattern that can be easily found by email providers, which can lead to your account being terminated.

As has been said before, in order to fully benefit from the marketing potential of Craigslist, you need to post as many ads as possible, prior to which you have to create and manage a corresponding number of active email accounts. An auto account creator is your best option, but you have to make an informed choice of the product. Your Yahoo or Gmail auto account creator should work on dynamic patterns, be highly customizable and multithreaded.