Google is making waves in the software industry, pissing off Apple and teasing Microsoft with plans to build an operating system, Chrome, based on its browser of that name. But by skipping the ‘interim’ step of making desktop software it is missing a big and present opportunity. The new model in software is "syncing" in which several platforms–phone, web site, desktop – run "applications" (apps) that synchronize content / data. When given a choice, the browser is usually the last resort for the user. She would rather run an app than open up Safari (et al) and go to a URL. Likewise, it’s easy to open a program on the desktop and enjoy a ‘rich’ experience.

Microsoft understands this, and is able to offer Windows Live Mail, which syncs Email and Contacts and Calendar from the desktop with the Hotmail / ‘Live’ web programs. Google understands this, to the extent of mobile devices and the web (by the way, it licenses the sync technology from MS). But on the desktop, Google only offers..er, Google Desktop. It requires ‘Google Gears’ if you want to access certain apps off-line. In either case, the apps (Calendar, Mail) run through the browser. The apps are ‘read-only’ when off-line: you cannot create a new message or event. Strange.

Google’s offering is the result of a way of thinking that seemed plausible 2 years ago (before Apps and Adobe AIR took off), but now seems silly: that the web means the browser. And it thinks a user accesses a desktop version only when off-line, rather than the other benefits of specialization and richness. Being online does not only mean browsers, but, web browsing does mean being online in people’s mind. People hate using a browser off-line. It’s counter-intuitive. Sure, there’s a lot one can do in a browser as Firefox shows. And there’s a lot more that can be done, as the Chrome OS will no doubt prove. But today, in Dec. 2009, I just want to access my Gmail on the desktop. The best way to do that is with Windows Live mail program (which supports Gmail). But the best overall experience for mail / contacts / calendar syncing is with Windows Live (Hotmail) itself. So I am switching to Live.

Maybe soon Google will at least support an Adobe AIR developer who can make a sweet Google AIR app. Is there anyone out there?

Adobe AIR, Chrome, email, Google, Microsoft, syncing

Three people have pleaded guilty to charges related to spam e-mail that promised U.S. victims millions of dollars from an estate and a lottery, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. [ See story ]

But the three Africans have already moved on to greater success with their newest spam, raising money for their legal defense fund.

OR

And their more than 4,000 American victims have admitted to being dumb as rocks.

e-mail scam, email, fraud, joke, Nigeria, spam

Oh, Google: you keep sprinkling killer apps with AJAX and Comet to make the interface really ‘fast’ , and yet by overlooking how the tools are employed by us humans, you waste so much of our time! Take for instance, Gmail Filters (cited in the previous post for its usefullness). As you may know or can guess, Filters are like MS Outlook Rules– your instructions to the program to Do things to Incoming Messages. First, you define Criteria by placing a value in any of the following inputs: From, To, Subject, Has the words, Doesn’t Have (the words).

Then you Choose an Action to be run on the targeted messages:

The weakness lies within the Defining of Criteria. For starters, the input fields do not use the auto-fill / display of likely matches service which Google deploys in many of its other apps. This oversight is especially unsensible in the ‘From’ field, because Gmail Contacts are already stored. When I typed in my brother Kevin’s address, I had to type it in its entirety, which might have caused a wrong address. A prompt, or list of addresses matching a nickname or first few characters (which Yahoo Mail provides) would be helpful.

The major problem with the Criteria Inputs is they don’t allow multiple values. I wanted to create one Family filter. In the ‘From’ field, I should be able to “kevin OR rowland OR clyde.” Why are web services Inputs void of Boolean definitions? Remember those advanced Searches we learned in college to query library databases? They would be very helpful nowadays, too!
Say I have multiple siblings each with the same last name, and also, an unrelated friend with same last name. This would do the trick:

[From: contains] ‘hanley BUT NOT cindy’;

And in the case where I have four sisters who are married, and have different last names, I would like to do this:

[From: contains] ‘clyde’ OR ‘christine’ OR ‘kathleen’

Instead, I have to create a NEW FILTER FOR EACH sibling!! Hey, I do want to make multiple filters, but to hanle a myriad of business and personal relationships. One filter should handle the fam.

An indirect, alternative method to accomplish that wish, would be to first: Tag each of your Contacts (assign a label/keyword). Then, when creating a filter, use a Label as a Criteria.
Example:
[From: labled]: ‘fam’

However, this method is impossible as well–Gmail does not allow you to Label Contacts, nor does it allow Labels to be a Filter Criteria! But Gmail does offer to Assign Labels as a Filter’s Action.
If [From: kevin]: Then : label ‘fam’

Gmail Filters are a helpful tool for deleting or forwarding targed communications. But human users want to organize / sort messages based on Types of Contacts. The easiest way to offer that, would be to allow users to Label each contact. Gmail adds a layer of complication by not allowing the labeling of contacts, and then demanding a unique Filter for each Contact.

auto-fill, boolean, contacts, criteria, e-mail, email, filters, gmail, Google, labels, limitations, predictive input field, Yahoo Mail

One of the sillier things I’ve done in the music scene is ask my old guitar instructor to remove one of my addresses from his mailing list (he was that type of entertainer guilty of importing into a blaster every address from which he received a message). My request was unnecessary, and (directed as it was to an egomaniac) insulting. Also, challenging. I was asking him to do something, period. If he was interested in granting the wish, then he would have had to learn how to remove an email address from his blaster. Although that is probably easy, the thought of learning can induce a headache.

All I needed to do was set up a filter or ‘rule’ in my Email Program to siphon off any incoming messages from the blaster—which is what I did two weeks of invites later.

Note the faulty logic which led to my request:
I do not want Ben’s band invites in my gmail inbox. I am going to take action—by asking him to stop. (Because I have no control over what arives in my inbox, I must depend on the senders. )He is sending the invites to both yahoo and gmail accounts. I will ask him to only send it to yahoo account. (Yeah, and contact each and every spammer in your Bulk folder and ask them to stop too).

Here is how I should have thought through the matter:
I do not want to see Ben’s band invites in my Gmail inbox. I must preserve the Gmail inbox as a spam-free family and friend zone. How can I prevent the trespassing? What tool(s) may I access to control my Gmail experience?

The answer: Filters. Filters is the fourth tab in the Settings Panel, which gmail users may access through a link from the top right Header. Remember users: gmail, yahoo mail, hotmail are each Email PROGRAMS. There is more to them than just what Displays upon log in: Inbox and Left Navigation. Programs Do things, and give you a level of control in how things are done. Look into it… Filtering is how these programs keep away spam, or direct it to a Bulk folder (Yahoo). You can do it too!

Another lesson: when dealing with man-machine hybrids such as a distant friend/colleague using an Email Blaster, it is best to mediate issues through a machine of your own. Although I could not (and probably should not have tried to) directly contact Ben, I could adjust my machine to overpower his machine. Not only did my filter nullify his blaster’s action, but it required no work on Ben’s part. Therefore, he has that much more time to book awesome shows in venues such as that rockin’ place in Dover, N.H.

avoiding messages, blasters, email, gmail, Google, hotmail, outlook, promoting shows, rules, yahoo