by cameron | Jul 9, 2007 | Uncategorized
About a week ago I installed Thunderbird again and I think I’ve cooked up the ultimate combination of tools for handling email. I was previously (for three years) working just in the Gmail client and while it’s been okay, I have needed a platform and process that allows me a chance to adapt my working process to a higher degree than Gmail does in the browser. I think the TB/GM combination has everything I am going to need.
Here’s what the process I’m currently using.
1. Make sure before you install Thunderbird, you go into your Gmail settings and set the POP forwarding to “new mail only”. Otherwise, if you’re like me, you sit there for hours waiting for Thunderbird to download 2Gb worth of old mail. And, as you’ll find out shortly, you aren’t going to use TB to store email anyway.
2. Once you have TB configured to receive your Gmail (and the latest version of TB makes that very easy), you might want to set up some folders under your Inbox. For example, I’ve got these folders currently set up.
The reason for the folders is that I’m going to be creating some filters.
3. The reason for the filters is that I get a couple of hundred emails each day and I need a good way to prioritise them. So whenever an email comes into my inbox, I try to assign a filter to it so the next time I get an email from that person it ends up bypassing my inbox and ending up in one of the folders. That way I can scan my folders a few times a day and attack the most important emails first.
Why not just use Gmail filters? One reason – right click. I found the whole process of setting up filters in Gmail very slow and frustrating. With TB, you open the email, right click the sender’s email address, and select “Create Filter From Message”. It’s a far smoother process. It’s also easier to colour-code your messages, tag them, etc. And you can drag-and-drop them into folders or into the Trash.
4. Here’s the best tip – once I’ve processed an email, I *delete* it. Yup. Why? Because this is Gmail – access to an old email is a click away by opening up a browser window. No point storing them locally when Google does it for you. So when you re-build your PC you don’t need to worry about backing up old emails. It’s all in the cloud, baby.
So… that’s my current email process. If you have any additional tips to handling large quantities of email per day, let me know.
UPDATE: Something Jodie Miners reminded me of. This solution probably ISN’T going to work for those of you who operate regularly across several machines. These days I don’t travel as much as I used to, so my desktop machine is where I am handling email 95% of the time. When I am away from home, I check Gmail from my phone or my laptop. I can still use the Gmail web interface for these out-of-context situations. However I’m never going to be trying to deal with 200+ emails in these situations, only emergency stuff. The Thunderbird interface is for handling bulk email on a daily basis.
UPDATE 12 July, 2007:
In case you don’t read David’s comments from below, I’ve added these to my TB install! Brilliant!
Another component I’ve added to the TB mix is hooking in Google Calendars using two plugins: Lightning + Provider for Google Calendars, which let me view and update my (multiple) Google Calendars from a sidebar within Thunderbird.
Get it!
Lightning 0.5
Provider for Google Calendar 0.21
by cameron | Jul 8, 2007 | Podcast
Frank Arrigo, the guy who runs Microsoft’s Developer Platform Evangelism team in Australia, a 16 year veteran of Microsoft, joins me tonight to publicly break his big news – he’s moving to Seattle to direct Microsoft’s DPE field strategy worldwide.
The quality of the Skype call is terrible so we don’t talk long, but we manage to chat a bit about Microsoft’s enormous drop in enterprise developer support for Windows in the last year (according to this report), what some of the reasons for it might be and what they need to do to stop the desertion. We also talk about the lack of support for kids with Asperger’s Syndrome in Sydney (two of Frank’s sons have it) and the great support in Seattle. And I finally bet Frank $50 and an iPhone that 50% of his team in Australia will quit in the next year after he leaves….
Check out this video of Frank doing his best attempt at Shakespeare:
http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf
Video: macbeth.ed
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by cameron | Jul 8, 2007 | science, technology
Thank Science! I finally found out how to stop Vista opening links in IE instead of Firefox! This has been bugging the hell out of me since I started using Vista months ago. I found the answers on this site. The secret formula is:
Start button > Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs > Set program access and computer defaults
by cameron | Jul 7, 2007 | Podcast, science, singularity, technology
Wendell Wallach is a lecturer and consultant at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics where he chairs the working research group on Technology and Ethics, leads a seminar for bioethics interns, and functions as a senior coordinator for other working groups and projects. He has lectured worldwide, published many articles, and is presently writing two books. Cybersoul explores the ways in which cognitive science and the Information Age are altering our understanding of human decision-making and ethics. Machine Morality: From Aristotle to Asimov and Beyond, which Wendell is co-authoring and which will be published by MIT Press, explores the prospects for designing computer systems capable of making moral decisions. Wendell is recognized as one of the leaders in the new field of Machine Ethics, and designed the first course anywhere on this subject, which he has taught twice at Yale.
Wendell is one of the speakers at the upcoming Singularity Summit.
Become part of the G’Day World conversation.
If you’re a member of Facebook, you can ADD ME AS A FRIEND and then ADD YOURSELF TO THE G’DAY WORLD GROUP.
Add me to your Twitter account.
Do me a solid and digg the show.
Get the TPN version of Particls?
Don’t forget to make use of my new comments line – +613 9016 9699.
You can now buy transcripts of this podcast from Pods In Print.
If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed and leave us a voice comment!
The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
by cameron | Jul 5, 2007 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
We’ve got about 35 people registered and a few of them have told me they are bringing friends, so it should be a fun night.
So we know how many to cater for, please register here if you are coming.
MODM is a new event for Melbourne’s Online Digital Media community to socialize and talk about everything that’s new in media:
+ Business models for podcasting, blogging, machinima, second life, mobile content, YouTube, MySpace, etc.
+ Using new media to change the world
+ The intersection of mainstream media and new media
+ How to build an audience, raise funding, legals, etc.
If you produce digital media, or want to produce digital media, this is the event for you.
