George’s Wonder Blog

GMAIL LITTLE KNOWN FEATURES

They list 10, but here are my 2 favorites:

#5 - Smart links on the right - they make mention of addresses and UPS tracking, the latter being very cool to me, because I just used it tonight. I used Google Checkout to buy more memory for my computer (really cool because I did not have to setup another account and memorize another login) a couple of days ago and the merchant sent me a UPS tracking number. What did I see in the right hand side? A clickable link that took me directly to the UPS site showing me where my package was!

#10 - Custom “from” - I have one of my POP email account coming into my Gmail and I can select the email address I am sending from. So when I use Gmail to handle my other email it doesn’t have to come from my Gmail address.

Read all of 10……
Top 10 little-known Gmail features (Part 1)
Top 10 little-known Gmail features (Part 2)

GMAIL CHAT

Did you even wonder where Gmail Chat came from? Where it all started? Read Evolution of Gmail chat for an interesting look into Gmail chat started and how it got where it is today. Its all about feedback and testing.

DON’T FORGET TO ARCHIVE

To be fair I did write a short writeup about using Gmail’s archive feature (Gmail: Keeping your Inbox Clean) including comments of my own, but it seems worthy of repeating. Keep your inbox clean by using the Gmail archive feature.

IMPORT YOUR EMAIL

If you have Gmail handle your POP email, like many of us who rely on Gmail’s Spam filtering, search feature, portability and organization then you will probably be importing old emails into Gmail. Fortunately they have written a howto for exactly that, read Tips for importing old email to Gmail and get your Gmail/email organized today!

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If you have a Whirlpool Flame Lock Water heater (like model FG1F4040S3NOV I own) you are no doubt aware of the class action suit (Bowen, et al v. Whirlpool Corp., et al) whose deadline just passed. If you went to www.waterheatersettlement.com, downloaded, printed, filled out and mailed in the claim from - I think there’s a better way!

My thermocouple (the part that needed repeated replacement and probably the reason for the lawsuit) just burned out recently and its about the 6th time. But this time when I went out to buy a new one guess what? They don’t sell them any more! So I called Whirlpool’s toll-free number and the recording mentioned www.flamelocksupport.com where you can request that they ship you the flame lock replacement kit (Whirlpool calls it a “Flame Lock Enhancement Kit“) for free. Yes, I said FREE! If you don’t need it right away UPS Ground is even FREE! Those of you that want it shipped faster they offer UPS 2nd Day and UPS Next Day shipping, and you only pay for the shipping.

Regardless of how you get your free “Flame Lock Enhancement Kit” shipped to you from Whirlpool you will doubtless need to pay a professional to install it (like I did). It cost meabout $100, but I knew it worked right when the installation was done and I no longer worry about having to take cold showers any more.

Visit www.flamelocksupport.com to get your free “Flame Lock Enhancement Kit” - no more thermocouples! The new kit has a reset button!

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GOOGLE MAPS - Traffic, Photos and Local Information

Ever want to avoid heavy traffic and traffic accidents during your daily commute (or wherever you’re going)? Ever want to see photos related to the locations at or near where you are traveling? Well evidently the folks over at Google maps figured out we do!

GOOGLE MAPS: Traffic Button

Ok, I’m going to call them new because I just noticed them tonight and the first one is the Traffic button. To the left of the customary Map, Satellite and Terrain buttons you will now see a Traffic button (see screen capture below). According to Stuck in traffic? posted on the Official Google blog, you can get traffic info for over 30 major US cities - certainly more now since that post was made over a year ago! Even if you can’t get specific traffic info in your area concerning the flow of traffic you should be able to get at least some information about blocked roads, traffic accidents and road construction. Below left to right are some thumbnails from a Google map of Atlanta, Georgia showing traffic conditions (live traffic, reporting expected travel speed) Road construction and Blocked Road notifications. Don’t just go to and from work - go with as little traffic as possible.

Google Maps Traffic

GOOGLE MAPS: More button (photos and local info)

You can even see pictures people have taken and information from Wikipedia about many places. Especially if you are going somewhere you’ve never been and even if you have been they you are likely to find these pics and information interesting.

Wikipedia is a great source of info even by itself, but when connected to Google maps they are truly a winning combination!

Pictures taken by people like you and me can be uploaded to Panoramio and connected to the place where they were taken. Photos on Google maps were added last year and I’m sure at this point the issue isn’t finding enough photos in some places, but choosing which ones Google wants to show.

Traffic, Wikipedia information and local pictures make Google Maps more useful and interesting than ever before - check it out!

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Has anybody used MPFree.com? Their site boasts free, legal, over 750,00 songs (I guess that’s really 750,000), no costs of any kind or anything. In other words it sounds too good to be true, so what’s the deal? Is MPFree.com a rip off? What’s the catch? Is it a good, safe place to get MP3’s without my name and email address being sent out to everyone in the world?

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Earlier this week I bought the Sansa Clip MP3 Player and being a newbie to the world of MP3 players and downloading MP#’s I thought I was going to be locked into Rhapsody on a monthly basis. From what I’d read it was a monthly subscription and was concerned that if I got my music from Rhapsody (or any other subscription-based MP3 service) I might not be able to listen to **my** MP3’s after quitting.

ENTER AMAZON

Some googling reminded me that Amazon.com sells MP3 downloads, both albums AND single tracks. For as little as 89 or 99 cents I was downloading the songs I wanted instead of buying entire albums, just the best songs I wanted. If you don’t already have an Amazon.com account all you have to do is sign up (its free), download the Amazon MP3 Downloader (you need it for their MP3’s), search for and download the music you want, select the songs in Windows Media Player (10 or higher) you want on your Sansa Clip MP3 and drag-n-drop, click a button and PRESTO!

I was happy to find out I didn’t need to reply on a monthly service and pay them each and every month for my MP3’s.

USING AMAZON TO DOWNLOAD MP3’s

If you are interested in downloading your MP3’s from Amazon.com read Amazon.com Digital Music: Getting Started with MP3 Downloads.

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