Archive for April, 2007
Thunderbird rocks.
I started using Mozilla Thunderbird a few weeks ago for a new e-mail address that I wanted to keep separate from GMail. I’ve been using GMail for almost 3 years and hadn’t considered switching because I was too accustomed to archiving and never deleting, and using labels instead of folders.
It turns out that Thunderbird 2.0 includes many awesome new features that enable it to be more like GMail, so I decided to give it a try.
Archiving
I’m using an IMAP server, so messages aren’t stored locally. In order to save them all, I setup a message filter on all messages that copies them to the “Archive” folder I created.
Labels
Thunderbird 2.0 introduces support for tags, which are similar to labels but even better, as they can have different colors. You can setup search folders that display all e-mails with a certain tag, just like in GMail, as shown on the left.
Extensions
I have the following extensions installed:
Lightning
Lightning is a calendar extension for Thunderbird based on the Mozilla Calendar Project (Sunbird).
Provider for Google Calendar
Provider for Google Calendar is an extension that allows Lightning to read and write to your Google calendars as if you were using the GCal interface.
MinimizeToTray
MinimizeToTray lets you minimize Thunderbird to the system tray instead of to the taskbar. It also works with other Mozilla applications (Firefox, SeaMonkey, Sunbird, etc.) on Windows.
Quicktext
Quicktext allows you to set templates that you can easily insert in e-mails.
QuoteCollapse
QuoteCollapse collapses inline quotes in e-mail messages.
Signature Switch
Signature Switch allows you to easily switch between signatures.
I also happen to have my extensions Password Exporter and FavLoc installed, but that’s a given.
Download it!
it has a purpose!
When I was at the San Jose airport on Friday to check in for my flight home, I arrived at a Continental kiosk and got out my e-ticket and prepared to enter the ticket number, when an attendant came by and said that if I had my “id”, I could swipe it and it would bring up the trip. I was skeptical that a Louisiana driver’s license would do anything at an airline kiosk in California, having never swiped it for anything ever. I tried it, and it immediately brought up the information. I was shocked.
No comments1-800-GOOG-411
I briefly read about Google’s new directory assistance service last week and had a reason to use it today. I was eating at Macaroni Grill with my parents and aunt when we decided we’d like to find out when a movie was playing. I called 1-800-GOOG-411, said my city/state, said “movies”, and got a listing of all the theaters and was connected to my choice for free. The voice recognition was excellent, and the service and call were free. I highly recommend it!
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