Sketch for my lovely Sister!

After the last two "Techy" Posts on 10 GMail features you MUST know! and Feed me, Google Reader!, I decided to take a break. If I were to continue writing only Tech articles, then I would rather rename my blog (Infact Aju suggested: "Google Tips n Tricks". lol!).

This vacation, all my plans of "Learning Sketching" went flop. The last time I touched those long, green, sketching pencil was more than a month back. Home has made me lazy :| . But finally, I got a reason to sketch!!

26th July, is was my cute sister's B'Day! And here's a part of the Card I made for her! :)

She loves dancing and singing, hence the dancing girl :)

PS: For those who have been reading my blog, did you notice that this sketch, just like that of BITS Pilani Goa Campus & a Girl (from LP's video), is also a "Pen-Sketch". Guess they are more fun to make :D

10 GMail Features you MUST know!

What's so special about today? My Gmail account just turned 4! Yipee!! From an invitation-only to a 7GB (And still counting!) inbox, Gmail has come a long way. So here are 10 Gmail features which I bet you'll love to check out!

PS: I've already expanded some of the Must-know features. If you've been using Gmail for a long time, then make sure you "Expand" the ones in the end!! ;)

+ 1. Archive, don't Delete!

All about the nice habit of archiving you mails!

The first thing that you see on opening your good old email account is the Inbox. And the next thing you are doing is going through the junk finding something worth reading. Most of us would just delete most mails, but when it's Gmail, you Archive it. Since you won't ever reach the Inbox limit, why not keep the mails for later reference? Archiving will also keep your Inbox clean, and hide the useless mails (in All Mail) till you need them!

Still not convinced? check out Top 9 reasons to Archive!

+ 2. Arrows ka chakkar!

For those who get irritated by those annoying Forwards, here's a solution!

Gmail has a nifty feature which allows you to see if you are the only recepient for the mail. Just go to Settings > Personal Level Indicators > Show Indicators. Then you'll find ">" next to the subject of the mails.

A single arrow ("›") is for emails sent to you and others (Forwards etc), and double arrows ("»") next to emails that are sent just to you (Personal Mails). So just directly Archive all those silly Chain letters!

– 3. Labels, labels & more labels!

How to organize your mail by using pretty Labels!

When you'll have such a huge inbox, how about taking out some time and organizing it? Let's say I want to keep all mails related to "TalkOfCampus" in a particular folder (From now on, Label==Folder). On the left-side, just add another Label (say "ToC"). Now check all mails related to it and from the drop-down menu, choose Apply Label.. "ToC". Done! Oh & once you have loads of them, color code them by choosing the Label Style from the drop down!

Manually selecting mails for each Label isn't the best way right? Read more about Filters & find a better way out!

+ 4. *Isssstar* It!

About adding Stars to special mails, and using SuperStars from Gmail Labs to spice them up!

There are always some special mails, having Important Info, Contact Details, or just some sweet message someone sent you :) Mark them all by Starring them!

Also, use the new SuperStars feature to add a variety of stars for every purpose (Urgent, Important Info, To-be-replied etc!) Just go to Settings > Labs and select SuperStars. You can choose which Stars you want to use (and their order) by going to Settings and dragging ones that you like!

– 5. Speed up your Search!

Some tips on how to find what you are actually looking for.

So you've been archiving your mails for a long time. And now finding a mail has become a pain, right? Here's some of my common Search Queries:

• Orkut Scrapbook Notifications :- from:orkut subject:(scrap OR message)
• All unread, starred mails in Inbox :- is:unread is:starred in:inbox
• The website someone told me a week back while chatting :- is:chat after:2008/7/9 before:2008/7/17 http
• Recent mails in the label "ToC", not related to Alpha release :- label:ToC -Alpha
• Scan of Ticket sent by Dad :- from:Dad has:attachment

Here's something if you are hungry for more! Otherwise, you can always use "Show Search Options" :P :P

+ 6. Using Multiple Accounts - I

Having multiple accounts, and accessing all using one!

Since Gmail is free, here's what you must do: Have multiple accounts. One for personal use & one for publicly sharing on the web. This will prevent those Spammers from spreading your personal email id everywhere!

Now you must be thinking, "Who's gonna check two different accounts?". Here's what you should do:

Sign into the "public" Gmail id. Go to Settings > Forwarding and... Enter your "personal" email id in the Auto-Forward to field. This will forward all the mails to your personal id. What's the use? First, you get all mails in One Inbox. Second, you can "Filter" them easily!

This feature is also useful incase you are switching to a new Gmail id (From that silly RashRoxxxCoolGuy2004@gmail.com id), as it'll forward all mails from the old account to the new one.

– 7. Filters

Sit back and let Gmail arrange your mail for you!

Has those Orkut notifications always bothered you? Would you prefer checking those "Daily Jokes" only when you are free, instead of it filling your inbox? Then use Filters! Filters allow you to set up particular actions for a specific type of mails. For ex, I want to keep all my TalkOfCampus related mails in its "ToC" label, and star it automatically so that I'll first read them when I open my inbox. To do this, I go to "Create a Filter" (Next to the Search box on the top). I enter the criteria (Subject: TalkOfCampus) and in the next screen, I choose: Star it, Apply Label: "ToC" and apply. Simple & easy!!

Update: Nishant wanted to know how to prevent Orkut Notifications from appearing in his Inbox. Check the comments to know how to do so!!

You could also use filters to differentiate mails of your multiple accounts. For ex, if I use rash.news@gmail.com for subscibing to newsletters, then I can have a filter to mark all mails sent to rash.news@gmail.com to Skip Inbox, and Label as "NewsLetter". No more cluttering my inbox anymore!

PS: When you have a mail open, Open the Drop down menu on top Right > "Filter messages like this" to easily add a filter for similar mails!

+ 8. Using Multiple Accounts - II

Sending mail from different email ids without Signing in & out again!

Once you have multiple email ids, and are auto-forwarding all mails to one id, you might want to reply back with the same id as the mail was sent. Basically you can choose different "From:" address for the mails you send/reply to. Just Go to Settings > Account and add more email ids. Simple!

Now send mail from your "public" (Or any other) Gmail id while using your "personal" id!

– 9. Making Multiple Gmail Ids from one Gmail id!

How to use "+" & "." to modify your existing Gmail Id!

A lesser known feature of Gmail, you can add "tags" or "keywords" to your email id by writing them after adding a + at the end of your id. The mails will still be sent to your original id, but with a different "To:" Address.

For example, for all my old DPS RKP batchmates, I could give them the id as: rash+DPS@gmail.com. I'll actually be using rash@gmail.com to access these mails, but can easily make filters to organize the mails from my old friends sent on this id!

Similarly I can have rash+Urgent@gmail.com which I could give to only a few close friends (And make a filter to Star all mails To: rash+Urgent@gmail.com).

Also, Gmail doesn't recognize the number/position of "." used in a gmail id. So all mail sent to ra.sh@gmail.com, r.ash@gmail.com r.a.s.h@gmail.com are sent to the same id: rash@gmail.com!

+ 10. Keyboard Shortcuts

Throw that mouse away. And if you are also a Laptop user, you HAVE to use this! Plus a new Gmail Labs feature to Customize it too!

Google always wants to make the user have the best experience of their services (NO Google didn't pay me to advertise. Wish they would!). So for all those geeks, there are some basic Keyboard Shortcuts you must know (You'll easily remember them once you start using!).

Also, Enable the Keyboard option from Settings >Labs. This will let you customize the shortcuts according to your wish.

Some of the default Shortcuts I use frequently:

• Open Inbox: G + I
• Go to next (New) conversation: K
• Go to previous (Old) conversation: J
• Star Conversation: S
• Reply to the mail: R
• Forward mail: F
• Compose new Mail: C
• Back to previous view (Helps while returning to search results): U

Update:Oh & Incase you prefer using Mouse, Check out the Mouse Gestures feature in Gmail Labs!

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What others said:

• Rijul: Don't forget to use inbuilt Gmail Chat (It has Conference/Group Chat & Cute emoticons!)
• RG: Check out the Vacation Settings too.
• Vandith: Other Labs features are also worth a look!
• Gowtham: Gmail >> Yahoo, thnx to faster loading time & better interface.
• Nitish: Gtalk Labs now out!
  

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Incase you liked this post, do check out these links:

• Top 10 Most Read Gmail Tips.
• 3 Gmail Labs Features to Spice your Inbox!
• Tips for Importing Mails to your new Gmail account
  
• What to do during holidays :D

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So those were the 10 Gmail Features you MUST know! How has your experience with Gmail been? Do you use any of the above features? Do let me know!

Feed me, Google Reader!

I've got over 2000 hits on my blog now. Yoy! So I thought better take some panga with the template! And after a day of time-pass, I was able to make a simple edit and learn a lot about Blogger Templates. Oh and the Navbar will come more handy in the future, but u can always try out some effects i coded ;)

This post is basically about Feeds & Google Reader. I've been blogging (Not on a Personal Blog though) for a long time (Check my Profile and see!), and earlier the most difficult thing was to stay updated with the recent posts (And to make sure your readers read posts too.) Since not everyone was interested in opening the blog everyday, posts generally would be left unread for a long time. And then came Feeds!

I'm guessing you know what Feeds are (Also read about RSS on Problogger). In simple terms, "They keep you in touch with the latest changes in a dynamic page". Now to use it, just subscribe to a feed. Ever noticed an Orange colored "Radio Signal" next to the url in the address bar in Firefox? Click and you can subscribe to my Blog feed! It'll appear as a folder inside your Bookmarks Folder with links to the latest posts.

But Feed Readers/Aggregators go a step further. They'll email you whenever a new post is there, or collect all new posts in one place where you can read it later. There are many services that do this. But I prefer Google Reader. Though it doesn't email you notifications, it has a really simple interface. So here are some things that you can do in Google Reader:

• Adding Subscription: Just Click on the option, enter the Url of the blog, and you are done! Also, you can just type keywords to search for public feeds (EPL? Latest Google Updates? Cooking Tips?). Alternatively you can bookmark a "Subscribe" button, clicking which will Subscribe you to the current page (Blog/Site) you are viewing (If it has Feed Support that is!). To do this, go to Settings > Goodies and then drag the button to your Bookmark Toolbar.


• Using Feeds: You can easily Rename the feeds & categorize them using Folders. Also, you can "Star" selected posts or "Share" them with other friends in your contact list (Or add a widget to show them on your blog!)


• Reading Feeds: A very nifty feature is that each post that you read (ie. scroll by) is automatically marked read. This way you can just glance through the "All Items" Section everyday, scroll past boring posts and open those which you like (And then comment on them too!)


• Notes: Everything you read might not be a blog. Sometimes you might like some random webpage and would like to keep it for reference. Though that's what Bookmarks are for, you can also do it through Google Reader. Just drag the "Add as Note" Button as a Bookmark, and add Notes to sites while browsing!


• Offline: Yes! You can set your Google Reader to download feeds which you can read later without being connected to the net. Helps when you are in a campus like BITS with high-speed Internet :P

On the other hand, Feeds come with one disadvantage: Traffic. Though it's expected that one will post a comment after going through the feed, many just read posts and don't comment (Well many of you do that even when you read it on the blog :P). Comments allow the Blogger to see how others are reacting to his posts, and does help in inspiring him to write more (Take for ex, Rahul Sir's comment on my last post. Trust me, that's the best thing this blog has given me till now!)

So do use Google Reader (Or whichever Aggregator you prefer), but do let the writer know you read the post! ;)

PS: I would also like to inform my fellow BITSians that our beloved Dr. T. C. Goel, Director, BITS Pilani, Goa Campus, is no more. May his soul rest in peace.