Awesome Sauce Tinkering

The things you discover when you noodle!

I have two gmail accounts and I have recently been using the second one a little bit more, such that, I have need to actually monitor it a little closer. For silly reasons, like people generally finding it rude if you ignore their emails and fail to respond for a month. (Shocking, I know!)

Although Google does have an "add an account" capability, that allows you to run two Google accounts in the same browser, there are some hiccups when it comes to using other Google services. I don't use the other services very often on this secondary email, so I wanted another solution that would do what I really want Google to do. What I want Google to do, is for a user to be able to use the multiple inbox feature to have multiple gmail inboxes in one screen, not just divide your inbox by labels, filters or what have you.

So. My solution.

First, I went into the settings[1] of the second email (example@gmail.com) and set up mail forwarding to the first email[2] (me@gmail.com). I also set up the forward to automatically mark forwarded email as read[3].

After following the steps to verify that I own both accounts, I set up a filter in me@gmail.com with the "to" parameter as the address of the example@gmail.com. This filter automatically labels all forwarded email and archives it as soon as it hit my inbox.

Make sure you select to apply the filter to however many matching conversations have already been forwarded from example@gmail.com, or you're not going to do an easy search based on the label/filter later.

Here is where the magic happens. Enter settings, labs, and enable multiple inboxes on me@gmail.com. You should look through some of the other really cool stuff the labs team has done. Like, ridiculous amounts. I'll wait. Ok, now, make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom and click save.

Then, go back into settings at the "Multiple Inboxes" tab and delete the automatic fields that are there and enter label:example in Panel 0. I want the second inbox to be below my me@gmail.com inbox, so I select that option and click save.

Then more magic happens. Click on "Accounts and Import." Then under "Send mail as" I added example@gmail.com, and verified (again) that I owned the accounts I was trying to send mail as. After that is verified, then a fancy little thing shows up.

You can reply from the email that the message was sent to. So, for instance, I get an email to example@gmail.com, and I get it at the me@gmail.com address through the system I just set up. I can click reply while still in the me@gmail account, and it will send the email as though I am signed in as example@gmail. Without signing into the other account. Ever. Brilliant. And, if you click compose, in the "from" field, it automatically enabled a drop down that allows you to choose which email address you want to send the email from.

There are still some issues to work out, for example, handling the email that is sitting in example@gmail.com, marked as read. I suppose it will have to be a learning process where I add filters for incoming mail as I get it, so gmail can delete it if it's X, or archive it if it's Y, but once that is all settled, it's going to be a nice little operation.

Another issue is that the only way for me to no longer see the messages in the second inbox for example@gmail.com that I have read is to delete the label that was assigned to them upon landing in my inbox, or delete the email itself, which I may not want to do.

Google does all kinds of awesome stuff, so hopefully they will come up with a solution for the issue. Or just make this work-around redundant by enabling what I just did with two clicks and a verification in multiple inboxes!

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Speaking of awesome, have you checked out Google Keep yet? It's like Evernote and Google Tasks had a baby.

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More awesome is the program that I used to create these screenshots, Snagit.

Full disclosure, Adam works at TechSmith, and Snagit was used for the creation of these lovely screen shots. The heinous editing is all mine, however, and I was not compensated in anyway for this post by Google or TechSmith for the use of Snagit or the plugging of their stuff. I just think it's awesome.

Think before you rate

There are so many places to rate things in today's world. You rate apps on your smart phone, products on Amazon and store websites, music in iTunes, Amazon MP3 and what have you.

I think it's great to have so many places for consumer reviews about things so that if there is truly something awful about a product, others should be saved the same problems and pains that the reviewer had.

However, there are several things you should keep in mind when you are rating things.

1. Never, never, never, NEVER give something a low rating because the app or product does what it describes but not what you wanted. That is lame and low.  And stupid. If it's an app, then e-mail the developer and say, "Hey, I think this app is cool, but it would be cooler if it would do _______." Most developers I know like getting the feedback and just want to be able to give the customer what they want. But giving them a 1 star rating out of 5 because it does what it says, but not what you want it to, is lame and it skews the overall rating which might lead to someone who might benefit from that app or product to not buy it because of the overall rating.  Which leads me to number 2.

2. Don't buy something based on the overall ratings.  Read the reviews. Especially the bad ones to see if the low star rating was actually something that deserved a low rating or if the rater is being stupid and not following rule #1.

3. If you truly have an issue with a product or app, don't just give it a low rating and not say why. That's the chicken's way out. And, you know those little buttons that say "Send Feedback" or "Give Feedback" or "Holla at me bro!"  They really mean it.  So send them feedback! I have sent feedback to many developers, including Astrid and Google - and they fixed the problem!  It's not shocking, they want their customers to be happy!

4.  Just use some common sense. Some of these "big developers" are just individual programmers trying to make a product for people to love and use, and maybe supplement their income while in school or working a low or non-paid internship.  If you wouldn't say it to their face, don't say it in type. Which is a good rule to live by in any case.

Now get out there an leave thoughtful reviews that help everyone!

Changes I would make to Google Calendar if I were a Developer

I love Google and their products. I think I’ve made that pretty clear.  When they first started rolling out changes to their products, I was unsure about the new format of a lot of things. I had finally spent some time getting all of the services I use the most set up just the way I liked it.

But, trying to be less rigid, I switched early so that if I absolutely hated it, I could go back until they made me switch.  Lo and behold, once I got used to it, I really liked it.  The look is cleaner, more modern and I could keep my background image in Gmail.

Now for calendar.  I have always loved Calendar, it’s a fantastic tool that my neurotic organizational side really loves on.  Different colors for each calendar I have control over, plus different colors for each calendar that is shared with me? Um, yes please!  Sharing with my nearest and dearest without having to make copies of my calendar and then call them with changes? Certainly!  Smart Re-scheduler and the Free or Busy tool so I can find a time that works with everyone when I initially create an event; or have to re-schedule due to an unexpected conflict? AWESOME!  I need to call my mom, but she’s in a meeting.  Calendar tells me! Trying to find a weekend to go visit the parents or in-laws? Boom, done. I could go on like this for hours. I need help. Right, well, changes to the new calendar format.

Calendar as is, as of 18 November 2011

Based on my own desires out of Google Calendar and what I have read on forums about the recent changes, here are my suggestions.  And please, feel free to chime in in the comments!  If it’s a great suggestion, I’ll add it to the list!

1. Space

The number one thing I saw on forums (so Google Developers saw it too) was that a lot of people thought there was a lot of wasted space.  I don’t use my calendar for work, so I didn’t really notice how much extra space there was that could really make the calendar area bigger with less intrusion from wasted white space until I looked hard at the layout after reading those comments.

So first, I suggest that you make the search box, when not actively typing in it, smaller width wise so it is only as wide as the ‘Search Calendar’ text and make the “search” button smaller.  I like the symmetry of the button, but I don’t think it needs to be such wide symmetry.  Maybe even bump the search button right up to the search bar. 

With those changes, then you can move the ‘Day, Week….Print, Refresh’ bar up next to the search bar on the right side.  Then move the ‘Today’ button, the Left and Right Arrow Buttons and the Viewing Date up between the smaller search box and the ‘Day, Week…Print, Refresh’ buttons.

Boom, more height space.

And finally to add more space add a collapsible button to the left side of the calendar so you can hide, ‘My Calendars’, ‘Other Calendars’ and the Full Month Calendar and have more width space.

Bam. So easy!

If you don’t want to have the ‘Create’ button disappear when the right side is collapsed, then just move it up next to the ‘Calendar’ text/button!  This also could be moved up to be in line with the ‘search bar’ and the other buttons.  I personally don’t use the create button very often, if ever, but I am sure that as little as I use it, there is someone out there who uses it all the time and I wouldn’t want to take that away from them!

And, finally I have a serious desire to see this last part implemented.

So, Google developer, if you’re reading this, first, Hi! Then second, PLEASE(!!!!) implement this change!  I use several Labs features in calendar and I hate (yes, hate) having those automatically go on the right side.  I would much rather have the option, either by drag and drop or otherwise, to have everything on one side and arrange it to my pleasing.  Please don’t make my flair hide because I don’t want to have my calendar shrunk so I don’t have to have a teeny tiny calendar to be able to see those options!

With spacing changes, pre-left side collapse

2. Colors

So many people are pissed about the color change to the pastels that we have access to now, than the darker colors from before.  I get that, I do.  Except, I have so many calendars that I follow, my own (I have 4 of my own that are currently active and at one point this summer I had 6), several friends, my parents, my husband, the Red Wings, the Tigers, Holidays (Christian and Irish) and a few others.  I feel restricted by how few colors there are.  I want everyone’s calendars to have a distinct color and a different one for each of my own.  There was also one gentleman in the forums who color codes each event in his individual calendar based on how much commitment he had to go to it. Red for not required, Yellow for need to go, but details aren’t finalized and green for all set, need to go and details are finalized.  Smart.

My solution is very simple.  At least to me, I don’t know about a programming point of view.  But my solution is this: instead of only select colors of a certain palette (pastel, primary, secondary, etc) give us a color wheel.  All of the colors, ever.  Like in Paint or Photoshop or Blogger.

3. Making ‘Today’ more obvious.

I’m fine with ‘Today’ being grey in calendar, I usually use Calendar on my phone anyway so it pops right up to the most current day.  But other people aren’t happy with it.  So I suggest leaving the gray, but adding a border of a darker or brighter color, like black or yellow and thickening the border around ‘Today’.

Those are my changes and I’m sticking to ‘em.

All changes (except the color wheel, because obviously, I can't do that with Paint and the extra emphasis on the 'today' because I didn't do it, that's why.)

If you have any other suggestions, drop them in the comments!

Let Me Introduce You to Someone Awesome....

With Mother's Day coming up the day after graduation and both my Mommy and my Mommy-In-Law coming here for graduation, we decided to celebrate Momma's Day on Saturday as well as graduation.

Normally, we don't do cakes for Mother's Day, but with the insanity of the last 4 months, we felt that Mother's Day this year deserved a cake.  Or seven.  And I, of course, would make them, because I LOVE to bake things.

Now, we didn't decide to celebrate Mother's Day the same day as graduation until this past weekend.  Which meant, oh snap!  I can't give my Mom a cake and not my Mom-In-Law!  So I have to make 2 cakes.  By Saturday.

I only have one designed, what do I do!?

I did some quick thinking about my Mother-In-Law, what does she like? What are her favorite things?  Bingo.  I had a theme in mind.  I thought about free handing the design on a sheet cake, but with the short time frame, I'd probably end up throwing the cake out the window in frustration.

Then I had a stroke of PURE and UTTER GENIUS.

Special Pan.

Why didn't I think of it before?!

So, I went to my trusty stand-by, Joann.com.  But alas, despite their amazing baking supplies and other craftiness, they did not have the exact pan I need.  They had specialty pans that were close, and I could modify in a pinch, but I really wanted to try and find the type of pan I needed.

Enter: Google.

I search for what I need, finding pans in the right category, but not quite what I need.  I even found a cookie cutter that I almost fell off the couch in excitement when I saw it.  Until I realized it was a cookie cutter.  Cute, but useless in this case.

But finally, finally!  I find a website for a store in Philadelphia: Fante's.

They have the pan I need.

Alleluia!

They also have a bunch of other sweet baking stuff.  Go check it out!!!

I placed an order, asked for priority shipping and wrote a note saying I needed it by Friday in the notes section.  I also put my phone number in too, just to help speed up the process, if they need anything.

My phone rings two hours later.  It's Fante's.  They needed to clarify information, so I clarified what they needed and before we hung up, he told me that they saw my note about needing it by Friday and that they would ship it today so I would have it Friday.

I will reserve full judgement for later this week, but right now -

That's some customer service.

Why Google is Going to Take Over the World and No One Will Care

Google is amazing.  They have so many neat products and features.  You have one sign in name and you have ALL KINDS OF AWESOME!!!

Email, Blogger, Tasks, Reader, Calendar and a whole host of other great things that I haven't discovered yet!  I first switched to Gmail 5 1/2 years ago when Hotmail was being a ho-bag on a hectic day for me and I wanted to be able to email Adam.  So, I made the switch.  And much like other things Adam encouraged me to do, turned out to be a great thing.  And Google just keeps making it better!

After Gmail, I discovered Reader.  All the blogs I read in one place?! NO WAY!

After Reader, I believe I discovered iGoogle.  It was cool, and fun for awhile.  If I didn't have all the tabs I needed all the time open automatically when I open a browser I think I would like it more.  And for some reason, I just don't like having one particular page open every time I open a tab.  Home pages are stupid.  Unless it's on my browser on my phone, that is handy.

Then came Google Docs.  Even in its beta stages, I loved it.  I could share things with Adam and both of us could edit them!  When it came time for us to doing our Wedding Invite list we put it in Google Docs in a spreadsheet and shared it with our Moms.  And when RSVPs started coming in, anyone could check it off and everyone else could see who was coming!  We did a lot of wedding collaboration through Google Docs because everyone was living in a different city.

Then I discovered the wonderfulness of Google Calendar.  A superb planning tool that I did not full appreciate until I got the G1 and linked my phone to my Gmail account and I could have my calendar ANYWHERE in such a tiny wonderful package!  You can share your calendar with your friends and family - and there is a widget thing in the Labs for Calendar that lets you assess when everyone is free, which leads to pain free planning!

Blogger came into my life and I tried to blog anonymously for awhile, but I didn't like how I had to edit things to protect my anonymity and my friends, etc.  Of course, some names may be changed for the protection of the friends who prefer to remain not known by the blogosphere, but otherwise, writing here is so much easier!

Then, the wonderful Google Gadget that inspired this post appeared before me.  Google Tasks.  >angels sing here<  It seems so simple, but my life is ruled by the To-Do lists I make.  But I lose paper ones on the back of an envelope or even a piece of paper that is full size.  Because I spend so much time on campus it needs to be portable.  And I want to be able to get to it no matter what, computer or phone.  And all I have to do is log into Gmail, GCalendar or my phone. >angels sing again here<  On Monday, during my day off for MLK Jr. Day I was able to put all six syllabi for my classes in my To-Do list on Google Task.  I am super on things!  (I'll explain more of why I am in my next post)

The best part is that on my G1, everything is at my fingertips whenever I need it.  Of course there are times that I want to ignore technology and I do so willingly.  It's very relaxing to just unplug and ignore the world.  But without my To-Do lists during the semester, I get loopy and crazy (crazier) and approach non-functioning proportions.  Which is sad, but I have to be able to see the things I have to do, when they're due and sometimes specifically what needs to be done for example: the parameters of an assignment.  Google Tasks allows all of that.  My only complaint is that you can't share a task list.  I want to have a shopping list for groceries that Adam and I can share.  That'd be fantastic!  I'm not alone either, it has been suggested and I hope that Google is on that.  This is where the home page is handy, then I can go right to tasks when I fire up my browser on my phone, instead of waiting for an eternity for it to load.

To sum up the awesomeness of Google and why they can take over the world and no one would care, they have fantastic gadgets that are user friendly and easy to figure out.  They are reliable.  They listen to suggestions and they take care of the people who use their services.  As long as they continue to be a good company with sweet gadgets under one log in name, they are unstoppable.

And I am happy.

For those who want to know more of the Google Awesome, either sign up for an account or keep scrolling for a list of the awesome

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