Gmail ToolBox: 60+ Tools For Gmail

With Google announcing the ability to increase your Gmail storage capacity this week, we decided to delve into other ways to extend and enhance Google’s popular webmail service. Presenting: 60+ tools and resources for Gmail.

Desktop Applications

• GCount - An application for Mac OSX that alerts you to new mail.

• gDisk - An app for Mac OSX giving the ability to turn Gmail accounts into storage drives.

• gFeeder - A small ticker for your Gmail that will let you know at a glance what’s coming in for you.

• GetMail - Allows you to migrate your emails from Hotmail to your Gmail account.

• Gmail Drive - Another tool for turning your Gmail account in to a virtual storage drive, this one works directly from inside Windows Explorer.

• Gmail Loader - For Windows or Linux, aids you in loading your email to your Gmail account.

• GMailFS - Turns your Gmail space into a virtual drive that your Windows Explorer can see.

• GotMailG - A Mac widget to display the number of unread messages in your inbox.

• POP3/IMAP server for GMAIL in JAVA - Allows you POP3 access via your favorite mail reader to your Gmail account, IMAP still in development.

• Send To GMail - With one click, you can back up any file you want from your computer to your Gmail account.

Firefox Tools

• Better Gmail - Combines some of the most popular Greasemonkey scripts in to one extension. Includes things such as skins, saved searches, keyboard macros, and more.

• Delegate to Remember The Milk - Adds a button to Gmail and allows you make to-do lists.

• Dragdropupload - Allows you to drag your files to the attachment box.

• GCalQuickTab - Allows you to quickly change between Google Mail and Calendar with keyboard shortcuts.

• Gmail Checker - Allows you to check your Gmail for new messages.

• Gmail Manager - Allows you to not only manage multiple accounts, but know how much mail and spam they have.

• Gmail Notifier - Get notifications of new emails right in your browser.

• Gmail RTL - Adds direction buttons to your email.

• Gmail S/Mime - Allows you to send and receive encrypted emails.

• Gmail Skins - Change the look of your inbox, insert HTML tables, use emoticons and more.

• Google Toolbar - Official Google release of a toolbar with Gmail features.

• Gspace - Turns your Gmail account in to a virtual web drive that you can upload files to and store them.

• gTalk Sidebar - Incorporates Google Talk into your sidebar.

• GTDInBox - A Getting Things Done tool that integrates into Gmail, helps you get organized.

• WebMail Notifier - Checks your Gmail account for unread emails; works with other email services also.

Greasemonkey Scripts

• Clean Gmail Print - Removes the Gmail logo when you go to print out your email

• Folders4Gmail - If you prefer the old style of sorting mail in folders over labels, this is the script for you.

• Force HTTPS for GMail, GCal, and GDocs - Forces the corner links in the Google apps to change over to HTTPS.

• gDate2Cal 0.1 - Turns dates in Gmail in to links to take you to that day in Google Calendar.

• Gmail + Reader Integration - Lets you use Google Reader with your Gmail account.

• GMail Attachment Icons - Shows you an icon that lets you know what type of file is attached to an email without opening it.

• Gmail attachment reminder v2.4.1 - Reminds you to attach a file your email if it appears you haven’t.

• Gmail Contact List - Adds a contact list near the “To” field in compose.

• Gmail Conversation Preview - Right click on a conversation to get a preview of it in a bubble.

• Gmail Date Search - adds a Search by Date button to Gmail’s search form

• Gmail Delete Button - RED Color - Turns the delete button red so there is less chance of hitting it accidentally.

• Gmail Emoticons! - Puts an emoticons button next to the “Check Spelling” button to allow you to enter numerous different smilies.

• Gmail Encrypt - Allows you to encrypt outgoing emails and create encryption keys.

• Gmail FavIcon Alerts - Turns the Gmail favicon in the address bar in to a new mail alert.

• Gmail from address selector - Lets you change the reply-to email address depending on who you are sending to. (i.e. sending to someone like “@work.com”, you choose your work address as the from address)

• Gmail Full Width - Removes the advertising block on the right so that your mails take up the full width.

• Gmail Google Calendar sidebar - Adds your Google Calendar to your Gmail display.

• Gmail Lite - Removes ads, the footer, stars, and chats.

• Gmail Macros - Allows you to create more keyboard shortcuts to speed up your Gmail experience.

• Gmail Multi-User Login - For those of you with more than one Gmail account, this will give you a drop down menu with all of your accounts listed.

• Gmail Multiple Signatures, plus Float - Will change your signature based on what return address you enter.

• Gmail - One Click Conversations - Allows you quick access to the most recent conversations with a contact via a one click button.

• GMail Header, Navigation and Ads Switcher - Can choose to hide or show the header, navigation bar, and ads by clicking a button.

• Gmail - Zip Attachments and Download - Allows you to download all the attachments of an email by merely clicking on the paper clip icon.

• GmailTo -Opens mailto: commands from websites in Gmail compose.

• Google Air Skin - Script to use Air Skin in Gmail, Google Calendar, on Google.com, and Google Reader.

• Label Colors - Lets you choose the colors of various labels so you can tell them apart easier.

• Plaxo4Gmail - Allows you to sync your Gmail with your Plaxo info.

• Saved Searches - Allows you to save a Gmail search so that you can just click on the saved search to do it again.

Miscellaneous

• GBooks - Allows you to turn a Gmail account in to a bookmarks server.

• gExodus - Allows you to export your emails from another account to your Gmail account in mbox format.

• Gmail icon generator - Allows you to create a small graphic of your Gmail address to place on websites so that you may display your address without spam bots reading it.

• Gmail Music - Store MP3 files in your Gmail account and play them on any computer.

• Gmail Todo - Turn your Gmail into a helpful “To Do” list.

• PhpGmailDrive - Retrieves a list of attachments from a Gmail account and enables you to list them on a website or blog for others to download.

• You’ve Got Gmail - A plugin for the Trillian messenger program that lets you manage your accounts.

40+ Ways To Access Your Computer Remotely

There are lots of reasons why you’d want to access your PC remotely, and luckily there are also plenty of ways to do so. Crossloop is one of the simplest (it’s also free), but for those willing to venture further, you’ve got lots of options.

Excuse us while we get technical for a second. This list is divided into four main sections: VNC (Virtual Network Computing), NX, remote desktop and cross-protocol. If those terms mean nothing to you, you might want to skip to the “other” section for the most straightforward applications. That said, let’s begin.

VNC

• Ajax VNC - Clientless VNC solution in the web’s favorite programming language.
• Apple Remote Desktop - Apple’s jumped on the remote desktop bandwagon with this great VNC server built right into OS X.
• Chicken of the VNC - One of the most popular VNC clients for OS X under the GPL.
• DirectVNC - UNIX client using the framebuffer device via DirectFB.
• FVNC - Great VNC client written in Flash. That’s right, Flash.
• MetaVNC - This unique client/server package merges the host and remote desktops together into one Windows or Linux desktop.
• .NET VNC Viewer - C# viewer that works with Windows and Windows Mobile/CE devices.
• PowerVNC - Java-based client with support for SSH and SFTP.
• RealVNC - Server/client from the original VNC developers.
• sVNC - The perfect tool for offering remote assistance to Mac users, since there’s barely any configuring required.
• SymVNC - Symbian phone client for connecting to your PC.
• TightVNC - Popular VNC server/client with nice Java applet.
• TurboVNC - TightVNC spinoff with great support for 3D apps.
• UltraVNC - Wildly popular client/server app with file transfer, video drivers, chat, and much more.
• Vine Server - OS X server with clipboard sharing, port changing, and a universal binary.
• VncViewer for 8086 - Got an old IBM running FreeDOS or DOS? Put it to work with this VNC client.
• VNCViewer for PocketPC - Client for, you guessed it, PocketPC users.
• x11vnc - Unlike most other VNC servers for UNIX and Linux, this server lets you share your current desktop session (instead of a separate session).

NX

• FreeNX - Open source server using the libraries from NoMachine.
• NoMachine NX Client - Free client to connect to NX machines.
• NoMachine NX Free Edition - NX server for UNIX/Linux.
• NoMachine NX Enterprise Desktop - Server that includes everything that the free edition has, but with unlimited users (unlike the free version’s two).
• NoMachine NX Small Business Server - NX server targeting small businesses.
• NoMachine NX Enterprise Server - NX Server with unlimited users and unlimited connections.
• NoMachine NX Advanced Server Subscription - Everything that the Enterprise server has, plus multi-node capabilities.

Remote Desktop Protocol

• CoRD - Remote desktop client for Mac OS X users.
• grdestkop - Gnome wrapper for the rdesktop application.
• krdesktop - rdesktop frontend written in KDE.
• properJavaRDP - Cross-platform Java client based on rdesktop.
• rdesktop - Extremely powerful command-line client for UNIX/Linux.
• Remote Desktop - Microsoft’s official server, for XP Pro and Vista.
• xrdp - Serves an X window session to incoming Windows clients.

Cross-Protocol

• Connection Manager - VNC, RDP, and Telnet manager for UNIX/Linux distros.
• KDE Desktop Sharing - The official KDE VNC server package.
• KDE Remote Desktop Connection - The official KDE client for RDP and VNC.
• Kurd - Great rdesktop/vncviewer frontend for KDE.
• mRemote - Manage VNC and RDP connections on Windows with this handy app.
• RDPMan - A little utility to manage RDP, VNC, and Telnet connections for Windows.

Other

• CrossLoop - Easy-to-use remote access utility with file sharing and a multilingual interface.
• GoToMyPC - Extremely popular remote access program for ~$25/month.
• LogMeIn - Remote access app with a free and a pro ($12.95/month) version with file transfer, remote printing, and more.
• Unyte - Nice remote desktop server with a Java applet viewer and IM integration.

GMail Emoticons/Smileys

Have you ever wished to add emoticons to GMail? If so, here is a Greasemonkey script to add smilies/emoticons.

GMail, to me, is still the best webmail. It has loads of features, a minimalist look, and most of all, is owned by Google. GMail pioneered the AJAXed interface for webmail. Yahoo and Microsoft followed.

However, being the first to grace AJAX, GMail does miss some functionality. One of them is smileys/emoticons. Whenever you type the text for emoticon, it is sent as those characters, rather than being converted. There is an easy work-around to this. Here are the steps:

• Download Firefox (if you haven’t).
• Install the Greasemonkey extension.
• Restart Firefox (duh!).
• Install GMail Emoticons script.

After you install the script, go to the Compose mode in GMail. There will be a link called Emoticons! in the right hand side, near the “Check Spelling” link.

Once you click on it, you will be presented with a window that looks like this:

To add any smiley, just drag and drop it to the writing pane in Compose mode.

Note: DO NOT drag the smiley to any place other than the writing pane, otherwise it will mess up the written stuff.

Get SMS Reminder for your tasks

There have been many a times when I forgotten to carry out tasks I was supposed to do just because I plain forgot them. I do write them down but sometimes those notes get neglected too. Tasks as simple as calling someone on a specific day or your doctors appointment can be forgotten quite easily.

To overcome this I use a simple method so that I can get a SMS message a couple of hours before I am supposed to do something. You do not require to pay anything except if your cell phone provider charges you for incoming SMS messages.

Ok before I start the explanation, here are the tools you require for getting SMS Reminders of your tasks on your cell phone. First a cell phone itself and the second tool is a Google Calendar account.

Google Calendar is a very popular Calendar tool that allows you to add events and manage them online. Google Calendar also has a nice little feature that sends you a SMS reminder before the event is to occur. Using this feature you can get SMS Reminders for all your tasks and never forget another appointment again :-).

Here are the instructions on how you can setup SMS reminders for your tasks.

1. Create and setup Google Calendar

If you do not already have a Google Calendar account, you can sign for one at http://calendar.google.com. Once you have signed you will be shown a screen to setup your country and time zones. Once you have done that you can start using Google Calendar.

If you already have a Google Calendar account you can skip this step and move to the second step.

2. Setup your Mobile in Google Calendar

In order for you to receive a SMS message from Google Calendar you will first have to setup a cell phone in the settings. To do that click on the Settings link in the top right hand corner and select Mobile Setup sub tab.

You will see that your Phone notifications is disabled. To enable it you will have to provide your Country, Phone number and Carrier. You can see a complete list of supported carriers for your country to make sure your carrier is supported.

Once you fill up the above form and click on the Send Verification Code you will receive a SMS with your verification code in it, enter the code into the same form and click on Finish Setup. That’s it you can now start receiving SMS alerts for your events.

Once you have finished setting up your mobile, the next step details on how you can start creating events and receive SMS reminders for them.

3. Setup your Notification Options

Once you have successfully validated your cell phone you will be taken to another page where you can setup your default notifications for invitations and events, you can choose to receive them via Email or SMS. I left this screen as default as I only want to get important reminders via SMS.

If you want to get SMS reminders for all the invitations and events you can do it in this options page.

If you select global notification for all events to be sent to your cell phone via a SMS then you have completed the trick and can ignore the next step. If you have not done it yet then you can follow the instructions in the next step.

4. Create a Event in Google Calendar

Since we will be using a calendar let us call the task a event that has to occur on a particular date. Login to your account at Google Calendar account and setup the time zones and country and mobile as detailed in the earlier steps if you have not already done it yet.

Do not use the Quick Add option to add the event instead use the Create Event link as we will have to setup the reminders to be sent for the event.

Once you are in the main create event page, add your event and then select the options tab below the event. In this since in the earlier step I had only selected the pop-up, I will have to add the other reminder options by clicking on Add a reminder link.

I setup a event for a appointment with my dentist and as a reminder option I have setup to be reminded by SMS 2 hours before the event. This event is fake and just an example to show you how to setup the SMS reminder :-).

Once you have done that click on save and your all done. 2 hours before the event you will receive a SMS reminding you about the task you have to do :-).

You can add any number of events to receive SMS reminders. Do check with your local carriers first if you will be charged for incoming SMS as this may differ from carrier to carrier.

Important Note: To make sure that you get the SMS at the right time, do ensure to verify that you have setup the proper time zone in your Google Account. To do this you can go to Settings -> General and select your proper time zone.

Hope you like this trick and it will help you to never forget a task again. Do let me know your views on this through your valuable comments. Looking forward to hear you experience with using this trick.

Source: Techie Buzz