Category: Web Stuff

Gmail Signatures

I have been using Gmail for a long time. You needed an invitation when it first became my default mail client. Not that that is anything unusual, I mention just so you know I am generally happy with it. It serves my purposes. I look forward to new features and try anything that interests me. I have Labs enabled so I can play with the things there.

However there is one feature I really wanted and it isn’t part of Gmail or even in Labs. That is different signatures for each account. Gmail is great in the way you can use several different accounts in the same screen just like a stand alone email package. I have my regular Gmail account plus my default account from the ISP (just for messages they send) and also an account for a local group I am the secretary of.

Gmail lets you set up a signature but it is used on every email. Not what I want. I have waited hoping this would change but no luck. So I decided to do some searching and found this great Firefox Add-On, as they call them now, “Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures”. Not only does it do what I wanted, different signatures for each account but you can have up to 4 signatures for each account and select the one to use when you create a message if you don’t want to use the default. One for family and one for friends for example.

It is a little unusual in that the options are set within the Gmail Create Message screen and not in the Add-Ons dialog but that makes sense when you think about it. There is a beta version but I am using the last stable version. It is working well for me.

Wireless Broadband Update

After my last post I lodged a formal complaint via email with Optus. They are supposed to answer within so many hour, 72 I think, but they haven’t. However I must say there has been quite an improvement. I rarely get a drop out at the moment and the speed is much better. I can watch You Tube again! (As an aside isn’t HD on You Tube a great improvement?).
I’m still a little peeved that I haven’t received a formal reply but as long as the system is working I can’t be too upset.

Wireless Broadband Failure

I posted sometime ago about setting up my 3G modem in Fedora. I have a Hauwei E169 modem which I got from Optus. I had no problem setting it up and getting online, it just worked.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the Optus 3G network. I had heard reports of it being overloaded and it seems that is the case. To be fair when it works it work well but that is less than 50% of the time. It is not unusual to have it drop out and then need to reconnect several times while checking mail or the Fedora forums. It wasn’t always like this though, when I first got it it was great.

Thinking it may be a Fedora / Linux problem I plugged it in to a XP box today to give it a run. I hadn’t used that computer for a while and so decided to install Firefox 3. The download took quite a few minutes, 15 at least. I watched the speed in the Optus software and it rarely got up to 50 Kb/s often under 20. It also sat at zero for some time on several occasions although the Optus software didn’t show it as having no signal. It did finally drop out while I was trying to update the extensions I had installed. I couldn’t get it to reconnect.

When I contacted support they were helpful but wanted to treat it like a setup problem and were unwilling to admit the problems is with their system.

My conclusions are it runs faster under Fedora when it runs. The service is probably overloaded and getting worse. Linux’s NetworkManager is more likely to show it as having no signal. My advice to anyone thinking of getting Optus 3G is don’t bother.

Browser Sync

I wrote sometime ago that Google’s Browser Sync was going to close at the end of 2008 (actually 6th January 2009). It will be missed by those of us who used it. No use crying over it now but what will replace it for you?

After a bit of research I found Foxmarks. Originally it only synced bookmarks but the latest version, only for Firefox 3 not 2, also syncs passwords. This makes it a valid replacement for Browser Sync.

In fact it has a few features that make it better. One is the online review of your bookmarks. It shows you a history of when you last updated a bookmark and the last time you visited the site. Useful when you want to clean up your bookmarks.

So if you left finding a replacement for Browser Sync until the last minute have a look at Foxmarks.

Aussie Broadband Survey

Whirlpool are running their annual Broadband survey on the state of Australian Broadband. I have filled out the forms and it only took a few minutes. They quote 10 minutes as the usual time but it didn’t seem that long.

I would recommend everyone using Broadband in Australia to complete the survey and help make Whirlpool’s figures accurate. It is at Whirlpool Survey.

Themes for Gmail

Those of us who use Gmail appreciate the features it offers but may find the look of the page a bit boring. There have been extensions available to add themes but these come with a speed penalty. Now Google has added themes. They point out they could have just provided colour options but decided to go the theme route instead. See the Gmail blog for more details and screen shots. Now if only they would offer colours or themes in PicasaWeb.

As usual Google is slowly rolling it out and if you don’t have a themes tab on your settings screen check back in a few days.

I was tempted by the mountains but have gone with Shiny at the moment. That will probably change in a couple of days though! Which theme did you choose?

Conroy Bans Over 10,000 Sites

The list keeps growing, Senator Conroy has now admitted he will ban over 10,000 sites. Originally he claimed the sites would be limited to those listed by ACMA as illegal but now he has added ten times more sites, that he calls unwanted, to the list. Is this just the start of his real plans? See here for more details.

Stand up for your rights, click on the No Clean Feed link on the top left of this page.

The End of the Internet in Australia?

The Australian government is intending to join a list of the world’s most disreputable governments such as China, Cuba and Iran by censoring the internet. It will set itself up as the sole authority on what Australians can access. But it will also refuse to disclose what it is blocking and why. The few reports that have reached the general media have talked of child porn and other illegal sites but already a staffer in the office of the Minister responsible for this has tried to block reports on whirlpool.net.au. So where will it end?

See here and follow the links for more info.
 See also Nocleanfeed.

Would you like WiFi with that?

From March next year most McDonalds restaurants throughout Australia will be providing free wifi. Australian IT reports it will be “family friendly” as sites with pornography, terrorism etc. will be blocked. But at least that is better than the expensive options they offer now.

Of course the use of open wifi can be useful but many people don’t realise it can also be dangerous.