Writing Tidbits

Yea, I’ve gone up in page rank!

6 months ago - 1

Occupy Google Reader: Changes to the RSS feed irk the ‘sharebros’ - Arts Post - The Washington Post

The protest, organized throughFacebook, brought Google Reader fans — or “sharebros,” as they’re sometimes called — together with signs like “Google: Don’t Mark All as Read,” and “We are the 1000+.” There were 10 protesters total, if you count one protester’s daughter, a toddler.

Funniest & aptest protest ever. ;)

Official Google Blog: More spring cleaning out of season

Google Friend Connect—Friend Connect allows webmasters to add social features to their sites by embedding a few snippets of code. We’re retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012. We encourage affected sites to create a Google page and place a Google badge on their site so they can bring their community of followers to Google and use new features like Circles and Hangouts to keep in touch.

On the one hand, what do I care about GFC? It’s just used to boost giveaway sites now as far as I can tell. 

On the other hand, how in the world does Google equate GFC with Google+? They’re entirely different models. It’s like saying, “Twitter’s shutting down; go use Facebook instead.” GFC is primarily for public followers on public blogs. G+ is all about using your real name and having circles of friends. I don’t doubt that people are figuring how to use G+ for business, but if you want to keep a separation between your professional & personal life, right now G+ doesn’t offer many options.

Why does Google keep fixing what ain’t broke? And why do they do that to the exclusion of things that are broke, like the Blogger commenting system that users have been complaining about for years? Huh?

via Jennifer

IMAP - Gmail Help

Continuing my hacker-proof backup plan, I’ve decided to set up IMAP using Apple Mail 4 in hopes it will sync nicely with my online inbox. (I’ll have to let you know if that’s a big fail.) My fear, see, is that 90% of the email I get is crap and I don’t need it saved in perpetuity. I’d like deletions to be recognized in both my offline and online inbox versions.

If you’d rather do POP, it’s here: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=12103

6 months ago - 6

Signing in using application-specific passwords - Accounts Help

You might also need this help, particularly if you decide to back up Gmail with a POP or IMAP mail account or use Gmail on your phone. You have to generate a specific, one-use password for some apps and clients.

6 months ago - 1

Getting started with 2-step verification

I’m trying out 2-step verification to help protect my Gmail from hackers. If they hack your account, they’ll delete ALL your email and contacts. Gone. Gmail can retrieve it — maybe, eventually. But if you’re anything like me, your LIFE is in your inbox.

Two-step verification means that whenever you (or anyone) tries to log into your Gmail on an unrecognized computer, Gmail will send a login code to the phone number you put in, either text message or voice call. I’m going to see if it’s annoying. So far, it’s ok, but it’s been only the one day.

(Source: maydela.blogspot.com)

6 months ago - 1

Hacked! - Magazine - The Atlantic

Shannon of Pineapples & Artichokes shared this article with us and the new Gmail 2-step verification process to help stop it from happening.

Backups | Backupify

I’m in the process of backing up my “cloud” accounts (Gmail, Blogger, Flickr, etc.) from potential hacking or other data loss. Backupify is a service that lets you back up 3 accounts (I chose Twitter, Facebook fan page, and Google Docs) for free, more for a monthly fee (two tiers). I’ll try it out to see if it’s worth doing more. I’d love to add Blogger, for instance, but I already have some Blogger backup systems in place.