 |
Search |
|
|
|
|
Classic 2 Guys |
|
10 Random Stories:
|
|
|
|
Gmail |
|
 A friend of mine knows I know a little something about the internet, and started bragging to me about something he had that I didn't. Something somewhat rare, although not impossible to get. Something loved by those who have it, and sought after by those who don't. Something so innovative, so new, and so...well...cool, that I just had to write an article about it.
This something is Gmail.
Gmail = Google Email.
Yes, I know this article isn't *really* mac related. So sue me.
But anyway, my friend was braggin on about how he got a beta account for gmail cuz his uncle's the king of the world or something, and gave me a link to gmail's official website.
I read a little in the about section, so below I pulled some text clippings about it:
"As part of Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, we're testing an email service called Gmail.
Gmail is a free, search-based webmail service that includes 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of storage. The backbone of Gmail is a powerful Google search engine that quickly finds any message an account owner has ever sent or received. That means there's no need to file messages in order to find them again.
When Gmail displays an email, it automatically shows all the replies to that email as well, so users can view a message in the context of a conversation. There are no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads in Gmail, which places relevant text ads and links to related web pages adjacent to email messages."
Wait a sec.....*reads blurb again*... a GIG of space?
That's right, folks. Gmail offers a full 1000 megabytes of email storage, FREE, which blows the hell outta yahoo's puny 100 MB.
Also, you can search your mail (i mean, cmon, it's google we're talkin about), save reminders for yourself, block spam, and save messages. The search feature's pretty cool, i think, especially for people like me who get a lotta email.
Now, of course there are gonna be ads, but they're subtle, and "relevant."
The ads are google ads, identical to the ones they use for adsense/adwords that you see on a lotta sites. But, instead of hearing my uneducated explination of the ads, let's take another excerpt:
"It has ads. But only good ads.
Gmail isn't a traditional webmail account. There are no pop-ups, untargeted banner ads or warnings urging you to buy more storage. Gmail, however, will often place a few highly relevant, text ads adjacent to the body of your email. You'll also see links to related web pages you might find of interest.
These ads and links are displayed automatically using the same technology that powers our AdSense system, which delivers targeted ads to thousands of sites across the web. Computers scan the text on a given page, perform a mathematical analysis on it and match it to ads in our extensive database. No humans are involved in this process and no one reads your mail. You may find that hard to believe when you see how closely the ads match the topic of your message."
cool.
(plus, it has full mac + safari support. yay.)
Also, there's only a small amount of people signed up so far...so a lotta those cool usernames (i.e. YOUR NAME) are still availiable. My name's incorporated into mine (with no random numbers), something i've never been able to do with other free email accounts.
So what you're thinking now is: "Woah, cool. Sign me up!"
Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple.
You see, gmail is still in beta form. That means that it isn't really "done" yet.
Don't get me wrong, everything works, it's just that it's not ready for mass circulation yet. Basically what I'm saying is it's not as simple as filling out a form.
You have to (somehow, some way) obtain an invite.
I won't lie, I don't actually know how people originally got invites. Maybe google just randomly emailed people. I dunno.
But there are only a set number of invites out there, so how to get one?
Well, the good news is that a lot of people got sent a bunch of invites, one for them and some for thier friends/family (my friend got his from his uncle's invite). People got sent more than they needed, usually 6, the highest I saw was 18.
Since people don't need these invites, they give 'em away, to anyone who wants one.
The best way to get a beta gmail account is to use isnoop.net's gmail invite spooler. It's where people with spare gmail invites put their unused ones up for grabs, and isnoop.net automates the process, so you don't have to beg and grovel someone for it.
You just have to get lucky. If you get to isnoop, 90% of the time, it'll say "Currently, we have 0 invites to spare." But, on some lucky occasions, it'll replace the "0" with a "1," and then you gotta be fast; type your email address into the little box and press enter on yer keyboard (there's no submit button). If you're reeeealy lucky, you'll automatically get sent an invite by isnoop's automated process.
Me, I got lucky. I went there once, and it said "3 invites availiable," so i grabbed one. I've got my very own beta gmail account, and I want to be the first to say that it ROCKS.
I put screenshots below. It's so easy to use, sleek, and rare....similar to Macs.
So i would highly suggest trying isnoop a couple times, and also check out gmail.com and read about it.
Screenshots:
Main Screen:
Email View (note the ads on the right):
Searching:
Sweet. |
|
October 14 2004, 9:07 PM EDT, by
 |
Comments:
|
| whatsinaname9000 |
10/14/04, 9:22 PM EDT |
thanks to garret m. for givin me da heads up on gmail
|
| DJ-LC |
10/14/04, 9:31 PM EDT |
Did you publish the yourself?
If so, I am going to kill a certain person known as "J" :-). Yeah, not really, would be funny though...
"Read all about it! 30 y/o man gets killed by a 12 y/o !!!"
|
| whatsinaname9000 |
10/14/04, 9:45 PM EDT |
eh?
uhh, yea i published it myself.
cept da images are hosted on my server...don't wanna eat up yer bandwidth DJ-LC :)
|
| matty |
10/15/04, 12:13 AM EDT |
Yeah, gmail is a really cool. The whole system is riddled with really really intelligent Javascript. Originally accounts were given to people who had blogger accounts (a google owned weblog system) and then invites started getting handed out.
There are rumours about google planning to release their own mozilla based browser (http://www.kottke.org/04/08/the-google-browser) and even crazier people are rumouring that they are planning on releasing a Java based operating system.
for a starters though, gmail doesn't fail to impress.
|
|
10/15/04, 2:41 PM EDT |
I have some gmail accts to give out if you want them. I think you can only send 1 to the isnoop.net gmail spooler. So if you want one, send me an email.
Regards,
Marc
|
|
Jedbeck
|
10/15/04, 10:17 PM EDT |
WOO HOO I got one from isnoop!!!!
|
| anonymous |
10/15/04, 11:33 PM EDT |
hurry up i just put 2 invites on isnoop.....
|
|
10/16/04, 10:37 AM EDT |
Send me a funny picture, and you get an invite, I have four. SFW please. Link above.
|
| matty |
10/18/04, 4:34 AM EDT |
Gmai lStatus has potential.
Quite a handy little app. Worth taking a look at if you use gmail.
|
| ZackMac |
10/23/04, 12:05 PM EDT |
I have a view invites. Request one on the contact form of MacPulse.
|
This article is archived, so you may not comment on it.
(The good news is there's always the shoutbox, the forums or the contact form if you're socially-inclined at the moment!)
|
