Chris Pirillo » email

What Technology has Shaped Your Life

Chris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:33:00 +0000

What Technology has Shaped Your Life is a post from Chris Pirillo

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My cousin, Dr. Adrian Lamberti, is writing a book about technology, and wants your help. She and her co-author are putting together a book about technological history. It will look at watershed moments in communications technology, beginning with the advent of email and the World Wide Web back in the 90s. Take a listen to the video and hear the list they’ve already come up with. Then, leave a comment on the corresponding post in my blog with your ideas. Who knows? You may contribute to the book!

She also lists such things, such as MMORPGs, Google, Flickr, Twitter, blogging, Facebook, and MySpace. Also collaborative media such as Google Docs. They’ve even listed the iPhone and iPod Touch!

They are coming at this from one disciplines’ point of view. It will be radically different than what your list might be. What suggestions do you have for Adrian and her writing partner? What can you think of in the world of tech that has really impacted and/or changed your life?

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How to Send Yourself an Email in the Future

Chris — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:56:59 +0000

How to Send Yourself an Email in the Future is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Now is now, but you’re watching this video when it’s not now… even though it’s now when I recorded this video! This web resource is pretty awesome, and will let you send email now to yourself in the future!

FutureMe is based on the principle that memories are less accurate than emails. You remember those letters you had to write your future self back in high school, don’t you? This is the same type of idea. You can write a letter to yourself, and use FutureMe to determine the date it should be delivered on.

Why not write a letter to yourself that talks about where you want to be with your career in one year? Send it to yourself a year from now, and then take a look objectively at how well you met those goals. Write anything and everything to yourself. You can make it public or private. Beware, though – if you choose to make the email public, the entire world can read it!

If you choose to register for the site, you can also send future emails to other people. On a sad – but poignant – note, a recent cancer victim sent a “future” email to his loved ones during his final days on Earth. The emails were received a few weeks later, and were very important to those he had left behind. You can use FutureMe in similar ways, or for anything your mind can dream up, whether it’s serious or fun!

Go ahead, you know you want to try it out. It’s free, and it’s easy to do. Check out FutureMe today! Now! Not tomorrow, but now – the REAL now!

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Gmail Labs

Chris — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:56:57 +0000

Gmail Labs is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I think everyone I know has a Gmail account. Do you use it? Do you like it? If so… why? I’m interested in hearing your responses.

If you’re not familiar with the Labs feature, it’s something that will extend the capabilities of your Gmail account. Jamie submitted a top five list of Labs tips and features. I wanted to pass them along to you. Jamie has tried almost every Lab script there is, and compiled the following list of what he feels are the five best ones that you should be using.

Title Tweaks – This moves the “Inbox (n)” element of the page title to the front, meaning that when you have lots of tabs open you can still see when new emails come in. I’ve found this to be really handy as it means I no longer have the title “Google Mail” taking up space unnecessarily in my tabs… and I don’t have to open a tab/window to see if I have any new email. Really simple, but very helpful when you’ve right-clicked a number of links into new tabs.
Old Snakey – Email can be, and often is, dull. Sometimes it’s nice to distract ourselves with a simple game to take our mind off things for a couple of minutes. Old Snakey does exactly that. As long as you have keyboard shortcuts enabled pressing Shift + 7 (= & – which sort of resembles a snake, I guess!) will open up a simple game of Snake right inside your email window. No pop-ups, no new windows or tabs – and you can still see your inbox right behind the game. It’s an excellent stress reliever during the course of your day, as well.
Remove Labels from Subjects – This one is especially useful if, like me, you have a netbook with a small screen that you often use to check your email. This script hides the labels from the subject line, meaning that not only can you see more of the subject and snippet of an email, but also the subjects are properly aligned with each other – not zigzagging like they are when labels are enabled. I found that before using this script I’d started to almost ignore the subject completely, instead I was paying more attention to who an email was from and the labels it’d been assigned by my filters.
Inbox Preview – Inbox preview shows a static list of the emails in your inbox as Gmail is loading. Whilst Gmail is usually very fast to load, this allows me to see if I’ve got any new email immediately, and even provides a “Sign Out” link if I should decide there’s no need to go any further. This might also be useful to those that have Chat turned on in Gmail, and want to check their email quickly without popping up as “Available” in Chat. If there’s nothing that demands your attention, just sign out.
Mark as Read Button – I’m constantly marking email as read without actually opening them up. Notifications from sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube often don’t actually need to be read, but I still prefer to have them sent to my inbox as unread just in case. Of course, Gmail has had the “Mark as read” feature since the beginning, but this has always been hidden away in the “More Actions” menu. This script adds this option as a button next to “Delete”, so I can quickly clean my inbox of those emails that I don’t need to read. This Labs feature gets the number one spot not because of how amazingly technical or clever it is, but simply because it’s almost certainly the feature that I use the most.

If you’re using Gmail Labs, what are your favorites? Do you find that they are fun – or functional? Do they make your email experience better? Let’s hear what you have to say.

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Spam Increases Along with Security Issues

Chris — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:44:59 +0000

Spam Increases Along with Security Issues is a post from Chris Pirillo

The unfortunate deaths of a number of celebrities recently has generated an increase in spam. Add political scandals to the news, and the junk mail really spikes upward. There has been (and will continue to be) a significantly higher volume of this junk email directed at your inbox. Not only is this spam a waste of your time, it can be dangerous. A current article illustrates that spam is a means of delivering malware.

Spam may seem like an everyday nuisance. As such, people tend to forget that it is a real danger. It is a means for hackers / criminals to access your computer. Some hackers don’t want to sell you any junk. The goal is to control your computer and/or steal your personal, confidential information for identity theft.

Over eight million people protect themselves from spam and malware dangers with MailWasher Pro. That number of people grows daily. It is simply one of the best ways available for handling spam. One of our security reviewers has used this product daily for almost a decade, so the recommendation for MailWasher Pro comes from years of experience with this legendary program.

MailWasher Pro is effective and it is easy to use:

Apart from being the most effective software to fight spam, you’ll find that MailWasher is probably the easiest anti-spam software to use. We took the view that if we can’t understand how to use a piece of software in under five minutes, then it’s probably always going to be hard to use. Why try and learn a whole lot of new icons and procedures? You want a program with a minimal learning curve, is easy to use, and looks attractive.

One of the ways that spam is handled is by means of filters. The problem is that sometimes the filter screens out legitimate email. And sometimes spam by-passes the filters. One of the great features of MailWasher Pro is that it allows the user to preview the email prior to downloading onto the computer. With a brief glance, you will be able to tell what is legitimate email and what is junk. And you do this while the email is not on your computer.

That’s right – you will be screening your email before you download it onto your computer. Consider this as viewing the mail at the server level instead of handling it while it is on your machine. That is an added level of security – you decide which email accesses your computer.

Why make the decision when the email is on your computer? That is simply dangerous. Mailwasher Pro allows you to make the decision at the server level – while the email is away from your machine. It is an effective, easy ,and brilliant way of handling the spam problem. MailWasher Pro works with Windows and is effective for POP3, IMAP, AOL, Gmail, Yahoo!, and Hotmail. Stop just downloading your email to Outlook or Outlook Express. Preview it first!

Now our readers have fifty per cent discount when buying MailWasher Pro. Yes – really – for a limited time, it is possible to buy MailWasher Pro at half price:

Use this coupon code: lockerg

This remarkable offer expires on July 8, 2009. (Contact us if you want this program in high volume. We’ll see if we can help.)

And one final point… MailWasher Pro has an active support system. It has a live technical support system, as well as a forum. We have been following the development of this program for many years. The founder is a friend of this site and runs a first class operation. It shows. This is just an excellent program. You will consider MailWasher Pro a “must-have” for every computer you own.

What is Digital Culture?

Chris — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:47:33 +0000

What is Digital Culture? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I may not look it, but I am 35 years old. This means I grew up with things like Merlin, Speak n’ Spell, and Atari! I surround myself with toys even to this day, including on the Internet. There are people my age, however, who don’t use mobile devices or even the Internet. In this day and age, that’s unheard of!

We are now living in a digital age – the age of information. I’ve been online since 1992, and doing so professionally for 12 years now. This IS my life. I received an email from a guy named Chris, who is taking a course named Digital Culture. They are learning about how digital culture is changing every arena of human experience. For their final project, they were creating a website devoted to digital culture and its influence. One component of the site features thoughts of people like myself, who are immersed in the digital lifestyle. They wanted to know what exactly digital culture means to me.

I think that digital culture is pervasive technology. What I mean by that is just assuming a solution is going to be there. Back in the days of dial up when I would travel, I would have to carry with me some type of telephone cable. I had to dial in to the Internet, and usually pay for the time I used that line. These days, you take it for granted. If you go to a hotel, you expect you can get online. It’s a given, right? You know it’s there!

Could you sit in front of a computer today and use it without an Internet connection? You could – but what would you do? The Internet unlocks so many experiences. It’s there, and it’s pervasive. It actually helps with the flow of things. Imagine not having email, or knowing someone who doesn’t have it. It’s frustrating. You’ve potentially grown up with it, and you’re just used to the convenience of it!

When I think of digital culture, I think of it as a part of ourselves, and an extension of society. What it means to me is a step in mental evolution, and social responsibility. The phrase that explains the idea that technology connects us as humans which I coined is “Human Circuitry” – which is now the theme of my Gnomedex conference.

Digital culture is amazing to me today as it was back when I first began my journey. It gives rise to a different kind of relationship between people – and it’s one that I treasure.

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Stop Spam from Reaching Your Computer

Chris — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:08:13 +0000

Stop Spam from Reaching Your Computer is a post from Chris Pirillo

Over eight million people can’t be wrong! That number represents the growing number of people who use MailWasher to handle the spam problem. One of our security reviewers has used this product for almost a decade, so the recommendation for MailWasher Pro comes from years of experience with this legendary program.

MailWasher Pro is effective and it is easy to use:

Apart from being the most effective software to fight spam, you’ll find that MailWasher is probably the easiest anti-spam software to use. We took the view that if we can’t understand how to use a piece of software in under 5 minutes then it’s probably always going to be hard to use. Why try and learn a whole lot of new icons and procedures? You want a program with a minimal learning curve, is easy to use and looks attractive.

Everyone, with the exception of the spammers, hates junk mail. Spam not only wastes your time, it can be a means of delivering malware and various infections to your computer. One of the goals of MailWasher Pro is to allow the user to preview the email prior to downloading. Consider this as viewing the mail at the server level instead of handling it while it is on your machine. That is an added level of security.

Other programs claim to screen your email and filter it for you. The problem (and the danger) of those systems is that you may lose some of the mail that you want. Legitimate email may be filtered and eliminated. That does not happen with MailWasher Pro. You can have a brief glance at the mail at the server level and eliminate what you do not want. It’s easy and it’s an elegant way of handling the spam problem.

It is possible to set up friends lists, blacklists, and filters. If some spammer is mail “bombing” your account, for example, MailWasher Pro can handle this easily. MailWasher Pro includes a heuristic virus scanner. And it is possible to bounce the email to make your account look like it is an inactive account. These are just some of the anti-spam tools that MailWasher Pro offers. There are many more features but let’s just say that this is an excellent security program.

Now, our readers have an opportunity to buy MailWasher Pro with a fifty per cent discount. Yes — really — for a limited time, it is possible to buy MailWasher Pro at half price.

To take advantage of this great offer, use coupon code: lockerg.

This remarkable offer expires on April 27, 2009. (Contact us if you want this program in high volume. We’ll see if we can help.)

Mailwasher Pro works with AOL, Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, IMAP, and POP3. Stop just downloading your email to Outlook or Outlook Express. Preview it first!

And one final point… MailWasher Pro has an active support system. It has a live technical support system, as well as a forum. This is just a first class operation — and just an excellent program. You will consider MailWasher Pro a “must-have” for every computer you own. It is that good.

How do You Manage Your Email Inbox?

Chris — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:07:02 +0000

How do You Manage Your Email Inbox? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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How much email do you get on a daily basis? I receive a ton of it, and I’m sure many of you do as well. There is a lot that demands my attention. I tend to forward some of them to people who manage certain tasks for me. I tend to freak out if there are very many emails piled up waiting for my attention, so I try to stay on top of them throughout the day. There may come a time when I’ve got to get away from the email. I could be on vacation, or speaking at a conference. I can’t ignore everything in my email. What if there are certain things I need to be notified of right away. This is why I’ve signed up for AwayFind.

Productivity experts have long suggested “batching” as the solution to dealing with email and freeing up more of our time. Batching is essentially grouping similar tasks together to improve both productivity and quality of work. When applied to email, it simply means checking it less often—and processing all the messages once when you do check. In addition to making it easier to clear our inboxes, this offers the benefit of removing email distractions from the rest of our day.
That’s where AwayFind comes in. By adding a link to your AwayFind page in your auto response message, people have a way to notify you via an alternative, non-intrusive method—text messages on your cell phone (rest assured, though, your phone number is not displayed). Better yet, messages can be automatically delegated to co-workers who may be able to solve the problem without your involvement.

It just… makes sense. You can free yourself from the chains of your Inbox, and get on with other things you need to accomplish. Why keep yourself tethered when you can just get so much more DONE??

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What Email Client do You Use?

Chris — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:51:09 +0000

What Email Client do You Use? is a post from Chris Pirillo

There is such an abundance of email clients these days… both web-based, and desktop-based. It’s hard to know what one is the ‘best’, or which one will suit your needs and desires. How do you know what is right for you? I asked several people this question, and the answers were quite varied.

gmail – Sean Oliver

Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo mail – Brian Sullivan

Gmail at home and Outlook at work. I used to use Outlook Express at home but gave us and solely use Gmail now (best spam filtering features around). – Kol Tregaskes

gmail – Kevin Bondelli

The Bat!. It’s the only IMAP client that doesn’t lack features and doesn’t piss me off. – Akiva Moskovitz

Thunderbird at home and Squirrelmail when I’m on-the-go. I’m forced to use GroupWise at work, which I despise. – Rochelle

Mozilla Thunderbird, both at home AND at work. – Helen Sventitsky

The Bat? – ♣genieyclo♣

genieyclo, http://www.ritlabs.com – Akiva Moskovitz

gmail (IMAP when on the iPhone) – Jamie

Oh, and for the record, I wake up every morning praying that someone would make a desktop IMAP client that does not make me want to kill myself. I’d do it myself but that is a crapload of work that I don’t really want to get into. – Akiva Moskovitz

Googlemail ( IMAP on the iPhone). Very rarely use outlook 2008. – Roberto Bonini

Gmail, Mobile too, and hoping to never use Outlook again – Majento

Gmail +WAP version on mobile and mail.app for the offline (ah and an old hotmail account) – Naor

Gmail: On the web, on Outlook, and wirelessly on my iPod Touch. – Mike L

Anything EXCEPT Microsoft Entourage. Seriously. I’ll telnet into the server on port 143 and manually enter commands if I have to to avoid using Entourage. – Glen Campbell

T-bird mostly, except for my work email. For that it’s Outlook. – steplow = Steve Lowe

Mail for office mail, Gmail+Google Apps for my personal stuff. – Niclas Strandh

i love it when people answer the geek question threads here in friendfeed. it’s like parallel universes. in the confession room people respond to the secret tweets, too, even though the original poster can’t see the answers. if i think about it too much my head hurts. – LauraBrarian

Gmail. Usually through Prism. Sometimes through Firefox or Thunderbird. – Tanath

Gmail, Outlook/Exchange and a Blackberry – Alex Scoble CISSP

Gmail and Verizon (since it’s my DSL account) – Thankful Molly

primarily Gmail (and Windows Live client) – Charlie Anzman

Gmail, Thunderbird, and Horde – Joe Lencioni

GMail and OtherInbox – April Russo

gmail on BB – Phillip Jeffrey

Gmail – Morton Fox

Outlook, Pocket Outlook, Gmail Web, Yahoo Web – MiɳuɘtMagɘ

gmail on thunderbird, gmail on mobile – Anjo Miranda

Gmail IMAP via Mail.app on Leopard. :) – Beau Giles

How Many Emails Do You Get Every Day?

Chris — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:56:55 +0000

How Many Emails Do You Get Every Day? is a post from Chris Pirillo

I bet on a good day, I receive well over a hundred emails. Heck, some days there are more. I happen to know people who get far more than that. Many of you out there indicate that you get anywhere from ten to over a hundred emails daily.

too many. most go into folders i rarely read or skim once a week. I’m guessing over 100 but hopefully less than 200. At work. Plus another 20 at home. – Laura Norvig

Over 300, about 30 of them press releases. This is not counting spam, obviously. – Andru Edwards

Can vary from 20 to 50 a day at home. And about 40-80 at work. Some days are much worse. – Kol Tregaskes

200 at office, and about 100 on personal (no spam) – clarke thomas

not counting spam, 50- 80 at the office, 10 – 20 at personal email acct. – Erin McMahon

about 60-100 …. – Saad Kamal

Not much these days (if you don’t count spam). Anyways, about 10-20 daily. – Daniel Schildt

weekdays 350 and weekends 150 … read on blackberry and only file notes with attachments in outlook folders – Daltonsbriefs

How many emails do you tend to get in a day?

How do you Know your Friend saw your Note?

Chris — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:14:13 +0000

How do you Know your Friend saw your Note? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Have you ever sent an important message, only to have the recipient later say they never received it? You’re pretty sure that they got it an ignored it, but you can’t prove it. Isn’t it great that there’s a way you can finally know once and for all whether your message was received or not?

One way to do this is by using Privnote. Privnote is a tool that allows you to send private messages via the Internet, and make sure they’ve been read by your intended recipient. Privnote is so easy to use, it will make you think there’s a catch. Honest… there isn’t. Simply write your message and you’ll receive a link. Email the link to someone, and presto! That’s it. Really!

How does Privnote differ from sending a traditional email?

You get a link to the note, and once that link is clicked the note is destroyed so it can only be seen once. If someone intercepts the link and sees the note before the person who’s intended to read it, that person will known that the note has been eavesdropped, and can tell you about it.
If you want to be notified when your note gets read you can do it by checking the notify box located below then note. Neither email nor instant messaging provides a reliable way to know if, let alone when, your messages are read.
If you send a note and suddenly regret having done so, you can click the link yourself which will destroy the note and prevent the receiver to read it.

Never be left wondering again whether your notes are being read. Try the free Privnote application the next time you have something important you need to send out.

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Could you Live Without Email or the Web?

Chris — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:35:43 +0000

Could you Live Without Email or the Web? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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How many people do you believe have used email? If you had to give a percentage off the top of your head of US citizens that you believe have used email, what would you say? According to a survey, about 20% of US heads-of-household have never sent an email. About 18% (20 million) of households don’t have Internet access. Approximately 30% of people have never used a computer to create a document. Wow. I had no idea! I wonder why Internet access isn’t considered almost like a public utility of sorts. Think about it. We have access to the public library, and there are computers there. We have the ability to grab television and radio broadcast signals over the air. We have water and trash services that we pay for as a standard. It just seems like it would be a detriment to any household not to have Internet access today.

If we look at Technology as an enabler, rather than a cost, we may be able to get further ahead as a society. This is what I suggest to people when they ask me about Broadband options. I always recommend that people get online to save money. Imagine saving a portion of your monthly bills. When you start buying things online, you’re no longer confined to the selection on your local store shelves. You can save serious amounts of money on goods this way. You’ll save time, by shopping online or even just to communicate in general. Everything boils down to a cost. What is your time worth?

I look at text messaging in the same way. I could pick up the phone and call someone. What if I just get sent straight to their voice mail? To me, it’s more convenient and time-saving to just send a text message much of the time. I look at paying for that unlimited texting service as a cost of convenience, and of communication. The less communication options I have, the more I feel like I’m just not connected.

If you don’t embrace a new way of communicating because you can’t, that’s one thing. If you don’t embrace it because you won’t: That’s something else entirely. Technology is becoming increasingly pervasive. Email is anywhere and everywhere, literally. It has its downfalls, certainly. That doesn’t keep me from recommending it to literally everyone.

What do you think about all this? Do you think this much of a digital divide should exist, between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’? Is a computer and Internet access so difficult to get? Or, is this more of a fear that people may have? Send me an email to chris@pirillo.com, or leave me a follow-up comment on this post and let’s hear your thoughts.

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Stop Email Forwards and Video Emails

Chris — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:06:48 +0000

Stop Email Forwards and Video Emails is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I received the following email the other day from Doug:

I’m still surprised at times when I get an e-mail forwarded to me that claims something is true without anyone having checked the validity of the contents. I recently got an e-mail regarding a Dr Dobson petition, and there were almost 3000 names on it already when it came to me. To me it should be common practice to people to do a quick & simple internet search to find out more information before blindly forwarding stuff to everyone on your contacts list. Even if the e-mail already has a link attempting to validate the information, I’m going to want more than one source reporting the same thing. One person forwarding an e-mail with 0-1 sources does not validate the contents.
I will usually copy/paste some main part of the text into Google and I’ll typically quickly find several resources that discuss the origin and validity of the information in the e-mail. Then I will reply to all on the e-mail I got and post a few of those links letting them know where to find more information and encouraging them to do likewise in the future when they get e-mails like this and are tempted to forward them to people. I would like to think that the audience that watch your videos are internet savvy enough to already know this but even if they are, perhaps they would encourage their circle of contacts (friends, relatives, community, etc) to squash useless e-mail chains instead of fueling them. What the world needs now is more useful information and less useless information to fill up our in-boxes, bog down the mail servers, and waste our time reading the garbage.
So I wanted to see how you felt about doing a video to your audience on this topic.

One of the first things you should do when receiving an email claiming “You’ll save this little girl’s life by forwarding this!”, or “Send me to ten friends right now!”… is to check with Snopes. The Snopes website is a huge ‘database’ full of urban legends and truths. I’ll bet 99% of the time that the email chains you receive are useless junk.
As Doug stated in his email, you can also paste a small part of the text of the email into Google, and research it. Don’t blindly forward an email like these. Know what it is you’re sending out. Know whether it’s even legitimate or not.
Also, stop sending emails to people with videos embedded in them. It’s horrible to do! There are SO many places online you can host the video for free. Then, just send out the link to the video. It’s smaller, and faster to send a simple link to someone. It’s just not cool to send entire videos in an email.

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Can Temporary Email Addresses Stop Spam?

Chris — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:36:23 +0000

Can Temporary Email Addresses Stop Spam? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I’ve used my chris@pirillo.com email for many years now. The reason I share that address so openly is that I’m just not afraid of it. Some of you are quite afraid of sharing your email address, with good reason. You never know where that address will end up, or what mailing lists it could get sold to.

There are various ways you can stop junk email from hitting your Inbox, or filtering it out once it does hit. My plan right now is an Exchange account, in combination with server-side software. I also have local spam filtering, as well. There’s very little that actually makes it into my Inbox folder. What’s your solution to keeping Spam from entering your world?

I had something happen to me today that I’ve heard has happened to others. Coldplay is one of my favorite bands, and they released a new single. In order to get that single and download it, you had to supply an email address. I thought about it. I didn’t want to receive indefinite information from this company. I needed to find a temporary email address. It’s a lot of work to create a new alias, especially when there are many services out there that will allow you to create a temporary email address in order to access things just like this.

TemporaryInbox is really simple to use. You don’t even need to sign up, which is the whole idea. It will give you a random email address that you can use, and access for up to six hours. It’s a good thing to use if you’re not sure whether a site is going to keep your identity protected, or if you’re unsure as to whether you will end up using the site/service.

I don’t know if I see the Spam problem going away any time soon. There’s no authentication present in an email. Some people change their email address on a regular basis to keep it private and away from spammers. Meh, not me. My name is never going to change, therefore my email address will always work. Changing your email is not fun, when you have to update so many contacts, sites, etc.

Email is one of those things I cannot live without. I send email newsletters out on a near-daily basis. I also wrote the book on Email publishing. I spend more hours a day in my Inbox than anywhere else… including sleeping.

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GTD: Keeping Your Inbox Clean

Chris — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:16:06 +0000

GTD: Keeping Your Inbox Clean is a post from Chris Pirillo

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A community member wrote: “I receive about 220 emails a day (I know that’s nothing compared to what you get, Chris, but it’s a lot for us normal folk), and I sometimes find it hard to manage my Inbox. Over time, I came up with these tips for managing my Email more efficiently, and I thought that I would pass them along.”

Send replies in bulk. For you Yahoo Mail users, I’m not talking about “bulk” as in “spam”, I mean group your replies to Emails. If several people have the same question, send the same message to those multiple Email addresses. This will save time, and it will save you a lot of stress.
Publicly address common questions. Also, if several people have the same question, you could publicly address that issue (in a blog, a faq, etc.). This will cut down on the amount of Email you receive with that question.
Don’t reply to rude people. If someone is being rude, don’t reply to them. This is a waste of time, as your response will either be ignored or will trigger another rude response. If someone continues to be rude, block their email address.
Have a good spam blocker. Make sure that the Email program you’re using has a good Spam blocker, so no junk gets into your Inbox. Gmail on the Web is a good example, and Thunderbird for the desktop is also good.
Make your responses short and simple. Don’t type out extremely long responses to Emails. Chances are, the person you’re sending it to won’t read through it. Just explain the basics in a sentence or two (no more than a paragraph), and hit “send”. However, be careful with your wording. You don’t want to seem curt, as this will probably provoke a rude response.

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Web Hosting

Chris — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:05:57 +0000

Web Hosting is a post from Chris Pirillo

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There are a million places out there to buy your web hosting from. How do you know which is the right choice for you? What things should you keep in mind when choosing? These tips sent in by a community member should help ease your mind a bit.

Don’t buy what you don’t need. When buying a product, you buy it for what you want it to do, right? Hosting is no different. If it’s going to be an image hoster, why do you want a phpBB Board, or MediaWiki included? Consider how much traffic you expect to get, and look around.
Don’t be afraid to move your hosting around often. If there’s a better offer around in the short run, chances are you’re best taking it because by the time you roll around to needing to pay for hosting, you’ll still find some options which, for one year, are either hysterically cheap, or just plain free.
Look on the internet for voucher codes. If you think you’ve found the host for you, looked at their reputation, and decided ‘Yes, that’s who I want to go with’… take a look at their competitors again. A prime example of this is Dreamhost; their voucher codes can turn $100+ a year into $20 for the first year, with a domain name included.
If you’re getting free email, USE IT IF YOU CAN. Too many people still use hotmail addresses when they have hosting that provides them with email addresses. If you’re making a small business venture, a domain-name based address will say a lot more about your professionality than a hotmail, yahoo or aol email. I personally have one for Mail, MSN, Ebay and my Wii, so as to filter the unnecessary stuff as much as possible.
Always pay for your hosting up front initially. There’s nothing worse than changing providers and then realizing that your subscription payment is still recurring. Not only does it cause stress, but the problems that arise while getting the money back can make you wish you never tried them.

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How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.