Check Out Remember The Milk Gmail Gadget

When Google Labs launched its Gmail gadgets for Google Calendar and Docs last week, there was actually a third gadget that they included in the release. But we didn't cover that gadget because it was a little too cryptic to explain without an example of how it might work.

Luckily for us, Remember The Milk was hard at work creating a gadget that would help us do exactly that. Now we can finally explain the third Labs Gmail gadget and check that task off our list - from within Gmail. All thanks to RTM.

What RTM offers - in gadget form - is the to-do list that Gmail users have been asking Google to build, and RTM does an admirable job of satisfying those requests.

Using the new gadget, Remember The Milk users get task and to-do functionality in the Gmail sidebar, allowing them to review, add, edit, and manage tasks, without ever leaving the comfort of the Gmail interface.

So how does the functionality of RTM get into the Gmail sidebar? Via a Labs gadget called "Add any gadget by URL." True to its name, the gadget allows users to add third-party gadgets to the Gmail interface by referencing a URL. But what exactly does that mean? Would RSS work? Would any URL turn that content into a gadget? Not exactly.

According to the Gmail blog that means:

There's a third Lab that allows you to add any gadget by pasting in the URL of its XML spec file (e.g. http://www.google.com/ig/modules/youtube_videos.xml). We realize this isn't very user friendly right now; it's a sandbox mainly aimed at developers who want to play around with gadgets in Gmail.

Now you see why we were waiting for an example.

Using the RTM gadget? Simple. Adding it? Not so much. But we'll walk you through it. To get the RTM gadget installed, head over to Labs, activate the "Add any gadget by URL" gadget, grab the RTM gadget XML spec file URL, go back to the Gmail gadgets tab to paste in the URL, and then return to your Gmail inbox to find Remember The Milk in the sidebar.

By Google's own admission, not intuitive. But let's step back a second. There's something much bigger happening here.

RTM Demonstrates the Openness of the Gmail Platform

With the advent of the add-by-URL gadget, the Gmail format has now become wide open to outside developers. No app store. No gating mechanism. No browser-based scripts. Simply direct access to the Gmail sidebar, allowing developers to add any gadget that they can concoct.

That's pretty big news.

Why? Because now when you wish you had something else in the Gmail sidebar - like a to-do list for instance - you don't have to wait for Google anymore. You can build it. Or you can get a developer to build it for you. And you can share it with others.

What's more, it doesn't have to be free. It could be a for-pay gadget. At least that's how the Remember The Milk model works. While RTM offers a free version, they will likely attract new users who will take the opportunity to upgrade to a Pro account for $25 a year.

A must-have gadget for an open platform that continues to grow in popularity - and a revenue stream? RTM may have to add the development of a few more thoughtful gadgets to their list of things to do.

What's the next third-party gadget to take advantage of this new functionality? That's anyone's guess. But it will be really interesting to see how creative developers leverage this new Labs gadget and the access it provides.

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Top Firefox Add-ons

Are you a Firefox user? If so, this feature is especially for you. There are plenty who still use IE, but the popularity of Firefox is rising, with more and more users getting hooked to it. I like Firefox mainly for the add-on plugins, which are easily available on the official website. You will find scores of them, but I shall list the five I find most interesting. There are so many options that no two persons will have the same list. So if you have anything to add, or if you disagree with me, do leave a comment. It will provide readers with more options.



Stumble Upon

This is simply the best add-on any Web browser could use. It appeals mainly to those who love to go through anything interesting on the World Wide Web. The way it works is very simple: after installing it you will see an icon on the top left of your browser. Every time you have the time, just click it and it will take you to any of the sites that other stumble users have tagged as "I Like".

It could be anything; an interesting Flickr account, or an obscure site with 3D fractal generators. If you like what you are reading, you can even write a review. It's all available to you at a click of a button.

That's not all. Interestingly, the site maintains a tab of what you like and what you have shrugged off as boring, and will regularly display content that matches your tastes. In fact, if you discover a website that you like, you can add it to the list for others to see as well.

You can get the plugin here.



Me.dium

Me.dium comes in handy when you make travel/movie plans with friends. How? "Be social when you surf the Web" is what the guys who made Me.dium tell you. Simply put, this plugin allows you to chat and surf the same web page (with your friends) at the same time.

To do this, everybody in your social circle will need to install this plugin, and add each other as friends. You will see your friends on your Me.dium network  list (on the left of the browser). Below each name will be a link to what they are surfing presently. This especially comes in useful when everyone is researching the same topic.

Don't worry; it won't take your friends to your Gmail account if that's what's bothering you. One thing to remember is that by installing this plugin you are allowing Me.dium to gain access to your surfing history. It works across Facebook, YouTube, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Flickr, Digg, Yahoo, and Google.

Get the plugin here.

Better Gmail 2

Ever since it launched (and even before it actually did), Gmail's gained prominence. I don't know anyone who isn't on it. So it makes sense to talk about a plugin that improves the way you use Gmail.

Better Gmail 2 does exactly what the name suggests. Apart from being able to change the skin at the click of a button, you get many other options. Firstly, every mail with attachments will have the respective display icons in the inbox, so you'll know whether it's (say) a word file or a PDF.

One important tweak this plugin offers is that every mailto: link you click will in turn be diverted to your Gmail account, rather than the erstwhile .Outlook express You can also learn additional keyboard shortcuts. That's brilliant, I think.

You can get the plugin here.



DownThemAll

I use this so often that I don't know what I'd do without it. On the face of it, DownThemAll is promoted as a download accelerator that's capable of increasing speeds by 400 percent. It gives you 'pause' and 'resume' options, and the best part is it allows you to download all the links or images on a web page by clicking a single button.

After installing, if you right-click on any page (say, Flickr) and click on DownThemAll, it will show a window with all the available pictures and download links. You can select what you like and start downloading. With this plugin you won't need an external download manager.

Get the plugin here.



Fast Video Download

I'm sure many of you techies will have this already installed. For the clueless, it's a useful plugin for YouTube fans. It allows you to download vedios from sites such as hi5.com, metacafe.com, vids.myspace.com, YouTube, and more.

A small icon at the bottom right of the browser page will show up after the plugin is installed. All you need to do is surf to the page where the video is streaming, and click on the icon. It will ask you if you would like to download it. Click on 'yes' and you are done. For downloading from YouTube, you will need an FLV player. Download it from the official website, or just get the VLC media player

Get the plugin here.

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15 new Labs features to try out in Gmail

From the useful to the playful, there's a whole lot more to play with in Gmail Labs, our testing ground for experimental features. Here's a taste of what's new since Labs first launched:

• Google Calendar and Docs gadgets


• A forgotten attachment detector


• Advanced IMAP controls


• Canned responses to save and send common replies automatically

Turn on these and more from the Labs tab under Settings, and don't forget to let us know what you think. Learn more

Gmail on Android

Gmail is now available on the world's first Android-powered phone, the T-Mobile G1. All of the features you love about Gmail on your computer, plus real time push email so you never need to refresh your inbox. Learn more

Emoticons – they're not just for chat anymore

Express yourself with emoticons from to or even . Click the button when composing a message in "Rich formatting" mode, or choose the new emoticons tab in chat, and express yourself to your 's desire. Learn more

Gmail for mobile 2.0

Save multiple mobile drafts, compose and read recent email offline, use new shortcut keys and more. Download Gmail for mobile 2.0 for your BlackBerry or J2ME phone by going to m.google.com/mail in your mobile browser.

Gmail Labs: A testing ground for experimental new features

Try out features in development and let us know what you think. To get started with Labs, click the Labs tab under Settings. Learn more

Gmail has a new look on the iPhone browser

Now with auto-complete when composing, automatic refreshing, and faster load times when viewing email. Learn more

More friends are more fun. Gmail welcomes your AIM® friends.

Now you can talk to your AIM® friends using an integrated chat list right inside Gmail. Learn more



AOL and AIM are trademarks of AOL LLC

Colored labels

Better organize your email with new colored labels. Just click the color swatch next to each label to assign a color. Learn more

Group chat

Chat with multiple people without multiple windows. Invite your friends to a group discussion. To start a group chat, click 'Group chat' from the 'Options' menu when chatting. Learn more

New emoticons

Start sending richer expressions to your friends. Learn more

Free IMAP

Sync your inbox across devices instantly and automatically. Whether you read or write your email on your phone or on your desktop, changes you make to Gmail will be seen from anywhere you access your inbox. Another way to use Gmail on your iPhone is through the browser. By going to m.gmail.com you get the full Gmail experience including conversation view, search, and more. Learn how to set up IMAP on other devices.



Set up IMAP on your iPhone. Watch the video

• View as slideshow
  
  Now you can open PowerPoint attachments as slideshows, without having to download anything. Just click "View as slideshow" next to the .ppt attachment you want to preview. Since you can open .doc and .xls attachments with Google Docs and Spreadsheets too, there's no need to leave your web browser to check out your Gmail attachments. Learn more


• Increased attachment limit-- 20 MB!
  
  Now you can start sharing more of those home videos, large presentations and files you just can't seem to get smaller. We have doubled the allowable attachment size to 20 MB to make your Gmail space even more useful. Learn more


• It's a Gmail party and everyone is invited!
  
  You can still invite your friends to enjoy Gmail's spam protection, 5GB free storage and other great features, but now you can also just tell them to visit www.gmail.com and sign up without an invitation.


• Get mail from other accounts
  
  Now Gmail can check for the mail you receive at your other email accounts. You can retrieve your mail (new and old) from up to five other email accounts and have them all in Gmail. Then you can even create a customized 'From:' address, which lets you send messages from Gmail, but have them look like they were sent from another one of your email accounts. Please note that you can only retrieve mail from accounts that have POP3 access enabled. Learn more


• Embarrassment-reducing new message notifications
  
  Ever replied to a message only to find out that someone sent a better, smarter reply right before you? Now, if someone sends a reply while you're in the middle of reading a conversation (or replying to it), you'll get a notification that a new message has arrived. Click "update conversation" to see what you’ve missed.
  
  


• Forward all
  
  When viewing a conversation, use the new “Forward all” link on the right if you want to forward the entire conversation instead of just one message.


• Chat even when your friends are offline
  
  Chatting in Gmail just keeps getting better. Now, if you're chatting with a friend who goes offline, your friend will be able to see whatever you were typing the next time he or she goes online.
  
  


• Get Gmail on your mobile phone
  
  Download it once, and start accessing Gmail on your phone with just a click or two. To try it for yourself, point your phone to gmail.com/app. Learn more


• Voicemail
  
  Your friends can leave you a voicemail using Google Talk. The voice message is sent to your Gmail account as an audio file that you can download or play right from your inbox. Learn more


• Reply by chat
  
  When you're about to (or in the middle of a) reply to someone, and you see that person online, you can just send your reply as a chat message. And if you've chosen to save your chat histories, then your chat even gets threaded with that original email conversation. Learn more


• A picture's worth a thousand words
  
  With contact pictures in Gmail, you can pick ones for yourself, see which ones your friends have chosen, and set certain pictures to show up for specific people in your Gmail account. Best of all, you can even send picture suggestions to your friends. Learn more


• Gmail Chat
  
  Get in touch with your friends instantly, from right inside Gmail! It's the biggest thing to happen to Gmail, since well, Gmail. Learn more


• Vacation auto-responder
  
  Set an auto-response so that if you're lying on a beach or taking a train across Siberia, your friends will know you won't be checking your email. Learn more


• Contact groups
  
  One of our most-requested features is finally here! Now you can send messages to a group instead of having to pick out the individual addresses every time.Learn more


• View as HTML
  
  Now you can view Microsoft Office, OpenOffice or .pdf attachments as web pages by clicking the "View as HTML" link instead of downloading. For when you want to see it faster, you're on a mobile device, or you don't want to install software just to view a document. Learn more


• Shortcuts on the right
  
  Now Gmail automatically detects addresses and tracking numbers, and displays useful information such as directions and package tracking alongside your messages.


• Virus scanning is here!
  
  For your protection, Gmail now automatically scans for viruses every time you open or send a message with an attachment. We even try our best to remove all the viruses we find. Learn more


• Export contacts
  
  Export your Gmail Contacts and save them in a file for back-up or to use in another account or service–great if you're using Gmail's free POP access. Learn more


• Auto-save
  
  Saves to ‘Drafts' as you're composing. Never lose a half-written email again.


• Get to Gmail from any web page
  
  Download the new Gmail-enabled Google Toolbar. Search your mail or instantly go to your Inbox from any web page with just one click. Learn more


• Gmail on Google.com
  
  See your new messages directly from your personalized Google.com homepage.


• Google Talk
  
  IM and make free calls through your computer with Google Talk. Your Gmail contacts are even pre-loaded. Learn more


• Customized 'From:' addresses
  
  Customize the address on your outgoing messages to display another one of your addresses instead. Learn more


• An application for Macs
  
  The Gmail Notifier for Mac OS X even supports plug-in development.


• Free POP access and automatic forwarding
  
  Access your mail the way you want to. Download your messages. Read them offline. Use your Blackberry or Outlook or any POP-enabled device. Or forward new messages to an email account you specify. You can even switch to other email services without having to worry about losing access to your messages. Think of it as email portability Learn more


• Import Contacts
  
  Move all your contacts from Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, and others to Gmail in just a few clicks. Learn more


• Signature options
  
  From the settings page, create a signature that's automatically added to the end of all your outgoing messages. Learn more

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Hacking MySpace - Watch any users private videos

A simple modification to URL and all private videos becomes publicly available! Thats a new hack for MySpace users found by GrownUpGeek!

Although MySpace is not a popular video-sharing site (compare to photo uploaded on it, nevertheless this will surely compromise a MySpace users privacy. Following is trick and screenshot from GrownUpGeek’s post…

Copy following URL as it is and insert the Myspace friendID at the end in place of the XXXXX

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.showvids&friendid=XXXXXXX

Check out following screenshot for an example URL!

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Access Free Airtel GPRS using TeaShark Browser

TeaShark, a mobile browser like Opera Mini, allow you to access Airtel GPRS for FREE. Shockingly it has nothing to do with modifying any Airtel settings or any kind of hack.  I tested it personally throughout the week but I haven’t been charged a single penny.

Here is how I used this…

• Download TeaShark v. 312. Its free and being JAR file it can be installed on most handsets.


• Open it from your mobile and select AirTel Live as access point.


• That’s it! Open any site from TeaShark and you won’t be charged anything.

Note for the first time, when TeaShark starts, it may take more than one minute to initialize. Also this one time initialization may fail many times. 

Here are some famous sites’ mobile version...

• Gmail: m.gmail.com


• Orkut: m.orkut.com


• Facebook: m.facebook.com


• Twitter: m.twitter.com

The whole thing seems a fortunate coincidence for mobile users and unfortunate one for network operators. This trick cannot be termed illegal as you are not cracking any software or modifying any configuration. For the same reason, I think this will take longer to get rectified.

Please keep in mind that AirTel may charge you all of a sudden in future of this free ride. So please use it at your own risk!

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Remain Always Idle On Google Talk

It basically adds a set of status options as you can see in above image!

As highlighted you can choose Always Idle if you are too busy at work. Many users will think that you are not at desk or something similar and thus won’t bother you.

Also there is an exactly opposite option - Never Idle. In case you want to look always online no matter even if you forget to shut down your pc at night!

Links: Download Page 

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Google added Invisible mode to Gmail Chat And Gtalk

One of the most awaited feature Google Talk lovers has been waiting for is out. Just read on Google’s official Gmail blog that Gmail chat version of Google Talk will now have option to go invisible! Jonas Lindberg quoted,

With this feature, you can appear offline, and still send and receive messages. If you’re using AIM in Gmail, invisible mode also makes you appear signed out on the AIM network.

Many developers will find this interesting as they can chat with other fellow developers without any interruption now. 

Personally this is the feature I was waiting for. Hope to see it in Google Talk application soon

Link: Request a Gmail chat feature to Google

          Official Gmail Post

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