Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Unsubscribing made easy

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OfficialGmailBlog/~3/c0qraShf18E/unsubscribing-made-easy.html

Posted by Brad Taylor, Gmail Spam Czar

We believe you should only get the mail you want to get. Some of you already use the "Report Spam" button on all kinds of unwanted email, and for that we're very thankful: the more spam you mark, the better our system gets at weeding out junk mail.

Unsubscribing from mailing lists and newsletters you subscribed to a while back but no longer want to receive should be just as easy. Searching through individual messages for little unsubscribe links is too big a pain —you should be able to unsubscribe with a single click.

So we just launched something that makes this all work better, both for Gmail users and big email senders. Now, when you report spam on a legitimate newsletter or mailing list, we'll help you unsubscribe. After clicking report spam, you'll see a little dialog like this:

Clicking "Unsubscribe" will automatically send a request back to the sender so they'll stop emailing you.

This only works for some senders right now. We're actively encouraging senders to support auto-unsubscribe — we think 100% should. We won't provide the unsubscribe option on messages from spammers: we can't trust that they'll actually unsubscribe you, and they might even send you more spam. So you'll only see the unsubscribe option for senders that we're pretty sure are not spammers and will actually honor your unsubscribe request. We're being pretty conservative about which senders to trust in the beginning; over time, we hope to offer the ability to unsu! bscribe from more email.

For those of you senders who are interested in this feature, the most basic requirements are including a standard "List-Unsubscribe" header in your email with a "mailto" URL and, of course, honoring requests from users wishing to unsubscribe. You'll also need to follow good sending practices, which in a nutshell means not sending unwanted email (see our bulk sending guidelines for more information).

With an easy way to unsubscribe, everybody wins. Your spam folder is smaller, and senders don't waste time sending you email that you no longer want.

Update (1:50pm): If you want to unsubscribe without reporting the message as spam, click "show details" in the top-right corner of the message, then click "Unsubscribe from this sender."

Send mail from another address without "on behalf of"

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OfficialGmailBlog/~3/0mMVVGKIVc0/send-mail-from-another-address-without.html

Posted by Emmanuel Pellereau, Software Engineer

Quite a few of you use Gmail's custom "From:" to send messages with one of your other email addresses listed in place of your Gmail address. Since these messages are sent by Gmail's servers but "from" a non-Gmail address, we have to include your original Gmail username in the "Sender" field of the message header to comply with mail delivery protocols and help prevent your mail from being marked as spam. Most email programs just display the "From" address and not the "Sender" field, but some (including versions of Microsoft Outlook) show these messages as coming "From username@gmail.com On Behalf Of customaddress@mydomain.com" which really annoyed people.

We heard your request for another option that wouldn't show the "on behalf of" text loud and clear, and now there's a new option that does just that. Instead of using Gmail's servers to send the message, we'll use the servers where your other email address lives. Since Gmail isn't the originating domain, we don't have to include "Sender" info in the header. No more "on behalf of."

Here's the difference. All custom "From:" addresses used to work like this:

Now, if your other email provider supports POP and/or IMAP access, you can choose to send your message like this instead:

To switch to this new method, go to the Accounts page under Settings, and click "edit info" from the "Send mail as" section. Then choose the option to "Use your other email provider's SMTP servers."

We recognize that your other address might not have a server that you can use to send outbound messages — for example, if you use a forwarding alias rather than an actual mailbox, or if your other email provider doesn't support authenticated SMTP, or restricts access to specific IP ranges. For this reason, we've kept the original method as well. Check out our Help Center for further details on these two "send mail as" configuration options.

If you use Google Apps Premier or Education edition and would like to send mail as another address within your domain or within an aliased domain, no sweat. We do all the work behind the scenes so your original username won't be listed in the "Sender" header, and your recipients won't see "on behalf of."

Recordr Creates Quick Webcam Videos for Sharing [Webcam]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/8R0wu7nZAOA/recordr-creates-quick-webcam-videos-for-sharing

Need to capture something on your webcam real quick? Free webapp Recordr offers both bookmarklets to snappily enable your webcam and microphone, as well as an upload service to embed or link your social videos, no registration required.

The quality's nothing to write home about, and the site itself has a few rough translations (and even mismatched language on one or two control buttons). But it's literally a three-click recording process, from the bookmarklet to allowing Recordr's app access to stopping the video whenever you're done. If you don't sign in and assign any tags or naming to the videos (or audio-only recordings), they can remain fairly anonymous and easy to pass around (not that we're trying to give you any unscrupulous ideas here). The site seems to want to have you record your video in reference to a web site you're perusing, but we find the super-fast video recording the main attraction.

Want to quickly set up two-way video chat? Try the previously mentioned TinyChat's instant rooms for that. Recordr is a free service, no sign-up required.

Recordr [via MakeUseOf.com]

Caffeine or Traditional Google? [Snap Judgment]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/V_fpl9sx2Ok/caffeine-or-traditional-google

Google rolled out an experimental new search architecture called Caffeine earlier this week, and while the differences in results between Caffeine and traditional Google are subtle, they're there. Get a side-by-side view of results from both Google engines at Google Caffeine Compare.

(Click the images for a closer look.)

After a few searches between Caffeine and Google Classic, the Caffeine results have—for the most part, at least—seemed slightly better. By better, I'm talking more relevant to what we were looking for when searching—though, in fact, on many searches the two were nearly indistinguishable in the first few results returned. So head over to Google Caffeine Compare, try out a few searches, and then let us know what you think:

Which Google Gave You Better Results?(poll)

Let's hear more specifics on how the results compare for you in the comments.

Google Caffeine Compare

Judge Orders Permanent Stop of Microsoft Word Sales Within 60 Days [Microsoft]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/aupKfkV0tv0/judge-orders-permanent-stop-of-microsoft-word-sales-within-60-days

This will probably be settled or appealed until it reaches the Supreme Court, but Judge Leonard Davis—of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas—has ordered a permanent injunction against Microsoft Word. According to plaintiff's attorneys:

The injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML

This comes after a federal jury declared that Microsoft Word 2003 and Word 2007 custom XML tagging infringed on the plaintiff's—Toronto-based developer i4i—patents, ordering Microsoft to pay $200 million in damages.

This injunction—to be executed within 60 days—orders the payment of another $40 million for "willful infringment," and prohibits any sales, testing, and demonstration of any Word version containing the custom XML tagging feature.

I guess this means Office itself too, since it contains Word. [Cnet]

Netflix Will Continue To Farm Its Research Out To Cash-Strapped Nerds [NetFlix]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/sXQghTdxX64/netflix-will-continue-to-farm-its-research-out-to-cash+strapped-nerds

Netflix's last foray into research bribery, a million dollar prize for anyone who could improve the company's recommendation algorithm by 10%, was a success, both as a programming project and a spectator sport. Naturally, they're doing it again.

Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer at Netflix, dropped this on the Netflix forum:

The advances spurred by the Netflix Prize have so impressed us that we're planning Netflix Prize 2, a new big money contest with some new twists.

Here's one: three years was a long time to compete in Prize 1, so the next contest will be a shorter time limited race, with grand prizes for the best results at 6 and 18 months. While the first contest has been remarkable, we think Netflix Prize 2 will be more challenging, more fun, and even more useful to the field.

He doesn't give any meaningful clues as to what the second challenge will be about, but CNET, having either talked to Hunt or simply just made a bunch of stuff up, seems to think it could be all manner of objectives, from "creating an algorithm to suggest other users to befriend" to "helping the company better determine which movies to purchase to meet demand." But hey, why not just do this for everythi! ng? It'd be like having an endless army of unusually eager, underpaid employees, except without all those pesky "labor laws" and "benefits."

Details of the second contest should come on September 1st, when the company will also announce who's getting the cash from the first contest, after that more-fun-than-it-had-any-right-to-be nailbiter of a finish. [AP via CNET]

Android 2.0 Debuting Multitouch with Motorola? [Rumor]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9TBMx2tnEXM/android-20-debuting-multitouch-with-motorola

According to CNET, Android multitouch is on the way and should arrive by the end of the year. You know, if you haven't hacked it.

Backing up for a second, It's easy to think that Android supports multitouch, since Android phones like the HTC Hero use special builds of the software that include the feature. But your average Android phone is stuck in the single-touch world, which is just sinful when compared to the multitouch iPhone or Pre.

CNET believes that upcoming Android variant "Eclair" will feature multitouch, and they believe Eclair will first make its arrival on a Motorola phone this holiday season.

Until then, just try to forget that Android lacks multitouch. [CNET]

Dell Inspiron Zino HD: Eat It, Mac Mini [Dell]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/VrgtpIVsx2Q/dell-inspiron-zino-hd-eat-it-mac-mini

Can't tell you the specs or price on this thing, but I can show you the back of the Inspiron Zino HD, which should tell you almost everything you want to know about it.

Now, I doubt it'd have an HDMI port and be called the Zino HD if it didn't output HD video. It's a little bit taller than the Mac Mini, but not by much. Not too shabby at all.

Pentax W80 Camera Review: Waterproof and Now Slightly Ruggedized [Lightning Review]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OpZdGydHtPk/pentax-w80-camera-review-waterproof-and-now-slightly-ruggedized

The Pentax W80 is their latest in a long line of waterproof cams that take decent shots, but have always been my favorite because of their compact size. This one is a bit bigger, but gains ruggedization and depth.

The Price: $300

The Photos and Video: In sample shots on our kiteboarding trip and at the local beach, the W80 was not the best but sill surprisingly good. Compared to periscoped lens setups, the traditional internal 5x zoom lens made the 12mp shots look sharper than most other waterproof cameras. The 28mm equivalent lens was sharp edge to edge. Color was good, too.

But I noticed the lens was a little too slow to capture sharp motion underwater where light is rarer than on the surface. (The first sample shot I took in dim light triggered the flash where other models didn't need one.) Colors and exposure was fine, but the grunge resisting lens and lcd were only marginally helpful in combating substances like suntan lotion, grime and surfboard wax. Video is captured at up to 720p, but it didn't look so great. Face detection locked on pretty quickly, and there are several shake reduction capabilities, including digital and movie modes.

The Design: The casing is still one of the smallest and is by far the most pocketable ruggedized model around, but its only good for drops up to 3.3 feet. Models by Lumix and Olympus are far more rugged, although more Hummer-esque, too. Pentax's various scene modes are amongst the most useful around, and there's an simple button to switch between them, but that button and menu is also the only way to easily switch between video and still mode. Quite a chore.

The camera could use a design re! fresh, i n all honesty, and more metal. But it's also good for winter sports, rated to function down to 14 degrees. I liked Pentax's optional floating wrist strap, too.

The Waterproofness: Good down to 16 feet, up from 13 feet in the last generation. Good enough for light to medium beach duty.

The Recommendation: My favorite rugged-ish waterproof camera when size is a consideration.

Compact considering its quasi-rugged chassis.

Decent shot quality.

There are tougher cams out there that take better photos, but only slightly so in all regards.

Could use a redesign, since the W60, W40 and W20 had similar cases.

Walmart's $350 17-Inch Toshiba Satellite Notebook Actually Isn't a Total Piece of Crap [Notebooks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4HWhOkK1lMw/walmarts-350-17+inch-toshiba-satellite-notebook-actually-isnt-a-total-piece-of-crap

A 17-inch notebook with a $350 MSRP? That's Walmart's Toshiba Satellite L355, which comes with 3GB RAM and a 250GB hard drive. Surprisingly, it's not garbage according to Laptop Mag, offering better specs than notebooks that cost $250 more. [Laptop]

Holy Eff, That's a Lot of iPhone Profit [Image Cache]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/S8969fsKEFc/holy-eff-thats-a-lot-of-iphone-profit

Compiling data from corporate reports and Bernstein estimates, iSmasphones this eye-popping chart showing how much profit the iPhone generates compared to the rest of the industry. A previous estimate was a little more conservative (though still crazy). [iSmashphone]

Lenovo caves, lets you order 14-inch IdeaPad U450p laptop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/12/lenovo-caves-lets-you-order-14-inch-ideapad-u450p-laptop/

Apparently the note sent in by the collective internet had its desired effect, as the machine we knew was sitting somewhere in a Lenovo R&D lab two weeks ago is now available to order. The IdeaPad U450p packs a 14-inch "anti-glare" display (1,366 x 768 resolution), your choice of Intel's 1.3GHz SU2700 or 1.4GHz SU3500 CPU, Windows Vista Home Premium, GMA X4500 integrated graphics, 3GB or 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB or 320GB 5400RPM hard drive, six-cell Li-ion battery, WiFi and a bundled DVD writer with Ultrabase. Current shipping estimates show that machines ordered today won't arrive until mid-September, but those with ample amounts of patience (and at least $799 in marked US bills) can get in line right now.

[Thanks, M. Hellenthal]

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo caves, lets you order 14-inch IdeaPad U450p laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OCZ's Indilinx-based Solid 2 SSDs bring MLC NAND to the masses

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/12/oczs-indilinx-based-solid-2-ssds-bring-mlc-nand-to-the-masses/

Indilinx controllers are widely viewed as some of the best in the industry, and while most SSD manufacturers don't have any issues charging a few arms and a leg for the privilege of ownership, OCZ Technology is hoping to bring the charm and pizazz of said controller to the general populace. The firm's newest SSD range, the Solid 2 crew, is comprised of just two models to start: the 60 (64GB) and the 120 (128GB). Designed to fit into 2.5-inch laptop spaces, these "mainstream" SSDs offer up 125MBps read rates and 100MBps write rates, not to mention 64MB of onboard cache and "unique performance optimizations to keep the drives at peak performance." We're guessing that it's referring to that oh-so-endearing garbage cleanup system we heard about earlier in the week, but don't say you heard from us. Oh, and if you're curious about whether or not these are actually priced for Joe Six Pack, it looks like you'll have to ping your favorite flash dealer to find out.

Filed under: Storage

OCZ's Indilinx-based Solid 2 SSDs bring MLC NAND to the masses originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's Blue Earth solar touchscreen phone gets dubbed S7550, handled in Moscow

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/12/samsungs-blue-earth-solar-touchscreen-phone-gets-dubbed-s7550/

Samsung's Blue Earth solar touchscreen phone gets dubbed S7550, handled in Moscow

Samsung has been teasing us with its Blue Earth solar-powered smartphone since February, and now it's showing us a bit more of that sultry photovoltaic skin a mere day after its budget-minded solar brother, the E1107, came out into the light. This cerulean one has finally been given an official name, the S7750, but we're still missing many bits if crucial information, including how effective that solar panel will be in the real world, when it will be available in that real world, how much real money it will cost, and how many eco-chic celebs will be spotted talking on these while drunkenly driving their Priora (it's Latin, dig) into crowds of spectators -- all bits of info we can't wait to learn.

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung's Blue Earth solar touchscreen phone gets dubbed S7550, handled in Moscow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitec DisplayLink-certified USB-to-DVI dongle handles QWXGA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/12/logitec-displaylink-certified-usb-to-dvi-dongle-handles-qwxga/

DisplayLink may not have the rampant following you probably thought it would when it was originally introduced, but we'd credit much of the indifference to the inability of most adapters to hit the magical 1080p mark. Up until now, most USB-to-DVI dongles couldn't support resolutions higher than UXGA (1,600 x 1,200), but at long last Logitec has stepped in to provide an alternative that blows right on by 1,920 x 1,080 and stops at QWXGA (2,048 x 1,152). If this here product looks like just the thing you and your spare monitor have been waiting for, feel free to hit the read link and place your pre-order for ¥12,980 ($136). But hey, don't blame us if your graphics card gets envious.

[Via Akihabara News]

Filed under: Displays, Peripherals

Logitec DisplayLink-certified USB-to-DVI dongle handles QWXGA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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