GMail goodies

Posted: October 24, 2008 in Technology

I don’t know what they feed them in the Google Labs but they come up with some bizarre – but oddly useful – stuff. Take these couple of goodies they’ve just added to GMail …

If you’ve ever got home from the bar a little worse for wear and figured this was just the right time to send that scathing e-mail to your boss or ex-wife and copy it in error to your entire address book, then Mail Goggles could save you some embarrassment. By default it is active on Friday and Saturday nights (although you can change that once its enabled if you’re a Thursday night drunk) and makes you solve a series of maths problems in a time limit before you can send the message. Fail and it will save the message for review the following morning when hopefully your head is a little clearer!

Canned Responses saves you typing out replies to common questions or messages, like – “got your message, thanks”,  “thanks for the files” or “piss off and stop bothering me you moron” for that prat from the office. Compose your reply once and save the  text using the “Canned responses” button. You can open and send the message any time. Even better, you can set a GMail filter to create an automated reply using one of your canned responses, and  Send it for you. You can even set up automated message for different keywords too.

Brilliant. Whatever will they think of next, as my mother always says?

QPR ditch Dowie

Posted: October 24, 2008 in football

QPR part company with boss Dowie

Thank God for that … what took them so long?! Quite why they appointed the serial failure in the first place is beyond me – lovely bloke and all that but he clearly wasn’t the man for the job.  We could have done without this disruption but after just one win in six games, it’s probably better to do it now than waiting until after Christmas. My concern is that the club’s ambitious new owners may be too impatient for the team’s good. As former player Paul Parker said on Setanta, reaching the Premiership promised land takes time and planning. Let’s hope our next manager gets that.

Top Gear on iTunes

Posted: October 21, 2008 in Uncategorized

The Stig is on iTunes

At last, one of my favourite shows is on iTunes. The 10th series of BBC’s brilliant motor show Top Gear is now available at $1.99 an episode – much better than having to sit through three-year-old re-runs on BBC America. If you haven’t been subject to the wit and wisdom of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, The Hamster and The Stig, you’re in for a treat. You don’t have to be a petrolhead to enjoy it – even my wife watches this and she wouldn’t know a crankshaft from an alternator. There again, neither would I ….