Entries Tagged 'Internet' ↓

Davak IMed me this morning that some gmail accounts had the luxurious IMAP protocol enabled. I’ve had a hate/hate relationship with POP for… ever. Before replying to him, I clicked the settings link at top and saw “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” instead of the normal “Forwarding and POP” tab up top. This will be particularly great for iPhone access where messages sent through gmail appear as new emails not long after.  Don’t fret if you account is not currently enabled.  No one else I know has theirs enabled yet.  IMAP can be a server-intensive protocol in some ways, so it is prudent of Google to roll it out slowly.

My mom showed me a great website today that has helped her keep appraised of the treatment of two people very dear to her. CaringBridge.org provides a free, easy-to-use service that allows users to maintain a journal, similar to a blog, and to receive messages of support from family and friends.
From the website:

A CaringBridge website helps keep loved ones informed during difficult times. In return, family and friends give patient and caregiver support through guestbook messages.

Every free, personalized CaringBridge website includes:

• Patient care journal to update family and friends
• Guestbook for messages of love
• Photo gallery
• Free online support for using the service

A dear friend of my mother has twin grandsons, one of whom is being treated for leukemia. The site has helped them in many ways. It provides a fun place for them to share photographs and daily stories with family and prevents his parents from making or taking dozens of calls a day spreading the same news, sometimes difficult to say even once. Family and friends can signup for automatic email delivery of updates which makes following things much easier.  The ease of setup is perfect for families lacking someone high-tech enough to fearlessly procure a domain and create a stand-alone blog.

They claim on their site that 15 million users each year use CaringBridge which is an impressive crowd. They also point out that their service is appropriate for “life-changing events” other than illnesses and their treatment, for example military deployment. It’s a great example of a beneficial use of the internet to help keep people together.

In case I’m not the last to know about it, give http://gridgets.com a load on your iPhone or Touch iPod. It will load a few icons that resemble the home page of your device:

The content of this page is easily customizable by clicking the lower right edit icon and then the add icon that appears. Two lists are scrollable, a favorites and everything, and there is a capability to add your own custom “gridget” directly from your iPhone. There are quite a few iPhone apps there, several I’d not yet seen.

Off the iPhone, developers can submit their iPhone-worthy app to gridgets.com for inclusion in the list. I actually found this sweet application while on Cultured Code’s website looking (and drooling) over their impending Things application for OS X. I’m eager to try Things out and will likely blog about that when it drops. As my list of things to do grows, my ability to manage them diminishes, but I’ve yet to find a really awesome to-do manager. Things has a beautiful, simplistic look and I hope it also has an elegant operation, as well.

Garrett French has provided video of Silverstein’s talk at UNC last month. He and David attended, but I was, sadly, in another time zone. David’s posts one and two on the topic made me a little sad that I missed it. Garrett, I appreciate your efforts to provide this video (appropriately hosted on YouTube).