e-mail

Addressing mailbox access errors in OS X Mail

Apple's Mail program in OS X for the most part offers a quick and basic approach to e-mail, but occasionally you may run into problems such as not being able to access messages, whether you get error messages or simply can't locate them.

Similarly to OS X's Spotlight search feature, Mail uses an index to show the available e-mail messages that have been downloaded to the program, listing information such as subject, sender, and whether messages have been read and linking this information with the respective message file.

Errors involving the index can result in a number … Read more

Quick tip: Launch a pop-up compose window in Gmail

Google first introduced the new Gmail compose window last October. Users were encouraged to try out the new "compose experience," with the option to revert to the old compose method. Just a couple of weeks ago, Google announced that the new compose would now be the default and that it'd be rolled out to all users.

If the new compose window feels a bit cramped to you, we've got a tip that'll let you stretch it out a little while composing your e-mails. Instead of being stuck to the inside of your browser, you can … Read more

Address missing plug-in notices in OS X Mail

The default e-mail client in OS X is Apple's Mail program, which supports a feature that permits you to view many common attachment file types in-place instead of having to download and open them in another program. For example, if someone sends you a picture you should be able to view it directly in Mail. However, for some people this may not be the case and instead of showing an attachment, Mail will display a gray box that reads "Missing Plug-In."

If this happens to you, the first thing to do is troubleshoot the Internet plug-ins on … Read more

How to edit an e-mail signature on BlackBerry 10

One of the first things I do after setting up a new device is to change the default e-mail signature. The default signature on new devices is usually a free advertisement for your carrier, device manufacturer, or both.

The default signature on a BlackBerry 10 device is "Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone."

See what I mean? Free advertising.

Shortly after setting up my Z10 I sought out to change the e-mail signature. I looked in the Accounts section of the Settings app to no avail. I dug through other sections in the Settings app, even went into … Read more

Kwaga's AddMe aims to inject useful life into e-mail signatures

Expanding its technology for linking e-mail signature information and address books, startup Kwaga announced a new service that lets people turn those signatures into active information.

The Parisian company already offers a service called WriteThat.name that scours e-mails for contact information then copies it into Gmail, Notes, or Outlook address books. That's handy for people receiving e-mail, but now Kwaga added a new service called AddMe that's for people sending e-mail.

To use AddMe, people include a hyperlinked text that says "[+] Add me to your address book" in their signature blocks. When a recipient clicks … Read more

Police said to use Facebook to stop punk rock house parties

Police going undercover on social media to catch gangsters and murderers is one thing, but posing as punk rockers to catch bands playing illegal house parties?

That's just what Boston police are allegedly doing, according to Slate.

After a nuisance control ordinance (PDF) passed last year, the city has been working to squelch local punk and indie rock parties featuring loud bands. And to find out where these raucous festivities are taking place -- in order to break them up before they get started -- the police are supposedly sleuthing out party addresses via e-mail and social media.

Acting … Read more

Mailbox e-mail app signs up 1 million users

Dropbox's Mailbox app for iOS has just picked up its 1 millionth user.

The free app hit the iTunes store on February 7, where iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users can download it. But access to the actual service has been doled out on a first-come, first-served basis via a reservation system.

As of yesterday, 1 million of those reservations have been filled, according to a blog from the Mailbox team. But there are still a fair number of people in line.

Filling out a reservation today, I learned that around 445,500 users are ahead of me. The … Read more

Tackle IMAP e-mail not being stored on server

Apple's Mail e-mail client supports a number of different messaging protocols including POP and IMAP, but if you convert an existing account from POP to IMAP then you may run into a problem in which e-mails are longer saved on the server.

MacFixIt reader Bruce recently wrote in with such a situation:

I have recently tried to convert my wife's AOL email from POP to IMAP. I did this by adding a new account in Mail. When she sends messages with the new account, the sent messages do not show up on the server, even though I have … Read more

Microsoft pins Hotmail, Outlook outage on hot data center

Outlook and Hotmail users can blame the recent outage on an overheated data center, Microsoft says.

On Tuesday at around 1:30 p.m. PT, the two online e-mail services suffered a service disruption, rendering them inaccessible to many users. Microsoft started to bring them back online the rest of the day and on into Wednesday. But access wasn't fully restored until 5:43 a.m. yesterday, according to the company.

Microsoft's status page confirmed that the problem was repaired but offered no details as to the cause. Now the company has revealed the source of the glitch … Read more

A great way to read e-mail on your iPad

Incredimail is an elegant way to manage your e-mail on the iPad. You start by signing in to your e-mail accounts and Incredimail gives you a brief tutorial to show you the major features of the app. The app has full IMAP support so you can add your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or any other IMAP accounts. A menu button in the upper left lets you quickly switch accounts, and you can also filter by categories within an inbox to look at starred messages, drafts, sent messages, and other mail you have assigned filters.

The beauty of Incredimail is all about … Read more