What does a BEAR sound like?

Bearish!



And when the Wall Street Journal wraps up the day with the following headline, it's best to pay a little more attention:

February 27, 2007 -- 5:10 p.m. EST
From Bad to Worse
By TIM ANNETT

The world's stock markets took a dive today, beginning with a sharp plunge in China's stock market that pulsed through global trading floors and culminated with one of the worst days for U.S. markets in recent memory.

How Google Apps killed my Tuesday

I spent the last few hours trying to sort out my email accounts spread across a few domains. The objective was to centralise everything on Google Apps (now open to everyone), and then try and manage my assorted email accounts from a single Gmail / Google Apps account.



I'll spare you my headache, as I didn't achieve what I set out to do. So here's a list of things I wish Gmail and Google Apps could have told me much earlier:

1. You can't POP email from another Gmail / Google Apps account (SNAG!)
2. You can't use the slick Gmail for Mobile J2ME Java-app with Google Apps (SNAG!)
3. The only real mobile app that works with Google Apps is targeted at the BlackBerry (for now) (SNAG!)
4. Mirroring is possible by using Gmail / Google Apps' forward as a copy (JOY!)
5. The "on behalf of" bug is solved with Google Apps -- but you still won't solve it if you're managing multiple "From:" addresses within a single account (SNAG!)
6. The custom URLs for each Google Apps module (e.g. http://start.praveenrajan.com) works as a redirect to a Google domain rather than an actual alias (SNAG!)
7. It is possible to ask for more free accounts for your Google Apps domain. I now manage 2 domains, with 50 and 100 user accounts respectively (JOY!)
8. When importing / exporting contacts between two Gmail / Google Apps accounts, it forgets to take the Groups with it -- I had to create all my contact Groups from scratch (SNAG!)
9. Managing 300+ contacts on Gmail is a PITA! Why can't I duplicate an email address across contacts?(SNAG!)
10. If you've got over 1,000 messages, there's a simple way for you to apply an action on all items -- upon selecting all conversations on the page, the app reveals an option to Select ALL conversations in the Inbox / with a particular label (JOY!)

Final score -- 7 snags, and 3 joys!

I didn't achieve my objective of centralising and mirroring all my emails. However, I still maintain that switching to Gmail / Google Apps is a great way to boost your productivity. I've been managing my assorted collection of personal and work-related emails on Gmail since 2005 and there's no turning back to my days with Outlook and gigantic PST files.

By the way, Google Apps is a great suite of software for small/medium businesses, and I'd recommend checking it out despite the little snags published here.

Related links:

• Google Apps: Official website
• Digg: Gmail Sends Out Email "On Behalf of", Not "as" a Personal Email Address
• Gmail Help Discussion: Accounts "On Behalf Of"
• Gmail Help: Gmail options for your mobile
• Gmail Help: Does the Gmail for mobile application support Google Apps mail accounts?
• Chris Pirillo: Outlook 2003 Sucks Ass. Bigtime.

Why I wouldn't take seat 38K on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400

SeatGuru provides good information on the best seats for most of the major airlines. Check out the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400 -- it explains why seat 38K is not a good seat. Here's a screenshot of the Malaysia Airlines seating capacity:



Here's an excerpt of SeatGuru's features:

• Detailed seat map graphics
• In-depth seat specific comments denoting seats with limited recline, reduced legroom, mis-aligned windows
• Color-coding to help identify superior and substandard seats
• In-seat power port locations
• Galley, lavatory, Exit Row and closet locations

Related links:

• SeatGuru: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400
• SeatGuru: Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

May the year of the Fire Boar usher in happiness and prosperity for everyone.

I just spent some time clearing up my digital photos, and came across these random shots taken in Penang back in 2004. "Journeys to the Underworld" sounds like an exciting piece of literature!





Related links:

• Wikipedia: About the Chinese New Year
• Wikipedia: About the Hanyu Pinyin

Free phone calls with Gizmo Call

Make free phone calls using your web browser with Gizmo Call.



It works really well. I tried this earlier, and the clarity of the call is really good. Tested this by making a call to a Malaysian mobile number. I presume calls to the US would be much better.

Another nice feature is that you can make unlimited calls to any SIP device. Excerpt from their recent newsletter:

Use Gizmo Call to make unlimited free calls to anyone using Gizmo Project, Windows Live Messenger, GoogleTalk, or any SIP device, including Nokia's N800 tablet and N80 wi-fi mobile phones. For example, gizmocall.com/@gmail.com or gizmocall.com/@hotmail.com.

Best part -- you get 10 minutes of free credit per day, if you signup. And if you don't want to signup, they will still give you 5 minutes worth of free credit. Now, that's a great deal. The signup process is under 20 seconds, so get on it while it's free!

Do note that you have to download a plugin (1MB) prior to making your first call. Technically this means you would have to do so on any computer you intend to make calls from. Hence, it's not a complete browser-based solution, but still worth using for its simplicity and focus -- cheap good quality calls.

Making a call requires nothing but entering a web address following the format: http://gizmocall.com/. Try their demo number: http://gizmocall.com/18005551212. If you know my mobile number, you can try that too.

Their Call Out rates are cheap. US$0.02 (2 cents) for calls to US & Singapore phones. Slightly higher for calls to Malaysian mobile phones (5.7 cents). Surprisingly very high for UK mobile phones (21 cents).









Related links:

• Gizmo Call: official website
• Gizmo Call: Call Out rates

Writer's block

If you're one of the lucky few to be reading this blog, I truly apologise for the lack of updates over the past week. I haven't blogged, and Twittered either. Funny how the lack of a February 2007 archive is getting on my nerves.

Updates:

• Tsu Lin blogged about rollerblading and skateboarding chicks over lunch
• Found out that CG is getting hitched sometime this year (congrats!)
• Watched Stranger than Fiction -- Little did I know, I would love it!