Email on Omid Farhang

Google Overhauls Gmail to Take On E-Mail Overload

Thu, 30 May 2013 15:04:25 +0000

NYTimes posted: On Wednesday, Google introduced a new in-box design for its e-mail service, Gmail.

In a blog post announcing the new design, the company said it wanted to help people quickly sort through their messages to determine which ones were important and which ones could wait until later.

The revamped Gmail automatically sorts incoming messages into categories, which appear as three tabs — primary, social and promotions — that users can toggle between in their in-box. The primary tab contains the e-mails that the service thinks are most important. Social contains message updates from various social networks, like LinkedIn, Tumblr and Yelp. Promotions contains newsletters, party invites and concert announcements. Users can also select to add additional tabs to help manage electronic bills, banking statements and messages from forum boards.

Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey updates fix critical vulnerabilities

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:56:00 +0000

The H-Online: In the latest round of updates of its suite of internet applications, Mozilla has detailed the security fixes in the Firefox 11 browser, Thunderbird 11 email and news client and SeaMonkey 2.8 “all-in-one internet application suite”. There are also fixes for the “enterprise” and legacy versions of Firefox and Thunderbird. These fixes include a correction to a memory error in Array.join() which had been fixed last month, but was exploited during the Pwn2Own contest by Vincenzo Iozzo.

Mozilla closes critical security hole in Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:13:00 +0000

The H-Online: Mozilla has released Firefox 10.0.1, Firefox ESR 10.0.1, Thunderbird 10.0.1, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.1 and SeaMonkey 2.7.1 to fix a single critical security hole in the browsers and mail clients which appeared in version 10. The security advisory says that versions previous to Firefox 10, Thunderbird 10 and SeaMonkey 2.7 are unaffected by the use after free problem.

The problem was discovered by Mozilla developers and causes a “potentially exploitable” crash in nsXBLDocumentInfo::ReadPrototypeBindings. Updates are available through Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey’s automatic update system and can be made to install by bringing up the “About” dialogue for the relevant application and selecting the “Apply Upgrade” button when it appears. Firefox and Thunderbird 10 were released at the end of January.

Mail.ru protects e-mail users with WOT reputation data

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:16:00 +0000

Web of Trust (WOT), the world’s leading website reputation rating service, and Mail.ru Group, Russia’s largest Internet company, have partnered together to improve online protection for 300 million people using Russia’s leading free e-mail service, Mail.ru. All links contained in emails received by Mail.ru users are checked through WOT’s reputation database to warn users from following untrustworthy links that could lead to scams, identity theft, malware and other online threats.

Gmailers: Skinnier and smartier than Yahoo! users?

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:58:00 +0000

A new study shows that Gmail users are more likely to be young, thin, career-minded men, while Yahoo! is more typically home to overweight, older women

Web curator Hunch.com asked its 700,000 users which email service they use, as well as a series of questions about their lifestyles. With 75 million answers to work with, the site was able to discover some striking differences between users of Gmail, and those who have stuck with older web clients like Yahoo!, Hotmail, and AOL. For instance, Gmail users are more likely to be young, Yahoo! users are often extroverted, and AOL users have typically been in a relationship for more than ten years. Here are four other takeaways from the study:

Google Launches Tool to Get Companies to Back Up Their E-mails With Gmail

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:56:00 +0000

Google has just launched Message Continuity, a cloud-based enterprise solution for backing up corporate e-mail whenever Microsoft Exchange goes down.

The new product, powered by Google’s 2007 acquisition of Postini, focuses on giving companies another access point to their e-mail accounts. It essentially creates a complete backup copy of Microsoft Exchange Servers and puts those e-mails into a Google Apps account, replicating that information within Gmail, Calendar and Contacts.

Security issue in Website Optimizer

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:49:00 +0000

Take a look in the Email I got from Google a few minutes ago:

Dear Website Optimizer user,

We are writing to inform you of a potential security issue with Website Optimizer. By exploiting a vulnerability in the Website Optimizer Control Script, an attacker might be able to execute malicious code on your site using a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attack. This attack can only take place if a website or browser has already been compromised by a separate attack. While the immediate probability of this attack is low, we urge you to take action to protect your site.

Chinese hackers ‘slurped 50 MB of US gov email'

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:37:00 +0000

The Register: Windows source code tapped, say WikiLeaked docs

The Chinese government may have used its access to Microsoft source code to develop attacks that exploited weaknesses in the Windows operating system, according to a US diplomatic memo recently published by WikiLeaks.

The June 29, 2009 diplomatic cable claims that a Chinese security firm with close ties to the People’s Republic of China, got access to the Windows source under a 2003 agreement designed to help companies improve the security of the Microsoft operating system. Topsec allegedly worked with a government organization known as CNITSEC, short for the China Information Technology Security Center, which actively worked with “private sector” hackers to develop exploits.

Something new from AOL: Project Phoenix

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 22:13:00 +0000

Take a look in the email I got from AOL:

Hi!

There are hundreds of millions of people of all ages using email across the globe today. And because communication is often very personal, we realize a one-size-fits-all solution isn’t always the right answer. So, while we’re proud of the AOL Mail that you know and love today, earlier this week we launched a new email product, code named: Project Phoenix.

Facebook takes on traditional e-mail with Social Inbox

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:19:00 +0000

Facebook has announced a new product that will compete directly with the e-mail services provided by Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and AOL. Facebook believes traditional e-mail is too slow and cumbersome; it needs be brought into the modern world of messaging. The site has thus launched Facebook Messages, which merges texts, online chats, and e-mails into one central hub. Users see all of them in their Social Inbox and can reply in any way they want. The social networking giant says this product is the biggest it has worked on to date.

Windows Live Essentials 2011 is available!

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:59:00 +0000

Windows Live Essentials 2011 is now out of beta.

Download links in bottom of page.

This package contain most essential programs needed for your digital life:

Windows Live Essentials 2011

Advanced made easy

Do more with Windows on your PC with free programs from Microsoft for photos, movies, instant messaging, email, social networking, and more. Get it all in one simple download.

To see if your system support this program, check System requirements

New Hotmail lets you add bigger attachments, organize your inbox, edit documents

Wed, 19 May 2010 14:45:00 +0000

I’m constantly reminded how slow email actually is.

On the homescreen of one of my smartphones, I’ve got the official Twitter widget and the official Facebook widget which are pretty much constantly refreshing. Likewise, my email inbox is set to refresh just as frequently. Every day, when someone sends me a message in Facebook or replies to a Tweet, the widgets tell me first, and then five minutes later I get the email alerting me again. Because of this, I have an email account just for social network updates that is overflowing with unread messages.

Gmail Gets Its Name Back in the UK

Tue, 04 May 2010 13:52:00 +0000

In the UK, Google was forced to give its email service Gmail a different name, Googlemail, because of a trademark dispute. These disputes take a long time (Gmail was changed into Googlemail in October 19, 2005), so Google opted on using a different (yet recognizable) name until the dispute is resolved.

Four and a half years later, UK users will finally get their @gmail.com addresses, as Googlemail is changing back into Gmail. Users will have the possibility of keeping their old @googlemail.com address or switching to a new one. From the announcement: “If you already have a Google email account in the UK, you’ll soon have the option to switch your existing @googlemail.com address to the matching @gmail.com one, but you’re also free to stick with @googlemail.com. And starting later this week, anybody who signs up for a new account in the UK will get an @gmail.com address.”

Don't tell spammers that you're on vacation

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:02:00 +0000

Microsoft has made the right decision to temporarily turn off Hotmail’s vacation (e.g., out-of-office) reply feature. Flip the switch off permanently, I say.

“In our fight against spam, we sometimes have to make hard choices, and we had to make one this week. We discovered that spammers were using Hotmail’s automatic vacation reply feature to send spam from their Hotmail accounts,” Krish Vitaldevara, Windows Live Hotmail lead program manager, blogged late yesterday. I missed the post because of Apple’s iPhone OS 4 launch. I spotted the announcement first at LiveSide about an hour ago.

How to handle suspicious e-mail

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:50:43 +0330

Guidelines for dealing with suspicious e-mail — updated from the 2009 guide that referenced Windows Live Hotmail and a retired FileHippo updater.

How to recognize phishing e-mails or links

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:50:43 +0330

Clues that help you spot fraudulent e-mail messages and deceptive links — the evergreen advice from the 2009 guide, still relevant today.

Mydoom, Email Worms, and Backups That Actually Help

Tue, 21 Sep 2004 19:15:00 +0000

The Mydoom era reminded everyone that email worms spread fast. Here is a practical recovery and prevention checklist for Windows users in 2004.