Web Worker Daily

Yesterday Google introduced a ‘remote signout’ feature for Gmail, providing a capability that sets an inportant precendent for web-based applications and indeed web workers.

Most web workers tend to hop between multiple devices to access our web applications; Gmail is a great case in point with multiple interfaces mechanisms spread across web, mobile, IMAP and POP3 formats, however it’s easy to lose track of where you’re signed in and compromise a little of your privacy and security if you’re not careful.

Remote Signout enables Gmail users to keep track of recent sessions by IP address and remotely logoff from any of those sessions if the time or location seems suspect.

Gmail inboxes, where the feature is being rolled out progressively, will include a new item in the footer labeled ‘This account is open in x other locations’ with a link to a more detailed view, as illustrated here to the left. Of course, you’ll need to know your own IP addresses to understand if any unauthorized usage is taking place, so it’s not the best user experience, though it works and is a welcome feature.

More significantly Remote Signout sets an important precedent for all web applications - namely that such a feature should be a design pattern employed in all web applications.

Oftentimes the only indication a user has of malicious use is when unusual things begin to happen within their services, in real life, or the arrival of unsolicited password reminder email in their inboxes! By wiring in the means to audit access usage of an application, one of the barriers to policing your personal security and privacy is lowered, enabling us all to be just a little more preemptively vigilant.

Learn more about Gmail’s remote signout feature at Google’s Gmail blog…

To the envy of developers everywhere, Google Software Engineers are granted what they call their “20% time.”  As a result, Google coders get 20% of their working time to work on projects that the developers select away from management approval.  Many well-known Google projects have resulted from 20% time, showing that the effort benefits the company as well.

Gmail, one of WWD’s favorite web based utilities, has been put into the spotlight as Google opened the door on Gmail Labs.  This section of Gmail’s website will house new “beta” add-ins and features in an effort to gather feedback from users.  To get to Gmail Labs, inside your Gmail settings pane, click on the Labs tab.  Note: GMail is still rolling Labs out to users.  If your Gmail doesn’t have it yet, check back a little later. It appears that this is only available to @gmail.com email addresses and not Google Apps addresses.

Anything web worker useful here? Let’s take a look.

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As earlier announced on our parent site, this week saw the beta release of ClearContext Personal, a free add-in for Microsoft Outlook that is designed to organize your email and make your inbox better.

A little while back I spent a week with Xobni and found it added some nice functionality to the Microsoft Outlook email client. I wondered how Clear Context would compete - or compliment, so I have been putting it through its paces for the last few days.

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With Microsoft’s announcement this week that Outlook and Outlook Express will no longer support desktop access to Hotmail accounts raises some interesting questions on data portability.

After 30th June, Microsoft’s Windows Live Mail application will be the only means by which desktop and offline access to Hotmail accounts will be supported. This effectively means that a Hotmail user’s messages continue to be imprisoned within a closed ecosphere of services and applications. OK, smart people won’t be using Outlook, Outlook Express or Hotmail, but millions do and many have years of messages archived that they may wish to continue accessing outside a web-based interface.

However, there are some unofficial mechanisms that can not only continue to provide offline and desktop access, but also standards-based access into most email clients

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A little over a year ago, I made a big mistake. I moved from Gmail to Yahoo Mail.

As a web worker, a large part of my day is spent in my inbox, so it wasn’t a decision I made willy-nilly. When the new version of Yahoo Mail was launched, I gave it a try and was won over by its resemblance to a desktop email client. Drag and drop actions, support for right-click context menus and a well-designed and attractive interface are all features that had me thinking the grass was greener on the Yahoo side.

I was also attracted by the promise of unlimited email storage and support for up to 20MB of attachments with the Yahoo Mail Plus subscription. And little things, like the prompt that appears after you email someone that isn’t in your addressbook that asks if you want to add them, and the ability to organize email into folders. So I made the jump to Yahoo Mail, and I’ve been ruing it ever since.

The biggest issue I have with Yahoo Mail is the poorly-implemented search feature. I’m one of those people that uses their inbox as the main repository of work-related information. Things like article commissions, meeting details and a never-ending stream of press releases are all stored in my email, and rather than tag them or put them into folders (the latter of which I do maybe once a month just to move everything out of my inbox), I rely heavily on the search function to find information that I’m looking for.

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Oh, Google Docs, how I’ve wanted to love you. Sometimes, I can be at the “cutting-edge” of technology and new Web apps, but at other times, I’m practically a Luddite.

I’ve been a fan of Gmail for so long but have avoided the Docs feature for almost as long because I just wasn’t getting it. Why did I need to upload my documents, I wondered, when I could easily email them to my clients or team members. What was the big deal?

Beause I’m not one to “read the manual,” when I finally started using Google Docs in the middle of last year, I didn’t take advantage or even know what it could do. Even today, as I find myself using it daily, I’m still finding features I never knew existed so it is like falling in love all over again with each discovery. Here’s is the evolution of my slowly evolving love of GD.

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In an effort to educate non-profits about available services, Google has launched a special site for these organizations.  According to Google’s Blog they’re calling the new site, “a one-stop shop for tools to help advance your organization’s mission in a smart, cost-efficient way.”

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What better way to start your week than by getting a few good tips on how to save some time as your workweek becomes reality?
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