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iPhone4 + GmailContacs = Wrong Contact Photo. HALP!

Fuzzy Dog — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:33:16 -0800

I have an iPhone4, running iOS 5.1.1. From day one it has always pulled the Contacts from my gmail account via the "Exchange" option and has worked flawlessly...untill now... Now some contacts have a the contact photo of someone else and because of synching, the photos are ending up in my gmail contacts.

Long ago, before I has an iPhone, but had an iTouch, I enabled the connection for contacts to pull their photo from Facebook. But in the latest FB app there is no way to turn it off.

So how do I get the right contact to show the right photo...if not possible how do I remove all the contact photos?

Please do not suggest upgrading to iOS 6, as it is not an option.

Thanks for your help and ideas.

I'm reading other peoples' mail, and it creeps me out.

tizzie — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:41:23 -0800

I have two gmail accounts. The one that's in a nickname never gets any mis-delivered mail, but the one that's in my actual name (firstnamelastname@gmail.com) gets lots of mail that's clearly not mine. Some of it is fairly innocuous - like a distribution list for the ladies who put flowers on the altar at their church, and some quite a bit less so - like updates on a mental patient at a hospital in the UK. Just now, I got a paperless ticket for someone's flight on Southwest Airlines. Should I just delete this stuff, or is there something I can/ought to do?

Help me understand the new Google Hangouts service.

modernnomad — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:21:08 -0800

For a unified messaging service, I am a little confused. So I've downloaded the new iOS Google Hangouts app. Upon connecting to my google account, it shows a list of contacts, some of whom are in Google+ circles (though I never use Google+), but some of whom assuredly do not have any kind of google/gmail account whatsoever (ie my parents). What happens if I send a message through Google Hangouts to them? I sent a message through it to someone with a gmail account but who has not installed hangouts with the question "did you get this as a chat or as an email?". I've yet to receive a response suggesting to me they might only get it when they turn on gchat/gtalk through gmail. But there's no way of knowing this.

There is also no indication in the Hangouts app as to who is actually online or capable of receiving a message, yet when I turn on the hangouts plugin for chrome, it lists who is currently online just as Gchat/gtalk used to.

In sum, how am I supposed to use this app? Is there a setting within the app that will show me only people who have google accounts so I can actually be sure my message will get to them?

How do you block gmail through etc/hosts?

tomargue — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:46:43 -0800

Most "distracting" sites I can block by an entry in my etc/hosts file (Mac OSX 10.8.2). e.g.: 127.0.0.1 plus.google.com But this method doesn't seem to be able to block gmail. Here's the relevent lines in my etc/hosts file:

127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcastlocalhost
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost

127.0.0.1 https://gmail.com
127.0.0.1 gmail.com
127.0.0.1 www.gmail.com
127.0.0.1 https://mail.google.com
127.0.0.1 mail.google.com
127.0.0.1 https://accounts.google.com
127.0.0.1 accounts.google.com

But none of these seem to block gmail.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I could try a "site blocker" but most of these rely on setting a "blocking time" e.g. 30 minutes -- this is not practical for gmail as I want to be able to log into it when I need to confirm my email address if I sign up to a site. I would prefer to be able to block gmail with the knowledge that I could unblock it in about 30s -- I find this "overhead" gives the best of both worlds.

I could also take Ritalin, and/or practice my self-control. That's also another option :).

NB: moments before I was about click "post" I was able to solve this. I'll post the solution then close the question in the hope it helps someone else.

Is this a spambot, or is my memory bad?

codacorolla — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:00:59 -0800

Earlier today I got a message from an address and name I didn't recognize with no text and "Hiii@" as the subject. 'This is clearly spam' I thought, and marked it as such. About 15 minutes later I get a gchat invitation from the same person. I shrugged, and decided to answer it. The conversation seemed real enough, and there was no enticement to do anything like click on a link or buy some scammy product. I'm racking my brain and still can't place the name. Is this a spam bot, or a real person? The conversation:

her: whoa finally!

me: who's this?
10:32 AM
her: [first name]

b

[other last name, redacted]?
10:33 AM
me: sorry, that's not ringing any bells

erica: that is bizarre

ok

sorry at that

abt*

And then she blocked me, I presume.

Can I send email using my gmail on my iphone with a different address?

jModug — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:07:11 -0800

ex: iphone mail app using gmail account and sends email to be from my @outlook.com account This may be a bit confusing, but here is my current setup

I have 3 email addresses: school, outlook, a gmail for personal use.

I recently started using the Mailbox app on my iphone and I loved it so much that I set up all my email addresses to my personal gmail.

Here's my problem... For school I need to be able to respond to emails with my .edu address. This isn't a problem for when I'm on the laptop, because I was able to set up gmail to send email from my .edu address.

What I can't seem to be able to get done is sending email from my .edu address using gmail on my iphone.

I'm open to solutions that don't include the mailbox app, so please feel free to suggest anything that could make this work.

Gmail - use plus addressing or multiple accounts?

drill_here_fore_seismics — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:37:50 -0800

I want to use a gmail account to deal with emails from lots of sources in one place - so email backup, emails to do with my phone, and to do with various accounts etc. and was after some advice on whether to use multiple accounts or plus addressing to sort them I was thinking of using multiple accounts and feeding them into one, but then I wondered about using plus addressing so, for example, email+phone@gmail.com, email+backup@gmail.com email+psn@gmail.com etc.

Any gmail power users have any views on whether using plus addressing or actually set up different accounts for each source would be preferable? Any thought appreciated - I was thinking that plus addressing might be a cleaner option than 4/5 separate email accounts but pros and cons for each approach would be really useful.

Secure archive for Gmail

ecmendenhall — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:23:22 -0800

I'm an avid user of Gmail and other Google services, but I'm increasingly uncomfortable keeping my entire email history on someone else's servers. Can I keep a week's worth of messages on the server and encrypt everything else? What are some other Gmail privacy compromises? A good privacy compromise in Chrome has been limiting my history to one week—I've found that I rarely look for anything older. I find Google Now extremely useful, but I'd like to keep it on a need-to-know basis, too. I use archive, search, and priority inbox a lot, and I've basically abandoned tags and all other organizational tools.

If I could have all the ponies I wanted, I'd like a "secure archive" button that encrypts stored messages and decrypts them on login so I could still use search (something like disk encryption), or some way to PGP encrypt incoming messages. I do not expect Google to roll out this feature any time soon.

What are some possible compromises and technical solutions here? If I keep only a week's worth of messages on the server, is there a good tool for searching locally archived messages on my machine? (I'm an OS X user.) Can I even configure an IMAP client this way? Is this a waste of time that will give me a fake sense of privacy? I'm open to both easy off the shelf solutions and more technical ones involving some programming—a Gmail client with a secure archive is something I'd like enough to consider making it myself.

Who's compressing my JPEGs: Gmail, iPad, or WordPress?

Artifice_Eternity — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:29:42 -0800

The other day I discovered that some JPEGs I'd posted to my (self-hosted) WordPress blog had been compressed. The subject of my blog happens to be anaglyph 3D photos... and if the images are not saved at a very high resolution, a phenomenon called "ghosting" or "crosstalk" appears, where parts of the image that are only supposed to be visible to one eye are visible to the other eye as well. This can ruin the 3D effect. So it's important that my images are uploaded and posted with no added compression. The problem is that I don't know exactly where the problem occurred. Details below... These particular images got to my blog somewhat circuitously: after exporting them from Photoshop on my PC at a very high resolution, I attached them to a Gmail message... then I downloaded them to my iPad's photo gallery... and then I uploaded them to the blog via the iPad WordPress app. Upon viewing the posted images, I could see a very definite degradation of image quality.

What I'm trying to figure out is which step in the chain caused this. I've sent image files thru Gmail many times, and never noticed any compression, so I'm assuming/hoping that's not where it happened.

I know that Apple often has stuff going on under the hood of its hardware and software that isn't clearly explained to users (which is why I've been wary of the iPad, and have only started using this hand-me-down unit recently). So it's my prime suspect. I looked for settings that might control image compression, but couldn't find anything that mentioned it or would allow me to prevent it from happening.

Then there's WordPress. When I upload multiple photos using the WordPress Media Uploader on the PC, there is a message that appears that says "Crunching..." My research suggests that the original images are not being compressed during this process, but rather that multiple image sizes are being created. Ultimately I've decided to upload images from my PC by inserting them individually into posts; the Media Uploader seems to handle this without any visible quality loss. But what the iPad WordPress app may or may not be doing to my images is still a mystery to me.

I'd really like to know where the problem occurred. It would be nice to be able to upload stuff from the iPad to the blog -- if this unwanted compression can be eliminated. I'm also thinking about buying the iPad Camera Connection Kit... but I don't want to try moving photos from my cameras thru the iPad to email or cloud storage, if it's going to mess them up.

Can anyone shed any light?

Chrome, how does it work?

Think_Long — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:51:58 -0800

I'm a recent Chrome user, and so far I'm having a hell of a time with the privacy settings. I like the idea of using the synch feature so I can have my bookmarks and things shared across the three or four desktops I use. However, I can't seem to figure out how to make it so it doesn't sign in automatically when I open the browser - I would like to be prompted to put in a password every time. I feel really stupid, but I can't figure out how to make that happen. Failing that, every time I try to unsync the chrome and go back to the old way of things (just using it like a normal browser, having to log in to my gmail manually every time like I prefer) my bookmarks get deleted, but it still logs into gmail automatically! (I uncheck the "stay signed in" box every time).

I've also recently hooked feedly.com up with my google account, so I'm not sure if that site's logging in is overriding another one or what.

So basically, can you walk me through how I can set up chrome the way I want? Please talk to me like I'm an idiot . . . but not disdainfully so.

Will they just keep being stupid?

Nattie — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:41:58 -0800

Is it worth snail-mailing the idiots who share my name and use my e-mail address to sign up for things? Right now, there is a person in the UK and a person in Florida who both have the same name as me and use my Gmail address to sign up for stuff (myname@gmail.com). Since they were both stupid enough to do this, I have a lot of their personal info, including physical addresses, and I could have even spent their money by now if I were that kind of person.

Usually I ignore it, or else unsubscribe/lock the accounts and send e-mails to the websites telling them it's unprofessional to not send confirmation notices to the e-mail during sign-up -- or just now, asking why they bothered to send such an e-mail if it wasn't going to stop them from putting me on their mailing list anyway.

But lately this has gotten to be something I am dealing with daily, and it is taking up way too much time and clogging my inbox. I have no way to filter e-mails meant for them. I do not understand how these people can be this stupid, or if they're doing it on purpose (which is still stupid since I have their personal information), or what. I control one of their Amazon accounts now, which has a ton of her info, and have gotten confidential client information from her work as a realtor, to which I responded that it was the wrong e-mail address, that she does this constantly, and I would not trust her with any confidential information in the future. And yet she persists in signing up for stuff using my e-mail address. I have also gotten her insurance information. The one in the UK I could have gambled using her money on the gambling website she signed up for, and I recently got her address too.

So aside from this wasting my time, and its being extremely inconsiderate of them, they are just throwing their personal information around willy-nilly. Should I write them and ask them to stop and point out that I know all this stuff about them AND that the realtor has been exposing her clients' information to me? That last part seems like it's probably even illegal, and something she should have already had brought to her attention when I responded, and for some reason she didn't care.

Has anyone ever wrote to someone who shares their name and uses their e-mail address? I am concerned that if they're this stupid, it will just make them mad for who knows what reason. Or that they will think I'm threatening them, or that they'll blame me when their poorly protected personal information gets used by someone less scrupulous, or anything else.

How can I make this stop without snail-mailing them? I have no other means of contact, since I don't have a real e-mail address for them. Am I just doomed? I have had this e-mail address since Gmail was beta-invite only (I guess nearly 10 years now?) and I do not want to change it.

Securing a wordpress site accessed through a gmail email

Kerasia — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:55:53 -0800

So. If you had a wordpress self-hosted website accessed through your name and an ok password and a gmail account associated with the wordpress admin login, what would you do to secure everything from fuckery? Asking for a friend. Her popular website is getting a lot of login attacks. Most of them are from Russia and China (she's in NZ) and she blocks those IPs via a plugin. But some are from NZ itself and she has reason to think, due to her work and website, that disgruntled opponents are trying to crack her site.

What are the latest and best protocols for securing her site, email etc? The easier the better, she's not super IT skilled.

Can you get a virus just by opening an email?

Kevin Street — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:53:55 -0800

Using Gmail, I opened a strange message and now I'm worried it may have done something to my computer. Does this make sense? Gmail has a little paperclip symbol on the right side of the screen that tells you a message has an attachment. Usually there's an option of whether or not I want to open the attachment (with PDFs, .rars and images that are cached elsewhere on the web), but sometimes images just open automatically when I read the message. This happens with messages from a couple of people I know, and while I don't understand how they get through, it's not worrisome.

But yesterday I received an extremely suspicious email that was, apparently, nothing but an image, and now I'm worried that it may have done something to my computer. The email was sent at 2:49 AM from a university address in Eastern Michigan, and I had no idea what it was about before opening it. It looks like some kind of lottery scam of a type I've never seen before. The message is all text, but must be formatted as an image, because when I try to reply there's no text to quote. Anyway, the thing that worries me is that it opened automatically when I read the message, there's a paperclip but no other sign of attachments.

Is this how viruses spread now? My computer seems to be fine, and my antivirus program hasn't made any complaints, but I'm still worried because of the extreme weirdness of this Email.

A Gmail/Google/GTalk chat alternative

amar — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:10:13 -0800

It's an old cry now - to get out of Google's claws. Mail, calendar and everything. However, I always find one thing missing. Chat is never talked about. As a matter of fact this one is the difficult most. You need to have added all those chat contacts and they in turn have had to added you(approved) you back, unlike email where you just need to fine an email and the receiver gets it unless you were specifically blocked. So, let's discuss how to release our chatting app/service free from the claws of Google/Facebook/Skype &c and still be able to: 1. Be able to chat with Gmail contacts, Facebook(if possible) contacts and all others who(at least) are using the same protocols (AIM does it so I guess it can be done).

2. Have my transcripts saved the way it's done in GTalk - name, email, time stamp(each message sent in a chat)

3. (optional) Have video and audio call

4. This can be a service (paid/free) or self hosted

5. Supported by chat client(s)

6. Old stuff like chat transcripts and contacts can move with the account in case host etc are changed other than domain (I am not sure about this point and how it works, maybe someone with technical know how of XMPP or so will say it better)

7. Add if something is left out.

Background Gmail automation, what program(s) to use?

querty — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:51:49 -0800

I want to write a script to automatically check for new emails with a certain gmail label, then check the message body for a link containing a certain keyword or phrase and click on it. The logic part should be easy, but what program(s) should I be using for this? Requirements...

• Needs to run in the background
• Needs to follow clicked link to continue further action on the new page

CasperJS with PhantomJS looks promising and might just do the job. But Gmail could change their UI at any minute which may break my script.

Are there any other programs that may help?

Why is google being spooky and filling in other people's gmails?

artychoke — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:13:06 -0800

This has happened twice now, and it is freaky. Google chrome on the iMac I use in my office at work (at a university) will have usernames and passwords for people who have never been in my office ever. The first time it happened it was my father's email, and the second time it was my stepmother's. Why would chrome be filling in these odd emails when it doesn't even save my own login information after closing the browser window? The only mechanism I can posit is that I did plug my iPhone into my dad's iMac some time before this happened, but does that make any sense? Do iPhones indiscriminantly absorb gmail information and then effectively transmit it to other iMacs it comes into contact with? This seems to be a glaring security issue if it is the case.

I don't ever sync my phone when it asks, but occasionally iTunes will start syncing without me noticing, so that might be relevant.

Also, the two incidents happened many months apart, with no weirdness in between.

The login info persisted even when the browser was closed and re-opened, but I think restarting the computer cleared the info.

I did check to make sure the password was right, and sure enough the login info was correct, and I had access to my father and stepmother's emails.

Usually on this computer, when I open chrome and go to gmail it will either be blank or just have my username filled in, with no password.

I find this all weird, and no one has any explanation. Thank you for reading!

Should I start to worry about identity-theft/phishing?

Nightly — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 03:25:55 -0800

I recently started in a new job and got a used laptop for my desk. I have utilized this with my Chrome/ Google account. Then, after a few weeks, I got a warning in gmail, telling me that a foreign state might be trying to hack my account or computer. My question is, should I start to worry about being tageted by hackers? Or is the alert from google and the phishing attempts a coincidence? After a few days, the same message appeared when I logged into gmail from my home computer (both running Win 7 and synched on my google account). So I have now turned on two-step confirmation for my gmail-account.

I also have my own company with its own non-google email. Here I was shocked to see how many phishing emails I've been getting lately. Often two of the same kind with a small time interval of a few minutes.

I also use a Windows Phone 8 synched with my google account, but I have now utilized secondary passwords for apps.

My question is, should I start to worry about being tageted by hackers? Or is the alert from google and the phishing attempts a coincidence?

Gmail Reply to All

DarlingBri — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 03:48:29 -0800

Does anyone know of an extension for Chrome that will change the default behaviour of Gmail or will add a new button to Gmail in Chrome for Reply to All without having to use the Reply drop-down? I need to Reply to All almost always; reply to only the sender almost never. There used to be a Lab for this (see #7) but it no longer seems to be available.

Video chat interview

King Bee — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:37:04 -0800

I have a video chat interview tomorrow. Tips? I applied for a tenure-track faculty job, and now the institution wants to interview me. They told me it was going to be a phone interview, but then informed me today that they wanted to do a video chat skype type interview. The interview is tomorrow morning!

I'm just wondering about tips for such an interview. I know that when I do video chat, I find myself not looking at the camera a lot (since I'm looking at the people). Is this going to be weird or a faux pas? What should I wear? They probably won't be able to see me from the waist down, I figure.

I have a fairly bodacious professor beard. Should I calm it down tonight by trimming it before the interview? I know that faculty are a little more lax on how people look, but in the interview process, you don't want to look like a scrub.

Anything you want to offer me as advice so that I come across as awesome as I possibly can without being weird? Thanks!

Why is Gmail is routing some of my mail away from my inbox?

Amity — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:00:18 -0800

Some of my mail is not ending up in my Inbox, and instead is only found in "All Mail". This includes emails from my wife, which is slightly problematic! I don't have any filters directing mail to other locations. The problem is occurring within the Gmail web app, and subsequently on my other devices too (Mail in OS X, Gmail app on iOS). Searching for a solution to the problem only results in specific client issues, or problems with Filtering. Can you help troubleshoot?

How to get google drive access to invites sent to a linked email account

mercredi — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:46:07 -0800

I get google drive document invites sent to my work email, and I can't access them through my gmail account, even though I've successfully linked the two addresses in my primary google account. Any ideas? But I have been so accepting of our benevolent google overlords . . .

So I have a personal gmail account (firstname.lastname@gmail.com) to which I have also linked my work email address (flast@work.org). However, when google drive file invites get sent to my work address, I am told I don't have permission to access them.

This page makes me think it should work, but I'm stumped as to why it won't.

I can even sign in to my primary (firstname.lastname@gmail.com) email by entering (flast@work.org), so the link is clearly successful.

It's super frustrating, because if I do give people my gmail address for invites like this, then I start getting work email there when they don't check carefully. Any thoughts?

- I can't create a new google account with the work email without unlinking it, if I try, I get the error that the email address is already in use.

Help me create the perfect Contacts Manager

zooropa — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:01:26 -0800

After years of being an Android user, I finally bought my first iPhone. I'm having trouble and getting thoroughly confused with merging and syncing all my contacts. Please help me start over and create the Ultimate Contacts Manager solution that doesn't require me to become a sync wizard. Here are the details:

I use Gmail for personal mail and Google Contacts for personal contacts.

I use Exchange at work for email and the global address book for contacts.

I am a social media manager for a living, so as you'd imagine, I have a plethora of contacts in LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

In the Settings screen, I've added all my various contacts in the Mail, Contacts, and Calendar section. But I'm getting thoroughly confused trying to remember which is sync'd with which, so if I make a change in Google Contacts, I don't remember if it will also be changed in the Exchange/work address book. And with all the different info coming in from LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, I'm getting multiple versions of names or four home addresses for the same person.

Please help me start over and create the Ultimate Contacts Manager solution that doesn't require me to become a sync wizard. I'm willing to pay for an online software solution if it's $5-10/month.

Is it possible to sell a gmail address?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:34:34 -0800

I have several VERY desirable gmail addresses. Is there any way to sell/trade them for anything of value? I received a gmail invite at the very beginning of the "public" service. I picked several very desirable usernames and kept inviting myself to open new accounts. I ended up with about 15-20 new accounts with usernames that would be useful to many people. I haven't used any of these for the past 8 years or so. I log in occasionally to keep them active.

I have no need for these accounts and would like to sell them or trade them for something of value. I assume (?) selling is against the terms of service, but maybe trading would be okay?

The usernames would be things like: president@gmail or doctor@gmail or emailme@gmail or thenews@gmail (none of these are mine but similar to the desirability I am talking about)

Question: What is the best way to sell/trade these accounts without running afoul of the Google rules?

Service like Backupify that doesn't require Google Apps?

trillian — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 05:49:23 -0800

I am finally going to stop using a paper calendar and start using my laptop/iPhone/iPad instead. However, having used ol' reliable paper for so many years, I'm a bit paranoid about using Google calendar (or an app) and then losing all my data somehow... Is there an iPhone/iPad calendar app that would make me feel more "secure," or is there a service like Backupify that doesn't require a Google Apps account? I'd love to back up my Gmail too, if possible. (Am I just worrying too much? Is using iCloud enough? I am clearly clueless.)

My Gmail acct. hijacked to send spam

NorthCoastCafe — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 02:21:47 -0800

Twice recently my Gmail acct. has been hijacked by someone who is sending spam emails to some, but not contacts --seems to be only recently emailed (by me) people. The spam is an ad, as seen on Fox News for Raspberry drops weight loss aid. How do the spammers access my Gmail account? Could it be through my brand new Android cell phone? I am unaware of any other problems on my (Macbook) home computer. I have a secure WiFi router at home. No evidence malware or virus. I've changed my Gmail password, FWIW. Any suggestions on how/where to find a way from this happening again?