GeekSugar

Send Emails - The Old School Way

GeekSugar — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:09:43 -0700

For someone like my dad, who still calls his email his www, nothing beats a good ol' back to basics pencil and paper email. Thanks to ThinkGeek and their paper email pads, my dad can send fifty handwritten emails for only $4. No navigation to your email client, no mind-boggling passwords to fill in, just simple To:, Date:, Time: and Subject: fields to fill in. Done and done! Now for the hard part. . . sending it effortlessly like real email!

Do You Have Old-School Habits You Won't Let Tech Replace?

GeekSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:35:47 -0700

I use my iPhone for most things - scheduling, phone calls, photos, email - but one old-school goody I won't give up is my Moleskine day planner. No matter how many calendar entries I keep in my iPhone, I like to have an on-paper record of my schedule, too. Then this happened:

I was running late for a connecting flight and grabbed a bottle of water at an airport newsstand before racing to the gate. As I stood in the aisle waiting to take my seat, I felt the dreaded drip-drip-drip that could only be one thing: an open bottle of water in my messenger bag. The same bag carrying my iPhone, laptop computer, camera, planner, and various chargers.

As soon as I got to my seat I pulled all of the gadgets out of my bag and frantically dried them with napkins, paper towels, my scarf, anything I could get my hands on. Luckily there was only one casualty - my treasured daily planner was full of water. The ink was smudged, pages stuck together. Even after drying out, it turned into a mess of warped pages and smudges.

You've shared stories of saving water-damaged phones, and I'm thankful my gadgets made it out alive. But I can't help but lament that the one essential non-tech item in my bag was the first to go.

Do you use gadgets in most of your day-to-day life, or do you have any old-school habits you won't let tech replace? What are they?

How Often Do You Send Snail Mail?

GeekSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:05:28 -0700

Poor snail mail. Since the advent of email, the free and convenient alternative, the amount of paper mail has obviously declined - and it's only getting worse for the postal service.

The Washington Post reports that the USPS is being forced to remove collection boxes around the country.

Last time I asked, over 30 percent of you sent more than 30 emails a day, and even postcard services have gone online.

But my high use of email makes me treasure paper snail mail even more - I thrill at the sight of cards (but not bills) in my mailbox, and embrace every opportunity to send paper invites. Still, I probably only send "real mail" once or twice a month.

How often are you sending snail mail?

Daily Tech: New App Rates Toilet Paper's Eco Level

GeekSugar — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:15:55 -0700

Greenpeace has just released a new iPhone/iPod Touch app that will help you choose which toilet paper and recycled tissue brands are the most environmentally sustainable while out shopping. - CNET Crave
Dell has just launched a new site called Della which is specially designed for women and allows you to customize the new Inspiron Mini 10. - Ubergizmo
The New York Times has created the Times Reader v2 app (an Adobe AIR release), which utlizes more of the screen's horizontal space. - Lifehacker
There seems to be two types of email-use groups. The first is called the day laborers, and the second is the emailaholics which use email from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.. - Switched
Tony Hawk has just revealed on Twitter that he will be releasing a new video game. Expect it to be announced on the May 15 episode of GameTrailers TV. - Joystiq
It's giveaway time on geeksugar! Be sure to log in for your chances to win an Xbox 360 Console and an Xbox Live Subscription. - geeksugar

Wedding Tip: Have Your Guests Upload Photos to One Place

GeekSugar — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:06:26 -0700

I used to think that having disposable cameras at each table at a wedding reception was such a fabulously brilliant idea.

But now the quality of the disposable film cameras is too shoddy for any possible framers, plus the kind of people who are going to take photos will have already brought their own cameras. To further drive a stake in the heart of this old trend, last year the majority of you voted that you no longer loved it.

That's not to say you don't want more photos taken than your pro photog will take - just make it easy on your guests to upload them all to one place! Call it the 2009 version of disposable cameras on tables. Instead of cameras on tables, you just place cards with a URL or email address for your guests, and leave it to them to upload after the event.

To see how to make this wedding idea come together, just read more.

First, decide which photo-sharing website you want to use. It may be easiest to use the site you're already using for photo sharing - MobileMe, Flickr, and Picasa provide you with an email address or URL to give out (see my instructions on how to do it in Picasa). But also consider newer site iRave - it also gives you both a URL or email address, and it has settings that let you approve photos before they're up, preventing any pic leaks of champagne-induced embarrassments. Make sure that whichever site you use has plenty of storage space for the photos.

Once you've settled on the service, you need the cards so people know where to send photos. This seller from Etsy makes a wedding photo-sharing kit for $25, but this is also a simple DIY.

Design and print out your message onto business card-size paper (or just cut printed sheets to that size), then place in a festive box or display on each table.

If you're really into the design of your invites, you can inquire with your invitation vendor about printing up these cards with your invite design.

Does Email Hurt or Help Friendships?

GeekSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:00:27 -0700

In Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (yes, I saw it and am not afraid to admit it), America Ferrera's character Carmen, long the thread (pun intended) that held the four friends together, becomes exasperated over her foursome's inability to communicate over distances. When they cite email as being the way they connect, and don't connect - Blake Lively's character Serena - er, Bridget - says, "It's not my fault I have a lame server!" (Oh you went there, Bridget, really?!).

Carmen retorts, "Email, you guys? Really? That's lame," and as the characters hung their heads guiltily, I did too. To see why I think email hurts friendships, just read more.

I generally operate under the notion that email has helped me stay in touch with my friends, which sure, it may have - but if I didn't have email, would I not be communicating with this friend at all, as I reassure myself, or would I be picking up the phone and hearing their voice?

While email gives you another opportunity to get in touch, you tend to begin to only email that person, and even then, despite its ease that tends to drop off too. Of course, many friendships naturally face expiration, but email is pretty much the least committal form of communication.

In an email, we have time to compose and project the most sanitized version of events in our lives - having voice-on-voice communication adds a more personal element - how many times have you said, "I missed hearing your voice" or, "It's so good to hear your voice?" I doubt anyone has ever said they missed seeing your typed words.

On the phone (or in person, even better), you might say everything's fine, but your tone might convey something else, which a friend may pick up on. In an email that's that. There's no organic back and forth. And I know that those gloriously exalted letters of old, of pen and paper, also consist of written word, lacking tone - but let's not kid ourselves, guys; emails will never be letters.

Don't get me wrong! I love email; I love having it as an option and I communicate via email all day every day, but for those you love and who love you - it should be a supplement for talking to your loved ones, not your main form. Which I think was Carmen's point. Whether or not pants were involved.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Geek Tip: Keep Track of Appointments With Your Cell Phone's Camera

GeekSugar — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:01:50 -0800

How did I not think of this sooner? I've always got several annoying pieces of 2"x3" card stock in my bag with my doctor, dentist, or beauty appointments.

One day, I'll have the time and memory to input appointments into my calendar the second I make a new one, but until now, it's appointment card city for me.

There had to be a better way - and there is! The answer was also inside my bag. From now on, I'm taking photos with my iPhone's camera of all my appointment cards. From there, I'll either email them from my camera roll, or just leave them there, because unlike a piece of flimsy paper, I know where to find it!

Geek Tip: Use Qipit and Your Phone to Copy and Send Docs

GeekSugar — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:01:00 -0700

I've always been a fan of using my cell phone to stay organized and recently found a free cell phone service that was created to help you do just that. Qipit allows you to copy documents and handwritten notes with your camera phone or digital camera to store, fax, email, or publish online.

The service turns notes into digital copies (PDFs), allows you to email or fax digital copies via email, and helps store all of your paper documents and notes as digital documents for easy archiving and sharing. It aims to be a "portable scanner, mobile copier, and a mobile fax machine, all in one." You could technically do all of the things it does without the service, but the ability to create "crisp, clear, digital copies" partnered with the fact that it's free and will archive everything in one place is a plus. For details on how it works, read more.

How does it work? You take a picture of your notes or document with your camera phone or digital camera, send it to qipit as a multimedia message (MMS) from your camera phone, email, or your qipit account and qipit turns your photo into a PDF or JPEG, which you can store or send to an email or fax number from your cell phone as a multimedia message (MMS) or mobile email.

Do You Write Letters Anymore?

GeekSugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:00:03 -0700

I have a box of stationery that sits on my desk and never gets used. Aside from the occasional thank-you note, I never sit at my desk and just pour my feelings out onto a sheet of paper with pen and ink.

Everything important gets an email - which is also what the New York Times is saying this week, as well as questioning what happens when emails don't get received. A lost email though, will never be as sad as a lost letter, and I think this is what Chris Noth's sentiment on Mr. Big was really about. But I'm still concerned with the letters - do you write any anymore?

Source

How To: Email People Who Don't Have A Computer

GeekSugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:30:45 -0800

The fact that my aunt prints up my emails and takes them over to my grandparents house made me realize that the following product would work wonders in my family. Presto is a great new service that is designed for people who don't use a computer or go online.

How it works: Using any email account, family and friends can send email and photos to a HP Printing Mailbox user (with its own individual email address) and Presto will convert regular emails into Presto Mail - easy-to-read color printouts. All you have to do is plug the printing mailbox into a power outlet and an existing ordinary phone jack and insert paper and an ink cartridge. Within a few minutes your parents or grandparents will have beautifully printed emails to read.

If you're worried about set-up and all that jazz (which they claim is quite simple), you can either do it from your own PC through the Presto site or call one of their representatives to do it over the phone. The HP Printing Mailbox is $100 and the monthly service is $10. Definitely a great way to stay in touch!