Better Gmail Imap with Thunderbird 2
I have been using Gmail since the day it was launched and I have always loved it for the plethora of features it provides to the users.In the beginnning Gmail supported only POP and using it with thunderbird on a slow connection was very painful . Thunderbird is an awesome product which is more like an underdog in the software market since people think Outlook is the best.Well many of those who dont think that way still end up using outlook Express as it is provided with Windows as the default mail client.But with the huge growth of Web 2.0 , mail clients are slowly becoming obsolete as web services like Gmail require very little configuration and are faster. I encourage people to use Thunderbird as it brings email to their desktops making E-mail a part of the OS rather than just a browser bookmark and yes its Free Software.Thunderbird is more than just a mail client with all the addons that are available now.Recently(about a year back) Gmail launched IMAP support and again I started using thunderbird more than ever. Still configuring Gmail account,importing contacts seemed to take a lot of time which was very irritating especially for a person like me as I format my PC a lot of times (I don’t use XP, I’m more of a distro hopper 
) .A few days back I found some awesome addons for thunderbird 2 to make Gmail’s Imap config a 3 step process.
Better Gmail Imap with Thunderbird 2
Step 1
Download and Install thunderbird
Fedora : sudo yum install thunderbird
Ubuntu : sudo apt-get install thunderbird
Windows & Mac : Download from here
Step 2
Gmail IMAP account setup
Enable IMAP in Gmail first (instructions)
Download and install the “Gmail Imap Account Setup” Addon from here
Now go to Edit > Preferences > Account Settings > Add Account
And now there will be an extra option to configure gmail imap as shown in the screenshot below.Select it , Click Next ,Enter your name and Email Address and voila you’re done !
Step 3
Import & Sync Gmail Contacts
I found Zindus as the best for syncing gmail contacts with thunderbird
Download and install the Zindus addon from here
Now go to Tools > Addons > Zindus > Preferences > Add Gmail ID and password
Enable Verbose Logging
Enable Auto Sync if you want
Click ‘Sync Now’ and then you’ll find that all your Gmail contacts have been synced with Gmail.Its a 2 way sync so even if you add a contact locally in your Thunderbird Address book it will sync that contact with your Gmail account.Cool!
Done !
So adding 3-4 Gmail Imap accounts becomes very easy with these 2 addons because it eliminates the time wasted on configuring Thunderbird and exporting then again importing all the contacts which takes a lot of time and is boring too .I have tried the above addons on Linux and they work fine so I tacitly assume that the addons will work on Windows and Mac as well.
Further tips:
For people who have a slow connection and a lot of Gmail Labels (folders actually) , fetching takes a lot of time , to avoid that use a Gmail Labs addon called Advanced Imap Controls and check only those labels which are required for regular use.
Better ThunderBird with KDE4
I have mentioned in my previous post about making Firefox look better in KDE4, now its time to do the same with Thunderbird.As far as I know there is no Oxygen theme for thunderbird yet but I found one theme which makes Thunderbird almost flawless and classy in KDE4.Follow step 1 of the earlier post.Then …
Download and Install the theme ACE Cutebird Graphite from here .
Apply the theme & restart thunderbird.
Now Go to Tools > Addons > Themes > Right Click > About Cutebird >
Select options Milk in Extreme Ways and Bigger Font (if required)
The CuteBird theme integrates very well with KDE 4 it looks more like mac though but I ain’t complainin’ 
. No actual screenshots but the screenshot used above for explaining Step 2 was taken on KDE 4.1 with Cutebird Graphite.
For Testers the alpha version(called Shredder) of Thunderbird 3 has an option for configuring a Gmail IMAP account.Can’t wait for thunderbird 3 to be released !.Comment along if you have more tips on thunderbird-gmail integration.
Reclaim Your Inbox !
3 Firefox addons I simply can’t do without
These are the 3 Firefox addons I simply can’t live without (at the moment at least coz the list might grow/change )
1) Foxmarks
I love foxmarks as it keeps my bookmarks in sync no matter wherever I go and also there is an optional feature of keeping site passwords in sync but I don’t use it. Its absolutely indispensable for me.
2) TwitterFox
I am an avid Twitter fan and TwitterFox is my perfect companion I guess.The reason I like this twitter tool better than even KDEtwitter applet is that it is perfectly simple yet provides all the needed features.It pops up when new tweets arrive checking at regular user defined intervals .The best part is that it sits quietly on the status bar without any kind of distraction.Neat, clean and elegant yet most important high on usability side.I’m quite compulsive on the usability bit. 
TwitterFox Donwload
3)Ctrl + Tab
The name of the addon is based on a popular shortcut used for switching tabs by lazy users like me .This addon basically brings more functionality to the shortcut providing previews and cover-flow kinda feel.Simply superb !
My other faves are
One really good addon I recommend every Firefox user to try is Colorful tabs .Its a simple yet a really beautiful add-on making Firefox look more beautiful by giving different color to each and every Tab in the tab-bar.Its better than theming firefox as its very lite and changes the overall look of the Browser.
FoxyTunes is also a great addon but I never used it much as it could not control Amarok 2 beta when I had used it but its pretty good I must say !.
Share your faves
Here’s what You do :comment along the 3 firefox addons you can’t live without and we’ll see how we match. As simple as that !
Narwhal:Amarok 2.0 RC 1 released (screenshot tour)
Amarok RC1 Beta has incorporated the following changes since Beta 3
- Users’ Recommended radio is now shown in the Last.Fm Service.
- Playlist browser items can be deleted and renamed using the keyboard.
- Basic and Advanced view when editing a filename scheme are synchronized.
- Added delete button to Advanced view for defining a filename scheme.
- Importer for iTunes libraries now allows you to import your statistics from iTunes.
- The settings dialog now remembers the page that was last used.
- Track information can be edited from the file browser.
In addition, there are the following changes:
- User playlists added from files are now updated on collection rescans, so any changes in the file is reflected in the SQL playlist.
- Layout refactoring in the Organize Collection dialog.
- Enabled Last.fm scrobbling by default when Last.fm login is supplied.
- “Show active track” has been moved from the playlist context menu to the playlist toolbar
- The video and Last.fm applet have been removed for now as they are not ready for final release. They will be re-added in later releases.
Amarok with Librivox ,notice that the collection scanner just got better !
More Scripts in Script Manager
More Services,More Stability,All the stable applets
Magnatune Store with Song & Album Preview
New Show Active Track button in Playlist Manager + Playlist management with keyboard
Import Collection and Stats from Amarok 1.4x or itunes !
More info & downloads here
Direct RPM Download For Fedora 10 here thanks to Rex Dieter .
Better Firefox in KDE4
Well I simply love KDE4 but one thing that really annoyed me was the way firefox looked in KDE4 and so after googling a bit I found some simple solutions to make firefox look more Kde4ish.
Step 1
Install gtk-qt-engine package.
Fedora: sudo yum install gtk-qt-engine
Direct download of the package(fedora rpm) can be found here
Ubuntu 8.04: sudo apt-get install gtk-qt-engine-kde4
Ubuntu 8.10: sudo apt-get install gtk-qt-engine
Now go to System Settings > Appearance > Click on the Gtk Styles and Fonts tab on the left side and select the following options there
Use my KDE style in Gtk applications
Use my KDE fonts Gtk applications
Then finally click on install scrollbar fix
Step 2:
Install KFirefox theme for Firefox from here
I found Kfirefox theme better than the oxygen theme for firefox coz kfirefox integrates better with firefox and looks good
Step 3:
Open With
In Kubuntu 8.10 whenever I downloaded something in Firefox and tried to open it, Firefox’s Download Manager told me that its an unknown application and to select an application to open it.
Right-Click on a downloaded file and click on ‘Open Containing Folder’ and click on Select Application and give it a path to /usr/bin/dolphin and every file will open with dolphin.
Next for other file types open Firefox > Edit > Preferences click on Applications tab and choose the appropriate file types needed to open.
This error is only observed in pure KDE distros like Kubuntu .In fedora the folders open in nautilus which can also be changed to Dolphin by the above method.
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Now Showing: Foss.in 2008
FOSS.IN is one of the world’s largest Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) events, held annually in India. The event is highly focussed on FOSS development and contribution
Starring :
All the FOSS Superstars
Major attractions:
Fedora FUDCON
FOSS Workouts
Project days > Project of the day
foss expo and much more ..
Booking and other info:
Ataksak:Amarok 2 beta 3 released (screenshot tour)
And yes Amarok can play videos too ! the screenshot below is of beta 2 ..
Major Changes
- playlist and statusbar recieved major attention
- database/statistics import from Amarok 1.4
- major overhaul of the Last.fm integration
- sorting by year and album in the Collection Browser is possible again (small, but often requested)
- shortcut to jump to current track in the playlist
- many, many bugs squashed and stability fixes
More info here
Chrome,knol,lively et al : new paradigms of brand trust
Well one might have figured out from my previous posts that I’m not such a big fan of Google’s new Chrome .I don’t hate Chrome but I certainly feel that there was no need for google to make a new browser as their firefox team up was a total IE killer.Neways enough of that stuff , I’m a fan of Google neways not only because they provide the best web services but also because they could be trusted blindly (well almost ) .Google has endeavoured constantly to live up to the expectations of its users making them a sort of a trusted brand as opposed to the lousy marketing strategies that M’soft is coming up with these days.If we ignore all the statistics like market share and stuff we can see that Google is a more trusted brand than M’soft simply for its excellent quality and a positive outlook towards FOSS.
This brand trusting has worked for Google very well especially in releases of Google Chrome,knol and lively which are not so innovative as compared to their previous milestones.I agree they are good but let’s face the facts say if some lesser known or lesser trusted company had developed Chrome it may not have got so much attention as compared to the attention Chrome got and is getting.M’soft’s release of IE7 and IE8 were not as highly popular as Firefox 3 and Google Chrome(beta release) simply because ofl lack of brand trust.The brand trust makes users believe in the company more than its products so every product they make is anticipated with open arms by its followers or fans.Brand trusting is similar to a cult following but works at a much larger scale.Even if the company makes a bad or a mediocre product it is well anticipated by its fans and the feedback given by the user helps overcoming the problems with the product.
Brand Trust is essentially a two way process as the Brand also has to trust its users making new,innovative products which would appeal to the users old and new.A trusted brand is again a winner in the long run with slow but steady growth as opposed to the non trusted ones where once the trust goes down it keeps doing so.The failure of Vista has decreased the users’ trust in M’soft products to a certain level and if win 7 fails I may have to say that we would be heading for the biggest and the best change in software world.
Fedora 9 worth 10.8 billion dollars !
(Image by framapix on Flikr)
A whitepaper released by the linux foundation estimating the cost of making a linux distribution has really surprised me.They say it would take $1.4 billion to develop the linux kernel alone and the cost building Fedora 9 from scratch using the latest development tools would be around 10.8 billion dollars!.The report quotes
Over 1,000 developers, from at least 100 different companies, contribute to every kernel release. In the past two years alone, over 3,200 developers from 200 companies have contributed to the kernel.2 It’s important to note that the kernel is just one small piece of a Linux distribution. A distribution is actually made up of multiple components including the kernel, the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, the GNU components, the X window system, and many more. The total of individual developers contributing to these projects surely numbers in the thousands.
Another astonishing fact that the report threw light on is the number of lines of code Fedora has :- 204,500,946 ! .I guess Fedora has come a long way since those Red Hat 9 days where mounting a ntfs drive was such a herculean task.And now Fedora 9 where everything is easy and classy with kde 4 and latest gnome version,one could never have imagined at that point that linux would come such a long way and still there is a lot more to come.In the age of corporate monopoly Linux proves that a product doesn’t necessarily have to be money driven but a community driven effort and can also make a masterpiece.The economic recession in the U.S and subesquently the world has affected many big companies which also includes Microsoft and Apple but linux is almost unaffected by that.All community-driven projects are almost perfectly immune of financial disasters whereas it doesn’t take much time for a big company to go bankrupt.Its not just software where a community driven effort(open source) can make milestones,but other fields too have many things to learn from linux.The total worth of Linux shows us that if every softwares project goes open source we can always have softwares which are independent of the nerve-wrecking tickers of the stock market.In the future we may see a lot other financial problems also maybe some mega virus or something that’s where linux will win -The Long Run.Microsoft may take a million shortcuts and a billion dollars to reach the top but again its the long run that counts.The higher one goes the greater the risk to fall.Remember the day Apple was in a bad financial state and had to make a pact with Microsoft?.That has never happened to linux and will never happen too.I guess Microsoft must be really ashamed of itself for putting in so much money and making such stupid software whereas Linux a zero capital project is worth so much.Data and Stats Source :http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/estimatinglinux.php
What is Apple’s problem with Linux?
Well recently Apple seems to have struck gold with the immense success of iphone,ipod touch et al.They have always criticized Microsoft for unethical ways and lack of taste and so in their quest for world domination they have released itunes,safari,quicktime,mobile.me for windows too.The so called cross platform move seems to have worked well for Apple but somehow it has not gone down well with me.I am a linux user and a linux supporter and I love some apple products owing to their superior nature over Microsoft products.Linux and Mac Os are still in the minority league in the OS market share and instead of joining hands with Tux against the Redmond biggie,Apple seem to have something else on their mind.Apple has shown a certain level of ignorance towards linux by not making a linux version of itunes,safari,mobile.me and quicktime.They can defend that by complaining about the lack of linux developers they can hire but ipods re-engineered to prevent syncing with linux is a little too much.They should be a little more open in this case as linux is the next big thing and in my opinion players like amarok are much better than itunes.That’s an opinion but an user has every right to choose a media player.When I buy an ipod its my choice whether to use itunes or not but again we’re confined to this mess as for a $300 device I need to get full value out of it.Whenever an user needs to buy something from apple’s itunes store he has to again use itunes for the simple browsable store which can also be used within a browser or another player but no, Apple wants people to stick to itunes.Its like having a single branch for a superstore so that every person goes to buy there which is a flawed concept.I certainly love Apple’s artistic appeal which is quite beautiful but I would like to see a linux version of itunes,quicktime,mobile.me and safari not because itunes is good but only because I don’t want to void my ipod’s warranty simply for switching to linux.Its silly how a simple device like ipod is dependent so much on the OS of the computer which is a very trivial issue.Apple should also realize that when an user dislikes a particular software he goes in search for better softwares but as he/she is confined to that software the person gets fed-up of the issue and re-thinks buying other products of that company.That is exactly what Microsoft has been doing for so long, and with aims for beating them Apple should be more different from Microsoft not just in quality but also in user satisfaction.People are already trying to get out of that Microsoft web and they certainly don’t want to fall into a similar one this time by Apple.Apple has good quality,good design,good service but still I think it takes something else to beat the Redmond monster.That something else is openness which is missing in Apple products.I think it is time Apple should get more different and more open instead of depriving users off a basic need of users:freedom.
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Recent Posts
- Better Gmail Imap with Thunderbird 2
- 3 Firefox addons I simply can’t do without
- Narwhal:Amarok 2.0 RC 1 released (screenshot tour)
- Better Firefox in KDE4
- Hello world!
- Now Showing: Foss.in 2008
- Ataksak:Amarok 2 beta 3 released (screenshot tour)
- Chrome,knol,lively et al : new paradigms of brand trust
- Fedora 9 worth 10.8 billion dollars !
- What is Apple’s problem with Linux?
