Gmail is Google”s free e-mail service. Through www.gmail.com, you can create an e-mail account that you can check on virtually any computer connected to the Internet. It”s a replacement for Outlook or Apple Mail and is similar to Hotmail and Yahoo Mail.
If you”ve never used Gmail, I highly recommend you try it. It is superior to any other e-mail program I”ve ever used. It offers the basic e-mail features that you are familiar with plus the ability to chat with other Gmail users, a great search feature and hands down the best spam filter I”ve ever seen. If your inbox is flooded with spam, Gmail is your answer.
Google has a feature called Google Labs where they experiment with new features. One of their new features the ability to undo the sending of an e-mail. There have been times that as soon as I click “Send” I wish I could take it back. Now it”s possible. Here”s how to do it:
- Log in to your Gmail account and click the “Settings” link in the upper right corner of your screen.
- Click the “Labs” tab on the Settings page.
- Google Labs is filled with all kinds of cool features, but scroll down near the bottom of the page until you see a Lab called Undo Send. Click “Enable” next to the Undo Send item.
- Click the “Save Changes” button.
- Click the General tab.
- Look for “Undo Send” on this page. This area gives you a dropdown menu that allows you to select how long you have to undo a send. I”ve got mine set to five seconds but you may want to consider setting yours to 10, 20 or 30 seconds.
Now, when you send an e-mail, look for a little message within a yellow background to appear just above your inbox. This message will say “Your message has been sent.” Just to the right of this message is an “Undo” link. You”ll have however long you set above in Step 6 before the delivery is permanent.
Since this feature is still experimental, Google cannot guarantee that it will work every time, but it is worth enabling it. In those seconds after you send an e-mail that you instantly regret, a small chance of success is better than nothing.
Peter Imes is the Operations Manager at The Dispatch. You can e-mail him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @pimes.
Peter Imes is publisher of The Dispatch. You can email him at [email protected].
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