Gina Trapani has released an update to her excellent Better Gmail 2 extension for Firefox.

This is the Better Gmail extension that works with the new Gmail interface.

The new version adds four new features: One Click Conversations (quick access to previous emails from a particular sender), Hide Invites Box, Google Reader Integration (in the Sidebar) and Rollover Highlight Messages (which highlights message rows as you mouse over them).

It also marks the return of skins. Users can now choose between a Blue Skin and a Grays and Blue Skin (screenshot below):

The updated version is available from Lifehacker or from the Mozilla Extension Repository . Needless to say, it is freeware.gmail, not apple mail, not mail.app, productivity, greasemonkey, firefox, skins, conversations

Christina Laun at VirtualHosting.com has posted a killer list of 50 tips, scripts, extensions and hacks to make the most of Google’s Calendar service.

She starts off with some basic tips, keyboard shortcuts, integration with Gmail, reminders and so forth.

Things get more interesting for seasoned users with her collection of 15 (mostly Greasemonkey) scripts that offer skinning, interface streamlining and more, including the Better Gcal script, which combines several of the most useful scripts (à la Gina Trapani’s Better Gmail Firefox extension).

Finally, she provides a list of Firefox Extensions, hacks and some syncing utilities that help Outlook users and others get the most of Gcal. She doesn’t mention BusySync’s public beta that offers iCal-Gcal syncing or Spanning Sync , but I guess you knew about those already.

If you use Goolge’s Calendar, you will want to bookmark Christina’s collection of tips for sure.not mail.app, not apple mail, google, calendar, tips, scripts, greasemonkey, web 20, ical, productivity, firefox, syncing

No posts today. It’s Thanksgiving in the USA, which means that 82% of Hawk Wings readers (or so Google Analytics claims) will be counting their blessings and spending time with their families and/or loved ones.

I’m taking the chance for a day-off too, heeding Steve Jobs’ wise advice as portrayed by Joy of Tech.

My non-blogging friends tell me that there is in fact a whole world out there, which is something to be thankful for. not mail.app, not apple mail, not productivity, not efficiency, not task management, not work

If you regularly move your laptop from one place to another, you are going to love this app. John C Welch , never one to pass on a colourful phrase, says “Dude, this is the shit! I’m…I think I’m in love! Seriously, you just made a lot of people really happy.”

I am one of them. NetworkLocation is a smart network location-switcher. It not only senses automatically whether you are at work or home and switches you Mac’s accordingly, it offers a shedload of other location-specific actions.

For example, every morning when I arrive at work, it not only automatically switches to my work location, it sets my work network printer as the default, turns off Airport, swaps in work’s SMTP server, mounts my network share, and sets my iChat status to away (it is _work_ after all).

When I get home, everything is reversed, and Tunnelblick , a VPN client, is launched so that I can get at my work files from home.

The developers, Centrix.ca, provide a full listing of all the tricks that NetworkLocation can perform:

It can be set to switch locations automatically. Otherwise, when it senses a change in the network environment, it pops up a nice smoked glass Chooser (other skins are included):

The app’s Preferences provide options to adding specific actions to particular locations, skinning the interface and more:

The company has also created a SDK for other developers to create their own plugins. Heck, there is even one for Entourage!

Certainly, this is the cat’s pyjamas.

NetworkLocation is shareware (USD 25) and available from the developers’ web site . not apple mail, not mail.app, productivity, network, roadwarriors, location

Engadget has published the results of its shoot-out between Vista and Leopard. Naturally, Mail.app and iCal win over Windows Mail and Windows Calendar.

In fact, to cut to the chase, Leopard wins the features shoot-out with 46 points to Vista’s 41.

Thinking about this exercise put me in mind of Umberto Eco’s well-known comparison between Macs and PCs, which he published in the Italian news magazine Espresso in 1994.

It is worth quoting at length:

…Insufficient consideration has been given to the new underground religious war which is modifying the modern world. It’s an old idea of mine, but I find that whenever I tell people about it they immediately agree with me.

The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been influenced by the ‘ratio studiorum’ of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach–if not the Kingdom of Heaven–the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.

DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community of revellers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment.

You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe has come to resemble more closely the counter-reformist tolerance of the Macintosh. It’s true: Windows represents an Anglican-style schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with bizarre decisions; when it comes down to it, you can decide to allow women and gays to be ministers if you want to…..

And machine code, which lies beneath both systems (or environments, if you prefer)? Ah, that is to do with the Old Testament, and is talmudic and cabalistic…

Which is more whimsical: the attempt to compare the feature sets of Vista and Leopard on the assumption that they rest on some notional level playing field or structuralism gone wild in correlating computers with Christian denominations?

What spirit of prophecy lead Eco to pair Anglicanism’s current troubles so precisely with the ever-increasing torment of Windows users? apple, not apple mail, not mail.app, windows, vista, leopard, catholicism, protestantism, Anglicanism, whimsy, switching, conversion

Gmail’s new interface is gradually spreading through its user base. I have it now.

It brings mysterious backend changes which enhance “the performance and the usability” of Gmail, as well as new features for contact management and more.

Two things will strike Hawk Wings readers at once.

First, the new interface breaks the Better Gmail Firefox extension. Its keyboard macros, quick navigation, coloured labels, advanced composing options and more make Gmail a pleasure to use.

Luckily Gina Trapani (a productivity goddess) is quick off the mark, and Better Gmail 2.0 is already available, although with a vastly decreased feature set, as she waits for the developers of each feature to update their code. Still, it already contains the keyboard shortcuts which are the key feature for speeding up your Gmail experience.

Secondly, Safari 3.0 is not fully supported. For example, on a cosmetic note, compare the contact manager layout on Google’s blog (top) with how it looks in Safari 3.0 (below):

Other early adopters of Leopard may agree that it is possible to spend too much time on the bleeding edge of innovation. Luckily, you can opt to use the old interface instead by clicking on “Older Version” next to the Settings.gmail, not apple mail, not mail.app, email, firefox, safari, interface, productivity

Coverflow mock-ups seem to be all the rage (see yesterday’s “Coverflow for people”).

Today hot off the Quicksilver forums comes a Coverflow mock-up for a new “Leopardised” Quicksilver interface, created by Foood:

Hmmm…. I’m in two minds about this. When does that delicate balance so beloved by Mac users between aesthetic appeal and functional utility become unstuck? It must be somewhere around this point.

I think I’ll stick with my Cube, slightly tweaked (see the before and after shot below) for larger action icons to each side, which stops me having to squint too much.

Fancy fooling around with your own Quicksilver interface, but don’t want to go the whole Coverflow hog? There are some pointers in an old Hawk Wings post. quicksilver, coverflow, not apple mail, not mail.app, interface design, productivity