So e-mail for our domains is now handled by Gmail; the switch was a simple matter of changing MX records and adding existing users of cosmicbuddha.com email to the Gmail for Domains web panel.
The way I was using my cosmicbuddha.com e-mail before was simply to have it forwarded to my Gmail account, and archived on my webhost’s mail server.
The way I will use it now is the same, except that my cosmicbuddha.com account is also hosted on the Gmail server.
This should reduce some stress on my webhost’s mail server, which is theoretically a good thing since it should reduce their costs, if even by a minute/insignificat amount. It is in my interest for them to benefit, because I pay for their services. You could counter that I have traded this benefit for security, but that doesn’t really worry me – if you want to keep something secret, don’t mention it in e-mail at all; it is that simple. Whether it is Google or some other party that wants your secrets, they are not safe in your e-mail. Period.
One practical issue I have regards Spam filtering. Spam from my cosmicbuddha.com account seems to be getting caught at that address and not forwarded to my gmail.com address. This means that in order to catch any false positives, I will have to log into the cosmicbuddha.com account and dig through the spam bucket.
The truth is, I can’t be bothered to do that – it takes too much time and is aggravating to see how many different ways spammers can spell any given prescription medication. However, in the past couple years of using Gmail, I have only had a couple false positives, so I figure I can live with that.
The greatest benefit, of course, is that we now get to use the Gmail interface for all of our e-mail, and this beats the hell out of old, tired webmail programs like Horde, NeoMail, and Squirrel Mail provided by many webhosts. And all of our mail archives are now hosted on Google’s supermagneticgoliath cluster, so I feel secure there and bask in the joy of native Google searchability as well. All in all, I feel Google is providing a wonderful service here.
[/end verbal fellatio]
Month: July 2006
Let’s get nerdical
I have applied for the Gmail beta for domains for cosmicbuddha.com. I hope it comes through. Gmail is the killer web app as far as I’m concerned.
I recently switched hosting providers for this site and chose Dreamhost. The biggest complaint I have about them so far is that their webmail app, Squirrel Mail, is crippled for the sake of stability of all Dreamhost users, and as a consequence, does not support the languages my users need most besides English: Thai and Japanese. This is a deal breaker as far as using our cosmicbuddha.com e-mail goes, because in addition to POP and IMAP accounts, we really need the webmail option. So I set everybody’s cosmicbuddha e-mail accounts to forward to their Gmail accounts (while still maintaining archives on our mail server), and we have been testing this configuration for about a month now.
I’m actually very happy with it – I could go the extra step and set the reply to (or even Send as) field for my Gmail account to j(at)cosmicbuddha.com, but this hasn’t been necessary (and I for some reason think of it as a bit dishonest or misrepresentative).
So a native Gmail account matched to our own domain name is the next logical step in the evolution of this system, and I hope we are accepted for the beta testing.
……………
I just felt like writing about shit no one else is interested in today.
Yucko the Clown
There are times when beating on a fucker like this with a baseball bat would just make my day. Why do we even tolerate clowns in modern society? They should be burned at the stake as far as I’m concerned, right along with mimes, jugglers, and human statues.
Oh, and parents who hire clowns for their children’s birthday parties should be fucking shot, too.
Waking A Sleeping Elephant Seal
The title says it all:
HEY DAVE! !f you watch this at work, turn down the sound first!
New Banner – Tribute to BIG MAN
BIG MAN is one of the first landmarks you should memorize in Osaka, and I learned this the hard way ten years ago when somebody told me to meet them there later.
I was all like, “what big man?” Everyone within a two kilometer radius spontaneously combusted in laughter at the country boy chawing on a rice stalk, with cow shit caked on his boots, driving his daddy’s tractor.
So yeah, this is me giving props where they’re deserved.
Product Name of the Year – Deeppresso
The newest canned coffee offering from Georgia. Although the spelling reminds me more of Mississippi.
I’m almost scared to try it without a solid network of friends and a handful of Paxil.
Encyclopedia
Taro’s grandmother passed this morning. She was 94, and one of the coolest old ladies I ever knew. The first time we met, she regaled me with her full knowledge of the English language, “Hello,” “How do you do?,” and, “encyclopedia!” We never figured out where she picked up that last one. She will be missed.
I’m on my way out to Nara from now.
Standing Urination Prohibited
A sign specifically forbidding standing urination in the parking lot of Ms. K’s, a funky cafe in Nara where T plays gigs every week.
I hate the term Web 2.0
Mostly because it is an overused marketing term with seemingly no real meaning aside from “a new generation of web sites with nifty features and groundbreaking/useful services.”
However, there’s a great comparison of US/JP Web 2.0 sites over at PingMag that’s definitely worth a look: Web 2.0 in Japan
Bad Company Names
It’s official. A post-lunch stroll through the company parking lot confirmed my suspicions: Japanese CAD (Computer Assisted Drawing/Drafting/Design) companies have the funniest names.
I’ve written about this one a couple times before: ZERO PLANNING
With a name like that they pretty much have to be doing work for the government (or perhaps Sony’s been using them as of late…). They had a branch office near our apartment in Tamade, and seeing their logo everyday on my walk to the subway never failed to put a smile on my face.
As I walked among the parked cars today, one with a huge green logo on it stopped me in my tracks: Sodick
You might have to click on the “Global Sites” button to load the English page, but it’s worth it. My favorites:
- “Why Sodick technology attracts users?”
- “Sodick is to celebrate 30th ever growing anniversary…”
- “The Sodick Group”
- Would you not feel a little embarassed working here? Or driving around in a car painted with the company logo (like the one I saw today)? Does the company have a hard time giving away free t-shirts at trade shows in the US? (I just don’t understand it, we splurged for pockets and everything!)
The best, though, is the history behind their company name:
The name of “Sodick” is the abbreviation of 3 Japanese words. They are “Sozo” “Dikko” and “CuroKokufuku” which means “to create”, “to implement” and “to overcome hardship.”
Hearing that explanation opens a whole new level of horror: You mean by simply using the overwhelmingly popular romanization of the word (??), the company would have been named “Sojick”? They were so close to being merely nonsensical instead of self-deprecating!