A Secret Trick for GMail Users

There are many freebies on the Internet.  Freebies makes the world go ’round.  (And you thought it was love . . . )

However, with some of those freebies, there is a big drawback — you have to give your e-mail address to get that freebie.  Once you give your address, you are inundated up the wazoo with spam from whomever gave you the freebie.  I guess it’s a tit-for-tat situation: I give you my freebie and you give me your e-mail address. We’re even Steven.

Sometimes that stinks.

But, if you use Gmail, there is a secret trick that you can use.  Wanna know what it is?  I thought so.

But first a little history.  Not much.  Just a snippet.  (Knowing this will help you understand the little secret trick that I am about to share.)

When Google was expanding to Europe, they ran into a little snafu.  ‘Gmail’ was already being used by a rival service.  That meant there were trademark issues around using ‘gmail.’ To get around those issues, Google created @googlemail.com  Everybody was happy.

And this is where, my friend, this little trick comes in.

Use the @googlemail.com alias!

Let’s say my regular Gmail address was ms. smartypants@gmail.com.  My alias would be ms. smartypants@googlemail.com.  Messages sent to that e-mail address will reach me.

Then, I can set up a filter in Gmail that will sort messages to that address into a separate folder.  (Read that to mean a spam folder.)

For that freebie, I enter in my ms.smartypants@googlemail.com address and get that freebie.  Then, all of the mail that I get in response to getting that freebie will go to my spam folder and my inbox isn’t deluged with spam.  Sweet, huh?

Here’s secret trick number two.  (I know the title of this post is ‘a secret trick’ which numerically means ‘one’ secret.  But I’m feeling generous.  Here’s a second one.  Aren’t I nice?  I think so, too.)

Let’s look at my original Gmail address: ms. smartypants@gmail.com.  You can add the plus sign (+) and another word and then messages sent to that address will get sent to your original Gmail account.  So, here’s an example of another type of alias that you can create:

ms.smartypants+cool@gmail.com
ms.smartypants+wayout@gmail.com
ms.smartypants+rad@gmail.com

You get the idea.

I know some people just make up something for the required e-mail.  Anybody who is anybody knows that the system is just looking for an @ sign.  It doesn’t care what comes before or after it.  As long as it has the @ sign, you’re good to go.

But what happens in the situation that they will send you a confirmation to your e-mail account that you have to respond to before you get your freebie?  If you put in jibberish for your e-mail address, you’re up a creek without a paddle, mate.

So if there will be a confirmation that you need to respond to, use one of these two secret tips.  When you get  your confirmation e-mail, respond to it, get your freebie, and then never look that folder again.  Unless you are going in to delete all of the messages  you get.

Now.  Go out there.  Sign up for all of those freebies to your heart’s content — and don’t worry about having tons and tons of pesky email.

Itsy Bitsy Spider and Me

I didn’t know that this kiddy song could be so much fun!

Itsy Bitsy Spider is a children’s app for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.  In my humble opinion, it is best used on an iPad because you have more screen real estate to enjoy and play with this interactive application.

This app won the 2010 Parent’s Choice Gold Award from the Parents’ Choice Foundation.  Support like that says a lot.  Like it is viewed as an educational application because you learn about the environment, animals, and nature.  The fly that buzzes around will tell your child where rain comes from, how a rainbow is made, what makes a plant grow, and how many legs a spider has.

Children learn to count to ten by poking a squirrel who stacks nuts. When the squirrel has ten in a pile, they fall off the roof of the house so you can start counting again.  Kids can find musical eggs on a scavenger hunt and then play a tune on the ones that they found.  They can stack hats on the spider’s head.  They can even record themselves singing!

I loved touching the wind to make it blow and the cloud to make it rain.  The frog hiding in the grass and the snail are fun to touch to see their reaction.  And I lost track of how many times I made the little girl splash in the puddle of water.  Vicarious living there if you ask me!

This application kept me entertained for almost half an hour.  If it will keep an old biddy like me occupied, just think how young children will love this app!

Is it worth the $1.99?  You betcha!

Edit YouTube Videos

Sometimes you want the whole YouTube video.  Sometimes you don’t.

What happens when you don’t?  Use TubeChop that’s what!

Go to TubeChop.com. Paste in the URL of the video you want to chop.  Slide the fuschia pink slider beneath the video to the section that you want.  Click Chop It. And there you have it.  A snippet of only what you want.  How cool is that.

Here’s an example using video of the effects of the horrid tsunami that recently hit Japan. I just wish that I could embed it like a YouTube Video.  Guess I can’t have everything,  huh?

Tsunami damage in Japan