inbox

Reduce unwanted e-mails

SpamSieve is a powerful, popular spam-filtering app that can help you greatly reduce unwanted e-mails in Mail, Entourage, MailForge, Outlook 2011, and other e-mail clients. Because SpamSieve uses Bayesian filtering (a process that looks at the statistical probability of every word in an e-mail) and you train it using your own e-mail, the app actually becomes more effective over time. It learns not just how to better identify ever-changing spam but also how to zero in on the peculiarities of your own legitimate e-mail (whether that's using the names of your family members or your friends' frequent and obscure … Read more

Survey: E-mail eats up your time off

The 9-to-5 workday is dead. And so are vacations, sick days, and weekend relaxation, according to a new study from Outlook add-in maker Xobni.

According to the company, which in conjunction with Harris Interactive surveyed 2,200 American and British adult workers in August, 72 percent of Americans and 68 percent of Britons check e-mail outside of regular business hours. On sick days, 42 percent of Americans check their e-mail, compared with 25.8 percent of British workers.

Xobni also found that there is a gender divide when it comes to e-mail--that 65 percent of men surveyed check their e-mail … Read more

Priority Inbox sorts Gmail

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: Priority Inbox sorts Gmail MySpace gives into Facebook iTunes song previews double NASA signs up for Flickr 10-inch Android tablet arrives

The 404 657: Where Santa Jobs and Kenley pay us a visit (podcast)

Unfortunately Jeff can't make it to the show today, but our good friend Kenley jumps into the hot seat to fill Wilson's shoes while he pulls out his beautiful hair trying to play sound engineer for the day. Meanwhile, we're making last minute predictions on what the Apple Music event will bring, so head over to CNET's live blog for more details and in-depth post show coverage.

The average e-mail user gets hundreds of message everyday, and while spam filters get rid of most of the junk, we're still blasted with e-mails from work, mailing lists, Facebook, and more low-priority comments. Gmail recently rolled out a new solution to organize your messages called Priority Inbox.

The Gmail feature automatically sorts your incoming e-mail into three sections: "important and unread," "starred," and "everything else," and the idea is to target messages that aren't outright spam but still aren't important...Google cleverly calls this "bologne," or BACN. The service also improves accuracy as you use it and will sort sort between senders you reply to and others that you just skip over, hopefully helping you sift through the piles of mail you get a day.

We've seen plenty of strange Nintendo Wiimote accessories in the past, but the new detachable controller from a company called Mojowijo is by far the most NSFW. The device attaches to the Wii's accessory port and uses Bluetooth to run wireless software that basically turns it into a partner-controlled "marital aid." Its patent-pending "Motion2Vibration" technology transforms one user's motions into vibrations signals that get sent to another selected device, even if they're in another part of the country. Get it?

Thanks again to everyone who entered our JetBlue All You Can Jet contest! We've selected two winners for the seven-day and five-day passes and will announce their names on tomorrow's show where we'll welcome hypnotist Paul Ramsay back into the studio! On his last appearance he hypnotized me into forgetting my name, so who knows what'll happen tomorrow- tune in at 11:30 a.m. ET to find out!

Episode 657 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Gmail 'Priority Inbox' aims to set aside bologna

Good news for Gmail users who are deluged by messages and overwhelmed by which ones to tackle first.

Google announced on Monday night a new Gmail feature in beta called Priority Inbox, which sorts incoming e-mail into three sections: "important and unread," "starred," and "everything else."

In a post on the official Gmail blog, Google software engineer Doug Aberdeen said the feature targets e-mail that isn't outright spam "but isn't very important." It separates the important stuff from the "bologna," or "bacn," he said.

Gmail users … Read more

Spam eater

Spam is so pervasive that many think the lunch meat was named after the e-mail and not the other way around. Spam's annoying, but viruses are deadly to your PC, and when they come in tandem, it's double trouble. The right tools can help you stay one step ahead of the problem. PCPrivacy's Spam Sweeper can stop spam and kill viruses before they have a chance to enter your system through your e-mail client. Spam Sweeper doesn't download the entire message, just enough to tell what it is, a simple scheme that's quicker than ordinary … Read more

Threaded Messaging

One of the features I did like about my old Instinct was threaded messaging. With Sprint's service being very unpredictable in our area there are days when texts and calls seem to get lost, only to show up hours after they've been sent. When you're sitting on your porch and you get a text from a friend that says "What aisle are you in now?" it's nice to have it show up right under the text you sent them two hours earlier that reads "Cool! I'm in Walmart too!"

The Palm … Read more

In-box preview makes Gmail's loading less painful

Gmail has a new feature in its labs section aimed at people with bad connections who still want to use the fancypants JavaScript-filled "new" version of the popular Web mail service. It shows a quick preview of the latest 10 messages while Gmail's loading bar makes its slow march toward completion.

You can't actually read these messages, but you can quickly see if you have new ones. Users on a fast connection will only see the preview for a mere second or two before the in-box opens up. But for those on the very thread of … Read more

Mobile in-boxes: Will Google devour them all?

The universal mobile communications in-box is emerging as a trend at CTIA 2009 in Las Vegas. Variations on the theme combine visual voicemail, text messages, e-mail, calling, and call forwarding in one online deck that's as easy to manage as your e-mail in-box.

Skydeck (Skydeck review) has a traditional e-mail layout that does calls, voicemail, text, visual voicemail, and call control for a fee. RocketVox is a great-looking private beta that manages e-mail from multiple accounts (including Gmail), IM, SMS, voice-to-text, VoIP calling, visual voicemail, faxing, conference calls, calendars, and screen sharing with a vague social networking angle. RocketVox … Read more