Peter's Blog 28.8.2004

GMail

Decided my email setup was still not complex enough so I bought a trendy Gmail invite on ebay for £1.30 (a bargain for a new toy) and set up my server to forward all mail to it. This way I can try gmail out while still archiving messages safely at home. I did this by putting the following in the exim .forward file:

unseen deliver <blah>@gmail.com

This forwards everything but keeps handling the messages on the server.

GMail so far seems neat. Observations:

• Runs quite fast, subjectively faster than Thunderbird, dovecot etc.

• Cannot compose html email

• I sent an email to a friend who replied. I replied to the reply and Gmail bounced with this cryptic error:

  Technical details of failure:
  PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 13): 550 Relay not permitted - (ACL violation)
  

  Like a lot of email server error messages, this is a little lacking in detail. Which server was trying to relay and why?

• Gives very nice threaded presentation of messages. Would be great if I could reply to replies.

Freeview

Installed a freeview box at mum's house. It was a Goodmans's thing, £55. This gives about 32 digital tv stations and a load of digital radio stations. Some observations:

• Installed very easily once I remembered to plug the aerial in.

• Came with a SCART cable so TV did not need tuning to the box.

• Was going in minutes

• Extra TV stations like ITV2, Sky news, etc. Not an amazing choice but ok for £55 downpayment and no monthly fees.

• Some stations like UK Gold, E4 and Discovery are in the program guide but you have to pay a monthly subscription.

• Picture was noticibly better quality: much crisper, better contrast, compared to old analogue signal.

• Picture is either 16:9 in 4:3 letterbox or 16:9 full screen. Hence on her 4:3 tv she has to use letterbox.

• Box locked up once while I was showing it to her: had to power cycle. Tried updating firmware but it already had the latest version. Taught mum how to power cycle, just in case.