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Cingular follows Sprint, ups pay-per-use texting fees to $0.15
Ah boy, here we go again. First there was drama galore when Sprint-Nextel jacked its pay-per-use texting fees from $.10 to $.15, convincing enraged users to demand their contract be terminated sans fees, and now we're headed right back into that same jungle with Cingular. In an apparent attempt to "sway" customers to add on a Messaging Package or Media Bundle, Cingular has announced that effective January 21, 2007, all SMS messages "sent or received on a pay-per-use basis" will cost you fifteen pennies. Unsurprisingly, some users aren't exactly thrilled with a portion of their bill getting hiked up by 50-percent (hey, it is what it is), and are looking for a way out. Thankfully, some users at PCSIntel, HowardForums, and other various locales have confirmed that if you get the right CSR on the line (and sound convincing enough), you can have your contract zapped without paying the $150 fee. Of course, this waiver depends on you not already having a texting package in place, but if you were ever looking for a way to sever your Cingular ties, now's the time.Read - PCSIntelRead - HowardForums
Texter enables button combinations for typing on PS2, Xbox 360
If you've ever wished there was a faster way to type out messages within a console video game system other than the painfully arduous process of manually selecting each letter on-screen -- or plugging in an external keyboard -- thank your lucky stars that a company has heeded your prayers. Blue Orb has just released what it calls the "Texter", a small dongle that attaches to your PS2 ($25) or Xbox 360 ($30) and allows you to type by using certain two-fingered button and joystick combinations for each letter. Of course, like any new input system, it'll take time before you've mastered the new combinations and can type whole sentences without having to bust out that Character Guide cheat sheet. First person using the Texter to type out "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" quickly, accurately, and without looking should get a prize, but we're betting that it'll take awhile to get to that point.[Via Textually]
MsgFiler brings keyboard shortcuts to Mail organization
Organizing emails in Mail.app can be a pain, and sometimes using rules can only go so far. If you need a helping hand to manage all that correspondence, MsgFiler brings some on-the-fly automation to filing messages you've selected. Simply pressing cmd-9 will open a panel that allows you to type the names of folders. Pressing Enter to chose one sends all selected messages to said folder, offering flexibility in your filing habits. A demonstration movie is available at tow.com in case you need to see some examples. MsgFiler typically sells for $12, but is on sale for a limited time for $8.Now all we need is an equivalent of that Greasemonkey script that also allows for label navigation via the keyboard, and Mail.app just might make it back into my Dock.[via Daring Fireball]
Seen at E3: A message to MMOs
No beating about the bush from this MMO. Directly attacking your competitors may not be nice, but with a MMO cliché that's so ingrained in the genre, sometimes you have to be bold to succeed.Unless, of course, they had a lapse of concentration while typing Mr. Presley's name.
Mail slowing you down? Rebuild its database
Apple's flagship email client had me banging my head against a wall again when I finally dug up this tip on rebuilding Mail.app's 'Envelope Index' SQLite database at Hawk Wings (If you're wondering what that file is all about, check out Hawk Wing's "What's in your Mail folder?" post). Forcing Mail.app to rebuild this file is as simple as quitting the app, browsing to your ~/Library/Mail/ folder and dragging out the file called 'Envelope Index' to your desktop (I'd recommend making a backup of your Mail support folder before attempting this. Don't say we didn't warn you). Start Mail.app back up and it will give you a message about re-importing or re-indexing all of your messages (sorry, I forgot to screencap the message), and depending on how many you have it could take a couple minutes. I have over 13,000 emails and it didn't take my G4 PowerBook long at all. My Envelope Index was over 300 MB before I started this, and after it was all said and done that file weighed in at less than 4 MB. Putting Mail.app on this kind of a weight loss program can seriously speed it up and generally improve its performance; no more clicking on a new message 10 minutes after Mail.app notified me about it only to be greeted by "this message has not been downloaded yet..." silliness.It is also worth mentioning that this tip is probably more of a troubleshooting technique than something you should work into your regular maintenance tasks. A commenter on this tip at Hawk Wings pointed out that this rebuilding operation nullifies a couple of mailbox settings. If you have set any specific IMAP mailboxes to be used for trash or junk, Mail.app will forget those settings after this rebuild. Still, I think the performance gain and all-around less-schizophrenic behavior of Mail.app was worth having to reset a couple of preferences.[UPDATE: Some commenters have pointed out that Mail also has a Rebuild option under the Mailbox menu (at least in Tiger). I tinkered with this on one of my 4 IMAP accounts and it seems to do the same trick with far less fuss. Thanks for the tip!]
"Electronic Board" displays messages on walls
If you're looking for a way to consolidate your messages without having to sit in front of a computer or pick up a phone, this prototype messaging system from Korea might do the trick. It apparently displays text, voice and video messages on a wall, and includes smart cards that can be used to send canned responses. Of course, it's probably part of some "smart home of the future" demo, which means it'll never be produced in Korea or anywhere else.
MailTags 1.2.1 available, 1.3 to feature IMAP syncing
Dave Caolo posted about MailTags last August, but in case you're unfamiliar: MailTags is a fantastic plugin for Mail.app that allows you to both tag your messages and create iCal todos right from within Mail. MailTags' abilities go far beyond simply adding a few keywords though; you can also set projects, categories and priorities for messages and use all this new metadata to create a far more robust organizational system than simply filing messages in a 'todo' folder. Once MailTags is installed, a whole new set of search and rule criteria (such as due date, project, keyword and more) are baked into Mail.app for running searches or creating Smart Mailboxes and rules. It's a pretty amazing plugin, and I urge you to check out Scott Morrison's Indev site for the full details on everything MailTags is capable of.While MailTags 1.2.1 issues a host of bugfixes but no serious new features, I found out about it from this Hawk Wings post in which Tin Gaden states that MailTags 1.3 will have a new feature many users have been wishing for: IMAP tag syncing. So if you use Mail.app and MailTags on more than one Mac, you can soon keep your tags, as well as (I'm hoping) projects and priorities all in sync.With all that said, go take MailTags for a spin. It's donationware, so show Scott some PayPal love for the hard work he's putting into this most excellent of plugins.
