Welcome to the Geek Choice Blog

If you have not heard about this new word processor, then you have been missing out my friend, because Google Docs competes with Office and is completely online. There are so many benefits to this type of document platform that they are too many to write about in this blog. However, I will try to contain it in simple and easy terms that even a layman could lay down and understand.

The centerpiece of Google Docs is the collaboration feature that allows multiple people to look at a piece of writing and edit it simultaneously. I have used this tool I cannot count how many times, and it never fails to amaze me as well as save me. My editor could be across the country, yet by connecting via Gmail to the Google Docs folder, we can look at an article together like we were sitting next to each other. Technology shines light on how easy life can be with new tools which make working and writing much better.

Let’s say for example, that you are in the airport on your way to Wichita, Kansas for a big business meeting. On your laptop you have saved the big presentation, all on Google Docs, and there is not a cloud on the horizon. CRASH! No more presentation because the laptop is infested with a virus. What are you going to do? Head to the bar and drink your anger away? Get on the plane and have a breakdown and end up behind the bar? Or are you going to take a deep breath and realize that you are safe, with no fear because you can get onto the presentation from anywhere that has internet access! If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Android, there you go!

More great features include the auto-save and the organisation of Google Docs. When you are using an online application to write anything from school papers to business protocol, auto will save your life if the server goes down and freezes, making sure that data recovery is simple by saving all the time. As I write this blog, WordPress saves the document every minute, this action has literally saved my life and my blog a couple times when if I did not have this auto-save action? A lot of words would have been lost in cyber space this way, they are floating around out there when they should have been saved.

About organizing, Google Docs gives you a folder to share with others along with the ability to move folders and files to different locations. This is perfect for people who need to have things just so. Google Docs is perhaps the best way to write, save what you write, and to share what you write,  organize it all in a nice package, and live life easy.

I strongly recommend using Google Docs if you are a writer like me, or work in any business related to communicating with the outside world where editing and proofreading are essential to getting the job done. Amen.

In Google Docs We Trust.

If you’re a user of Google’s internet browser Chrome, their arguable answer to Mozilla’s Firefox (offering much of the same functionality and performance that places these two competing browser’s well ahead of Microsoft’s stagnant Internet Explorer), there’s a good chance you also use Gmail.

With Chrome now supporting extensions, a long overdue addition to its impressive features, we have a new extension that augments your Gmail experience. Called Better Gmail for Chrome, this is an unofficial extension that renders your use of the popular email service a bit more manageable.

After its installation, you’re ready to begin taking advantage of it. To access the extension’s features, click on the wrench and select Extensions -> Better Gmail Options. Looking at the list of options, simply click on those you’d like to toggle for activation. An upcoming update that includes support for POP3 Email is said to be on the horizon.

Those of us in the Geek Choice office have no real preference between Chrome and Firefox, finding both to be far preferable to Internet Explorer. If you have a favorite extension to use with either browser, feel free to share it with us!

Better Gmail for Chrome can be retrieved here.

While email has become the most popular method of communication in this digital age, it’s limited to the internet, requiring a working connection for the delivery of the messages you draft. Still, even in those times when the internet isn’t available, we’d like to be able to read our email and draft new messages in the interim.  The internet isn’t an infallible resource, all of us experiencing outages of service –  at work and home. 

Google just made their Gmail service available offline, a feature that had only existed in their Google Labs, the experimental hub of upcoming services tested out in a beta format. This is a great alternative for those instances when your internet connection isn’t available yet you still find yourself wanting to manage the email in your Gmail account.

When activated, Google downloads a local cache of your current email using Gears, the google service that augments the abilities of your web browser. Once your email has been captured, it remains accessible, no matter if your connection is available or offline. So long as your connection is working, the cache of your email will remain current.

In offline mode, your Gmail features remain available, allowing you to do just what you’d normally do when using the service online – without the ability to send messages, of course. For those messages you want to transmit, all you need to do is “send” them as usual, though they’ll occupy your “outbox” until a connection is available. It’s quite similar to how SMS texts are handled on your smartphone, where the unavailability of services sends your texts into a queue that is emptied upon restoration of service.

With it publically available, the steps required to activate this service are the following:

• Click the “settings” link in the top-right corner of Gmail
• Click the “Offline” tab.
• Select “Enable Offline Mail for this computer.”
• Click “Save Changes” and follow the directions from there.

For a demonstration of how this service, here’s a video that accompanied the Google Lab’s offering:

Because this is still relatively new, there are bound to be some quirks that haven’t yet been ironed out. If you ever have any questions, never hesitate to give us a ring.

With email now the most common means of staying in touch, we often find ourselves swamped by the volume of messages received within the day. At their computers, users are engaged in any number of activities, email being something that many prefer to check on only occasionally.

For most email accounts, checking on the receipt of a new message requires you to open a web browser and log into your account. But one email service has introduced a neat application  that makes it easier to keep track of new messages.

Fast on its way to becoming the most popular solution for free email, Google’s Gmail continues to be the beneficiary of new updates that enhance its functionality.One such addition to its impressive list of features is a tool that notifies you of new messages even when you’re logged out of your account.

Seamlessly running in the background, Gmail Notifier alerts you whenever a new message has been received.

Installation is quick and easy, taking only a few steps. Once it’s finished, you will be asked to select a language:

You will then be prompted to sign into your account.

After you’ve logged in, Gmail Notifier remains in the background, occupying only your taskbar.

Right-clicking on the icon will bring up a list of options.

For instance, when selecting preferences, you can configure how you would like the tool to notify you.

Providing much of the same functionality you’ll find when logged into your actual account, the notifier allows you to manage your email  — read message, delete message, mark as read, etc.

Coming from the ingenious minds at Google, Gmail Notifier is a convenient and free tool that mitigates what can become an annoying routine.

Download it here!