So when I realized how to see just messages with attachments it was like a light went off in my head. Know you search operators!

To see messages with attachments search for has:attachment. You can search for specific file types like this: filename:pdf. That will give you a list of all the messages with pdfs attached.

There are a bunch of other operators such as in (in:inbox, in:trash, in:spam), is (is:starred, is:unread, is:read), and date operators (after:2004/04/16, before:2004/04/18).

See the complete list in Gmail Help.

It’s in Beta, but whatever, it’s Google.

Ordinarily you’re sending your search requests out in the clear.  This way your request (the term you search on) is sent to google via a secure channel, and the results from google are returned on that same channel.

I could have just said it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. But two things happened - I got a Nexus One, and I saw people raving about LastPass. LastPass doesn’t do the bookmark syncing, but it does offer an Android app with the paid version. And bookmarks are so 90s. They’re rarely useful. And besides, Chrome, my current browser of choice, automatically syncs my bookmarks to my Google Docs account. I was really using Xmarks for the password syncing.

Now I’m not going to do the feature vs feature breakdown with charts and graphs that the title may have implied. I’m just going to describe the two experiences:

Xmarks - Create your account, install the software, surf the web. It imports the saved passwords in your browser and remembers new ones you use. It syncs automatically with their server. Browsers on other computers you use (or other browsers on the same machine) automatically stay in sync. After a couple of weeks of using Xmarks you forget about it, and it just becomes part of how surfing the web works. You can view your bookmarks by signing in to their website from any browser.

LastPass - Create your account, install the software, try to surf the web. It imports (and wipes out) the passwords in your browser. When you go to a site that requires a log in you get two weird options – AutoFill and AutoLogin. Try all the options listed under each and eventually sometimes one of them turns out the be your credentials for that site. You’re in! Unless of course none of those worked. In that case you get temporarily redirected to a form on a separate page that asks about dozen questions about that particular site / login. Most are optional. Instead of staying out of your way and working behind the scenes, LastPass is constantly in your face. About 25% of the time I end up having to log in without it. And lastly, if you lose your LastPass password you are SCREWED. There’s no recovery.

End result – LastPass uninstalled. I’m back to Xmarks. All is good with the world again.

Here’s how I’m looking at the US Grappling site now:

www.usgrappling.us in Chrome

www.usgrappling.us in Firefox

www.usgrappling.us in IE

www.usgrappling.us in Opera

www.usgrappling.us in Safari

Seem like overkill? Consider this: on the PC I use 90% of the time I didn’t have Internet Explorer installed. According to our Analytics 48% our visitors are using Internet Explorer. I didn’t know it until I happened to see the site in IE, but our shopping cart does not work in IE. I’m still trying to fix it. I have no idea how long this has been a problem, or how many sales we missed.

BJJ Vid

But in a way this is also demonstrating a shortcoming in the technology behind these ads. Google displays ads relevant to the content you’re reading. It’s the first step on the road toward true customized ads for each individual, à la Minority Report. Shouldn’t Google know I already own an N1, and use that space more effectively?

All these ads got me thinking about Google’s advantage in the marketplace trying to promote a product like this. Motorola has spent piles and piles of money advertising the Droid on TV, the web, on billboards, and probably in print. How much has Google spent on all these N1 ads, considering they own the advertising delivery network?

It’s a good thing they aren’t evil!

But I’m pretty sure nobody at Google had to order a Nexus One through their site. Right now that’s the only way to get one. If you go to a T-Mo store or the T-Mo website they will pretend they’ve never heard of the Nexus One.

First of all I could only get the order form to work in Google’s own web browser, Chrome.  I tried FireFox and IE from 3 different computers, 3 different networks, 2 different operating systems, on two days a week apart.

That alone is enough to label the ordering process a FAIL. But there were other issues. They didn’t seem to recognize Virginia as a state, even though I selected it from their dropdown box.  Maybe it’s because we’re a Commonwealth. That error blanked out a bunch of fields, so I ended up entering my SSN, driver license number, and a few other things several times before it decided Virginia was in fact a state.

After you complete that form and check out with Google Checkout… well, it’s not clear what happens after that. It says I’ve been accepted, but they mean they are able to port my number.  Why wouldn’t they be able to port my number? Doesn’t T-mobile do a credit check and approve or deny the account? It’s all unclear. There’s only one plan from T-Mobile, and they don’t tell you much about it.  Having completed the order form and agreeing to a couple of pages of Terms and Conditions, I’m done. I guess.

And this wasn’t just a one time thing – this was the process for all THREE Nexus Ones I ordered.

I already have more inboxes than I can count, and this is another one.  Just with Google I have what amounts to an inbox for Gmail, Voice, Wave, Docs, Reader, Orkut, YouTube, AdWords, AdSense, Analytics, Calendar, and now Buzz.  I could spend the first half of each day managing google inboxes.

Now, where’s that FedEx truck? I want my Nexus One!

I don’t really know what AdBlock does, other than what I can gather from the name.

I’ll probably be removing AVG soon because I’m thinking of switching to Microsoft Security Essentials on my Windows machines.

I used Firebug once.

I like the Xmarks password syncing, but I’m not a big bookmarker.  I don’t think anyone really uses bookmarks.

I don’t seem to need plug ins at all.

And then there’s the problem of www.paypa1.com.  Looks like PayPal to a cursory view.  But it’s a number one.  And so we have to explain to them, okay, that’s not the same. So look carefully, make sure every letter is what you expect, not something that looks similar. Oh, and by the way, www.paypal.ru, that’s bad, too. You know, there is no PayPal in Russia. You can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to have a bad experience if you go to PayPal.ru. So then we have to explain to them that the com is important. But then the next thing over, the second level domain name, is really where you’re going. Except there’s Amazon.co.uk. That’s good. But BofA.co.uk, oh, that’s bad. So, I mean, think about how incredibly confusing the knowledge of how to parse a URL … and another favorite of mine is if we tell them that you have to read from the right to the left because of course URLs, you know, we have com as the top level domain, and then the second level domain is where you’re going. So, for example, we explain that www.paypal.com.drevil.com… that’s bad, too, because that’s really DrEvil.com, and it’s a machine down the tree from him… And then – I’ll wrap this up. Because if then they’re presented with www.drevil.com/www.paypal.com, now they’re thinking, oh, good… It’s fine because it’s PayPal.com on the right. But no, that’s behind a slash, so that’s a directory of DrEvil.com, and you’re in trouble… I mean, there’s so many ways this can be wrong.