Shortcut Keys BlackBerry Gmail Client

Posted on August 5, 2009 by jrobb

I recently switched my email client from Outlook to Gmail. As part of that move I set up forward to my old email addresses that now send those messages directly to my Gmail address and my BlackBerry address. In doing so I now get my email much faster as Gmail and BlackBerry don’t have to poll my accounts. An unintended consequence of this is that I’m now getting more spam on my BlackBerry. Gmail has better filters and is catching the spam.

To reduce the noise created by all these spam messages I’ve switched to using the BlackBerry Gmail client. Gmail for the BlackBerry doesn’t poll for mail very often which is a bit of a negative but then who really needs mail faster then every five minutes? I can always hit the refresh button if I need the mail sooner.

To make my life easier I thought I’d look up some shortcut keys for the BlackBerry Gmail client. Turns out the only shortcuts I could find were for the Gmail desktop client. There is some overlap with these keys but there are many ommissions. I’ve compiled the following list of shortcut keys that worked on my BlackBerry Gmail client.

Feel free to leave comments if I left any out.

Gmail Shortcut keys from the inbox:

o – open
t – top of inbox
b – bottom of inbox
j – moves to older message
k – moves to newer item
m – mutes a conversation (bypasses the inbox)
c – compose new message
s – add remove star to message

Dangerous Shortcuts – Using these keys will remove messages from your Inbox. The only saving grace is that they messages are still in your Gmail account which means you can retreive them from a desktop.

d – deletes message without confirmation
y- moves messages to the archive

Shortcut keys from a message:

u- returns to inbox
i – returns to inbox
n – moves to next message in conversation
p – moves to previous message in conversation
t – top of conversation
b – bottom of conversation

Follow this link for the list of desktop Gmail client shortcut keys

Google Latitude Is Not Creepy

Posted on April 24, 2009 by jrobb

I recently installed Google Latitude on my Blackberry. My wife thought that the fact that people can now follow me in real-time was very creepy. She already thinks that Twitter is a bit like stalking. I decided to ask my Twitter followers (this includes anyone that reads my status updates in various other locations) if they thought it was creepy. I received five responses to my tweet: Google Latitude Cool or Creepy? All responders said it was creepy yet none of them actually use Google Latitude so their opinion is not based on the practical application of the technology. It is clear that the notion of someone, anyone, being able to see where you are unnerves a certain portion of the population.

As a user of Gooble Latitude I don’t think it’s Creepy because:

only people you invite get to see your location
you can turn it off at any time
you can turn off or limit by user (exact location, city level only, or no location)
you can “specify” a location.

Could this technology be abused, absolutely. Any technology is only as benign as the person using it. Look at email. It’s a great technology but I’m sure there is more than a little hate out there for spammers!

My take on Google Latitude is that it’s worth a look. You can sort out for yourself whether you think it’s creepy or not.

What do you think, creepy or cool? Leave your comments below.

[update] This post has been edited for clarity.

5 Tips for Better Voice Messages

Posted on April 8, 2009 by jrobb

First off – voicemail is so twentieth century. My email address is easy to find yet people insist on leaving me voicemail. Oh well. I have nothing against talking to people it’s just that email is so much more efficient for leaving messages. john@johnarobb.com in case you needed it

I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to using the phone. I may have call display but you won’t know it. The only thing call display tells me is what phone is calling, not who is calling. Too many people assume the latter. That’s just one of the things i’m particular about. The other is voicemail messages. I spent 15 years in sales. I’ve left lots of voice messages over ther years. Here are my five tips to help you leave better voicemail messages. Or think of this post as an easy way for you to share tips with those people you wish would leave you better voicemail messages.

Speak slowly and enunciate. It is not a race. You are leaving me a message because you would like me to know or do something. Don’t make it hard for me to help you.
Tell me who is calling at the beginning of the message and at the end. Say it at the beginning so I know not to delete your message and then at the end when i’m writing your phone number down. Can you see why email is much better?
Leave your number even if you think the person already has it on file. This is doubly important if you actually want a call back. If he purpose of your call is to have someone call you back then why make them look up your number? And when you leave me your number pretend you are learning it for the fist time. That’s the speed I want to you give it to me at. So many callers have uttered their phone number so many times they forget it might be the first time I’m hearing it.
Tell me why you are calling. I’ll warn you right now, if all you do is leave me your name and number you’ve only got a 50/50 shot of ever hearing back from me. Don’t waste my time and yours with phone tag. If I know why you called perhaps I can leave the answer on your voicemail when I return your call.
Dates and times. Tell me when you called and when would be a good time to call you back. I prefer email so I don’t always get to voicemails right away. Some information is time sensitive. Your location might be time sensitive. Help me help you by telling me when you called and when I should call you back.

You can see from the tips above that what I’m suggest is the basic: who, what, where, when and why. It’s a simple idea. I’m sure these tips don’t apply to you. They most likely apply to your friends and family. Feel free to send them the URL to this page so that perhaps they can get a clue!

Less is Definately More

Posted on March 9, 2009 by jrobb

Many years ago I studied to be a photographer. It was a passion of mine and I thought I was pretty good. I’m not sure how good I was but during my studies I did learn that in many cases less is more. I’ve carried that theme into all areas of my life especially in the work I do online.

I cam across a post today that I found incredibly helpful while at the same time the model of simplicity. The post was a review of the book Pentagram Marks, a book about logos. The post is basically a series of pictures of the pages inside the book. Not all the pages just a few to give you an idea of what’s inside. ”never judge a book by the cover ”

The pictures were simple. They were lit with light from the window which gives a pleasing soft light. What I found interesting about these pictures is was the inclusion of the hand holding the pages open. Right away this gives the viewer a sense of reality. This was a post by a PERSON.

The post was about a visual medium so pictures made sense. Instead of just grabbing shots of the logos the pictures “felt” like a review of the book and not an exposition of the logos.

I was impressed.

Scottish Tablet Recipe (with pictures)

Posted on February 2, 2009 by jrobb

It was Robert Burn’s 250 birth day last week. True he isn’t alive but us Scots like to keep his memory alive. The celebrations got me thinking about a treat my mum used to make called tablet. Most Canadians call it fudge but it isn’t fudge. Tablet is basically and excuse for eating pure sugar. You will not lose weight eating tablet!

Before you undertake to make tablet you must heed this: It takes time and you must be vigilent! It takes about an hour to make tablet or maybe a bit longer and it requires you to stir the pot the entire time. You can’t make it in a hurry or you will spoil it. Burnt tablet is not good.

One more warning: you are boiling sugar. It gets VERY hot. No matter how good the tablet tastes during the cooking DO NOT stick your finger in the mixture. The way my mum tested the tablet was to drop some in a glass or bowl of water. Kids will love the treat but keep them away from the stove. I can’t tell you how many times I did not heed this advice to my detriment.

Ingredients for Scottish Tablet

Tablet Ingredients

1kg white granulated sugar
1 tin (appx. 400g) sweetened condensed milk
100g unsalted butter (must be unsalted)
1 cup of milk (you can substitute water but why bother?)
1 teaspoon of vanila extract (optional)

Equipment Required to cook Tablet

large pan, not non-stick
big wooden spoon
large shallow baking tray

It doesn’t take much does it.

Tablet Cooking Directions

Grease the cookie sheet, do it now as you won’t have time when you need it
Add the sugar to the pot and damp it down with the cup of milk
Now add in the condensed milk and butter
Bring the mixture to a boil on medium high heat
Keep stirring, and don’t stop!
Everything starts out white, over time it will turn a carmel color. It is this color that tells you when it is ready
If you get dark patches you have burnt the mixture. You can tolerate a little of this but not much.

Scottish Tablet Color Change

once the mixture boils, in about 10 mins, you can turn the heat down
keep stirring
watch for color changes

after about 15 minutes on low heat the color change should be readily apparent
somewhere around 20-30 minutes of stirring will get you close to cooked
you are looking for that all important carmel color
be careful not to burn it

If you’ve had tablet before now is the time to taste it, if you haven’t already
this is when I add the vanilla extract
If the color has changed and the taste is right pour it in to the greased cookie sheet

Finished Scottish Tablet

spread as evenly as you can
once it’s set a little bit you can mark the top
try marking one inch by one inch squares ( I tend to make my squares too big and regret it later)
let the tablet cool, if you can wait that long
put a tea towel over the cookie sheet and flip it upside down, hopefully the table will fall out

You now have delicious tablet like my mother used to make!

John A Robb

Husband, Dad, Internet Consultant

Category Archives: Tips