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Archive for June, 2011

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First time Gmail User? Check out these Tips & Tricks

Gmail is one of the best email systems , far superior in features and maintenance than an exchange server or other mail provider.

You can set up a free gmail account, or you can use it for your business and have a personalised email account such as [email protected] – For more information on this, please visit Phaser Computers

Here is some of the best tips i can reccomend you from my experiences from using Gmail in the past 7 years.

1. Consolidate Your Email Accounts

One of the best things about Gmail is that it can be your only login for all your email! You can import all your other email accounts, and send from multiple email addresses from the one system.

Goto Settings. Then select the Accounts & Import Tool, and follow the instructions.

2. Use the Search

I can not plug this enough. Gmail has instant search. This has some great advantages. Treat your gmail inbox as a todo list. If an email is information, and does not need attending to, ARCHIVE it. If it needs a reply or research before you reply, keep it there, when you reply and it is “finished”, archive it.

When you need some of those “information” emails that you archived, simply search by subject, sender or keywords… its so fast! Its all you need.

3. Gets Your labels & Filters Cranking.

Just like outlook, Gmail has folders, and auto filtering. Folders can be also good for colouring different mail for todo lists or organisation. Labels = Folders. Filters = Mail Rules

Some examples of how you would use labels and filters:
EG1. You want to get facebook emails, because some people just delete those comments and you never see them again, but you dont want it cluttering your inbox. Set a Filter to tag all emails to a folder called facebook, but archive it (skip the inbox) – Then when you want to check, just click the folder.
EG2. You run multiple business’s from the one gmail system. Set a filter to make all incoming email [email protected] to be labelled Business 1, and one for [email protected]. Then set 2 different colours for the labels. Now you can distinguish between emails from different business’s
EG3. Your a freelance Designer. You can label different emails as different jobs and keep track of where your up to.

4. Turn on Gmail labs.

Not many people know about Gmail labs. But there’s heaps of extra features in there!

  1. Goto Settings.
  2. Click the Labs Tab.
  3. Go through the list, and click enable to the labs you want and then save settings. (Gmail will restart)

The top 5 Gmail labs in my opinion –

1. Background Send – Gmail send your mail while you move on to more important things. Just be sure to stay logged in until it’s all sent!
2. Send & Archive – Adds a button to the compose form that lets you send a reply message and archive the email conversation in a single action.
3. Undo Send – Oops, hit “Send” too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.
4. Right-side chat – Move the chat box to the right side of the inbox so you can actually see your contact list better!
5. Message Sneak Peek – Sneak into a conversation without opening it by right-clicking on a message in your inbox.

5. Get a Theme

Plain old gmail is fine, but spice it up a little with a background! Goto settings, then themes, and select one.

6. Random Tips.

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The Most Useful Best Android Apps 2011

Last year i posted a list of great Android apps since i changed over from an iPhone.

Here’s an updated list of my current apps. I haven’t compiled a top 10 list, but have a look at the top 10 apps from the previous article here.

Amazon Kindle – Digital Books
Angry Birds – Awesome game
Angry Birds – Awesome game
Angry Birds – Awesome game
Backup to Gmail – Backs up all your SMS/mms/calls to your gmail
Beautiful Widgets – Good looking time and weather widget
Bible – Best Bible App resource
Chrome to Phone – Send links or a page from your chrome browser straight to your phone
Docs – Google document on your phone
ESV Bible – Fastest Bible app
Facebook – Facebook…
FireFlies Live Wallpaper – Sweet wallpaper
Fruit Ninja – Awesome game
Handcent SMS – Best SMS application ever. Disable your default one and use this
LauncherPro – This is the best android launcher in my opinion
Lookout – Locate your phone via GPS coordinates or make it ‘scream’ if you have lost it in the couch
Paper Toss – Awesome Game
Pure calendar widget – The best calendar widget
Quota – Good app for seeing how much usage you have used on your ISP or mobile. supports nearly every provider
RunKeeper – Awesome fitness app to see how far you have run
Schedalls – schedule SMS to automatically send at a specific time and repeat
Screen Filter – Makes your phone go dimmer to extreme levels to save battery
ShareMyApps – This app collates all your apps and helps share/email them all to your friends
Shazam – Can tell you what songs on the radio are
Skype – Great for calling on data or chatting on skype
Skyrocket Live Wallpaper – Awesome wallpaper that has realistic fireworks show!
SMS2PC – My most used app. if your in front of your computer alot, this makes your phone like a chat client. you can reply to SMS from.a chat screen on your computer.
SMSBomber – Can spam your friends with sms
Titanium Backup – Backs up your whole phone
TripView – Shows all the bus/train timetables
Unblock Me Free – Awesome game
Virgin Usage Meter – Shows virgin mobile usage
Wunderlist – Great to do list
Zedge – Download free ringtones and wallpapers

Articles

Myth: Christians Can’t Do Anything Wrong

Context: The Church I attend, EV Church, speaks at lunchtime groups around high schools on the central coast. Recently we have been telling kids, as Christians, what we arn’t saying, and trying to show them that there is alot of stuff that gives Christians bad raps, that isn’t true, or has been twisted.
I gave this talk one afternoon, (has slightly been altered) on the subject of  “What we’re not saying – Christians cant do anything wrong”

G’day guys!

Who surfs here?? Alot of Mum’s attempt to surf, maybe your mum has tried.  Most mum’s however, keep trying, but they keep falling down. Theres these things in life, that seem impossible, and you think why bother?

I was having a conversation with my sister a while back, and I asked her why she didnt come to church anymore. Her response was something along the lines of  “I don’t want to do all those good things Christians do, it is to hard to do everything right.”

Alot of people think this. They don’t want to become a Christian because they know they are not going to stop doing bad stuff and they don’t want to be a hypocrite. That’s exactly what my sister thought.

That’s why you need to understand what we’re not saying. We’re not saying Christians can’t do anything wrong.

We ALL have fallen down.  We ALL do bad stuff, and we WILL keep doing it. EVERYONE knows that.
That’s why we need a saviour, we need Jesus to save us.

If you want to go to heaven without Jesus, all you need to do is live a perfect life, never do anything wrong.
But see this fat part of the bible. “Show OLD TESTEMENT” – This whole part, before Jesus came, is about people trying to just that. Trying to obey Gods law perfectly. And you know what? EVERY single person, failed.

Thats why Jesus came!

If you trust in Jesus to save you, he brings you back to God, like you’ve never stuffed up, or fallen down.

I was at Wamberal beach with my mate Andy when the surf was MASSIVE. The sign said no swimming, but we decided to go out anyway. Huge waves crashing on us, we got straight in a rip, honestly, we both thought we were going to die.

Now imagine a lifeguard had come out, and dragged me back into shore. Threw me on the sand. Then he collapsed from exhaustion, and before my eyes, was dragged back into the water and drowned – His last breath, he says “don’t do that again”.

Would you want to do it again? OF COURSE NOT!

When Jesus saves you, you want to do what he says. You will try to do what he says. That’s what the piece of paper in front of you says. 1 John 2:1 “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin”. When Jesus saves you, you will want to try to do what he says.

But you will stuff it. Your not perfect. I know from experience – but it also says in that next sentence on the piece of paper. “But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.”

Jesus says to God, it’s ok. I died to save that person. He’s forgiven.
Your stoked that Jesus would love you, even though you stuff it, so you get back up, and try to follow him again. And you stuff it again. And he forgives you. And you try again. And you stuff it again. And he forgives you.

Your sooooooo stoked. Because he keeps forgiving you.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean you can’t do anything wrong. It means you KNOW you HAVE done stuff wrong, but you know you’re saved by Jesus, and so you try to follow him, and you know that if you do the wrong thing, he forgives you, and it’s ok.

Questions for Discussion:

  • Why do you think people think Christians cant do anything wrong.
  • Whats so special about Jesus dying for us, why couldn’t Jo blog die to save my sins?