Gmail Quick Fix

 Emails should be straightforward to use. Sometimes there are simple things that can be annoying. They are not a major catastrophe but thinking that it is so simple but can't do anything about it can be super irritating. 

1. The Left Sidebar is Collapsed.

How? I did not know what happened. What I remember is I was replying to an email and clicked compose, then the uncalled action of the site unfurled the menu. 

Solution: 

Click the 'three-lines' before the gmail logo and it will restore the left sidebar to its original state.

2. Archive problem. 

 

I personally don't know the use of 'archive' and I usually mistake this as a 'move to folder' function. Both have similar looks, the only difference is the arrow sign in each icon.

When this happens, I no longer know where the archived email goes. A search on google says, it is in the 'All Mails' folder at the left side bar. 

Looking for the 'All Mails' folder is a pain, it is not there at the left sidebar  straight away. You need to scroll further down until you reach 'more' (arrow down sign). The 'All Mail' folder will show when you click the sign.

3. Archive or Move To?

When tidying up emails, I'd rather use 'Move To' than 'Archive'.  Why?

It is easier to access when it is just 'Moved To' a folder than 'Archive'. In 'Move To', it goes straight away in a folder you create. Just click the corresponding folder when you want to access it.

In 'Archive', to access it, make the 'All Mail' appear, click on the archived email to open it, then click 'Move To' button to move it to the Inbox (the 'Move to Button' is set to Inbox already whilst in the 'All Mail' mode). More complicated!

The Digital Companion

Click to get 40% Off on Echodot

When the kids all grown up and flown out of the nest, it is eerie to miss their unending questioning, their untidied beds, loud music and unwashed plates in the sink. When everything seems faultless but lifeless atmosphere inside the house, that's the time that you realise that noise is better than silence. It doesn't matter if you'll hear the same questions and complaints over and over again, as long as somebody will answer back when you talk.

Not more expensive than your children's perks, an artificial intelligence gadget can fill the gap between silence and being socially alive. 

A smart speaker can be fun and can deliver a verbal companionship of a thousand geniuses. It knows the answer to almost all of your questions and can play your favourite music. It can also play the music of your children if you know their title or just say it clearly, "music for teenagers in the 90's." Though it can't help you to wash the dishes, it can order a dishwasher for you, or any dish you like from your favourite takeaway. If only Alexa can help you to fold the laundry, but it can play folding the clothes music for you. You'll be surprised there's a music for clothes' chores. It can do many digital things to keep you busy and not to get bored. 

I just wish that there is an adjustment of intelligence of its artificial brain to mimic a 3 year old or an unbearably dumb personality to make life more challenging! 

The Cloud and the Chromebook

See popular
Chromebook products

It looks like everything is going to the 'cloud'. Mails, CD's, DVD's, programs, apps and money are all successfully converted into their virtual existence. Their physical reality is already optional. Who wants real money anyway, when it can be lost or stolen by physical means? I still do, but the transactions surrounding real money can be a pain with counterfeits and human error. The digital form of things brings convenience and eliminates human mistakes. Or is it just an excuse to justify man's impunity?

Cloud computing has been around for years. It drove prices down like laptops. Programs, applications and security are now in one place. There's no more need for physical discs and disc drives or the need of configuring if it is compatible with your device. It reduced the size and weight of the device and also improved the performance of the supplied batteries. Devices can now last for 8 hours or more, as there are less components to spend power to. It's all looking up at this point.

The highway that brought us to the cloud is the high speed wireless internet connection. Combined with its broader road capacity that can contain and deliver megabytes of data per second. This makes the modest device capable of doing more than it used to using physical drives and applications stored locally. With this, the companies can make devices that are fast, secure and cheaper than ever. Good for the consumers.

Chromebook, an all cloud computing solution is gaining ground where Windows and iOS are kings. Although it is still a David compared to the two Goliaths, its popularity grew among the students and to  those who are on a budget. Its low cost should not grow a doubt on its performance and robustness. It is less stressful to the users as they no longer need to buy this application and to add that security. As the apps are in the cloud, once they are updated, the Chromebook uses the updated version straight away. Unless the apps are from third parties or they are downloaded and installed as an app or as an extension in the Chrome browser that may need manual updates.

As google owns Chrome OS and also owns Android OS there might come to a point that the two operating systems unify and take further foothold to the laptop sector. Big names in computing are also making premium versions ready to compete with the big brands.

Watch how to use Chromebook for the first time.

How to Reduce Image File Size in Chromebook

 I use free blogging flat forms so this means I have restricted data storage. I need to chop every file into its smallest possible size. Not to mention that I use Chromebook, limited on storage and application resources, unless you do not have a limited pocket to buy cloud storage or other physical memory drive.

I use the Chromebooks' native application "gallery" to reduce a picture file size. Just click on the photo you intend to reduce in size and it should be loaded automatically to the application. 

In this example, I am going to reduce the file size of "walking with a stick" with 2.5MB size into a manageable chunk for my blog.

At the "gallery" click the "re-scale" button to show the width and the height.

Make sure that the height and width ratio is locked before you change the numeral values. When finished, use "save as" if you want to keep the original photo on your computer, otherwise just "save" the image.

From 2.5MB, the image is reduced to 288kb. The image is easier to upload and it makes my blogs' limited storage to accept more files.