Google Offers Gmail Invites to Random Visitors

Google has started giving out Gmail invites randomly on their homepage. I read about this earlier from InsideGoogle and Google Blogoscoped, but today I finally saw it for myself. When you click on the link to create a gmail account there is a message above the form and part of it reads:
“As we make room for more Gmail users, we want to first extend invitations to Google users. We’re still working to make Gmail better, so for now, we’re just inviting a small number at random. Looks like that’s you! We’re really excited to share Gmail with you and we hope you like it. Hear what others are saying “

Gmail down

Well it seems like Gmail is down. Visiting Gmail brings up a page that says “The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.” That has been showing for at least the past few minutes. This happens in Firefox, but I also tried logging in from IE and used Google’s language translation to see if the page was working elsewhere on the web. The error message is a pretty nasty one (giving no reasons for the error) and I hope I don’t lose any incoming email. I also hope Gmail comes back up soon.

It seems that Gmail’s pop3 access is still working, but I’ve had problems with it before and still do. And if you haven’t enabled it you won’t be able to use pop3 until you can get into your web-based Gmail settings.

Edit: Gmail is back up half an hour after the post was made.

Gmail invites to the waiting public

Those who signed up for notifications on Gmail updates since April 1st 2004 now received an invite from Google. And people with Gmail accounts have 50 invites to give out.
(from Google Blogoscoped)

Use the Gmail invite spooler if you need an invite.

Is Gmail coming out of beta by December?

I was reading Google Blogoscoped and Philipp had a post about a new Google book coming out that details the trials and tribulations of the young company and looks pretty interesting. So then I got to thinking about what other Google books are out there.

I searched Amazon and found a book called Google Gmail : Visual QuickStart Guide. Some of the information there is interesting to note such as: “Simon was a beta tester of the service before public release.” The book product description also says “Google’s brand-new Gmail service” while the service has been in beta since April 2004. And why would a publisher release a book that details how to use a service that is in beta and only available to people who get invited? The book is set to be published on December 2, 2005.

I am predicting based on the above information that Gmail will be publicly released by that date or earlier. Lets see if I’m right or not.

Gmail Invites Get Smarter

Gmail has again changed the way they display how many invites you have available. This is by far the best change so far to the invite system. I am now seeing a box underneath my labels that has how many invites I have left. One of the greatest things about it is there is a box where you can enter an email address right there and (now this is the really cool part) it works just like when sending an email! It gives you options of people in your contacts to send the Gmail invite to. You can also preview the invite with a link that then opens the window where you authorize the sending of the invite, or you can just click the “Send Invite” button. Also, you can click the little arrow in the top of the box to hide the options and the invites stay out of the way but are still easy to find. I don’t know if this feature has gone out to everyone yet, but it is by far the most intelligent and unobtrusive method for displaying Gmail invites.

Gmail and Encryption

There are many programs and scripts that work with Gmail, but what about a web-based method of encrypting and decrypting messages? Sure you could access Gmail through pop3 and have an encryption program like PGP installed and working with an email client like Thunderbird. But what about a method that would work from any computer? What I envision is a Firefox extension that can encrypt and decrypt text on-the-fly. It can also connect to a server or website that stores public-keys for various email users. Private-keys would be encrypted somewhere safe, such as a personal website. Then the extension could grab the private-key, decrypt it when you enter your passcode that was used to encrypt the key, and then decrypt messages right inside Gmail or a new window (some method that would be secure).

Now it would be great if Gmail offered encryption built right in, but they won’t. This might even violate some obscure term of service because you would be encrypting messages and therefore Google would not be able to insert relevant AdWords into your messages. I am also not sure how feasible it is to encrypt and decrypt the messages. If it is done in the browser itself it shouldn’t be too hard because you don’t actually have to get into Gmail but rather analyze webpage content and be able to modify form data.

Now this could all be made much easier by finding a simpler method of encryption and using that method with a select group of people. In that case an extension would encrypt text and refill the compose mail form with that encrypted text. And when you receive encrypted emails the extension would pop-up a window with the decrypted version of that text. This would be done client-side and therefore as secure as the computer you are on is.

Gmail Atom Feed

I had heard about this a few weeks/months ago, but I only now noticed the little feed icon in Firefox. My Gmail account now has a feed with my new emails. The link to the feed is https://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom. It has the new email’s subject, a summary of the message, date modified, date issued, an id, and the author’s name and email. This would make it much easier to create scripts that check for email, as long as the script has a method of logging into gmail.

is that a ballot in your pocket?

This guy knows how to drive cross-country really fast while cool music plays. Now that a Gmail security hole was fixed, do you want to give Gmail a new look? Make cool buttons for your site or signature.

Don’t forget to vote.