Gmail down?

Already more than 15mn that gmail is not responding.

Apparently I'm not the only one: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23gmail+OR+Gmail

Update:

I think that there are many people affected: 

http://digg.com/software/Gmail_Down_12

http://www.google.com/search?q=gmail+down

Another Gmail issue - Import contacts

Sometimes I am wondering how bugs like that could slip through Google's nets.
While trying to switch gmail accounts, I tried to export my contacts from one account in order to export them onto the other one.

It just doesn't work the message I get is:


Oops. An unknown error occured while importing your contacts.


Come on Google do something here.

My gmail account is locked down!@!

Google is going crazy on me. While I was normally trying to send an email by clicking on "compose" in gmail, I got locked out of gmail and got this ugly message: "Your account is locked down because of suspected unusual activity"

Google says:
Unusual account activity includes, but is not limited to:

1. Receiving, deleting, or downloading large amounts of mail via POP in a short period of time.
2. Sending a large number of undeliverable messages (messages that bounce back).
3. Using file-sharing or file-storage software, browser extensions, or third party software that automatically logs in to your account.
4. Leaving multiple instances of your Gmail account open.
5. Browser-related issues. Please note that if you find your browser continually reloading while attempting to access your Inbox, it’s probably a browser issue, and it may be necessary to clear your browser’s cache and cookies.

I am sometimes doing number 4 - That is using gmail on several browsers, but I was not doing this this morning.

This is a serious issue as I am incapacitated without my email, docs, address book, etc. Nobody to speak to at Google. Any idea, suggestion?

Luckily my Blogger account is not locked down.

*UPDATE* - Google unlocked my account after a couple of hours. I got scared and started thinking of a plan B. No harm done this time.

Searching attachments in Gmail

I have been wondering this for about a year now, my answer to myself has always been: "They are probably working on it and by the time you blog about it it will be avalaible for all."

Well, it's been over a year now and it still is not available yet; so here it is:

Why can't I search my attachments from withing Gmail??

I mean, if somebody sends me an attachment in an email, there is no way for me to search within this attachment that I know of. The only workaround I found so far is to import the attachment to Google docs and then it becomes searchable from within Google docs. But I mean this is really cumbersome.

Isn't Google supposed to organize the world's information and make it accessible and useful? How about my own information?

Twitter is cool

So here's what I think about Twitter - I think it is a great broadcasting tool !
I've seen several uses of twitter in various blogs already, but I think that what it boils down to for me is that with Twitter I am able to broadcast a short message to my "followers" -

These followers are for example all the people I work with and who need to:

• know how to reach me
• ask or answer questions

For example, if I am stuck with a technical question such as "How do I configure lighttpd with multiple sites?" instead of asking several of my friends separately, I can broadcast this on my twitter and whoever knows and is available this day can pick it up and answer.

The second best use of twitter is the "Message of the Day" or "Status message" that is currently available in most IM tools. I think this is a cool use but I am not sure this is sustainable until they have an automatic update from my IM. For example if I am away or in a meeting.

What I like most about Twitter: I like the gtalk integration. I don't need to go to twitter site in order to either update my message or get updates from the people I follow. Kudos to the twitter team for this feature!!

What I want from Twitter: I'd like to be able to have several groups of followers (in a way multiple accounts). I'd like to have a group of technical people following me, a family group and maybe a friends group and a co-worker group. Please do that for me and you'll be my favorite tool.

Here's my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/FrankieMbaye

The bar is too high !!

Come on Gmail guys remove the "BETA" sign from the logo. This is really making hard on other software to go out of Beta.
I mean gmail successfully serves millions of users everyday, never (that I know of) has been broken off, (almost) always on, fast, reliable. Gmail is now available to everybody, no more invitation required. Nevertheless Gmail is still in Beta. I know a lot of software who would be lucky to be as reliable as gmail in production.

So please, gmail guys, do us a favor and remove the small Beta sign near the gmail logo.