Buzz: Thunderbird 2 is now out!

Posted by

4449-Thunderbird2

Thunderbird 2 is now available for release. If you have used TB1.5, it’s time to try out version 2.

I’m downloading it right now. Will report back.

In the meantime, here’s what it says on the download site!

Keep Your Vital Information Organized

Thunderbird 2 features many new enhancements to help you better manage your unruly inbox, and stay informed. Thunderbird 2 scales to the most sophisticated organizational needs while making it easy to find what you need.

Advanced Folder Views Thunderbird 2 offers a variety of ways for you to organize and display your folders, whether by favorites, recently viewed or folders containing unread messages. As always, you can also set up RSS and newsgroup folders to stay on top of news and your interests. Thunderbird 2 also allows you to maximize your message view pane by opting for a folder drop down menu instead of the traditional sidebar.
Message Tagging Thunderbird 2 allows you to “tag” messages with descriptors such as “To Do” or “Done” or even create your own tags that are specific to your needs. Tags can be combined with saved searches and mail views to make it easier to organize email.
Message History Navigation Thunderbird 2 offers message history navigation that allows you to click “forward” and “back” much like in your Web browser. You can now quickly toggle between messages and folder views.
Improved Search Thunderbird 2 features a find as you type pane that speeds up searches within displayed messages. Thunderbird also offers quick search, which starts showing search results as soon as you start typing in search terms.
Saved Searches Do you find yourself searching for the same subject or message content over and over? Thunderbird 2 saves you time by allowing you to store this search as a folder. Rerunning the search is just a matter of clicking on the saved search folder in the folder pane.
Stay Informed Thunderbird 2 has been updated to provide more informative and relevant message alerts containing sender, subject and message text for newly arrived messages. Folders provide a pop up summarizing new messages in that folder.
Easy Access to Popular Web Mail Services Thunderbird 2 makes it even easier to integrate and use various Web mail accounts from one inbox. Gmail and .Mac users can access their accounts in Thunderbird by simply providing their user names and passwords.

Insured or not? Find out about Life Insurance from LifeInsure.com

Posted by

lifeinsureLife Insurance, like most investment and insurance products these days, is inherently complex. On this blog, it has been something I don’t write much about because I really have no understanding about it!

My wife tends to handle most of the insurance related issues. So I was quite pleased when I was asked to write a short review of a website called LifeInsure.com which has posted basic information about the different types of insurance there are.

Lifeinsure.com starts with a long about page that provides a very good overview of Life Insurance in general, and some of the types of insurance including whole life, universal life, term life insurance, survivorship insurance and return of premium term . I was confused after reading that, not by the explanations, but rather by my pitiful lack of knowledge about my own Life Insurance. I’m not sure what kind of insurance I have, so I’m going to have to do a little research (by asking my wife!). In general, this is not an attitude I would encourage; but since my wife is the expert in that area (she used to sell for Aetna, no less), I tend to leave those worries to her.

There are some explanatory videos on the website, though they are just a little stilted *cough*. Still, if you prefer video to reading, they could be informative. The quote features are just a little obvious, but helpful. The privacy policy is quite detailed as well, as the quote forms sometimes require quite personal information. It is certainly be worth considering reading the privacy policy for yourself but it really is quite thorough.

Sponsored Post.

Buzz: M$ getting serious about the Developing World and Piracy?

Posted by

I just found this story. Finally, it looks like Microsoft is beginning to get the picture about how you can’t sell expensive OSes like Vista Premium to 3rd World or Developing World Countries.

Microsoft Plans $3 Suite for Emerging Markets as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is launching a global initiative to bring educational technology to the developing world.

It goes onto say what will be included: As part of the new plan, Microsoft will offer a US$3 software package called the Student Innovation Suite, which includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office and Windows Live Mail desktop.

BUT, and it’s a big ‘but’, it will only deal with governments and educational institutions. It’s not likely to be available on the street. You can read more about M$’s Unlimited Potential strategy here. Clearly, though, the pressure created by Linux, OLPC and some of the not-for-charity projects that are coming about are indeed putting pressure on M$ to do something. Also, the rampant piracy in some parts of the world is a problem in need of a solution.

Will this be enough? Comments, suggestions, and ideas? How would you tackle the problem?

If you like this blog, why not subscribe to our RSS feed. Or get our free email updates.