Andi Fasimpaur sends along this recommendation:
The newest version of Firefox includes a spell checker which will highlight misspelled words in any field on the web. Since spelling errors can often undermine the professional image that we’re trying to put forward when we post online (whether in a blog, email correspondence, or forum postings), anything that simplifies spell checking the content you generate has got to be a good thing. (You can even customize the dictionary by adding words that aren’t in the standard dictionary so that you can catch typos on "non-standard" terms… e.g. giclée, or Fasimpaur.)
Andi’s right! I just downloaded the new version of the Firefox browser last week and love the spell check. It checks these blog entries as I type them, and anything else I send through their browser. Very cool.
I’m not sure about this next one, but Andi obviously feels strongly about it so I share it here as well:
The second suggestion (which might also be seen as a product recommendation, I guess) is related to using Gmail instead of an email program like Outlook or Eudora. For those already using Gmail, I wanted to point out that you can add a photo to your profile so that a logo, picture of your work, or a photo of you is displayed whenever someone using Gmail rolls their cursor over your email address. The biggest advantage to Gmail from Google now allows users to access up to 5 email addresses using pop3 protocol. What this means is that you can use Gmail for your domain mail instead of using an email program like Outlook or Eudora. The huge storage space offered means that you can save messages in Gmail and have access to all of your correspondence from any computer with an email connection. I’ve also found that the Gmail spam filters are much more effective than most of the 3rd party spam solutions that I’ve seen and I don’t have to employ annoying anti-spam strategies like white-lists or authentication programs.
I actually use a combination of forwarding, pop3 access, and my domain host’s "catch-all email" set-up with Gmail so that I can manage all of my email correspondence no matter where I am.
Thanks, Andi, for the tips.
4 thoughts on “New version of Firefox offers spell check”
That is excellent news about the Firefox browser and spell check! I had downloaded the new version (actually Firefox does it automatically), but I had no idea of the capability of spell-check. How do you use it? I have a gmail account but never use it – I had no idea that it was that useful. Thank you both for sharing this info. Details like this help me greatly! – Diane Clancy
There are pros and cons of all email readers out there. Andi has listed some pluses – here’s another opinion about gmail (of which I’m not a big fan) I dislike the conversation feature – grouping up all the emails with the same subject heading into one line. That annoys me and I have a hard time figuring out which emails I’ve responded to as there is no indication. Then there are the targeted ads that gmail displays. I really don’t want ads on my screen when I read my email. My world is already full of too much advertising – I don’t want more of it – I want less! And I dislike that gmail is a webbased email client. I prefer to download my email to my computer and use a client based email reader to avoid the annoying page refreshes required in a webbased system. I use an IMAP email connection (so when I download my email it stays on my main mail server) so my email is also available from anywhere. My current favorite is thunderbird – from the same folks that give us firefox. Not perfect but suits my needs.
I must agree with Andy on both tips. Love the new spell check feature of Firefox, great for producing professional messages. Also love Gmail and use it for all my business email. However, clients don’t know I’m using Gmail. My business email address through my website hosting company can be forwarded to any email account I own. And with Gmail, I can actually send new emails or respond to previous emails using my business address, not my Gmail address. As for the commenter who doesn’t like conversations to be grouped together – I actually love this feature and find it very helpful when keeping track of lengthy conversations about projects with clients. And because I often access my email from 2 or 3 different computers, a web-based email system works best for me. Plus, I have Gmail set up on my Treo, so I can even send/receive email on the road if necessary. I think it’s all a matter of figuring out what works best for you and your business needs. One person’s pros will be the next person’s cons. Pam
I agree that there are some disadvantages to Gmail. I’m probably seriously showing my age here, but I’ve been an enthusiastic fan of email since 1991 and have not found a single email option that encompasses all of my ideal features with no drawbacks. I’ve just found that Gmail offers a balance that I can live with and that there are some benefits that others may not know about or may not be taking full advantage of.