Push GMail on T-Mobile Dash

Here's how to set up push email for GMail on the T-Mobile Dash:

• Log into https://my.t-mobile.com and click "Set up my email". Set up your GMail account there and enable alerts for new mail.
• On your Dash, open Messaging and add a new account. Use "Other (pop3/imap)" for the provider.
• Follow the wizard. Use POP3, name the account GMail.
• The pop3 server should be myemail.t-mobile.com; require SSL. Use the username specified on the my-tmobile email page (under settings / mailbox / pop settings) (probably [yourphonenumber]:1) and your gmail password.
• Use smtp.gmail.com for the outgoing mail server. Require authentication, require SSL; specify alternate credentials as [username]@gmail.com and your gmail password.
• On the Dash, Start / Set Up My E-Mail / Configure my E-Mail Triggers / Enable Automatic E-Mail Updates should be checked for the GMail account.

That should do it. There are two tricks: first is to use T-Mobile as the intermediary for incoming messages. They send a "silent SMS" which triggers the GMail account to send and receive. The second is to use GMail's own SMTP server so that outgoing messages get saved in your GMail account (T-Mobile's SMTP server doesn't push it back to GMail). No more polling through POP3, no more crappy Java applet, no more mobile web-based interface. Enjoy the bliss!

Edit: I should mention that there's an up to fifteen minute delay on the push. It looks like T-Mobile polls GMail over POP at about that interval and pushes updates to the Dash when they occur.

Comment Spam

My blog has been getting tons of comment spam lately. I moderate comments, so they never appear online (though there's a bug where not-visible comments still increase the counter on the main page), but still...every morning I get to log into the moderation page and click "delete all." Some of the stuff is filthy...like the one with links to twenty different types of rape porn--no, seriously. Mostly it's for viagra, etc. There was a funny one today that started with "sorry for this post." These guys seem to know what they're doing, since the IPs seem to be random. I also employ the rel="nofollow" trick, so even if they made it online (which they won't), they wouldn't have the desired effect of increasing their page rank. Anyway, thought I'd share.

Where did I park?

I just whipped up a little javascript/Google map today to help me remember where I parked (I drove my car yesterday for the first time in 2.5 weeks). Click on the map to create a marker. The location is stored in a cookie in your web browser. Next time you visit the page, the map will center and zoom back on that point.

Where did I park?

CableCARD for Vista

Screenshot of a Vista MCE error message at CES indicating CableCARD support.

Please, pretty please, let me put a CableCARD tuner in my computer. I promise to not try and break any DRM. I just want to have access to HD channels other than over the air.

SideShow Remotes

I'm really excited about the SideShow Remote Control space. There are a few debuting at CES right now. I like the idea of being able to browse my music library on a remote and not having to turn on the TV. And over Bluetooth, no less, so that there are no line of sight issues like with IR. So cool. Stay tuned!

The Power of One

From The Power of One (385):

We had all cawed and moaned at the story, but Morrie, as usual, had made his point: good conversational debate is an end in itself, and talking for the love of conversation is what makes us human.

Encrypting sensitive data on my external hard drive

Quick bulleted list post of how I encrypt data on my external hard drive and usb thumb drive. The idea is that if I ever lose the drive, no sensitive client data would fall into the wrong hands. TrueCrypt creates a file that represents a drive. Think of it like mounting an ISO in Daemon Tools, except TrueCrypt is a writable removable storage device that encrypts and decrypts on the fly. Assuming the external hard drive mounts to G::

• Unzip TrueCrypt to G:\programs\truecrypt42a
• If you're running Vista or as a Non-Admin, install it onto your local machine once as an Admin.
• Start it up, create a volume called G:\encrypted.tc (I'll leave this as an exercise to the reader)
• Create G:\enctypted-mount.cmd
  @echo off
  "programs\truecrypt42a\Setup Files\TrueCrypt.exe" /v encrypted.tc /lx /e /q /m rm
• Create G:\enctypted-dismount.cmd
  @echo off
  "programs\truecrypt42a\Setup Files\TrueCrypt.exe" /dx /q

It's just a double-click to mount or unmount the encrypted volume stored in encrypted.tc as my X:

TrueCrypt can also mount a encrypt a whole volume, but I chose to only encrypt sensitive data in a file like this so that I don't waste time encrypting my music collection. Also, it allows me to keep the TrueCrypt installer right there alongside the encrypted volume so that I can plug in, mount, and go, even without an Internet connection.

Have fun!