As messages come in, Gmail automatically flags some of them as important. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most (if you email Bob a lot, a message from Bob is probably important) and which messages you open and reply to (these are likely more important than the ones you skip over). And as you use Gmail, it will get better at categorizing messages for you. You can help it get better by clicking the or buttons at the top of the inbox to correctly mark a conversation as important or not important. (You can even set up filters to always mark certain things important or unimportant, or rearrange and customize the three inbox sections.)

You do have the ability to further tweak the Priority Inbox (as referenced in the quote above) by including certain labels or filters.  So far, I have not made any advanced tweaks.  I have however followed the advice given by MG Sielger over at Techcrunch:

My favorite aspect of Priority Inbox is the settings that allows you to create four different sections of your inbox. Yes, you could previously do this with the Multiple Inboxes feature, but these new settings make things much easier to understand and implement. The three default sections here are: “Important & unread,” “Starred,” and “Everything else” — but there’s an option to add a fourth, which you should. You should create a new label that you can quickly tag emails with. For example, I chose “A1″ since “A” shows up first in the Labels drop down menu. Set this section (which is actually the second section) to show emails with that label.

Once you do that, your inbox will be transformed into four different boxes stacked on top of one another. At the top will be the “Important and unread” elements — this is your true Priority Inbox and ideally would be empty most of the time (indicating that you’ve read all these messages). Below that would be this new A1 section — these are your most important saved emails to come back to. Below that is your starred section — these are emails you quickly star that you might want to come back to. And below that is everything else — your general incoming email. Or as I like to call it, Hell.

So for the lack of being too creative, I actually did exactly as is recommended above…created a A1 category.  To be honest I am not sure that this method will work for me, but the nice thing about the new feature is I can tweak later as I use it.

Reading around the web, it sounds like when you first turn it on, the results are mixed.  However, over a couple of days of email usage, I can say that it has improved (and this sentiment is echoed throughout the web).

Keep in mind that you do need to turn on Priority Inbox.  Google is rolling this out to users throughout the week.  Once it is offered to you, you should see New! Priority Inbox upper right hand corner of Gmail.  You can always return to your regular inbox at any time (you will see both Priority Inbox and Inbox on the left hand side of Gmail).

And a last note to Google.  Add this to the Gmail client on Android and you are invited to Sleekfest.

I think I might have finally found a solution in the form of an app called iSyncr.

iSyncr costs $2.99 and is run directly from your phone once it is plugged into your computer.  Although it takes a little more work to find the program and run it (it is actually copied to the root of your phone when you install it), once you do run it is lets you chose from your iTunes playlists and then it JUST WORKS.  The sync still took awhile (9 GBs took 2 hours or so), but IT WORKED.  Since then I made changes to playlists and the changes synced. It also syncs play counts which was a nice bonus.

Definitely worth the $3…just hope it continues to work!

I chose to call Amazon about the issue and was prepared to be told that my device was out of warranty and I was SOL.  Instead, I was quickly connected to Maddie (sp?) who informed me that my issue is always covered.  She quickly got my information, started the process to send a replacement, and let me know that I would not have to pay anything.  This was the best example of customer service I have had in a long time.  Thx so much Amazon and Maddie!  It was definitely a pleasant surprise.

Today I stumbled upon AndSpot while reading Wired’s Gadget Lab.  It is the latest of several alternative markets that you can install on your Android device.  It looks like it has promise, until I read that it appears that they want to build their own social network for the app rather than leverage an existing social graph.  This is a non-starter.  I do not have enough techie friends who are willing to start another social network for a niche app.  Instead, use my friends I already have on Facebook or LinkedIn.  The app does integrate with those networks, but it appears to be only for sharing apps (please correct me if I am wrong).

Yes, Facebook may be evil in some ways and take up way too much time, but it has over 500 million users.  As an app builder, that is a huge network that you can leverage to make your app spread like wildfire.

Today’s Wall Street Journal Tech Briefing had a good tip to consider while traveling.  Basically the tidbit was that many hotels have hundreds of chargers left at their hotels during the year.  I have to admit that I have been one of those people who left a charger in the room.  So instead of actually buying a new one while on the road, why not try calling the front desk to borrow one?  No idea if they will actually give it to you, but it is worth a try.

Go ahead Jiloty…if you read this feel free to say NERDS!

Anyhow, when creating a Battle.net account, I was a bit nonplussed when only certain special characters were allowed for the password for my account.  Huh?  I realize this is probably a limitation of some legacy code or software riding on Battle.net, but this seems like something that should be a thing of the past.  I have run into this on other sites as well, some of which are fairly high end enterprise sites (although Battle.net at this point is pretty damn high end).  By limiting the special characters that can be used for passwords, Blizzard is limiting password strength artificially.  Granted, password strength is a bit overrated when users are probably using pet names or school mascots as passwords…

Bill Puts Contractors Out of Work – NextGov
There a ton of articles that document the government’s efforts to trim down the contractor workforce.  This particular article focuses in on how the beltway bandit establishment are fighting against change that may effect their wallets.

Understanding and Selecting a Tokenization Solution: Introduction – Securosis Blog
An in-depth introduction to tokenization in enterprise applications.  I actually stumbled upon this blog a couple of weeks ago and it is well worth following.  They cover a variety of security topics including log management, network data flow, and secure application development.

Paying for Classified Security – NextGov
An article that details the $$$s spent by the federal government on information security.  Ironically enough the costs were actually down between 2008 and 2009, although the number is still at $4.26 billion dollars…not including what the intelligence community spends.

Nightwatch
This less about an article and more about Nightwatch overall.  Great feed to follow to read in-depth goings on in the rest of the world.  Most updates feature editor commentary that give greater insight into situation such as the North Korean/South Korean submarine debacle.

Cryptography Success Story – Schneier on Security
A link to an article showcasing where encryption of a hard drive actually foiled both Brazilian authorities and the FBI.  Certainly a good thing from a protection perspecitve, but maybe not so good from an inteligence collecting angle.  The comments on Schneier’s blogs are always insightful (and entertaining) as well.

As one would expect, range of these cars very often does not live up to the hype.  The Chevy Volt is one example where ever former GM Vice Chariman Bob Lutz is referenced:

“Lutz told a reporter from the Dow Jones that he drove the Volt for a weekend recently during the cold Detroit winter, and found he got only 28 miles of electric range.”

Fortunately for the Volt, there is a backup gas engine that will charge the battery.  However, if you look at other cars, many of their real world ranges are 50-75% of the manufacturers claims.  Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like your cell phone?  They promise days of standby, when in reality my Droid is lucky to last 18 hours.  So instead, I have chargers everywhere.  My house, my car, my office, and even at Sleekfest.  And even with all of those chargers, I make sure to modify my phone behavior as the juice decreases.

So basically when we start buying EVs, I will have to make sure that I am never too far from my house, the office, or the Sleekfest grounds (power is a game changer) so that I have enough juice to get anywhere.  Maybe its just me, but it is a helluva a lot different if my cell phone runs out of juice and I can’t check Twitter then if my car dies in SE when trying to get home from the Strasburg debut.

I have become a little exasperated by all of the sword rattling and cheesy commercials using the public’s fear of “taking down the power grid”.   I had hope for the article when it started:

The news is filled with scary stories about the insecurity of the computer and telecommunication systems on which our nation’s prosperity depends: malicious software planted in electricity-grid computers; rampant state-sponsored and criminal cyber-espionage and theft; and the possibility of cyberattacks on banking and transportation systems.

However, rather than make suggestions on what should be done, they take the rest of the article to criticize the administration for paying lip service  to cybersecurity and policies that have been established.  I don’t necessarily disagree with that thought, but I also think it is always more useful for all if a plan, even a high level one, is proposed. 

Cybersecurity (or insecurity) is DEFINITELY a threat as we all become increasingly “plugged in”.  BUT, like most topics that have billions associated with it, they hype can become quickly overblown into fears that the Chinese are hacking into the power grid on a regular basis.  A plan is all well and good, but a lack of high level influence within the administration has been a deterrent to actually getting things done.  The establishment of a cyber command, although somewhat scary due to its ties to the NSA, is a good first step.  One thing that I have learned while working in the military is that when shit hits the fan, it actually gets done.

The evolution of the Internet since the 90s promised to get us closer to that vision.  However, even though the information has been available on computers for years, even companies like Microsoft and Apple haven’t been unable to crack the nut.

So yesterday’s Google TV announcement brought me back to when I read that article, and made me think that maybe, just maybe, we can reach that vision depicted in Sports Illustrated so long ago.

Rather than recap the presentation from I/O 2010, head over to Boy Genius Report for a full synopsis.  At its core, Google TV will either come directly with your TV (Sony being the first one out at the gate) or you can buy an add-on box from Logitech.  Both will be available this fall.  The tidbit that made me think of the SI article:

Sports fans will love Google TV. You can check out box scores, monitor your fantasy league, etc. While you’re watching the game, you can keep track of the box score thanks to picture-in-picture.

I can envision Sundays during football season (at least the 2010 season, looks like we might be SOL for 2011) where I switch on the 1p game.  I have already downloaded the Sportline Live Scoring app for Android that will run in a PIP box while watching the game on TV.  The app displays scores for my Fantasy matchup and I click on each player or team to get more details.  While the game is going on, I am looking at pics on Facebook from the 907 guys latest outing in DC.  When I see a good one, I can send the pic to the TV which will shrink the game to a PIP and show the photo full screen.  I append a quick comment remarking on the close up of Oakenfold from the night before and then switch the game back to full screen.

Yes, I am a geek, but you can’t tell me this wouldn’t be sweet!

Of course, until this is actually released and available, we won’t know if this is bullshit hype or reality.  Google is also opening the door to start a war with local cable companies (I guess they aren’t really local anymore.  Perhaps cable conglomerates is better).  This is less of a war of Google vs Apple as it is a referendum on traditional media.  Change or die.