Gmail

I recently managed to get a Gmail account, and its a hard process to get an account, unless you live in the USA and have a mobile phone that accepts SMS, as GMail accounts are not available to anyone with an invitation. I managed to get one by doing a web search in Google and A9.com for a Google invite.

I think its the best webmail account I have used, as it so much better than the offerings from Microsoft (Hotmail) and Yahoo! For a start you don't get loads of banner advertising on any of the page, just standard Google text adverts down the right hand side of the screen, and they do not interfere with the interface. You can access your e-mail via POP3 (ie getting access to your e-mail through any e-mail client) at no extra charge.

One thing that is different to most standard webmail / e-mail programs is that Google do not use folders, but labels. Labels are much better, as they work the same way as folders but you can have more than one label attached to an e-mail, making viewing of e-mails better.

I think Google are on to a winner here, as there e-mail system is so much better than the competition. I also like the fact that you can only sign up by asking Google to SMS you in the USA or via invite, as that stops people signing up for Gmail accounts that they may never use, and means that there will be plenty of good addresses available.

New Computer Support Forums

As you know I run my own computing business with a friend, and I had this brilliant idea "why don't I set up some online support forums". Well I have done and they can be found at http://www.downingsnet.co.uk/support

If you ever have a hardware or software problem, drop on by the forums, and see if your problem can be solved!

HX52 YNT My new Toyota Yaris

Last Thursday, I picked up my new car, it's a 2yrs 11 months old Toyota Yaris, with 5 doors, 7,412 miles on the clock, CD player, cassette deck, central locking, electric front windows and a lot more home comforts than my previous car L273 VBP an 11 year old Renault 5. The colour is a great Island Green Metallic.

The driving position in the Yaris is great, as it is a bit higher than most small cars, so you get a better view of the road ahead, with the downside being you can't really see the end of the bonnet, but I've got used to that. The only things on the car, that will take me a while to get used to is the fact that the door locks work the other way to my old car, and the fact that the fuel hatch is located on the left side of the car, rather than the right, and is opened by a lever under the drivers seat, rather than a key in the fuel cap.

I was amazed that I found this bargain, as I only started looking for a new car last Saturday. I had the Yaris at the top of my list, and when looking at Yaris' cars in the Toyota dealership WKB Toyota Waterlooville, spotted this one, at the right price, and asked to have a look at it. Once I spotted the mileage I thought, this is a car I should have as it is a great one at the price. So I had a test drive in another Yaris, decided I like it, and bought it there and then!

I love the car, and am so glad I've got a new one, as my old car was very old, and based on a 1972 car design, updated in 1985, but with no major changes to the body styling. The picture on the left gives you an idea of what my old car looked like, apart from the colour, as mine was a metallic blue, and of course a right hand drive model.

I'm going to have a lot of fun driving my new car, and it will be great to have a good car to drive down to Meanporth in Cornwall at the end of August for my camping holiday!

A Question

Regular readers of my blog will have read my posts on Ethical Banking. As a result of these posts, and some of the comments I have received I would like to ask my readers a question. Does your bank deal with your money in an ethical way, and invest in companies who care for the world?

I used to think that when you put money in to a bank account, that the bank simply held it in your account and did nothing with it. Then I realised that this was not the case, and that they invested my money as they saw fit to make a profit on it. This I thought was OK, until I realised they could invest my money in any company, even those companies supplying weapons to terrorists, polluting the atmosphere etc. I'm glad I switched banks, as my money is now ethically working for my bank and me.

It would be really good if more and more people started to bank ethically, then perhaps more banks would take ethics seriously!