Geek & Mild by Sean Sperte

Spam Free Email (For The iPhone)

Something I’ve been meaning to do for years is strategically route all my email to a single, private account, and use a reply-to address that’s already known, memorable and branded. Ironically, the iPhone, and its lack of spam filter, became the perfect catalyst for me to set it up. (And no, I [still] don’t have an iPhone. I did this in enthusiastic preparation for my future iPhone purchase.)

First, I made sure all my publicly-known email addresses route to my Gmail account. Google’s email application is quick, accessible, and free. Better than that, though, their spam protection is just about perfect; almost never returning false-positives, and never in need of an update.

Still, even with all its pluses, Gmail isn’t my final solution. The “conversational” approach doesn’t translate well across multiple platforms (such as the iPhone), and since it doesn’t support the IMAP protocol, it’s not ideal for using multiple clients – desktop or mobile.

Big kudos to Google, though, because Gmail filters spam upon receiving; meaning if you set a forward address, Gmail will only forward non-spam. Hooray!

All I had to do was create a new email (IMAP) account with my web host, set Gmail to forward to that account, and set the reply-to in my email client(s) to my branded address. All incoming mail is routed through Google, and all outgoing is shown coming from my public email address(es).

Here’s the key: Of course, any curious and intelligent recipient can inspect the email headers and retrieve my “private” email address – that’s okay. Since I’m not going to give out that email address, I can easily (and regularly) change it. The only thing I need to update is Gmail’s forwarding settings.

Hopefully this solution will prove itself suitable when I’ve got my iPhone and can’t be bothered to delete all the spam I would normally receive – one at a time, since the mail app doesn’t allow multiple, simultaneous deletions.

Update: Brian Warren has pointed out that you can easily setup Mail.app to allow the reply-to address to be set on the fly.

6-Jul 2007

The Mac in Me

When Matt Heerema called me the poor-man’s Gruber I realized I should probably explain my preoccupation with all things Apple.

Firstly, I’ve been a Macintosh user/owner since the mid-80’s – most of my life. I’ve used every OS since version 6, and can recollect, without help from Google, the major changes in each revision. So I have a lot of personal history with Apple products.

Probably the biggest reason I’m such an Apple loyalist, though, is because I subscribe to the idea that technology should (and can) be as simple as it is powerful. Whether it’s the iPod or Mac OS, everything Apple produces seems designed to compliment – not hinder or add-to – my lifestyle.

Because I’m a perfectionist, I’m also very keen to the attention to detail Apple gives to their products. They’re polished, complete, and picture-perfect. Apple never rarely releases anything to the public without it having the white-glove inspection, and red-carpet treatment.

It’s not all about the hype, either. Their great communication is only possible because of their insanely great products. Take, for instance, the iPhone commercials: Notice the lack of bulleted lists of features, pricing, and on-screen graphics. They’re just 30 seconds of the product, and the interface – center-stage, no CG and no trickery.

That’s not to discredit the awesome marketing team behind Apple’s campaigns. Whether TV spot, billboard, online graphic, etc.; there’s no confusing Apple message when promoting. Each ad is like a mini-movie – executed perfectly. Script, timing, story, continuity, style, tone … it’s all well-thought out.

I love ‘em. I love their style, their mission, and their model.

Of course, Apple’s not perfect. That attention to detail I mentioned isn’t always utilized in every release. Quality control has seemed to suffer as Apple’s popularity has grown. And lately the Mac OS is more an interface mash-up; anything but congruent. Actually, Apple frequently ignores their own interface guidelines, I guess in the name of innovation.

In that way, though, the company is even the more relatable. The truth is, if Apple didn’t have flaws I’d be worried. It’s the human element, imperfections included, that generates both its beauty and defect.

For me, the Mac, iPod and iPhone are easy to champion, because if I were to start a company it would look like Apple.

6-Jul 2007