Give Gmail a new skin

We love ourGmail, and in fact have not needed to use any other email provider or service since we moved to the UK. We get it fast, reliably, anywhere we are at a computer connected to the internet. It goes with us, waits for us, and handles spam better than anything else we have seen. I can get my mail on my mobile phone, someone else's PC, in internet cafe's, etc. It is great.

Users of Firefox (I use Firefox on my personal machines - alas work is currently IE7 only) can install a nifty little plugin that will reskin your Gmail.

Loads a little slower, which might annoy, but I like the look. No doubt the folks at Google have tried all kinds of things and have settled on simplicity, speed, and their corporate style - but this is an option when it all gets boring. The plugin is called Better Gmail 2, and you can get it here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6076

Consumer RSS to Power User RSS

Lockergnome's RSS & Atom Tips

It is pretty simple to get an RSS reader (or just add an RSS extension to Firefox if you are smart enough to have converted!) and get any number of feeds you desire. But using RSS as a tool for getting your news out is quite a learning curve to do it properly. Lockergnome's site once again is a goldmine of information and help.