Google’s products have always been terrific, but in recent months the internet juggernaut has made unbelievable progress in developing its offerings.  Computer Courage strongly recommends many Google products such as Gmail, Search, Picasa, Calendar, and more.  For businesses, we’ve been strong supporters (and users) of Google’s business-class mail/calendar/document system Google Apps (if you run a business, and you don’t know about Google Apps, call us immediately – there is a lot to learn!)

Recently, Google has made some really important improvements to its services, and we’d like to outline a few of them for our loyal readers today.  There are so many fantastic features that we are splitting this newsletter into two parts.  In our second installtion of “Google Applications Grow Up” we’ll explore more powerful and time saving features for you and your businesses. Read the rest of this entry… »

Photo by Gayle Laakmann (www.technologywoman.com)

Google’s products have always been terrific, but in recent months the internet juggernaut has made unbelievable progress in developing its offerings.  Computer Courage strongly recommends many Google products such as Gmail, Search, Picasa, Calendar, and more.  For businesses, we’ve been strong supporters (and users) of Google’s business-class mail/calendar/document system Google Apps (if you run a business, and you don’t know about Google Apps, call us immediately – there is a lot to learn!)

Recently, Google has made some very important improvements to its services, which we would like to review with you today.  There are so many fantastic features that we are splitting this newsletter into two parts.  You’ll receive part two in about a week after this one.

Google Mail and Calendar Go Offline
One of the main complaints about Gmail and Gcal have always been accessibility; until now there has been no obvious way to access your Gmail or calendar offline without 3rd party sync tools, but this week that all changed.  Google has created Offline Mode to allow you to access your information when you’ve got no WiFi, or you’re on a plane, or in a location with a bad internet connection.

Read the rest of this entry… »

(Update – The response to our yelp request has been fabulous – 2 days later we have 19 5 star reviews – thanks everyone – this is a wonderful response.)

This is a quick message to our base of loyal customers and supporters, reminding you that if you are satisfied with our service, there’s a quick and easy way to help us grow.  Our first two years have been an absolute pleasure.  We’ve been able to help people and businesses use their computers effectively, boost their business with websites, and get help in computer emergencies.  Our customers have always been our first priority; as you know we really value the human interactions and the personal side of computing – we love to help people and to resolve problems.

Over the last few years, we’ve received some really wonderful feedback.  People have been very kind to respond with feedback about our service, our technicians, our web sites, and our attention to detail.  If you’ve had a similar experience, we would love it if you would share with the world through Yelp.com (or other review sites.)  As you all know, Yelp.com is a business review site, and it’s a force that can make or break businesses in today’s economy.  In just 5 minutes, you can sign up for a Yelp account and write a review for Computer Courage.  We’ve had two wonderful reviews so far (both 5 stars, though one was inexplicably deleted by Yelp.)  In order to compete, we need more!

Our Yelp listing is at http://www.yelp.com/biz/computer-courage-berkeley.  Please give us a review when you can!

You can sign up for an account and write a Yelp review on the spot.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Adam Schwartz and the Computer Courage Team

Computer Courage, a computer services company in the San Francisco Bay Area, is offering this blog to customers and friends who want to stay informed about current computer issues.  Computer Courage provides IT services and computer support to home and business users, as well as web design and search engine optimization.  www.computercourage.com

We’ve been waiting for this one for some time.  Google has finally released offline access for Gmail and Google Calendar.  This is seriously cool stuff.

As many of our clients know, we are firm beleivers in Google Applications.  Gmail is fast and universally accessible, Google Calendar can be synced to any device, and Google Documents is allowing for some unbeleivable new functionality in the world of document editing and sharing.  But the main problem with these solutions has always been that you need to be online.  This cuts out access to calendar, email, and documents when you are on a plane, or not near a WiFi connection.  Now that’s all changed. Read the rest of this entry… »