Workers' Edge

A couple of weeks ago, I described how to sync contacts between Outlook, Gmail, and your iPhone. The program missing from this contacts mega-merge was Thunderbird (download for Windows | Mac), and for good reason. Mozilla's free e-mail program is not particularly contact-friendly.

The first time I attempted to use Mozilla Thunderbird's import function to bring my Gmail contacts into the client e-mail application, I was seriously disappointed with the results. Most of the contact information was squished into a single nondescript field for each record. The few fields that did make the conversion were incomplete. The entire process was pretty worthless, overall.

Then I found the free Zindus add-on for Thunderbird. The program brings a subset of contact fields from Google and Zimbra into Mozilla's free e-mail program. For Google, the fields imported include the contact's name, primary and secondary e-mail addresses, phone numbers, IM names, company, title, and notes. (I didn't test the program with Zimbra.)

After you download and install Zindus, a "Zindus" option is added to Thunderbird's Tools menu. Clicking it opens the Zindus Configuration Settings dialog box where you're presented with a handful of contact-sync options, including a Sync Now button.

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Last August, I described how to delay the messages you send from Microsoft Outlook. In that post, I bemoaned the lack of a similar feature in Gmail. Well, Google engineer Yuzo Fujishima comes to the rescue with a new tool called Undo Send, though unlike Outlook's send-delay feature, in Gmail, you have to act--or unact--fast.

To activate the feature, open Gmail, click Settings in the top-right corner, and choose the Labs tab. If you don't see a Labs tab, click more in the top-left menu, select even more, click the Labs link at the top right, choose Gmail Labs. Scroll to Undo Send, click Enable, and select Save Changes.

This feature isn't a miracle worker; it can pull back a message only in the first 5 seconds after you click Send. Still, many an e-mail "Oops!" comes to mind in that split second after you send it.

The Undo option appears for about 5 seconds in the "Your message has been sent" message at the top of your in-box.

If you click Undo in time, your message is yanked from the outbound queue and you see a message informing you that the send was undone.

Clearly, the Gmail Undo Send feature doesn't give you anywhere near the level of control you get when delaying sent messages in Outlook, but Gmail's version is much simpler to implement.

The Send Later extension for the Mozilla Foundation's Thunderbird e-mail client provides a similar function. Unfortunately, several people report problems using Send Later with the latest version 2.0.0.21 of Thunderbird. The extension appeared to work as advertised on my Vista PC, however.

To activate Send Later, press Ctrl-Shift-Enter when you've finishing composing the message. In the "Send this email later" dialog box that opens, select the time you want the message sent using the drop-down menus at the top of the window, or click one of the three preset delays: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 2 hours.

If only everything we do on a computer had a "do-over" button!

The third of my three updates to the 10-Step Security story I wrote back in 2005 covers steps seven through 10, which deal with e-mail safety. (Last week, I refreshed steps one, two, and three, which address Windows security, and steps four, five, and six that cover safe browsing.)

Three years ago, e-mail was the source of most PC virus infections, but that's no longer the case. Now you're more likely to catch a piece of malware from a Web site, whether by downloading a file or simply by opening a booby-trapped page.

Does this mean you may now open e-mail messages and attachments without a second thought? Uh-uh.

The first of the four e-mail security tips in the original story warns against clicking links embedded in messages. That prohibition still applies. It's easy to spoof a link so that it looks like it leads somewhere other than its real destination. As the tip recommended, it's much safer to enter the URL in your browser's address bar manually, or to find your way to the page using the site's own navigation or search function.

Likewise, the advice in the eighth security step to scan attachments for viruses before opening them is as valid today as it was three years ago. Nearly every antivirus program and security suite scans all incoming e-mail and file attachments by default.

Some people will tell you that your e-mail client's preview pane--the topic of security tip number nine--poses no risk because it's much more difficult for malware to attack your PC simply by viewing a message. Even if this were the case, I would still close the preview pane in my e-mail program for privacy's sake.

The original article describes how to close the preview pane in Outlook Express, Outlook 2003, and Mozilla Thunderbird. The steps for doing so in Outlook 2007 are the same as in Outlook 2003.

I'm a big fan of viewing e-mail in plain text, the subject of the last of the 10 security steps. Using plain text is not just a way to block viruses transported via HTML mail. Plain-text messages may not always look so spiffy, but the files open fast.

I described how to set Outlook 2003 and 2007 to send and receive e-mail as plain text in a post from last month. To set Thunderbird to view incoming mail as plain text, click View > Message Body As > Plain Text.

To send mail as plain text in Thunderbird, click Tools > Account Settings, choose Composition & Addressing in the left pane, uncheck "Compose messages in HTML format," and click OK.

A final note on security software and wireless encryption
Two sidebars to the original 10-Step Security list the top security programs in various categories and recommend use of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) to protect wireless networks.

Rather than using different programs for virus protection, spyware blocking, and other malware defenses, I prefer the suite approach. Using a combo security program reduces the chance of software conflicts, and if something goes wrong, you have only one vendor to deal with, for better or worse.

WPA provides sufficient protection for most home and small-office wireless networks, though you'll be safer if you upgrade to WPA2, if your network's router and other equipment support the later security standard. Using the older WEP security protocol is no longer sufficient because WEP is relatively easy to crack.

One last security-update note: the Mozilla Foundation recently acknowledged security breaches in the Firefox browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, and SeaMonkey Web suite. A security bulletin released last week instructs users to disable JavaScript until you're able to update to these versions:

• Firefox 3.0.5
• Firefox 2.0.0.19
• Thunderbird 2.0.0.19
• SeaMonkey 1.1.14

As of the evening of December 21, 2008, I could update to Firefox 3.0.5 and SeaMonkey 1.1.14, but not to Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 (2.0.0.18 is available). To update Firefox and Thunderbird, click Help > Check for Updates. Visit the SeaMonkey Downloads & Releases page to update that program.

Compared with Outlook and other commercial e-mail programs (are there any other commercial e-mail programs left?) Mozilla's free Thunderbird e-mail client has a lot going for it. Not the least of Thunderbird's time-saving features are its search capabilities.

If you don't see the search toolbar directly above the main Thunderbird window, click View > Toolbars > Search Bar. By default, you can view all your mail, all your unread mail, all mail with one of Thunderbird's five built-in labels attached (Important, Work, Personal, To Do, Later), mail from people in your address book, messages received recently, mail with attachments, and mail that the program has identified as "Not Junk."

To create your own message view, click Customize in the View drop-down menu, and choose New in the Customize Message Views dialog box, or select one of the existing views and click Edit. In the Message View Setup window, choose either "Match all of the following" or "Match any of the following," and make your selections in the location and parameters drop-down menus. Enter the text you want to search for in the text box, and click the plus sign to add additional parameters. When you're done, click OK twice. The view you just created will appear in the View box, and messages matching your selected parameters will display automatically.

Save time with Thunderbird's Quick Search
Custom views are great if you know ahead of time what you'll be looking for, but you can also create a "view" on the fly by converting a search into a virtual folder. Press Alt-I, Tab to move the cursor to the search box, press Alt-down arrow to display the search-parameters drop-down menu, use the arrow keys to navigate to your desired parameter, press Tab again to select it, and type your search term. When the results appear, choose Save Search as a Folder, rename the folder and make other changes (or accept the defaults), and click OK. The folder appears in the left pane in whichever location you chose for it in the New Saved Search Folder dialog box.

Tomorrow: The perils of trying to break the Microsoft habit.

What am I, nuts?

Removing the antivirus software from your PC goes against conventional wisdom, but a lot of conventional wisdom is bunk, especially when it comes to technology.

Two of the five PCs on my home network have been without AV software for six months, ever since I made the mistake of loading the beta of Windows Live OneCare 2 on my home network. This stellar example of the programming art brought my entire network to its knees in a matter of minutes. After three days of repairs, my network was working again, but I realized that two of the systems no longer had any antivirus software installed. I could've downloaded and installed one of the many free AV programs (Avast is my favorite, although it's free only for home and non-commercial use), but it was late, so I decided to take care of it "tomorrow".

In this case, tomorrow never came. Funny thing, I've been using the PCs as I always did, and they remain virus-free. I know because I just checked them both using Trend Micro's free Housecall online virus scanner.

Yesterday one of my PCs that still has AV software popped up a message that it was time for an update. Of course, I was in the middle of something that needed to get done right away, but like most PC users, I've grown accustomed to these interruptions, so I stopped what I was doing to let the AV program play through.

Wouldn't you know that this was one of those updates that required a restart? "Hey," I wanted to say, "I'm workin' here!" I had to fight the temptation to jump right to Add/Remove Programs (which Vista euphemistically calls "Programs and Features") and bounce the app once and for all. I didn't, but I have a feeling the program's days are numbered.

Be Careful Out There

The first thing you need if you fly AV-free is a bidirectional firewall. You can do better than Microsoft's free Windows Defender. Checkpoint Software's ZoneAlarm gets the lion's share of the press; it's free for individuals and not-for-profit organizations, excluding schools and government agencies. Another option is Sunbelt Personal Firewall, formerly Kerio Personal Firewall. The 30-day free trial of the $10 version reverts to the free release, minus a few features, if you choose not to pay.

Next, mind your downloads. "Free" music and video files available for download from the Internet are often loaded with some nasty viruses. The best advice is to pay for your entertainment, and avoid any site outside the mainstream. An alternative is to convert an old PC into your dicey system, the one you use when you want to visit a site whose content you're not sure about. Make sure that PC has antivirus software, a firewall, an updated copy of Windows (or better yet, a less-vulnerable OS), a bullet-proof case, and a hazmat suit. (Okay, you can skip those last two.)

Mind Your Mail

Another common source of malware is e-mail. One of the best ways to avoid mail-borne infections is to switch from HTML to plain text. In Outlook 2003, click Tools*Options*Preferences*E-mail Options. Under Message handling, check Read all standard mail as plain text. In Outlook 2007, choose Tool*Trust Center*E-mail Security. Click Read all standard mail in plain text under Read as Plain Text in the right pane. If you use Mozilla Thunderbird, simply click View*Message Body As*Plain Text.

Also, don't click links in e-mail messages, even if you know the person who sent it. Some viruses hijack address books and send messages to every entry, so they appear to be from someone you're acquainted with. Instead, either copy the link and paste it into your browser's address bar, or go to the home page of the site (by removing everything in the URL to the right of the ".com", ".org", or other top-level domain), and then search the site for the page in question. If you're the least bit wary of the link, just let it be, or at least reply to the person beforehand to confirm that the link is valid.

Tomorrow: Centralize your e-mail.