There's an Email Conspiracy! — Mac Geek Gab 914

Dave seems to think there’s an email conspiracy, and he explains how to avoid it to you and John. That’s not all, of course. Your Quick Tips help everyone use markup better, create a “Start the Day” shortcut, use Focus better, and more. Press play and listen as your two geeks share all of this and much, much more. Have fun…and don’t get caught!

ProtonMail Now Blocks Tracking Pixels and Hides Your IP address

ProtonMail now blocks tracking pixels and hides your IP address, the company announced on Wednesday. The web app is mentioned so these features may not be present in the mobile apps.

By default, ProtonMail on the web now protects your privacy by: Blocking tracking pixels commonly found in newsletters and promotional emails, preventing senders from spying on your mail. Hiding your IP address from third parties so your location remains private.

Update: A ProtonMail spokesperson confirmed that this is indeed only for the web app, and expanding it to the mobile apps is part of development plans.

Everything You Wanted to Know About How Encrypted Email Works

ProtonMail published a nice blog post explaining how encrypted email works, and the various protocols that companies use.

End-to-end encryption for messages sent between ProtonMail users is automatic, and our integrated OpenPGP support makes it easy to send and receive PGP-encrypted E2EE messages to people that use PGP with other email providers. Proton also informs you when your messages are protected by E2EE with a small blue padlock (for other ProtonMail users) or green padlock (for OpenPGP users).

Email, Atmos, and LiDAR...Oh My! — Mac Geek Gab 907

You know what happens when your two favorite geeks get together, don’t you? Geeky talk about all kinds of things AND answers to all your questions. Listen as Dave and John help solve your email filtering issues, your Atmos setup, your house-cleaning needs, and more… all while ensuring everyone listening learns at least five new things. Press play…and enjoy this final episode of 2021!

Stop Treating Email Like Slack

Let’s face it, most people hate detailing with email – writing, reading, and organizing it. Wired dug into the science that may offer a solution.

Email is a valuable tool because it’s flexible, allows broad collaboration even with people outside your company, and it’s asynchronous, meaning the receiver and sender don’t need to both be online or working at the same time. “We’ve turned the advantages into disadvantages,” says Giurge. “It’s something that should be used as an asynchronous means of communication, and somehow we started using it as an ‘all the time’ means of communication. Instant messaging tools, such as Slack, may require an immediate acknowledgement—even if it’s just a GIF or thumbs up emoji—as they’re generally used as ways to collaborate on work at the same time. But it’s time to reconsider email more like old-fashioned paper mail: Upon receiving your broadband bill from your ISP, you don’t, after all, write a letter to confirm receipt and signal your intent to pay; you just pay it when you have a moment.