A small headache solved for me (and I'm sure others)

I don't know how many introduction emails I get sent each and every day. It's got to be at least... 5! And every single time I have to do the same thing --

1. Press "Reply All"
2. Click "Add BCC"
3. Copy the person in the "To" field (the person who made the intro) to the "BCC" field.
4. Copy the person or people in the "CC" field (those that I'm getting introduced to) to the "To" field.
5. Begin writing email with some funny/witty line (or a failed attempt at it) that says:
   • Thanks [Insert Person Who Made The Intro's Name Here] for introducing us. Moving you to BCC so you don't go insane due to even more email!

Well, I got fed up with doing that 5+ times per day (and apparently so did others):

4 every @500 intro email i get, wish there was single-click button that moved To: name -> BCC, & CC: name -> To: name. #IfWishesWereFishes

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) January 8, 2012

 So I made a quick Chrome extension that solves my problem. Go ahead and install it and open an email, press "Reply All" and then click the new blue button in your Chrome extension bar and you should be all set.

Let me know if it works for you and if it helps you at all by emailing me or posting in the comments below. And while you're at it, look at what really keeps me (and my team going) during the day at GetBackstory.com. That product is wayyyy cooler than this extension.

Backstory enables websites to get to know each of their visitors and understand why they've visiting and how they're interacting with the site. Then we enable those sites to customize their content on the fly for each and every one and increase conversions (from tweets, to likes, to sales). And we do all of this with a single line of Javascript code.

So if you haven't looked at Backstory yet, what are you waiting for? I mean you'll have lots of time now that you don't have to copy and paste addresses in every email.

*Edited for grammer (because my wife said I should fix a few things).

Alright Google, cut to the chase. Don't make me search for anything anymore!

As I'm sure you've already heard, Google announced Google Instant (Search). If you haven't seen it in action yet, it's a must see for anyone who ever searches the web. In real time they return results based on the few letters that you've typed. Google claims that you can save a few seconds per search which can add up over time. While I think it's cool, I'm here to say that instant search results don't cut it anymore, dudes at the Googleplex...

Google's next big announcement needs to be that I no longer have to even search. Sure they already index the web in real time, they let me search for graphics and videos and now I can see results before I even finish my thought but what I'm looking for are results before I even have the thought. Google knows enough information about me that I want to wake up in the morning and have them share with me what I'm going to search for that day.

Now that Google owns ITA they can share with me that I'm going to need to go to Tel Aviv next month and the best deals on the airlines that I like to fly (they know this because they have my email and chat conversations). Because I text through Google Voice, they should also know that my water heater broke and I should see some Google Local listings that share the best repair guys in my area (with Latitude, they know exactly where I am anyway). And finally, since they have YouTube, I should see movie listings around my date nights (that they know of because of Google Calendar) based on the trailers that I've watched and then shared with my family and friends.

All of this is just right around the corner. I for one can't wait till they put all of my data to good use and cut out the need to think for myself altogether. What do you think? What will you do with all of your newfound free time?

TrueNew for Chrome Helps You Hit Inbox Virtual Zero!

Image courtesy of: Nerd Merit BadgesI was super excited when I heard that Dave Martorana, the creator of MultiFirefox and Mailroom for the iPhone, was launching TrueNew for Chrome.  After testing it out, I couldn't be happier with a Chrome extension that's both useful and unobtrusive.  Dave explains what it does over on the Chrome Extension page:

Instead of showing only your unread count (blue lozenge), it also shows you the number of new emails since the last time you took any action on your mailbox (the green, right-half of the lozenge). If the unread-count lozenge has a green right half with a +NUMBER in it, that NUMBER is the number of new messages since you last took any action on your inbox.

Now instead of worrying about unread messages and useless unread counts, you can always have an accurate count of what is NEW, which is much more helpful.

It's pretty simple.  Go ahead and install it in Google Chrome (it works with both Gmail and Google Apps accounts) and see how much better you feel about hitting "Inbox Virtual Zero".  Let me know what you think of this snazzy little extension.