Any Google+ User Can Send You Emails On Gmail Now (And Here’s How To Disable It)

After integrating Google+ in YouTube for your comments, the search giant is now turning towards Gmail to give its social network some more visibility. From today, any Google+ user will be able to send you a message on your Gmail. To send a message, all you need to do is add that person to your Google+, whether they’ve befriended you or not. The actual email address isn’t yet visible to the sender. You’ll only see that person’s Google+ profile, but if you are the one sending an email, they will get to see your email. However, if they reply to...

Read the full article: Any Google+ User Can Send You Emails On Gmail Now (And Here’s How To Disable It)

Guardian Media Group Launches Collaborative Writing Platform Called Contributoria

Guardian Media Group has recently set up a new site called Contributoria to encourage better collaboration between writers, and to ensure they get paid for their work. Contributoria has been described as a cross between Kickstarter and Medium, and the aim of the site is to ensure that stories which wouldn’t normally be picked up by mainstream media get published and paid for. This is precisely the sort of thing the Guardian is well known for – disrupting the well-trodden way of doing things, and going against the grain. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The concept of the site...

Read the full article: Guardian Media Group Launches Collaborative Writing Platform Called Contributoria

No More Schemer

Google confirmed the news that Schemer will be discontinued.

The time has come for Schemer to power down.



Schemer launched in beta over a year ago to help inspire and motivate people to do more awesome stuff, and though it's shutting down, the adventures will continue. You can use the "Explore" section on Google Maps for Android and iOS to find interesting things to do around you, or Field Trip to uncover hidden or unique things in your city, among others.



All your schemes are available for download until February 7, 2014, after which all data will be permanently deleted. Before then, we recommend you use the button below to get a copy of your schemes for download.



In the meantime, stay curious, ambitious, daring, and above all, stay adventurous; thank you for all your support on this journey!



-The Schemer Team

Go to schemer.com to export your schemes. Since it was a small experimental project, you'll only get your data by email.

Schemer was one of the few Google projects with a distinct user interface. It started as an invitation-only service, it required a Google+ account and it lived in its own cocoon far away from other Google services. Google didn't promote the service, didn't integrate it with other services and eventually stopped updating it.



"Whether it's exploring a new city, checking out a friend's movie recommendation, or just finding new activities for your weekends, Schemer lets you discover new things to do, share schemes with friends, and make the most of your day. We started out as a scrappy team of Google engineers who wanted to help people do fun stuff in the real world. So we went ahead and built Schemer! We hope you like it," informs the About page.

Circular Profile Pictures in Google's Navigation Bar

Google no longer shows the square profile image in the navigation bar. Now it shows a round image, just like in Google+.

The new version looks nice and makes the Google bar more consistent. Some Google services still use the old version: YouTube, Blogger.

{ Thanks, Florian K. }

Send Email to Your Google+ Circles

Usually, if you want to send someone an email, you are supposed to know the email address, but that's not always the case. Many sites use contact forms and now it's very easy to create one using Google Drive. A few years ago, Google Profiles added a contact form, but it was disabled by default. Google+ made it easy to send someone a message: just add "+", mention his name and he will probably receive a notification, depending on his notification settings.



Now you can send email to the people from your Google+ circles even if you don't have their email addresses. Gmail will show suggestions from your Google+ circles when you compose an email and will send your email without showing you the address. "Your email address isn't visible to a Google+ connection unless you send that person an email, and likewise, that person's email address isn't visible to you unless they send you an email."

Suggestions from Google+ are placed at the bottom of the list, below the suggestions from your address book. As you can see, email addresses aren't included. Google will only show suggestions from your circles, but you can add anyone to your circles.



What happens when you send an email to someone? If you are in his circles, the message will be added to Gmail's Personal tab from the inbox. Otherwise, it will be added to the Social tab and you won't be able to send another message until he responds or adds you to his circles.

By default, anyone who circles you can send you an email message in Gmail. If you have many followers, the default setting will limit the messages to your circles. You can alway edit the scope of this feature in Gmail's settings. Find the "Email via Google+" section and choose from "Anyone on Google+", "Extended circles", "Circles" and "No one". Pick "no one" to completely disable this feature.

The feature is gradually rolled out. You'll receive a message from Google with the following subject: "Gmail update: Reach more people you know". It starts like this: "Ever wanted to email someone you know, but haven't yet exchanged email addresses? Starting this week, when you're composing a new email, Gmail will suggest your Google+ connections as recipients, even if you haven't exchanged email addresses yet." Even if you receive the message, you might still have to wait until the feature is enabled.



Gmail is now even more integrated with Google+. Gmail shows your circles in the sidebar, loads Google+ notifications and allows you to reply from the Gmail interface and now it lets you send email to Google+ users without knowing their addresses.



The new feature makes Gmail more useful because it unlocks the power of circles, but it can also lead to more spam. Since anyone who adds you to a circle can send you an email, you'll have to deal with that. If you have many followers, Google already limits this feature to your circles. You can also receive spam messages in Google+, so that's not something new.



It's interesting that the default setting for most people is "anyone". The default setting for notifications and the contact form is "extended circles", which include your circles and your circles' circles.



"You can only send emails to your Google+ connections with the desktop version of Gmail," informs the Gmail help center.