Month: June 2008

Maildir Storage in Thunderbird

I am doing research before deployment of a Postfix + Dovecot HA cluster tomorrow morning, on converting existing mailboxes to Maildir format. The existing mail server is running Sendmail + Unidentified POP3 on a Fedora Core 2 box. It’s ancient and that’s why my client need it to be scrapped or turned into something else.

Maildir will certainly help a lot in improving performance and avoiding the need to think about mailbox slowness and lock-ups that is a normal problem with mbox.

As an avid Thunderbird user since the project was started years ago and since Firefox 3 have just been released, I can’t avoid wondering whether Thunderbird is considering adding an option for Maildir storage in version 3. Of course, this have no relation whatsoever with the servers mentioned above. For those who are unfamiliar with Thunderbird, it currently store mailboxes in the mbox format.

Searching high and low for an answer, I don’t see any mention of Maildir, anywhere. However Thunderbird 3 looks promising in terms of feel and usability. Mac users will be very happy that Thunderbird 3 is a native Cocoa application and integration will be better. Other platforms will have to make peace with Gecko 1.9.

I’m too lazy to become a tester this time around so I am just going to wait. What about you?

Welcome Firefox 3; Good Bye Google Browser Sync

Following from Firefox 3 download day yesterday, I was eager to try out the new, all-improved Firefox 3. As a matter of fact, I am writing this post in Firefox 3.

There is certainly a significant improvement in speed and responsiveness, and the overall feel have changed. It’s a lot more elegant now.

However it’s sad to learn that Google will no longer update its Google Browser Sync service to support Firefox 3.

I’ve now migrated to Foxmarks. So far it works very well. One thing I shall miss is the password sync option which I use for low risk sites such as private torrent trackers.

Other add-ons that are available for upgrade includes Firebug, Alexa Sparky, Google Notebook, Google Toolbar and of course, Foxmarks 🙂

Anyway, bravo to Firefox for a job well done.

You Don’t Need To Work Hard To Take A Break

Fancy a 4 days 3 nights vacation at Club Med Kani Maldives or Laguna Bay Redang with your 3 best buds?

Steps:

  1. Post or update resume
  2. Answer 2 simple questions about Monster
  3. Send email to 3 friends

Click the image below for more information. This is NOT a paid advertisement and I don’t receive anything for this post. Seriously.

Hell I wish I am eligible for this promotion 😉

US Visa Collection

It has almost been a month since I wrote my last post. I’ve been busy, yes. Busy enough that I didn’t have the chance to write.

I have been away to the United States and back. While there I was tired more than normal simply because of the commute to work and the different weather conditions. I’ll post some pictures from Boston in the next posts.

Back to the collection of US Visa in Wisma MCA in KL. The procedure is there is not that cumbersome. One quite important thing if you want to spend the littlest time there is to come early. 2.30pm is considered early for next-working-day pickup of the Visa and your passport (if you are picking up a Visa applied weeks ago you can come in the morning). The US Visa office have a lunch break time (compared to UK Visa office which is closed at 3pm with no lunch time).

Anyway, when you arrive at Wisma MCA you have to register at the lobby – mention that you want to go to VFS. The “receptionist” will swipe your card at the computer and produce a slip. Once you reach the floor, you’ll report to the security guard and form a queue at the corridor in front of the office. I was the 5th in line. Write your name and contact number at the back of the yellow card you obtained at the embassy.

Your turn in the queue is important as this is the order they will call you once you are in the office. I was out after 5 minutes the office started processing. They were quick.

Try not to bring a big bag or important things as you’ll have to leave everything outside. Just like when you were in the embassy you’ll have to switch off your handphone here too.

The bottom line is to be early. At least half an hour before the office opens. I guess this applies the same if you come in the morning. It’s important if you want to spend 30-40 minutes max there. Believe me, the line was very long.