odrakir.com

I almost saw this coming.

[tags]Google, eBay, Skype[/tags]

Is this the first step into Google Office?

[tags]Google, Google Office, Office[/tags]

Are you sick of having all your mail spread arround on your computers? When you have more than one pc, or even if you check your email at work and then at home, it’s a nightmare to keep track of so many emails. And if you’re like me, I have multiple mail accounts, meaning more mail from diferent sources, well the solution isn’t spending all your day sending mail back and forward from one account to another. The solution is actually preety simple: IMAP!

This how to covers Ubuntu 6.06 Server (yes the server version of Ubuntu duh!) but it’s preety simple to adapt to other distros. Let’s start!

Be warned that you may loose some email messages in the process so test this first with a dummy account!

Assuming you have Ubuntu installed and updated, open a shell and type:

mkdir Maildir (create this on your home folder)

sudo apt-get install dovecot

Let it install all the packages need for dependecies.

Dovecot is an open source IMAP and POP3 server, is very simple to install / configure and suports the Maildir format which is a standard and the one we’re going to use. Dovecot is very complete and has several options, most of them related to security, I’m not covering those so feel free to explore.

So, back to the shell and enter:

sudo nano /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf

Now change the following:

# Protocols we want to be serving:
# imap imaps pop3 pop3s
#protocols = imap imaps
#protocols = imap imaps

to

# Protocols we want to be serving:
# imap imaps pop3 pop3s
#protocols = imap imaps
protocols = imap imaps

Save the file and run dovecot:

sudo /usr/sbin/dovecot

And now test your IMAP Server:

mutt -f imap://yourusername@localhost

You should get a little nagging about the certificates but after that you enter your password and you should be able to see your empty IMAP folder.

Now the next part is to get the email from the other accounts and for this we’re using a little app named Getmail. Getmail can check your POP and IMAP accounts, I’ll cover only the POP accounts but there’s some examples you can check. Getmail also features some very usefull mail sorting options you can check later.

So, if you’re using Ubuntu 6.06 “normal” then you should be able to download Getmail via apt-get:

sudo apt-get install getmail

If you’re using the Ubuntu server version you won’t get this package via apt-get unless you add the right repository or download the package and install it manually:

wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/getmail4/getmail4_4.4.3-1_all.deb

dpkg -i getmail4_4.4.3-1_all.deb

Now comes the lame part 😛

You’ll have to write a little configuration file for each of the POP / IMAP accounts you want to check. I’m going to give you an example for a regular POP account and for a GMAIL account.

Again, back to the shell and type:

cd
cd .getmail
touch gmailrc
sudo nano gmailrc

The configuration file for a GMAIL account:

[retriever]
type = SimplePOP3SSLRetriever
server = pop.gmail.com
port = 995
username = yourusername@gmail.com
password = yourpassword

[destination]
type = Maildir
path = ~yourhomedirectory/Maildir/

[options]
delete = true

Save it and repeat the process for a regular POP account:

touch ispmailrc
sudo nano ispmailrc

[retriever]
type = SimplePOP3Retriever
server = pop3.myisp.com
username = yourusername@myisp.com
password = yourpassword

[destination]
type = Maildir
path = ~yourhomedirectory/Maildir/

[options]
delete = true

Save and test it:

sudo /usr/bin/getmail --rcfile=gmailrc

If all goes well you’ll get a few messages like this:

getmail version 4.4.3
Copyright (C) 1998-2005 Charles Cazabon. Licensed under the GNU GPL version 2.
SimplePOP3SSLRetriever:username@gmail.com@pop.gmail.com:995:
0 messages retrieved, 0 skipped

This means Getmail is working, now send yourself some messages to your accounts to test it and run getmail again to check if it delivers to your IMAP folders. You can check it using Mutt like we did earlier.

By now everything should be working perfectly, we just have to automate the email checking. Let’s use crontab. Go to the shell and enter:

crontab -e

Now copy this line and save the file:

* * * * * /usr/bin/getmail --rcfile=gmailrc --rcfile=ispmailrc >> /dev/null 2>&1

(this has to be all in one line, don’t break it or it won’t work correctly!)

And we’re done! Now use an IMAP compatible client like Mozilla Thunderbir or Evolution and you’ll never have to worry with email again.

[tags]IMAP, POP, E-Mail, Email, GMail, Personal Mail Server, Linux, Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Getmail, Dovecot[/tags]

If you’re reading this post trough my blog, you’ve certainly noticed the new features here and there. All this new tinkering comes with the latest K2 release.

Thanks Michael, this release is awesome!

[tags]K2, WordPress[/tags]

After seeing this I feel a strange urge of traveling to Greece…

Oh and by the way, before you buy a ticket to Greece… it’s a fake.

[tags]Unix, Babes, Beach[/tags]

If the movie is as good as the trailer shows, we’re in for one of the greatest movies of 2006…

[tags]The Children of Men[/tags]

[poll=3]

Thank you!

No, I’m not going all Web 2.0 here, it’s just a joke logo made with the Web 2.0 Logo Creator!

[tags]Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Logo Creator[/tags]

Sony is taking some baby steps concerning their PSP marketing strategy. Last month Sony redesigned the PSP Connect Portal so it could be browsed with the PSP browser and added more downloads. Today I noticed that the Official European PSP Store is now open. This site features game demos for the PSP (LocoRoco and World Tour Soccer) and most of the content that is available through Yourpsp.com, all this with a shopping cart mechanism which indicates future content will be paid. So far it’s looking good, let’s see if Sony can innovate this time and give some hope and life to the PSP.

[tags]Sony, PSP, Playstation, Store, Connect[/tags]

Rejoice Sega Lovers!
Sega announced that they are bringing a compilation of over thirty classic Genesis games such as Altered Beast, Bonanza Bros, Phantasy Star, Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog to the PS2 and PSP. Also included on the disc are extras like interviews with the developers of this classics. Both versions include pretty much the same games but the PSP has the added bonus of wireless play while the PS2 version features some extra games like Zaxxon.

The announced games are:

• Alex Kidd: The Enchanted Castle
• Altered Beast
• Bonanza Bros
• Columns
• Comix Zone
• Decap Attack
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Ecco: The Tides of Time
• Ecco Jr.
• Eternal Champions
• Flicky
• Gain Ground
• Golden Axe
• Golden Axe II
• Golden Axe III
• Phantasy Star
• Phantasy Star II
• Phantasy Star III
• Phantasy Star IV
• Ristar
• Shadow Dancer: Secret of Shinobi
• Shinobi III
• Sonic The Hedgehog
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2
• Super Thunderblade
• Sword of Vermillion
• Vectorman
• Vectorman 2
• Virtua Fighter 2

After this list my question is: where is Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles? Anyway, this is a must buy for me, I was waiting for Sega to release this since I bought my PSP.

[tags]Sega, PSP, Sega Classics, Sonic, Golden Axe, Shinobi[/tags]