Sure, it looks nice, but I refuse to praise them after they gutted the heart and soul out of Seaton Hackney Stables by driving them out of business.

My new desktop on my computer.

I sang you the praises of Qumana (which I am writing this entry in as we speak) a while ago and I thought I would share with you my new love affair.

Remember how the older versions of Outlook and Outlook Express would automatically add anyone you replied or sent an email to into your contacts? I found this hugely helpful, esp since I deal with a lot of people online a day and sometimes I only remember the first few letters of their email to look them up with.

Well, the newer versions of Outlook no longer do this and I missed it. In addition, now that I use my desktop and laptop interchangeably (in your case it might be a home computer/work computer type of thing), it’s very annoying when you write up a whole email and then realize that you left that person’s address on the other computer.

Enter Plaxo. They have a premium version but I find their free version is just fine for my needs. (Though I may eventually be seduced by the de-duping feature of the premium version). Essentially, it automatically syncs all your contacts between any computers you have it installed on and online in case you use a web based email like gmail or yahoo. The other cool feature is that when other people also have Plaxo, it’s even easier to use. Example: I have Plaxo. If I move and update my own address in Plaxo, all my friends who have me in their contacts automatically get the new updated address with no extra effort on their part.

In addition, it also keeps track of birthdays and automatically emails you before they happen with the person’s most current contact info so that you can send them a card or e-card. Very useful!

When you first install it, it pulls all of your existing contacts from both your email program and your AIM buddy list. You can also import your contacts from your web based email program or just type them in. It first searches for people who are already Plaxo members and updates their info automatically. Everyone else it gives you the option to email to ask them to update their information so that you know what you have is up to date.

With each new person that emails you, in Outlook, it also shows you their photo (if they have one uploaded) and all their contact info at the click of a button. It also allows you to add them with a single click as well.

Then, once all the people are on there, it automatically syncs the addresses every time you sign on either computer. Very groovy!

Oh, yeah. It’s love.