In yet another attempt to make you more productive as you travel around the country, I have a tip this week for you to be able to read your email while you’re on the go and without internet. Of course this message doesn’t apply to those of you who already download your messages using programs like Windows Mail or Thunderbird or Mail on a Mac. This message also is intended for those of you who are Gmail users. If you’re not a Gmail user and do not already download your emails to your laptop using one of the programs, send me an email and I’d be happy to get you started in setting it up.

For those Gmail users out there, Google recently released Offline Google Mail for its Chrome web browser which will allow you to read your email offline. You’ll need to install it on your own computer by going to the Chrome Extension Store and searching for “Offline Google Mail”. To start using Google Calendar and Google Docs offline, open each one and in the top right corner click the gear and choose “Set up Calendar/Docs offline”. You’ll need to click “Allow offline calendar/docs” and then follow their link to install the plugin from the Chrome Web Store.

If you don’t use Chrome and would like to take advantage of this new feature, Chrome can be downloaded here: http://www.google.com/chrome.

When you’re offline and want to check your email, you just need to open Chrome and select “Offline Google Mail” or “Google Calendar” from the Apps section.

There are a couple of things worth noting. First, do not enable this on a public computer or a Peace Corps office computer because the public computer will have offline access to your email. Second, this plugin will download the past three to seven days worth of email depending on how much you have. It will also download all starred email. So if there is an old email you must have offline, make sure to star it.

So that’s everything you need to know. You can now view, send and manage your emails while away from your source of internet.