Elliott C. Back » Google

GMail Blocking Chase Emails as Spam

Elliott Back — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:52:58 +0000

For whatever reason, Gmail keeps blocking my account alert emails from Chase. In my spam folder, guess which are really spam, and which are legit?

When I move them to my inbox and/or mark them as spam, I get warned that “Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information.”

How do I get Google to believe that my emails from Chase are real? I keep marking them as not spam, but that doesn’t help! Ridiculous that Gmail is hurting Chase Bank’s ability to conduct business and manage their fraud/risk. I highly suspect that account fraud alerts would get thrown into the same bucket…

Update 1:

The message headers seem to indicate a failure between Cornell and Google’s servers on SPF (Sender Policy Framework):

Delivered-To: XXXX@gmail.com
Received: by 10.231.53.18 with SMTP id k18cs6777ibg;
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 05:13:22 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.52.93.112 with SMTP id ct16mr4101007vdb.423.1316866401115;
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 05:13:21 -0700 (PDT)
Return-Path:
Received: from limestone3.mail.cornell.edu (limestone3.mail.cornell.edu. [128.253.83.163])
by mx.google.com with ESMTP id bz6si11946296vdc.126.2011.09.24.05.13.20;
Sat, 24 Sep 2011 05:13:21 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: fail (google.com: domain of Chase@alerts.chase.com does not designate 128.253.83.163 as permitted sender) client-ip=128.253.83.163;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=hardfail (google.com: domain of Chase@alerts.chase.com does not designate 128.253.83.163 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=Chase@alerts.chase.com; dkim=hardfail header.i=@alerts.Chase.com
X-CornellRouted: This message has been Routed already.
…

Update 2: A helpful Googler/blog reader said this:

It appears to be a problem specifically with Cornell. It’s a known issue when Cornell is forwarding e-mails to GMail. The Cornell IT admins [are fixing] their exchange server. In the meantime you can fix this with either:

- have Chase send info direct to @gmail.com
- create a filter to “never mark as spam” for that address.

My solution is to change my old rules to email directly to gmail rather than forward through Cornell’s servers.

Google Maps: Summer, then Winter

Elliott Back — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 04:00:45 +0000

An interesting bit of German scenery from Google Maps, if you go forward one step, you go suddenly from a summer view:

To a Stark-cold winter one:

This serendipitous discovery (more discussion at Reddit) brought delight.

Google’s 2010 Christmas Holiday Doodle

Elliott Back — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 03:13:24 +0000

Chinese readers should check out Wendy’s great post 来自谷歌首页的圣诞祝福!

Combining 17 different images together, Google’s prime Doodler Micheal Lopez spent 250 hours to create their latest Christmas-card masterpiece, a beautiful, abstract rendition approximating the Google logo. According to the WSJ, Chief-Doddler Lopez said, “We want to end the year with a bang.”

As seen on Google’s homepage

Each of the 17 images represents an image of holiday cheer, a sort of cultural Christmas card. So, the entire Google represents a global merry Christmas! Below, I will explode each image into its component links.

I wish they would provide higher quality versions of these, but I love the holiday spirit. Merry Christmas, world!

The Independent is Malware

Elliott Back — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:30:51 +0000

At least, if you’re using Chrome. While I’m not the only one to notice this, no action has yet been taken by either The Independent or Google. Here’s the problem, as seen on The Independent home page:

As you can see, they show a yellow toolbar across the top of their site with the text: “The Independent now has a Google Chrome Extension. Get the latest news on the topics you like, direct to your browser.” There is an install button and a grey x to hide the bar. However, this is mimicking the kosher Chrome UX for extensions. For example, when extensions crash, they display a similar bar:

I’m not sure what’s to be done; the marketing is deceptive and shady, tricking people into thinking that Google/Chrome/their browser is encouraging them to install a new/cool/shiny extension for The Independent’s website. The extension itself, which I am not installing ever, seems relatively innocuous.

New GMail Security Feature

Elliott Back — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:48:33 +0000

I was using my GMail today and was surprised to see a little link that read “Last account activity: 1 minute ago at this IP (74.101.6.15). Details.” If you click on Details, it brings up a popup with the latest activity on your account–who accessed your email last, and from where:

Activity on this account: This feature provides information about the last activity on this mail account and any concurrent activity.

GMail now tells you with timestamps (a) what kind of thing (browser, IMAP client, etc) accessed your email (b) when it happened, and (c) what the IP address was. The only thing lacking is a log of what content precisely was downloaded. So finally Google has solved the “is my significant other spying on me” or “do my parents secretly read my email” questions.