A networking idea for FIRST teams through GMAIL [Archive]

rufu5

23-06-2005, 17:12

OK, my major e-mail address is now my gmail address. Now I was sitting back and thinking: "Man, this gmail thing is sweet, 2gbs of storage, any @gmail.com that you want ..." (and he did speak at nationals :D )

And then it hit me!

Have you ever been sitting back and said: "Man I want to get in touch with team xxxx, but I just don't know what e-mail to use, which person I need to talk to, and their website is down or doesn't have a contact list!"

Well I have a solution!

Say you want to get in contact with the FIRST team 447 (my team, lol)

447.FIRST@gmail.com

every team, simply takes 5 minutes and makes a (team number)(period)FIRST@gmail.com

and it goes on for FLL and VEX too xxxx.FLL@gmail.com xxxx.VEX@gmail.com

team leaders can use the AMAZING gmail notifier

http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/index?promo=gdl-en

(I had already made 447.FIRST, thats why i said that and not 447.FRC)

IF ANYONE WANTS AN INVITE, SO THEY CAN MAKE THEIR TEAM A GMAIL ACCOUNT, just post here (to move this up, so more people can see it) and send me an e-mail at 447.FIRST@gmail.com

RbtGal1351

23-06-2005, 20:03

That's a really cool idea!

And you easily have it forward to the leader's email address too

~Stephanie
Team 1351

ps- i <3 google and gmail rocks! smschmit@gmail.com & any other ones i feel like making with my 90 invites. need one?

THAT WAS MY 100TH POST!!!

Morenoh149

23-06-2005, 20:19

yeah I guess I'll help with the invite thing

xiagox@gmail.com

by the way

already got

1597.FIRST@gmail.com

and

039.VEX@gmail.com

for my team :D

* While making the account for my vex team I noticed the user name
(i.e. 39.vex@gmail.com) cant be less than 6 characters long (they might not count the period (.) )

So I made it
039.vex@gmail.com

and I think (for simplicity) all VEX or FLL teams that have less than 3 digits should follow the same format, so anyone can remember how to contact you ;) *

ClintDog

23-06-2005, 21:11

Good idea!!!!!!!!!!! :)

scott

23-06-2005, 22:31

My god. . . .. RUFUS!! This brilliant!!. . . I've had GMail for about. . . . . 3 days and I refuse to use anything else!!

lindsayq

24-06-2005, 02:20

I'll help out with the GMail invites, as well. Each account only has 50 invites, so if you or your team would like an invitation to create a GMail account, e-mail me at: lindsay.quyle@gmail.com

Great idea, Rufus! :D

wilshire

24-06-2005, 02:20

great idea Rufus.

JohnBoucher

24-06-2005, 05:27

Excellent Idea. Gmail is a great tool.

We also use a gmail account for a workspace for the mentors on our team. We have discussions by reading and replying to the threaded emails. We save and share documents this way also. Good Stuff :cool:

Ryan M.

24-06-2005, 07:00

Interesting idea.

If you happen to be the team leader, but already have Gmail, don't forget you can have emails forwarded (http://gmail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=10957)!

See my sig if you need an invite.

Conor Ryan

24-06-2005, 10:12

My god. . . .. RUFUS!! This brilliant!!. . . I've had GMail for about. . . . . 3 days and I refuse to use anything else!!

Welcome to the party

yay 1403.first is created (PM if you want to use it)! this is an easy way to get a contact email for all the teams. Yay!

Beth Sweet

24-06-2005, 10:36

Sounds like a good idea. We already have a gmail account for our team though, so you may want to mark down on the list that we are team1504@gmail.com

dmurdz

24-06-2005, 14:06

I think that this network is a great idea!

Team 1027 has joined in on the action,

1027.FIRST@gmail.com

Kyle Love

24-06-2005, 14:45

Team 45 is in.

45.FIRST@gmail.com

Joe Ross

24-06-2005, 15:05

Sounds like a good idea. We already have a gmail account for our team though, so you may want to mark down on the list that we are team1504@gmail.com

The nice thing about everyone having the same format is there doesn't need to be a list. If I want to contact team 383, I automatically know its 383.first@gmail.com.

Having a different e-mail address (even if it's still gmail) defeats the purpose.

Like Rufus said, if you want to use a seperate e-mail address, set up 1504.first@gmail.com and set it to forward to whatever address you want.

Richard Wallace

24-06-2005, 15:47

IF ANYONE WANTS AN INVITE, SO THEY CAN MAKE THEIR TEAM A GMAIL ACCOUNT, just post here (to move this up, so more people can see it) and send me an e-mail at 447.FIRST@gmail.com

Great idea!

Fouleaf

25-06-2005, 15:29

Mitty Robotics has just joined the network at 1351.FIRST@gmail.com

This really was a great idea, rufu5. Thanks for thinking of it!

~Sarah

dubious elise

25-06-2005, 15:55

Excellent idea, 269.FIRST@gmail.com is now up and running!

KTorak

25-06-2005, 16:11

1023.FIRST@gmail.com is on board. :)

Bcahn836

25-06-2005, 16:31

Team 836 is now online, 836.FIRST@gmail.com

Bill_Hancoc

25-06-2005, 21:59

Thats a great Idea! ill have Lisa make one ffor our team

scott

25-06-2005, 22:08

Wow. . . .Rufus this has really taken off. . .. :ahh: :ahh:

Conor Ryan

26-06-2005, 00:04

well i was thinking, we may have a great format. But we don't have anyway of archiving them on one easy to use page. So I created....

First Gmail Network-A Google Group (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/FirstGmailNetwork)

Now any team that has one can join the group. When you feel like it you can browse the member list and you got a contact on a bunch of teams. The more teams we have, the easier it will be to find that team you've been trying to contact, so if you haven't yet, Make one!

JohnBoucher

26-06-2005, 09:25

237 is on board
237.first@gmail.com

rees2001

26-06-2005, 09:30

It's funny this comes up. Next season I am having all of my students create & use g-mail as their robotics team e-mail. Each student will have an e-mail of student340@gmail.com, maybe I will change it to student.340.FIRST@gmail.com. Many of the students have already gotten on board so I probably won't. Oddly I still need to create one like that myself. I have been using g-mail for the better part of 6 months & I have found it better than any other public e-mail system out there.
To continue on with this thread I will create 340.FIRST@gmail.com right now. This really is a great idea as long as somebody checks the team e-mail.

Nice thinking

... 340.FIRST@gmail.com is now created & so is jrees340@gmail.com. both are linked so there is no need to send to both.

Again great idea, now it's time to look into a google group account for the team. I will have to compare it to our team's yahoo group account.

coastertux

26-06-2005, 09:45

Team 1640 now has 1640.FIRST@gmail.com

114gopher

26-06-2005, 13:24

Team 114 is now on board, 114.first@gmail.com!

Freddy Schurr

26-06-2005, 13:51

GOOD IDEA

rufu5

26-06-2005, 17:50

WOW! :ahh: I'm glad this is taking off!

well i was thinking, we may have a great format. But we don't have anyway of archiving them on one easy to use page. So I created....

First Gmail Network-A Google Group (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/FirstGmailNetwork)

Now any team that has one can join the group. When you feel like it you can browse the member list and you got a contact on a bunch of teams. The more teams we have, the easier it will be to find that team you've been trying to contact, so if you haven't yet, Make one!

Great idea! I hope everyone will take the extra step and join this too.

TonzOFun

26-06-2005, 20:41

This is a great idea. 555.first@gmail.com is created.

Allison K

26-06-2005, 23:33

I jump on the bandwagon. 226.first@gmail.com

Chris_Elston

27-06-2005, 12:46

1501 is IN

1501.first@gmail.com

Travis Hoffman

27-06-2005, 14:29

Team 45 is in.

45.FIRST@gmail.com

So is Team 48.

48.FIRST@gmail.com

SporkyGrl

27-06-2005, 14:31

I'll have to talk to our student leader when she comes back before i make one of these, but it sounds like a really good idea if you want other teams to be able to get ahold of you. And i have noticed that Gmail is a good Email service, though i use msn the most personally.

Travis Hoffman

27-06-2005, 15:25

As much as we'd like to think it, every FIRST team doesn't read Chief Delphi. If the logic behind this Gmail system is sound (and I think it is), perhaps someone "in the know" could contact FIRST and ask them to send out an email blast to all teams suggesting they set up an address using this new format? As previously suggested by many, each team leader could then simply set up a mail forward to their preferred email address through the Gmail settings. Those who did not want to open themselves up to contact from other teams could simply choose not to participate, although I hope there wouldn't be too many people who picked this option.

I only suggest this because access to the Team Contact database through TIMS was removed this past season, I believe due to privacy reasons - some people didn't want their private emails shared with others. Instituting the Gmail solution provides a nice, safe buffer to protect their true email addys from any malicious evildoers, and it makes it much easier and faster for people to contact representatives on other teams (a very important aspect of organizing something like a pre-ship scrimmage, an event we stage every year in February).

Please FIRST, spread the word so inter-team communication can be improved.
In an era where FIRST is decentralizing their administrative duties and spreading them to a regional level, having a tool like this could only help the regional staffs improve communication to their local teams. Perhaps this will help improve awareness and attendance at events like the team forums, which many teams did not even know about?

Brandon Martus

27-06-2005, 15:38

Please FIRST, spread the word so inter-team communication can be improved.
In an era where FIRST is decentralizing their administrative duties and spreading them to a regional level, having a tool like this could only help the regional staffs improve communication to their local teams. Perhaps this will help improve awareness and attendance at events like the team forums, which many teams did not even know about?
Reading this makes me think they could make some kind of contact system which automatically forwards to the TIMS team leader (ie: team47@email.usfirst.org ) and doesn't require an additional gmail account. Of course this would require initial work on FIRSTs part, but it would keep it centralized and auto-updated based on TIMS updates, and wouldn't depend on GMail.

Travis Hoffman

27-06-2005, 15:44

Dave Flowerday

27-06-2005, 16:16

Reading this makes me think they could make some kind of contact system which automatically forwards to the TIMS team leader (ie: team47@email.usfirst.org ) and doesn't require an additional gmail account. Of course this would require initial work on FIRSTs part, but it would keep it centralized and auto-updated based on TIMS updates, and wouldn't depend on GMail.
Agreed, I've been thinking that while reading this thread as well, since it also poses less potential for violating Gmail's terms of use. When I first signed up they had a policy against having more than 1 account but I can't find it now. Even if they don't really enforce it, as a group we should try to respect their wishes (like I said though, I can't find anything forbidding it at this time, but they change policies like that regularly).

The other problem I see with this Gmail setup is that you don't really know who's on the other end. Is it the team admin and/or someone who can "speak" for the team? Nothing against any of you who have created the accounts here, but if I had something important to communicate to a team I don't think I'd trust this method to work. How do you even know that if you contact "2175.FIRST@gmail.com" and it goes through that it really is someone from team 2175, and not someone else trying to cause trouble (just because you wouldn't do this doesn't mean someone else won't).

Expanding on Brandon's idea, I think it'd be neat to have a URL redirector, so that http://team111.frc.usfirst.org would redirect to 111's web page. That would make it easy to find any team's website (as long as they registered it with FIRST), AND you could use it for the email forwarder (admin@team111.frc.usfirst.org). This way, the service could also "fail gracefully" when the information isn't available. Team 2175 hasn't registered their website? Then http://team2175.frc.usfirst.org displays a nice "We're sorry, but this team has not registered their website." message. Same thing for email: anything sent to admin@team2175.frc.usfirst.org would be returned, perhaps with any other relevant information "This team has not registered an admin email address, but they have provided a website available at http://team2175.frc.usfirst.org."

Travis Hoffman

27-06-2005, 16:41

Well based on Dave and Brandon's comments, having FIRST set up their own team email solution would be ideal, but it would require FIRST to take further action on their own. Who can find out if this is something they'd be willing to do for the community? I think this is a badly-needed service. I think if FIRST came through for us, you'd see everyone unquestionably adopt their new system, but without such a system in place, you're going to continue to see these "home-grown" ideas appear on Chief Delphi. Lacking any other viable alternative, it's great to see people suggesting their ideas for improving communication within the community.

rufu5

27-06-2005, 23:09

While having FIRST come in and hold our hands for us sounds great, the GMAIL solution I have proposed leaves it up for the teams to create this network for themselves. A "home grown" solution such as this happens in every facet of industry, and with a little nudge, takes off and becomes a standard.

This method of communication would be for general contact between teams, such as getting a head engineers contact information, asking general questions, or getting in contact with other students you meet during competition. You wouldn't be sending super secret encoded robot schematics. I know there is a chance for "e-mail stealing" but its a necessary risk, in my opinion, to overcome this "contact gap" that we have now.

I would love it if someone with "high up" connections in FIRST could get them to send an e-mail blast urging teams to join this network to stream-line team to team communication. I don't know what the "TIMS" system was, but it didn't seem to work, considering its gone now. I would really like to know more about it so we don't make the same mistake that it did.

And this is what FIRST is all about as well: High school students coming up with ideas that help out entire groups of people, while not relying on adults or engineers to come up with the ideas for them.

Travis Hoffman

27-06-2005, 23:25

I would love it if someone with "high up" connections in FIRST could get them to send an e-mail blast urging teams to join this network to stream-line team to team communication. I don't know what the "TIMS" system was, but it didn't seem to work, considering its gone now. I would really like to know more about it so we don't make the same mistake that it did.

Rufus:

TIMS stands for "Team Information Management System". This is the primary interface team leaders use when creating new teams, registering for regionals and the championship, updating team contact information, etc. TIMS used to have a feature which allowed team leaders to look up the contact information of other team leaders, but that feature has been discontinued. An email system like the one you are suggesting would go a long way toward restoring that capability, and then some.

rufu5

27-06-2005, 23:41

Rufus:

TIMS stands for "Team Information Management System". This is the primary interface team leaders use when creating new teams, registering for regionals and the championship, updating team contact information, etc. TIMS used to have a feature which allowed team leaders to look up the contact information of other team leaders, but that feature has been discontinued. An email system like the one you are suggesting would go a long way toward restoring that capability, and then some.

Thanks!

Someone posted earlier, I believe, that that section was taken down because of privacy issues. The Gmail system wouldn't have that problem and like you said earlier: "Instituting the Gmail solution provides a nice, safe buffer to protect their true email addys from any malicious evildoers, and it makes it much easier and faster for people to contact representatives on other teams." Gmail Will Prevail!

santosh

27-06-2005, 23:50

1002 just got one and is now in the GoogleGroup

scott

28-06-2005, 08:11

LONG LIVE GMAIL!!

roberthan

28-06-2005, 23:22

Team 702 just joined at

702.first@gmail.com

mechanicalbrain

28-06-2005, 23:25

ill help with more accounts mechabunny@gmail.com

tckma

29-06-2005, 16:58

I have a gmail account but I rarely use it (the point being that I wanted some easy way to check my e-mail at work, but gmail seems to barf on UNIX browsers). How does one give out invites? I'd be willing to provide some.

As for my team joining in, I'd be more than happy to create the account, but I'd like to clear it with the student leads or faculty advisor first.

This is a great idea, whether FIRST does it or it is done through GMail. A while ago we wanted to contact team 348 but didn't have any contacts. It would have been much easier if we'd just been able to send to a central e-mail address that we automatically knew was theirs?

Ryan M.

29-06-2005, 19:25

I have a gmail account but I rarely use it (the point being that I wanted some easy way to check my e-mail at work, but gmail seems to barf on UNIX browsers).I've never had a problem with FF on a Linux box... :shrug:

How does one give out invites? I'd be willing to provide some.There should be a blue box in the lower left corner of any Gmail page.

It would have been much easier if we'd just been able to send to a central e-mail address that we automatically knew was theirs?Hm... maybe I'll setup a quick PHP frontend for adding team contact info to a database. The one thing to figure out is how to prevent spam. :)

rufu5

29-06-2005, 19:38

How does one give out invites? I'd be willing to provide some.

If you have just made a gmail account you will not get invites until you have had your account for an extended period of time. When you do get them, there will be a small box on the left, under your tool bar, that says "Invite a Friend"

If anyone on here has a team around them, or a rookie team they are helping with, let them know about this. Like was said earlier, not everyone uses ChiefDelphi, so get the word out to those who do not :D

tckma

29-06-2005, 20:36

I've never had a problem with FF on a Linux box... :shrug:

My company uses Sun Solaris workstations with Netscape 4. I've tried asking for FF or an upgrade to a later version of NS, but they won't do it, and I don't have install permissions.

If I try to use Terminal Server (windoze emulator for Solaris), that's even worse.

Ryan M.

30-06-2005, 10:19

Hm... maybe I'll setup a quick PHP frontend for adding team contact info to a database.I made a very quick and dirty PHP->MySQL storage place for FIRST contact emails which is up at http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts.

It isn't very special, just gives you the ability to associate you team number (and type, so VEX, FLL, and FRC are all supported) with any contact information you specify. If you need a record edited or deleted, email or PM me.

--EDIT--
Please redirect comments on the database to this thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=393210). Thanks.

HFSbF5

30-06-2005, 13:06

PantherTech 292 is in!

292.FIRST@gmail.com

Goobergunch

30-06-2005, 14:52

I've created 1168.FIRST(at)gmail.com.

rufu5

01-07-2005, 14:40

Just as a reminder two GREAT systems have been set up since this small idea was released.

First we have the FIRST Gmail Network group started up by cdr1122334455
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/FirstGmailNetwork

and the FIRST contact database set up by Ryan M.
http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts2/display.php

I encourage everyone to set up your teams info on both of these and utilize these AMAZING tools.

kcy88

02-07-2005, 05:06

(claps hands)
Awesome idea!!!

75 can now be reached at 75.FIRST@gmail.com

MrToast

07-07-2005, 11:45

This seems like a good place to post something like this...

I have a Gmail account and my invites are languishing un-used, so I whipped up this little page:

http://www.davedelong.com/php/gmail.php

Basically, you type in your email address, and you automatically get a GMail invitation. I keep a basic log of IP addresses and emails to prevent people from taking all of the invitations, but that won't stop some of the more determined people.

So yeah.... free invitations, either for yourself or for this nifty FIRST networking idea....

Enjoy!

Dave

coastertux

07-07-2005, 12:55

MrToast, would it be possible for me to get that script?

rufu5

07-07-2005, 13:00

MrToast, would it be possible for me to get that script?

I would also like to get a copy of that script if at all possible. That is an awesome idea!

MrToast

07-07-2005, 16:37

Yay! Interested people! :D

The source is available in a .zip file here (hopefully you know PHP):
http://www.davedelong.com/php/gmail.zip

It's four files (3 php files and a pic) and a Read Me file (please read it!). If you don't want to have the whole "blacklist" stuff, well then hopefully you know enough PHP to comment that out.

I apologize for the coding style... I wanted to get the page up quickly and so my coding style may be a bit shoddy.

Enjoy!

Dave

Jeremiah Johnson

20-07-2005, 20:32

648.FIRST@gmail.com :D

shyra1353

20-07-2005, 22:00

Ive added SWAT

771.FIRST@gmail.com

now don't all jump at the chance to email us ...

Kate Leach

22-07-2005, 08:25

166.FIRST@gmail.com AND joined the group.

MrToast

22-07-2005, 09:06

Just a reminder that you can get free invites for yourself or your team here:

http://www.davedelong.com/php/gmail.php

My invites respawned themselves, so I'm back up to about 46 already....

Dave

Chaos204

22-07-2005, 17:57

This is Great

204.FIRST@gmail.com

half geek

22-07-2005, 18:11

The gmail notifier is good, and forwarding is a great idea, too.
Another useful thing that Ximian Evolution or Thunderbird (or Outlook >shudder<) aficionados can put to good use is the POP capability. To use, log in to gmail, go to settings, and then the Forwarding and POP tab. And just as the name demonstrates, this is also how to set up forwarding. The instructions from Google make setting up your POP/SMTP client setup a breeze!

Freddy Schurr

22-07-2005, 18:50

half geek

23-07-2005, 01:08

I think that its great but I was thinking once everyone has a gmail account for they team, we put a list of all the teams that have one on one post or when can separate it from each state, so we contact teams in our areas.
Good idea. WIth that, it doesn't even need to be gmail. However, gmail has wonderful capabilities such as sending 20MB attachments, so we should definitely push to have people move over to google (as everyone has been suggesting ;) ), or use an even better mail service (your own colocal server, etc.)
I originally signed up for making a script like that, but second thoughts say that simplicity is better. If there comes a need, however, email me and I'll be happy to do it.

Ryan M.

23-07-2005, 08:54

I think that its great but I was thinking once everyone has a gmail account for they team, we put a list of all the teams that have one on one post or when can separate it from each state, so we contact teams in our areas.Only problem with that is you can't edit a post after 24 hours. You could recruit a mod, I guess. :)

Or maybe I could add it to the FIRST Contact Database (http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts). :)

nehalita

23-07-2005, 21:19

team 1345 has an e-mail address: 1345.FIRST@gmail.com and is on the gmail group =)

Quantumman

06-08-2005, 19:24

Team 303 now has 303.first@gmail.com and we joined the group. We will now hold our breath till the emails come pouring in.

Cyberguy34000

06-08-2005, 21:44

662 is now registered at 662.FIRST@gmail.com though I've set it up as just a shell account to our mentor's box :) BTW, I've got more invites then I know what to do with, so if anyone wants one just shoot me an e-mail. Please e-mail me at cyberguy34000@gmail.com not the above address as it is just a shell for our team's mentor.

Babyhueyhnx

07-08-2005, 00:48

This is pretty cool.
486.first@gmail.com

Guyute

07-08-2005, 01:20

gmail rocks i mean you have soo much space and its lick chatting w/ iother people i have gmail and am really glad

Ryan M.

07-08-2005, 07:10

Yeah... ChiefDelphi isn't exaclty the greatest place to give out invites (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29087). Too many people already have 'em. :)

You guys who just saw this thread should check out this (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38794) one as well. ;)

Rohan_DHS

08-08-2005, 03:27

1620.FIRST@gmail.com is online

Ryan M.

08-08-2005, 07:27

1620.FIRST@gmail.com is onlineBut not online in the FIRST Contact Database (http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts/add.php)!

(Man, I'm starting to spam. There's got to be a pill for that.)

sudeepr71

09-08-2005, 12:51

Frog Force is in :)

503.FIRST@gmail.com

rufu5

24-08-2005, 01:54

It is truly awesome how many people have embraced this communication possibility. I just found the download for a new tool by Google, that will tie in seamlessly with the framework already in place with gmail. It's Google talk. The buzz has been around for a while, and now you can download it:

http://www.Google.com/talk/

All you do is sign in with your gmail account and BAM! your own instant messaging tool based on your gmail account.

My personal account is rufus.cochran@gmail.com drop me an IM when your team is on line :D

Babyhueyhnx

24-08-2005, 02:33

already downloaded it and got it installed.

Nuttyman54

28-08-2005, 16:18

Spartan Robotics is online at 971.FIRST@gmail.com!

Joe J.

08-09-2005, 19:29

Lightning Robotics has one 862.FIRST@gmail.com

Damian Manda

08-09-2005, 20:58

In addition to our original email (team159@alpinerobotics.com) we now have 159.first@gmail.com

JoeFryman

08-09-2005, 21:07

Nice. Technojays, Team 94 from Southfield High can now be reached at:
94.FIRST@gmail.com
We respond to email within 24 hours. If not, you get a full refund.

Ryan M.

09-09-2005, 06:04

Nice. Technojays, Team 94 from Southfield High can now be reached at:
94.FIRST@gmail.com
We respond to email within 24 hours. If not, you get a full refund.Be sure to add it the FIRST Contact Database (http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts). ;)

lkdjm

09-09-2005, 19:58

Sounds like a great idea! I love gmail, plus with the new google talk we can instant message between teams! Our new address is 564.FIRST@gmail.com

I am also more than willing to give out invites!

-D Mazza of team 564

Freddy Schurr

02-11-2005, 16:25

I would like to create a list for the "contacts" section of GMAIL, so it could be easy for us to contact teams in our area or out of state. Everyone could use this.

This is my idea

Team Name and State or Country, and your team's Gmail

I will start the list.

ERV, NJ: 204.FIRST@gmail.com

Then the next team will put they team name and what country or state your from and then your team's gmail contact so that way we could have a continuous list.

rufu5

02-11-2005, 16:42

Team Roboto, 447, IN 447.FIRST@gmail.com

As the season approaches, hopefully this tool can be tested to its fullest extent! :D

Freddy Schurr

02-11-2005, 16:49

ERV, NJ: 204.FIRST@gmail.com
Team Roboto, 447, IN 447.FIRST@gmail.com

This what I meant by.

Stephen P

02-11-2005, 18:52

1093.First@gmail.com

Freddy Schurr

02-11-2005, 18:56

ERV, NJ: 204.FIRST@gmail.com
Team Roboto, 447, IN 447.FIRST@gmail.com
1093.VA: 1093.First@gmail.com
(The next team copys the above list and then adds they contact information at end and then post).

Please follow this.

varcsscotty

04-11-2005, 19:38

ERV, NJ: 204.FIRST@gmail.com
Team Roboto, 447, IN 447.FIRST@gmail.com
1093.VA: 1093.First@gmail.com
Braughtswurtz Robotics : 1571.FIRST@gmail.com
(The next team copys the above list and then adds they contact information at end and then post).

Please follow this.

the_short1

07-11-2005, 13:43

GREAT GREAT IDEA!! i was thinking something like thsi for the team.. because when our mentor sends group emails he is considered spam in hotmail and many members have problems.. so i made an email address called team1596@gmail.com taht he can sent ALL the emails to and all the members could have the password.. .

but having one for each team is a great idea.. and what a great way to increase knowlege of gmail and boost pr for larry :D .. that was definately a highlight to going to atlanta.. i just wish i coulda shook his hand.. he is definately one of my idols .

JanineF

12-11-2005, 12:13

Aces High 176 is up and I will contact other CT area UTC teams to get theirs up also!

176.FIRST@gmail.com

the_short1

12-11-2005, 12:20

GREAT GREAT IDEA!! i

1596.FIRST@Gmail.com is up and running

KoRnPoP

13-11-2005, 22:43

I'll help I have 100 invites kornpopmg@gmail.com Just let me know and I'll talk to my mentor about g etting one for our team and hopefully have it up by tmw. This is a really good Idea and I love g-mail it rocks!

Stu Bloom

14-11-2005, 21:06

1018.FIRST@gmail.com is up ... Don't forget to add your information to the FIRST Contact Database (http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts/add.php)

Rohan_DHS

14-11-2005, 22:05

ERV, NJ: 204.FIRST@gmail.com
Team Roboto, 447, IN 447.FIRST@gmail.com
1093.VA: 1093.First@gmail.com
Braughtswurtz Robotics : 1571.FIRST@gmail.com
Robolution, ON: 1620.FIRST@gmail.com

Ryan M.

15-11-2005, 05:52

1018.FIRST@gmail.com is up ... Don't forget to add your information to the FIRST Contact Database (http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts/add.php)Yes, please do. :)

(And I saw the original message because I have a subscription here. The database was down for a few hours because of a power outage. Sorry. :D)

the_short1

15-11-2005, 13:00

tada! list of all known email addresses made per this thread.. . some others may have been made but not announced.. maybe someone can contact the ppl on this list and see if they added to the first contact database.. and or tell them how to use gmails neat forwarding feature to send all emails to the mentor / whoeever is in charge of emails to ensure its going to be monitored.
EDIT: I MADE A SORTING PROGRAM AND ITS SORTED NOW :D
----------------------------------------------------
45.FIRST@gmail.com
48.FIRST@gmail.com
75.FIRST@gmail.com
94.FIRST@gmail.com
114.FIRST@gmail.com
159.FIRST@gmail.com
166.FIRST@gmail.com
176.FIRST@gmail.com
204.FIRST@gmail.com
204.FIRST@gmail.com
226.FIRST@gmail.com
237.FIRST@gmail.com
269.FIRST@gmail.com
292.FIRST@gmail.com
303.FIRST@gmail.com
340.FIRST@gmail.com
383.FIRST@gmail.com
447.FIRST@gmail.com
447.FIRST@gmail.com
486.FIRST@gmail.com
503.FIRST@gmail.com
537.FIRST@gmail.com
555.FIRST@gmail.com
564.FIRST@gmail.com
648.FIRST@gmail.com
662.FIRST@gmail.com
702.FIRST@gmail.com
771.FIRST@gmail.com
836.FIRST@gmail.com
862.FIRST@gmail.com
971.FIRST@gmail.com
1018.FIRST@gmail.com
1023.FIRST@gmail.com
1027.FIRST@gmail.com
1093.FIRST@gmail.com
1345.FIRST@gmail.com
1351.FIRST@gmail.com
1403.FIRST@gmail.com
1501.FIRST@gmail.com
1504.FIRST@gmail.com
1571.FIRST@gmail.com
1596.FIRST@gmail.com
1597.FIRST@gmail.com
1620.FIRST@gmail.com
1640.FIRST@gmail.com
021.VEX@gmail.com
039.VEX@gmail.com
-------------------------
i will maintain this list and repost it every page or two of this thread.

http://www.members.shaw.ca/short1_main/sortEmail.t (the program i made to sort if anyone is interested in looking at it...) notepad works to open it...

Beth Sweet

15-11-2005, 15:20

Stu Bloom

15-11-2005, 15:30

tada! list of all known email addresses made per this thread... Thanks a LOT! Now how about sorting that list by team number ... :yikes: :ahh: ;)

capnrmorgan

15-11-2005, 19:04

1882.first@gmail.com and 021.Vex@gmail.com created today for www.rebelrobotics.com. Thanks R. Morgan

wojahoitz

27-11-2005, 12:09

What is VEX? And team 58 is in. 58.first@gmail.com

AnkurG

02-12-2005, 16:44

Team 1072 has joined in. Great idea! Email: 1072.FIRST@gmail.com

ducttapehaxor

04-12-2005, 00:18

Team 1712 is now 1712.FIRST@gmail.com.

Donut

29-12-2005, 13:39

I made this a while ago but haven't had time to post it until now. Team 498 is in at 498.FIRST@gmail.com

Nuttyman54

29-12-2005, 13:49

The above email address for team 1504 is not being maintained by our team and will not be used. Anyone needing to contact our team may do so at team1504@gmail.com. Kevin, please read the response email for more information

you should do what I do, and set 1504.FIRST@gmail.com to forward to team1504@gmail. That way, you only have to check one email, but people can use the same formula as everyone else to contact your team:)

***
1560 has also joined the list

Conor Ryan

29-12-2005, 13:58

I was thinking, hey why not allow for non-team addresses to so we have a FIRST address book for people too,

So, if your on the Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/FirstGmailNetwork), add your email address if you want to,
UNDER THESE CONDITIONS:
-Your email address can somehow link you to your real name or CD name (no random addresses like say...cdr1122334455ATaolDOTcom, I'd like more of Conor.RyanATgmailDOTcom
-Yeah its a bit redundant seeing that you can simply PM someone here, but if your sending an email why not grab the email address(es) at an address book somewhere.

(some threads never die)

Nuttyman54

29-12-2005, 14:16

rufu5

29-12-2005, 18:59

JBotAlan

29-12-2005, 22:27

For those of you who have addresses that don't match Team no.FIRST@GMail.Com, please, please, this won't work if you don't match this format! This needs to be an absolute standard! GMail forwards for free, so set up the account to forward to the address you use primarily! Please! :ahh:

I have something like 99 invites, so that's not a problem. Email me if you need to.

I will probably get our team on board after consulting our leaders.

Jacob dot Rau at GMail.com
JBotAlan

Nuttyman54

30-12-2005, 01:36

you must either use your cell phone, or get invited. The latter is easier, and many people such as JBotAlan and myself, are happy to invite you. PM either of us with your current email address.

Safarley2901

30-12-2005, 13:24

Team 808 is in. 808.FIRST@gmail.com

hoag

30-12-2005, 14:54

Team 174 is up, 174.FIRST@gmail.com

robot180

31-12-2005, 14:09

180.FIRST@gmail.com

Tom Saxton

03-01-2006, 14:25

This seems like a good idea, but it has a few problems.

Only teams who read Chief Delphi are getting the message, and we already know how to contact those teams.

It only takes one jerk to ruin the system by going through and taking addresses that teams haven't registered.

Anyone who posts their team address on CD, or any other web page, will get found by web crawlers and start getting spammed. That's why CD has the nice PM mechanism that doesn't expose members' email addresses to web crawlers. So far, GMail seems good about not letting too much spam in, but I don't expect that to last forever.

(I would suggest that anyone who has posted their new gmail address to this discussion edit that message to just say that team number XXXX is signed up. Likewise, lists of teams participating should just list the team number and explain how to turn a team number into a gmail address: web bots can't read.)

However it happens, once an address starts getting overwhelmed by spam, the low signal to noise ratio will make that address useless. The usual solution to this problem is to change email addresses, but that doesn't work with a scheme that requires a specific address template.

Nuttyman54

03-01-2006, 14:59

1) we (team 971) have had our address since last year and no spam yet! i've given it out freely on these forums, including this thread

2) jerks are few and far between in FIRST, and especially on Chief Delphi...something about that "Gracious Professionalism" thing. Also, Gmail's registering system makes it more effort than it's worth for someone to just register team numbers...not to metion that there's no real point except to tick people off.

3) your point about only CD browsers seeing the address is valid to an extent. HOWEVER: these addresses are also avaliable on the FIRST Contact database, and on most of the team's websites. It also doesn't hurt just to email an address that you don't exists, but if it does, you know what form it will take.

sorry to shoot down your post, but i think it's not as big of a problem as you make it seem

rufu5

05-01-2006, 17:04

just to confirm what nuttyman54 said:

1) gmail has an outstanding spam blocker/filter

2) while people could steal address, we need to rely on gracious professionalism

since kickoff is only two days away, I encourage anyone who hasn't set up an account for their team to do so, and for everyone to fill teams who don't use ChiefDelphi.com in on the system

(NEW GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HERE IT COMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
good luck everyone

Eupher

05-01-2006, 20:55

Team 1549 is now in.

1549.first@gmail.com

vaheedr

06-01-2006, 00:45

kingvoe@gmail.com Vaheed from Team Robodox 599

by the way does any one know, who we should contact about the LV regional? (we want to know just who we should contact that is incharge of the Pits)

Chris Reynolds

06-01-2006, 00:55

Team 1259 is in. 1259.FIRST@gmail.com.

Everyone have fun at kickoff and good luck this season!!! :D

-Chris Reynolds

rufu5

10-01-2006, 16:17

Just thought I would bump this up since kick-off is behind us, the chiefdelphi server has been moved, and the traffic is back up and thriving.

Just as an example for the many uses of this network, team 1351 has already utilized it as a call out mechanism for motor specs:

Archbishop Mitty Robotics
<their email>to FirstGmailNetw.
Jan 7 (3 days ago)

Hi Everyone,
I hope your Kick off is going well so far. I was emailing to request that when any of the 36 teams determine the specs for the motors, that they would email them to the Network. I know that it may take a while to do so, but when you get a chance, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
sender

Also, make sure you register your team with the new FIRST contact database (http://traherom.homeunix.net/contacts)

good luck this season!

atomikitten

10-01-2006, 16:33

rufu5

10-01-2006, 16:51

dude, I already made a gmail account for the team that automatically fwds messages to me a year ago. It's team888@gmail.com. While this is a very good idea, and I hate to be a downer, but there's no way these addresses be uniform. :(

No need to frown atomikitten ;) gmail allows for people to have multiple accounts! Just make an account that follows the database's standardized naming format (you no longer have to guess a teams proprietary e-mail address!) and forward that to your main e-mail.

The format is ####.FIRST@gmail.com (i.e. 447.FIRST<AT>gmail<dot>com)

if anyone needs an invite just send me an e-mail at rufus.cochran<at>gmail<dot>com and you'll be making your team e-mail in no time!

Max Brin

11-01-2006, 06:08

Nice idea!

Ours is 1943.first@gmail.com

You can find the full list updated at

http://brina.gamexpress.co.il/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19#19

Good luck!

vicecityman666

12-01-2006, 16:25

Team 1247 is in! :cool:

1247.FIRST@gmail.com

Nita

12-01-2006, 21:49

I would have to ask before I make an account, but if anyone else needs invites, PM me or send me an e-mail.

blueinkpen@gmail.com

CarpeDiem

12-01-2006, 21:58

i have 100 invites left email me if you need them carpemaster2k@gmail.com

JohnC

14-01-2006, 17:43

Team 360 has joined as well.

As the pattern dictates, we are 360.FIRST@gmail.com

Armer

14-01-2006, 18:41

Team 1000 is in: 1000.FIRST@gmail.com

MrsT

14-01-2006, 19:00

We're in!

225.FIRST@gmail.com

Lisa T =)

engen_coder

17-01-2006, 01:26

Great idea. Our is 1678.FIRST@gmail.com

Dulaney1727

19-01-2006, 15:37

Great idea, Making my gmail account now.

1727.FIRST@gmail.com

Sam Oldak

26-01-2006, 20:49

1389.FIRST@gmail.com is up and running!

aaeamdar

26-01-2006, 22:32

A listserve (SP?) also can be an interesting tool. I like this idea too. The idea of the listserve would be that if you send ALLTEAMS.FIRST@gmail.com an e-mail containing "XXXX" team number in the subject, it gets automatically forwarded to that teams contact. I'm just brainstorming here, I like you're idea better because it's easier to set up.

1719.FIRST@gmail FTW! =)

Paul

Naomix599

30-01-2006, 18:34

Team 599, the Robodox is in!

599.gmail.com

This was a great idea, guys!

aaeamdar

30-01-2006, 21:32

My only concern would be that some of these adresses might already be taken (1337.first and 1.first, for example) Does anyone know how we might ensure universal availability?

Paul Dennis

Steve S.

30-01-2006, 22:42

Well, there is no way to ensure availability. But why would anyone have an email address in that format anyways (xxxx.first@gmail.com)
(unless they were being jerks and read this post).

iceclaw

30-01-2006, 22:45

this sounds like a really great Idea well if you need to get in contact with us it's 981.FIRST@gmail.com

Mr. Freeman

30-01-2006, 22:47

My only concern would be that some of these adresses might already be taken (1337.first and 1.first, for example) Does anyone know how we might ensure universal availability?

Paul Dennis

It's a free email service, there's no real way to ensure avalibility.

devicenull

30-01-2006, 23:03

230.first registered :)

rufu5

30-01-2006, 23:31

My only concern would be that some of these adresses might already be taken (1337.first and 1.first, for example) Does anyone know how we might ensure universal availability?

Get it before someone else can ;)

Branden Ghena

31-01-2006, 16:52

You could e-mail me at tawnos23@gmail.com or our team at 240.first@gmail.com
We only get about 100 invites a month!

***VISIT OUR SITE AT***
http://scnc.jefferson.k12.mi.us/jhs/web240/index.html

Modulardragon

01-02-2006, 15:05

1236.FIRST@gmail.com is up, huzzah!

Jeff K.

01-02-2006, 15:19

1138.FIRST@gmail.com is now registered.:)

the_short1

26-02-2006, 22:37

well it guess its time to bump this back into action, as i dont have a full list of teams yet..... . but here is an updated list.

----- updated today: feb 26th, 2006 ------
45.FIRST@gmail.com
48.FIRST@gmail.com
58.FIRST@gmail.com
75.FIRST@gmail.com
94.FIRST@gmail.com
114.FIRST@gmail.com
159.FIRST@gmail.com
166.FIRST@gmail.com
174.FIRST@gmail.com
176.FIRST@gmail.com
180.FIRST@gmail.com
204.FIRST@gmail.com
204.FIRST@gmail.com
225.FIRST@gmail.com
226.FIRST@gmail.com
230.FIRST@gmail.com
237.FIRST@gmail.com
240.FIRST@gmail.com
245.FIRST@gmail.com
269.FIRST@gmail.com
292.FIRST@gmail.com
303.FIRST@gmail.com
306.FIRST@gmail.com
340.FIRST@gmail.com
360.FIRST@gmail.com
383.FIRST@gmail.com
447.FIRST@gmail.com
486.FIRST@gmail.com
498.FIRST@gmail.com
503.FIRST@gmail.com
537.FIRST@gmail.com
555.FIRST@gmail.com
564.FIRST@gmail.com
599.FIRST@gmail.com
648.FIRST@gmail.com
662.FIRST@gmail.com
702.FIRST@gmail.com
771.FIRST@gmail.com
808.FIRST@gmail.com
836.FIRST@gmail.com
862.FIRST@gmail.com
971.FIRST@gmail.com
981.FIRST@gmail.com
1000.FIRST@gmail.com
1018.FIRST@gmail.com
1023.FIRST@gmail.com
1027.FIRST@gmail.com
1072.FIRST@gmail.com
1093.FIRST@gmail.com
1138.FIRST@gmail.com
1236.FIRST@gmail.com
1247.FIRST@gmail.com
1259.FIRST@gmail.com
1345.FIRST@gmail.com
1351.FIRST@gmail.com
1389.FIRST@gmail.com
1403.FIRST@gmail.com
1501.FIRST@gmail.com
1504.FIRST@gmail.com
1549.FIRST@gmail.com
1560.FIRST@gmail.com
1571.FIRST@gmail.com
1596.FIRST@gmail.com
1597.FIRST@gmail.com
1620.FIRST@gmail.com
1640.FIRST@gmail.com
1678.FIRST@gmail.com
1712.FIRST@gmail.com
1719.FIRST@gmail.com
1727.FIRST@gmail.com
1882.FIRST@gmail.com
1943.FIRST@gmail.com

--------- GMAIL INVITES -------- *fresh from my inbox
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-79729e5e20-c3da0b15f0
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-fce8c98496-6f9e334335
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-3b483cbdbc-f11387130c
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-f516392c5c-856d4f8268

https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-4470dffb96-31998be92f
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-438285447a-ad70c499d0
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-41cb7726c6-9b2c63c7fe
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-2e9c970611-5162a85355

https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-661ea4dbc2-5971894bc2
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-502cda5cfc-3810fb0e9c
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-ac58d3f11c-7f228e0c34
https://mail.google.com/mail/a-47f73fb167-c229757bb2-c9126c3798

Nuttyman54

26-02-2006, 22:40

THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!!! c'mon, let's kick this up a notch. If you need an invite, PM me.

P.S. 447's listed twice on your list

the_short1

26-02-2006, 22:48

THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!!! c'mon, let's kick this up a notch. If you need an invite, PM me.
P.S. 447's listed twice on your list

thx, and i fixed the list, i originally forgot to include page 10 of this thread .hehe perhaps someone can go around to teams not on that list, and kindly ask them to create the account, or offer to create it for them?? any volunteers?

Nitroxextreme

26-02-2006, 23:11

1626.FIRST@gmail.com registered :)

cbudrecki

27-02-2006, 12:21

invites available from cbudrecki@gmail.com

ForgottenSalad

27-02-2006, 12:30

810.FIRST@Gmail.com is now up. I like the idea. Makes it much easier to contact other teams.

JABianchi

01-03-2006, 19:33

1660.FIRST@gmail.com is registered. Great idea!

Steve S.

01-03-2006, 20:07

by the way, team 1591 has been registered for quite some time now, i thought i posted but i guess not.

Steve S.

01-03-2006, 20:15

thx, and i fixed the list, i originally forgot to include page 10 of this thread .hehe perhaps someone can go around to teams not on that list, and kindly ask them to create the account, or offer to create it for them?? any volunteers?

ive contacted a couple local teams to get them to create an account, im going to send some more emails out to others.

Tomasz Bania

01-03-2006, 20:35

818.FIRST@gmail.com is now REGISTERED :cool:

Tomasz Bania

cdawzrd

07-03-2006, 12:31

619.FIRST@gmail.com up

rufu5

13-04-2006, 10:22

irishninja

13-04-2006, 10:44

I don't know if a person on my team created this because 694.FIRST@gmail.com was taken. But they didn't put it up on this thread, so I'm not sure. However, (and sorry for the nonuniformity) 0694.FIRST@gmail.com is now created. And i have two gmail accounts (one for email and one for file storage) so if you need invites email me at nathan.bixler@gmail.com

rufu5

13-04-2006, 14:28

It most likely was someone on your team. I would try e-mailing it and asking at your next team meeting who picked it up. It is always good to know who is your team's "voice" :D

Steve S.

13-04-2006, 14:51

Is there a way in gmail to search for all of the e-mail address that have a common set of characters in the name? Like get all of the emails from gmail that has FRC FVC or FLL as the last 3 letters? Just wondering.

Not YET.....I will be making one (or try to) that you can use to search through gmail addresses that have FIRST, FVC, FLL, FRC in them but i have to contact google about this. (maybe ill see if they can just set up a version of their google search to do this)

Bongle

13-04-2006, 15:22

Is there a way in gmail to search for all of the e-mail address that have a common set of characters in the name? Like get all of the emails from gmail that has FRC FVC or FLL as the last 3 letters? Just wondering.
I highly doubt google will ever do anything like this for anyone. The ability to enter a string of characters and receive a list of valid emails would be amazing help to spammers.

irishninja

13-04-2006, 23:17

Yeah it was created. 694.FIRST@gmail.com exists. I'm not sure who its forwarded too but at least it is ours. I know who created it.

Hiteak

13-04-2006, 23:40

Created Team1930.FIRST.gmail.com for my team.

rufu5

13-04-2006, 23:43

I highly doubt google will ever do anything like this for anyone. The ability to enter a string of characters and receive a list of valid emails would be amazing help to spammers.

ROFL! I did not even think about that when I posted. I can just see it now: "Search: [punk+sk8te+rocker] - 26,819 results ... 26,819 messages sent - DO YOU HAVE YOUR 2007 BAM MARGERA eXtreme COLLECTIBLE TURTLE NECK and ..." :ahh:

Well I guess we will just have to stick to posting on this thread after you set up your account.