The only constant is change...

Just when you think you've got it all figured out and got a process that works for you, someone comes along and breaks that process.

This was the case today, when NCSU's Google Apps had an infrastructure update.  Keep in mind that most of the time, these changes close one door, but open others.  Don't fret about what you've lost, look at what you've gained and be flexible enough to adapt and take advantage of the changes.

What changed?
NCSU's Google Apps is more tightly integrated with Google.

(from http://google.ncsu.edu/announcement/announcement-new-google-apps-infrastructure)
NEW LOOK, FEEL AND FEATURES FOR SOME APPS
The upgrade will allow NC State Google Apps accounts to take advantage of the latest features being rolled out by Google. Most recently, Google announced the upgrade of mailbox quota to 25 GB, as well as a new interface for Gmail and Calendar. NCSU users will soon have access to these, and many other updates that Google provides as a result of this infrastructure upgrade.

USING MULTIPLE GOOGLE ACCOUNTS
After the conversion, the process to sign in to multiple accounts simultaneously in your browser will change. Learn more about this here: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=182343


DATA OWNERSHIP REMAINS THE SAME
Even though your account now functions more like a regular Google account, all data contained in them continues to be owned by NC State University in the case of employees and by the individual in the case of students. All usage of the service continues to be subject to NC State’s terms and conditions negotiated with Google and NC State policies and regulations.

You can read more and find help for Google services here in the full Google Accounts Help Center (http://www.google.com/support/accounts/?hl=en&topic=28662&rd=1)

What does this mean for me?

Yesterday morning, I had one browser tab with my NCSU email and one with my personal Gmail account. To get this to work today, you have to enable multiple sign-in.  To do this:

• log into Google with your NCSU account (unityID@ncsu.edu)
• select "Account Settings" from your Google login (click on your email address in the top right corner of the window)
•  if "Multiple sign-in" is "Off", click "Edit"
• check the "On - Use multiple Google Accounts in the same web browser.
• confirm that you understand the implications by checking the 4 check boxes and Save.

Now, when you click on your email address in the top right corner of Google pages, you will have the option to "Switch Account". When you select that option, you will be prompted to log in with another Google account.

Once logged in to multiple accounts, you can switch back and forth between them by clicking on your name or email address in the top right corner.

I was running Firefox 3.6 and had problems.  When I upgraded to Firefox 5.0 everything seems to be working fine.  I now have a tab with each account's email open at the same time.  Based on what I read, I wasn't expecting that to work, but it seems to be working just fine now.

Remember it is not the strong who survive.  It's the most adaptable.

Okay, that's enough cliche's for today :)

Feel free to post questions/answers/comments in the comments section of this article.