As of around 12:53 PM PST, Gmail was (and still is) down.
On their status page it said:
Google Apps Status
September 1, 2009 12:53:00 PM PDT
We’re aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a majority of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 1:53:00 PM PDT detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.
Having nervous ticks due to Google’s Gmail service being down? Read on…
Gmail Labs’ Offline feature
Gmail has an interesting feature called “Offline” that allows you to read, view, search, reply, and compose email without being connected to Google, or the Internet at all for that matter. In the Settings tab, enable “Offline” from Gmail Labs. You can be completely disconnected and still use Gmail. (Keep reading for more setup information.)
How does “Offline” work?
Google has an interesting free service called Google Gears, which allows you to utilize Gmail’s offline feature. Simple visit the link and install Gears. Then, within Gmail, enable the “Offline” feature. Then all your email messages start to download to your hard drive, making search, compose, etc available to you even if Gmail’s servers are down.
Note that you should not install Gears on a public computer or a computer that is not yours. You personal info IS stored on the local hard drive.
Install Gears today!
Once Gmail is back up, install Google Gears and help overcome the panic that sets in from not being able to access Gmail!
How to verify that it’s not just your connection:
A great site that I used to check if Gmail was having issues. Useful for other sites as well.
UPDATES:
Google Apps Status
September 1, 2009 1:02:00 PM PDT
Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users within the next 1.2 hours. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.
Google Apps Status
September 1, 2009 1:02:00 PM PDT
We are continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 2:16:00 PM PDT detailing when we expect to resolve the problem.
2:18 PM PST: Gmail appears to be back online, for me at least. The Google status page still reports it being down, so it may not be back for everyone yet. Down for everyone or just me is also reporting that Gmail is still down.
Google Apps Status
September 1, 2009 2:13:00 PM PDT
We are continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 3:13:00 PM PDT detailing when we expect to resolve the problem.
Gmail users may also like my previous articles:
5 Tips to Fix Gmail Slow Load Issues
and
6 More Tips to Fix Gmail Slow Load Issues
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