Monday, March 28, 2011

Retrieving Email from GMail using POP3 Programmatically with C#

I'm writing some new Dragonpay code to interface with UCPB's online banking system. I need to retrieve some information via POP3 protocol. POP3 is a very simple protocol using TCP stream over port 110. In fact, I've written code 15 years ago to retrieve email and read it over the phone using text-to-speech synthesis using Dialogic software. But the challenge this time is I need to get the data from Google's GMail.

Unlike regular POP3, GMail's POP3 uses SSL encryption. My limited knowledge on encryption does not extend to SSL encryption. So I did some research. The UNIX fetchmail program can retrieve GMail POP3 email with SSL encryption. But to run code after retrieving the email would require having to program with Linux and procmail. Since I mainly write in C# .NET, that was more trouble than its worth.

I eventually found my answer at Code Project -- http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/Pop3MailClient.aspx. Downloaded the code and it worked like a charm.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Kaos @ ResortWorld

Cols, Caitlin, Kenneth, Stephanie and I watched the 3pm matinee show of Kaos at Resortworld. Kaos is a full stage production involving singing, dancing and, of course, death-defying acrobat. It is similar in format to a Cirque du Soleil show -- just on a slightly smaller scale, of course. The performers were a mix of European, South American and Asian acrobats.


The Resortworld theater is located in the same complex as the casino. But instead of going straight to the playing area, you take a right and go up the escalator or elevator. The theater looked great. Way much better than Meralco Theater which is quite old. Much bigger than the RCBC Plaza auditorium. The seats were very comfortable and leg room is very generous.


The show was ok. It was Caitlin's first time to watch a "circus". Production value was also good. Ticket price was reasonable. We bought it as a promo a couple of months back at the SMX Travel Expo.

Friday, March 4, 2011

PLDT Billboard

I took a cellphone shot of this PLDT billboard ad along C5. I just find it rather strange. It shows a mom and daughter spending quality time enjoying surfing the Internet. But wait -- what are they surfing? What else but their PLDT telephone utility billing! I know its kinda hard to see from this blog, but the image that seems to "float" out of the screen is really their phone bill.



Uhmmm... I don't know about you guys but viewing utility billings is not really something that I would find enjoyable. Judging by the smiles on their faces, they seem to be having a great time looking at their phone bill. There's something wrong with this ad.