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Tip of the Week: Checking the Mail Service

By J.D. BIERSDORFER

Web-based mail services like Google's Gmail or Microsoft Hotmail/Outlook.com can keep you up to date with e-mail and online calendar services wherever you can get an Internet connection. These sites may have occasional technical trouble that can prevent you from getting your messages. If your mailbox seems suspiciously quiet for a period of time, you may want to check the status of your mail service to make sure it is up and running.

Most major sites have a status page that shows if Web-based mail and other services are functional and can sometimes provide information on the nature of the problem. Gmail users can check the Google Apps dashboard for service notes, while Hotmail/Outlook.com users can g et information at https://status.live.com. Apple has a similar status page for its iCloud suite of services. For Yahoo - and other popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare - the Down Right Now site collects crowd-sourced reports and official announcements and displays a list of potential service disruptions around the Web.