Is email a distraction? SelfControl is an OS X application that will block access to websites and incoming and/or outgoing mail servers for a predetermined period of time.

Arrow is a free e-mail program that was written to address the e-mail needs of users migrating from Mac and Windows to Linux. Arrow currently supports viewing, composing, and organizing of e-mail, including secure e-mail via PGP, POP access, and a spell checker.

Magic Mail Folder turns any folder on your desktop into an email-sending-box. You just have to give your freshly created folder(s) the name of an email address (like myFriend@hotmail.com) and it will be recognized.

Everyday we all share images, ideas and have fun with friends online — this should be easy… right!? Your friends are global… you can send them links… but what if the action is on your screen? … Point out a quick suggestion to a colleague or pass on that funny moment from an IM chat, post images to MySpace, eBay, forums or via email..Skitch is the Internet age’s Camera and it Rocks!

Pando is free personal p2p software that lets you easily download and share HD media and other large files via email, IM and the Web. Send your home videos, giant presentations and entire folders of original quality photos to anyone with an email address.

Mail Archiver X is a tool that for many people email has effectively replaced snail mail. More and more emails land daily in your inbox. However, the basic handling and storage of emails has stayed the same since the day email was invented. Mail Archiver X sets out to help you with the storage of emails.

Mozilla’s Thunderbird 2 is a powerful and easy to use email client. Thunderbird 2 features many new enhancements to help you better manage your unruly inbox, and stay informed. Thunderbird 2 allows you to customize your email to suit your specific needs whether it’s how you search and find messages or listening to music right out of your inbox.

I know that nearly everyone shudders at the mention of “bulk email” but sometimes there is a legit reason for sending an email to a large group. For instance, recently I found something interesting about my family history. I wanted to tell my large family about this find, but putting the full list of email addresses in my “To:” field may have put up some flags of spam with some email providers. This is where Serial Mail comes in.

With Serial Mail, you just put all the recipients into a group in your Address Book. Then, you create a draft of the email in Mail.app. Once it is saved as a draft, you highlight it and run Serial Mail. This app will create a separate email for each address in the group and send it along to that person.

As you can imagine, this would work well for coaches, scout leaders, teachers, business owners and anyone else who has a large group that they lead. It worked great for me. Even with all 112 family members.

One of the most convenient sites on the web is TinyURL.com. This site allows you you shrink a long url to a small one so that it is easier to email or post. TinyURL Service makes it even easier to use.

Once you have this service installed, you can select a URL in an email or document, run the service, and the long URL will be replaced with a “tiny” one.

Never go without contact information again. With ABGmerge you can keep your Mac OS X Address Book and Gmail Contacts synchronized. This isn’t anything fancy, just an Applescript that can interface between a Gmail CSV file and your Mac Address Book. But if you use Gmail and your Address Book, you might like the convenience of having all your contact information in both places.