Q:

Gmail notifications without browser open?

I have a straightforward question: Is there a piece of software I can install on Ubuntu 12.04 that will give me a little pop-up notification or show a little number on the Launcher icon whenever I receive an email on my Gmail account? Or do I need to install an email client like Thunderbird to do that?

A:

It depends what you're using.  If you are using gnome 3 for example, something along these lines would work:
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/154/gmail-notify/ 
There's also the Unity webapps that's an option.
http://blog.canonical.com/2012/07/19/introducing-ubuntu-web-apps-setting-the-web-free-of-the-browser/
Just a few ideas you could look into.  

