Online calendar

[Bert Latamore]

Does anyone know of an online calendar that can import events sent from Microsoft Office? I am looking for a good online calendar to supplement Datebk6. I do not want to use Microsoft Outlook for three reasons: 1. It doesn't do many of the things I want such as linking between calendar, task, and address entries; 2. Office takes up a huge amount of space, and I have a very limited amount of free space on my Vaio; 3. I already have Office on two other machines, and I really object to sending more money to Microsoft for something I already own.

My ideal calendar would sync with Datebk 6 and offer many of its advanced features, particularly the linking feature. But given that I have few appointments, entering them twice is not a big issue. However, I definitely need a solution that can handle invitations sent via email from Office since three of my clients do that. Right now I have to fire up one of my other computers (which I typically keep turned off unless I need them) to import these so I can read them and hand copy them into Datebk.

I would really like to get all my calendar items off the Palm entirely as I would like to move off it, but Outlook seems to be the only calendar solution for Windows out there, and it just is not worth the money to me. And after all, there is a big security advantage to keeping some information, aprticularly my passwords and my large address/contacts database, on a machine that is not connected to the Internet. If it ain't connected, no one can hack it and steal that information. So my Palm T3 probably will stay around for some time to come, although I am using it less and less.

Hope everyone has a good weekend going,

--
Bert Latamore
IT Industry Freelance Writer
ComputerWorld Online blogger

[Brenda Wallace]

I use google calendar... Though I recommend it with trepidation due to
privacy implications.
I sync google calendar with my palm using goosync (free as in beer).
If invites ae sent to my gmail then I get a link to add to my calendar.
It also has lotsa imports functions in google calendar.
I hotta ask, since I'm outta the loop on the windows platform, WTF is
an office suite doing generating events? Isn't that for pim apps?

On 16/08/2008, at 9:58 AM, "Bert Latamore" <bert.l...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Bert Latamore]

Office includes its own PIM application that has both advantages and disadvantages. The big advantage is that it is Internet aware, so you can create an event and then send out invitations to a list of attendees as an attachment to an email. If they also use Outlook they can import the event to their calendars simply by opening the attachment. It is by far the most popular business calendar program going at least in the US. So I get these invitations from clients for meetings that I cannot read without firing up a computer with Outlook on it, which has obvious disadvantages.

I am playing some with both the Google and Yahoo calendars, but I don't see anything obvious on either that indicates they can open Outlook invitations. I did see that I could sync my basic Palm PIM data to the Yahoo suite, but I really hesitate to do that. My main concern is that there is malware out there that can go through your Yahoo address book and propigate itself, and I don't want to expose all my personal and business contacts to that kind of risk. but as I said, I don't have enough appointments to make hand entering them in Datebk an issue. What I want to do is open the Outlook invitations so I can read them.

Bert

[GRC]

I'll second Brenda's recommendation of Google Calendar, especially if
you are using GMail. It handles meeting invites pretty slick. I don't
think there is an online PIM (or desktop PIM for that matter) that
comes anywhere close to the feature set of Datebk6.

Not sure what you are using for a Calendar on your desktop or Vaio.
If you are still using Palm Desktop, I have been using Companion Link
to keep Google Calendar and Palm Desktop Calendar in sync. Companion
Link isn't free, but its not horribly expensive, especially if you
find an online discount coupon for it.

Another slick thing I like about Google Calendar, especially if you
are trying to get away from carrying your Palm PDA, is that it is
compatible with Jott.com so you can call Jott on your cell phone and
dictate an appointment for Google Calendar.

On Aug 15, 5:05 pm, Brenda Wallace <bre...@coffee.geek.nz> wrote:
> I use google calendar... Though I recommend it with trepidation due to
> privacy implications.
> I sync google calendar with my palm using goosync (free as in beer).
> If invites ae sent to my gmail then I get a link to add to my calendar.
> It also has lotsa imports functions in google calendar.
> I hotta ask, since I'm outta the loop on the windows platform, WTF is
> an office suite doing generating events? Isn't that for pim apps?
>

> On 16/08/2008, at 9:58 AM, "Bert Latamore" <bert.latam...@gmail.com>

[Brenda Wallace]

Alas I've found nothing to sync google cal with my iPod touch.
I also can't find a reasonable method for trimming emails, there being
no mass selection if text on this gadget

[Bert Latamore]

I'll give it a try. I am reaching the point where I really want the Vaio as my handheld. I am just doing more and more stuff online, and I have gotten bitten with the Facebook bug. And the Palm, even with the WiFi card, is just not very good online. But the UX, while a handheld, is a great deal larger than any PDAs I have seen, so carrying both. So I want a way to check my calendar on the Vaio when possible, even if that doesn't have all the features of datebk. Also, one answer to my memory issue on the UX is to seek out ways to move functionality onto the Web. For instance, I use QUicken, and now I can get that online, so when it becomes time to update that again instead of buying an update I will subscribe to the online version.

Back in June CESD promised an exciting announcement. I have no idea what. I thought it would be Datebk for the iPhone, but some recent comments he has made about Apple's too-tight control of that market now makes me thing it might be something else. Maybe an online, SaaS version of Datebk? Now that would be exciting!

Bert

[Ian Barton]

Google Calendar works well for us. I use Goosync with my Nokia. There
are several options to sync Google with things like Sunbird. It's easy
to back up the whole calendar to your desktop as you can download it in
iCalendar format.

There are privacy considerations, but I don't really care if someone
knows about my dentist's appointment next week. Just make sure you don't
enter your meetings with OBL:)

Ian.

[Ian Barton]

You might want to take a look at GCal Daemon
http://gcaldaemon.sourceforge.net/features.html

Cross platform sync of Gooogle Calendar with anything that can
understand iCal format.

Ian.

[Bert Latamore]

Ian,

If someone sends you an invitation from Outlook through email, can you import that directly into Google calendar? That is what I am looking for. I have no plan to stop using my PDA completely (there are advantages to keeping your most private things, such as your passwords, on something that can encrypt and is not connected to any network whatsoever). So I am not going to let go of Datebk6 any time soon. What I need however is specifically to be able to open and read Outlook calendar invitations.

Thanks,

Bert

[Brenda Wallace]

Just wanted to add it's almost amusing that apple handhelds don't support iCal. There would be but apple has declared there shall be no 3rd party access to the iPhone calendar and they haven't built one themselves.

[Bert Latamore]

Brenda,

That's okay. Today I was listening to a podcast on computer security from NZ Radio actually. And they mentioned that there is a basic security flaw somewhere in Vista. Isn't that nice.

Bert

[ryanwal...@gmail.com]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about no iCal support? My iPod Touch syncs with iCal on my eMac seamlessly with no problems.

--ryan

[Brenda Wallace]

Ah, but I don't have a mac. I wanna view iCal feeds on my iPhone or
iPod. It's got all the bits it needs. Why require a giant desktop for
such a simple task

On 17/08/2008, at 1:31 PM, "ryanwal...@gmail.com" <ryanwal...@gmail.com

[Brenda Wallace]

Did I mention I'm MCing one of the dinners at microsoft tech we conference?  Heh

[ryanwal...@gmail.com]

It can be done via Mobile Me, but not for free. The next closest thing would be Google Calendar, using the iPhone web interface and the SMS alerts option...

--ryan

-----Original Message-----
Date: Saturday, August 16, 2008 22:58:21
To: wo...@googlegroups.com
From: "Brenda Wallace" <bre...@coffee.geek.nz>
Subject: [woyp] Re: Online calendar

Ah, but I don't have a mac. I wanna view iCal feeds on my iPhone or
iPod. It's got all the bits it needs. Why require a giant desktop for
such a simple task

On 17/08/2008, at 1:31 PM, "ryanwal...@gmail.com" <ryanwal...@gmail.com
> wrote:

>
> I'm not sure I understand what you mean about no iCal support? My
> iPod Touch syncs with iCal on my eMac seamlessly with no problems.
>
> --ryan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Date: Saturday, August 16, 2008 21:22:26
> To: wo...@googlegroups.com
> Cc: wo...@googlegroups.com
> From: "Brenda Wallace" <bre...@coffee.geek.nz>
> Subject: [woyp] Re: Online calendar
>

[Brenda Wallace]

I'm interested now. How do I get mobileme?
Can't find in the app store.

On 17/08/2008, at 3:08 PM, "ryanwal...@gmail.com" <ryanwal...@gmail.com

[ryanwal...@gmail.com]

It's not it the App Store. Mobile Me is Apple's "cloud solution", allowing you to house and sync calendars, contacts, email and data between desktops and/or handhelds (iPhone/iPod Touch). Mobile Me can also host web-pages and online photos. It has a web interface as well. I use it for my four Macs and iPod Touch. You buy it as a subscription service on an annual basis. Apple charges $99/year, however I recommend checking at Amazon as they almost always have it on offer for far less (I paid $65 for mine).

[Bert Latamore]

Brenda,

I'd be a little careful about Mobile Me right now. There has been a lot of news over here about some serious glitches in it. Some people have lost a lot of emails and other data, and that may never be recovered. Other people have had no problems at all. Apple has been working hard to fix the problem, which apparently has included server crashes. Not sure of the status of that at the moment.

bert