Martin Gordon's Blog

GooSync, a new service currently in beta (surprise, surprise!), offers the ability to sync Google Calendar with handheld devices.

Setup
The setup process is straightforward, although registration left a bad taste in my mouth since it required my address and date of birth (for what?). The next step consists of the actual device setup, which they break down into three categories:

- Your device supports over-the-air configuration:
We will send you a configuration message by sms, just open and save the received message to auto configure your device.

- Your device requires manual configuration:
We will display generic manual instructions, follow these to manually configure your device.

- Your device is a Palm or Windows device:
We will display the download and install instructions, follow these to manually setup your device.

Since I have a Treo 650, I fall into the last category. I downloaded the .prc file, installed it and entered my GooSync credentials. No issues with this step, except that the password dialog is in plaintext, so make sure to not type it in around anyone you don't want knowing your password.

The Sync
Syncing happens in about a minute, but there is no automatic syncing, so I don't know how useful this service is really going to be. All the events on my Treo showed up in my default calendar in GCal and an event in my default calendar in GCal showed up on my Treo. I'm not sure if it'll sync other personal calendars, but shared calendars I'm subscribed to aren't synchronized.

I'm glad that there is finally a way for me to get my Google Calendar onto my Treo and more importantly, a way to get my Palm Calendar (which syncs to Outlook/Exchange automagically) onto Google Calendar. It's a really simple process, but I do have two main concerns:

1. The unnecessary information required at signup. What does my home address or DOB have to do with syncing my Google Calendar? I put in a fake address and I can see them needing DOB for COPPA purposes (although how many 11 year olds really have a need for this service?), but even just them asking for this info made me a bit uneasy about it.
2. There's no automatic syncing. To be honest, unless there's something I really need from one calendar on the other, I'm probably not gonna use this. I have my Treo with me all the time and my GCal usage has dropped to almost zero. I prefer to enter events in GCal, but until I can have those events show up automatically on my Treo without having to run the GooSync app, I'll probably just stick to entering them on the phone itself.

It's mostly the second issue that'll keep this at the "proof of concept" level for me. Granted, it is still in beta, so I do expect them to add this feature in a future release.

Technorati Tags: Google, Google Calendar, GCal, GooSync, sync, synchronization, HotSync, Palm, Palm OS, smartphone, handheld, PDA, Treo 650, phones, mobile

I've been busy being at home with my family and celebrating my birthday, so I haven't had much time for blogging.

Paul points us to the GMail Notifier replacement, Google Notifier, which incorporates a Google Calendar notifier as well. I've been running it for a day and I already want to go back to GMail Notifier. This new version has popup notifications, but it doesn't use Growl, so I can't customize it at all. The notifications last way too long if I don't click on them, and if I do click on them, the email doesn't open up. A bigger issue, however, is that the clickable region doesn't extend all the way to the top of the screen like it did in GMail Notifier and it does in every other menu bar item. It bothers me more than I thought it could, but it's enough to make me go back to the old app.

(EDIT: I just discovered GMail+Growl, which was updated yesterday to support the Google Notifier)

The My Dream App contest launched today. Phill Ryu and an all-star cast that includes Steve Wozniak, Kevin Rose, and Guy Kawasaki are serving as judges in the contest where anyone can submit an idea for their dream app with the chance of the application actually being created. It's billed as American Idol meets software development. Prizes include iPods, Mac minis, MacBooks and software royalties. Get your ideas in and may the dreamiest app win!

Kent Newsome's morning reading includes an Instabloke article with 10 reasons why he doesn't like my blog. I think I've got 1-4, 6, 7 and 9 covered so that leaves 5 (…too authoritative, too boring, too argumentative, too hard to comment, or I didn't show your comments any love…), 8 (I don't post consistently), 10 (I don't link [fixing that now, I hope]). I would add 11 to the list: I don't write enough top 10 lists about why your blog is good, why it's bad, why no one goes to it or how to make it better.

Technorati Tags: GMail, GCal, Google Calendar, Google Notifier, Mac OS X, My Dream App, Steve Wozniak, Kevin Rose, Guy Kawasaki, Kent Newsome, Isnstabloke, Top 10, blogging, blogs, writing

The fact that I'm posting this at 5pm just goes to show how much I actually use iCal…

But anyway, today is iCal day. For those of you fortunate enough to not have iCal running, you'll notice that the application's icon matches today's date. That's because iCal was announced 4 years ago at Macworld New York on July 17, 2002.

So for old times' sake, fire up the little bugger and take it out for a spin, give it a little pat on the back for encouragement and hope that v3 in Leopard brings us great new features.

Technorati Tags: iCal, Apple, software, announcement, Mac OS X, OS X, Macworld, Leopard, anniversary

Procrasinatr is an application that purports to "prioritize your calendars and regain lost time." Read on to find out what it really does…

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Now that my iMac can boot Windows and I'm spending more time in general away from my computer, I'm looking for ways to synchronize my data across OSes. The easiest way, I've realized is to do everything on the web.

I've taken the first step today by deactivating POP access for GMail in Mail.app. That way I can manage all my GMail email online. If Google decides to offer IMAP sometime, I'll turn it back on. Until then, I need my email to be the same everywhere and that place is online. My school email is IMAP/Exchange, so there's not much of a synchronization issue with that, except that Mail.app's IMAP isn't too good and the school only gives us 50 MB of storage. Exchange Webmail is as good as Outlook if you're using IE, but in anything non-IE (e.g., any Mac browser) it reverts to an old version of Outlook Web Access which is terrible. Once I can spend a bit more time with Parallels, I can decide if running it 24/7 for just Outlook is worth it. If it's not worth it, I don't know what to do. Is there any way to push 3rd party email accounts through the GMail interface?

I was never a big fan of iCal and the lack of Exchange over HTTP on the Mac kept me from using Wharton's Exchange calendar, so I haven't really used an electronic calendar. Instead, I've been resorting to text files and post-its. Until Google Calendar showed up. Google Calendar has everything I need in a calendar (save Tasks), and with text messages to/from GVENT and RSS feeds, I can access my calendar away from the computer or offline.

I am still in search of a decent online RSS reader as I have yet to find something that can replace NetNewsWire. I like having a desktop client because I can read feeds offline if I have no connectivity. There is always NewsGator's multiplatform syncing solution, but I'd rather save myself the $50-$80 ($30 each for a Mac client, Windows client and $20 for the online reader) if there's a free solution available. My main requirement if I do decide to stick with NetNewsWire is that any online reader has to be able to do status syncing. I don't want to have to go through 100+ posts deciding what I've read and haven't read. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if I can find an online reader that is fast and fits my workflow (is that readflow?).

I listen to a relatively small number of podcasts and I'm so far behind that I don't need a cross-OS sycning solution. I'm backed up enough that I always have something fresh to listen to on my iPod even with only syncing once every few days. I haven't had a chance to set up iTunes in Windows yet, but I think with MacDrive I'll be able to share libraries between OS X and Windows without a hitch.

My other main concert with "going online" is that I won't have access to anything if I'm without an internet connection. There were many a time where I would be on-the-go with my Powerbook and still have my RSS feeds to read. I have no idea how good my internet connection will be in the new apartment, but if it's spotty then I'll be in trouble. Another issue is backup. Can I really trust Google and Mr. Online RSS Reader to hold my data for as long as I want it? What are my backup options for GMail/GCal, etc?

Technorati Tags: online, RSS, GMail, GCal, Google, Google Calendar, OS X, dual boot, Windows XP, Google OS, NetNewsWire, Exchange, synchronization, sync