Re: [NTLK] Heavy users, and all that

On Nov 30, 2007 9:28 AM, Matthew Reidsma <mreidsma@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Nov 30, 2007 7:48 AM, Morgan Aldridge <morgant@makkintosshu.com> wrote:
>
> > I've got it decked out with WiFi and BlueTooth, but I have to admit
> > that since going BlueTooth I don't really use WiFi except to install
> > large packages (e.g. books, mp3s, etc.) or to sync the clock. I send
> > meeting notes, Name & Dates entries between my MacBook Pro and the
> > Newton constantly and even keep my calendar in sync (manually) with
> > Google Calendar by importing the Dates entries into it.
>
> Morgan, could you explain how you "manually" keep Google calendar and
> the Newton Dates in sync? I'd be interested in your method.

Of course.

So, my MessagePad 2100 is my primary calendar, but I keep a copy of
every event in Google Calendar so that I can: (1) access my calendar
anywhere, regardless of whether I have my Newton; (2) get event
notifications on my MacBook Pro (currently via Google Notifier); (3)
can also view the data in iCal (by subscribing to my Google Calendar
"Private URL"); (4) and have the option of getting notifications sent
to my cell phone (although I don't currently do this because my cell
phone works neither at home or the office... it's Vermont, after all).

Fortunately, I try to keep my schedule pretty open, so I don't usually
have more than a handful of new/modified events each day. So, what I
do is add/update events in my Newton and, when I remember, do the
following to manually copy them into Google Calendar (in full detail,
for the benefit of all):

1) Export new/modified events to my MacBook Pro via BlueTooth
  a) Launch Dates on the Newton and go into "overview" mode
  b) Select the new/modified events and tap the "routing" button
  c) Select OBEX and send as an iCal file via BtObex to my MacBook Pro
(I usually only have to select the file type, everything else defaults
nicely)
2) Import the new/modified events into Google Calendar on my MacBook Pro
  a) Accept the BlueTooth File Transfer on the MacBook Pro, the file
will usually be saved as Calendar.ical
  b) Log into Google Calendar in Firefox or Camino (I usually have
this open already; I'm a Safari kind of guy, but it frequently fails
to import the file in Google Calendar)
  c) In Google Calendar, click the "Add" drop-down menu above the list
of calendars (on the left) and select "Import Calendar"
  d) Follow the three on-screen steps to select the file, calendar,
and import the calendar (I only have to select the .ical file and
click Import because I only keep one calendar, and it helps that the
.ical file usually has the same name)
3) Merge imported events with the existing events in Google Calendar
  a) Delete old copies of modified events from Google Calendar (if it
was changed and now there's two, leave only the new correct one)
  b) Fix "All Day"/Event/Multi-Day events (here's the deal: IC/VC
doesn't currently export these correctly, so they appear as events at
0:00am and you have to edit them and make them "All day" events)

There's a few steps, but it works well for me. Again, I only have to
do this at most a couple times a day and the defaults (both on the
Newton and the MacBook Pro) make it quicker than it looks.

Morgan Aldridge

---
morgant@makkintosshu.com
http://www.makkintosshu.com/
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