I recently purchased a new cell phone which operates on Windows Mobile 6. As addicted as I have become to having full time access to email and the internet, one feature I have struggled with is the calendar. I am somewhat cheap right now so the idea of paying to sync my calendars does not sit easy. There is some freeware available to accomplish OTA (over the air) syncing but depending on how you manage your google calendar, not all may be ideal for your use.

A few programs I have tested are…

• OggSync – Works well. Free version does not allow multiple calendar syncing
• GCalendarSync - The only program I have found which allows multiple calendar syncing. The best I have tested. However, I am experiencing some issues with the timezones. The developer does not seem to provide much info on how to fix. Would love to know if anyone else has gotten this to work and if so, how to fix. The only download link I have found which works is here.
• GCalSync – Compatible with WM5 but not WM6. No claim is made on the developers page, but I will save you the trouble of trying this one if you are currently using WM5.
• GMobileSync – Another program which works well. However it does not allow for multiple calendar sync.
• GooSync – A subscribtion based utility.  Free version is limited in the number of future dates which can be synced.

I have gone back to using Outlook 2007 which allows me to categorize my appointments which at least allows me some organization.  Now that Google has released the Google Calendar Sync, you can now 2-way sync your outlook calendar with your Google Calendar.  This will work for me for now but I am looking for a better solution.  And by better I mean a method other than importing an iCal file into Outlook.   Ideas anyone?

DailyBits recently posted a list of 25 tools and resources for Gmail power users.  The list contains some of the more lesser known tips and hacks for Gmail and include everything from skinning tools to better ways to use your email address to automatically filter incoming mail.  Some of the better, and more popular items tools are…

• Gspace – use Gmail storage as online file storage for music, movies, pictures and more
• Better Gmail 2 – A Greasemonkey type hack for Firefox
• Dragdropupload – Forget attaching one file at a time
• Air Skin – A Greasemonkey script which makes small graphical changes…much more appealing than the standard interface

If you are addicted to Gmail like I am, you will surely find these tools to be very useful.

Do you have any favorite Gmail Tools, Tricks, or Hacks?

How can something such as Really Simple Syndication be really difficult to explain? What is a simple concept for some can be a rather confusion concept for others. RSS is quickly becoming a web standard and is already being used a supplement for email marketers. I’ve tried to explain this to a few folks and the best way I have found to explain this to not-so-web-saavy folks is this…

Do you read the paper every morning? Do you turn on the tv, or visit a news website like MSNBC, or CNN to catch up on news? Are you a big sports fan who wants to be informed the instant your favorite player is traded? Do you have a list of websites or blogs you visit on a regular basis? Do you receive a large amount of emails from retail companies? If so, you may learn to love RSS.

Imagine waking up in the morning, opening up your web browser and have all fo this there waiting for you. By using a personalized homepage (available from google, yahoo, aol, msn) or a feed reader (google reader, Outlook 2007), you can set up your space so that all headlines, alerts, emails, etc… show as headlines on one page. Clicking on the headline will take you to the original article on the hosted website or with some readers, will display some or all of the article content without leaving the page. Best of all, this page is updated as new articles available. It is very similar to reading your email. Your page (inbox) displays new headlines (subject lines)

This approach seems to have worked with some of the less technical folks I am around. How do you explain RSS?