I discovered yesterday afternoon that my iCal appears to be broken. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and explore the problem yet, but when I click on the iCal icon in the dock, it bounces up and down, appears to try to open, and then shuts itself down again. Rebooting did not fix it.

I’d heard reports of the new update borking people’s wireless Time Machine backups, and even totally crashing their machine, but I haven’t heard of iCal breaking yet. I know there were some significant iCal updates in the 10.5.3 upgrade, so I’m hoping that my upgrade wasn’t messed up. I had heard that the download for the upgrade would be in the 420 MB range, and mine only downloaded 198 MB. So now I’m totally paranoid that it didn’t do a full upgrade!

I haven’t backed up my Mac yet. I know, I know, bad, irresponsible computer geek. I just signed up for Amazon S3 (which I’ve been using with JungleDisk on the eeePC) but I haven’t set it to back up the Mac yet. I should probably do that, then tackle the iCal issue. I really don’t want to have to rebuild this Mac from scratch.

My Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone is practically attached to my hand. I was lucky enough to win the i-mate JAQ3 in a contest over at Gear Diary last year, and ever since then the JAQ3 has been my go-to mobile device. It has some clear shortcomings, most obvious being poorer call quality than I’m used to, and although I do plan on replacing it later this summer when my tax stimulus check comes through, I have gotten totally spoiled to having a full-featured Windows Mobile phone.

The best parts about having a WM phone are the always-on email and web connectivity and having my full calendar and contacts lists available to me no matter where I am. I am constantly going to client meetings and working off-site, so the ability to access my email and calendar on the go is huge to me. Since things always change, I needed the calendar and tasks to be in constant sync with my other computers. Thanks to the great mobile software community, I was able to figure out a quick and easy way to get my Windows Mobile phone to sync with Google Calendar over my T-Mobile GPRS connection:

1) Pocket Informant - The built-in Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts apps are good, but they’re just not quite as robust or as sleek as I want them to be. That’s why I’ve been a user of Pocket Informant almost as long as I’ve had a PDA. The latest version, Pocket Informant 8, has added a lot of features that make it great for a touchscreen PDA phone. It allows me to manage my calendar, tasks, and contacts any way that I want–it’s very customizable and I love that! I have my personal views set up for easy access to all my important information at a glance.

2) GooSync - GooSync is the best free solution available for syncing your Windows Mobile calendar with GCal. The free version of GooSync allows bi-directional sync of one calendar, which is all I’m rocking at the moment. In the future, I might like to separate my calendars into business vs. personal, or even break down my work calendars by client or project. If I end up doing that, GooSync offers a yearly plan that allows you to sync multiple calendars, as well as contacts and tasks. I may upgrade just to get the auto-sync feature enabled on my GooSync account–my only complaint is that you have to manually sync instead of just counting on it to sync in the background. GooSync is also available for many other devices, including any mobile phone that can run Java programs.

3) MilkSync - Since I’m such a big fan of using Remember the Milk for managing my tasks, I upgraded my RTM account to RTM Pro.  It’s only $25 a year, which I consider to be a web service sweet spot. RTM Pro adds a great advanced feature set, including MilkSync for Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices. It allows for bi-directional sync of tasks between the task application on the WM device and the web-based RTM account. I have it set to do a background sync every two hours so that I always know what I have on my plate.

These programs work seamlessly to keep my calendar and tasks updated on my Windows Mobile phone. I could not be happier with the solution–now I can walk into any meeting with confidence, and work off-site without worrying that I’m forgetting an appointment or deadline. Syncing my information without having to use a go-between (i.e. ActiveSync or Missing Sync) means that I’m never tied down.

How do you keep your devices and your calendar in sync? Talk back in the comments.

I was pretty excited to hear that the new OS X upgrade, 10.5.3, would allow Address Book to sync with Google Contacts. Since I’ve been syncing everything else through GMail and GCal, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get my contacts all straightened out.

I spent a LOT of time last night updating my address book. I printed my contacts from GMail and updated Address Book accordingly, then I totally deleted my Google Contacts in anticipation of a nice, clean sync. Then I start downloading the update, which took a long time considering it was 198 MB. While I was waiting, I did a little surfing only to discover that the Google Calendar sync option was only for iPhone and iPod Touch users. ARGH! I was really annoyed.

Thankfully, Lifehacker also posted a workaround for non-iPhone users that allows you to access the sync function, although supposedly it may break after a couple of syncs.  I followed the directions and STILL got no love, so by that time I was steaming mad. Why should non-iPhone users be locked out of such a useful feature? Almost everyone I know uses GMail, not just the few of my friends who currently rock the iPhone.

After I recovered from my righteous anger, I exported my Address Book to Google-friendly CSV using the handy little tool A to G, then imported it into my Google Contacts. It worked just fine, and so I went about the business of syncing my Windows Mobile phone via Missing Sync.

Lo and behold, I get a bunch of conflicts when my contacts try to sync to the phone–Google Contacts conflicts! Apparently the Google Contacts sync is tied to Sync Services, so when I tried to sync my phone, it went ahead to sync my contacts to my Google account. Double ARGH!! I wish I’d known that before I imported all my contacts and then had to work through 134 conflicts.

So, seriously, Apple. I know you want people to buy the iPhone, especially with 2.0 right around the corner. I was briefly a convert to the iPhone kool-aid, before I realized that it didn’t offer a robust enough feature set for my needs. It’s a beautiful, well-done device, but let’s face it–not everyone’s going to own one. So why lock down such a universally appealing feature? I call weak sauce.

One of my daily tech drivers is my 4G Asus eeePC 701. I use it for quite a bit of my web surfing, chatting, email checking, web research and writing. It’s perfect to curl up with in my favorite living room chair or carry along with me to a coffee shop. I also carry with with me when I go to business meetings, because it is so much easier to tote along than a huge laptop. Plus, the sassy pink color just makes me happy next to the big hulking silver and black monsters everyone else has!

I wanted to make sure that I always had access to my schedule and tasks on the eeePC, and that any changes or additions I made on my calendar there would be reflected across all my devices. So I set out in search of the perfect Ubuntu solution for my eeePC, and this is what I ended up with:

1) Thunderbird + Lightning - I already used Mozilla Thunderbird for my email needs, and had tried its partner Sunbird (the separate calendar tool) with little luck. I just can’t stand having separate programs on such a small device. I don’t want to have to move to another window or virtual desktop to go between my mail, calendar and tasks. So, I decided to try the Thunderbird calendar plugin Lightning to bring the calendar functionality of Sunbird right to Thunderbird.

Right away, I liked Lightning better than Sunbird. Sunbird never seemed to work quite right for me–the views were all off and it froze up on me a lot. I really liked having it integrated into Thunderbird, which I always have open on my second virtual desktop.

However, due to the limitations of the eeePC’s smaller screen, I had to adjust things so that I would have the best possible layout. Thankfully, one of my favorite extensions for Firefox on the eeePC is also available for Thunderbird–Tiny Menu consolidates the menu bar into one small drop-down menu. Once I had Tiny Menu installed, I re-arranged the toolbars until I had all the icons I needed for email, calendar, and tasks on one row. That freed up a lot of visual space and made Lightning much more usable for me.

2) Google Calendar - GCal is the syncing conduit for all my devices. There is no “perfect” solution, but thanks to GCal I feel like my system comes pretty close. I really appreciate that they open up their API so that people can create syncing solutions that make it simple to keep everything updated.

3) Provider for Google Calendar - Once I had Lightning all set up, I had to figure out a way to get it to sync with GCal. The expandability of Thunderbird and Lightning once again saved the day, and I installed the Thunderbird add-on Provider for Google Calendar. It requires Sunbird or Lightning to be installed, and enables bi-directional sync between the calendar program and GCal. It works effortlessly for me.

4) Provider for Remember the Milk - The one fault with Google Calendar is that it doesn’t have an integrated task list. However, there is a fabulous web-based task manager called Remember the Milk that fills the gap nicely. It has also offered up its API so that people can create great applications that interface with the web tool. Thunderbird add-on Provider for Remember the Milk allows you to sync tasks in Lightning with your task list in Remember the Milk. It’s not perfect–things like tags don’t carry over, for instance, but it is more than functional for what I need. I look forward to further development that will hopefully do things like sync tags in the future.

So far the only problem I’ve had is a recurring appointment not showing up correctly. Otherwise, it’s worked flawlessly with GCal and my other devices. How do you keep your life in sync? Talk back in the comments.

Ever since installing Ubuntu on my 4G eeePC 701, I’ve been incredibly impressed by the operating system. It’s my first time running a Linux system full-time, and I find more to love about it every day. One of the most impressive things in Ubuntu is Compiz Fusion, which adds some incredible graphic effects to the user environment, including a rotating cube and other window/desktop switchers on crack.

Sadly, I’ve been unable to run it on the eeePC because turning on Compiz turns OFF my ability to drag windows off the top of the screen. This is a big deal on the eeePC’s small screen, because sometimes dialog windows are too long to fit on the screen, and I will have to alt+drag them up so that I can get to all of the choices.

Thankfully, the eeeuser wiki has come to my rescue once again.  Someone posted a very simple line of code that you can pop in the terminal and voila! Dragging windows beyond the top of the screen is enabled in Compiz.

gconftool-2 –set /apps/compiz/plugins/move/allscreens/options/constrain_y –type bool 0

It is important to NOT issue the command as a root user (sudo), but that is the only caveat I’ve found. I am so happy to be able to show off the amazing Compiz effects on my eeePC, and now I can finally use Emerald Theme Manager to make my desktop look awesome!

I always aspire to lead an organized life. Whether I actually am or not at any given point in time is really another story. (I am lucky enough to have a photographic memory and be able to put my hands on things that I need in my office or my apartment pretty easily!) I can be pretty anal retentive about digital things like the way my Google Reader feeds are organized in their folders, the things on my Firefox toolbar, or my del.icio.us bookmarks even when my car is a mess and the clothes in my closet are more on the floor or in a never-ending laundry basket than they are on hangers.

However, in my work life, I can’t help but be as organized as I can. I rely heavily on email, because often times it drives my daily tasks as well as provides a clear documented line of communication between me and my clients. I think it’s that way at almost every company in the modern age–live and die by email. I also use the Outlook Calendar a lot for scheduling client meetings, internal kickoffs, and more.

We have a documented project process that we follow for every client project, and I have the elements in place on my computer at work to get those things set up and completed. However, I am forever writing new to-do lists in the margins of my Levenger Circa notebook (my best analog tool at the office!) and I really hate trying to keep a paper datebook because my timelines for projects tend to be very fluid when there are delays, hiccups, or changes in scope.  I also hate having to change all my Outlook calendar entries when a project’s timeline changes, because somehow it never seems to sync up right to my PDA phone or iCal on my Mac at home.

I know I’m not the only one who has sat down with their various daily driver gadgets and thought, “Surely there has to be a way to make it all talk to each other!” There doesn’t seem to be one outstanding solution that will handle all needs for all platforms–yet. I think it’s coming, I HOPE it’s coming soon, but I can’t wait for it to arrive. I need a solution NOW.

I use the following devices every day:

• Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone running WM 5.0
• PC at work running Windows XP
• Power PC Mac at home running Leopard
• eeePC running Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04

I think I am slowly but surely figuring out the way that I can get everything to connect and sync together without trying to sync the PDA phone with any computer (a nightmare on Mac and Linux, annoying even on Windows) and across the multiple software platforms.

I have the first three “phases” of my calendaring setup completed and working, which I’ll document in more depth tomorrow.  So far, I have the eeePC, the work PC, and the Windows Mobile phone all communicating to the same central hub that I have set up in Google Calendars.

Up next, part one–tweaking out Thunderbird on the eeePC to be a robust calendar and task solution!

The newest model of Asus’ popular eeePC sub-notebook computer is set to drop in the United States on May 12 for $549. The eeePC 900 features a larger 8.9 inch screen, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and 1 GB of RAM stock. It will come in two flavors–a Linux version with a 20GB SSD, and a Windows XP version with a 12GB SSD. The eeePC 900 will be slightly bigger and heavier than the eeePC 700, but will not feature a new processor or better battery life. The processor is reported to not be crippled from 900Mhz to 630Mhz as it is in the eeePC 700, but otherwise the under-the-hood changes are few and far between.

I am the proud owner of an eeePC 700 4G (my in-depth review soon to come!) and while I see the obvious improvements (bigger screen, bigger SSD), I really feel no need to upgrade. The first thing I did upon receipt of my eeePC was upgrade the RAM from the 512 MB stock to 2 GB. Then I loaded up Ubuntu and added an 8 GB SDHC card to complement the installed 4 GB SSD. It’s so light and small that I can carry it with me everywhere, and I do! I use my eeePC as a portable writing, surfing and media machine, and it does the job impeccably.

I appreciate that Asus is trying to improve on an already great product, but when the eeePC starts getting bigger, heavier, and more expensive, it starts to lose the point for me. When it starts creeping up towards the size and heft of my 12″ iBook, it’s no longer really a sub-portable that I can squeeze into pretty much any purse I own. $549 is only $150 more than I spent on my own eeePC, but it’s enough of a significant difference that it would have been a dealbreaker for me. Now, if the eeePC 900 had included a touchscreen and tablet capabilities, I’d have probably put mine up on eBay and plunked down the extra money. Maybe future releases will include that functionality, which would be a welcome purchase for people like me who are interested in the functionality of a really small tablet PC but are put off by the high prices.

In the meantime, I am still incredibly happy with my eeePC 700. It is an incredible value at $399 (for the 4 GB version) and I have no regrets in purchasing it. My fingers are still crossed for the success of the eeePC 900, because I want to see what else Asus can do with future releases for the affordable sub-notebook category!

What is wrong with Flickr users? I am astounded at the incredible backlash of hatred towards the new Flickr Video feature. I was surfing groups this evening and came across a group called We Say No to Videos on Flickr that has managed to gain over 20,000 members since Flickr Video was released to the public on Tuesday.

More than 20,000 people are pissed off enough to join a group, have passive-aggressive discussions, and make lolcat-style protest pictures tagged NoVideo. There are also a few petitions going around requesting that Flickr remove the video feature and keep the site as a photography and photographer-focused community.

I really don’t understand. I’ve been a Flickr user since the very beginning–since before Flickr Pro Accounts were even available for purchase. I love Flickr’s ease of use, the community aspect of group pools and discussions, and the way I can interact with pictures from my friends and family. I think the addition of video is a great new feature–it’s not meant to be a YouTube clone for the latest in Internet video memes.

Videos are limited to 90 seconds, which is just long enough for a baby’s first steps, the highlights from a wedding dance, or a moment captured at a party. Videos can now sit alongside photo collections to help tell the story in a way still pictures cannot. What’s so wrong with that, fellow Flickrers?

I’m interested to see how Flickr responds. My hope is that they won’t cave and remove Flickr video completely, but I do understand that if people decide to be more active about controlling the situation, Flickr stands to lose a lot of business. I would like to see a way that users could opt-out of video if they really want to, although I really don’t see why that would even be necessary. If you don’t like a feature, just don’t use it. If you’re so opposed to a video being in someone’s photostream, just don’t click on it. Flickr, don’t let the haters win.

After acquiring a hand-me-down, 600 pound HDTV (thanks in-laws!), my husband and I recently made the switch to an HD satellite install at our apartment. We moved our old DVR into the office and now have a nice, shiny HD DVR in our living room.

One of the things I’ve been waiting for was the DIRECTV On Demand Beta on our receiver, which finally happened after a recent service call. But even better than that, the DIRECTV DVR Scheduler was moved into Beta and is now available for use on our DVRs.

I’ll be the first to admit that I can be forgetful sometimes. I will look forward to a show and think to myself, “Self, you should really set the DVR to record that!” Of course, then I forget and everyone at work is talking about it the next day, so I slink off to download it and try to avoid spoilers in the meantime. My husband is occasionally more on the ball than I am, and remembers to set a recording for something he knows I’m wanting to watch. But usually I either end up trying frantically to get home before a show starts, or just giving up altogether and downloading it after the fact.

Thankfully, the DIRECTV DVR Scheduler was made for people just like me. Similar to the TiVO online scheduling feature, it allows you to log in to your account on DIRECTV.com and set recordings right from their TV schedule grid. Since we have two DVRs in the house, it even allows me to select which DVR I want it to record on, as well as the recording’s priority. It can be set to record if there are no conflicting recordings, or it can be set to record before any other set recordings.

The BEST part is the mobile DVR scheduler, which can be accessed via any mobile phone with a browser and a data connection.  This has been great for me, because I always have my Windows Mobile phone with me and I have a full data plan.  When I discovered that TCM was running a Joan Crawford marathon, I was able to use my phone to schedule the office DVR to record Grand Hotel and Mildred Pierce.

If you have  DIRECTV and a DVR, be sure to log in to your DIRECTV account and try it for yourself!  It’s a lifesaver.

I have a very important decision to make, and Apple doesn’t seem to be interested in making it any easier for me.

Do I get an iPhone now, or do I wait until the 3G model has been announced?

To some, the answer may seem clear–the 3G model is supposedly just around the corner, as shown by the recent reported shortages of the iPhone at Apple Stores. Usually, this is a good indicator that a refresh is about to come down the line…it happens with the iPods all the time. I have to say, even though I’m always excited about new offerings from Apple, it makes me sad to go into the local Fry’s and see the old iPods rounded up into a big pile of yesterday’s tech to make room for the newer, shinier models.

I’d like to think that the iPhone shortages mean that the 3G is coming in June as everyone has speculated, AND that they’ll be immediately available. I’ll be really mad if Steve rolls out a new 3G iPod that I have to wait until September to purchase. I am an immediate gratification kind of a girl…I don’t even like to order things online because I have to wait for them to arrive.

But not everyone thinks that the Apple store shortage means that the iPhone is getting a refresh…according to analysts, Apple may be sending all their iPhone stock to AT&T due to their distribution agreement. If that’s true, then when is the 3G iPhone coming? It’s only been speculated on since the launch of the original iPhone. Steve, we’re getting impatient here. I’ve got a decision to make, and I’m waiting on you!

What do you think, readers? Should I get an iPhone now and risk a 3G upgrade? Or should I wait until June to see what Jobs has up his sleeve? Talk back in the comments.