Archive for the ‘reviews’ Category

Syncing Google Calendar with iPhone

September 17th, 2007

When it comes to the Apple iPhone and Windows iTunes, you can synchronize your bookmarks with Internet Explorer or Windows Safari, and contacts from Outlook or Yahoo! but when it comes to synchronizing your calendar you are severely limited, unless all you use is Outlook, because that’s all you can directly sync with at the moment.

I was an Outlook user for years until I gave Microsoft the (thunder) Bird. The biggest problem with making the change from Outlook to Thunderbird was the loss of my synchronization between my iPhone and my calendar, because I don’t use Outlook anymore. I do use Google Calendar (GCal) because it allows me to access my calendar from anywhere (like Gmail) and share calendars between my family.

So how do you sync the iPhone with Google Calendar?

Well, you can’t. But through some sneaky workarounds, it is possible. Since the iPhone only knows how to sync with Outlook, the trick is to get your GCal appointments synced with Outlook.

This is possible with some commercial (pay) services such as ScheduleWorld and SyncMyCal, however the route I went after trying his free trial was David Levinson’s gSyncit. It’s a whole 10 bucks and it works great. After throwin’ down $10 via PayPal and instantly getting the registration code by email, it got rid of the nags, enabled automatic synchronization, and allowed me to add the other 3 GCal calendars that I needed to sync with Outlook. Plus, you don’t need to touch GCal and copy ICAL URLs. Just supply gSyncit with your GCal username and password, then it gives you a list of Google Calendars to sync with.

You can sync both ways, too… from GCal to Outlook, and vice-versa. I am currently only syncing one-way (from GCal to Outlook) so I can’t comment on how well it works the other way.

After configuring gSyncit and clicking the Sync button on my Outlook toolbar, I was able to sync my iPhone through iTunes with ease. Now all my Google appointments are on my iPhone!

…now if I could just figure out a way to get the Chargers to beat the Patriots…

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Review: Web hosted cron job schedulers

September 3rd, 2007

I use DreamHost to host my blog and while it’s a great and fairly inexpensive service, there are some limitations. One is that you cannot run cron jobs without a shell account, which I do not have. A cron job is a frequently executed task, mainly used for running scripts on a frequent basis for website maintenance. While I already do this on my Windows server and I could use it for my needs here at chrisTHIS.com, I wanted to see if there was another way to schedule a cron job for the average Joe Blogger.

I set out looking for web-based cron services and found a few. Here are my reviews of each. None of these are affiliate links, nor am I associated with any of these services. I am providing my honest personal opinions. If you know of more, please let me know!

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Giving Microsoft The Bird

September 3rd, 2007

I used to be the biggest evangelist of Microsoft. All other software was inferior. I’m sure that had something to do with my history in Redmond. Slowly over the years I’ve seen the light. A few months ago, after much frustrations with IE7 I made FireFox my default browser. I’m so happy I did, too. And today I gave Microsoft “the bird” by switching to Mozilla Thunderbird.

I have been a huge Outlook user since the early days of Outlook Express. I’ve stuck with it because there really wasn’t anything better out there. Lately I’ve been getting a lot of advice from friends & family to check out Thunderbird. After upgrading to the latest version of Outlook and having major performance issues with it (plus the UI overhaul made me sick), I got fed up after a week or so. Today was the worst, so I installed Thunderbird, imported all my Outlook contacts and email, set up my five mail accounts, then added a ton of extensions to make Thunderbird rock like Outlook always wanted to.

The most immediate thing I’ve noticed is speed. It loads immediately, and responds immediately. And that is with all of my Outlook data in-tact! After I migrated my data I went to town with the extensions. I’ve listed them all below, as I found some really cool ones. My favorites are the Lightning/GCal add-on and the QuickFolders. My only loss was Exchange support for work. Not a huge deal, as it isn’t a requirement to use Exchange, and the POP/SMTP support works just fine.

I did also try out the Outlook theme, which makes Thunderbird look very much like the previous version of Outlook. In the end, I decided to stick with the Thunderbird theme out of respect for the bird.

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Review: Logitech MX Air Mouse

September 1st, 2007

149010a.jpgAmazon started shipping “exclusively” the new Logitech MX Air mouse last month and of course I had to check it out. Here’s my review of this new toy:

First and foremost: don’t read any review from someone that just got this mouse or has used it for only a day. If I had written such a review it would have been a 5/5 star glowing review.

It’s total desktop eye candy… a sexy input device with revolutionary features. I decided to give it at least a week of use before writing my review. I’m glad I did.

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Apple iPhone Bugs and Missing Features

July 10th, 2007

After a good week’s worth of use, I’ve decided to keep the iPhone, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its fair share of problems or missing features. Most notable is its built in email client which is a terrific start, but falls short when compared to other mobile phone email clients.

My guess is that Apple has already heard most of these and my hope is that all of them will be addressed soon in updates.

Here’s my top 35 bugs and requested features/options, in no particular order. I’ll be updating this list as I discover more. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list… these are my own hot issues!

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Review of Skype Mobile on the Motorola Q

February 2nd, 2007

I decided to blog about Skype Mobile on the Motorola Q after reading a few topics online from people wondering how to get the Skype Mobile application on their Q and wondering how well it really works.

The first problem you will most likely encounter is that the Skype website does not list Motorola as an option on its brands list of mobile devices. In fact, it’s almost impossible to find the .cab file to download so here are two ways to do this.

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invisibleSHIELD for Treo 700w Reviewed

March 1st, 2006

There has been much talk about the invisibleSHIELD by ShieldZone Corporation lately, and for good reason. There aren’t any other skin-tight cases for the Treo 700w that look good! This $24.95 is “military strong”, is a clear application (kind of like a screen protector, but for the entire Treo), has a lifetime warranty, and covers about 75% of the Treo (with the remaining 25% being the keyboard, the bottom, and the sides). ShieldZone also makes an application for the Treo 650 as well as 100’s of other devices. Their application guide is quite impressive. It may be easier to use their search feature if you are looking for something other than the shield for the 700w.

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Horizontal case for Treo Reviewed

January 30th, 2006

Alright, the case I got from Verizon for $20 is going back. The huge plastic clip on the back keeps getting in the way and jabbing into my side when clipped onto my belt. Since I got my Treo a few weeks ago I’ve been researching cases to see what else was out there. Thankfully, since the 700w has the same form factor as the 600 & 650, there are plenty of options. One I found is another belt-clip option, but the plastic clip is replaced by a “built-in” leather clip and does not poke out and get in the way (this case is shown here to the left). The best photos I’ve found of it are here. I was a bit skeptical when I read all of the glowing reviews for this case (holster) at a few sites like TreoCentral.com. The case sells there for $19.95 but they are out of stock, so I turned to eBay and found it for about half that price (total was $16.90 with shipping). I ordered it on the 26th and it arrived today — 4 days isn’t bad. It’s exactly the same one that they sell at TreoCentral. The leather is soft and the two magnets that hold the cover down are extremely strong. I can comfortably sit while wearing it, and when walking around it doesn’t feel like I have a huge PDA hanging off my side like the previous case did. There are several other similar cases out there and I haven’t tested any of them… but if they have a built-in (non-removable) belt clip, it should be similar to this one. Note, there is no extra space inside this case… the 700w fits inside snugly, so if your goal was to put your Treo inside another protective case (like a clear case) and then inside this case, you won’t be able to pull that off. There are also no official places to hide your credit cards or a few business cards, however there is enough space to slide a few cards behind your Treo once it’s inside. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, however, as once you remove your Treo, you risk having your cards pop out and losing them forever. The case flips open easily, and the Treo is easy to grab by the antennae and remove. Tucking it away is just as quick and easy. I highly recommend this product. Note: I am in no way affiliated with any of the sites or companies listed in this article.

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My two week review of the Palm Treo 700w

January 30th, 2006

I have had the Palm Treo 700w phone for two weeks now, and I’m severely blown away. I’m finally converged, and I love it. I knew this phone could do a lot, but I was surprised at how much it really can do.

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