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Calgoo "first draft" takes Google Calendar offline, sorta
Our friends over at Download Squad reviewed Calgoo, an offline Google Calendar client, last month. The reason we didn't pick it up is simply because it didn't run on Mac OS X at the time. Recently that changed, so here we go - but it is very apparent why they call this a first draft (as opposed to 'beta' or even 'pre-alpha').Calgoo appears to be a Java app, or at least need it for something under the hood, and as you can see: it isn't quite on the Mac OS X side of the GUI fence. For some odd reason, users must register at Calgoo's site (which I begrudgingly did in the name of blogging) in order to be able to download and actually use the app. The actual setup is pretty straight forward, and syncing seemed to run well (a 'Message Log' tab in the upper right lets you keep an eye on activity), but navigating Calgoo's UI is anything but intuitive. Like Jason at Download Squad, I too couldn't see any of my appointments until I figured out their obscure calendar list in the lower left corner (hint: you can select and view individual calendars, or click at the top of the list to view them all. Why it's an actual process to get even any of your calendars to appear is anyone's guess). There are various other quirks and perks, such as Calgoo running on Mac, PC and Linux, event tagging/filtering and the fact that it downloads your Gmail buddies for easy attendance listing, but I was happy to see what is perhaps the most significant feature of Calgoo work like a charm: syncing with Google Calendar. I created a couple basic events in Calgoo and one in gCal, then synced. Once the dust settled, everything was reassuringly in order across both places, so at least that's a good selling point at this 'first draft' stage - cuz that UI sure won't be winning any Apple Design Awards anytime soon.So would I recommend Calgoo? Yes and no. If you're just gaga for gCal, sure - it seems like a decent client, but there's definitely a UI learning curve. However, this seems to be the only app I've seen that has put a good foot forward in accomplishing such a task as truly synchronizing with Google Calendar, so I'll tip my hat to Calgoo and hope to see what tidings its evolution brings.
Google Notifier for Mac released (formerly Gmail Notifier)
The Gmail Notifier is no more - long live Google Notifier! The search giant has updated their official notifier application for Gmail to include alerts for Google Calendar events - hence the name change. I don't know if this has any effect on whether the Gmail + Growl utility still works, but this is a nice evolution to a handy little app.Thanks Maxim Blinder!
Google Calendar officially supports Safari
Users are reporting that Google Calendar now officially supports Safari. I can confirm, as I no longer receive the 'unsupported browser' warning on 10.4.6, and I must say gCal looks a bit nicer in Safari, though I unfortunately need to use Firefox for most of my browsing needs.It's nice to see Google going the extra mile to support Apple's browser with some of their products. Anyone want to place bets as to how soon a Safari-compatible chat will show up in Gmail?
Firefox Quick Add extension for Google Calendar
Elias Torres has put together a most excellent Google Calendar Quick Add extension for Firefox. If you aren't familiar with gCal's Quick Add feature, it's in the upper left of gCal (or just hit 'q' on your keyboard), and it's great: you can create a new event simply by typing it as a sentence, such as: "dinner with Jane May 1st 6 pm." No tabbing or clicking around to chose numbers and fields. Nice.Elias' Firefox extension does a great job of enabling this slick Quick Add ability from any other window/tab in Firefox, and so far it works flawlessly, though I have a couple of tips for you. First, make sure you've already opened gCal at least once during your browser session for this extension to work; it re-uses your session cookie instead of prompting for your password. Also, if you open this Quick Add window but decide you don't need to enter an event for one reason or another, simply hit esc to get rid of the window, as its close button doesn't work.[via Hawk Wings]
Using iCalShare calendars with Google Calendar
Yesterday, Scott showed us how to use iCal to subscribe to calendars created with Google Calendar (let's just say "gCal" to keep it short). Today we go in the other direction: How to use gCal to subscribe to iCal calendars. For the sake of this post, I'm using iCalShare to find a calendar I want to add to gCal. Specifically, the Boston Red Sox 2006 season schedule (Go Sox!). You can read more after the jump.
HOWTO: Subscribe to a Google Calendar using iCal
So Google has released a web calendar that supports the iCal format. Big deal, right? I use iCal, so what do I care? Well, you can use iCal to subscribe to any shared Google Calendar, and it works like a charm, though keep in mind that Google Calendar doesn't support Safari (I used Camino to make this how to).In order to subscribe to your own Google Calendar, first log into gCalendar (as I like to call it). You'll notice the Manage calendars link on the left hand side of your calendar (highlighted in the picture to the right).Go ahead and click on that, and continue reading this tutorial, after the jump.
Google calendar
Today Google unwrapped its latest web product: Google Calendar. gCalendar (as I shall now refer to it) supports the iCal standard, so you should be able to import your events and what have yous from iCal without much fuss. That is, as long as you use a browser other than Safari. I'm sure Google is working on supporting Safari, but as it customary with Google products, it isn't supported out of the gate.Overall gCalendar is something of a yawner, but it is still in Beta, so there is still hope.To read more about gCalendar check out Download Squad and the Unofficial Google Weblog.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
