How to sync Google Calendar, W880i and MacBook

I've promised myself I'd post my first 'How To' one of these days, but it's late right now and I can't be arsed. Sorry. But I'll come back to it one of these days. Meantime I'll just post some useful links where you can find the relevant info, rather than wasting your precious free time trawling through the web like I did. Imagine what you can do with all that time saved. Here goes, and this should work for other Java enabled phones as well.

1. Subscribe to Google Calendar
First we want to get our Google Calendar events and the kids at Google let you do this via RSS. Read these links here & here and you should have Google Calendar (gCal) in your MacBook's iCal (gCal in me iCal?) by the end of it.

2. Get the Mac iSync Plugin for the Sony Ericsson W880i
You'll need a little plugin. That's a little piece of software that plugs right in. Sorry it's late and I get like this when tired. So, oh yes, you'll need the plugin to allow iSync to talk to your sexy and svelte W880i. For the show offs and brave among us they can try all the pain and hacking here. For those like me who believe in working smarter not harder (in other words can't be arsed) then try here.

3. Sync W880i with iSync
Finally you simply pair the W880i or Java enabled phone with iSync, specify your settings (Contacts etc) and sync away. For those of you porting from Windows then you can check here. Or if you're porting without MS Outlook, you can use that little ancient piece of software in the Windows Accessories folder called Address Book to import your old phone contacts as vCards. Then you can import these into the Mac's Address Book application. Nifty eh? ;-) There are so many old pieces of tiny software that can make things a little less painful, but we don't use them as they're always tucked away and forgotten just like old toys from yesteryear. Better stop, getting poetic.

You can also use the above link to sync your iTunes playlists with your W880i using iTuneMyWalkman. So bin that iPod and brick of a phone and welcome to SE W880i nirvana. Device convergence eat your heart out.

* If you want to use your phone as a bluetooth modem for your Mac then check here.
* For those porting from Yahoo PIM check here and here.

That's enough to be getting on with for now folks. Man you are a demanding bunch. Next time I'll show you how to make an omelette using a bluetooth phone. Did I say I was tired?

Gonna Get My Spidey Suit

I recall sometimes musing about why it almost always rained on Sundays in Bristol, England and why can't they make an invisible suit? Why I don't know, but I didn't understand the difficulty in doing so or why my partner at the time could not see the connection with pollution and the local weather patterns. Well all the above have been proved to be possible and now the Journal of Physics is talking about utilising the natural technology of Geckos and Spiders to build a suit that will allow us to do everything a Spider can, just like our favourite neighbourhood Web Slinger.

Thus far, the only practical application the boffins can think of is cleaning windows. Just wonder what additional voyeuristic advantages this will give to our humble window cleaner.

Device Convergence in Need of Some Old Ideas

Yes peeps its geek time again! Come on admit it, we all love gadgets, girls and guys alike. The question for me always is, just how much practical use do these pervasive little pieces of black or silver plastic and chrome actually provide us? Moreover, how much impact do they have on our social lives?

So in the practical sense, us gadget lovers and business users still seem to be asking the same old question. When are the manufacturers going to produce a portable device that fuses form and function into an elegant and usable form factor? I'm sure you've come across the same problem yourself. Do I go for a mobile phone and laptop combination; mobile and PDA or smartphone? Nowadays none seem to foot the bill and the manufacturers seem to be hell bent on throwing a plethora of Swiss army knife combinations at us without proper consultation. I may want something that just does the job and allows me to be productive, do I really want to watch clips of Paris Hilton, or Jade Goody on Big Brother and listen to music at the same time? I always marvel at just how many people listen to music through their iPods nowadays when a few years ago, you only saw a number of people listening to music on the tube. I want to shout to all, "you're not real music fans, you weren't there in the days of the original Sony Walkman or MiniDisc!" Well whatever Apple has been feeding us through the headphones it seems to have worked for them.

This comparison review of the Nokia E61i and Motorola Q9H seems to sum up the problem:

My hunch is that we'll see more devices like the Palm Folio or Datawind that fill this niche, as a "phone companion". The big phone manufacturers don't seem to be able to do it themselves, nor do they have any incentive to; hence the relentless propaganda about "convergence". That may be wishful thinking on my part, of course, but a significant part of the business market remains poorly served.

To be honest I haven't had the time to keep track of the latest changes in the gadget world, as I've been pretty busy of late and have pretty much given up on the Holy Gadget Grail and settled for my Sony W880i. So I don't know too much about the Palm Foleo or the Datawind Pocket Surfer. However, although the W880i fills most of my needs and I prefer to do most of my work within a window of time, I still find myself wishing I had something more suited for more productive text entry whilst en route. This takes me back to the days of the Psion 5mx and the Radio Shack WP-2. I personally didn't have the pleasure of owning the latter, but was a devote fan of the former and some of the other models in its lineage. The Psion seemed to give the perfect combination of form and function, and when it came to the power issue, you could run it forever on a pair AA batteries. About 20 hours I recall. Link it to your now antique Ericsson T39 (yes there was life before Sony), or the ubiquitous Nokia 8210, and you had access to email and web surfing. The web experience may have been painful at times, but with WAP the pain was eased somewhat. I even recall my ancient days as a hardcore Ebayer, sneaking some auction wins in the pub or company meeting, whilst all thought I was note taking. :)

What I want to know is why can't the big boys like Sony and Apple or the new Linux based start up manufacturers learn from the past and adopt some of the heritage of these old machines and start building efficient productive devices which we actually want, rather than what they feel we want? I can see the appeal of devices like the Psion 5mx or its Ericsson clone the MC218 for business users who just want to get the job done, and their practical application in developing countries where battery life and price is a premium. This is where the introduction of Linux as an operating system has been a Godsend and there have even been ports of Linux onto these ancient machines.

Until we get thought recognition or holographic screens I suppose we'll have to make do with gear like the Palm Foleo to fill the gap.

A 'just' War or a Rich Boy's Playground?

It still feels incredible that the Iraq War actually took place. The whole question of weapons of mass destruction and the connection between Saddam and al-Qaeda still seems disturbing to say the least. Take the time to dig a little deeper though and you'll find the truth which is nothing more than a modern day horror story, filled with morally corrupt monsters pushing the war agenda for the sole motivation of sating their insatiable greed. As James Scahill's book on Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army asks, shouldn't this kind of scene belong in a James Bond movie? I'd wish someone could tell me this wasn't the truth.

Scrumping and the moral question of free Wi-Fi

There was once a time not so long ago that despite being frowned upon, nicking apples from your neighbour's tree didn't receive such a severe reprimand. You would possibly get a clip round the ear for trespassing or even have to endure the shame of going round to do odd jobs for the old granny whose apples you had scrumped. Things would not be so bad, and you might get a piece of apple pie and a few pearls of wisdom from old Mrs. Davis from number 23. It seemed like a good trade. She got her place cleared up and some company, and you gained something in your moral development. After all, people may have been particular about trespassing on their property, but feelings were pretty moderate as this was a time we still left our doors open.

Fast forward to 2007 and a new kind of scrumping is sparking moral debate. Wi-Fi freeloading or line phreaking. Call it what you will, the issue seems to be the same as every other technological impact on society. Namely, the issue that the technology is far ahead of our social norms and current laws. Until the outcome of the moral debate in the meantime it would be good to ensure the following:

• Ensure only your computer can access your network
• Use a secure key to restrict data being 'sniffed' over the air
• If you see your internet L.E.D. going like crazy whilst your mac or pc is off then you know you've got problems

Happy surfing. I hope I haven't increased any paranoia here. I feel like having an apple now. ;)