How I found one of my favorite “new” blogs
I’ve been following FeverBee for a about a week now, I think, and I was really glad that @cwestbrook made a tweet about it. Richard Millington has some great insights, and he delivers them in nice, bite-sized pieces that suit my reading style very well.
I hadn’t really been following Chuck’s blog, either until I caught another tweet earlier today that prompted me to take a look. It turns out that Chuck is actively seeking great, under-appreciated blogs to drive traffic for.
Cool idea, Chuck. I’m in. If you are reading this, you should check it out, too.
How You Can Help End the Problem of Blogs With Great Content and No Readers
Over-The-Air Google Calendar to iPhone Sync with NuevaSync
In my not-yet-ending quest for a full GTD implementation that spans all of my contexts (@home, @work and in between), I came across a little post by Matt Grommes that introduced me to a fantastic little service called NuevaSync.
NuevaSync (currently in free beta) offers a real, working two-way sync between Google Calendar and iPhone 2.0 firmware, regardless of your desktop platform!
In a perfect world, MobileMe would offer this capability “out of the box,” but alas, no. There are workarounds for Mac users to sync iCal with Google Calendar and then to MobileMe or directly to iPhone via iTunes, but that is (a) a lot of extra opportunity for breakage and (b) requires a Mac. Windows users are out of luck.
There are other solutions and I invite readers to comment with details below or link to their own solutions. I’ll also update this post as appropriate.
I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about NuevaSync “the company.” I will say that their website is pretty straightforward and to the point. Following the directions will get you up and running pretty quickly. I am really excited about my initial experience and am looking forward to watching this little startup grow and succeed.
A few things to you need to consider before setting this up though:
- Back up your calendar data FIRST. I admit that I was simultaneously configuring NuevaSync and Google Calendar Sync for the first time. The combination nearly proved deadly (to my data) when I made a small (very reasonable) error in judgement. Due to the fact that God really had my back, I came through completely unscathed and with all of my data intact. Chances are slim that you will reproduce my experience. But just in case: Back it up.Of course, you know you should maintain regular backups at all time, but let’s face it: most of us don’t get as meticulous about this as we should. However, with a relatively small, beta product such as this, there are plenty of opportunities for something to go wrong. An error at NuevaSync could theoretically drop all of your calendar events (or just one really important one!) in mid-sync. So treat this beta with a healthy dose of respect.
- Push sync is the default set up, but you don’t really need it! To save battery life, change your “sync” setting to manual. Everytime you open the iPhone’s calendar, just wait a few seconds for the latest changes to sync up. You’ll see the “network traffic” animation beside your network indicator to let you know it is working. (Apple doesn’t make this obvious, but it works on my iPhone (v 2.0.1 at the time of this post)).
- NuevaSync will only sync calendars that grant you “write” permission. I subscribe to several read-only calendar feeds (i.e. Meetup.com, US Holidays, etc), and these will not sync via NuevaSync. According to the NuevaSync blog, this ability is coming soon, but there is no definite date attached.
- NuevaSync is a beta product with a small staff. There is no 24
hour support, and their website explicitly states that if a server goes
down while everyone is asleep, they won’t know about it until they wake
up. (I don’t mind, and I appreciate that they told me this up front!)That said, this is not a service for mission-critical calendaring functions. Period.
In the FAQ, NuevaSync makes it very clear that they aren’t quite sure yet how they are going to monetize this thing (probably paid premium services). I get that, and don’t hold it against them. They need to figure it out quickly because this product is, in my opinion, ripe for a Twitter-style viral explosion.
True, they won’t see the volumes of users that Twitter sees, but iPhone isn’t the only mobile platform that NuevaSync supports. Heck, it wasn’t even the first. Over-the-air syncing is not a simple thing to do, even when dealing with one platform. Scaling for large numbers of users complicates matters, and costs lots of money, too.
I frankly hope that they do get that figured out sooner rather than later, because their initial offering, for me at least, is far more useful than Apple’s $99 per year MobileMe service, and I want to see what the future holds for NuevaSync.
In addition to calendar syncing, NuevaSync offers the ability to sync your Google contacts (I wouldn’t even risk trying this: it looks like it may add all of Google’s suggested contacts to your address book!) or your Plaxo contacts (maybe try this…with a backup) over the air.
What NuevaSync doesn’t do is connect your desktop calendar to Google calendar or anything else. You’ll still need another product, such as CalDAV or Google Calendar Sync for that. I’m using Google Calendar Sync with an Exchange-based calendar. After I’ve had another day of smooth operation, I’ll post some thoughts on that as well.
Credit where credit is due: I found NuevaSync via: Matt O’ Rama » iPhone / Google / Outlook Calendar Sync.
If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to my RSS feed, and introduce yourself in the comments below!
Mobile Blogging Evolves?
It’s here. The Wordpress app for iPhone made it to the app store overnight, and at this moment, I imagine thousands of bloggers (real and wannabe, such as yours truly) are preparing their first posts using the app.
I’m going to go out in a limb here and predict that the majority of those posts will be reviews of this very app.
Of course, it has been possible, and even convenient to blog from the iPhone and other mobile devices since the beginning. But does this new application change the landscape drastically?
My guess is, just a little. I can’t see typing a long post out at 20 wpm on the iPhone. But, the clean, usable interface makes it easy to fire off quick posts while out and about, update blogs with breaking news, or even start a post to finish later.
Of course, it only works on iPhone, so there is that. But between the Wordpress and Typepad apps, the iPhone is quickly becoming a powerful mobile publishing tool as well as gaming and productivity platform.
I don’t forsee posting from this platform frequently, but time will tell. It is nice to have the option, and my first impression is that the option is nice.
Technorati Tags: iPhone, WordPress, Reviews, App Store
What can one man do?
Often, we feel powerless to change the world around us. Sometimes, we feel powerless to even make it through the day.
Syd Lieberman tells the true story of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish man who did something extraordinary. I won’t spoil the story for you. I’ll only say that after listening to Syd’s amazing telling of this incredible story, you will never, and I mean NEVER be able to look in the mirror and say, “It’s only me. What can I do to change things?”
Go download it right now: It’s at the bottom of this page.
I’ve been listening to Syd Lieberman’s storytelling podcast for several months as part of a growing enthusiasm
for the disappearing art of storytelling. Syd is a well-known storyteller who has made waves in the industry by releasing every single recording he has ever made for free on the Internet. You can download them as a podcast via iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, or you can go directly to his website and download them at your leisure.
Technorati Tags: storytelling, heroes, syd lieberman, wwii, inspiration
GrandCentral and Unlimited Mobile To Mobile Calling
If you like Google’s GrandCentral service (still in Beta) and plan to make a complete switch to make your GC number your primary phone number, I’ve discovered a small “gotcha” that you should make sure you are aware of.
As I promised in my First Impressions post last week, I did a little testing of GrandCentral’s implementation to determine whether the service is mobile-to-mobile (or AT&T Unity) friendly.
The simple answer is…well, there isn’t a simple answer. The answer is, “sort of.”
At 1:22 on Thursday afternoon, I placed a call from my wife’s cell phone to my own GC number. I answered the call on my own cell phone (both of our phones are Cingular/AT&T phones, so all mobile-to-mobile calls are “free”). The following day I checked my online call logs, and this is what I found:
The call placed to my GC number from my wife’s cell phone was recorded as a standard long-distance call (long distance is also free, so I was only charged for the minutes against my plan allotment).
The call received on my cell phone was recorded as a mobile-to-mobile call from my wife’s cell phone! So it was a “free” incoming call. No minutes were used.
So, if a person calls a GrandCentral number, the caller will not be able to take advantage of free mobile-to-mobile minutes. The caller will be billed for airtime and long-distance charges as applicable.
The call recipient, on the other hand, will receive all of the benefits of mobile-to-mobile calling.*
So, how do I feel about this? Personally, I don’t think it’s a big problem. It just means that if I think my Wife is near her cell phone, I’ll dial that first. If I get no luck there, then I’ll dial the GC number. I’ll continue to give my GC number out as my default number. I’ll let my family and friends who have Cingular/AT&T cell phones to try my cell first, but if no luck, use the GC number.
Bottom line: GrandCentral at this point is not the only phone number I’ll ever need to give out. It is, however still an awesome service and I will continue to use it for the foreseeable future. This slight downside is, I should add, through no fault of GrandCentral (in my estimation). It’s simply a limitation of what their software can do without direct access to Cingular’s internal billing systems.
*Disclaimer: I have performed only a cursory test of the GrandCentral functionality with two Cingular phones on an AT&T Unity calling plan. Your mileage may vary depending on a variety of factors, however I expect all U.S. domestic cell phone users to experience similar results. At any point in time, GrandCentral’s technology could change this behavior, for better or for worse. The words “better” and “worse” can have varying definitions depending on whether you work for GrandCentral, Cingular or neither. Readers are advised to perform their own tests with their own calling plans, and monitor their own phone bills regularly for changes. I am not responsible for any charges you may or may not receive on your phone bill, unless of course you loan me your phone for a few minutes so I can call my uncle in Oregon.
Technorati Tags: GrandCentral, Reviews, Warning
First Impressions: GrandCentral from Google
A few weeks ago, Google purchased a “little” startup called GrandCentral. I got my beta invite a few days ago and signed up. First Impressions says, “Oh, Yeah.”
At it’s core GrandCentral acts as a centralized phone number and voicemail system. One phone number rings you at home, work and on your cell, simultaneously. When you pick up, at whatever phone you happen to be near, the caller’s name is announced and you can choose to answer or send the call to voicemail (plus a few other options). If that were all, then the service would be worthy of attention, but here are a few more:
- Add up to 6 numbers to your profile
- An online address book (there is an import/export function, but no automated synchronization tool that I can see)
- Group callers in your address book according to 4 different categories: Family, Friends, Work and Other. Each group can be handled differently, routed to different phone combinations (example:Friends never ring at the office, but always ring cell and home)
- Each group gets it’s own voice mail greeting (Professional “Work” and “Other” greeting, fun or playful for “Friends” and “Family.”
- Individual callers can be blocked, routed or handled specially
- Automatic filtering and blocking of phone-spam and telemarketers
- Easy recording of phone calls
- Visual voicemail!
And, did I mention that it’s FREE?
There are many more features than I’ve listed, and I haven’t tried them all out yet, but this is a First Impressions review.
Here’s the downside, so far:
- GrandCentral is a beta product, so not all features are fully loaded and available yet
- Many of the nicer features will ultimately be part of a paid, premium plan. However, GrandCentral does not make it clear exactly which features will remain free, which will be paid, and how much the premium plans will cost. So, be careful what you get addicted to! (To be fair, they do make it clear that unlimited inbound calls, unlimited voicemail and access to core features will always be free. What “constitutes core features” is vague)
And here’s a big potential issue: My calling plan (AT&T Unity) gives me unlimited “free” calling between AT&T numbers everywhere, even on my cell-to-landline calls, and more importantly my cell-from-landline calls. Similarly, most mobile phone carriers offer free mobile-to-mobile minutes on their own networks. So there is a big risk that routing calls through GrandCentral will essentially bypass this feature. The research I’ve done so far indicates that there is hope on this front. I’m running some specific tests today and I’ll report back on my findings.
In a nutshell, GrandCentral looks great, and works as advertised. The service is highly customizable, and there are many more features than what I’ve listed here. Google’s acquisition of the company means the service should be around for a while.
GrandCentral is only available by invitation during the beta period. But each user gets a half dozen invites or so for now, and I’ve got a couple left. So if you’d like to try it out, drop an email to jumbis at jumbis dot com.
Technorati Tags: Reviews, GrandCentral, Technology