mobilEvolution

mobilEvolution Quick Tip: Dropbox

2008-11-27T05:46:00.001-08:00

Looking for a quick fix for online storage and another way of sharing
files between multiple computers (mac or pc)?
Check out Dropbox.
Dropbox gives you 2GB of online storage for free.
Your Dropbox account folder can be accessed online or you can install it
on multiple computers.
Not quite a Mobile Me (20 GB) replacement, but works easier and faster.

Have your iCal events send an alarm to your Mobile Phone

2008-11-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

So you have a Mac, but you don’t have an iPhone, and you want to have your iCal events on your mobile phone.
This is indeed very possible, I do recommend that you have a text messaging on your wireless plan.
For this tutorial you will not need your phone at all, well, you’ll need to know your phone number.
1. Launch the application address book.
2. Once in Address Book navigate to “Your Card.” (Go to Card in the Menu bar then select “Go to My Card.”)
3. Once your card is selected choose “Edit.”
4. You may need to add another email section to your card, if so click on the green plus sign to the left of where your email goes.
5. When another field pops up you are going to enter your phone number +
Verizon: @vtext.com
T-Mobile: @tmomail.net
Sprint: @messaging.sprintpcs.com
(ex: 1234567890@vtext.com).
6. Launch iCal and enter your event as usual.
7. Where it says “Alarm” select email. When you select email, you will have a drop down list available where you can then select “your number@whatever carrier,” then choose when you would like to receive the alarm (if you are running Leopard you will have to drag that email address from Address Book to that area).
That’s it, now your iCal event alarms will sent directly to your phone as a text message.

mobilEvolution Quick Tip: Syncing your bookmarks with Foxmarks

2008-11-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

Need to access a website you bookmarked at home, worried about losing your bookmarks?
Check out Foxmarks.
Foxmarks is a plug-in for Firefox that lets you sync your bookmarks on a server. This way you can get to your bookmarks on any computer by going to the Foxmarks website, or you can install Foxmarks on your other computers so your bookmarks are the same on each one. With Foxmarks you can also have different profiles, so you can have a work profile, home profile, etc.
You can even access your Foxmarks on your mobile phone by going to mobile.foxmarks.com.

mobilEvolution Quick Tip: Mobile Google Reader and Google News

2008-11-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

Nothing to do while you sit around waiting for coffee or on the bus? Check out Mobile Google Reader and Mobile Google News.

Forwarding Skype phone calls to another phone

2008-11-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

Skype is one of my favorite services I have found.
Using Skype as my home phone helps keep my cell phone minutes down to a minimum.
I signed up for a Skype Out monthly plan and also payed for a Skype In number; altogether I am paying about $54 a year for unlimited calls in the US and Canada. Even though it isn't necessary I also purchased a Skype phone as well (my Skype phone).
Since I rely heavily on Skype I want to make sure I don't miss a call, so I have possible missed calls forwarded to my cell phone.
To set up call forwarding:
1. Go into Skype Preferences.
2. Choose Calls
3. Go down to Call Forwarding, put in the amount of time you want the phone to ring before it forwards, then put in your country code (+1 for US) and phone number.
With this set up you will not have to worry about missing a single Skype call.
Another future option you can do is something called Grand Central. Grand Central is owned by Google and is in private beta right now, so you have to reserve a number. Grand Central makes it to where you will only need one phone number.
So, in my Grand Central profile I would plug-in my Skype and cell phone number. Then when someone calls the Grand Central number, it would cause my Skype phone and cell phone to ring.
Once I get my Grand Central number I will write more about this.

Get the most out of Google Calendar with your Mobile Phone

2008-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

I don't know about your phone, but my Sidekick 2008's calendar is useless to me, especially since I use Google Calendar.
When I'm out I use to have to write down an event on my hand or in a notebook, use the useless calendar on my phone, or go to www.google.com/calendar/m on my phone's internet browser. To make things a lot easier I can send a text message to Google Calendar.
The first thing you have to do is set Google Calendar up with your mobile phone.
1. Go into Settings up in the top right hand corner of Google Calendar.
2. Choose Mobile Setup.
3. Set up your calendar for your phone, a text message will be sent to you with a Verification code.
4. Put in the Verification code into Google Calendar, then click Save.
Now you can start adding events to your Google Calendar straight from your mobile phone.
To add an event to your Google Calendar from your phone send a message like Dinner 5:30 Tomorrow to 48368 (GEvent).
Now your event will be added to your Google calendar; however, the event is automatically set for all day.
This works like a Mobile Me if you are using Mozilla's Thunderbird and Lighting. See this tutorial on setting up your Google Calendar in Thunderbird.
Along with adding events straight from your phone, you can also have Google Calendar send your phone notifications, request your calendar for the day and have Google email your calendar to you each day.
To set up a notification:
1. Click on a day to add an event like normal.
2. On the pop-up choose Edit Event Details.
3. Fill out your event.
4. Under Options go to Reminder and select SMS instead of Pop-Up.
5. Select when you want to be reminded and click Save.
To request your calendar:
Send GEvent a text message with:
'next' to view your next event
'day' request all of your scheduled events for the present day
'nday' request your events scheduled for the following day
To receive your daily agenda:
This is something I highly recommend, but you first have to set your email up on your phone.
1. Go into Google calendar settings up in the top right hand corner.
2. Choose Calendars.
3. Choose the calendar you want to have sent to you daily.
4. Choose Notifications.
5. Check mark Daily Agenda.
There are also some other options you can choose in the Notifications option.
So there we go, how to utilize and take advantage of Google Calendar with your mobile phone.

Use Google on your cell phone.

2008-11-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you're out you need to get a quick answer, sport score, etc.
Well, Google has made things easier for us who do not have an Android phone or the iPhone.
Now you can get want you need or want by texting 466453.
I would add this to your contacts as Google because it's very helpful.
Below are some examples of what you can do.

Search Feature	Sample Query
Local	sushi 94040
Weather	weather boston
Glossary	define zenith
Sports **	score red sox
Movies	movies 94110
Stocks	stock tgt
Zip Codes	zip code 72202
Directions	directions pasadena ca to 94043
Maps	map 5th avenue new york
Flights ***	flight aa 2111
Area Codes	area code 650
Products	price ipod player 40gb
Q&A	abraham lincoln birthday
Airlines ***	united airlines
Translation	translate hello in french
Web Snippets	web hubble telescope
Calculator	1 us pint in liters
Currency Conversion	8 usd in yen
Airports ***	sfo airport
METAR****	metar khio
Help	help local

Syncing Google Calendar with Thunderbird

2008-11-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Ahh, Google and Mozilla, two wonderful companies with wonderful products that compliment each other very well; and the best part, they are free.
For awhile I was using Apple's Mail and iCal, now they work very well, but I needed something that synced with Google calendar better.
That's why I switched over to Mozilla's Thunderbird with Lighting.
Syncing Google calendar with Thunderbird is a breeze.
First thing first, get the Lighting plug-in for Thunderbird.
Lighting allows you to use a calendar feature in Thunderbird, making Thunderbird now function like Microsoft Outlook or Entourage.
Now you will need to get access to your Google calendar, for this you will need another plug-in for Thunderbird: Google Provider, this allows you to access and edit your Google calendar in Thunderbird.
Now that you have these two plug-ins, we have to get your Google calendar in Thunderbird.
1. On the Google Calendar web site go into Settings in the top right hand corner.
2. Select Calendars.
3. Select which calendar you would like to sync with Thunderbird.
4. Once in the desired calendar scroll down to where it says Calendar Address. To the right will be a orange button that says XML, select it.
5. Once you select the XML button a pop up will appear that will have a URL in it, select and copy the URL then click OK.
Now it's time to go into Thunderbird.
6. In Thunderbird's menu bar go to Calendar - New Calendar.
7. A pop up will appear, choose On the Network, then Continue.
8. Choose Google Calendar for the format.
9. In Location paste the URL you copied earlier, then Continue.
10. Now name your Calendar, select what color you would like it to appear as and choose if you would like alarms, then Continue.
11. Click Done.
Now your Google calendar appears in Thunderbird; and if you make a change to the Calendar in Thunderbird it will also change it on the Google Calendar website.
You can also use this as a Mobile Me alternative for managing your calendars, check this tutorial out to see how to get your phone involved as well.