calendars

When Google announced that Google Calendar users could read events even while not connected to a network, the feature was only for organizations using Google Apps for their Internet domains. Now the offline calendar feature can be used more broadly, though.

The feature is available by clicking the "Offline Beta" link in the upper right side of the page. Clicking on it walks the user through an installation and initial synchronization process.

As with offline Gmail, the service uses Google's Gears software to store a copy of the calendar data on a person's computer so it … Read more

Financial services firm, Virgin Money announced Wednesday that it has joined the Uncrunch.org campaign in an attempt to raise awareness about alternative, social sources of credit for both consumers and businesses. Virgin joins Geezeo, Lending Club, OnDeck Capital, Credit Karma, and ChangeWave, while trying to "unthaw" the credit markets by giving consumers and businesses an online resource to research and find credit.

Uncrunch's focus is social lending, which is why Virgin Money joined the campaign (the company has close to $400 million in social loan volume). Those who surf to Uncrunch will be able to learn … Read more

There aren't a lot of Microsoft Outlook competitors out there, but Mozilla's open-source Thunderbird is one of the best. Postbox for Windows and Mac, and built on Thunderbird code the way that Flock is based on Firefox, is a new face on the e-mail field.

Still in beta, Postbox takes desktop e-mail hard toward Web 2.0, with fast links to upload contacts to Facebook and pictures to Picasa. Click on an e-mail, and the preview pane not only shows the text, but extracts all links, images, other attachments, and contacts into a sidebar for easy management. Postbox … Read more

On Monday mobile phone users, including those with Apple's iPhone, got a new way to sync and access information from the cloud. Called Google Sync, the new service lets you sync up both calendars and contacts from a specified Google account and will send changes over the air--both ways.

The service uses Microsoft Exchange's ActiveSync protocol to get the job done, and because of this can actively push changes as soon as they're made. Previously the only way to get this kind of near-instantaneous change was to sync up an existing Exchange account with Outlook using Google'… Read more

Video site Hulu announced on Monday that it will stream President Barack Obama's first formal press conference Monday night at 5 p.m. PST. According to the company, the live stream will run until its conclusion and then it will be made available for streaming on the site thereafter.

Blogger Brandon Kraft says he found a new feature in the Google Apps version of Google Calendar. According to Kraft, users can now attach files from Google Docs and photos from Google's Picasa to any event in the calendar. Google has yet to comment on the find.

OneSpot, a … Read more

We talk a lot about drug legalization, but the truth is that Steve Guttenberg is the only drug we need to get us through the day. He joins us for a very compelling conversation about the afterlife, and we even start to get metaphysical--don't worry, we don't get into it for too long. After that, we get into a story about a very unique monthly calendar, our weekend plans, and what exactly is causing that peculiar maple syrup smell in New York.

As promised, Google has begun releasing offline calendar support for Google Apps customers, a move that makes Google's online tools a bit more competitive for business users.

The company said offline Google Calendar would arrive soon after its launch of offline Gmail last week. However, while offline Gmail is for anyone who installs the experimental feature, offline Calendar only works with Google Apps customers whose administrators have enabled their users to activate experimental features.

The folks at Lifehacker got the offline Calendar update and offered some views of the synchronization process that stores a copy of your calendar on … Read more

I know that it's been a while, but I did promise you last month that I would report back on my experience with the Samsung Instinct's new calendar syncing ability. I apologize for the wait, but the holidays and CES prevented me from getting an activated Instinct handset from Sprint.

Fortunately, the wait proved to be the worst thing about the experience as the new feature worked pretty much as promised. Once a review model arrived, I had to download three software updates, which took about 20 minutes, but they loaded without incident or a missed connection.

After installing the updates and syncing the phone with my CNET OWA (Outlook Web Access) e-mail, a new "work calendar" update button appeared under the calendar menu. Pressing that button synced the Instinct and my Outlook calendar in just a few seconds. The data connection cut out on my first try, but the second attempt brought success. All of my current appointments then appeared under their appropriate day with the correct time, location, and description. To get back to the calendar from the main menu, I could choose either the calendar or e-mail icons.

As Sprint promised, I was able to create a new appointment on the Instinct, which then synced back to my PC automatically. Also, I could get meeting reminders, accept or decline new appointments, and edit or delete current meetings right on the phone. Any edits made on the Instinct synced back to my PC in just a few seconds; the reverse process took a bit longer. Yet, it was a satisfying experience on the whole.

Still, there were a few quirks.… Read more

Goodbye, 2008 and hello, 2009!

A new year means new calendars, new personal resolutions, and an end-of-year celebration to ring it in. Our collection of applications for your PC has bartending and DJ downloads for all that party planning, a calendar to keep you up to date, desktop sticky notes to remind yourself of those all-important resolutions, and screensavers to get you into the spirit of the season.

Fireworks Screensaver

This classic fireworks screensaver lets you get interactive with the spectacular display you shoot onto your desktop. Have fun choosing the number of rockets for a grand finale that sends … Read more