Google Calendar

Like many people, I like to keep track of my schedule using a calendar. Until recently, I used Microsoft's Outlook 2003 as my calendar not because of choice but because of necessity - my Dell PDA only works with Outlook, not Mozilla's superior Thunderbird calendar, which I would rather use. Of course, I don't have my PDA with me all day so what to do when I need to check and update my schedule when I don't have my PDA?

One solution: web-based calendars. Having a web calendar enables you to check your schedule anytime and anyplace that you have a net connection. Google recently released Google Calendar and I've been using it since the Wall Street Journal gave it very favorable reviews. I like it for ease of use, full functionality, the ability to link up with Gmail and Google Maps, and because it is free. However, there is one major quandary with web calendars: you obviously can't check your schedule without net access.

What to do? Well, I found out that my new LG VX8300 cell phone has a built-in calendar function. And since my cell phone is the one device that I carry with me every day, I decided to find out whether the LG calendar is compatible with Outlook and Google. It turns out that it is! Using BitPim, I imported and merged my Google Calendar (using the iCAL format) and my Outlook calendar to the LG calendar. Now, when I am away from my PC and don't have Internet access, I can check my schedule wherever I go using my cell phone. Problem solved!