This is promising; finally the Tasks that have previously appeared in Gmail as a Labs feature has appeared permanently in Google Calendar. What remains now for me to use that feature is that I can sync the tasks to my Windows Mobile phone. OggSync, are you doing anything about this? One challenge is of course that Google tasks are hierarchical, and Outlook tasks are not.
Web
Change of DNS Host
My blog has been inaccessible today, first due to a failure in ZoneEdit’s DNS records, then to me changing DNS host to GoDaddy, where I host the domain for the blog. Several years ago, when I set up the this blog, GoDaddy didn’t have the required functionality for subdomains, as I wrote about back then, but now I realized that this wasn’t a problem anymore. So things should be up and running again!
Gmail in Offline Mode
You can’t ignore that now, you can use Gmail in offline mode, with the help of Google Gears. I’m still using Outlook for offline email, but it’ll be interesting to see how the Google offering develops. With the recent introduction of tasks to Gmail, they’re close to being a complete productivity solution. If only those tasks could be synced to my phone, I believe I’d stop using Outlook.
Finally Tasks in Gmail
Finally, Google has added task functionality to Gmail! Just waiting for the sync solution, too.
Probably a Working PIM Syncing Solution
After using OggSync for ten days, as reported in my previous post, I believe I can say that my complete PIM syncing solution works pretty well. I haven’t had any problems with OggSync, actually, even though I’m using the beta version. It’s installed on home computer, work computer, and on my Windows Mobile 6 phone, and all of them sync to Google Calendar, using two different calendars; one for private and one for work. Both are synced to the home computer and the phone. Have a look at my previous post for the complete syncing solution, using LapLink PDAsync and Windows Mobile Device Center (the ActiveSync of Vista). As a bonus, I can sync my contact list with Gmail, too!
Next attempt at PIM syncing
Now I’m trying OggSync for syncing my calendar. The professional subscription wasn’t that expensive, and a colleague of mine was using it without problems, so I’m giving it a try. Works well after two days’ of use!
So, now I’m syncing my two Outlook calendars with Google Calendar using OggSync (different calendars for private and work), my mobile phone directly with Google Calendar using OggSync, my tasks and contacts for my work computer using LapLink PDAsync (contact sync in OggSync doesn’t support categories), and tasks, contacts and notes for my home computer using Windows Mobile Device Center (Vista’s ActiveSync). What a mess! I haven’t found a better (that is, working) combination, though.
I’ll be back with a review later of whether this works over a longer period of time or not. My feeling is that OggSync is very stable indeed.
More On Google Chrome Responsiveness
The Chromium Blog has published more stuff on how to get the Google Chrome GUI responsive. Very interesting to read! Today they’re discussing how plugins affect responsiveness.
GUI Responsiveness in Google Chrome
Over at the Chromium Blog, there’s a post about Google Chrome’s I/O principles. Finally an improvement in GUI responsiveness from the prevalent industry standard. What if Microsoft implemented this in their Office suite, too? I’ve always argued that GUIs should be responsive at all times, thus showing the state of the application, instead of just hanging.
The Holy Grail of Offline Web Access
Finally, Google has taken a step towards enabling offline access to online web applications, by launching Google Gears. The web application has to be prepared for that, of course. For a start, Google Reader works very well offline now. When you go offline, items are downloaded, and when you go back online, what you’ve read is synchronized back again. Just waiting for it to work with Windows Mobile, too!
Conceptual Integrity 