Online Calendars with Google Calendars

I'm a big fan of Google and one of the neatest tools in their arsenal is Google Calendar (http://www.google.com/calendar). In addition to seeing your own events, you can also view calendars maintained by others. You can manage more than one calendar at a time and if you want, embed calendars on your web site or blog.

Google Calendar has some great features - address are automatically linked to Google Maps, visitors can subscribe to an RSS feed for the calendar, you can have a number of users responsible for updating the calendar and you can add users to a notification list where they will receive reminders by e-mail or SMS.

If you're the coach of a sports team or a leader of an organization like scouts, this is an essential tool for you.

Check out the three videos below for more information:

Other video resources

With more cell phones coming with video capabilities, video sharing is increasing in popularity and so are sites that help do something with those videos.

Previously, we looked at Kaltura for collaborative video editing. YouTube, undeniably the most popular video sharing site, also provides an online editor call remixer (http://www.youtube.com/ytremixer_about) that can use videos you've uploaded.

Another interesting site is Fix My Movie (http://www.fixmymovie.com/). This site uses patent pending technology to enhance and improve your video, which is then hosted on their site. Looking at the sample below, select the icon at the bottom right to compare the before and after enhancements.

Create collaborative videos

Most of us have had some experience working on a document with a number users contributing information (if not, check out Google Docs).

Kaltura (http://www.kaltura.com) provides you with a way to collaboratively work with others to create a video. Individuals can upload there videos and using the online tools you can edit and insert transitions and effects to create your video. When you're done, you can send a link to the site or embed the movie in your own site.

Be sure to check out the tour for more details.

Keep your e-mail private when filling out forms

When we're asked to put in our e-mail address when filling out an online form, we all feel that trepidation - "Should I use my work or personal e-mail?" "Will I get spam if I do?"


Mailinator (http://www.mailinator.com) allows you to provide a "fake" e-mail address where you can still get your message. For example, sometimes when we want to access a web site to get information or download a file, we're asked for our e-mail address where they can send the instructions to. The site now has your information and can easily start sending you their special offers (spam). Mailinator automatically creates read-only public e-mail accounts that you can use instead of your own e-mail address. The accounts are public and require now login, which means anyone can use the account. After 24 hours, the accounts are flushed out.

What's really nice is you can subscribe to an RSS feed to be notified when something comes in.

Easily backup your contacts online with Plaxo

Plaxo (http://www.plaxo.com) is an online tool who's goal is to help keep contact information up to date. When you update your Plaxo information, it automatically updates the information to anyone else using the service that you've indicated should have access to your information.

One of the benefits of the system is that it allows you to ensure your address books are updated in a number of places after you make a change in one area. For example, when I add a user to my Address Book (or Outlook), it updates the information in my Plaxo account. I have three computers that are connected to Plaxo, so all three computers automatically get updated with the new information.

Plaxo can also update the address books of online services too - Yahoo mail, Google, MSN and others. It can even do the same for your calendar.

The most important tool on the web - RSS

For many people, the morning starts off by visiting a number of web sites to catch up on the latest news or blog postings. Wouldn't it be easier if we only had to go to one place to see which sites have been updated and what's been added?

Really Simple Syndication or RSS let's you do just that. RSS is a method of sending information to you; as new content is added to a site, you'll see the information updated in your news reader. This technology is used to publish frequently updated content such as news headlines, blog entries or podcasts.

Although there are applications you can download (including many web browsers) to take advantage of RSS feeds, I highly recommend using an online newsreader like Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader). Being online means you can access the information anywhere and it remembers what stories you've read as you move from your work computer to your home computer.



Tip: with Google Reader, just paste the URL of the page you want and if there's a RSS feed, it will automatically add it.

Online tasks with Remember the Milk

If you don't use an electronic organizer, managing your todo lists online seems like a pretty smart idea. And it is - typically as long as you have internet access.

That's where Remember the Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com) really shines. Using technology created by Google, RTM allows you to create/edit tasks without needing an internet connection and then uploads your changes when you do. This is ideal for road warriors who use a laptop but don't always have internet access while on the road.

Like many online task managers RTM allows you to assign tasks to different projects, include notes, assign dates and even tags. What's really wonderful is that it provides "... task management in Google Calendar, have an iGoogle Gadget, send reminders via Google Talk, show task locations with Google Maps, and provide offline access with Google Gears." But for me, best of all, is that I can manage my tasks right within GMail!

Take the tour to find out more!

Keep track of news and stories with Google Alerts

Back in August 2007, my family and I had were at a stopover in Seattle where we found out flights had been delayed because an individual had called in a bomb threat in order to hold up a flight so he could get on it.

Thanks to Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) anytime the individual's name appears on a news site Google has access to, I receive an e-mail with a link to the story (I can also subscribe to an RSS feed of the info). Google Alerts is a great way to stay on top of information as it becomes posted, whether it's news, blogs, videos or anywhere on the web.