• CNET
  • All ical posts

ical

Make PC-to-phone and PC-to-PC calls with iCall

iCall is a video and audio call utility that works on Windows and Macs, as well as most mobile devices. iCall supports free calling (including conference calls up of to 10 people) anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, or international calls for a fee. There are also some pay-as-you-go capabilities so you can select the options that suit your needs, or there's an "everything" package called iCall Total Access. iCall can also assign you a free phone number to allow others to call you. The software downloads and installs easily, but you need to set up … Read more

Missing on Mac: Calendar with multiweek view, space for notes

I've written before that one of the hardest things about moving to the Mac from Windows was leaving behind the Windows-version of Outlook, in particular its calendar.

I greatly miss two key features: ample space for making notes related to an event and the multiweek view to see events split across two months. Alternatives for the Mac from Apple, Google, and even Microsoft's own Mac-version of Outlook fail to measure up. That's too bad.

Room for notes Let me start with the importance of allowing room for notes within events. When scheduling a meeting or an appointment, … Read more

How to track your favorite TV shows

When you can't make it home for every episode, or two shows you like are on at the same time, digital recorders can catch every moment for later viewing. However, if you're watching a lot of shows, it's hard to keep track of what's airing each night. So how about an easier way to see what shows are coming up and which ones are already in your queue for watching? Here's how to turn your Google Calendar or Reader into a personal TV guide:

Getting started

Step 1: Create an account at TVRage.com and … Read more

Track your hours

TimeTable is a low-cost tool that works with iCal to help you track your hours, so you know exactly how much time you've spent on particular tasks--which can be especially handy for consultants and anyone else who tracks their time for billing purposes.

TimeTable has a simple, multipane interface that plugs right into your iCal data: You see your iCal calendars on the left, which you can select or deselect, and a list of events with date, duration, and title on the right (and you can add a dozen different columns in all, including notes and start and end … Read more

Options for sharing calendars among multiple users in OS X

iCal is an exceptionally useful calendaring tool, and being free and immediately available on all Macs makes it quite popular among Mac users. Despite this, one big limitation to the software, especially for households and workgroups, is the apparent inability of the software to share calendars among local computer users. Many people have requested some way for a number of Apple's programs (iCal, iPhoto, iTunes, etc) to easily create a main or central library/calendar and have it be accessible and editable by everyone who uses the computer (or others on the same network), but so far this support has been limited.… Read more

Entourage-to-iCal time zone synchronization problems

There is a small compatibility problem between iCal and Microsoft's Entourage application when running under Snow Leopard, where upon syncing with iCal the calendar times will change to be off by a number of hours (depending on the time zone) from when they were originally created.… Read more

iCal calendars with all-day events not publishing to MobileMe

Reports have surfaced that iCal calendar events that contain all-day events are having issues when publishing to MobileMe. The issues appear to be related to Snow Leopard's version of iCal. Apple is aware of the issue and is currently working on a fix. In the meantime, several users offer suggestions for workarounds with mixed results.… Read more

Versatile calendar

Desktop iCalendar Lite offers users a way to keep their calendar at the forefront of their computer. With a simple interface and few problems, this is a great way for users to stay on top of the day's events.

This free program lays itself out on the upper right corner of your desktop. A month-view calendar appears, with the current day highlighted, and below it is a list of reminders for the day and a to-do list. All are dark and hide well on the computer desktop with text that is either orange or white. In addition, the entire … Read more