Apr 27 2009
iCal Toys
While the jury is still out on the new iSync Beta from Apple, iCal already brags its own fan club. Enthusiasm for the calendar app has spawned a plethora of freeware utilities.
One of the more interesting features of iCal is its ability to sync to a WebDAV server. Don’t have a WebDAV server? If you have an account on an FTP server, then that is just as good with help from iCal FTP. This utility will place your calendar on an FTP server to ease sync between two internet-connected Macs.
This free script allows you to enter iTunes playlists as events in iCal and have iCal trigger them. Sounds kind of useless until you think of the applications (an alarm clock, for one).
One nice thing about the new iOrganizer apps is the slick integration with the operating system. One overlooked feature is remedied with iCal Birthday Shifter. This app digs birthdays out of your address book and places them as events in iCal.
For those of you who think enough of yourself to post your personal calendars online, you might want to check out this web site which allows you to view your online .ics file in a web browser, or this one which facilitates the sharing of iCals.
I won’t be uploading my calendar any time soon, but you can bet I’ll be back here next Friday with more great freeware.
Brian