PC or Mac: For Busy People. The LAST Calendar You’ll Ever Need.

Are you like me and get blamed for scheduled events you were told about weeks or even months ago? “I told you about Tyler’s triangle practice and Catlin’s underwater basket-weaving class 3 weeks ago. Don’t you LISTEN to me?”

I’m thinking , “Not till I have to..”

I could argue that she never told me, but in 20 years, I’ve never won that battle. So. I have a new weapon in my arsenal; Google Calendar. Sanity saved. Have you ever wanted to share a schedule with your wife, girlfriend, co-worker or ex? Well, now you can. This is not a Mac product but I thought it relevant enough to write about.

Google has been the heavy weight of web search engines and they seem to get everything right when they do it and Google Calendar is no exception.

Google writes, “Simplify. Organize. (And relax.) Organizing your schedule shouldn't be a burden. That's why we've created Google Calendar – our free online shareable calendar service. With Google Calendar, it's easy to keep track of all your life's important events – birthdays, reunions, little league games, doctor's appointments – all in one place.

Using Google Calendar, you can add events and invitations effortlessly, share with friends and family (or keep things to yourself), and search across the web for events you might enjoy. It's organizing made easy.

Features

Calendar Sharing: Set up a calendar for your company softball team, and share it with the whole roster. (Your shortstop will never forget about practice again.) Or share with friends and family so you can view each other's schedules side by side.

Invitations: Create event invitations, send them to friends, and keep track of people's responses and comments, all in one place. Your friends can receive your invitation and post responses even if they don't use Google Calendar themselves.

Quick Add: Click anywhere on your calendar where an event belongs (or use the Quick Add link), and start typing. Google Calendar understands whole phrases like "Brunch with mom at Java Cafe 11am on Saturday," and will pop new events right into your agenda.

Gmail Integration: Add your friend's Super Bowl party to your calendar without ever leaving your Gmail inbox. Gmail now recognizes events mentioned in emails.

Search: Find the date of the Baxter family BBQ (you knew it was sometime this summer). Or, search public calendars to discover new events you're interested in and add them to your own calendar.

Mobile Access: Receive event reminders and notifications on your mobile phone.

Event Publishing: Share your organization's events with the world. Learn more with our Event Publisher Guide.

Cost: Free.”

This suite is a great way to share your schedule with family, friends, girlfriends and especially your spouse. No more excuses about “not knowing”. You can make your calendar as public or as private as you want, allow others to only view and/or edit it.

Someone has brought to my attention Google documents which work on the same principal as the Calendar. Sharing documents isn’t usually a big concern for most people, however being able to access it anywhere and always seeing the correct version can be very handy. There’s also the issue of losing the document which can’t happen if it exists online. Hmm something to consider.