Louise von Randow: Thinking ICT

NZ Film Festival and Google Calendar

July 16th, 2007

It’s been a bit quiet on the Western Front, with school holidays and all, but finally our annual winter treat is here. The New Zealand International Film Festival has begun! I saw a charming French movie yesterday called “Conversations With My Gardener” and tonight we are off to see “Helvetica”.

The Herald had an article about the movie on Saturday 14th July:

“For New York filmmaker Gary Hustwit, the sheer pervasiveness of helvetica makes it every bit as worthy of screen treatment as anything else in the world.

And as this typeface becomes the prevalent means by which we receive written messages in some parts of the world — it can be seen in business logos, public transport networks and numerous posters around the western world — Hustwit thinks its story is worthy of broadcasting.

Perhaps just as curiously, plenty of moviegoers at film festivals around the world have wanted to see Helvetica, his documentary about the font which began life as Die Neue Haas Grotesk in Switzerland 50 years ago.

Hustwit, who will attend screenings of the documentary at the New Zealand Film Festival in Auckland next week, admits he didn’t think his historical tale of graphic design would find such a wide audience.”

So, one may ask how does the NZFF tie in with ICT? Well, I have been experimenting further with Google Calendar to share my picks of the festival with friends. Every year I diligently go through the programme, record the films I am interested in, figure out which sessions can be attended and then highlight them on the timetable provided. But every year I am stuck with writing a massive email to various film-festival-interested-friends; which takes a lot of effort for me to compose and a lot of effort for them to negotiate. Everyone I know seems to be complaining about receiving too much email and so I struck upon the idea of creating a Google Calendar for such things.

In the past I have used Google Calendar to upload my Work and ICTPD calendars from iCal. This works pretty well - you export your calendar from iCal, then import to Google Calendar. Something to remember is that you import to Google. This is not a sync. That means that in order to avoid duplicates I had to delete the current version in Google Calendar and then import the new version. If you forgot to do that it would mean you got double ups all over the place - somewhat frustrating but easily avoided. I was reasonably happy with the service - it’s a bit clunky and slow but it is handy having your calendar on call when you’re away from your own computer/cellphone.

I have had a few questions recently about the best calendar solution for Mac/PC situations. I am not sure that Google Calendar is there yet but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Some handy hints when sync-ing your calendars between devices:

1. Make sure you have the time set correctly. This includes the Time Zone and Daylight Savings settings. It’s confusing if you can’t remember which device you created the appointment on and now have two different times for the same event.

2. Fill in as much detail as possible. It’s very handy to have phone numbers, physical addresses on call. Nothing like being delayed on a plane, trying to let your rental car company know to stay open for you and being able to access their number quickly.

3. Sync your devices regularly. Play with the settings for how far in the past/future you want your calendars to be sync-ed. It can be quite handy referring back to previous appointments i.e. when did you ring that person, is it time for a follow up call? In the school environment you need the full details of at least the current term, if not the next one.

4. Share your calendars where appropriate and possible. It’s very handy adding attendees to events and sending them notifications/reminders.

I have found being able to sync my iCal with my cellphone invaluable. In fact, I investigated my options for compatible phones before purchasing the last one in order to ensure that it would work with my Mac. I don’t know how I’d get by now if there was no calendar option on my computer (iCal, Google, whatever) and the ability to sync my phone. Life would be one mixed up jumble of never-ending surprise events! Which has it’s charm and place but I prefer to know what’s going to happen next.

Entry Filed under: Out and About