 | wernst  says:I've been using PalmOS devices since the Palm III, and wireless PalmOS devices since the Palm VIIx. I now use a Treo 650 (and I'll probably be getting a Centro in the next two weeks), and I really rely on it not only to organize my life, but to run my business too.
Using Palm's Todo Lists and Datebook (actually I use Agendus as replacement to the Palm Datebook application) was starting to get a little rough as my business and personal commitments started to get more numerous, and RTM came to my rescue.
Its wireless interface (at http://m.rememberthemilk.com/) is usable for "Todays Tasks" and "Tomorrow's Tasks" and for entering new items, but I was missing the Big Picture a good calendar view can give. Google Calendar was a good way to get than on my notebook and desktop computers, but Google Calendar's mobile view is just a listing of tasks for the next 5 days or so - there's really no good way to get a Big Picture view with it.
But I have found a way that works for me. Maybe it will work for you. It isn't free, but it isn't too expensive either. Here are the steps.
1. Set RTM to export only those items you want on viewable on a calendar.
Basically, I tag items I want on a calendar (be it a Google Calendar or my Palm) with a ".event" tag, though I guess a ".calendar" tag makes just as much sense. All .event items must have a due date (such as "Day at the Beach"), and those events that have a specific time should have a time too (such as "Meeting in room 5213").
Next, you need to make a SmartList that displays all items with a .event tag, which I'm going to assume you know how to do. Personally, I have three smartlists that grab items with .event AND @work, .event AND @home, and then one with just .event.
2. Set Google Calendar to grab your RTM .events
This is easy, and explained elsewhere, but basically you create one new calender for each of your .event SmartLists, using the "iCalendar (Events)" webcal link for each different SmartList.
For me, this makes three "Other Calendars" in Google Calendar: "Work Events," "Personal Events," and "Misc Events." I color code each of these calendars differently.
Note that Google seems to need about 3 or 4 hours before RTM items show up in a Google Calendar. Bummer.
3. Use GooSync to Syncronise all your Google Calendars to your handheld devices's Datebook.
GooSync is a service you sign up for at http://www.goosync.com/. The free service will do a two-way, over-the-air sync of your primary Google Calendar and your Palm (or other device's) Datebook, so it won't work here. The paid GooSync service will work with all your Google Calendars (like all your new RTM Calendars), and it costs about $40 a year, and it works fine.
I set GooSync to update every 6 hours or so automatically, but you can run it manually from your device too.
Though it is a two-way sync, note that it is a two-way sync between your Palm and Google Calendar, NOT RTM. That said, I normally add things to RTM via email on the Palm, or the Mobile RTM pages, and they just show up in my Palm Datebook a few hours later automatically, which is good enough for me.
4. Bonus: Automatically add descriptive icons to Datebook items in your Palm
As I mentioned earlier, I use Agendus, which is a Datebook replacement with a lot more features. One of these features is called "Vivid Agenda," which is really neat. You can tell it to look for certain words in your datebook appointments, and it will automatically associate an icon with that word. For example, it will look for the word "flight" and if it finds it, will add an airplane icon to the entry. You can add your own icon associations, such as displaying a soccer ball whenever it sees the word "soccer" in a datebook/RTM item.
Then when you look at the Month View in Agendus, you cans see descriptive icons for all your RTM items.
Agendus runs about $30.
Anyway, I know this was long winded, but perhaps it will help someone else. I know it isn't as good as a real RTM-for-PalmOS program, bit I find it almost as good, and best of all, it works right now.
Cheers,
Warr Posted at 5:46am on June 2, 2008 |
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