Update Google Calendar on the road

I continue to play with Google Calendar. This has great potential. As a Mac user I have followed the tips to subscribe to my Google Calendar in iCal. Since iCal works with iSync it means you can readily download your Google Calendar to your iSync compatible phone or PDA. This is progress. but, there is a catch. The iCal subscription is read only. So the only way to update your google calendar is via the Web Browser. Or so we thought. If you spend time away from your PC read on for a useful tip on updating Google Calendat while you are mobile. First we have to do some preparatory work. - Load Google Calendar and go to the settings page. - Select the "Notifications" tab. - Make sure you have registered your cell phone and validated it. To do this Google sends you an SMS message which contains a number. When you receive the message enter the verification number in to the Notifications page and click "Finish Setup" You are now setup to receive reminders from your Google Calendar. In the top part of the notifications page you can define which messages you want to receive via SMS and how far in advance you want reminders sent. Now here is the cool part. Place an address book entry in your phone for Google Calendar. Give it the short code 48368 (GVENT?). The following commmands are understood via 48368: - HELP (gives you the instructions) - NEXT (Next event) - DAY (Today's events) - NDAY (Tomorrow's events) But the really useful mobile trick is to use the "Quick Add" syntax, as per the Quick Add dialog box, to add an event to your calendar. for example. You can text "Bill Smith tomorrow 1pm at Lake Anne, Reston" to 48368 and an appointment is added to your calendar.