Tech Tip: Gmail Google Docs & Google Calendar

Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar have added apps so that you can use them offline. I've always thought the biggest drawback to the Google Apps has been the lack of offline capability. That said, they are moving in the right direction. Currently, the offline calendar app only lets you view your calendar and not add or delete items, which is a major drawback, but it's certainly a start.

Offline Gmail and Google Docs are better developed. The offline Gmail allows you to view all your email and attachments. It also allows you to write emails that it places in an outbox until you are online again at which point it sends them. There's not much I've missed about Outlook since switching to Gmail, except the offline capabilities which are really shaping up.

So here's a little more about Google Calendar. Some of the sweetness is that you can share calendars with others. For instance you can create a personal calendar and a family calendar.
The family calendar can be public, private or group. In group settings you can invite others to the calendar and they can add it into their Google Calendar. You can change the settings to be view only or allow them to change and add things to the calendar.

So here's an example; let's say you're a family with two teenagers. You can have a family calendar which is stored on the web that each of you can access. Mom, Dad, teens 1 & 2 can update their events right to that calendar. Vacations, sporting events, work schedules etc. can be updated and each member can view the family calendar that no longer has to have a home on the fridge but can be checked from any computer online.

In a work environment calendar planning is amazing because right there in your planning meeting you can be putting in events and instantly they're appearing on coworkers calendars.

Another sweet thing is Google integration. When you receive an email with a date and time an option shows and asks if you want to add it to your Google Calendar select ok and BAM! the event is posted. I mean isn't this how computers should work for us. It's not complicated programs that have to be set up with the latest IT brain in huge corporations but it's right here and easy.

Obviously, each person has to have a gmail account but they're free and easy to set up. You can also filter mail from another account straight into gmail. Personally, I have four accounts that all filter into my main gmail account. My main one, my business one, my account for signing up for things that will mostly get spam, and another account that I monitor.

So get your friends, your family and your coworkers online and start using some tools that can be really productive.