Outlook: Synchronize with Google Calendar

Do you use Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook? If you're using Outlook 2003/2007/2010 and Windows XP (32-bit, not 64-bit)/Vista/7, there's a tool called Google Calendar Sync that you can use to keep your calendars synchronized.

First, follow this link and download the application:

http://dl.google.com/googlecalendarsync/GoogleCalendarSync_Installer.exe

When you're setting it up, you'll have the ability to choose how you would like it to synchronize. Your three options are:

• 2-way - Any events in Outlook will show up in Google Calendar, and vice versa.
• 1-way: Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook calendar - Events in Google Calendar will be synchronized with your Microsoft Outlook calendar.
• 1-way: Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook calendar - Events in your Microsoft Outlook calendar will be synchronized with Google Calendar.

I like this tool because it helps me keep everything up-to-date between my personal calendar and my work calendar. The different options for synchronizing mean that I can keep my own personal calendar up-to-date without bringing all of my personal events onto my work calendar.

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Outlook: Get Rid of Items Stuck in Outbox

Ever had something stuck in the Outbox folder of Microsoft Outlook and gotten this lovely message when you try to get rid of it?:

"Can't open this item. Outlook has already begun transmitting this message."

It's an annoyance, for sure. Sometimes this can happen if you, like I did today, misjudged the size of your attachments and your server is suddenly struggling to send a massive e-mail. The irritating thing is that Outlook doesn't seem to have a mechanism in place to tell it, "Wait! I don't want to send that e-mail anymore!".

Here's how to delete the e-mail from your Outbox, or at least have the ability to open it and to get rid of the gigantic attachment(s). Go to the 'Send/Receive' tab on the ribbon, and click on the 'Work Offline' button. You're temporarily preventing Outlook from trying to send the e-mail, which should allow you to go to your Outbox and then open, edit, or delete the offending message as you please. When you're ready to go again, just go back to the 'Send/Receive' tab, and click the 'Work Offline' button once more to go back online.

Phew!

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Behavioural Advertising & How You Can Opt Out

Did you know that many of the advertisements that you see as you surf the Web have been customized for you, based on your online browsing habits? It's a somewhat interesting technique that marketers can use in an attempt to make their ads more meaningful to their audiences.

You've probably seen it happen to you as you click through various different sites. As an example, let's pretend that you search Google for "hockey tickets". Next, you decide to go and browse through a site showing strategies for the video game you're playing right now. An ad on the side of the page is showing you deals on tickets for the next hockey game in town. It's no coincidence - that's behavioural advertising at play.

While it's kind of nice to have custom-tailored content, it's no perfect science. Personally, I find that it has enough drawbacks that I have chosen to opt out of it from as many different advertising providers as possible. Here are a few reasons why you might not want to be targeted based on your online activity:

• Your actual interests are not necessarily being communicated to advertisers. When someone searches for a certain set of terms, or visits certain pages, it doesn't necessarily mean that the content was personally relevant. One time, I was doing a school project on e-commerce. I researched some e-commerce service providers using Google, and visited a number of their pages. For the  next while, I suddenly noticed that one of those providers was constantly showing me ads on YouTube. I really don't care about e-commerce providers, but these companies now think that I do. Some of these advertisers will let you go in and update which categories of products or services interest you, but do you really want to have to spend your time doing that? I certainly don't.
• It narrows your online experience. While it's true that advertisements are typically there in order to entice you to spend your money, there are definitely some personal benefits to being exposed to different things. If most of the ads that you see are based on your supposed interests, then you are missing out on the wider range of products and services that sit outside of your little bubble.
• In a sense, it's a violation of your privacy. Do you really want advertisers to have access to a list of everything you've searched for and all of the sites you've been visiting? It's not necessarily an issue of super top secret data getting leaked, but more of a personal preference for privacy. Imagine if a person handing out flyers were to come up to you and then give you a flyer advertising a concert going on next week. Now imagine that the only reason that you got this particular flyer is because that person has been watching you go to record stores to buy new music, and has seen you buying a Rolling Stones t-shirt at the mall. That's a little invasive, don't you think? Behavioural advertising is more automated and doesn't involve an individual person stalking you like in my example, but it still makes me uncomfortable.

Okay, so how do they do it anyway? Many sites online update cookies stored on your computer. Google makes use of your browsing history stored within your account if you are logged in. This kind of data is used to help determine which ads should be shown to you.

These advertisers, for the most part, didn't do you the courtesy of asking you if it would be okay to gather insight on your browsing habits. What is nice, however, is that you do have the choice of opting out of many of them. Here are some links to help you opt out of some of the major ones:

• Network Advertising Initiative - Opt Out Tool
• Advertising Cookie Opt-out Plugin
• Universal Behavioral Advertising Opt-out - Firefox Add-on

Opting out doesn't block advertisements from appearing. It simply forces advertisers to push their ads to you based on factors such as the site that you are visiting rather than an analysis of your browsing habits. After opting out, you can feel better about your privacy and you will probably notice a much more diverse assortment of advertising content as you browse the Internet. Happy surfing!

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SkyDrive Upgrade Announced

Exciting news from the crew over at Windows Live! In case you haven’t heard, SkyDrive has just been upgraded and it includes a whole pile of great new features. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of SkyDrive, as I have been using it for quite some time now to keep my Microsoft OneNote notebooks in sync with each other. This latest batch of updates is great though, and I urge you to check it out.

My favourite thing is that it is now considerably easier to manage your files on SkyDrive. They’ve beefed up the interface to make it a lot faster to add, move, and rename folders. I’ve found that interacting with my files used to be a bit cumbersome, but now it’s really slick. It’s always nice to see developers taking into account user feedback and improving the experience.

For all of the details straight from the Windows Live team, including screenshots and what seems to be a mostly positive stream of comments, check out the announcement on their blog.

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5 Smart Ways to Use Your Smartphone

There’s a lot of criticism out there about smartphones, and how dependent some of us have become on these little gadgets. Certainly, I can agree that some of us use them pretty recklessly. I think we’ve all seen someone nearly walking out into traffic or smashing into someone on the sidewalk because their thumbs are busily typing out a tweet on their BlackBerry. Where I disagree with the critics, however, is that they seem to overlook just how much good these gizmos can do for us.

Here are 5 smart ways to use a smartphone that make life so much easier (in no particular order):

1 - Management of Personal Finances

When I'm at the grocery store and I'm wondering how much money I've spent in the past month, I don't have to rack my brain trying to figure it out. I just open up an app on my phone and can find out all of the details about my accounts within seconds. Using a smartphone to help manage your money makes it easier to keep on top of things. You can use it to remind you to pay bills, alert you if you are nearing your limit, or even to manage a budget.

2 - Research on the Run

Having a smartphone can help you, as a consumer, to make better buying decisions when you're out shopping. When I'm out at a store and wondering if the sale guy is really telling me the truth when he says that a product is a good deal, I pull out my smartphone and do some quick research. Within seconds, I can be reading reviews on the product, and comparing prices with other vendors. I've saved a lot of money and trouble just by having constant access to the Internet in my pocket.

3 - Mobile Library

My smartphone gives me the chance to do my readings even if I didn't bring my textbooks with me. Have PDF versions of books with you wherever you go, and you can pull them up for reading whenever you like. I’ve been getting ahead in my studies while I’m in line for a bank machine, while I’m waiting at the doctor’s office, and when I’m standing on the subway.

4 - Easier Navigation

If you’re like me and are always getting lost, then having a smartphone is a complete lifesaver. Getting around a new city or trying to find the nearest LCBO (that’s a liquor store, for you non-Ontarians) can be frustrating and sometimes impossible if you aren’t familiar with your surroundings. Smartphones with GPS navigation make it so much easier to find your way, and therefore can save you a lot of time.

5 - Remembering Important Dates

With the extensive calendaring features available on today's smartphones, you can rest assured that you won't miss any important dates. You can set up alerts to remind you about things like birthdays, anniversaries, and appointments. I find it especially useful with all of the different assignments I have to worry about for school. I don’t forget to complete anything thanks to my smartphone’s ability to keep track of it all for me.

So, there you have it. The next time you shake your head at someone with their eyes glued to the screen of their smartphone, consider the fact that they just might be doing something smart with it. Something smart like checking up to see how the Ottawa Senators are doing!

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Excel: Change Text to Proper Case

Here's a handy function for you, if you ever find yourself with a a lot of data that isn't in the right case. The "PROPER" function in Excel will let you convert text into a format that capitalizes the first letter of every word, and makes the rest of the letters lowercase. I last used this when I was given a spreadsheet full of names that were in all caps, but I needed to use them in proper case for a mail merge.

So let's say that cell A1 contains the text "JOHN DOE". How do we get this to look like "John Doe"? In another cell, perhaps B1, put in this formula:

=PROPER(A1)

You'll see that it will take whatever is in cell A1 and convert it to proper case.

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