Well, here it is. If you are a iCal user and need to coordinate calendars between multiple people, there is NO better product on the market than BusySync. Using Bonjour as a network communication protocol, BusySync allows you to manage an iCal calendar from multiple machines. For example, my wife uses a Mac Mini in the kitchen office, the location of the “home calendar.” At night, she likes to use her Powerbook before bed to update calendars and plan her next day or week. Using the default functionality with in OS X and the OS X web server only allow remote viewing. BusySync lets her make changes and updates. Now, is there a way to do this with the OS X default features? Maybe. If there is, I can’t figure it out and I can’t find anything on the Internet. That being said, BusySync made it fast and simple. Up and running in about, oh, 2 minutes! If you use Google calendar, it will sync with that as well. This was a possible alternative to BusySync because there are several opensource methods to sync iCal and Google calendar but they are not smooth. BusySync is just so easy and well designed.
Cons: BusySync is expensive. It is $25 per license. So for my wife to accomplish her tasks, it cost $50. Is it worth it? Yes and No. Yes because of the convenience; however I think there is an error in their pricing model. Although they offer a tiered discount model for 5 or more licenses, I believe the current pricing model is best designed for businesses and can push the family users away from the product. It was a tough decision for us to go with BusySync because of the price for a home management package. It would be nice to be able use it on all 3 of our home Macs. If I were the designers, I would have a non-commercial pricing scheme. Say $65 for up to 5 home based Macs. It is reasonable to assume that it is unlikely that a home would have more than 5 computers, frankly I think 5 is probably more than most homes. It would be easy enough to add code to see if there is more than 5 computers communicating, something I think would indicate a business vs. home use of the product. I know that we are “making due” with 2 licenses because more is just not financially reasonable for our budget. So, BusySync designers, I think you should consider adding another tier to your pricing model. I truly believe you will open up a new customer base with easier pricing for the home users.
Regardless. If you need to share iCal among users, don’t even bother looking for another solution. This is it.
Well, Father’s Day is almost complete. This is the first Father’s day since my Dad passed away March 11, 2008. In celebration of my Dad, I spent the entire day enjoying my own family. My mother told me today that she feels that I am an excellent Dad to my two kids. If that is so, it is my Dad I have to thank for teaching me how to be a good father and husband. So, this post will be about my Dad, philosophy, and family.
My Dad was a the child of immigrant parents. He lived in New York city, in The Village before The Village was kitsch. He worked hard. His father passed away when my Dad was only 17. Through his hardwork and the support of his older brother Frank, my Dad attended Stuyvesant High School in New York. A school that one could only attend with excellent academic performance. My Dad was always first in his class. From there my Dad attended City College of New York. Although the same CCNY as today, at that time one had to maintain an excellent GPA in order to attend free of charge. While at CCNY, my Dad participate in Army ROTC, was a member of the Persian rifles, was a classmate of Colin Powell, and graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree. Following college he served the Army as a signal corp lieutenant.
My Dad worked for RCA for his entire life. While there he earned two Masters Degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and the other an MBA. From my seat, my Dad’s greatest achievement was his participation in the event of the millennium. My Dad was one of four persons who designed, tested and built the altimeter and rendezvous radars for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Never before in the history of man has such an accomplishment been achieved.
My Dad single handedly put me and my two brothers through college. He never asked for us to repay him. He wanted us to succeed and have an easer life than he did and to take the momentum he began and advance his family.
Because no testament to a parent or friend would be complete without the obligatory, “I wish I had …” (fill in the blank, “spent more time”, “spoken more”, etc.) I will add mine. I wish I had taken the time to speak more frequently with my Dad. But alas, life is always busy. Harry Chapin hit the nail on the head. The song is 100% correct.
So, in honor of my Dad, I spent the day not missing a moment of life. I worked on my house, I played in the pool with my kids, I played video games with my son, I danced with my daughter, I BBQ’d on the grill, and, as my Dad always did, I treated my wife like gold and the treasure that she is. My Mom and Dad knew each other for 65 years and he always treated her like gold.
I miss you Dad. We think of you often and your can think of more than a dozen times since your death that I have said, “I should call my Dad.”
My final word, “Call your Dad if you can.” He wants to hear from you and you know it. If you have strife between you, bury it for this one day for we know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. Don’t miss today. Carpe Diem.
If you use the Apple Airport Express, and you should if you aren’t, then Airfoil is an absolute necessity. One of the coolest things about the Airport Express is its built in audio out port which allows you to connect a set of speakers or stereo via a standard micro plug. From iTunes you can send, wirelessly, music to the airport. The one catch is that by default only iTunes can talk to the Airport. Airfoil solves that problem. For a mere $25 to Rogue Amoeba Software you can send ANY audio to one or more Airport Express units. Below is an image of the Airport interface. There is no learning curve.
Quite possibly the best Astronomy Pod Cast on the Internet. If you, your family, a friend, a co-worker, a pet, anyone, is interested in astronomy, I strongly urge you to check out Astronomy Cast. Pamela and Fraser explain astronomy and science in a very down to earth (sorry) way. Don’t leave your understanding of astronomy to the media. Learn it from the best.
Be sure to check out Pamela’s blog at Strastryder and Fraser’s at Universe Today.
