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Poll

Do You Use a Paper Planner or Digital Calendar to Stay Organized?

The New York Times recently published a story profiling a dying breed — the paper planner user.

The New York Times recently published a story profiling a dying breedthe paper planner user. What was once a traditional holiday gift for the New Year is now often replaced with the convenience of digital calendars and apps on smartphones and tablets.

Many paper advocates quoted in the article fear the breakdown of technology in their carefully planned lives. While the digital adopters can't fathom the chance of losing a notebook calendar and appreciate the cloud-based digital backup. The debate comes down to a matter of preference, with each option offering its own pros and cons.

Though we're rarely more than an arm's length away from our smartphones, there is a touch of romanticism in the act of writing things down and doodling between the lines. Plus, many people find that in everyday life or while studying for exams, writing helps remember important facts. Where do you stand in the digital vs. paper organization divide?

Geek Tip

Geek Tip: Use Cover Flow to Search iCal Appointments

Sugar HQ is now using iCal more than ever, so it's totally out of selfishness that I bring you today's tip.

Sugar HQ is now using iCal more than ever, so it's totally out of selfishness that I bring you today's tip. Instead of starting up iCal to view your appointments, you can use Cover Flow! Cover Flow is one of my favorite ways to browse music and photos and search for files. Mostly 'cause I just like the sleek scrolly-ness of it.

A great tip I found on Tekzilla suggests typing "kind:ical" (without quotation marks) into Spotlight, then click "show all." You'll then get a popup Finder window that will list all your iCal events. From there, it's as easy as clicking "Cover Flow" (or the Cover Flow icon) at the top of the nav bar, and you're all set. It's super fast, and I won't have to wait for my events to load every time I open iCal. Sweet.

Geek Tip

Use Spanning Sync to Link Your Google Calendar and iCal

My best friend uses iCal, but my sister uses Google Calendar.

My best friend uses iCal, but my sister uses Google Calendar. How do I keep up with their invites?

I recently found the Spanning Sync application, which synchronizes Google Calendar and iCal and allows you to share calendars between multiple Macs. It also connects Google Calendar to your iPod, iPhone and other devices.

All you have to do is download Spanning Sync, share your Google Calendar, then sync it with iCal on your computer. From then on, any changes you make in Google Calendar show up in iCal and vice versa. When I tried it the sync was quick and effective but the application wasn't 100 percent intuitive. I had to create new "calendars" in my Google calendar in order to transfer over my iCal calendars, a step that isn't clear when you look at the sync page. The application is free for 15 days, after which you can sign up for either a $25 one-year subscription or a $65 one-time purchase.

How To

How To Update The Calendar On Your iPod

iTunes can automatically transfer calendar data stored in your iCal, Entourage, Microsoft Outlook or Palm Desktop so that you have all of your important dates with you any place you bring your iPod.

iTunes can automatically transfer calendar data stored in your iCal, Entourage, Microsoft Outlook or Palm Desktop so that you have all of your important dates with you any place you bring your iPod. I thought I would never use this, but I actually ran into an old friend at the gym and was able to look up a date we met up for dinner on my iPod. It may have been the geekiest move of my life, but it worked!

For tips on how to enable syncing of your other calendars, just read more