tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5710205.post5210170961951925783..comments2024-02-08T11:00:53.069-06:00Comments on Gordon's Tech: Project Contacts: Now mixing Outlook/Exchange, PST file, Outlook/Home, MobileMe Sync, OS X Address Book and the iPhone.JGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5710205.post-18957989911870526672009-05-16T20:39:00.000-05:002009-05-16T20:39:00.000-05:00We are kindred spirits on this front -- no doubt! ...We are kindred spirits on this front -- no doubt! Do you have a blog of your own? I didn't see one on your blogger profile.JGFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5710205.post-46240145445024674942009-05-16T17:54:00.000-05:002009-05-16T17:54:00.000-05:00Yep, I sync all contacts to all machines and devic...Yep, I sync all contacts to all machines and devices. This is good enough -- I used to use categories to group and filter contacts, but increasingly find myself using a simple search now.<br /><br />And I fully understand your apprehension about using Plaxo. They had a rather obnoxious privacy policy a few years ago, but they learned their lesson the hard way and came back with one of the tightest privacy policies around. It helps that their sync technology is so damn good. <br /><br />Like you, I've tried almost everything in my journey from Palm to Outlook to Blackberry to iPhone to "cloud", and while this isn't perfect it is the closest I have come to keeping things in sync.<br /><br />Oh, and FYI I just ignore their attempts at becoming sticky by building a social network. More and more of my contacts are starting to explore those features now, but most of them (myself included) have just linked an existing status feed so it's hardly what one would call sticky. What IS sticky is their fantastic address book -- you can choose which contacts see what details, and you can also choose what updates from your contacts you want to incorporate into your own contact record for them. This is fantastic.<br /><br />One shortcoming is their inability to sync Smart Groups from the Mac OS X Address Book, but I'm starting to suspect that this is a Mac restriction. I'm a big fan of Smart Folders of all sorts, from Smart Playlists in iTunes to Smart Albums in iPhoto to Smart Groups in Address Book, but none of them sync to anything else (e.g., there's no way to use Live Sync to replicate Smart Albums to DropBox, or Smart Playlists to my DLNA server). But that's a topic for another day...jetlaggedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01883749870832622133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5710205.post-81537730226665346222009-05-16T10:16:00.000-05:002009-05-16T10:16:00.000-05:00I really do need to look at Plaxo. I've been hopin...I really do need to look at Plaxo. I've been hoping to avoid them because the last I looked I didn't care for their business model.<br /><br />You clearly know what you're talking about though, so I'm impressed. I'll definitely investigate.<br /><br />When you sync with Plaxo do you end up with your personal contacts on your corporate outlook? I have tried to avoid that in the past, but really it's not a big deal for me.<br /><br />I also like that you've been able to sync just one calendar from work to Plaxo and yet use multiple calendar with iCal and gCal and your iPhone. That's also what I do.<br /><br />Lastly, a single source for both Work Calendar and Contact sync is an improvement.<br /><br />Like you I devoutly hope Google beefs up their Contact management. It's clearly strategic for them, so it's puzzling how badly they've floundered. Maybe they need to find some old Palm, Outlook or Apple Address Book veterans to advise them.<br /><br />Oh well, we do have lots of evidence that Google is as human as the rest of us!JGFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5710205.post-30183327559092909892009-05-16T03:20:00.000-05:002009-05-16T03:20:00.000-05:00John, have you looked at Plaxo? I use Plaxo to syn...John, have you looked at Plaxo? I use Plaxo to sync Outlook contacts at work with Address Book contacts at home, and it works a treat. I can edit a contact on either side, or even online via Plaxo's website, and the changes are immediately reflected in Outlook, on my BlackBerry, my iPhone, and on the iMac. I love it!<br /><br />I don't sync with Google Contacts because their implementation is such a mess, though recent changes by Google are encouraging (specifically, the fact the Google is now pushing Contacts as a stand-alone module).<br /><br />I also use Plaxo to sync my Calendar across both machines, but the setup here is slightly different. I prefer the way iCal handles multiple calendars, and use it to subscribe to public and shared calendars. These are synced with Google Calendar directly via the iPhone.<br /><br />But only one calendar is synced to my work laptop (Windows/Outlook) via Plaxo, and I try to avoid making edits on the iMac because most entries involve multiple people in multiple timezones, and the way Outlook handles multi-day events and/or recurring events is quite different from everybody else.<br /><br />Anyway, in case you haven't already tried Plaxo, do give it a shot:<br /><br />http://www.plaxo.com/<br /><br />You might be surprised.jetlaggedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01883749870832622133noreply@blogger.com