One thing I can’t live without nowadays is Google Calendar (even if I don’t check it as much as I should). However, I still end up missing important events going on in my area usually because I’m not aware of them. Fortunately, Google has come up with a solution to this with its new Google Calendar gallery.
Basically, it means that upcoming events that are of interest to you can be added automatically to your calendar. So for example, if you’re a big fan of a certain record label and that label has subscribed to the service, all the upcoming gig dates of your favourite bands will be added to your calendar immediately in a click. It’s as easy as adding a new widget to iGoogle (formerly Google Personalised Homepage). Or if you want to keep track of your favourite football team’s fixtures, all the forthcoming matches can be added in an instant – no more painfully going through your calendar and adding them in individually. In fact, it can be used to keep track of just about anything as long as it’s listed in the Public Calendar database – including TV show times for the Daily Show and Barack Obama’s election tour schedule!
The only downside at the moment is that most of the Public Calendars available seem to be based on US events or organisations. Hopefully at some stage, Google will introduce Public Calendars for other parts of the world. The database currently shows that Disneylink, the NBA scheduler and Netflix DVD rental are the most popular but these are obviously no good for us on the other side of the pond.
