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I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore gamer but I do like to blow off some steam every once and awhile by chasing the enemy around and blowing them up. In the past that usually involved buying or downloading a game, installing it, realizing my computer was too slow, upgrading my computer, then playing the game.

Not anymore!

www.instantaction.com hosts about 10 different browser based games that look great and run great even on older hardware. Best part is there is nothing to install (except for Flash).

The game I prefer is “Fallen Empire: Legions“, a FPS that runs full screen and runs smooth.

If shooters aren’t your cup-o-tea, www.instantaction.com has a few other games ranging from Mech Battles, Tank Driving, Marble Racing, and even a Real Time Strategy game.

Check it out when you have a few minutes, it only takes about 5 minutes to sign up and start playing.

In a previous post I mentioned syncing the iPhone to a Google Calendar using NuevaSync which works great for managing your schedule via the iPhone.

In addition to syncing my Google Calendar to my iPhone I also like having my GCal synced to my Thunderbird Mail program on my computer(s). In this post I will detail setting up Thunderbird to sync calendars with Google Calendar.

I already used Thunderbird and thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if Tbird was a little more like Outlook” so I found that the sly cats over at Mozilla had written a plug-in for Thunderbird called Lightning that added a calendar (and Tasks list) to Thunderbird.

My first thought was “Great a nice, easy to use calendar system for Thunderbird”. Then I spent some time away from my computer and thought it would be nice to be able to add events from a web interface.

Fast forward to syncing Google Calendar with Thunderbird/Lightning and this is how it goes:

1. Make sure you have installed the Lightning plug-in first.
2. I installed the Provider for Google Calendar plug-in in Thunderbird. This allows two-way communication between the Google Calendar and Thunderbird/Lightning.
3. Once installed you’ll need to create a new calendar by clicking the Calendar menu, the New Calendar.
4. You should see a box open asking you to create a calendar On My Computer or On the Network you want to choose On the Network.
5. Now go to Google Calendar, login and click the drop-down arrow next to the calendar you wish to share. Choose Share this Calendar
6. In the Details page click on the Calendar Details tab.
7. Now you can click the XML button next to Private Address.
8. This will give you a URL that you will copy and paste into the dialog box in Thunderbird.
9. Once you hit OK you should be prompted for your Google Username and Password. Enter those in and choose to remember the password if you dont want to be bothered with entering it each time.
10. Next you will be given the chance to name your calendar, this is only the name the Thunderbird uses and wont affect your Google Calendar settings
11. Choose a color, I like to match whatever color I chose in Google so they match, much like my belt and purse…
12. Once you see the calendar on the left hand side, you can right click it and choose Reload Remote Calendars to force it to update.

Now, combined with NuevaSync and the iPhone, Google Calendar, your iPhone, and Thunderbird with Lightning will all be in sync regardless of where you add an appointment.  Now if I could only remember to add stuff to my calendar I would be right as rain…

By default Apple doesn’t allow iPhone apps to modify the iPhone’s calendar. One company has found a way around this limitation and does it very well. NuevaSync uses the iPhone’s built-in MS Exchange syncing to sync your Google Calendar through their servers.

NuevaSync not only syncs the Calendar but can also sync Contacts and Email. Setup is easy as NuevaSync provides excellent instructions on their website. I had my iPhone syncing with my Google Calendar in about 3 minutes. Syncing works both ways too!

Head on over to http://nuevasync.com and click “Sign Up”. Once you verify your email you will be taken to a page that allows you to choose which service you would like to sync (Calendar, Email, Contacts, etc.). After you choose Calendar you will be prompted to enter your Google username and password. You will then be shuttled to Google’s website to verify that you wish NuevaSync to access your calendar. Once all that is done it is time to setup your iPhone.

From the NuevaSync website:

To configure your Apple iPhone 3G/2.0 and iPod touch 2.0 to work with NuevaSync perform the following steps:

• Before setting up your device, first configure your services on the NuevaSync site.
• From the main menu screen open “Settings”.
• Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendar”.
• Select “Add Account”.
• Choose “Microsoft Exchange”
• Under “Email”, enter the e-mail address you used for NuevaSync registration. When you enter your e-mail address to sync, your device may warn you about a certificate being invalid. This is particularly likely if you use a GMail address. It isn’t referring to our certificate or our service, so don’t be concerned. It is part of Apple’s auto-configuration feature as it tries to guess the appropriate server name based on your info. Our SSL certificate is valid and secure.
• Under “Username” enter your NuevaSync username.
• Under “Password” enter your NuevaSync password.
• Under “Description” you can leave the default or enter a description of your choosing.
• Tap “Next”.
• Your Apple device will display a message “Verifying Exchange account information” for a few moments.
• When it has finished, it will display a new field, “Server”.  Enter “www.nuevasync.com” as the value.
• Tap “Next”.
• On the next page, turn off “Mail”.  Also turn off any other category you do not wish to sync.  For example, if you want to sync only your calendar, make sure “Mail” and “Contacts” are both turned off.  If you want to sync contacts and calendar, all you should turn off is mail.
• Tap “Save”.

For calendar users only:

• On the “Mail, Contacts, and Calendar” settings page, scroll to the very bottom.
• Tap “Time Zone Support”.
• Toggle “Time Zone Support” off.  This will make sure that each calendar item is saved with the device’s complete time zone information.

Pretty slick service if I say so myself. I have searched for something like this from the time I bought the original iPhone.

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True Web Design is a small design company located in Southern Illinois. Beginning in 2002, True Web Design has designed websites and graphics for local businesses throughout the St. Louis area. Utilizing technologies of today’s Internet True Web Design can plan, design, and implement a website for your business.

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