RL Photography

Pet Helpers Oyster Roast March 20th

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:54:35 -0700

The Pet Helpers Annual Oyster Roast is this Saturday, March 20th, at the Charleston Visitor Center from 7-11pm.

If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, it's a great time for a great cause.

$35 in advance $40 at the door. Students and children are discounted.

All you can eat oysters, low country boil, hot dogs, veggie dogs, chili....cash bar, live music, silent auction.

Dog friendly

Complete details and ticket ordering can be found here or you can call 843-795-1100 ext 11.

My donation to the silent auction....

Come "Shuck your paws off" and help save a life!

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Syncing Google Tasks with iPhone

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:27:17 -0800

Part 3 - Syncing Tasks with iPhone

There really is no native application on the iPhone for a task listing. I have personally used ToodleDo for over a year and also understand that RTM (Remember the Milk) is an excellent task manager. However, when I started to really use Google Apps (this works for gmail users also) I wanted to be able to sync my Google Apps tasks and not have to log into a third party for task management.

There are a couple of reasons for this... I have enough internet accounts and passwords, I would like to incorporate as many aspects of time management into one vendor as possible, and I can live with the limited functionality of Google Tasks. Some of you may need a more robust task manager than Google provides, I hope that as with all things Google the tasks interface continues to evolve and improve.

In all fairness Google does provide their own iPhone app to allow access to most of their online apps. It is available from the iTunes store here. It works for both Google apps and Gmail users. The disadvantage to this method is you must have a iPhone signal to view and update Tasks. It is not a true sync.

I decided on GeeTasksPro. I had to break from my rule of free, the app costs $5.99 for Google Apps users. There is a non-pro version available for Gmail users, available here, for $2.99. There is no subscription requirement, there is no third-party server. The iPhone app simply provides a much better interface to Google Tasks than Safari does on the iPhone. The pro edition also supports SSL encryption.

Some of the benefits according to the developer:

View your Gmail tasks with native iPhone interface.
Mark your tasks as complete or incomplete, edit description and set due date.
More screen space than the web site, sometimes a lot more!
Works both offline and online - be secure in your knowledge that even if network lets you down you will get your things done.
Become recognized as a reliable person - when GeeTasks is always in your pocket you will always remember to fulfill your promises. You can even promise more than before AND feel better about being able to deliver.
Offline/manual sync mode - ideal for iPod Touch or those with a limited data plan
No need for expensive subscription service like some other Tasks applications - all that's required is a free Gmail account from Google
Share tasks with your spouse by using the same Gmail account
Nested tasks for complex situations

Set up is incredibly simply. Simply download and install GeeTasks, enter your Google user name and Password. You're Done. That simple.

Next Blog...How to sync Notes with Google Docs. Apple seems to be ignoring the notes application. Granted you can always email yourself...that was Apple's excuse for no MMS originally, and yes that does work...but wouldn't you like to be able to sync your notes with Google Docs?

See the full gallery on Posterous

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How to sync Google Apps or Gmail Calendar, iPhone, and iCal & Contacts!

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:20:18 -0800

Part 2 of how to live in the cloud and avoid a Mobile Me subscription....

There are several methods to accomplish this for Calendars and Contacts (See prior post for mail)

It can be accomplished using the public address of your google calendars, but you must have a signal to access your calendars from your iPhone if you choose that method, it's not a true sync. In addition it takes a few seconds for your calendars to load if you use the above method....it was more than a little disturbing when I first tried it and my calendars were blank for a time before they loaded.

It may also be accomplished by using a third party sync client such as spanning sync. Spanning Sync is an excellent program however it is currently $25/year or a one time $65 fee. My goal is free syncing. If you don't mind the cost then Spanning Sync may be for you, it's very robust and easy to configure.

I recommend the exchange method. Some post on the web indicate that it does not support calendar color coding, or multiple calendars. This is not the case, it just involves a few more steps to support color coding on multiple calendars.

Unlike the mail set up I highly recommend you back up all of your data before implementing this change. I personally exported all my Contacts from Apple Address Book to Google Prior to starting this set up...if you would like to know why please skip down and read step 14 real quick.

Quick How to on setting up Apple Address Book Sync with Google Contacts

-Open Apple Address Book

-Click on "Address", "Preferences"

-Select the "Accounts" tab

-Select your account...default is "Local on my Mac"

-Under the "Account Information Tab" you should see "Synchronize with Google" check this box

-Click "Configure" next to "Synchronize" with Google

-Enter your complete Google Email Address and Password, click OK

-Exit the preferences screen

-Your Apple Address Book is now set up to sync with Google Contacts

-Check your Google Contacts, you should see contacts start to populate, although this may take awhile.

You must be running iPhone OS 3.0 or above. You make check your iPhone software version by going to Settings, General, About, Versions. Instructions for how to update iPhone software may be found here.

If you are a Google Apps user your administrator must have enabled Google Sync. Directions for enabling may be found here.

I also recommend you read Google's known limitations for using this method.

Ready to get started?

1. Tap the "Settings" app on your iPhone.

2. Tap "Mail, Contacts, Calendars"

3. Tap "Add Account"

4. Tap "Microsoft Exchange" (note: you may only set up one exchange account on an iPhone)

5. In the email field enter your full Google email address

-click ok or accept if you receive a security warning

6. Leave the domain blank

7. Enter your full email address in the user name field

8. Enter your password

9. Tap "Next" at the top of the screen

-If you receive a security warning tap "Accept" in order to continue

10. When the new server field appears enter "m.google.com"

11. Tap "Next" at the top of the screen

12. On the next screen you may select which services to sync. If you choose to use IMAP to sync your mail (as I outlined in prior post) then you need to turn the mail service to "OFF"

13. Tap "Done"

14. On the next screen the iPhone will ask you if you would like to keep the contacts currently on your iPhone. You have several options, and this is why I recommend you back up all data prior to setting up your iPhone.

-You may select keep on my iPhone this would allow you to keep syncing contacts with Apple Address Book via iTunes. If you choose this option it will also sync the "All Contacts" group in your google address book as opposed to the "My Contacts" Group in Google Address book. Are you wondering what the difference is? The "All Contacts" group stores all of your contacts + email address you have entered or responded to, the "My Contacts" group is only addresses you have added to your address book.

-Or, you may select the "Delete" option. If you choose this option the phone will only sync with "My Contacts" group in your google address book.

I personally selected the "Delete" option as I only wanted to sync contacts I have added to my address book AND I HAD ALREADY EXPORTED MY CONTACTS FROM APPLE ADDRESS BOOK TO GOOGLE! This allowed me to 1. Not duplicate contacts and 2. Sync only the MY contacts group.

-To the best of my knowledge Categories/Groups do not sync between Apple Address Book and Google Contacts

-Synchronization is now set up. If you have push enabled on your phone the phone will begin to sync automatically. Or you can open Calendars or Contacts and this will force a sync to begin

-Now for how to set up multiple calendar sync. (Note: If you only have one Google Calendar you do not need to perform this step, but the color of your Google Calendar will not be transferred to your iPhone or iCal.)

15. Open Safari on your iPhone

16. Enter "m.google.com/sync"

17. For Google Apps users click on "Google Apps User" near the bottom of the screen

-and click on "Tap to configure your domain" near the bottom of the screen, enter your domain name. tap "Go"

18. Click the "Sync" icon

19. Select your device to configure calendars

and lastly how to set up iCal to sync with Google Calendars

20. Open iCal on your Mac

21. Click on the iCal menu, select "Preferences"

22. Click on the "Accounts" Tab, click on the "+" in the lower left corner to add a new account

23. Select Google, enter your full gmail or Google Apps Address, enter your password

24. Click "Create"

-You may receive two security warning, click continue or ok

25. You should receive as screen like the following

26. Now click on the "Delegation" tab and select the calendars you wish to sync between Google and iCal

27. Close the preferences window

28. Your done! You should see your Google Calendars begin to populate

So at this point you should have Your Contacts and Calendars syncing with your Mac, iPhone, and Google. If you followed my first post, Mail also. All without the Mobile Me fee. Thanks Google!

Next up to post on....Tasks, Documents, and Notes. Syncing options are more limited with these, but there are some good options out there!

Original Google Articles:

Setting Up Exchange

Choosing Which Calendars to Sync

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How to sync Apple Mail, iPhone, and Google Apps (or gmail) using IMAP

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:25:00 -0800

With the pending release of the iPad (still a terrible name) I started wondering what were the practical applications for such a device. After all it's just an iPhone on steroids, without the phone for that matter. The immediate advantages I saw were larger screen, bigger keyboard, and instant on. The disadvantages were memory size, cost, and it still has to be synced with iTunes. I'm kind of a gadget freak to begin with so how could I go about justifying the cost to get one? As a photographer the larger screen would be excellent for showcasing photos....but what else can it do?

If you truly "live in the cloud" you could have instant access to all of your information (provided you have a Wi-Fi or AT&T signal of course). I don't live in the cloud. I have used mobile me for the past two years to sync my iPhone back to my Mac, but always been afraid to truly live in the cloud...not from a security standpoint but from a data corruption perspective. So I've decided to conduct a little experiment to see if I can really get all my information into the cloud and syncing with my iPhone, Mac, and Google Apps account. If I can, maybe I'll add an iPad to my gadget collection and have a sleek new way to display photos to clients.

So over the next week I will blog about the how to get your data into the cloud and still retain a local back up. I have found there are mutiple methods for accomplishing this, but the one below works best for me. It may not be the best method for you. I picked this over POP because it will allow you to place mail in any folder in your apps account or from either device and these changes then sync across all three platforms. I elected not to go with the Exchange method because it sometimes leaves items in the inbox even after labeling and folder changes, I'm not quite sure why.

Part #1 - How to sync Apple Mail, iPhone, and Google Apps (or gmail)

...most of this is directly from google and a direct link can be found at the bottom of this blog

1. Enable IMAP in your google mail account (click here for Google's instructions on how to enable IMAP)

2. On your iPhone, tap "settings"

3. Tap "mail", tap "add account", tap "other" Do not select Gmail, it will behave differently than indicated in this post

4. Enter your account information, use your full email address "username@yourdomain.com"

-the "Name" field is how it will appear to mail recipients

-the "Description" field is how this account will appear in the list of accounts on your iPhone

5. Tap "Save"

-the phone will know try to look up your account information

-if you have entered your user name and password correctly you see a screen with IMAP and POP at the top, if it is not already highlighted in blue

tap the "IMAP" tab

6. On the incoming mail server fields

-server is imap.gmail.com

-user name is your email address, again use your full email address "username@yourdomain.com"

7. On the outgoing mail server fields

-server is smtp.gmail.com

-user name is your email address, again use your full email address "username@yourdomain.com"

8. Tap "save"

9. You should receive an account verified message and be returned to the accounts home screen

10. Google has some recommended settings for mailbox behaviors, I recommend you set these as indicated by Google. The setting can be found here

Ok, on to the next part....configuring Apple Mail

1. Open Apple Mail, kind of goes without saying, right?

2. Fome the "file" menu select "Add Account"

3. Enter your name as you wish it to appear to recipients

-enter your full email address

-enter your password

4. Apple mail will now try to automatically configure your account

-you may receive several security warning (I personally got two certificate can't be authenticated). In order to continue you must click connect or ok

5. On the next screen enter your incoming mail server information

-Account type is "IMAP"

-description can be anything you like, it how the account will show in Apple Mail under accounts

-user name is your email address, again use your full email address "username@yourdomain.com"

-enter your password, click "continue"

6. On the next screen enter your outgoing mail server information

-description can be anything you like, it how the account will show in Apple Mail under accounts

-outgoing mail server is "smtp.gmail.com"

-use only this server will keep sent mail folders synced correctly

-google does require outgoing authentication, this box must be checked

-user name is your email address, again use your full email address "username@yourdomain.com"

-Enter your password, click "Continue"

7. You may receive another box for outgoing mail security, if you do

-check Use SSL

-Select "password" for authentication

8. You should receive a confirmation screen

-make sure "take account online" is checked

-click "create" (ignore my mismatched email addresses in the photo below, yours should be the same)

9. You should be returned to Apple Mail

You are ready to go. Any folders set up on Apple Mail or Google will now populate with each other and your iPhone. Any mail moved between folders will populate on all three platforms. Next blog will be on setting up Google calendar with iCal and iPhone...and retaining calendar color codes.

Apple Mail accounts can be edited by going to Mail, Preferences, Accounts Tab

Original Google article

Apple Mail Set Up Article

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Kahlua Photos

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:01:24 -0800

I'm trying out posterous.com to see how it feeds other social media. Thought I might try a few dog photos. Ignore that thinning spot on the back of my head.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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My First Blog Post Using Posterous

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:39:07 -0800

Still looking for that all-in-one social media update solution. Is this it?

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