Several years ago, I had a client who used her computer to schedule our appointments.\u00a0 Ok, that wasn\u2019t too exciting \u2013 I\u2019ve looked at the calendar apps on computers, but they weren\u2019t really for me.\u00a0 Then she told me that she was using something different: Google calendar.\u00a0 What she loved about it was that her son also used Google calendar \u2013 it came with each of their gmail accounts \u2013 and they had linked their calendars together.\u00a0 He could see when she was on a business trip and needed his help taking care of her dog, and she could see when her grandson\u2019s birthday party was and not forget the date. I wasn\u2019t sure what I made of this at the time \u2013 I was still lugging around my large planner and using a pencil to mark appointments!<\/p>\n
Then I got a smart phone where I had a calendar and could put my appointments in that.\u00a0 My shoulder certainly appreciated not lugging that planner around, yet accessing the calendar on the phone was not always convenient.\u00a0\u00a0 If I was talking to someone and needed to consult my schedule, I either needed to put on the headset or use the speaker and hope that as I navigated this new device I would not inadvertently hang-up on the person.<\/p>\n
This is when I started using Google calendar for myself.\u00a0 I could still use my phone to put appointments in, but I could also open up my computer, take the same information, and put in what I needed. Truthfully using the computer for Google calendar is easier \u2013 I have access to a full keyboard and scheduling repeating events is simpler.\u00a0 My husband started using Google calendar at the same time, and it provides an easy way for he and I to share our schedules with each other.\u00a0 If one of us wants to make plans for the night, we can check the other’s schedule to see if they’re available or not.<\/p>\n
Google calendar was my first foray into cloud computing.\u00a0 The calendar is stored out on the Internet on a secure server, where it is backed up regularly.\u00a0 This is what is called the cloud.\u00a0 To access it, all I need is access to the Internet.\u00a0 All I need to do is log into Google with my e-mail user name and password, go to the calendar, and all my information is there. This is great because if I was visiting my mom and didn\u2019t want to boot up my computer, I could just use hers.\u00a0 It is also wonderfully free and I\u2019m actually saving money since I no longer need to buy a paper calendar for my purse.<\/p>\n
It does not matter whether you use a PC or a Mac, Droid or iPhone, Google calendar will function with whatever you use it with.\u00a0 Some devices \u2013 like my phone \u2013 will even access it with their own calendar app.\u00a0 I helped a client learn about Google calendar recently \u2013 it will sync with her new smart phone and we set up her schedules, with a reminder beep to keep her on track. That ability to set an alarm, at the time you want, is another feature I really appreciate.<\/p>\n
Too often, I’m a little paranoid about losing data.\u00a0 That is another reason I appreciate cloud computing, although there is always a risk of losing information \u2013 the information \u201cliving\u201d out in the cloud means that it\u2019s more likely to be accessible.\u00a0 In this case, if something were to happen to my phone, my appointments are available by using another device to access the Internet.<\/p>\n
In my blog, I\u2019ll be exploring a different cloud computing app each month.\u00a0 Here are a couple of the ones I\u2019ll talk about fairly soon:<\/p>\n
Delicious <\/a> Soon, hopefully you, too, will learn to stop worrying (about your data) and love the cloud (computing). \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As we embark into cloud computing, here is my first exploration of it, where I discovered Google calendar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[10,22,15,4],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cloud-computing","tag-behavior","tag-productivity","tag-resources","tag-routines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-4t","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDropbox<\/a>
\nEvernote <\/a><\/p>\n