KatysBlog

I admit to never having been attracted to a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant,
not the High School version of the acronym: Public Displays of Affection).
I have too many friends who check out of real life and start dinking with their
PDA every time they need to consider a scheduling question. I still use a
small paper calendar. Sometimes I buy it but most years I just use the the calendar
my dentist gives away free. However, now that I have teenagers and in particular a
girl teen with a very active social life and college applications with complex
scheduling requirements, we are moving to an on-line family calendar.

Last weekend, after yet another tiresome “you scheduled what? when?” family discussion,
we all agreed to try out Google Calendar.
So far, this means I am now updating Google Calendar in addition to maintaining
my portable paper calendar and also the electronic calendar I use at work. I may
figure out how to merge my 3 calendars if Google Calendar works well enough.

My experiences this week with Google Calendar:

• Problems:
  • We are still unable to make my daughter’s calendar entries show up on mine.
    We have played with and tested the permissions every way we can think of.
    My husband and I can see each other’s entries fine. From the FAQ, this seems
    to be a known bug with Google Calendar. I am entering her events on my calendar
    until this gets sorted out.

  • I dislike only scheduling on the 1/2 hour rather than in finer time increments.
    There may be a way to schedule more finely that I haven’t figured out yet.

  • The printed monthly version has such small letters and descriptions are so truncated as to be hardly usable.
  • Entries take too much time and thought (usability needs work) – I have to enter What and then click “edit event details” to enter dates and times. Unlike my electronic calendar at work, “Repeats” means creating a series of events rather than one event that
    spans more than one day – this was confusing. I am still trying to enter a
    repeating event on the last Friday of each month, rather than the 4th Friday.
• Working Well:
  • The “Christian Holidays” and “U.S. Holidays” automatic entries are wordy but convenient. It is odd but interesting to see religious holidays from non-Episcopal denominations.
  • I like being able to assign colors to each person sharing calendar entries.
  • Even while we are still entering basic information like birthdays and weekly
    activities, it is handy for everyone in the family to be able to see one web-based
    calendar rather than checking in personally.

  • Update response time is good.

Seeing the entire family calendar in one place makes me feel overscheduled.
Next Tuesday, for example in addition to regular work meetings, the family
calendar already shows:

• It is the Feast of Christ the King (for Catholics).
• My daughter is off school.
• We have conferences with my daughter’s teachers, 8-11 a.m.
• My son’s Foods class is giving a Thanksgiving party for family members, 2-3 p.m.
• I am holding a SEED phone-in call 5-6 p.m.

Eeek!

My brother brought a new board game called
Dread Pirate
to the

Lair of the Bear family camp last summer. This competitive game is fun and is
very well made, with embossed metal coins, glass treasures, and a printed cloth game
board. Dread Pirate immediately became the game of choice at camp, especially among
the teens and older children. They were disappointed that only four could play
at a time.

When we got together last month to celebrate our father’s 80th birthday,
I brought my new Dread Pirate set and we played a double game with my brother’s.
Playing with two sets works fine with some minor rules adjustment. We also
made a new rule: anyone dropping game treasure or coins or dice on the floor
had to pay a one dubloon penalty. After several hours of play, my 6 year old
nephew Daniel won the game. It took a few minutes to sort the two games into
their home boxes at the end but everyone had a very good time.

Game prices vary quite a bit. My brother found his best price on eBay and
I found mine on Amazon.

Images by Katy Dickinson (Copyright 2006)

A new book is just available called She’s Such a Geek: Women Write About
Science, Technology, and Other Nerdy Stuff by Annalee Newitz (Editor),
Charlie Anders (Editor).

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (November 28, 2006)
• ISBN: 1580051901

My 17-year-old daughter Jessica is one of the essay contributors (shameless plug!).
I recently received email from Amazon that
my pre-order had shipped so the book may even show up in stores.

Here is the description from Amazon:

She’s Such a Geek is a groundbreaking anthology that celebrates women
who have flourished in the male-dominated realms of technical and
cultural arcana. Editors Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders bring
together a diverse range of critical and personal essays about the
meaning of female nerdhood by women who are in love with genomics,
obsessed with blogging, learned about sex from Dungeons and Dragons, and
aren’t afraid to match wits with men or computers. More than anything,
She’s Such a Geek is a celebration and call to arms: it’s a hopeful
book which looks forward to a day when women will invent molecular
motors, design the next ultra-tiny supercomputer, and run the
government.

I have read several versions of Jessica’s essay and I am looking forward
to reading the rest of the book when it arrives.

Jessica also had her “Why I am a Librarian” essay from last year republished in
the current issue of the Church and Synagogue
Library Association newsletter. The timing of these publications is wonderful:
she can list them on her college applications which are due at the end of next
month.