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T H E C A L E N D A R I N G A N D S C H E D U L I N G C O N S O R T I U M CCaallCCoonnnneecctt Volume 3, Issue 2 July 2010
From the Executive Director
Dear Members, members or large vendors with a give users the practical benefits of suite of offerings, the short piece will these evolving standards so that It’s with great pleasure that I want to highlight the member’s tools or their calendars operate across all announce a new Member Focus services related to calendaring. platforms and social networks.” The service. linked news and press releases The intent is for the introduction CalConnect is about dotCal illustrate how the posted on the blog to be quite expanding the CalConnect standards approach is short—no more than a paragraph or Member News being embraced by companies and two at most—but provocative enough service on our consumers in many different to interest someone to click through. Tests blog. The industries, and across many diverse addition is a Here is the first consumption platforms. Website: Member Focus service—a short of the series, http://dotCal.com; recent press introduction on the blog to a specific provided by Dan releases: http://dotCal.com/news CalConnect member. It will include Mendell of I encourage you links to more information about the Innovation dotCal. to participate in member, and possibly a significant MEMBER FOCUS: dotCAL Member Focus press release or set of releases as one more way about a topic of interest to our dotCal is an Internet marketing of letting the members. service that helps consumers and community at Events businesses communicate event The regular Member News service large know what you are contributing information across a variety of gives members the opportunity to to developments in the calendaring calendar programs. It is one of the send us a link (with a very short and scheduling space. first companies in this space that explanation) to online material about relies completely on today’s Who’s next? calendaring-related news at their standards, including CalDav and organization. This could be a iCalendar 2.0. By doing so, dotCal product announcement, a service lives the mission of interoperability announcement, or more general fostered by CalConnect. information. For example, Duke Dave Thewlis offered information about the mobile CEO and founder calendaring and location services Dan Mendell they had implemented for their explains the student body. value of the standards-based As with Member News, the Member Members approach this Focus service will be calendaring- way: “CalDav and its associated related. In the case of some of our standards give us a common ground members, that is very easy to do. In for communicating. dotCal aims to other cases, such as academic
Inside this Minutes: About CalConnect Minutes Tests Issued after each CalConnect Roundtable, this newsletter provides highlights of those gatherings and links to more in-depth coverage on the CalConnect web site. TC IOPTEST XVIII – page 2
Innovation You will also find links to new Technical Committee Reports. Tech Committees Summaries – page 3 This is also a source for details on upcoming CalConnect meetings and conferences. Members
To subscribe to CalConnect Minutes send an e-mail to [email protected] The Making of a Pop Icon article – page 4 and put "Subscribe " in the subject line. Events
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to [email protected] with "Unsubscribe" Roundtable Roundup – page 5 in the subject line. Future Events – page 5
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C a l C o n n e c t T H E C A L E N D A R I N G A N D S C H E D U L I N G C O N S O R T I U M July 2010
TC IOPTEST XVIII: Double Duty
Mobile Calendar Interoperability Test suite was used as the basis for testing. A copy of the test suite can be found in the resources CalConnect section of the CalConnect website. Welcomes The test suite is quite large, so in order to New Members ensure participants tested as much as possible during the three days, a subset of The June 2010 CalConnect Interoperability the test suite was chosen. The testing Testing Event involved 15 attendees and included calendar (vEvent), tasks (vTodo) was actually two distinct sets of testing. One and contacts (vCard). set of vendors tested CalDAV and CardDAV. and The second set of vendors tested mobile Public documents containing summaries of calendaring devices. all test events can be found by going to http://www.calconnect.org/eventreports.shtm This was the third Mobile Calendaring l#calconnectiops. Pat Egen of Patricia Egen Interoperability test event. The primary Consulting serves as Interoperability Testing focus was Activesync and the CalConnect Event Manager.
CalDAV and CardDAV Participants Mobile Participants
Organization Versions Tested Organization What was tested
iCal Server and client – Genentech Observer OS X 10.6.1 Icewarp Server Apple Apple iCal 4.0 MailSite Server and Client (AstraSync 4.1.13) (SnowLeopard) Microsoft Server and Client Kerio server tested remotely Nokia Client IceWarp eM Client 2.7.7402 Notify Technology Client
Synchronica Server
Thanks to our contributors to this issue of Minutes
Cyrus Daboo, Apple Chuck Norris, Eventful
Bernard Desruisseaux, Oracle Bryan Otis, Intand
Michael Douglass, RPI Gary Schwartz, RPI
Pat Egen, Guy Stalnaker, Patricia Egen Consulting University of Wisconsin
Steven Lees, Microsoft Dave Thewlis, CalConnect
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C a l C o n n e c t T H E C A L E N D A R I N G A N D S C H E D U L I N G C O N S O R T I U M July 2010
Tech Committee Summaries
TC FREEBUSY addressed David Olson has retired and there are "consensus scheduling" and showed probably implications for the supply of some interfaces, showing they have timezone data. The tz database, also common features and a need to known as the Olson database, is a integrate with other services and collaborative compilation of information calendar systems or clients. The group about the world's time zones, primarily introduced a new icalendar component intended for use with computer The Internet Calendar Subscription Ad VPOLL and described the flow, programs and operating systems.) Hoc was established to investigate the including describing the new creation and promotion of a single icon POLLRESPONSE property. They also The TC has since published and method to be used on websites to mentioned the possibility of outreach to Timezone Service Protocol and indicate a calendar available for others who implement this style of Timezone XML Specification, and the subscription or download. (See article service, e.g. Doodle and TimeBridge. proposals have been submitted to the on Page 4.) At the Roundtable, the IETF as Internet Drafts. Please see group provided an overview of the use TC iSCHEDULE presented an Timezone Service Protocol and of Internet Calendars and comparison overview of the iSchedule protocol, Timezone XML Specification. The of the current user experience for covering how DKIM can be leveraged Timezone Service Protocol defines a common Feed (RSS/Atom) by calendar systems for authentication timezone service protocol that allows Subscription and Internet Calendar and authorization purposes. They reliable, secure and fast delivery of Subscription use cases today. After explained how the DNS can be used to timezone information to client systems proposing possible actions that allow a domain to authorize another such as calendaring and scheduling CalConnect and various other parties domain to send scheduling requests applications or operating systems. could take to improve the awareness on its behalf. The committee also The Timezone XML Specification and user experience for Internet discussed how an iSchedule describes a format for describing Calendar Subscription, they interoperability event could be held timezone information for software and recommended creation of full ICS where no prior arrangements would be services. required between iSchedule servers. Technical Committee. TC USECASE presented the state of
TC CalDAV provided a status update TC MOBILE discussed a report of the their glossary work, talked about RFC on the revision of iMIP and on the Mobile Interoperability test event held 3283 and whether the committee “Collection Synchronization for earlier in the week. They concluded should jettison explicit references to it WebDAV” Internet-Draft. The the event was a success; follow-on in the glossary, and worked on some committee held open discussions on events are being planned. Over the of the terms that remain to be the calendar alarm extensions Internet- next months, the committee will work reviewed. Looking forward, they will Draft. on producing a summary of the test continue the glossary work and will event with the goal of using that plan on completing it before summer's TC EVENTPUB discussed the LINK document to promote testing to other end. property and a decision to leverage vendors who were not present. They IANA registration. They acknowledged also intend to enhance the testing suite TC XML discussed two way reference the need for Event LINK types around by adding more detail as well as mapping from iCal to XML. They telephonic and WebX style virtual example calendar data to streamline looked at generalized calendar API meetings. Moving forward the group the testing process. and a web services binding, which is will continue its recruiting, inside and being developed with OASIS/NIST and outside of CalConnect, supporting the TC RESOURCE discussed some of other Smart Energy players. They also CalConnects overall membership the review comments that were considered the CalWS effort and to efforts. received for the resource-schema which standards body the work should draft. Also, they briefly discussed how be submitted. They asked that The TC has since published its the additional information can be put to Executive Director Dave Thewlis LINK Property Extension to use with the DAV protocols. discuss their preference for the full iCalendar, and the proposal has been standard to be published by OASIS submitted to the IETF as an Internet TC TIMEZONE gave a brief overview with OASIS legal personnel. Failing Draft. Please see LINK Property of the two documents, now published that, they would seek inclusion in WS Extension to iCalendar. This and described below, and discussed CALENDAR and joint publication or proposal introduces a new iCalendar major issues to be addressed: credit of the combined draft. property LINK to provide ancillary maintaining the source of the data from information for iCalendar Olson and his successor and the UserSIG met with Genentech components. implications of the service on representatives and talked about their standards and protocols. (Note: Arthur migration to GoogleApps. Cozi.
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C a l C o n n e c t T H E C A L E N D A R I N G A N D S C H E D U L I N G C O N S O R T I U M
July 2010
The Making of a Pop Icon
based calendars so compelling as If you have any icon suggestions, organization tools. To accelerate please email them to our their adoption is all-together newsletter editor, Maryann Karinch exciting, humbling and challenging. ([email protected]).
I noted that DSI Technical Thanks!
Committee is “currently soliciting” The Web has helped us forge new icon ideas, because so far, we are Bryan Otis types of connections with each still in the idea stage and welcome other, so making it easier to input. The icon needs to be easy to connect with calendars is only a understand, convey that clicking it natural progression to what is means you are going to get calendar contact (in some form), happening in other areas. Look to the incredible amount of content on and follow in the same design About CalConnect Blogs, Twitter and Facebook that constraints that other icons have links individual to individual, as well (e.g., RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and The Calendaring and Scheduling as individuals to huge audiences. Digg). Most importantly, it needs to Consortium (CalConnect) is a partnership among vendors, be something that everyone wants The success of these three has developers, and customers to advance resulted in the use of icons that to make use of. Browsers, calendaring and scheduling standards correspond to the content that they applications, websites … everyone. and implementations. The mission is to produce. When the RSS icon (or provide mechanisms to allow "chicklet" as some are referring to calendaring and scheduling such icons) appears in the 24x24 methodologies to interoperate, and to form it normally takes on a website, promote broad understanding of these the people who have traveled to methodologies so that calendaring and the website know that by clicking scheduling tools and applications can on the icon, they are going to be enter the mainstream of computing. The Consortium develops subscribing to the content of the recommendations for improvement blog they are reading. The same and extension of relevant standards, thought process is true of a Twitter develops requirements and use cases or Facebook icon. It’s just a simple for calendaring and scheduling way of connecting. specifications, conducts interoperability There is an old saying, “if a tree testing for calendaring and scheduling What does this have to do with falls in the woods, but no one is implementations, and promotes calendars? Currently, the DSI there to hear it, does it make a calendaring and scheduling.
Technical Committee is soliciting sound?" The same could be said of Organizational members are Apple, ideas for a calendar icon. Why is this upcoming calendar icon. If we Binary Tree, Cabo Communications, this important? Because presenting achieve all that we want with the Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, dotCal, the web with a common icon that icon, and yet no one uses is it, then Eventful, Fresno State, Genentech, represents “click me for calendar were we successful in helping to Google, IBM, IceWarp, Intand, Kerio content” is important in helping to promote one of CalConnect’s major Technologies, MailSafe, Microsoft, encourage current or potential objectives: to promote calendaring Mozilla Foundation, NASA, New York web-based calendar users to and scheduling to the information University, Nokia, Notify Technology, Oracle, Patricia Egen Consulting, harness a feature that is uniquely technology industry and the PeopleCube, Rensselaer Polytechnic general public? The answer would beneficial to electronic calendars Institute, Scalix, Stanford University, over paper ones. Paper calendars be an emphatic “no.” Stockholm University, SWAMI simply cannot “connect” to a high (Swedish Alliance for Middleware school football schedule or a yoga Let us all then push towards a Infrastructure), Synchronica, class schedule. This easy great icon that everyone is excited TimeBridge, University of California, connection advantage is one of the about and wants to use. University of Wisconsin, Yahoo!, and major features that makes web- Zimbra.
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C a l C o n n e c t T H E C A L E N D A R I N G A N D S C H E D U L I N G C O N S O R T I U M July 2010
Roundtable XVIII Roundup
"regular" IOP Test Event. (Details in the article on Page 2.)
The Roundtable was dedicated to technical committee sessions, and Thank you informal discussions and networking, with to the an all-hands Plenary meeting as the last item on Friday afternoon. As usual, the Carnegie Mellon Roundtable XVIII took place on May 26-28 Technical Committee sessions were 2010, hosted by Carnegie Mellon organized sequentially, without competing University University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The parallel sessions, to allow all attendees event was attended by 27 people from 18 who wished to be involved in the for hosting organizations, including one observer. The discussions of each Technical Committee CalConnect Interoperability Test Events the opportunity to do so. Roundtable XVIII occurred immediately prior to the SPECIAL EVENTS Roundtable on May 24-26. Eight members and 15 people participated in the regular Dr. Steven Lee, Professor and Head of the and Mobile Calendaring IOP Test Events. School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon With some people attending both an IOP University, gave a talk on his view of Test Event and the Roundtable, the total calendaring and the current challenges he count of participants for the week was 34. faces in two roles: as Head of a department that schedules many campus The Mobile Calendar IOP Test Event events, and as the IT person for a small featured ActiveSync testing, and six business, his architecture practice. Dr. Lee member organizations participated; three invited interested participants on a tour of organizations participated in the the Intelligent Workplace project at CMU on Friday morning. Register Now
CalConnect XIX
IBM/Lotus Littleton, Mass.
Test Event October 4-6
PHOTO: Roundtable Roundtable XVIII participants on a beautiful day in October 6-8 Pittsburgh.
FUTURE EVENTS
CalConnect XIX: October 4-8, 2010; IBM/Lotus, Littleton, Massachusetts
CalConnect XX: January 31 - February 4, 2011; TBD
CalConnect XXI: May 23-27 or June 6-10, 2011; TBD
CalConnect XXII: October 3-7, 2011; Kerio Technologies, Plzen, Czech Republic