How to make your iPhone immortal: Part 2

So, to the next part of your phone's semi-immortality, saving those precious calendar events. Unless you live in some kind of bizarre Apple-only I-have-more-money-than-I-know-what-to-do-with world where you use your iPhone, iCal and MobileMe, this is probably going to be a bit of a pain-in-the-arse. And whatever you do, don't go buying some weird Calendar app which claims to be just like the native one, but better. Why? Because it isn't.

Of course, one of their biggest draw cards (other than stupendously high prices) is an ability to sync with god-knows-who's secure server, and to protect your data. Of course, that's just as likely to happen as Kevin Rudd's dead body cropping up on my front step tomorrow morning. Actually, no, its less likely to happen than that.

So, don't want to spend $12 on an app that won't work? Want to keep your calendar safe? Easy. The answer, as always, lies in Google. When you set up the Sync service, as in Part 1, flip the slider for calendar, and you have your Google Calendar working like a beer-drinking local on your iPhone.

Of course, there are a couple of other things you must/should do. First up, change the default calendar from the local one to your Google Calendar. This way, when somebody invites you to an event, or another app creates an event for you, it will go into your Google Calendar, and off to that great cloud in the sky. Also, go into your calendar app, choose Calendars at the top left corner, and choose "All Google Sync" or whatever the name is for your Google Calendars. Of course, if you also use another Exchange service, you can't do this, but if not, it helps to reduce conflicts and make sure everything ends up in the same place: Google.

Now, head over to http://m.google.com/sync on your iPhone and work through the options there to choose up to 25 Calendars (if you have more you are a moron, anyway) to end up on your iPhone. Okay, now you're done and ready to go.

How to get the most out of it:

Remember, when it comes to all this work with Google Sync, that means you can use it anywhere you are a t a computer with the internet. Just log in to Google, as usual and any changes you've made will be waiting for you.
This also means that if you drop your iPhone off a balcony, don't bother trying to pick up the pieces. Leave them there for some pigeon to electrocute itself on a capacitor circuit. Just get yourself a new one, re-enter your details and you're back online. Yes, just like that.

And no, we're not offering a free Dustbuster to the first hundred callers who use their credit card...