Send SMS to Google Calendar via Twitter

I’ve already wrote about why I love Google Calendar so much.  One of the main features that makes the difference for me is that one of SMS reminders.  As unlikely as it seems, I’m not always behind the computer, but my mobile is always near by.  So reminding me of upcoming things to do via SMS is a winner.

One thing that I was missing though, is the opposite direction of SMS.  Google Calendar has this wonderful feature of adding events to the calendar via SMS, but the they use a shortcut phone number, which is available only in the states.  No way for us, poor souls in Cyprus, to send messages there.

Not to worry though.  Now there is a solution, and an easy one too – Twittercal.  Here is how it works:

1. Create a Twitter account, if you don’t have one.
2. Add “gcal” user to the list of those that you follow.
3. Grant Twittercal access to add events to your Google Calendar.
4. Now you can send direct messages to gcal with your event information like so: “d gcal Phylosophy test tomorrow at 08:00“.

Of course, these direct messages work as good via instant messenger and Twitter web interface.  I’ve tested the setup and performs beautifully.  This whole thing just made my day.

Bonus tip: if your mobile phone supports SMS templates, you might want to create one with Twitter phone number in destination and “d gcal ” text in the message, so you can edit it and send much faster.