I thought I share with you the statistics of my website over the last year and a half. In today’s Media09 conference, it was said that don’t go with the assumption of dragging users to your content – try to get the content to the users.

Social networking, RSS and improving site SEO has been beneficiary in the increase of page impressions on my site thus far.

Now, of course, the figures aren’t much. I’m not someone who dispatches 1000 pages a day – but give the overall picture from late 2007 to today shows the growth thus far. So here goes:

(click for a larger view)

When I got my iPhone, one of the few disadvantages was wireless or Bluetooth sync for my Outlook calendar items. Unlike my previous N95, I have to physically connect my iPhone via cable to get iTunes to sync with Outlook – what a pain!

But now, Google has solved this problem. You will need a Google Calendar account for this to work and my below instructions are for PC only. The setup will look like so:

First you need to download Google Calendar Sync – go here http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=98563 and click on the ‘download’ link.

Install the application (you will have to close Microsoft Outlook) and then follow the setup prompts. Enter your username and password to your Google Calendar account and setup a interval period for when the sync runs again – mine is set to 30 mins. You will also need to choose the Sync method i.e. 2 way (updates both Google & Outlook), or 1 way to update either Outlook only or Google only. I currently have mine as 1 way (Outlook to Google). 

On installation the Sync will run once – so all your calendar items should get transferred over to Google Calendar in a few minutes.

Now, plug your iPhone into your computer and make a backup on iTunes. I repeat – MAKE A BACKUP!! Don’t email me back saying you lost all your stuff, tough! The next process will delete all your calendar items on your iPhone. So I suggest doing a sync to copy all your iPhone calendar items into Outlook (via iTunes).

Once the back up is complete, take your iPhone off the laptop and click on Settings. Then open “Mail, Contact, Calendars”. Then click “Add Account” and select Microsoft Exchange as the option. Leave the Domain blank and in the Email field, enter your Google Calendar username followed by the password. Click ‘Next’ on the top right corner. It will attempt to connect to a server, but won’t find one. So the next screen will ask you to enter the Server information. Put in “m.google.com” (without quotes) and click “Next” again. Currently this setup only supports Calendar and Contacts (NOT EMAIL – yet). I only use calendars, so I selected Calendar ‘On’ and the rest ‘Off’.

You will get two pop confirmation requests, stating that your calendar will be wiped out – click Sync on both requests and wait a few minutes. Open up Calendar on your iPhone, and you will start see your Outlook items (after Outlook’s first sync to Google Calendar).

So now if a meeting is cancelled or moved around on my Outlook, within a few minutes it is pushed to my iPhone. And note I use the word “Push” – that’s because Google has used Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology to enable this set up. So your iPhone only connects to get new Calendar data when one is available – saving data transfer. 

*UPDATE* – I changed my setting to use FETCH instead of PUSH, as PUSH drained a lot battery on my iPhone. Fetch works just as good and I don’t need to charge my iPhone twice a day.

I am yet to see what happens when a new meeting request is sent – and how it will affect my calendar if I accept the invitation via the iPhone (probably won’t work, as I have a 1 way sync set up).

Going forward, I hope Google allows emails to start working in this fashion, as at the moment you have to Fetch it on a periodic basis.

So, has this worked for you as it has for me? Share your experience below.

If you live in Sydney and love Vietnamese food, you really should try this place – at least once!

Phamish recently moved from the lower end of Darlinghurst and is now closer to the city on 50 Burton Street, Darlinghurst. This isn’t a restaurant for everyone really. If you feel like having a romantic evening, with quite conversation and nibbling on some rice paper rolls – find somewhere else! Phamish is quick, fast paced and for them – time is money!

If you want to get to Phamish, try getting there early. Aim for 6pm or thereabouts (the time they open) because you can’t book for a table. You will have to wait in line or put your name down. They will tell you what time to come back and make sure you turn up at that time. Else, be prepared for a frosty reception. The lady will either yell at you for being late – or have you wait longer by giving your table away.

So, it’s a first-come-first-serve basis, where even ordering your food requires you to wait in a line. But the result is worth it. While Phamish is surrounded by other restaurants – a Thai, a modern Italian and another which I couldn’t pay attention to, you find that they are pretty quite. Sometimes you will find familiar faces there – and they would be people who no longer prepared to wait at Phamish.

The menu is fairly simple – a variety of rice paper rolls or pancakes for entree, curries or stir fry for mains (with rice, if you like).

I thought the chicken rice paper rolls would be nice, however they had prawns in it. Surely they could make mine without prawns. So, I put the question to the man behind the cashier and he gave me a look of “make the rice paper roll now?”. That’s when I understood that their rolls were pre-made – they just plate it and get a waiter to bring it to your table. I therefore resorted to the vegetarian rolls.

Given that the rolls are pre-made, there is a sticky feel when trying to pull each of the rolls apart – however, the taste with the accompanying sauce is bliss. I believe their pancakes might be premade too and warmed a little when served. For $12 per plate you get 4 rice paper rolls – good value in my opinion.

For mains we ordered a plate of kaffir lime chicken and another of sesame seasoned lamb fillets with rice on the side. The Vietnamese love their lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves – and the chicken dished boasted strong flavours. With each spoonful you get that smell of fresh citrus flavours and curry tasted perfect. Mains vary between $14 to $20. Once you’ve finished your dishes and placed your chopsticks down – expect to see 2 pairs of hand suddenly do a magic trick of “now you see, now you don’t”, as your plates, dishes and cutlery very quickly disappear – it’s time for the next waiting person to take your seat – so get out.

Phamish is a licenses restaurant and permits BYO – so for $2 corkage per head, I suggest you bring a bottle.

Don’t expect to have great experiences at Phamish – just expect good food. As I said, it’s not a restaurant for everyone. And if you want take away – then so be it.

Atmosphere – 6/10
Food – 8.5/10
Staff – 4.5/10
Value for money – 8/10