My not-so-secret shame as a Mac user is my extreme dislike for both iCal and Mail. I just can’t use either application for its intended purpose (though admittedly I am horrible at keeping track of my life in general, so I really can’t blame iCal for that).
One major gripe I have with iCal is solved with a cool preference pane by the folks at FlexGames called FlexCal. FlexCal makes entering events and to dos as easy as hitting a user-configurable hotkey. The key combo of your choice brings up a quick entry screen (hitting your hotkey again toggles between the event entry form and the to-do entry form): enter your hot date and you’re good to go. FlexCal lets you enter a due date as either text or by choosing from a calendar, and it even lets you set a default alarm on all entries. All of this for the low, low price of free.
[via WebWorkerDaily]
Neat idea, and it looks like nice execution!
For those who are into QuickSilver, you can do the same thing with that using natural language and the iCal plugin, but this fits the bill for apps that do one thing and do it well.
And don't forget we covered this over at the mothership:
http://www.macworld.com/article/135201/2008/08/prospectflexcal.html