Syncing AOL contacts into Gmail (or other software)

Jun. 30th, 2009 at 9:24 PM

Finally there's a way to sync contacts out of AOL and into something free. Since AOL Sync is based on Funambol, it uses SyncML, and the Funambol clients.

You'll need Java, and then:

Download the Funambol Google Plug-In. If you want to sync into Outlook, use the AOL Sync client, or look at the other Funambol plug-ins for other systems.
Extract it, and run it — look in the funambol, pug-ins, then bin folders. The file is called "runGoogle.cmd" on Windows, and "runGoogle.sh" for Unix systems.
Go to Edit, then Communication Settings
Put in http://m.sync.aol.com/sync for the Server URL. Fill in your AOL username and password, and your Gmail username and password.
Hit OK
Hit Synchronize

Voila, your contacts are in Gmail

Say good-bye to a provider that has until now worked very hard on locking your contacts in.

Comments

( 13 comments — Leave a comment )

shawnaree

Jul. 1st, 2009 03:54 am (UTC)

This is different than just logging in through g-chat to your AIM account?

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aredridel

Jul. 1st, 2009 03:55 am (UTC)

This gets the actual email contact list out — something AOL tries hard not to let you do. It's not chat-related at all.

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shawnaree

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:07 am (UTC)

Oh. Yeah, I don't keep an email contact list.

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arvindn

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:08 am (UTC)

how do you email people?

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shawnaree

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:10 am (UTC)

What do you mean? I use their email addresses, same as everyone else does.

Just don't keep a email contact list.

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aredridel

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:12 am (UTC)

Hehe. Me either until recently. I finally started keeping one on the Mac since the address book works so nicely.

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arvindn

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:12 am (UTC)

Surely, you can't remember hundreds of people's email addresses in your head?

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aredridel

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:13 am (UTC)

I do! Many hundreds, even.

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arvindn

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:14 am (UTC)

holy cow. is there a particular reason?

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aredridel

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:16 am (UTC)

I've a good memory. I tend to live in a cluttered place because it's easier to remember where I left stuff than it is to tidy and re-remember. I remember almost every reference book I read. I don't re-read novels.

The one thing I can't seem to remember is date context.

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shawnaree

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:18 am (UTC)

For me, it's just that I've never seen the point. All the people I know who have been the most annoying as far as "accidentally" or "unknowingly" forwarding viruses, or mass-mailing stupid shit, have been people who have extensive address books. And people who are most hurt when things break are people who have extensive address books.

By relying on my memory, I don't get lulled into thinking that my email contacts will always bee available to me. And if something does happen-- my account gets hacked or whatever-- I don't have to apologize to my friends.

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shawnaree

Jul. 1st, 2009 04:16 am (UTC)

Why not? Most people's email addresses are fairly simple to relate to who they are as a person. My sister's, for instance, is her name. For others, it's a regular internet handle that I already had to memorize for chat.

And, for people who I email regularly, it's habit.

If I need to remember an address of someone who has already emailed me, and I can't remember their email address, I can search for their name to pull up the last-known-address.

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