Will HTML 5 make calendar sharing even swampier?

With all the attention on HTML 5 as a future software development platform, this critique by SD Times columnist Al Hilwa is cause for concern:

"The limitations of the browser sandbox model make it difficult for HTML5 apps to access device data such as contacts or calendar elements, or participate in inter-application communication."

Any HTML 5 wizards out there reading this? How serious a swamp-filler are these HTML 5 limits? Or are they there for good reason, as many "software sandboxes" are?

Mobaganda: Giving Evite the slip

Evite has the same problem lots of different Web services have. You have to register with the service and log in to use it. Then it spams your friends who've signed up to use it (and probably you too). But there is an alternative: Mobaganda. No registration required. You can create event pages up to 60 days in advance. There's also an RSS feed to see who else is coming to the event, or just go back to the event page you've created. Until we have totally interoperable calendars, Mobaganda is probably the best, simplest event planner out there. (Kudos to video podcast Epic Fu for clueing me into this.)

Why don't Facebook and Google share event and calendar info?

With all the hoopla about how you can or can't take your friend list from one social network to another, I'd like to know when or if it will be possible to view your events across social networks. This is definitely a part of the new cloud-based Calendar Swamp we swim in. For instance, why can't I show my Facebook friends the calendar I've created in Google Calendar? If I accept an event invitation in Facebook, why can't I view that event in my Google Calendar? Assuming there's good access control in each direction, wouldn't this sharing mutually benefit both social networks, and move calendar sharing and its economic benefits forward?

If this is simply a case of each competitor not wanting to give the other a break, we should put the same pressure on them that got both services to support Open ID. In other words, we the customers need to demand it.

As for moving that friend list around, after all this time, I still don't know the right answer. It's one person's data versus another person's privacy. Maybe the same debate will trip up cross-social network calendar sharing. I hope not.