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Hey everyone, welcome back to the deep dive.

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We're all about getting to the bottom of things here, making sure you really

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understand a topic without getting bogged down and all the techie stuff.

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Exactly.

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We cut through the noise and give you the info you need clear and simple.

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So today we're going to dive into something that's super practical,

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especially if you have a website.

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We're talking about embedding a calendar, but not just any calendar.

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We're talking about one that's completely customizable and puts you in control.

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And before we get started, a huge shout out to safe server for

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supporting this deep dive.

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They're all about digital sovereignty and they actually provide hosting for

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this kind of software we're going to talk about.

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Yeah.

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So if you're interested in taking control of your data and supporting companies

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that are fighting the good fight, check out safe server at https.www.safeserver.de.

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Okay.

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So let's get to the heart of it.

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I think a lot of us have run into this problem, right?

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You want to put a calendar on your website, right?

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You know, so people can see your schedule, your events, whatever it is you want to

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share.

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But the thing is, it's never as easy as it should be.

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Like you either have to pay a ton of money for some fancy service.

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Yeah.

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Or you end up having to use a calendar that looks super generic and boring.

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Or even worse, you end up giving your data to some big company

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that you don't really trust.

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Oh, I hate that.

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It's like, why should I have to compromise my privacy just to have a

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decent looking calendar of my site?

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It's a real dilemma.

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And that's where this tool we're diving into today comes in.

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It's called open web calendar and it's designed to solve all those problems.

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Okay.

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So open web calendar for folks who are hearing about this for the first

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time, break it down for us.

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What is it?

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Okay.

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So imagine you have this digital file, right?

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And it has all your calendar events on it.

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The dates, the times, the descriptions, everything.

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This file is usually called an ICS file.

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You've probably seen these before.

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Yeah.

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They're pretty standard.

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Most calendar apps can export them.

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Exactly.

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So open web calendar acts like a picture frame for that ICS file specifically

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designed to be embedded right on your website.

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It takes the information from the ICS file and displays it beautifully as a

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calendar that your website visitors can see.

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So it's not like a separate calendar app or anything like that.

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Nope.

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It's purely focused on display.

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It takes your existing calendar data and makes it look great on your website.

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And I see here that it's open source.

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What does that mean for someone who's just starting out?

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Open source is great.

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It means that the underlying code of the software is freely available for anyone

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to use, modify, and share.

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Basically it's like a recipe that everyone can access and tweak to their liking.

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So it's not locked away in some companies vault.

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Anyone can look at it and even contribute to making it better.

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Exactly.

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And for those who are curious, you can actually find the code for open web

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calendar on a platform called GitHub.

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The link is NicoKunzman open web calendar.

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Okay.

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So open source, it's free to use, what else makes open web calendar so special?

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Why should our listeners care about this?

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Let's go back to that frustration we talked about before.

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You've got your calendar data you want on your website, but you don't want the

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hassle, the cost or the privacy concerns.

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Open web calendar takes care of all that.

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It's designed to be simple, flexible, and most importantly, it puts you in control.

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Okay.

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I'm starting to see why this is so cool, but you mentioned something earlier about

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problems with using your browser to look at ICS files.

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Can you expand on that?

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Sure.

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Sometimes if you try to open an ICS file directly in your web browser, it

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might not display correctly, especially if it's coming from certain platforms

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like own cloud or next cloud, it can be a real pain.

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Oh yeah.

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I've run into that before.

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Well, open web calendar bypasses that problem.

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It reads the ICS link directly.

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So you don't have to worry about those browser quirks.

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So it just works.

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That's awesome.

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But I think the biggest win here, especially for beginners who might be

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worried about their data is the control they get, right?

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Absolutely.

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That's one of the most important things about open web calendar.

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When you use it, you're in charge of your calendar data.

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It stays on your server or wherever you choose to host it.

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You're not sending it off to Google or some other big company just to

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have a calendar on your site.

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So it's like taking back your digital privacy, at least when

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it comes to your calendar.

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Exactly.

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You get to decide who has access to your data and that's a big deal.

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Okay.

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So we've talked about what open web calendar is, why it's cool and

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the whole privacy aspect, but let's get into the nitty gritty.

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What can you actually do with it?

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How customizable is it?

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Customization is a huge part of what makes open web calendar so powerful.

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You have a ton of control over how your calendar looks and behaves.

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First off, you can choose the time zone that's displayed.

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Oh, that's super helpful if you have visitors from different parts of the world.

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Exactly.

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And you're not limited to just one calendar.

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You can actually connect multiple ICS links if you have different calendars

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you want to show, like if you have a personal calendar and a work calendar.

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Precisely.

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And when it comes to the display, you have a few options.

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You can choose between a monthly view, which gives you a nice overview

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of the whole month or a weekly view, which shows more detail for a shorter period.

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So you can tailor it to your specific needs.

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Absolutely. And it gets even better.

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You can control exactly what information from your events is displayed.

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Do you want to show just the name and time?

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Or do you want to include a link to a website or show how long an event lasts?

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It's all up to you.

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Wow. So you can really make it your own.

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What about the visual aspects?

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Can you customize the look and feel? Oh, absolutely.

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You can style the calendar to match your website perfectly.

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You can choose the icon, the colors, the fonts, everything.

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It's like having a custom made calendar designed just for your site.

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That's so cool.

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So it sounds like open web calendar has a lot to offer.

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But for someone listening who's thinking, OK, I want to try this.

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What's the first step?

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Is it hard to get started? Not at all.

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The open web calendar website is super user friendly.

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They have a try it out now button and see example section

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where you can play around with the calendar and see how it works

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without having to install anything.

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So you can get a feel for it before you commit. Exactly.

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And if you want to dig deeper, there's comprehensive

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documentation on the GitHub page we mentioned earlier.

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That's where you'll find all the technical details and instructions.

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Now, when it comes to actually putting the calendar on your website,

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you have a few options.

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The simplest one, especially for beginners, is the hosted version.

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Hosted version. What's that?

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It's basically like renting space where the software is already set up for you.

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You don't have to worry about any technical stuff.

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So it's like a plug and play solution.

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Pretty much. Right.

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But for those who are more tech savvy and want more control,

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there's also self hosting.

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This means you install and run the software on your own web server.

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The documentation on GitHub has all the instructions for different methods.

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So there's something for everyone, whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro.

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Exactly. And here's another cool thing about Open Web Calendar.

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It's got a vibrant community behind it.

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If you look at the GitHub page,

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you'll see that over 40 developers have contributed to making it better.

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It's a real team effort.

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That's a good sign.

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It means the project is actively being developed and supported.

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Absolutely.

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And to top it off, the project received funding in 2024 from the NGI ZeroCore Fund,

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which is backed by the European Commission.

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This kind of support helps ensure that Open Web Calendar continues to thrive.

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So for those who are still wrapping their heads around this,

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what's the bottom line?

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What's the biggest benefit of using Open Web Calendar?

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It's simple.

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You get a beautiful, customizable calendar on your website.

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You keep control of your data and you don't have to rely on some big corporation.

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It's about freedom and flexibility.

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It sounds like a no-brainer for anyone who wants to display their events online

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without the hassle or the privacy worries.

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Couldn't agree more.

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If you're even remotely interested, I highly recommend checking out

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the Try It Out Now link on the Open Web Calendar website.

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You won't regret it.

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You know, thinking about all this, it really makes you realize

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how important it is to have control over your online presence.

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Even something as simple as a calendar

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can be a step towards greater digital independence.

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I completely agree. It's about taking back your data

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and choosing tools that empower you.

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Well said.

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Thank you so much for taking this deep dive with us

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into the world of Open Web Calendar.

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It's been incredibly enlightening.

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My pleasure.

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Always happy to share this kind of information.

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And of course, a final thank you to SafeServer for their generous support

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of the deep dive and their commitment to digital sovereignty.

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If you want to learn more about their services

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and how they support projects like Open Web Calendar,

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head over to HTTPS.www.SafeServer.de.

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Thanks for listening, everyone, and we'll catch you on the next deep dive.