diff --git a/CHANGED b/CHANGED
index cf82951f3..f6e9f9d36 100644
--- a/CHANGED
+++ b/CHANGED
@@ -39,12 +39,12 @@
              new global attribute <backupcmd> added
              new global attribute <backup_before_update> added
   - feature: new module 57_Calendar.pm (Boris)
-  - feature: new module 57_Calendar.pm (Boris)
   - feature: new parameter <changed> for updatefhem added (M. Fischer)
              new global attribute <exclude_from_update> added (M. Fischer)
   - feature: optional telnet password added / telnet port is optional
   - feature: holiday returns all matches, not only the first.
   - change:  CULflash separated from updatefhem to a new module (M. Fischer)
+  - feature: time and internet helper routines added to fhem.pl (Boris)
 
 - 2011-12-31 (5.2)
   - bugfix:  applying smallscreen attributes to firefox/opera
diff --git a/FHEM/57_Calendar.pm b/FHEM/57_Calendar.pm
index 6b055ad0a..45c7c7c59 100644
--- a/FHEM/57_Calendar.pm
+++ b/FHEM/57_Calendar.pm
@@ -8,10 +8,12 @@
 ##############################################
 # $Id $
 
+# Todos:
+#  Support recurring events
+#  update documentation (get MyCalendar full all, use URL-encoded URLs for Google Calendar
 
 use strict;
 use warnings;
-use Time::Local;
 
 
 ##############################################
@@ -88,7 +90,7 @@ sub parseSub {
     last if($line =~ m/^END:.*$/);
     if($line =~ m/^BEGIN:(.*)$/) {
       my $entry= ICal::Entry->new($1);
-      push $self->{entries}, $entry;
+      push @{$self->{entries}}, $entry;
       $ln= $entry->parseSub($ln,@ical);
     } else {
       $self->addproperty($line);
@@ -159,7 +161,7 @@ sub setMode {
   my ($self,$mode)= @_;
   $self->{_previousMode}= $self->{_mode};
   $self->{_mode}= $mode;
-  main::debug "After setMode $mode: Modes(" . $self->uid() . ") " . $self->{_previousMode} . " -> " . $self->{_mode};
+  #main::debug "After setMode $mode: Modes(" . $self->uid() . ") " . $self->{_previousMode} . " -> " . $self->{_mode};
   return $mode;
 }
 
@@ -231,14 +233,14 @@ sub modeChanged {
 # 20120520:         a date string has no time zone associated
 sub tm {
   my ($t)= @_;
-  #debug "convert $t";
+  #main::debug "convert $t";
   my ($year,$month,$day)= (substr($t,0,4), substr($t,4,2),substr($t,6,2));
   if(length($t)>8) {
       my ($hour,$minute,$second)= (substr($t,9,2), substr($t,11,2),substr($t,13,2));
-      return Time::Local::timegm($second,$minute,$hour,$day,$month-1,$year-1900);
+      return main::fhemTimeGm($second,$minute,$hour,$day,$month-1,$year-1900);
   } else {
-      #debug "$day $month $year";
-      return Time::Local::timelocal(0,0,0,$day,$month-1,$year-1900);
+      #main::debug "$day $month $year";
+      return main::fhemTimeLocal(0,0,0,$day,$month-1,$year-1900);
   }
 }
 
@@ -257,7 +259,7 @@ sub tm {
 sub d {
   my ($d)= @_;
 
-  main::debug "Duration $d";
+  #main::debug "Duration $d";
   
   my $sign= 1;
   my $t= 0;
@@ -266,6 +268,7 @@ sub d {
   $sign= -1 if($c[0] eq "-");
   shift @c if($c[0] =~ m/[\+\-]/);
   my ($dw,$dt)= split("T", $c[0]);
+  $dt="" unless defined($dt);
   if($dw =~ m/(\d+)D$/) {
     $t+= 86400*$1; # days
   } elsif($dw =~ m/(\d+)W$/) {
@@ -281,7 +284,7 @@ sub d {
 
 sub dt {
   my ($t0,$value,$parts)= @_;
-  main::debug "t0= $t0  parts= $parts  value= $value";
+  #main::debug "t0= $t0  parts= $parts  value= $value";
   if(defined($parts) && $parts =~ m/VALUE=DATE/) {
     return tm($value);
   } else {
@@ -416,12 +419,12 @@ sub new {
 
 sub uids {
   my ($self)= @_;
-  return keys $self->{events};
+  return keys %{$self->{events}};
 }
 
 sub events {
   my ($self)= @_;
-  return values $self->{events};
+  return values %{$self->{events}};
 }
 
 sub event {
@@ -503,6 +506,7 @@ sub updateFromCalendar {
 package main;
 
 
+
 #####################################
 sub Calendar_Initialize($) {
 
@@ -556,7 +560,7 @@ sub Calendar_CheckTimes($) {
   my @endedevents= grep { $_->isEnded($t) } @allevents;
 
   my $event;
-  main::debug "Updating modes...";
+  #main::debug "Updating modes...";
   foreach $event (@upcomingevents) { $event->setMode("upcoming"); }
   foreach $event (@alarmedevents) { $event->setMode("alarm"); }
   foreach $event (@startedevents) { $event->setMode("start"); }
@@ -595,16 +599,11 @@ sub Calendar_GetUpdate($) {
 
   my $url= $hash->{fhem}{url};
   
-  # split into hostname and filename, TODO: enable https
-  if($url =~ m,^http://(.+?)(/.+)$,) {
-    # well-formed, host now in $1, filename now in $2
-    #main::debug "Get $url";
-  } else {
-    Log 1, "Calendar " . $hash->{NAME} . ": $url is not a valid URL.";
+  my $ics= GetFileFromURL($url);
+  if(!defined($ics)) {
+    Log 1, "Calendar " . $hash->{NAME} . ": Could not retrieve $url";
     return 0;
   }
-  my $ics= GetHttpFile("$1:80",$2);
-  return 0 if($ics eq "");
 
   # we parse the calendar into a recursive ICal::Entry structure
   my $ical= ICal::Entry->new("root");
@@ -612,6 +611,15 @@ sub Calendar_GetUpdate($) {
   #main::debug "*** Result:\n";
   #main::debug $ical->asString();
 
+  my @entries= @{$ical->{entries}};
+  if($#entries<0) {
+    Log 1, "Calendar " . $hash->{NAME} . ": Not an ical file at $url";
+    $hash->{STATE}= "Not an ical file at URL";
+    return 0;
+  } else {
+    $hash->{STATE}= "Active";
+  }
+
   # we now create the events from it
   #main::debug "Creating events...";
   my $eventsObj= $hash->{fhem}{events};
@@ -706,7 +714,6 @@ sub Calendar_Get($@) {
 
 }
 
-
 #####################################
 sub Calendar_Define($$) {
 
diff --git a/docs/commandref.html b/docs/commandref.html
index 0204d3b31..871226e0a 100644
--- a/docs/commandref.html
+++ b/docs/commandref.html
@@ -1405,13 +1405,16 @@ A line ending with \ will be concatenated with the next one, so long lines
     start with <code>http://</code>, not <code>https://</code>, and the file at the given URL
     must be in ICal format.<br><br>
 
+    Note for users of Google Calendar: You can literally use the private ICAL URL from your Google Calendar with the
+    <code>https://</code> replaced by <code>http://</code>.<br><br>
+
     The optional parameter <code>interval</code> is the time between subsequent updates
     in seconds. It defaults to 3600 (1 hour).<br><br>
 
     Examples:
     <pre>
-      define MyCalendar Calendar ical url http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/john.doe@example.com/private-foo4711/basic.ics
-      define YourCalendar Calendar ical url http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/jane.doe@example.com/private-bar0815/basic.ics 86400
+      define MyCalendar Calendar ical url http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/john.doe%40example.com/private-foo4711/basic.ics
+      define YourCalendar Calendar ical url http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/jane.doe%40example.com/private-bar0815/basic.ics 86400
       </pre>
   </ul>
   <br>
diff --git a/fhem.pl b/fhem.pl
index ba36f1d9d..a972036e2 100755
--- a/fhem.pl
+++ b/fhem.pl
@@ -3005,7 +3005,55 @@ readingsUpdate($$$) {
   return $rv;
 }
 
-##################
+###############################################################################
+#
+# date and time routines
+#
+##############################################################################
+
+sub
+fhemTzOffset($) {
+    # see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2143528/whats-the-best-way-to-get-the-utc-offset-in-perl
+    my $t = shift;
+    my @l = localtime($t);
+    my @g = gmtime($t);
+
+    # the offset is positive if the local timezone is ahead of GMT, e.g. we get 2*3600 seconds for CET DST vs GMT
+    return 60*(($l[2] - $g[2] + ((($l[5]<<9)|$l[7]) <=> (($g[5]<<9)|$g[7])) * 24) * 60 + $l[1] - $g[1]);
+}
+
+sub
+fhemTimeGm($$$$$$) {
+    # see http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unixzeit
+    my ($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$month,$year) = @_;
+
+    # $mday= 1..
+    # $month= 0..11
+    # $year is year-1900
+    
+    $year+= 1900;
+    my $isleapyear= $year % 4 ? 0 : $year % 100 ? 1 : $year % 400 ? 0 : 1;
+    my $leapyears= int((($year-1)-1968)/4 - (($year-1)-1900)/100 + (($year-1)-1600)/400);
+    #Debug sprintf("%02d.%02d.%04d %02d:%02d:%02d", $mday,$month+1,$year,$hour,$min,$sec);
+
+    if ( $^O eq 'MacOS' ) {
+      $year-= 1904;
+    } else {
+      $year-= 1970; # the Unix Epoch
+    }
+
+    my @d= (0,31,59,90,120,151,181,212,243,273,304,334); # no leap day
+    # add one day in leap years if month is later than February
+    $mday++ if($month>1 && $isleapyear);
+    return $sec+60*($min+60*($hour+24*($d[$month]+$mday-1+365*$year+$leapyears)));
+}
+
+sub
+fhemTimeLocal($$$$$$) {
+    my $t= fhemTimeGm($_[0],$_[1],$_[2],$_[3],$_[4],$_[5]);
+    return $t-fhemTzOffset($t);
+}
+
 sub
 secSince2000()
 {
@@ -3013,9 +3061,87 @@ secSince2000()
   my $t = time();
   my ($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday,$yday,$isdst) = localtime($t);
   $t -= 946684800; # seconds between 01.01.2000, 00:00 and THE EPOCH (1970)
-  $t -= 1*3600; # Timezone offset from UTC * 3600 (MEZ=1). FIXME/HARDCODED
-  $t += 3600 if $isdst;
+  $t -= fhemTzOffset($t);
   return $t;
 }
+
+###############################################################################
+#
+# internet stuff
+#
+##############################################################################
+
+sub
+urlEncode($) {
+  $_= $_[0];
+  s/([\x00-\x2F,\x3A-\x40,\x5B-\x60,\x7B-\xFF])/sprintf("%%%02x",ord($1))/eg;
+  return $_;
+}
+
+sub
+GetFileFromURL($@)
+{
+  my ($url,$timeout)= @_;
+  $timeout = 2.0 if(!defined($timeout));
+
+  if($url !~ /^(http):\/\/([^:\/]+)(:\d+)?(\/.*)$/) {
+    Log 1, "GetFileFromURL $url: malformed URL";
+    return undef;
+  }
   
+  my ($protocol,$host,$port,$path)= ($1,$2,$3,$4);
+  #Debug "Protocol $protocol, host $host port $port, path $path";
+
+  if(defined($port)) {
+    $port=~ s/^://;
+  } else {
+    $port= 80;
+  }
+  $path= '/' unless defined($path);
+  my $hostport= "$host:$port";
+
+  #Debug "Protocol $protocol, host:port $hostport, path $path";
+  
+
+  if($protocol ne "http") {
+    Log 1, "GetFileFromURL $url: invalid protocol";
+    return undef;
+  }
+
+  my $conn = IO::Socket::INET->new(PeerAddr => "$hostport");
+  if(!$conn) {
+    Log 1, "GetFileFromURL $url: Can't connect to $hostport\n";
+    undef $conn;
+    return undef;
+  }
+  my $req = "GET $path HTTP/1.0\r\nHost: $hostport\r\n\r\n\r\n";
+  syswrite $conn, $req;
+  shutdown $conn, 1; # stopped writing data
+  my ($buf, $ret) = ("", "");
+
+  $conn->timeout($timeout);
+  for(;;) {
+    my ($rout, $rin) = ('', '');
+    vec($rin, $conn->fileno(), 1) = 1;
+    my $nfound = select($rout=$rin, undef, undef, $timeout);
+    if($nfound <= 0) {
+      Log 1, "GetFileFromURL $url: Select timeout/error: $!";
+      undef $conn;
+      return undef;
+    }
+
+    my $len = sysread($conn,$buf,65536);
+    last if(!defined($len) || $len <= 0);
+    $ret .= $buf;
+  }
+
+  $ret=~ s/(.*?)\r\n\r\n//s; # Not greedy: switch off the header.
+  Log 4, "GetFileFromURL $url: Got file, length: ".length($ret);
+  undef $conn;
+  return $ret;
+}
+
+
+##############################################################################
+
 1;