reminders

On a typical morning, I wake up to more than 80 new e-mails in my in-box--and that doesn't even count the many more that are automatically filtered to several sub-folders, one of which receives around 70 messages per day alone.

Nor does that encompass the dozen or so messages sitting in my personal account. That's quite a lot of e-mail to sift through, especially for a person who cringes at the sight of unread messages in her in-box. But once I've marked them as read, it then becomes a chore to keep track of what needs a … Read more

We're all used to the pedestrian chirps at a traffic light, the click-click of a turn signal or even the beep-beep of a seat-belt alert, but engineers at Ford are taking further steps to understand what sounds folks will actually respond to without being annoyed.

Sound engineers at Ford use scientific theory, listening clinics and on-road simulations to find the sounds that prove most effective for driver alerts.

"Ford engineers spend a tremendous amount of time finding just the right sound for just the right situation to help customers react to potential dangers," said Paul Mascarenas, Ford … Read more

If you spend a lot of time on your computer, it makes sense to keep your schedule or calendar there, too, since that's where you're most likely to see it. Desktop-Reminder is a simple program that can alert you to scheduled tasks, ensuring that you don't miss an important appointment or deadline.

The program's interface is quite simple, consisting of an area where scheduled tasks are listed and a few buttons across the top. Creating a new task is easy; you simply enter the date, time (if desired), description, and recurrence. Although many programs of this … Read more

Many of us spend the vast majority of our time on our computers, so it makes sense to have a to-do list that lives on the computer as well. Swift To-Do List Lite is a simple but capable utility that can help you stay on top of the things you need to get done.

The program's interface is attractive and very easy to navigate. To add a new task, users simply enter a title, select a priority level and task type (if desired), and choose a due date. The program has plenty of options for reminding users of upcoming … Read more

We occasionally come across programs that work as they're supposed to but that just aren't, in our view, designed to be very useful. Date Reminder is one such program. As promised, the program will remind you of scheduled events, but we're not sure why anyone would choose this program when there are so many more feature-filled and versatile options available.

The program's interface is plain, with a handful of buttons and a grid where scheduled items are listed. It's easy to create a new item, and users can enter the name of the event, the … Read more

We recall a time when we held an office job that required us to keep track of a lot of little bits of information, and our computer monitor and stacks of file folders were often covered with little yellow sticky notes. These notes are great for keeping information handy, but they have a tendency to get lost or get stuck to documents they weren't meant for. We've seen many attempts at creating electronic versions of these notes, and Secure Reminder is one of the best. This versatile program has a ton of features that replicate the best parts … Read more

Using productivity software can be a great way to increase efficiency, but all too often, software that is designed to save time ends up being too complex to really be efficient. That's not the case with Daily To-Do List, though; this simple program lets users create basic to-do lists without a lot of confusing or unnecessary features.

Daily To-Do List has a simple interface that's easy to navigate. Users simply choose the appropriate day from a calendar and then add their tasks. Each task can be assigned to a specific category and marked with its priority level. Users … Read more

To-do lists has become so essential to so many people's lives that they've actually evolved into their own category of software. Power To-Do List from Five O'clock Software is a fine example of the species. It lets you group your tasks in eight different views, including Next Actions and Tasks by Project, Importance, and Due Date; All Tasks by "Context," and more. What sets it apart from other time-management tools is its underlying concept. It's based on David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) method, which essentially takes the commonsense notion that writing things … Read more

What can we really say about an application that looks like a run-of-the-mill personal organizer but opens with a scantily clad woman rapping on our screen to get our attention? We're no prudes, but perhaps if eReminder Sp1 - Easy Planner Secretary wants to be taken seriously, it should reconsider its nipple-baring virtual spokesmodel.

Virtual babe aside, this is an OK program. There's nothing about it that really blew our minds, but it offers a solid set of organizational features. The calendar function has six different views, allowing users to see everything from the current day to the … Read more