organization

Killer Download: Get organized with free Personal Info Managers

Whether you're in college, work a 40-hour work week, or are a stay-at-home parent, keeping track of everything in your life is never easy. Whether it's meetings, appointments, keeping track of contacts, or even what time to pick up your daughter after soccer practice, without some help, it's difficult to keep track of it all.

Fortunately, there's a whole genre of software dedicated to reining in all your appointments, contacts, and important responsibilities. Personal Info Managers are designed to keep all your important information in one place. You can keep track of recurring meetings and appointments, special dates like birthdays and anniversaries, and contact information for friends, coworkers, and business clients. Though it takes some time to enter all this information, once your Personal Info Manager is up to speed, you'll never have to worry about forgetting a phone number or being late to a meeting again.… Read more

Organize your pictures with Geophoto for Mac

Almost everyone takes pictures when traveling so they have something to bring back the memories once their vacation is over. A few years ago I went to several countries across Europe and took a ton of pictures with my digital camera. When I flip through the albums now, in some cases I'll forget where some of the more nondescript or interior pictures were taken. Today I found a program for Mac which not only solves that problem, but makes it more fun to view pictures from around the world.… Read more

Organize your thoughts with MindManager for both PC and Mac

Whenever a big project is at hand, making sure that you follow through with important details takes planning. Whether it's as mundane as cleaning out the garage, confusing as organizing your daughter's soccer team, or complex as reworking the goals for a team at your company, an outline, a list, or a strategy can help you focus on the over-arching goal. It might be because it's easier to have visuals of bulleted lists or linear strategies to easily convey the steps necessary to complete a project. Think of it this way: Not having a plan of action is kind of like going to the grocery store without a list; sure, you'll remember a lot of stuff you need, but once you get home you're bound to smack yourself in the forehead saying, "Butter! How did I forget butter?"

I recently came across a great program for both Mac and PC that helps make the planning phases of a project much easier. MindManager helps you map out your thoughts and ideas using an intuitive graphical interface. You can start your own mind map with a central idea to work outwards from, or you can choose from several premade templates that focus on a specific task.… Read more

Flexible, colorful solar cells coming next year

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Konarka Technologies is a solar company that specializes in organic photovoltaics, solar cells made from plastics.

Those cells are not as efficient or long-lasting as silicon, which is used in most rooftop solar panels. But they are lighter, flexible and can be integrated into a range of products, from consumer electronics to fibers. Konarka has even suggested putting its plastic on soft drink bottles in stores for advertising.

So when will we start to see this new generation of consumer-friendly solar cells?

Konarka is now in commercial prototyping its solar cells and expects to have products that use … Read more

Will windows work as solar panels?

The next solar panel could be a window.

Konarka Technologies and Air Products have received a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop a transparent, flexible solar panel that could be placed on a piece of glass or integrated into a window.

Konarka specializes in organic photovoltaics. These are complex molecules that can harvest portions of the infrared and visible light spectrum and turn the energy into sunlight. Organic photovoltaic panels don't last as long as silicon panels and 't aren't as efficient as silicon or other types of panels. But they can … Read more

Micro-productivity: man vs. machine, divergence vs. convergence

According to a McKinsey & Company study of US economic activity, "Raising the productivity of employees whose jobs can't be automated is the next big performance challenge." The study argues that "as more companies come to specialize in core activities and outsource the rest, they have greater need for workers who can interact with co-workers, partners, and vendors," supported by highly personalized organizing and communication tools. 40 percent of labor activity, says McKinsey, comes not from making things or from traditional transactions but from what the consultancy calls the "Interaction Economy," which it … Read more

VIP - Very Intelligent Pocket

Who doesn't need a Very Important Pocket to help organize your laptop bag, purse, gym bag, car, you name it. These VIPs by Tintamar come in a range of models and colors for your every need (no, these are not just for women!) Imagine not needing to shake through your bags to find that one cable, card reader, USB key, pen, ipod, mirror, PSP/DS... or whatever other craziness you have in your bags... imaging reaching in and knowing exactly where your cell phone is when its ringing? Organized gadgetry, completely within your reach. See pics of the other models below...

Toshiba looking at OLED TVs too

They are thin, consume little power and provide a pretty good picture. What's not to like about TVs made from organic light emitting diodes?

They might be really hard to manufacture in mass quantities and there is a possibility that they will degrade faster than LCDs or plasmas. But it's still a great idea, and the latest to try it are Toshiba and Matsushita (Panasonic in America).

A joint venture between the Japanese giants has developed a 20.8-inch low-temperature poly-silicon OLED display that can be used for TV. Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology has shown off a 17-inch … Read more

Air purifier zaps germs at 400 degrees

A USB air purifier is fine when you're on the road, but at home you need something more powerful for a fully sterilized bubble. That's when you might want to consider the "Airfree Platinum 2000."

Its name may sound like something out of RoboCop, but the purifier claims to eliminate 99.99 percent of all germs. The secret weapon is a ceramic core that reaches 400 degrees, a temperature where no micro-organism can build their germ villages, according to Appliancist. (Airfree claims that it functions at these levels without burning down the house. Glad they mentioned … Read more

Buy a virtual cupcake for breast cancer, on Facebook

Facebook has introduced all sorts of interesting things to social networking culture. It began with a poke, and more recently allowed you to set people on fire (virtually, of course). As of yesterday, users are able to purchase and send virtual gifts (in the form of emoticons) to their friends on the service for $1 each, to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and promote breast cancer awareness.

The icon set was designed not by Facebook but by Susan Kare who made the icons for the first Mac, including the notorious bomb icon which showed up every time … Read more