reminders

More than just your basic notepad, the ColorNote app for Android takes your jotting to another level. You can set it to launch either to the default Workspace screen, where you create and organize notes, or the Calendar screen, where you keep track of any ColorNote notifications. Then, once you're done scrawling away, you can share your notes via any of your device's installed applications (Twitter, Facebook, SMS, Gmail, and so on).

When creating a note, you can choose from two styles: Text, for most uses, or Checklist, for bullet-style entries that can be checked off. Change the … Read more

AK Notepad for Android is your basic, bare-bones notepad app. The interface is clean, and using it couldn't be simpler. Open up the program and click "Add note" to get started. Once you're done typing away, you can set a reminder alarm for the note, or share it via any of your device's installed applications (Twitter, Facebook, SMS, Gmail, and so on). To prioritize a note, just pin it to your Home screen for one-touch access.

The Settings screen lets you tinker with fonts, font size, and horizontal line display. And if you use the … Read more

TimeTable is a low-cost tool that works with iCal to help you track your hours, so you know exactly how much time you've spent on particular tasks--which can be especially handy for consultants and anyone else who tracks their time for billing purposes.

TimeTable has a simple, multipane interface that plugs right into your iCal data: You see your iCal calendars on the left, which you can select or deselect, and a list of events with date, duration, and title on the right (and you can add a dozen different columns in all, including notes and start and end … Read more

This tip is easy, but extremely useful for users wanting to get the most out of their iOS device. Interestingly, there are tens, if not hundreds, of calendar, to-do, and organization Apps for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch that you can use to remember things.

But the best way may be a functionality that iOS offers already. The screen most people see the most is the lock screen. It stands to reason then that the lock screen would be the perfect place for a constant reminder.

There are any number of ways to accomplish this. One, provided by a … Read more

Back in November, I tested out NudgeMail, a program that could come to the rescue of any swamped-but-purportedly-organized individual. The beauty of the service is in its simple and straightforward ability to turn any e-mail client into a reminder system, without any registration, plug-ins, or widgets to toy with. Today, NudgeMail is attempting to take easy organization to the next step by pairing up with Google Calendars.

So how does it work? Again, simplicity is key in this relationship. Just send an e-mail to a date (and time, if you so desire) @nudgemaul with the activity in the subject line. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--A techie and his smartphone are seldom separated, but even the most phone-obsessed of us have had moments where we've left for work or walked out of a bar without our precious phone.

On hand at CES 2011 is a neat little car tech gadget called the Bringrr, which wirelessly checks that your mobile phone is in the car when you embark on a trip. The Bringrr sits in your vehicle's 12-volt charger and pairs with your phone via Bluetooth. When it senses the car starting, it pings your phone wirelessly. If the phone is present, nothing … Read more

If you've ever lost a program's product key code or other essential documentation, you can probably appreciate a tool that helps you keep track of all your software. How about All My Software? It's a free application from Bolide that scans your Windows system for all installed software, including support and contact information, links, and even order date and number, if applicable, and saves them in a database you can export to Excel.

All My Software's installation wizard includes a scanning stage that displays files in the registry with the option to exclude them from the … Read more

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