reminders

A systematic review of 28 clinical trials, which appears today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, finds that computer reminders to physicians regarding prescriptions yield smaller improvements than expected.

The study shows that computer reminders sent to physicians during routine electronic ordering or charting improve process of care by a median of 4.2 percent, with the best outcome showing a median improvement of 5.6 percent--numbers that are "below thresholds for clinically significant improvements," writes Dr. Kaveh G. Shojania, director of the University of Toronto's Centre for Patient Safety.

The authors conclude that further research should … Read more

When was the last time you checked your dryer's vent tube? My guess is this serious fire hazard slipped your mind, as it routinely does mine.

Speaking of fires, isn't it time you replaced the batteries in your smoke detectors? Don't worry: That low-battery beep will remind you--most likely in the middle of the night.

Household chores like these are critical, but are usually difficult to remember. Enter HouseKeeper, a clever--if slightly incomplete--app that reminds you when it's time to replace the furnace filters, clean the chimney flue, and so on.

HouseKeeper lets you set reminders for 10 easily forgotten items, including the baking soda in your fridge, the water filter, the fire extinguishers (they're supposed to be inspected regularly), and even your toothbrush (conventional wisdom: replace it every three months).

For each item you can specify the date of your last action (like if you already replaced your toothbrush a month ago) and the number of interval days between notifications.

HouseKeeper will deliver its notifications via e-mail and/or text message. Unfortunately, standard SMS rates apply for the latter; the app can't deliver its own push notifications.

What's more, you can't add your own reminders. In my house, for example, I routinely need to add salt to the water softener. Where's the option for that?… Read more

Lately Google seems to have put forth most of the little niceties that turn forgetful, or otherwise inept, people into functional members of society. Late Wednesday Facebook rolled out one of its own features that falls within that category. Now those who are lucky enough to be in a relationship can plug in when their love affair began. Facebook will then send both of those users a reminder (in the form of an event) when it's coming up.

Right now the feature has the same privacy level as a relationship, so if your friends can see it, they can … Read more

AllNotes Personal Organizer provides a simple set of tools for keeping track of a date and staying on top of events. The program's bare-bones simplicity and easy navigation make this a great choice for basic reminders.

We enjoyed the program's simple interface. It buries itself in your task bar and only has a few, easy-to-understand command options. Nothing about it left us with questions about how to operate this software. With a few simple clicks, we were able to enter dates and times, write ourselves a quick note, set an alarm, or post a note or event on … Read more

Organizer from Miha Rataj is just the sort of handy freeware we like to see. It's a simple but efficient and effective desktop organization application that combines a suite of tools and displays in one easy-to-use interface. It has a scrolling, configurable calendar, a prominent analog clock face, a daily task organizer, sticky notes, and an alarm clock that you can sync to tasks and that will alert to an impending event with an alarm tone, the time, or something you add yourself.

The main interface is cleanly laid out, with everything neatly spaced around the task organizer window … Read more

LeaderTask is an attractive and intuitive time management program that allows people to keep track of tasks and projects. With a well-designed interface and useful features, LeaderTask is among the better programs of this type that we've seen.

LeaderTask's interface is sleek and well-organized, reminding us a lot of Microsoft Outlook. A toolbar on the left organizes projects, categories, contacts, and a calendar, while large graphical buttons across the top display other options. Smaller unlabeled buttons within the program have tool tips, which is a thoughtful touch. The program is easy to navigate, and we had little need … Read more

Say the Time provides a simple tool for managing time and staying on task. Its signature voice alarm system was fun to use, but ultimately it's not much better than other alarm programs out there.

The program's interface was simple to understand and operate, since it broke all actions down into the easiest process and left no room for error. Things were so smooth we were able to set up reminders in a matter of seconds. The program basically functioned like many alarm systems we'd tested where we entered a date and time for an alarm via … Read more

School Calendar is an attractive program that allows users to track multiple school schedules. Although we liked its design, we had trouble getting a sense of who the program is made for and how it could be most effectively used.

At its heart, School Calendar is similar to many other scheduling applications we've seen, with a variety of different calendar views, the ability to schedule reminders, and so on. The program's interface is quite sleek and is reminiscent of Office 2007 products; our first impression was positive. Once we started exploring School Calendar, however, we got a little … Read more

The Athan Software reminds users of the five daily Islamic calls to prayer. Although the program is nicely designed, it has some functional problems that made it difficult to use.

The program's interface is intuitive, with its functions arranged neatly with buttons. We had no trouble figuring out how to configure the program; everything was quite obvious. The program's built-in Help file gives a clear explanation of its features, but unfortunately, it offered no troubleshooting tips for when things don't go as planned.

The problem that we encountered was with defining our location. The program has a … Read more