Studyrails is a relatively new tool for students who want to get their class schedule and study time synced up. It's mainly a calendaring tool, but thrown in is a mobile reminder service, and a forceful lock-out system that will keep you from slacking off on your computer when you're supposed to be studying.
The core calendar product is one of the more interesting efforts I've seen. After you've plugged in your class schedule, you have the option to schedule in study time. You guesstimate how much time you'll need for each discipline or project and then block out those hours on your calendar. It's a simple drag and drop affair. What's neat here is that it'll automatically divide up your time into little chunks based on how much time you've acknowledged you need to spend per task and when it's due. It's not an exact science, but it's a good start for people who don't know where to begin when they've got a lot of projects stacked up at once.
When it actually comes time to study, you can link up the application to send you reminders on your phone or e-mail in-box. It'll also give you a physical lock-out from using certain applications or Web sites during those times. This list is made by you (or your parent), so unless YouTube is a part of the study plan you'll get a little block on the page that chides you to get back to work.
The service runs $10 a month and has a two week free trial. On a side note, founder of Studyrails, Joshua Loewenstein, and I have no relation.
See also: Motivation management with GradeFix
Related: Quizlet: Flash cards made easy
Studyrails is mostly a calendaring tool, but added is project management and time management tools for slackers.
(Credit: Studiolo Systems Inc.)
I am a big fan of simple Web tools that make annoying tasks easier. One of the latest tools in that vein: WhosOff, a free Web service that helps you coordinate vacation and out-of-the-office times for people in your company.
It's easy to scan a timeline to see staff vacation plans.
(Credit: WhosOff)There are plenty of online in-out boards available (many are downloadable apps--feh). What makes this one somewhat different is it has smarts. You can set up rules to make sure your two customer service people aren't out of the office at the same time. The system also tracks vacation time that accrues annually, and won't let staffers book more time off than they have coming to them. You can set WhosOff so employees can't lock in vacation time without getting their manager's approval, or so it books time automatically (providing the time off isn't breaking any conflict restrictions you've set up). WhosOff e-mails requests to managers and confirmations back to employees, and it looks like once the system is set up and running, it'll be easy for everyone to use.
When you begin to dive in to WhosOff you realize scheduling vacation and out-of-office times is a lot more complicated than it appears at first blush. For the system to run well, it needs to know who reports to whom, how much time people accrue, and which staffers can't take off at the same time. For those reasons, setting up WhosOff is a bit more complex than I'd like to see, but for the most part the interface is clear. WhosOff does not appear to integrate with payroll or personnel systems, though, which means you'll have to maintain your company directory separately on WhosOff.com, and make sure you transfer vacation and sick time into your payroll system after the fact.
A useful daily dashboard.
(Credit: WhosOff)You can spend a lot of money for a full-on human resources program that has this feature in it, but for a smallish office that doesn't yet have the resources, WhosOff is a good way to help people coordinate their vacations and off-sites.
Related scheduling tip: To create a simple self-service tool customers can use to schedule appointments with you, see AcuityScheduling. It's just too bad Acuity and WhosOff don't talk to each other. Perhaps someone could mash the two together?
Gradefix is a Web-based organizational tool aimed at students who want to organize their schoolwork in a virtual assignment book. Users simply add their assignment info, and Gradefix prioritizes the projects that need their attention. Could this be simpler than a hard-copy day planner? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Gradefix separates schoolwork into four categories: homework, reading, quiz study, and exam study. Sorely lacking is scheduling for lab work and study groups, two activities that most college students likely would add to their schedules. In that regard, Gradefix seems suited more to the high school crowd.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
After adding a new task, Gradefix will plot out when you need to work on it based on when it's due, how long you think it will take, and your total daily time budgeted for homework. Work is presented by week, with color coding for each class. One obvious problem with this system is that some assignments might need to be done in one sitting, and can't be split up.
What's cool about Gradefix is that missing an assignment automatically re-arranges the the rest of your priorities. The tool will automatically put the missed task at the top of your daily queue, and adjust how much additional time needs to be spent to make up for a lost day.
Gradefix is an interesting take on project management, but compared to a hard-copy day planner, I think it's asking too much for students to log in and input assignments every day when they'll likely have to write them down in class anyway. I'd also worry about reliability -- will the service be running when I need it? Gradefix is fairly easy to use, but as far as building strong study skills, I don't think it beats writing things down on a piece of paper.
Babysitters scare me. The concept of giving my child over to the care of a young (usually) person I barely know is utterly terrifying. That's why word-of-mouth referrals are so important for child care. But talking to friends to find a sitter? That's old-fashioned.
CareSquare finds babysitters by schedule.
(Credit: CNET Networks)A new site, CareSquare, is a social network and scheduling utility for parents, babysitters, and nannies. On this system, you can review babysitters' profiles and see reviews from the community at large or from other parents in your network.
More importantly, you can search for child care by date and time. This is the really cool part. You specify when you need help, and the system tells you who is available. You can view schedules (and rates and feedback comments) and book babysitting time right on the system.
For this to work, of course, child care providers have to use the system, and it appears that CareSquare hopes to rely on them to get the word out. The system recommends that caregivers invite their current customers to the network under the guise of easier scheduling. Then they'll hopefully post feedback, invite their friends online, and the network will grow.
Scheduling grid
(Credit: CareSquare)But forget the social network angle. From my perspective, just having our sitter share her availability calendar with us would be a great help. It doesn't look like the system can be used in this private mode, but the site is very new (some interface bugs were fixed since last night), and I expect it will evolve quickly.
If you have kids, CareSquare is worth a try. If you don't find what you need on it, I'd recommend coming back again in about a month after its creators have had some time to shake out the feature set and, hopefully, grow the network. The site is currently free.
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