Tag: reminder

Text Block Writer Organizes Notes And Thoughts

Text Block Writer is described by its author as

…a virtual index card program for writers

Text Block Writer works similar to the way one would write notes on one or several pieces of paper. By using Text Block Writer one can organize the notes in pages and columns cleanly. It is also possible to export all notes to the standard *.rtf format or keep using the program’s own *.tbwml format which in itself is simple *.xml.

Each note is saved in a square or rectangular block, within a page. Each page contains at least three (by default but can be changed using the program’s options) columns and a side column (situated to the right of the numbered columns) for extra and unclassified notes. A title can be set for each page using the text box just under the program menu. A block shelf to the bottom right of the program’s interface holds temporary notes that are not exported when notes are backed up. The scratchpad area at the bottom performs a similar function as the block shelf and holds temporary notes. The utility panel that slides open on the far right of the program window provides the index or titles of all pages. Its groups action setting is for such tasks as moving panels or blocks between pages and changing their colors. Its live preview is one long text file of all saved notes. The utility panel also features more options for such things as a panel size and export syntax.

Text Block Writer also supports a number of useful shortcut keys that are listed in its helps file, for example viewing a previous page is done via the Ctrl and left keys. The program requires version 2.0 of the .NET framework, however it is useful for keeping records and notes.

November 6, 2009
esyPlanner Is A Useful PIM

esyPlanner is a freeware personal information manager that provides calendars, reminders (which it calls popups), notes and password storage.

The program doesn’t exactly have the best or cleanest of interfaces, which somehow mirrors the author’s website as well, however it is more than adequate as a PIM. Notes can be created by using the Microsoft outlook style side panel or bar. A note can be turned into an event so that a reminder can be set, they also include a number of fields to make categorization and future search useful, these include adding an attachment to a note as well. However there is kind of an overlap with what the program calls memo – accessible via its Windows menu. There is a similar confusion differentiating between the planner and the calendar. However after a few minutes of use esyPlanner does prove to be an acceptable and good alternative to the more known personal information managers. The strength of esyPlanner might actually lie in its search capability – accessible either via its Windows menu or by clicking F3. In my test the search provided quick results from all the notes fields that I had intentionally filled.
esyPlanner uses the SQLite database engine therefore at the very least one is not stuck with proprietary information storage.

September 13, 2009
Simple Calendar With Desktop Calendar

Desktop Calendar is described as

Organize your life! Never forget a birthday or anniversary ever again!

Desktop Calendar is a relatively simple and potentially useful almost 2.5MB download that overlays a calendar on any desktop. It can be thought of a semi-dynamic calendar, that is the calendar is certainly not a static image but on the other hand the reminders are restricted to annual events in the freeware version of the program. Having said that setting one time reminders is of course possible, just leave the ‘Every Year’ checkbox unchecked when adding it. The said reminders are set by right clicking on a date and choosing Edit, then filling the text area presented.

The program has more settings to control its looks than anything else. Background color of calendars is configurable as are today and other days’ text colors. The format of the month and time shown is configurable as well. The placement and size of the calendar can also be changed as can the style of the notification when hovering over a day (that contains an event). The author has also provided wallpaper packs to be used in conjunction with Desktop Calendar. Using the Wallpaper tab of the settings one can check to choose and enable the packs and choose a small or full screen preview, using the slider for the former and the preview button for the latter. Strangely there is no clear way to stop the full screen preview as it cycles through each month’s wallpaper, however the preview happens in the ‘background’ (pun intended) and doesn’t disrupt other tasks.

Desktop Calendar is one not so new tool for enhancing the desktop. It does have one very useful added capability, it is possible export (and import) data and settings to either a .dat, .txt, or .csv format. It runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP and NT. Many screenshots are available on the author’s site.

June 16, 2009
Minipad2, Store Notes, Set Reminders And More

Minipad2 is a tabbed, lightweight and portable – 305KB download – single executable that can be used as an text editor, note taker, calculator, dictionary and memo or reminder (tray popup without sound) program.
It is also capable of watching the clipboard and inserting pre-defined text such as time, date, separator and signature – which can be defined via the Tools—>Edit Template menu. New tabs can be created for separate notes and aforementioned included functions. The features such as the calculator, memo and dictionary are available via typing and following a certain format. For example a memo or alarm can be set by typing

@m1, 15 9:00, write report

and pressing enter, this translates into a popup reminder every first and 15th of the month at 9AM with the text ‘write report’ (see images for two more examples).

Other examples and syntax are given in the accompanying help file. Search and replace is also available but in my testing the search only worked on the current visible tab and not all text stored across the many tabs I had open. Another feature of minipad2 is called Special Effect. Effects can be enabled under the Options menu and chosen in Options—>Preferences. The two main effects available are auto scroll and auto hide. The auto scroll rolls up the window leaving only minipad2’s title bar intact. Auto hide, which didn’t perform as expected in my testing and usage, hides the window when focus is off minipad2, much like the feature available with Windows’ taskbar. But as mentioned, in my testing the minipad2 window seemed to want to hide – the animated effect hovered over my monitor – but the minipad2 window didn’t actually go away.

To use the dictionary one or more chosen languages must be added via the Preferences menu after they have been downloaded separately. Currently Chinese, Spanish, French, German and Japanese are available.
A very interesting application with a couple of unusual features and different ways of doing things. Minipad2 is a single executable that after hours of being used and tested remained under 10MB of RAM usage. Minipad2 is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista.

April 4, 2009