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Online and Organized

Getting organized is a snap with Websites that help you schedule, connect, and stay on track. And they're even snappier when they synchronize with your mobile gear. Check out these sites that help bring order to the chaos with Web-based calendars, connectivity tools, and reminder services.

First, the Basics

Do you keep forgetting passwords for online accounts and member sites? You can do what some people do-keep a little black book of user IDs and passwords close by-or you can download software to manage the information in encrypted files. Get the programs at such sites as ZDNet.com (search for password on the homepage).

One note about sites that require registration: Be sure to read their privacy policies to determine how they use personal information. If there's no published policy or the terms aren't agreeable, move on.

Sizzlin' Sites for Software

Here's a sampling of sites that offer free organizer software, from trial to shareware to full-version downloads. All are Windows based, except where noted.

3m.com/postit/com_prod/psnotes

3M offers a nonexpiring download of Software Notes 2.1 Lite on its Website. This program enables you to create colorful reminders on your desktop, just like Post-it notes. You can organize them in onscreen memo boards, add reminder alarms, and attach them to Word documents.

centsoft.com

ClockWork, the day planner for the MacOS from Berlin-based Century Software, manages your schedules and to-do lists. It also supports a wide range of Apple technologies. Download a 30-day trial version.

franklinplanner.com

Franklin Planner's Personal Productivity Center offers a 30-day trial of OnePlace software that helps put an end to lost files. This program organizes and cross references files so you don't have to remember specific names and directories.

inklineglobal.com/ products/rbo

You'll find such get-it-together shareware as RedBox Organizer, Visual Day Planner, and Visual Calendar Planner at the inKline Global Website. RedBox Organizer, for example, enables you to record calendar appointments and set desktop meeting alarms.

Web-Based

Calendars

The MyPalm Portal palm.net helps you use and manage Palm-powered data. A bonus are the Web-clipping applications that enable wireless Net use, including BBC News,

1.800.taxicab, and Starbucks Coffee Store Locator.

myphonebook.com has an organizer that accommodates both simple data needs (such as email reminders) and more complex business uses (activities tracking and data synchronization). You can tour the site's basic services-address book, scheduler, and reminder-before registering.

You can use Yahoo's calendar, calendar.yahoo.com to display and manage itineraries, email event reminders, and add holidays and sports schedules to your e-calendar. You can also synchronize calendar data with wireless phones and pagers, Palm organizers, and desktop organizers (free download links provided).

Connectivity Tools

Get involved: Find a seminar, create an email survey, manage an invitation list.

scheduleearth.com is an online guide to professional development events, including Web-based courses. The site also offers a training RFP exchange, an events calendar, newsletters, free email, and numerous white papers on hot workplace topics.

Go to senada.com to send and manage electronic invitations, announcements, and reminders. The site offers three service levels-personal, professional, and wireless-and is free for up to 200 recipients at the personal level. Senada.com has built-in templates for corporate meetings, seminars, company picnics, and more. It's also accessible by Palm handhelds (free download on the site).

zoomerang.com enables you to create, send, and manage surveys using 100-plus templates that cater to business, education, community, and personal uses. You can email surveys to your own list or post a Website link to attract participants. Zoomerang tallies the results and presents them in user-friendly charts. The basic service is free; upgraded services, such as demographic profiling, cost extra.

Reminder Services

Never forget a department meeting or soccer game again: Let email reminder tools do the gentle nagging. memotome.com is a straightforward site that lets you set up email reminders on a one-time basis or yearly. Reminders from displayed in a user-friendly list that can be edited or deleted easily. At rememberit.com you can sign up to receive free email or wireless event reminders from 11 categories ranging from Auto to Work. The site also offers automatic holiday reminders (you pick which ones), an online Wish List gift registry, and an area for tracking personal goals. To try the site without registering, click on the test-drive link on the homepage.

Donna J. Abernathy is a contributing editor of T+D; donna_abernathy @email.com.

Copyright American Society for Training and Development Sep 2001
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